In April of the second year of Shangyuan, Li Chen was ten years old.

The crown prince Li Hong died suddenly in the Qiyun Hall of Luoyang Hebi Palace, and the whole country mourned.

Li Chen actually didn't quite remember the expression of the crown princess Pei when she learned of the prince's death, because she herself was completely confused. She had already realized that the crown prince and brother would die, but once she faced it, she found that it was not as simple as facing the death of Helan, the wife of Wei, and Zhao, the princess of England.

The gentleman who was as gentle as jade, his smile would be as warm as the warm sun of spring, and he dreamed that one day every citizen of this country could live with dignity; He has a gap in his heart, he cares about the people, and believes that benevolence can govern the country, so every thing he does, he thinks about what kind of changes it will bring to the people, although sometimes it seems too idealistic, but he has indeed been growing.

In the hearts of the people of the Tang Dynasty, their Royal Highness the Crown Prince is indeed a benevolent and virtuous person.

When Li Chen saw his mother, her mother, who was dignified no matter when and where, looked at him for a moment, and she didn't say anything, just sighed faintly. And my father's temples were already gray.

Li Chen was speechless for a while.

His mother was really sad about the death of the crown prince Li Hong, and personally copied the scriptures for him and prayed for him. When Li Chen went to ask his mother for peace, every time his mother talked about Li Hong, her eyes were red, "When I think of the hard work I have raised Hong'er over the years, and now the white-haired person sends the black-haired person, my heart is full of pain." ”

Li Chen and Tai Jing stood beside them, their eyes were also red, and no one spoke.

But two months later, Yan Zhuang, the former crown prince Li Hong's family commander, was inexplicably accused of breaking the law and was executed. Li Chen didn't know the ins and outs, he only knew that Yan Zhuang was Yan Liben's nephew, because Yan Liben was the prime minister at the time, so he entered the East Palace as the prince's family order. As far as Wu Zetian is concerned, Yan Zhuang's case should be a serious case, and it should be tried by the Criminal Department, Dali Temple, and Yushitai together.

Zhang slowly stood quietly in front of Li Chen, lowered his head, and reported softly: "Yan Zhuang's case bypassed Cheng Di Renjie of Dali Temple. ”

Li Chen was slightly stunned and nodded, "What else?" ”

Zhang Huan was the maid assigned to Li Chen by Mrs. Lu when she was in Buxian Garden. She may have grown up outside the palace since she was a child, and she is also quite clever and has a good memory, so she can get along with the palace maids in the palace better than Yang Zhiganlu. Sometimes Li Chen learned a lot of gossip and gossip from her.

Li Chen saw that Zhang was easy to get along with people, and then he didn't need her to wait, and let her go out to run errands and chat every day.

Zhang Huan is a person who can chat, and he also knows what the princess wants to know, and what things the princess may need to know, from being able to get a lot of information from different palace maids, of course, when it comes to Li Chen's side, there are usually several versions of a thing, and Li Chen doesn't care, just listen.

Zhang slowly continued: "The Yan family has removed Yan Zhuang from the family tree, probably because they are afraid of being implicated. ”

Li Chen: "I know, you go down." ”

Zhang slowly retreated, but Li Chen couldn't sit still. Yan Zhuang is Yan Liben's nephew, Yan Liben was very partial to this nephew during his lifetime, and at this time, he actually bypassed the current Dali Temple Cheng Di Renjie.

Yan Liben has the grace of knowing Di Renjie, and now that Yan Liben has died, there is an accident in Yan Zhuang, and it stands to reason that Di Renjie will not turn a blind eye. And it has been two months since the death of the prince's brother, and the coffin has also returned to Chang'an to be buried in Gongling, Yan Zhuang, as the prince's family order, has always been in peace, how could he violate the law for no reason, and he can bypass Dali Temple if he violates the law?

Li Chen didn't dare to think about it anymore.

Although she feels very cowardly, she has no other better choice at this moment except cowardice. What if things were to be figured out?

What if you know if the mother is the perpetrator or some other role?

The crown prince and elder brother are people who have received orthodox Confucian education and have a benevolent heart, but Confucianism has always been against women interfering in politics. Did the death of the prince's brother make his mother, who was worried about the loss of power, breathe a sigh of relief?

Under the imperial power, even his mother was really sad about the death of the prince's brother, and even copied the scriptures for him, how much of them were façade work and how much was sincere?

Li Chen couldn't forget his mother's slightly changed look when his father said that he wanted to pass on the throne to the crown prince and brother in advance.

Since Yan Zhuang had an accident and bypassed Dali Temple and was executed quickly and severely, Li Chen even felt that it was completely justified for later generations to say that the crown prince Li Hong did not die suddenly. Was her eldest sister, who was still in infancy, really strangled to death by her mother?

Li Chen felt that he had fallen into a dead end and couldn't get out.

The first time she realized death was when she was three years old when Helan, the wife of Wei, was poisoned by her mother.

She remembered that at that time, Mrs. Wei Guo, who was bleeding from seven holes, was lying on the bed, and she asked her mother: "A-Niang, what's wrong with Sister Helan?" ”

Mother said, "Sister Helan is going to the South China Sea to worship Guanyin." ”

No matter what it is, it will always return to dust, and from then on, the joys and sorrows of this red dust have nothing to do with those who have died. Li Hong too, his young life came to an abrupt end, whether it was his mother who copied the scriptures for him, or his father posthumously named him as filial piety to the emperor, these things, these posthumous names, do they have any meaning to him?

Not really.

Li Chen remembered that his father, who had not been in good health and spirit in recent days, hesitated for a moment, and then brought a tea set to the Hall of Eternal Life to find his father.

When Li Chen went, his mother was also there.

The two are talking about Di Renjie in Dali Temple, Di Renjie, recommended by Yan Liben, has always been deeply appreciated by his mother and father. And his mother was building a yì with his father, and Di Renjie was transferred to the Yushi Observatory as the Yushi Zhongcheng.

Li Chen visited his father and mother, and when Wu Zetian saw his daughter coming, he knew that she wanted to accompany Li Zhi so that he would not be too hurt and tired.

Wu Zetian touched Li Chen's head lovingly, and asked with a smile: "Did you bring a tea set over again to drink tea with your father?" ”

Li Chen smiled and nodded.

Li Zhi put down the fold in his hand, looked at his little daughter, who was now slim, and said with a smile: "I haven't drunk the tea brewed by Yongchang for a long time, Mei Niang, don't rush back to Qingning Palace first." ”

Wu Zetian smiled and nodded.

Li Chen divided two cups of tea for his parents, the tea surface is divided into the word longevity with soup flowers, Li Chen served the tea to his father, the pair of black eyes met his father's sight, and said seriously: "May my father be healthy and live a long life." ”

Li Zhi met his daughter's gaze, his heart was slightly sour, it has only been two months since the death of the prince Li Hong, he has always had high hopes for the prince, and now that the prince has died suddenly, how can he not hurt in his heart.

The bones of the deceased are not cold, but the country cannot do without a prince, and half a month later, Li Xian will be re-canonized as the crown prince.

Li Zhi had mixed feelings in his heart, and a thousand words were buried deep in his heart, he took the tea that Li Chen brought him, and said jokingly: "Yongchang is finally sensible." ”

Li Chen saw that her father was smiling a little, so she took on an unreasonable and arrogant appearance, she snorted lightly and snuggled up to her mother, "Auntie, Yongchang has always been very sensible, right?" ”

The chin is slightly raised, three points arrogant and seven points coquettish, cute and moving.

Wu Zetian stretched out his hand and pinched her nose, looked at Li Zhi with a smile in his eyes, and said, "The Lord thinks she has always been very sensible?" ”

Li Chen pouted a little dissatisfied, and pulled his mother's hand down, "Why did A-Niang ask Aye?" Aya will definitely say that I think about his collection every day, how can I be considered sensible? ”

When Li Zhi heard this, he finally laughed, glanced at Li Chen, and asked funny and helplessly: "You also know that you are not sensible to think about your father's collection every day?" ”

Li Chen pursed his lips, put his forehead on his mother's shoulder, and muttered, "It's not that you're ignorant." It's just that Aya's collection of things is so good, I like it when I see it, and I don't want to stare at my father's collection every day, but I just can't help it. ”

As she spoke, she herself became distressed.

Wu Zetian glanced sideways at Li Chen, angry and funny. Looking at Li Zhi again, the emperor's deep brows stretched slightly, and the eyes that looked at his little daughter were only warm and doting.

In the imperial family, the purest love of parents for their children may be the love for their daughters.

The emperor will also favor his sons, but one day, his throne will pass to his sons, but in a sense, the emperor and his sons are in a game of political power. Li Zhi to the crown prince Li Hong is indeed cultivated as a future emperor. In Li Hong's young life, he had nine prison experiences, and later the Jinzhou earthquake, he also asked him and Di Renjie to inspect Jinzhou together, and the political experience was already quite rich.

Li Zhi has always been very satisfied with Li Hong, and when he told Princess Linchuan that he wanted to pass on the throne to the crown prince in advance, he was also sincere. But afterwards, I felt that I had lost my words, and I probably meant it sincerely.

After all, if Li Zhi really retreats into the background and becomes the emperor, then the father and son will become very delicate.

Will they hold each other back or will they all be happy?

If the crown prince hadn't died suddenly and had been in the position of the prince, would he have been in the position of the prince, would he have been unable to wait and wanted his father to pass on the throne to him as soon as possible?

And Li Zhi's health is deteriorating, although he has the intention to delegate power, when he is delegating power, did he ever think that the prince's power would pose a threat to the imperial power in his hands?

Li Chen feels that Li Zhi is a good father to both his son and daughter. He had high hopes for his sons and gave them enough love, but he was also very strict. This can be seen from the cockfighting between Li Xian and Li Xian back then, Wang Bo wrote poems to help the fun, and Wang Bo was expelled from the Pei Wang's Mansion. But the father was probably also worried that his sons would kill themselves for the sake of imperial power, so he was particularly sensitive to these things.

Comparatively, the daughter is much simpler.

Li Zhi spoiled his two daughters, spoiled so much, spoiled that he wanted the stars not to give the moon, and to give what he wanted. There is no other reason, probably because he does not have to worry about what threat his daughter will pose to the imperial power in the future. For Wu Zetian, this is also the case.