Chapter 1: The 15th day of the winter month in the fourth year of Wude
The winter in the northwest is bitterly cold, but the main hall of the Wude Hall in the Taiji Palace is as hot as summer.
The blazing earth fire dragon sent streams of hot air to every corner of the main hall of Wude Hall.
Li Yuanji was wearing a plain single-piece garment, but he still felt hot.
Some sweat had seeped out of the curly brown-red hair, and beads of sweat had gathered on the hooked nose.
Li Yuanji wanted to pull open his collar to cool down, but his status seemed to not allow him to do so.
He is now a member of the royal family, and a royal family whose name will go down in history.
His predecessor was also called Li Yuanji. He was the fourth son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, and was granted the title of King of Qi.
Ten days ago, the predecessor had an argument with his adoptive mother Chen Shanyi, and in a rage he ordered his warriors to dismember Chen Shanyi.
This action angered the God, who sent down a bolt of lightning that killed his predecessor on the spot.
After the death of his predecessor, God seemed to realize that his predecessor still had a unique historical mission to complete, so he brought him to the Tang Dynasty more than a thousand years ago to replace his predecessor.
The previous incarnation died peacefully, but the trouble was left to Li Yuanji.
Although his previous incarnation was struck to death by God and Chen Shanyi escaped, his previous incarnation's unethical behavior angered Li Yuan.
Li Yuan took the imperial physician to check his injuries. After confirming that he was struck by lightning and was not in danger of death and did not have any serious internal injuries, he decisively issued a house arrest order with no time limit.
Li Yuanji was confined to the Wude Hall by Li Yuan on the charge of mistreating the palace maids.
Although Chen Shanyi raised her previous life, she was ultimately just a servant of the Li family and had no status in the palace.
It was impossible for Li Yuan to let his legitimate son bear the reputation of being unfilial for the sake of a family servant.
Li Yuanji was a person who was easy-going and content with whatever happened. Even though Li Yuan had him under house arrest, he was happy with the peace and quiet.
He no longer had to bear the identity of his previous life and collude with his cheap elder brother Li Jiancheng, who had the intention but not the courage to commit a crime, nor did he have to compete wits and courage with his cheap second brother Li Shimin, who smiled on the surface but was actually a treacherous thief behind his back.
The struggle for imperial power was brutal.
Li Yuanji didn't mind taking this opportunity to jump out of the cage of fighting for imperial power and become a happy and idle prince.
According to the arguments of later historians, history researchers, and history enthusiasts, the princes of the Tang Dynasty were definitely the most comfortable and free-spirited group of princes in all dynasties.
Except for the fact that they are not as powerful as the emperor, there is not much difference between them and the emperor in other aspects.
They can enjoy the happiness that the emperor can enjoy, and they can also enjoy the happiness that the emperor cannot enjoy.
As long as you don't do it, you basically won't die.
It is now the fourth year of Wude, and the conflict between my predecessor and Li Shimin has not yet reached the point of death.
As long as Li Yuanji did not provoke Li Shimin and did not covet power, it would be easy for him to be a free and easy king.
Li Yuanji has already begun to look forward to a happy life in the future with "a farmer, mountain springs, some money", "many wives and concubines, and many children and grandchildren".
Although his predecessor left him with some troubles, it also left him with a huge amount of money, vast fiefdoms, and a harem of hundreds of people.
Among them was the famous Princess Yang of Chaoci.
It is a bit stressful to live with the concubines of your previous life while living with the same identity as your previous life.
He always felt like he was stealing someone.
So during the ten days of house arrest, he found countless reasons to comfort himself and eliminate the guilt in his heart.
For example, many great figures in history were greedy for other people's wives and hobbies. Cao Cao was like this, Li Yuan was like this, Li Shimin needless to say, Li Zhi was even more excessive, Zhao Kuangyin was secretive, Zhao Guangyi was shameless, and Huang Taiji and Dorgon had a huge fight for Dayuer.
He is now considered a big shot, so he has some common hobbies among big shots. Isn't that too much? Isn't that too much? Isn't that too much?
Besides, the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty was famous for its dirtiness. It was not his fault that he became dirty. He was just a person who was influenced by bad people.
Yeah, that's it...
"Go, tell the Shangqing in the mansion to throw less firewood into the fire pit, and then send someone to the bedroom... Well, forget about this for now."
Li Yuanji slightly opened his collar and gave instructions in the frightened eyes of the maid beside him.
The 14-year-old maidservant responded to Li Yuanji's orders timidly while carefully reminding Li Yuanji, "Your Highness...Your Highness, you are being impolite."
Li Yuanji glared at the maid, "I'm in my own house, can't I be more comfortable?!"
The maidservant was startled and quickly crawled on the ground. She mustered up her courage and said in a voice quieter than a mosquito: "Your Highness... Your Highness has been disrespectful. The Shangyi will blame the maidservant."
After the maid finished speaking, she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and waited for her prince to pronounce the verdict.
His Highness was well-known for his cruelty in the Tang Dynasty. He would kill anyone who dared to disobey him. Ten days ago, he almost killed Madam Chen, who had raised him.
The maidservant didn't want to provoke him, but the female official in the mansion was even more brutal.
Relying on His Highness's indulgence, they were extremely cruel to the maids and eunuchs in the mansion.
If the maids or eunuchs made the slightest mistake, they would grab them and would not stop until they squeezed out some oil.
What's even more terrifying is that after squeezing the maids and eunuchs dry, they would collude with the officials in the mansion, use the lives of the maids and eunuchs to threaten their families, and continue to squeeze money from them.
The maidservant would rather be executed than have her family be controlled by the female officials and subordinates in the mansion.
That's really cannibalism.
The maidservant closed her eyes and waited tremblingly for a long time, but her prince did not say anything. Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that his prince was going to do it himself?
Just as he was about to open his eyes to take a look, he heard Li Yuanji muttering helplessly, "I'm in my own house, and I can't be more comfortable. It's simply..."
Li Yuanji pulled up his collar and waved to the maid, "Okay, I got it, go down and pass on the order."
When the maid saw that Li Yuanji had pulled up his collar and had not blamed her, she felt as if she had been pardoned. She quickly agreed and backed out of the main hall.
After leaving the palace, the maid realized that her prince seemed... different, as if he had become more merciful?
Could it be that he became kind because he was happy about something?
Li Yuanji frowned after the maid left.
He took in all the maid's reactions, and he also understood the situation in Prince Qi's mansion through his previous life's memories.
Not only was his predecessor cruel, he also indulged his subordinates and cronies, who followed him in committing crimes, killing and setting fires.
Driven by interests, they became more brutal than their predecessors, but their predecessors not only did not care, but were happy to bear the bad reputation for them.
Thanks to their efforts, people inside and outside the Prince of Qi's Palace feared their predecessors as if they were snakes and scorpions.
"You can't do that. Sooner or later, someone will poison you or shoot you from behind. Even if you escape from Li Shimin's hands, you will still end up dead."
Li Yuanji pondered and called out to the outside of the hall, "Xie Shufang?!"
Outside the hall, a handsome young man, 21 years old, wearing leather armor and with a sword on his waist, hurried into the hall and knelt on one knee in front of Li Ji.
"Your Highness has ordered!"
There is not a trace of sharpness in Xie Shufang. Instead, he is as steady as a middle-aged man.
Xie Shufang joined the army at the age of seventeen and had four years of military experience.
Xie Shufang was a descendant of a famous family. His ancestors had produced famous generals and great poets. During the early Sui Dynasty, his family fell into poverty, and he followed his father and two brothers to make a living in the city of Chang'an.
When Li Yuan captured the city of Chang'an, his father and brother both died tragically in the battle.
However, it was not Li Tang's soldiers who killed his father and brother, but the former Sui rebels in Chang'an City who killed his father and brother when they robbed his family's money.
After Li Yuan captured Chang'an City, my predecessor was ordered to clean up the streets in Chang'an City. He met him. He was fighting with three big men for a Hu cake.
The ferocity he displayed when fighting with the big man was deeply appreciated by his predecessor.
The previous incarnation took him into the palace and made him a servant.
Historically, when the Xuanwu Gate Incident occurred, he was the only person in the Prince of Qi's Palace who led troops to support his predecessor.
After learning that his predecessor was killed by Li Shimin, he cooperated with the Xue brothers to kill two generals under Li Shimin to avenge his predecessor.
Although he later served as an official under Li Shimin, he could be said to have done his best for his predecessor.
Li Yuanji felt that he was probably the only loyal and brave man in the Prince of Qi's mansion, so he was quite kind to him. "I heard that the female officials and subordinates in the mansion have acquired a lot of property outside the palace. Please help me check and see where these properties came from."
Xie Shufang was stunned and looked at Li Yuanji in confusion.
Li Yuanji asked with a smile, "Any questions?"
Xie Shufang hesitated and said, "I am not good at investigating, and I can't find out the information of so many people by myself."
Xie Shufang had been in the army for four years and had made many contributions following his predecessor. He was now appointed as the official in charge of the inner court of the Prince of Qi, a member of the eighth rank.
Therefore, he could call himself a subject in front of Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji smiled and said, "Are you afraid of offending people, or are you worried that I will kill innocent people?"
Li Yuanji knew Xie Shufang's abilities better than his predecessor.
The previous incarnation only knew that Xie Shufang was gifted in martial arts and was a potential military general, but Li Yuanji knew that Xie Shufang was an all-round talent who was good at both literature and martial arts.
Historically, Xie Shufang lived to see Li Zhi ascend the throne, and served as the governor of Hongzhou and Guangzhou, a third-rank official. His achievements in civil and political affairs were quite outstanding, and the people praised him for "serving like a strict father."
Although he has not shown any talent in civil administration yet, it is not a problem for him to catch a few good-for-nothings who don't know how to restrain themselves.
Xie Shufang obviously couldn't figure out what he was going to do, so he made excuses to shirk his responsibilities.
"You also heard what happened just now at the palace gate. How outrageous can those people in the mansion be to force a maid to offend me and be killed by me rather than make a mistake and fall into their hands?
Even the maids around me have to fear them, so do I have to fear them too in the future?"
Li Yuanji put away his smile and questioned.
He couldn't tell Xie Shufang directly that he wanted to clean up the treacherous people in the mansion, so he could only give Xie Shufang an answer by using the way his previous life handled things.
When Xie Shufang heard what Li Yuanji said, he instantly understood that those people in the mansion must have touched his highness's bottom line, which is why his highness was keeping an eye on them.
His Highness only ordered him to investigate but did not ask him to arrest anyone directly, which means that His Highness had no intention of implicating innocent people.
Xie Shufang immediately clasped his fists and said, "I obey your orders! I need some help from you."
Li Yuanji nodded with satisfaction and said, "You can call upon any of the staff in the mansion that you think you can trust."
After a pause, Li Yuanji pondered and said, "If anyone is causing trouble...then arrest them."
