Chapter 49 Beating You to Death, You Good-For-Nothing Wretch

After a moment of reflection, Su Qingyue suddenly thought of something, "Your Highness, wouldn't this make the Prince of Qin take the blame?"

"If that's the case, Your Highness, should I just let nature take its course?"

Li Chengche sneered. "What the maiden says makes sense, but the question is, is my second uncle the kind of person who is so easily framed? Why do you think he let my second brother go back so easily last night?"

"What he wants is not temporary innocence; he wants irrefutable proof that my father is incapable of governing the Eastern Palace."

"When the time comes, with ironclad evidence, my father will have no way to defend himself... Once we reach the imperial court, even if my father isn't publicly stripped of his position as Crown Prince, he will completely lose the Emperor's trust."

"An Eastern Palace Crown Prince who cannot even manage his own household—does he have the ability to govern the Great Tang empire?"

The answer was obvious without even thinking, and Emperor Gaozu knew it too. By that time, the Xuanwu Gate Incident might not even happen.

Wait? No Xuanwu Gate Incident? Wouldn't that be a good thing? If his father was deposed early on, he wouldn't have to die. Even if Li Shimin still wanted to silence him, he wouldn't make a move in the first year of Zhenguan; he would at least wait until a decade into the Zhenguan era.

Therefore... Li Chengche quickly decided to let events unfold as they would. He wouldn't interfere. If his father could be deposed early, it wouldn't be a bad thing!

"Your Highness, if you put it that way, what will become of the Eastern Palace?"

Li Chengche nodded. "So be it, Miss Su. Can't you see the future political landscape clearly? Do you know why I, the Imperial Grandson of the Eastern Palace, still bother to make money?"

"Why?"

"My position as the Imperial Grandson of the Eastern Palace cannot be preserved; sooner or before it will fall to my cousin Li Chengqian. I am simply carving out a path to survive."

[Ding! Detected that the host has grasped the true nature of the conspiracy yet chooses to let nature take its course. The system rates this as Advanced Quiet Quitting + Strategic Foresight. Points +70.]

[Ding! In view of the host's frequent acquisition of points, starting from today, purchasing any skill will cause the price of all other skills to increase by 200 points per transaction.]

What is this? Salaries climb the stairs while expenses take the elevator? The last time I encountered something this trap-laden was the ambition mode in Dynasty Warriors 4.

"Your Highness, are you certain you want to do nothing?"

"Yes. I know the strength of the Prince of Qin. Handing the Great Tang over to him is far better than handing it to my father."

With that, Li Chengche glanced out the window and stretched lazily. "Miss Su, just leave this matter alone."

Su Qingyue looked at Li Chengche, fell silent for a moment, and then asked him earnestly, "Your Highness, are you truly resigned to this?"

"Of course I am resigned. To forcefully fight for something beyond your grasp brings utter annihilation as its consequence. Take Dou Jiande, the Prince of Xia, for example. The maiden surely hasn't forgotten how he met his defeat, has she?"

"Of course I remember. He stubbornly insisted on supporting the lawless Wang Shichong, and as a result—" As a result, he was finished off by Li Shimin alongside Wang Shichong.

If it weren't for the familial ties between the Dou family and the Li family, how would Dou Jiande have had the chance to tonsure his head and become a monk? He likely would have been decapitated on the spot.

"This Prince simply has no wish to become Dou Jiande's grand-uncle. Therefore, Miss Su, remember never to meddle in this affair. Even if you do intervene, you must assist the Prince of Qin."

Su Qingyue sighed. His Highness saw through the current political situation clearly, but this clarity was limited. Yet, Su Qingyue perceived what Li Chengche had failed to see.

Once Li Shimin successfully seized power, where would there be any path of survival for him, the Imperial Grandson? Engage in commerce? When the time came, he wouldn't even find someone to give him charity if he went begging!

Therefore, this time, she could not obey Li Chengche.

"Your Highness, this humble maiden takes her leave. Please rest well and recuperate."

Li Chengche nodded.

Meanwhile, Consort Zheng, who had just been released, immediately summoned her trusted aides to inquire about the events of the past few days.

"What?"

Xiaoyun sighed. "This servant once tried to advise the Prince of Taiyuan, but he refused to listen and insisted on having his way... As a result, Grandson fell gravely ill and hovered near death that very night."

"The fool! I told him to inflict shallow cuts, but what did he do? He tried to stab the boy to death in one go! Good-for-nothing!"

"How could I have given birth to such a stupid son? In my foolishness, I usually thought him clever, but turned out to be... so utterly incompetent?"

"Does he not realize that if that wretched brat Li Chengche truly meets his end, not only will he lose his princely title and his life, but his husband's position as Crown Prince will also be ruined!"

"Go and summon him here. Today, this Consort is going to properly teach him how to vie for power!"

"Reporting to Your Highness the Crown Princess, yesterday the Prince of Taiyuan went to silence the relatives of those who knew the truth, but he was captured by Su Dingfang, Duke of Yinguo and a trusted confidant of the Prince of Qin's Manor, and dragged straight to the Prince of Qin's Manor."

"When His Highness the Crown Prince brought him back last night, he gave him a severe beating. Last night, he was carried back by two retainers from the Prince of Qin's Manor."

Consort Zheng sneered. "Why didn't they just beat this good-for-nothing to death? Xiaoyun, go fetch a rattan cane. I am going to give him a sound thrashing myself."

"Yes!" Xiaoyun sighed. Although she was Consort Zheng's confidante, the crux of the matter was that this was a family affair.

Before long, Consort Zheng arrived at Li Chengzong's bedchamber carrying a rattan cane.

When Li Chengzong saw his mother, he originally intended to greet her respectfully, but to his surprise, Consort Zheng stepped forward and struck him across the body with the cane. "You worthless wretch!"

"Li Chengche looks as though he has only a few days left to live. What are you rushing for at a time like this? Being impatient is one thing, but you had to use such a foolish method! Are you trying to ensure our entire family is destroyed?"

"Mother, I am wronged! It wasn't my doing! It was Cousin Chengqian, it was Cousin Chengqian!"

Clearly, Consort Zheng didn't believe a single punctuation mark of this excuse. With a cold sneer, she brought the cane down on him once more.

"You might be able to fool your Crown Prince father with such words, but you expect to deceive your mother? Keep dreaming!"

With those words, the rattan cane lashed down upon Li Chengzong's body blow after blow, soon reducing him to a bloody mess where he drew more outgoing breath than incoming.

Yet even so, Consort Zheng did not stop, because she wanted Li Chengzong to engrave this lesson into his memory!

"Stop! You didn't manage to kill the eldest, and now you want to beat the second one to death today?"

Consort Zheng turned around and bowed to Li Jiancheng. "Husband, I am only using such heavy hands for your sake."

"How can you say that?"

"Husband, the beating you gave him last night was far too light; it looked too much like an act. If the junior uncle finds out you only gave him that light thrashing, what will he think? Won't he assume that our Eastern Palace is merely pulling the wool over people's eyes? If that happens, they can openly accuse you of covering up the truth precisely to conceal the fact that Li Chengzong plotted against his own brother..."

"By then, you will be guilty of improper punishment first and poor household governance second. What do you think His Majesty, in his old age, will do?"

Hearing this, Li Jiancheng could not help but gasp inwardly, for he realized that everything Consort Zheng said was entirely correct.

If Li Shimin failed to seize such an opportunity, he would no longer be the undefeated Heavenly Strategy General of the Great Tang!

"My virtuous wife is truly insightful. It was indeed this husband who acted rashly. But if you keep beating him, he really will die..."

"Very well, I shall stop here. Husband, you can send someone to treat his injuries."

Li Jiancheng nodded and promptly arranged for a physician to be summoned.

After all, looking at those torn and lacerated flesh and skin, medical attention was indeed urgently needed.