Not long after, the emperor's order came from the palace.
Fang Yuan, the Minister of Household Affairs, was summoned to the palace by Emperor Li Shimin.
Fang Yuan was not in the household department but in the Fang Mansion. The person who sent the message was the eunuch Wang De. Fang Yuan probably knew something about the situation from his mouth.
For this reason, Fang Yuan asked Du Miaoyan to bring Li Ke, who was sent by Li Ke, into the palace with him intact.
But before I could see Li Shimin in the royal study, I met Li Zhi on the road.
Today, Li Zhi is only five years old and looks pink and tender.
"Fang Yuan, why did you carry so many things into the palace?"
Li Zhi took the lead in greeting Fang Yuan.
"Go back to His Majesty the King of Jin, these are gifts given to me by the King of Shu."
"Your Majesty seemed angry about this, so I brought them all into the palace."
Fang Yuan saluted Li Zhi and smiled.
"Oh, that's it... Fang Yuan, I'm lost, can you take me back to my dormitory?"
Li Zhi smiled sweetly and suddenly made a request.
Fang Yuan couldn't help being stunned. He didn't know much about the imperial palace at all. If he wanted to go back to the palace, he could just ask the imperial guards at the side.
But when he was about to refuse, he noticed Li Zhi blinking at him, so he had no choice but to nod in agreement and walk with him.
"Fang Yuan, which prince do you support as the crown prince?"
After walking for a while, Li Zhi suddenly asked.
"Your Highness, I am neutral and will not support anyone."
Fang Yuan was already prepared, but he still couldn't help but sigh.
It is so premature that such a young King of Jin also started to pay attention to the candidate for the crown prince. It is really sad.
"Are you kidding me?"
"You are the Minister of Household Affairs and you know so many important things. How can you be neutral?"
Li Zhi stopped and looked up at Fang Yuan.
He is only five years old, but he feels very mature at this time.
Those clear eyes look like a mature wise man at this time.
"It is precisely because of my high position that I remain neutral."
Fang Yuan's face was expressionless and he said calmly.
"Do you want to gain more benefits by remaining neutral?"
"For example...those gifts that Third Brother gave you are for sale!"
Li Zhi still looked at Fang Yuan, with a childish voice and calm eyes.
"Your Highness is joking."
"Do you think I will lack that something?"
Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment, then he laughed.
Unexpectedly, remaining neutral would be considered a sell-out.
I wonder how many people in the DPRK feel this way, and I wonder if Li Ke and Li Tai think this way?
"It's hard to say. People's desires are endless. It's normal to want to have more after you have it."
Li Zhi said slowly.
At this time, he doesn't look like a child at all.
Instead, it gave Fang Yuan the feeling of an old fox that had been lurking for a long time.
"His Royal Highness Prince Jin, you are really surprising."
"People who don't know think you are just a child, but you are already eyeing the position of prince."
Fang Yuan did not reply directly to Li Zhi's words, but sighed.
As expected, there are no simple people in the royal family, and Li Zhi is the best explanation.
He is only five years old, and there is such a city. How can he still get it in the future?
No wonder Li Zhi was the one who was granted the title of prince and succeeded to the throne in history.
"I was born into a royal family, and the position of prince is vacant, so I have to keep an eye on it."
"Fang Yuan, please tell me honestly, are you really neutral, or are you waiting for a price?"
Li Zhi sighed and said.
At such a young age, he seems to be very tired.
He looked at Fang Yuan, and there was no innocence in his eyes that a five-year-old child should have.
"Neutral."
Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.
"Then who do you think is the most likely to be the crown prince among the princes?"
Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and then continued to ask.
"You."
Fang Yuan said after a long silence.
Historically, after Li Chengqian was deposed, Li Ke and Li Tai became the most popular candidates for the crown prince.
However, the competition between the two was too fierce, and Li Shimin didn't like it, so he felt that the young Li Zhi was the last choice.
According to historical records, Li Zhi won by lying down.
Now seeing that Li Zhi is so wealthy, Fang Yuan feels that he may be the future prince.
"Are you kidding me?"
Li Zhi suddenly became restless and stuttered when he spoke.
He immediately felt that Fang Yuan was making fun of him and said it on purpose.
"Does your Highness have anything else to do?"
Fang Yuan did not explain.
He thinks Li Zhi is most likely to become the prince.
But it does not mean that we should support Li Zhi to become the prince.
If we continue to chat more, maybe Li Zhi will feel that he will support him.
The neutrality promised is neutrality, whether it is Li Ke, Li Zhi or Li Tai.
The competition between royal families is cruel, and I don’t want to get involved, nor do I want to waste the energy to get involved.
Whoever will be the emperor in the future is the same to me, as long as I do what I am doing now.
"No, no more."
Li Zhi still can't calm down.
Fang Yuan suddenly said that he was most likely to become the crown prince, which greatly stimulated him.
"Then I will resign first!"
Fang Yuan saluted and left, returning to the original route.
Li Zhi looked at Fang Yuan's back, his face was red and he was still very excited.
After a while, he slowly calmed down, but his eyes were still shining.
After all, he is just a five-year-old child. There are many things he does not understand, and he lacks the support of the courtiers.
It is difficult to want to be a prince but have no one to support you, but after hearing Fang Yuan's words, he was immediately full of confidence.
On the other side, Fang Yuan quickly went to the imperial study room to see Li Shimin.
"Didn't you enter the palace a long time ago? Why do you still have me waiting for you?"
Li Shimin said dissatisfied.
When Fang Yuan entered the palace gate, he received the message.
I just finished a period of work, so I thought of waiting for Fang Yuan before continuing to work.
Who knew, I didn't see Fang Yuan after waiting for a long time, much longer than the normal time to enter the palace.
"I met His Highness Prince Jin on the road. He said he was lost and asked him to take him back to his palace."
Fang Yuan said truthfully.
In the palace, nothing can escape the emperor's eyes and ears.
Lying will only embarrass yourself, so it's better to admit it.
"You don't understand the palace, how can you take him back?"
Li Shimin frowned immediately.
"This is how I returned to His Highness King Jin."
"But His Highness the King of Jin insisted. I saw that His Highness the King of Jin was still young, so I walked with him for a while."
Fang Yuan explained.
Hearing this, Li Shimin's brows relaxed.
He also thought that Li Zhi, like Li Ke, would give gifts to Fang Yuan to win over Fang Yuan.
But when I turned around and thought about it, Li Zhi was only five years old. What he had in mind was purely due to his own overthinking.
Thinking of this, Shu Song's brows furrowed again, he looked at Fang Yuan dissatisfied, and said in a deep voice: "What does the King of Shu want from you?"
"What else could it mean? Just ask me to support him in becoming the crown prince."
"Your Majesty, I don't want to participate in any imperial power struggle. I didn't want to accept the gift originally, but the King of Shu said it was for my unborn child and couldn't find any reason to return it."
"Your Majesty, all the gifts are here. I don't want any of these gifts."
Fang Yuan asked people to bring the gifts in and said.
"Am I the one who stole your gift? Just accept it if I give it to your unborn child."
Li Shimin rolled his eyes and said.
Fang Yuan is a shrewd person, but every time he mentions the struggle for imperial power, he acts like a reckless man.
Can you say something like Li Ke wooing him?
Obviously it can't be said.
But Fang Yuan still said it, said it seriously.
This left Li Shimin speechless, but he breathed a sigh of relief again.
A minister who does not get involved in the struggle for imperial power is a good minister and the one the emperor wants.
"Wouldn't it default to supporting King Shu?"
Fang Yuan pursed his lips and said.
"It's so long, just take it!"
"But I warn you not to interfere in my family affairs!"
Li Shimin was speechless.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Fang Yuan gave a very fake salute.
Don’t give up the benefits that are given to you for free.
"How are the arrangements for Japan and Goguryeo going?"
Li Shimin is serious.
His name is Fang Yuan, not only because Li Ke gives gifts, but also for other serious matters.
"Everything is normal at the moment. It's just that I'm having trouble with the selection of people to go to Goguryeo."
Fang Yuan sighed and said.
The candidate to lead this trip must have great wisdom and the potential to be a commander.
Just being able to charge into battle is not enough, and it is difficult to deal with Gao Tianzhi and others.
"No one volunteered?"
Li Shimin frowned and said.
"There was one, but the minister told him that there was danger and there was a danger of never returning, so he went back to think about it."
Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.
"Who?"
Li Shimin asked.
"His Royal Highness the King of Shu."
"He gave the gift just now mainly to say that he wanted to lead people there."
Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.
"Nonsense!"
"Even if he wants to, we won't let him go."
Li Shimin suddenly changed his face and said in a deep voice.
This trip is very dangerous, and the three hundred people will probably be wiped out.
Therefore, the people who go there at this time should not be too important, lest the court suffer unbearable heavy losses.
As a prince, Li Ke is his own son, and it is even more impossible for him to make the decision on such a dangerous matter.
"I understand."
Fang Yuan glanced at Li Shimin and said slightly speechless.
As expected, my own son is treated differently.
"Look again to see if anyone is willing to go."
"If you don't want to, consider changing your strategy and don't let Goguryeo lead you."
Li Shimin said in a deep voice.
Now it is the Tang Dynasty that helps Goguryeo.
If you feel there is danger, you can refuse or consider other options.
"I understand."
Fang Yuanyuan knew this.
We have also considered changing the method.
Either they directly changed the candidate with Gao Tianzhi, or the current candidate was confused by Gao Tianzhi and had other operations secretly.
"Okay, you can go back."
Li Shimin nodded.
Fang Yuan resigned and went to work in the household department.
After get off work, I went home normally, but was suddenly stopped in an emergency.
"Master, there is a woman blocking the way!"
The coachman in charge of the carriage reported.
"Who?"
Fang Yuan frowned and opened the curtain to look outside.
At this moment, Fang Yuan's brows suddenly frowned deeper.
It’s Su Ziqing, the prince’s fiancée who once had a romantic relationship.
After Li Chengqian was deposed, Su Ziqing seemed to have disappeared and no one mentioned her again.
Now that Li Chengqian has been demoted from Chang'an City, the relationship between Su Ziqing and Li Chengqian seems to be broken.
After that time, Du Miaoyan said that he would help Fang Yuan handle it, but since he hadn't seen Su Ziqing for so long, Fang Yuan thought that Du Miaoyan had already handled the matter.
Now that he suddenly saw Su Ziqing, Fang Yuan suddenly felt guilty.
"Fang Shangshu, I have something to ask you!"
Su Ziqing's eyes turned red and she walked straight to Fang Yuan's carriage.
The driver originally wanted to scold Su Ziqing, but seeing Su Ziqing's eyes red, he did not dare to speak.
Anyone who can be Fang Yuan's coachman has some vision. Seeing this situation, he guessed that things are not simple.
"Please come up."
Fang Yuan sighed and opened the curtains further.
The coachman immediately put down his stool and helped Su Ziqing get into the carriage.
Soon, Su Ziqing got on the carriage, and the driver continued to drive back towards Fangfu.
Su Ziqing didn't say anything after getting in the car. She sat opposite Fang Yuan with her head lowered and tears falling down drop by drop.
Fang Yuan felt that the atmosphere was a bit depressing, as if he was someone who abandoned his wife and children, so he couldn't help but take the initiative to speak.
"What do you want from me?"
Although I tried to be calm, my voice always felt a little lackluster.
"I, I told you to marry me, why haven't you heard anything yet?"
Su Ziqing took a deep breath and finally looked up at Fang Yuan.
For a moment, Fang Yuan's heart trembled heavily, and he was unable to look directly at Su Ziqing's red eyes.
"Miaoyan told me to leave the matter to her, but you haven't discussed it yet?"
"Originally we had an agreement, but now we can't help it!"
"What do you mean?"
Fang Yuan frowned deeply.
What does it mean that we originally had an agreement, but now we can’t do anything about it?
"I, I'm pregnant, and the baby is yours."
Su Ziqing's words immediately stunned Fang Yuan, like a bolt from the blue.
He subconsciously looked at Su Ziqing's belly, but there was clothes blocking it and he couldn't see anything.
However, what happened between the two of them also happened three months ago, and even if there is any trace, there is no trace.
"You, you're not kidding me, are you?"
"After so many days, are you sure it's mine?"
Fang Yuan finally spoke, his tone full of disbelief.
It has been too long. In this era without DNA authentication technology, it is difficult to identify whether a parent is a parent or not.
"You bastard!"
"You are the only man I've ever had!"
Su Ziqing collapsed immediately, screaming and throwing herself at Fang Yuan.
She struggled to grab Fang Yuan everywhere, like a crazy shrew.
Fang Yuan was thrown onto the carriage, pain was felt everywhere in his body, and he was suddenly very angry.
I wanted to push Su Ziqing away, but the push away soon turned into a hug, holding Su Ziqing tightly in my arms to prevent her from continuing to go crazy.
There is no way, if you push Su Ziqing away, it is very likely to hurt the child in her belly. Even if you are not sure whether the child in Su Ziqing's arms is yours, you should treat pregnant women with a certain gentlemanly manner.
Su Ziqing tore Fang Yuan's clothes and stopped after a while, finally lying on Fang Yuan's body and sobbing.
"Tell me what's going on?"
After a while, Fang Yuan tried his best to sit up, pushed Su Ziqing out of his arms, and said in a deep voice.
When it comes to your own children, you can't be careless, and you can't fall into Su Ziqing's trap.
"The first month I was raped by you, Tiankui didn't come. I thought it was because I was hurt too much by you, so it was normal that I didn't come."
"The second month after I was raped by you, Tiankui also didn't come. I started to panic, but I didn't dare to tell anyone, and I didn't dare to go to a doctor to check my body for fear of being discovered."
"On the third month after I was raped by you, Tiankui still didn't come. I was even more panicked. I secretly went to the doctor to check my body a few days ago and found out that I was nearly three months pregnant... I still only have