Chapter 13 The Prince's Decree
Chapter 13 The Prince's Decree
"Your Highness, you know me."
"If you can't bear any hardship, don't embarrass me."
Du He had a drooling face and begged with a smile, hoping that he could be spared.
He had just suffered this hardship and hadn't even enjoyed it yet, so why was he going to suffer in the army again?
"Why, you don't want to listen to me?"
Li Chengqian's voice stagnated slightly, and Du He waved his hand hastily, "I'll go, I'll go."
He saw Li Chengqian holding the tea bowl and taking a sip. There was mist coming out and he could smell a faint fragrance. He couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Your Highness, are you having tea?"
"what happened?"
"But that's not how you drink tea."
Du He asked doubtfully.
"I am tasting tea, what do you know?"
Li Chengqian said calmly.
Have tea, have tea.
During the Tang Dynasty, tea was actually drunk.
The way they make tea is very simple and crude, a hodgepodge.
Pour all the green onions, ginger, salt, pepper powder, etc. in it, grind the tea leaves into powder, stir it into a paste with all five flavors, and eat it in one bite.
This is drinking tea.
Li Chengqian had never drunk tea in his previous life, but he could not stand the tea-drinking culture of the Tang Dynasty.
The first time I served him tea, I was careless and almost made him vomit.
He can feel the mouth is full of paste, spicy, salty, numb and other tastes.
It's simply not eatable.
He didn't even know why people in the Tang Dynasty liked this.
There was no other way, he had to take out the tea-frying technique and handed it over to the Eastern Palace Food Bureau, and the tea-frying was successful.
From then on, the practice of drinking tea in the Eastern Palace evolved into tea tasting.
"Tea?"
“This is the first time I’ve heard of this.”
Du He was like a curious baby, and Li Chengqian impatiently asked someone to serve him a lamp.
Not to mention, Du He worked so hard that he almost forgot to give him a drink as a reward.
A cup of tea was brought up. Du He took a look at it. The amber tea had a faint fragrance.
"Your Highness, is this drinkable?"
Du He expressed his doubts, thinking that the bland soup could have no taste.
"Try it."
"Yes."
Du He imitated Li Chengqian's movements of tasting tea and took a sip carefully. As the tea took a sip, the refreshing fragrance that hit his nose and throat made his eyes widen immediately.
He swallowed it in one gulp.
"fragrant!"
"It smells good, Your Highness."
Du He exclaimed in amazement: "Compared with this, the way I drank tea before was like eating pig food. This is the real way to taste tea."
"There is nothing better than this."
Li Chengqian smiled and said, "The East Palace doesn't have much, and I'm not stingy. You can take some back and let Sixteenth Sister taste it."
"Thank you, Your Highness. I will be honored to accept your invitation."
Du He was overjoyed. Even though the teacup was empty, he still couldn't forget the taste and flavor of the tea.
He would never accept coming back for tea.
"But now that you have the things, you have to do something."
Du He said seriously, "Your Highness, please give your orders."
"Take my order and go to the Prince of Hejian's Mansion, the Duke of Zheng's Mansion, the Duke of E's Mansion, the Duke of Wei's Mansion, the Duke of Lu's Mansion, the Duke of Ying's Mansion, and other places."
Li Chengqian read them out one by one, and Du He was terrified.
Each of these families is a top powerful figure in the Tang Dynasty.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered them, so why should I go there with the Crown Prince's order?
"The order from Chuan Gu requires each family to select one son, regardless of the eldest son, to enter the East Palace and join the Jinyiwei for a period of study."
Only then did Li Chengqian state his purpose.
He never thought of winning over and making friends with these die-hard supporters of Li Er.
Because that is completely meaningless. It is impossible that these people would support him in advance when Li Er is still alive.
That's unrealistic.
Because people always seek benefits and avoid harm.
These people knew very well that as long as they were impartial and remained neutral, their status and identity would not be threatened or shaken no matter which prince came to the throne.
On the contrary, if they were to get involved, it might backfire. They were already the Dukes of the State, the highest position in the country, and had reached the pinnacle. They did not have much ambition and only wanted the family to continue.
Can he still rely on his merits in following the emperor to become king?
Wouldn't that make you the target of public criticism and be too conspicuous?
Who would risk losing money like this?
"Your Highness, I'm not being nosy, but... will they follow your orders?"
Du He said hesitantly.
Because this matter was extremely serious, it was suspected of openly making friends with ministers.
It’s too late to avoid it.
Why would they send someone here just because of the prince's order?
It’s not the emperor’s order.
"Just go ahead."
"Whether you go down or not is my business, whether you listen or not is their business."
Li Chengqian said calmly.
"I understand."
Du He couldn't figure it out and was too lazy to think about it, so he just followed orders.
Li Chengqian watched him leave with a faint smile on his face.
He did this just to find out what these people were thinking.
See how they cope.
Moreover, he also gave these people a compromise.
The eldest son does not matter.
You either choose someone or disobey the orders of the Crown Prince of the East Palace and make him unhappy.
Choose one of the two.
"It depends on how you deal with it."
He took a sip of tea, and after a while, the tea became cold.
……
When Du He walked out of the East Palace, it started snowing lightly without any warning, and then gradually turned into heavy snow.
He wondered which one to go to first.
In the end, he chose Wei Zheng, who he thought might accept the prince's order.
"Go to Duke Zheng's Mansion."
"Send someone to inform them first, and tell them that I have the Crown Prince's order and will be here soon."
"Yes!"
Du He braved the wind and snow and came to Duke Zheng's mansion. Without announcing his arrival, someone was waiting at the gate.
Wei Zheng's second son, Wei Shuyu.
"Please let the prince's envoy in."
Du He strode in, and when he saw Wei Zheng he did not dare to be arrogant and hurriedly saluted.
"The Prince Consort."
"How is the prince these days? When can he be seen?"
Wei Zheng started by talking about the fact that no one was seen in the Eastern Palace. He was the Prince's Grand Tutor, and the Prince hadn't seen him for a long time.
He knew that the prince was injured and it was understandable.
"Too much is as bad as too little." He said earnestly.
"I dare not act rashly in front of the Duke. I don't understand the Crown Prince's thoughts, but I will convey the Duke's teachings."
Du He was very respectful. This was someone he really couldn't afford to offend.
"Tell me, what did the prince ask you to do?"
Wei Zheng asked without comment.
Hearing this, Du He stood up straight and said loudly: "Prince's order!"
Wei Zheng was respectful and solemn, and the others also bowed to show their respect.
"Duke Zheng will select one of his sons, regardless of the eldest son, to enter the East Palace and study in the Imperial Guard for a period of time."
After saying this, Du He said, "Duke, I have finished my message."
"Please select them as soon as possible and send them to the East Palace."
"The boy still has to go to other places to announce the order."
"I'll take my leave now."
Seeing Du He was about to leave, Wei Zheng called out, "What are Jinyiwei?"
Du He said: "The prince's personal army."
"The prince's personal army?"
Wei Zheng tasted it and when he came to his senses, Du He was gone.
(End of this chapter)