Chapter 21 Father, I followed my second brother
Changsun Wuji has a very friendly face, so when he looks at people with a smile, people will not feel any malice.
After Li Shimin poured a glass of wine for Cao Dan, offered another glass of wine, and poured a second glass of wine, Cheng Yaojin snatched the wine pot from Li Shimin's hand without caring about anything, and shouted, "Leave some for me, leave some for me..."
Seeing that Cheng Yaojin didn't follow any rules with Li Shimin at the dinner table, and instead shouted that he didn't regard Li Shimin as his "leader", Cao Dan felt a lot more relaxed.
Li Shimin glared at Cheng Yaojin, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "You, you have no manners."
Cheng Yaojin drank nonchalantly, muttering, "We are all family, why should we follow any rules?"
Changsun Wuji stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Yizhen is right. Once you enter the Tiance Mansion, you are one of us."
Li Shimin glared at Zhangsun Wuji and Cheng Yaojin respectively, and said to Cao Dan with a smile: "Although Yaojin is a bad guy, what he said is true. Once you enter the Tiance Mansion, you are one of us, so there is no need to be restrained."
Cao Dan said with a smile: "Don't be shy, don't be shy..."
Being informal is fake.
He had witnessed with his own eyes how cruel the three people in front of him were, especially the harmless Li Shimin.
In the Battle of Hulao Pass in the middle of the year, Li Shimin personally led thousands of cavalry to chase and kill tens of thousands of people led by his brother-in-law. After chasing for thirty miles, he killed more than three thousand people and frightened more than fifty thousand people into surrendering.
That guy is so fierce.
Li Shimin smiled and said, "I still remember the battle between General Cao and Li Shiji in the past."
The only battle Cao Dan could boast of was the one with Li Shiji, in which he defeated Li Shiji step by step.
Cheng Yaojin interrupted while drinking, "That's right, Li Shiji told me afterwards that he was almost scared to death. If he hadn't run fast, he would have been captured alive by you."
Cheng Yaojin was just joking and making fun of Li Shiji.
Li Shiji was not scared to death.
Cao Dan was shocked by these words. How could he speak like this in front of his "leader" without having to worry about anything even if it involved shit or piss?
Li Shimin pointed at Cheng Yaojin and scolded him with a smile, "If he knew that you were making up stories about Shiji like this, he would definitely beat you up."
Cheng Yaojin said disdainfully: "Would I be afraid of him?!"
Seeing that Cheng Yaojin had no scruples at all in front of Li Shimin, Cao Dan felt that Li Shimin should be an easy-going person in front of his subordinates. He was now also considered Li Shimin's subordinate, and Li Shimin should not put on airs with him, so he completely relaxed.
"Your Highness, you are joking. Duke Su is joking. The reason why I am slightly better than Duke Cao is because I got there at the right time. If we really put our horses and carriages on display, I am afraid I am no match for Duke Lai."
Cao Dan is very humble.
Cheng Yaojin shouted in dissatisfaction, "Since we are brothers, why do you call me Duke of Su? Do you look down on me and don't want to be brothers with me?"
Cao Dan was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "Cheng...Brother?"
"Well, that's right."
Cheng Yaojin nodded in satisfaction and said carelessly, "Winning is winning, no need to flatter Li Shiji. You and I are both people who make a living on horseback, and we both know that there is no such thing as coincidence on the battlefield.
Winning is winning, losing is losing.
Li Shiji, relying on the fact that he had been granted the title of Duke long ago, showed off in front of us brothers .
I have disliked him for a long time, but I just never had the chance to compete with him.
You defeated him, which was also a way to vent your anger.
Come, I'll give you a toast."
After Cheng Yaojin finished speaking, he poured wine for Cao Dan, and while pouring the wine he described the scene of how Li Shiji, who was granted the title of Duke earlier than them, showed off his power in front of them.
After Cao Dan drank two cups, he immediately pulled Cao Dan aside and told him how to defeat Li Shiji.
Seeing that Cheng Yaojin was a reckless person, Cao Dan did not have any guard against him and told Cheng Yaojin about the process of the battle.
Cheng Yaojin listened to his story, praised him and poured wine for him.
After a while, Cao Dan became a little tipsy and started talking more.
Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wuji immediately joined in and started chatting with Cao Dan.
After chatting with Cao Dan for about two incense sticks, I actually made Cao Dan cry.
There was no way. Ever since Dou Jiande was beheaded and Liu Heita rebelled, Cao Dan really had been living a miserable life.
Those who used to smile at him now ignore him.
Neighbors also kept their distance from him.
Even the big yellow dog from the neighbor's house dared to bare its teeth at him.
He felt aggrieved, but he didn't dare tell anyone, for fear that others would impeach him or complain about Li Tang.
Liu Wenjing, Li Yuan's hero in Taiyuan Yuanmou, was beheaded by Li Yuan because he said a few nonsense words after drinking and was reported by his concubine.
Now that Li Shimin gave him the opportunity to speak freely, he finally had the chance to pour out his grievances.
After listening to Cao Dan's words, Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wuji looked at each other and smiled.
Cao Dan had no intention of rebelling, nor did he dare to be disrespectful to Li Tang. He just felt a little aggrieved, and wanted to find an opportunity to prove his loyalty to Li Tang and clear the suspicion around him.
This kind of person who has the ambition to make achievements and the ability to do so is exactly what Li Shimin wants.
After Li Shimin found out Cao Dan's thoughts and felt that Cao Dan could be used, he was very happy.
“Your Highness…”
When Li Shimin was happiest, Liu Jun was led by Xu Jingzong into the main hall of Tiance Palace.
When Li Shimin saw Liu Jun, he quickly stood up and nodded, "Liu Shaojian..."
Li Shimin did not even go so far as to salute Liu Jun.
Liu Jun is not worthy yet.
Standing up and nodding was already the greatest sincerity towards Liu Jun.
Liu Jun bowed respectfully to Li Shimin and said, "Just now, the Fourth Prince submitted a memorial to everyone. Everyone asked me to show it to the Crown Prince and the Second Prince."
Li Shimin was stunned, as were Changsun Wuji and Xu Jingzong. Cheng Yaojin, who was drinking with Cao Dan, also stared with an expression of disbelief.
The Prince of Qi's palace wrote to the emperor, but that was a bad year and he could only see the emperor once a year.
The owner of the Prince of Qi's Mansion was in Chang'an, so it would be even more difficult for him to write to the emperor.
Li Shimin said without hesitation: "Who did my fourth brother sue again? Could it be me and the prince?"
So far, all the memorials submitted to the Prince of Qi's Palace were complaints, without exception.
So Li Shimin subconsciously thought that Li Yuanji's unprecedented letter to the emperor was most likely another complaint.
Li Yuan asked Liu Jun to show the memorial to him and Li Jiancheng, which means that Li Yuanji might have been suing him and Li Jiancheng.
Liu Jun did not answer Li Shimin's question, but handed the crumpled memorial to Li Shimin with a strange look on his face.
When Li Shimin saw the crumpled memorial, his face changed.
In the Tang Dynasty, the only one who dared to wrinkle his brothers' memorials was his father.
His father crumpled the memorial, which meant that he was angry.
Li Shimin was not in a hurry to read the memorial, but stared at Liu Jun and asked, "Have you shown it to the crown prince?"
"without……"
Liu Jun bowed and said, "After leaving Liangyi Palace and asking the two princes about their locations, I headed straight to Tiance Mansion."
It’s not that Liu Jun is close to Li Shimin, it’s just that the Tian Ce Palace is close by.
Li Shimin nodded, took a deep breath, and unfolded Li Yuanji's memorial.
He really wanted to know what kind of memorial his younger brother had submitted to make his father so angry.
Li Shimin opened the memorial and curled his lips after seeing the words "Dear Father".
There was no one who used the term "father" in memorials to the emperor.
Memorials are not family letters.
After despising Li Yuanji, Li Shimin began to read the content.
Then his face became interesting.
Some were stunned, some were astonished, and some were shocked.
I stared at the end.
"No wonder my father was angry..."
Li Shimin's mood was indescribable for a moment.
Changsun Wuji, Cheng Yaojin and Xu Jingzong stared at Li Shimin with their eyes wide open, feeling a little itchy.
In the middle of the year, in the Battle of Hulao Pass, Dou Jiande led an army of 100,000 to attack Luoyang, but the expression on Li Shimin's face was not so exciting.
Li Shimin handed the memorial to Changsun Wuji and said, "You can take a look at it too."
Changsun Wuji immediately took the memorial and began to read it.
Xu Jingzong wanted to see it a little, but he didn't dare.
After reading the memorial, Changsun Wuji was shocked.
Li Yuanji’s memorial was too...too shameless.
In his memorial, Li Yuanji praised Li Shimin crazily, and praised Li Shimin to the point that he was the best in the world.
He bluntly said that General Tiance was not worthy of Li Shimin's talent and status.
I'm just about to tell Li Yuanming that Li Jiancheng is not worthy of being the crown prince, and let my second brother take over. If you insist on letting Li Jiancheng be the crown prince, then I will follow my second brother.
At the end of the memorial, he did not forget to praise Pei Ji.
He claimed that Pei Ji praised him for being brave and resourceful. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that Pei Ji was right.
Since Pei Ji said he had a brain, he used it well. After a long period of careful consideration, he felt that following Li Shimin had more prospects than following Li Jiancheng.
Changsun Wuji finally understood why Li Shimin said with a complicated expression, "No wonder father is angry."
Although Li Yuanji boasted about Li Shimin throughout his memorial and also hinted that he wanted to get along with Li Shimin, Changsun Wuji did not take it seriously.
If Li Yuanji really wanted to get along with Li Shimin, he would never have reported this matter to Li Yuan.
Li Yuanji was just disgusting and he deliberately picked on Li Yuan's weaknesses.
Li Yuan's soft spot was hit, it would be strange if he didn't get angry.
Pei Ji was unlucky. He could have offend anyone else but Li Yuanji, the evil star.
Now the evil star has fought back, fiercely, accurately, and cruelly.
Li Yuanji almost told Li Yuan openly, look, I don't want to help my second brother to deal with my eldest brother. It was Pei Ji who instigated me. If we brothers kill each other to the death because of this, it must be Pei Ji's fault.
Changsun Wuji knew very well how much Li Yuan feared the fighting among his legitimate sons.
If the three legitimate sons really fought over Pei Ji, Pei Ji would definitely die.
By that time, the more Li Yuan doted on Pei Ji, the more cruel he was to him.
Chang Sun Wuji returned the memorial to Li Shimin and frowned, "How are you going to respond, Your Highness?"
