After Madam Dou arrived, Yang Guang did not say much. He asked Madam Dou to take the two children to pack their luggage and move into the West Garden the next day.
Yang Guang was not a man without common sense. He knew that a six-year-old child was delicate, and Madam Dou would definitely give him some advice.
He also specifically allowed Mrs. Dou to keep two familiar servants for each child, so that they could ask for anything they needed.
Mrs. Dou led the two children away. On the way, the three of them were silent.
Li Shimin felt the low pressure from his mother and kept moving towards Li Xuanba, almost squeezing Li Xuanba against the carriage.
When they arrived at the temporary residence, Madam Dou opened the windows and doors, asked the servants to stand guard at a distance, and then spoke: "Tell me what happened today."
Li Shimin looked at Li Xuanba.
Madam Dou said, "Sanlang, if you are tired, you can take a nap first. I will call you when the food is ready."
Li Xuan said domineeringly: "I can go with my brother..."
Madam Dou interrupted, "Go to bed quickly. You will accompany the emperor tomorrow. Don't get sick."
Li Xuanba had no choice but to sleep next door.
Li Shimin pursed his lips: "Mother, this is not fair."
Madam Dou said with a straight face, "You are my brother!"
Li Shimin lowered his head.
Li Xuanba: [Brother, except for the matter about Emperor Yang of Sui, you can tell me the truth about everything else. It was me who taught you to please the emperor.]
Li Shimin nodded to Li Xuanba and patted his chest.
Although Li Xuanba was worried about his second brother accepting his mother's questioning alone, he was indeed tired and fell asleep immediately.
When he woke up and went back to next door, his second brother looked like he was about to cry but didn't cry. It seemed that he was just scolded by his mother but not beaten.
Li Xuanba stretched and stole a glance at his mother.
Madam Dou noticed Li Xuanba's gaze, sighed, and said unhappily: "Sanlang, although Erlang took everything on himself, wouldn't Erlang deliberately try to please other people's children? What are you hiding?"
Brother took all the responsibility on himself? Li Xuanba was stunned for a moment, and said helplessly: "Brother, what did you say when you came back? Just tell mother the truth."
Li Shimin sniffed: "I am your brother."
"Why are you so stubborn at this time..." Li Xuanba was helpless. He confessed to his mother, "I asked my brother to please His Majesty. His Majesty likes to hear good words. He is my and my brother's cousin. Whether as a minister or a junior, it is not wrong to please him."
Madam Dou sighed, "That's right. But what about archery? You look very skilled at it. Do you practice it often at home?"
Li Xuanba nodded: "It's fun."
Madam Dou slammed the table and said, "How could the master who taught you how to use a bow and arrow let you do such a dangerous thing!"
Mrs. Dou was both angry and anxious.
Her husband arranged her studies. Li Shimin and Li Xuanba were both very sensible and mature. She was busy serving her mother-in-law, arranging the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the whole family in the Duke of Tang's mansion, and socializing with other noble ladies. She did not ask about Li Shimin and Li Xuanba's affairs every day.
She thought the two children were very independent and would not want to be questioned every day. She just took some time every day to chat with the two children, asking them if they were bullied, if they needed anything, and reading with them for a while.
Who knew that two children would often play such a dangerous game at home?!
Although the arrows had no arrowheads and the bows were just toy bows for children, there was no danger if they were hit by arrows, but what if they got hurt?!
Li Xuanba and Li Shimin looked at each other.
Obviously, they all thought that their mother would be angry at their shameless attempt to please the emperor, but they didn't expect that their mother was only angry about the archery game they played.
Li Xuanba: [You have been apologizing to your mother for so long, but you didn't realize what she was angry about?! ]
Li Shimin: "…"
He scratched his head and said, "Mother, so you are not angry that we are trying to please our uncle?"
Madam Dou said, "He is the emperor. If you have the ability to please him, that would be a good thing." Although she was wary of the emperor, what she did after being wary was also what she had to do to dispel the emperor's vigilance, which was similar to what children did to please the emperor.
Li Shimin said: "Then why did mother keep asking me? I thought you were angry."
Once he learned that his mother was not angry about this, Li Shimin immediately straightened his chest and no longer felt aggrieved.
That's right, isn't it normal for us to please the emperor and our cousin? Look how much reward Xuan and I have earned! Mother should praise us!
Madam Dou tapped her son's head lightly with her finger and said, "I just want to scare you. Although His Majesty has rewarded you now, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. The emperor's mind is unpredictable. Don't think that your cleverness will work every time. You will accompany the emperor next time, so you must be careful and cautious."
Li Shimin lowered his head: "I understand."
Li Xuan said domineeringly: "Mom, I'm hungry. Now that the questioning is over, can we eat now?"
While my mother was being distracted by my second brother, I quickly brought up the topic of the archery game.
Madam Dou glanced at Li Xuanba, straightened her third son's messy hair, and said, "You haven't told me yet, why did you two play such a dangerous game? Your archery master didn't stop you? Do you know how dangerous this is?"
Li Shimin and Li Xuanba looked at each other again.
Alas, I didn't change the subject.
When Li Shimin wanted to take the responsibility on himself again, Li Xuanba said first: "We were wrong. We thought that arrows without arrowheads would not be dangerous, so we often played the game of archers."
He looked down at his toes and said, "I was the first one to play. My second brother is very good at archery and almost never misses a shot. I would just hold the target and run around, letting my second brother shoot at the moving target. It's just... it's fun."
Li Xuanba really played this game because he thought it was fun.
He knew how famous Li Shimin was in history as a great archer. Seeing that his second brother could shoot every time with the toy bow he used for enlightenment, he wanted to play with him.
It was a very exciting game. Li Xuanba would swing the target up and down and left and right while Li Shimin would chase the target and shoot at it. It was the game the two brothers played most often.
Li Shimin was very confident in his archery, and Li Xuanba was more confident in Li Shimin's archery skills than Li Shimin himself. And it was just a toy bow without arrows, so they didn't think about the danger of this game.
"In fact, I often shoot at my second brother with a bow." Li Xuanba said embarrassedly, "But five out of ten of my arrows will miss the target. When my second brother holds the target, he dodges my arrows that miss the target while moving the target closer to my arrows."
Li Shimin added: "It's very fun! Ouch."
Madam Dou knocked Li Shimin on the head again, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "You just used the game you usually play to please His Majesty?"
Li Xuanba nodded.
Upon hearing that Emperor Yang of Sui was going to take him and his second brother to Jiangdu, Li Xuanba forced himself to ask his second brother to use his trump card in order to have more autonomy on the dragon boat.
Emperor Yang of Sui was famous for his love of hunting in history. If the second brother showed his archery skills, he would definitely be able to further please Emperor Yang of Sui.
I can also use being a target to stay alert and avoid yawning.
After they finished playing this game, they could also use the excuse that they were very tired from shooting arrows and being targets, and resign to Emperor Yang of Sui, who had entertained them so much that he forgot to let them rest.
Mrs. Dou really had no idea what to do with these two children.
She was extremely angry at the time, but after calming down, she approved of the two children's "performing" to please the emperor.
Although Mrs. Dou had a strong sense of self-esteem, she was very rational and knew that if she showed self-esteem in front of the emperor, she would probably be disliked by the emperor.
It was the time when the two children didn't need to care about their face. What's more, the emperor was their cousin. It was "filial piety" for the younger generation to make the elders happy, and it would be a good reputation if it spread.
But the bow and arrow game is still too dangerous.
"Mom will make you a helmet and leather armor. If you want to play in the future, wear protective clothing before playing." Madam Dou asked the two children to stretch out their palms. After hitting them five times as punishment, she said, "People who are good at swimming are most likely to drown. No matter how confident you are, you must be prepared to get hurt. Do you understand?"
Li Shimin and Li Xuanba had originally planned not to play the archery game anymore, so they were surprised to hear their mother allow them to continue playing.
Li Shimin threw himself into Madam Dou's arms and said coquettishly, "My Lady, can Xuan and I continue playing?"
Madam Dou sighed and said, "You and Sanlang are both very proud and arrogant. You will definitely want to make a career for yourself in the future. Erlang, you will definitely go to the battlefield. Although Sanlang doesn't need to go to the battlefield, he still needs to have some self-protection skills. You two brothers have been learning archery and dodging arrows from each other since childhood. It is better than waiting until you go to the battlefield to learn."
She touched the two children's heads and said, "I think your master thought the same when he allowed you to play this game."
Maybe her husband already knew about it, but he just felt that there was no need to tell her about martial arts.
Li Shimin rubbed his mother's cheek and said, "Don't worry, madam. I am very, very capable. I will definitely get another title in the future. I will take you and Ah Xuan to my mansion to enjoy a good life."
Madam Dou laughed and said, "Just take Sanlang away."
"No, no, I want the queen, and Ah Xuan wants the queen too." Li Shimin insisted, "Ah Xuan, you should tell me something too."
Li Xuanba nodded: "Brother is right."
He hadn't recovered from the fact that his mother actually thought so far for them. And his mother also judged that this short-lived "golden age" would end?
At that time, people still did not believe that there would be another unified dynasty like the Han Dynasty that would last for more than a hundred years.
"Okay, didn't you say you were hungry? Do you want to eat?" Madam Dou said with a smile, "After dinner, I will talk to you about how to get along with the Queen."
Alas, I don't know how to tell two six-year-old children that the Queen wants to marry them.
After eating and drinking, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba lay on Madam Dou's lap and listened to her gently reminding them of the things they should pay attention to when accompanying the emperor.
Mrs. Dou mainly enumerated which people around the emperor were more upright, who had a good relationship with her husband, and who could protect her two children.
Li Xuanba closed his eyes and matched the names his mother mentioned with his memories one by one.
During Emperor Yang of Sui's visit to Jiangdu, most of his companions were members of the royal family. He highlighted the names of Prince of Teng Yang Lun and Prince of Wei Yang Ji.
After Emperor Yang of Sui ascended the throne, he distrusted the royal family because of rumors of patricide and wanted to destroy his entire family. Prince Teng Yang Lun and Prince Wei Yang Ji were the first to suffer, and the incident probably happened when they visited Jiangdu.
He and his second brother had to go around these two members of the royal family.
As he listened, Li Xuanba fell asleep again.
Li Shimin whispered, "My brother is still snoring."
Madam Dou said, "Sanlang must be very tired. Erlang, when you are on the dragon boat, you should control your temper and take good care of your brother."
Li Shimin said, "Don't worry, mother."
Madam Dou said, "The emperor has the best doctors and the best medicines around him. Since you have won his favor, don't be polite. Do your best to find famous doctors and good medicines, and check your brother's body every day."
Li Shimin said, "I'll remember that. Hehe, if we miss this opportunity, even our Tang Guogong Mansion won't be able to invite the imperial physician to treat Ah Xuan every day."
Mrs. Dou also had a slight smile on her face. Perhaps this was the only thing that made her feel at ease when the two children were accompanying her.
"I've told the Queen that you're weak, so you should pretend." Madam Dou said, "If the Queen doesn't care and insists on asking about your marriage, just say you're young and don't understand, and it's all up to your parents to decide."
Li Shimin said: "It should be so."
Madam Dou said, "If the Queen says something bad about Zheng Shi of Xingyang in front of you, you must not agree with her."
Li Shimin nodded: "I remember them all."
Mrs. Dou was still worried and kept on talking about it.
Although Li Shimin was also sleepy, he insisted on listening to the end and kept assuring himself that he had heard it carefully.
It was not until he could no longer hold on and began to yawn continuously that Mrs. Dou reluctantly carried the child to the bed.
Mrs. Dou got up and left, packed luggage for her two children, and selected a loyal servant to protect her.
The next day, Yang Guang did not send anyone to urge them. After Madam Dou and the two children had breakfast, they sent Li Shimin and Li Xuanba to the palace.
As soon as Li Shimin and Li Xuanba saw Yang Guang, they called him "cousin", which made Mrs. Dou's eyes twitch.
Especially Li Xuanba's coquettish expression, which was almost identical to Li Shimin's, made Madam Dou clench her toes.
I didn't expect that my own Sanlang had this ability. It seems that I can rest assured.
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After sending the two children to the palace, Mrs. Dou immediately took a boat back to Xingyang and told Li Yuan about it.
She was wary of the emperor and did not even dare to send someone to tell Li Yuan about this in advance, fearing that the emperor would misunderstand that she was unhappy about the two children accompanying him.
Madam Dou said, "Erlang and Sanlang said that His Majesty said that you are stingy and you always refuse to give him a good horse when you get one."
Li Yuan laughed: "Cousin, you have the whole world, but you still miss my good horse?"
Madam Dou knew that it was impossible to make Li Yuan wary of the emperor, so she changed her tone and said, "Your Majesty asked the two children to call him cousin, which seems to mean that he treats our family as relatives. Relatives should give and take, so how can you be less polite just because your relatives are rich?"
Li Yuan pondered for a while, still shaking his head: "Your Majesty is Your Majesty, how can I treat him as an ordinary relative? If I present treasures to Your Majesty, I am afraid that people will think it is flattery and bribery, which will damage my reputation."
Mrs. Dou sighed in her heart.
It's a good thing for a husband to value his reputation, but if he cares too much about vanity, it will become a burden.
Dalang also learned this from her husband.
She thought of how Erlang and Sanlang tried their best to please the emperor. Her husband and Dalang were not as smart as Erlang and Sanlang.
"But now that Erlang and Sanlang are with Your Majesty, you should perhaps give Your Majesty some gifts. If you do nothing, Your Majesty might think that you don't care about Erlang and Sanlang." Madam Dou took another step back.
This time Li Yuan was convinced: "That's right, I have to send some gifts and ask Your Majesty to take good care of Erlang and Sanlang. Alas, Erlang and Sanlang are only six years old. How can you let Your Majesty keep Erlang and Sanlang by your side and even go south? What if Erlang and Sanlang can't adapt to the local climate?"
Madam Dou lowered her head and said, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have raised Erlang and Sanlang to be so likable."
Li Yuan: "…"
He chuckled and said, "Well, that's true. It's the fault of Jiro and Saburo being so likable."
Li Yuan also knew that his wife could not stop the emperor's decision. But he could not complain to the emperor, so he could only complain to his wife.
After being contradicted by Mrs. Dou, he did not get angry and just let it go.
What's more, Li Yuan was very proud that his own Erlang and Sanlang were very likable, there was nothing he could do about it.
"After this experience of accompanying the emperor, there will definitely be many children of noble families and nobles who want to get to know Erlang and Sanlang. Perhaps we should prepare nicknames for them in advance." Li Yuan was very interested. "Madam, do you have any ideas?"
Madam Dou said, "My dear, let's put this aside for now. There is another important matter that must be resolved immediately. The Queen heard of Erlang and Sanlang's talent and fame, and she intends to let Erlang and Sanlang marry the daughter of Lanling Xiao family."
Li Yuan was stunned, then frowned: "Does she still think that the Lanling Xiao family is not prominent enough? The royal family and the nobles are marrying together. Isn't this just trying to make His Majesty wary?"
Although Li Yuan trusted the emperor, he was not stupid and understood the taboos.
Furthermore, Li Yuan also understood the frictions between the county surnames and the overseas Chinese surnames.
When Empress Xiao heard that Erlang Sanlang was superior to Zheng family of Xingyang, she immediately wanted to marry Erlang Sanlang. It was obvious that she wanted to drag Erlang Sanlang into the fight between the Jun surname and the Qiao surname.
"She is too careless." Li Yuan sighed, "I hope she won't cause trouble for the crown prince. The crown prince is a very good heir to the throne."
Madam Dou nodded and sighed as well. Crown Prince Yang Zhao was so wise and benevolent that he didn't seem like a member of the Yang family.
Li Yuan said: "Erlang's marriage must be chosen from the Lu clan. You ask your mother's family if there is a suitable woman, and I will ask my colleagues."
Madam Dou asked, "What about Sanlang?"
Li Yuan was silent.
After a while, he sighed and said, "Wait until Sanlang is older. Next year, if he doesn't get seriously ill again, I will find him a virtuous official woman with good character. It doesn't matter if her family background is low, as long as she can take care of Sanlang."
Madam Dou listened to Li Yuan's words of love for her son and her expression became gentle: "Given Sanlang's personality, he probably wouldn't like someone who is too virtuous. Sanlang is weak, so the one she marries should be more straightforward, capable of standing up for herself and protecting him."
Li Yuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "How can a wife protect her husband?"
Madam Dou said coquettishly, "Why not?"
Li Yuan said, "Yes, yes, yes." He didn't bother with women.
…
Since the emperor mentioned his fine horses, he gave the emperor two fine horses and a falcon.
After receiving Li Yuan's gift, Yang Guang smiled and said to Li Shimin and Li Xuanba: "Your father is finally willing to pluck his hair. It's not easy."
Li Xuanba looked at the gift sent by Li Yuan and sighed in his heart.
Why is the gift so little? It seems that my father still hasn't figured it out.
It's true that he won't turn back until he hits the wall. Does my father have to hit the wall for more than ten years and wait until the end of the Daye period to please Emperor Yang of Sui?
It seems that my second brother and I still have to work hard.
Because Li Shimin and Li Xuanba kept saying that "father is stingy", Yang Guang replaced the impression that "Li Yuan is not loyal to me" with "Li Yuan is just stingy".
Although Li Yuan's gift was "stingy" this time, it was given anyway. Yang Guang's suspicion of Li Yuan was reduced a little, and he was ready to give Li Yuan a chance to show his ability.
That's for later.
On August 15th, Yang Guang went south to Jiangdu for the first time.
Jiangdu is the Yangzhou city in later generations.
In the ninth year of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Wuzhou was renamed Yangzhou, with Jiangdu as its capital. Yang Guang served as the governor of Yangzhou for more than ten years. Yangzhou was his base camp.
This time when he returned to Jiangdu, in addition to his political intention of appeasing the south of the Yangtze River, Yang Guang also had the idea of "returning home in glory".
After Yang Guang ascended the throne, he immediately promoted Jiangdu to the level of "Jingyin" and built the Tongji Canal to connect Luoyang and Jiangdu.
Now he was finally going to return to his "old place" as an emperor, and the generosity in his heart was about to overflow.
The dragon boat that Yang Guang rode on was 200 meters long, 45 meters high, and had four floors. The top floor was the main hall where Yang Guang lived and held meetings; the middle two floors had 110 magnificent rooms for the ministers and concubines Yang Guang invited to board the dragon boat; the bottom floor was for the palace maids and eunuchs waiting to be dispatched.
The structure of the Xiangchi boat that Empress Xiao rode was similar to that of Yang Guang, but it was smaller in size. Li Shimin and Li Xuanba followed Empress Xiao and lived in the main hall on the top floor of the Xiangchi boat.
When the dragon boat fleet started to move slowly, the two children lay on the side of the boat, marveling at the scene on both sides of the river.
Empress Xiao sat beside them, smiling and asking them to be careful.
Empress Xiao's two sons were already young, and her grandsons were too young to be separated from their mothers. Although there were some princesses serving her, she still felt empty at home.
Li Shimin and Li Xuanba were both good-looking, intelligent and cute, which just filled the void in Empress Xiao's heart.
Li Xuanba was indeed weak. Although Li Shimin was usually lively and healthy, he would suddenly become tired and weak after playing for a long time.
Just as Mrs. Dou said, the twins have some congenital deficiencies.
Empress Xiao gave up her plan of marrying them, but became even more fond of the two brothers.
Li Shimin and Li Xuanba tested Empress Xiao's "bottom line" little by little, and now his status in Xiangchizhou is like that of a prince.
Li Shimin whispered to Li Xuanba: "I thought the boat was rowed, how come it is pulled by people?"
Li Xuanba: [The entire dragon boat fleet requires more than 80,000 civilians to pull it. The emperor's large dragon boat alone requires a thousand civilians to pull it.]
Li Shimin blinked.
He looked at the densely packed laborers on the shore, and the excitement on his face faded.
Li Shimin poked Li Xuanba and whispered, "Ah Xuan, they look so pitiful."
Li Xuanba glanced at his second brother, then looked around at the other people on the Xiangchi boat.
They were not the only ones who saw the civilians on the shore.
When everyone saw the spectacular sight on the shore, they all showed expressions of pride and smugness.
The same was true for palace maids and eunuchs.
"Yes." Li Xuan said domineeringly, "Second brother, the wind is too strong, let's go into the cabin."
Li Shimin nodded: "Okay."
He said something to Empress Xiao and left with his brother.
Before leaving the deck, Li Shimin looked back again.
The laborers had already pulled the tow rope and were shouting as they pulled the boat hard.
Officials whipped them hard on the back with whips to make them speed up.
There was already singing and dancing going on on the boat they were on.
In front, the dragon boat where the emperor was riding could be heard beating war drums, as if they were playing exciting war music.
There were also laughter coming from the boats behind them, and monks, nuns and Taoists chanting Buddhist and Taoist mantras, praising the prosperity of the Sui Dynasty.
Li Shimin turned his gaze back to the front and took his brother's hand into the room belonging to the two brothers in the Xiangchizhou Palace.
There's nothing interesting about the hustle and bustle, so it's better to accompany my brother to take a nap.