Chapter 22: Eldest Sister, Lady of Xiangcheng

After Li Kuan returned to the palace, the first thing he had to face was the wrath of Li Shimin.

Because Li Kuan had skipped the morning assembly once again, the "Great Critic Number One," Wei Zheng, had teamed up with the "Great Critic Number Two," Tang Jian—who had just returned from negotiating with the Turks on behalf of the Great Tang—to launch a pincer attack of verbal reprimands. Emperor Li Er, not waiting for a single word of explanation from Li Kuan, ordered the palace guards to drag him to the base of the wall beneath the plaza outside the Taiji Palace and force him to stand.

He was to remain standing until the Emperor finished his state affairs for the day, and only then would the boy be allowed to go to bed.

As for supper?
Hmph, starving the little brat for one meal wouldn't hurt!

"You dared to slip out of the palace on the very day you were to be invested as a Prince! Do you intend to fly to the heavens?" Li Er's roar nearly shattered the rafters of the Taiji Palace.

And so, a rare spectacle appeared outside the Taiji Palace that day.

Emperor Li Er, feeling aggrieved, had placed the culprit of the whole affair in the courtyard for punishment. Officials entering the palace to discuss defenses against the Turks were treated to the sight of the Second Prince—no, the Prince of Chu, as he was now titled—drawing circles in the dirt against the wall.

Poor Prince of Chu. While tracing circles on the wall with his finger, he was busy contemplating how to conduct a "hunger marketing" campaign to extract silver from the noble clans through the sale of glassware, all to fund the upcoming disaster relief efforts.

As twilight fell, Princess Changle came running toward the Taiji Palace, her face flushed red. Just as the young girl was about to approach her second brother, Yun Shang, the eunuch in attendance to Li Er, blocked her path with a humble, fawning smile.

Shortly after, a dignified court lady arrived, wearing a gentle smile, and scooped up the angry little princess to carry her into the Taiji Palace.

"Bad Father! So unreasonable!" Half an incense stick later, the young girl ran out of the Taiji Palace, fuming. Inside the hall, Li Shimin was chewing on a meat pie he had confiscated from his daughter, looking smugly at a map of the northern border defenses. Seated below him, Changsun Wuji and the others were trying hard to suppress their laughter, all tacitly agreeing not to mention Li Kuan.

"The Turks... they must be fought eventually." After a long silence, Li Er withdrew his gaze from the map and looked at the generals below. "But at the moment, we truly cannot spare the strength."

"Your Majesty, the Turks have not had an easy time these past two years either," Tang Jian, one of the instigators of Li Kuan’s punishment, said after witnessing the deep bond between Princess Changle and the Prince of Chu. He wisely steered the conversation to business. "Last winter, there were several heavy snowstorms in the Turkic territories, leading to a 'white disaster.' A vast number of horses, cattle, and sheep froze to death, and their lives have been difficult. I fear that if these Turks decide to raid this autumn..."

"Then we fight!" Li Er stood up, his imperial face twisted with rage. "I have had enough of such a barbaric bandit lurking beside the Great Tang. The Alliance of the Wei River was a shameless act of extortion by Jieli, forcing me to cut my own flesh to feed the wolf. Now, because this starving wolf is hungry due to natural disasters, it wants to come and plunder my lands again? Hmph, how can I continue to yield?!"

"Your Majesty," Wei Zheng sighed. He glanced at his colleagues—some silent, some indignant—and chose to be the villain who played the devil's advocate. "A locust plague is about to break out within our own borders, and we have yet to implement the necessary preparations to combat it, let alone deal with a northern war after the autumn. In my humble opinion, one must walk a path one step at a time and eat a meal one bite at a time. Currently, we should focus on resolving our domestic troubles. As for the Turks, we must endure for a little longer. When our grain stores are plentiful, our imperial army shall march north and strike the Turks with full force. We must ensure a decisive victory and crush them completely!"

"Well said, Lord Wei!" Fang Xuanling chimed in, unable to help himself. "If we are to fight the Turks, we must fight them to the death. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also spent the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing biding his time and accumulating wealth before he could strike a single, decisive blow that left the ancestors of the Turks, the Xiongnu, utterly defeated. Your Majesty, I cannot guarantee much, but if the Great Tang is to fight the Xiongnu today, we don't need generations of prosperity. During this Zhenguan reign, we can bring the Turks to their knees and force them to submit to the Han once more!"

One had to admit, the civil officials certainly had a way with words.

Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling had framed their advice for patience and waiting for the right moment in such stirring, impassioned terms that the generals on the side were left bewildered, yet their blood was boiling.

"Your Majesty!" As the leading powerhouse of the military, Yuchi Jingde, whose frame was like that of a giant bear, possessed an imposing presence even while kneeling. He said in a deep voice, "No matter when we decide to mobilize, I must say this: even if you only allow me to be the vanguard, I must fight in this war!"

"I also request to fight! I am willing to serve as the vanguard!" No sooner had Yuchi Jingde finished than Qin Qiong spoke up at the right moment.

Following them, the other generals began to request to lead the charge.

For a moment, the hall was filled with the voices of generals clamoring for battle. Seeing this, the expression on Li Er’s face finally softened, losing its gloomy shade.

He looked up toward the outside of the palace: the ruler and his subjects were in harmony, and the people's spirit was ready.

Jieli, your end is not far off.

***

Meanwhile, while the now-cheerful and optimistic Emperor Li Er was pacifying the eager generals in the Taiji Palace, Princess Changle, having been chased out earlier, glared at the eunuch Yun Shang before turning her gaze toward her second brother’s back with a pitiful expression.

No! Second brother cannot go hungry!

The young girl gritted her teeth and turned to run toward the inner palace.

***

Night began to fall.

Before long, Li Er’s eldest daughter, Princess Xiangcheng, arrived at the Taiji Palace under the guise of paying her respects to her father.

However, Li Er was already hosting a grand banquet for his officials, so the sensible Princess Xiangcheng naturally could not see him.

This did not stop her, however, from taking out a snack wrapped in a silk handkerchief from her robes as she passed Li Kuan upon her departure. Ignoring the shocked gazes of others, she personally fed it to her younger brother to stave off his hunger.

"Brother Kuan, I cannot stay long. Changle is still in my quarters, and I must return her to the Ganlu Palace as soon as possible." As the eldest daughter, Princess Xiangcheng had not had much interaction with brothers like Li Kuan, but when her little sister Changle came to her for help today, she could not bear to refuse.

Although this eldest princess had a humble birth mother who passed away early, leaving her to grow up without much attention from Li Shimin, she had always been a law-abiding person who avoided trouble. Yet, toward her younger siblings, she was always forgiving.

Still, coming to the Taiji Palace to feed Li Kuan today was, for her, an act of "daring to defy the heavens."

"Mm," Li Kuan said, his mouth stuffed with mung bean cake, the sweetness somewhat clogging his throat. He smiled at her, and after struggling to swallow the cake, he shifted his gaze to glare at the eunuch Yun Shang behind the princess. "You didn't see anything, understand?"

"Brother Kuan!" The honest Princess Xiangcheng was nearly moved to tears by her brother’s heart-warming gesture. "I am fine, but please, do not provoke Father’s anger again."

"It's alright," Li Kuan offered his elder half-sister a brilliant, healing smile. He pointed to the brightly lit Taiji Palace not far away, from which the grating, unmelodious singing of Yuchi Gong could be heard.

"Getting angry keeps you young."

In Li Kuan’s words, there was a touch of filial piety that completely disregarded the well-being of his own father.

Yes, "young"—as in, ten years younger because he’d lose ten years of his life.

Nothing wrong with that, right?