Chapter 45: The Crown Prince Who Cannot Smile

How to return to Chang'an was a journey meticulously planned by Li Kuan, and when it came to execution, he proceeded with the utmost caution.

First, he dispatched his shadow assassins to scout the area thoroughly, confirming that the agents of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans had completely withdrawn. Only then did he return to his private estate and change into women's attire.

Yes, to ensure absolute perfection without leaving a trace of his movements, the remarkably flexible and adaptable Prince of Chu—for the future of the Great Tang, for the common people of the realm, and for his rather incompetent Crown Prince of an elder brother...

Brother is going all out!

Boarding an ox cart hired from the village, Li Kuan, draped in pink garments, slipped into Chang'an City under the guise of "a newly recruited maidservant from the private estate entering the city to purchase supplies."

Once inside the city, a pre-arranged subordinate driving a carriage was naturally waiting to escort him directly to the Chai residence.

However, the Prince of Chu, who had hastily changed back into men's clothes inside the carriage, had barely stepped out when he spotted his fourth younger brother, Li Tai, sitting at the front gates of the Chai mansion with his chin cupped in his hands, looking utterly bored.

"Second Brother!" Upon seeing Li Kuan step down from the carriage, the carefree and foolish younger brother immediately shouted, "I've been waiting for you forever!"

"Little Tai, why on earth are you hanging out here?" As he alighted, Li Kuan casually picked up a green tangerine bought along the way, peeled it, and repeatedly rubbed the peel against his clothes to mask the lingering scent of rouge and powder from his earlier disguise.

"Heh!" Li Tai let out a strange chuckle at these words and hurried over to Li Kuan. "Second Brother, it was Eldest Brother who asked me to come out and wait for him. Um... what is that smell on you?" Li Tai wrinkled his nose. Coming from the imperial family, he was naturally familiar with the scent of cosmetics, but because the cheap items Li Kuan had used earlier were of inferior quality, Li Tai naturally found the smell unpleasant.

"That's not the point! You said Eldest Brother is here." Tossed the green tangerine peel carelessly onto the head of the stone lion guarding the Chai family gates, Li Kuan glanced at Chief Steward Wang, who had just appeared behind the two of them. The old man looked at him with a deeply meaningful gaze, causing Li Kuan to raise an eyebrow.

This old fellow must have been quite a wild player in his youth, but today he hadn't even visited the pleasure quarters. Believing his conscience to be entirely clear, the Prince of Chu suddenly raised a hand and patted his brother's shoulder. "Come, take me to see Eldest Brother."

"Your Highnesses, just follow this old servant." Before Li Tai could speak, Steward Wang, who had been waiting respectfully for a long time, immediately replied with a beaming smile, offering to lead the way.

"Alright." Li Kuan didn't dawdle. After all, if possible, he still intended to make time to visit Li Huairen before returning to the palace.

Thus, after the span of a cup of tea, inside the grand hall of the Chai residence, Li Chengqian, who was conversing with his two cousins, caught sight of his outrageously bold younger brother.

"Well, well~ look who's all here." Li Kuan seemed inherently incapable of knowing what restraint meant. The moment he stepped into the hall, he clicked his tongue playfully at Chai Lingwu, picked a pear from the table, casually shoved it into the hands of the startled Li Tai beside him, selected another one for himself, and nonchalantly found a seat.

As for Li Tai, staring at the pear thrust into his hands, he could only let out a helpless sigh. Sitting down beside Li Kuan, he unclasped the small dagger hanging from his waist and began peeling the fruit for his second brother.

This heartwarming scene of brotherly affection left the other three occupants of the room amused.

"I say, Kuan, can you stop bullying Little Tai for once?" Chai Zhewei watched the domineering Li Kuan, then glanced at his own younger brother sitting next to him who was flashing a wicked grin at the visitor. To be honest, the stark difference between their younger brothers filled him with envy.

"Who's bullying Little Tai?" Li Kuan cast a sideways glance at his overly upright eldest cousin. By comparison, he much preferred the company of his younger cousin Chai Lingwu, whose personality was closer to his own.

"—This precious dagger originating from the Western Regions," Li Kuan pointed at the small knife in Li Tai's hand, "was won by me from His Imperial Grandfather for Little Tai during the New Year's Day celebrations last year. Tell me, how well do I treat him?"

"Awesome!" Chai Lingwu chuckled and gave Li Kuan a thumbs-up. He and his elder brother were naturally aware of the incident; back at the start of the year, Li Kuan would walk up to anyone and ask, "Have you eaten yet?"

Of course, that was merely his opening line.

Next, he would recount the story of how he won an entire mountain of treasure using a single gold bean: "By the way, how did you know that on New Year's Day, while accompanying His Imperial Grandfather in celebrating the holiday, I wiped out everyone's stakes?"

Just kidding—the way Li Kuan rolled the dice on the gambling table that day had utterly stunned Li Gao and his veteran ministers. As the master who swept the entire table clean, who wouldn't call him the "Saint of Dice"? Naturally, he had every right to show off.

"It would be even better if you hadn't used the precious sword bestowed upon me by Imperial Father as a stake," Li Chengqian said, glancing at the smugly triumphant Li Kuan as he set down his teacup and delivered a stealthy verbal stab.

"That was entirely voluntary on your part, Eldest Brother," Li Kuan retorted with a sudden, mischievous chuckle.

"You scoundrel..." Seemingly recalling something unpleasant, Li Chengqian could only shake his head with a bitter, helpless smile.

Who told him that one day, after waking up from an erotic dream and having Pu Yun wash his undergarments, he happened to be caught red-handed by this very scoundrel...

A Crown Prince utterly at the mercy of his younger brother had no choice but to concede...

"Second Brother, it's done." When Li Tai contentedly handed a freshly peeled pear to Li Kuan, the one Li Kuan had been eating earlier had been reduced to a mere core.

One had to admit, the tacit understanding between these two brothers was always present.

"Peel me another one, I'm dying of thirst." The lazy Lord Li accepted the pear, took a large, crunching bite, and casually issued his next command.

"Mm!" Li Tai saw nothing wrong with this arrangement whatsoever. With a bright grin, he turned his head toward the fruit platter on the nearby table, fully determined this time to pick the largest and finest pear available.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Jealousy truly makes people lose their minds. Watching another family's younger brother be so obedient, Chai Zhewei couldn't help glancing at Chai Lingwu, who was currently chewing on preserved fruit. "Little Brother, your big brother wants a pear too."

"Spit!" Having spat out a fruit pit, Chai Lingwu sneered coldly. "Do you want me to beat you to a pulp?"

"Hahahahaha..." Following a burst of hearty laughter, Li Kuan stood up and jutted his chin toward Li Chengqian, who occupied the seat of honor. "Eldest Brother, if there's nothing else, we should be heading out. I was planning to check on Huairen before returning to the palace."

"As for Huairen, you needn't bother going," Chai Lingwu interjected. "My eldest brother and I went to see him yesterday. He asked us to pass along a message to you: please, spare him..."

"Uh..." A tiny pang of guilt suddenly pricked Li Kuan's conscience. "Is he injured that severely?"

"He needs assistance just to eat, drink, and relieve himself," Chai Lingwu shook his head. "Heaven knows what the Prince of Hedong was thinking, striking him with such heavy hands..."

"Who else could it be besides that sweet-talking, bitter-hearted elder brother of his?" Li Tai swiftly finished peeling the pear. Seeing that his second brother had not yet finished the previous one, he held it in his hand instead. "It's not like I enjoy speaking ill of others, but Huairen's eldest brother, Li Chongyi... how should I put it..."

Li Tai exchanged a glance with his second brother, and the two of them spoke in unison: "Is there anyone in all of Chang'an who doesn't know that the eldest young master of the Prince of Hedong's household is magnanimous, benevolent, and generous?"

"Hahahahaha..." Laughter rang out once more. While joining in the mirth, Li Chengqian looked at his two carefree younger brothers and the two instigating cousins beside them, a lingering sense of unease whispering in the back of his mind.

Entertainment, it was all pure entertainment...

Wait... No!

Li Chengqian suddenly recalled that when outsiders described him, the Crown Prince, the vocabulary used was far loftier and more sophisticated than words like "magnanimous, benevolent, and generous"—terms like "naturally astute," "exceptionally quick-witted," and "of towering carriage, profound in filial piety and benevolence"... Oh...

Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, why aren't you laughing anymore? Is it because you were born with a disposition that simply doesn't care for smiling?

At this very moment, abruptly realizing that he might have inadvertently walked straight into a trap laid by his younger brothers, the Crown Prince truly could not laugh any longer...