As time went by, Li Shimin's body finally recovered slowly, and the case of Li Chengqian's rebellion finally began to be formally handled. Zhao Jie, Du He, Li Yuanchang and others were all sentenced to death. Among them, Du He was also Li Shimin's prospective son-in-law, and his father Du Ruhui was also Li Shimin's most capable assistant and had just passed away. Originally, Li Shimin did not want to convict Du He, but many ministers firmly opposed it. In the end, Li Shimin had to convict Du He, and as for the princess, he found another son-in-law.

In addition to Du He, there is another person who makes Li Shimin even more embarrassed, that is Hou Junji. Although the other party betrayed him, Li Shimin is a person who values ​​feelings. He also thought that Hou Junji had made many contributions to the Tang Dynasty. Now he ordered him to kill Hou Junji, and he couldn't bear this for a while.

However, Hou Junji committed a ten unforgivable crime after all. Even if Li Shimin didn't want to kill him, the ministers below would not agree. Especially, Hou Junji was usually a sharp person and narrow-minded, and had offended many people. For example, he had learned military tactics with Li Jing, but he actually complained to Li Shimin in private, saying that Li Jing was willing to teach him about military tactics. As a result, after Li Jing knew about this, he was extremely disgusted with Hou Junji since then.

In the past, Hou Junji was a founding hero and was highly valued by Li Shimin, so others could not do anything about him. However, now Hou Junji has become a prisoner under the ranks, and many people immediately took the blame and strongly demanded that Hou Junji be sentenced to death. In the end, Li Shimin had no choice. After all, he even killed his son-in-law, so he could not spare Hou Junji alone, so he could only sentence him to death.

However, on the night when Hou Junji was executed, Li Shimin went out of the palace to Dali Temple and visited Hou Junji in person. It is said that Hou Junji also begged Li Shimin to spare his wife and children before his death. Li Shimin also agreed to this. After all, according to the law, even his family would be implicated in serious crimes such as treason. At the least, the house would be confiscated, and at the worst, the whole family would be executed.

On the second day after Li Shimin visited Hou Junji, Zhao Jie, Du He and Hou Junji were all executed. As for Hou Junji's family, they moved to the south according to Hou Junji's intentions, and note that it was migration, not exile, which was a world of difference from Cui Gan's family. Li Shimin even sent someone to escort Hou Junji's family out of Chang'an.

The reason why Hou Junji asked his family to go to the south was actually because he knew that he had offended too many people. If his family stayed in Chang'an after his death, he would probably suffer more damage, so it would be better to go far away. The south is a good place to go.

Previously, the ministers of the Tang Dynasty were quarreling about the life and death of Du He, Hou Junji and others, but when these people were executed, the life and death of the only culprit, Li Chengqian, was not decided yet, these ministers all shut up and pretended to be mute, and no one dared to express any opinion on how to deal with Li Chengqian.

In fact, it is not a big deal for these ministers not to speak, because they are also in a dilemma about how to deal with Li Chengqian. If they say they want to execute Li Chengqian, they may be the first to refuse to agree. Let’s take a step back. Even if Li Shimin agrees now, what if he regrets it if he regrets it again? At that time, he will definitely be transferred to the ministers who say he wants to kill Li Chengqian.

Of course, it would not work if Li Shimin was persuaded not to kill Li Chengqian, because even Du He and other accomplices were executed. If Li Chengqian, the main culprit, survived, where would the law of the Tang Dynasty be placed?

It was precisely because of the above considerations that when it was the turn to deal with Li Chengqian, all the civil and military officials in the court pretended to be deaf and dumb, and pushed the matter to Li Shimin again. Anyway, whether Li Chengqian was alive or dead, it was a decision made by Li Shimin himself. Even if Li Shimin regretted it in the future, they would not blame them.

Faced with the silence of all officials, Li Shimin was also very embarrassed. From his original heart, he naturally wanted to keep his son's life, but he had executed Hou Junji and others before, and now he asked him to keep Li Chengqian's life. He could not speak for a while, so he was in great difficulty.

However, later someone came forward to help Li Shimin solve this problem. This person has a low official position and is just a common housekeeper named Lai Ji, but this person has a very big background. His father was Lai Hu'er, the famous general of Zuo Yiwei in the former Sui Dynasty. Qin Qiong and Ma Ye used to serve Lai Hu'er.

This Lai Ji said when Li Shimin was in a dilemma, that is, "Your Majesty is a kind father, and you will do good things after all your life." It was this sentence that finally gave Li Shimin an excuse to save Li Chengqian's life, so he announced on the spot that Li Chengqian would be deposed as a commoner and exiled to Quzhou, which is the later generations of Quzhou, Zhejiang.

In fact, in the original history, Li Chengqian was deposed and exiled to Qianzhou, which is the border area of ​​Hubei, Hunan and Chongqing in later generations. Although Li Xiu's time travel failed to change Li Chengqian's destiny, it still had some influences. For example, Li Chengqian's exile changed, and Li Chengqian's mentality seemed to be different from that in history. If he could really let go, he would not have ended in depression two years later as in the original history.

Li Chengqian's position as crown prince was finally forgotten, and many people inside and outside the court breathed a sigh of relief, especially those on Li Tai, who were so excited that they almost ran around to tell each other. However, it may be that Li Shimin's previous warning made Li Tai still calm down, and no one in the court mentioned the issue of establishing another crown prince.

However, no one mentioned it, it is not because he was not thinking about it. In fact, everyone knows that the establishment of a new crown prince is imminent. First, the crown prince is the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. If there is no crown prince, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty would not be very stable. Second, Li Shimin is older and his health is getting worse and worse. If the crown prince is not established at this time, if there is any accident in the future, it will cause greater chaos, and even the Tang Dynasty may be divided as a result.

It is precisely because of knowing the above that the people below are waiting for Li Shimin to propose the establishment of another crown prince in person. Only when Li Shimin proposed it, they dared to discuss it publicly. Among them, Li Tai was the most anxious, but he had to wait no matter how anxious he was. Moreover, because Li Zhi was back, he was worried that Li Zhi would compete for favor with him, so he ran to the palace every day during this period.

However, to everyone's surprise, Li Shimin was very calm about the establishment of another crown prince. Although Li Tai and Li Zhi were wandering around in front of him all day long, he had no intention of choosing one of them. Instead, he asked the deposed Li Chengqian to temporarily live in the East Palace, because Li Chengqian was going to Quzhou, and although he was about to set off, it would take some time to just pack up his things.

Just when the matter on Li Chengqian had just come to an end and Li Xiu wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, he didn't expect to suddenly receive a letter from Nanfang. When he saw the contents of the letter, he locked himself in the study alone and didn't come out for a long time.

The letter was written to Li Xiu by Li Chengdao himself. Li Xiu was very happy when he received a letter from Li Chengqian, but this time he couldn't be happy no matter what, because Li Chengqian told him two bad news. The first one was that after Pei Ji passed away, Li Yuan, who had fallen sick again, finally failed to survive and died in the winter of last year.

Although Li Xiu was sad about Li Yuan's death, he was mentally prepared, so he still could bear it. However, the second news made him cry like rain, because the bearded guest also passed away a month after Li Yuan's death. Although the bearded guest did not spend a long time with Li Xiu, Li Xiu has always respected this passionate uncle. Li Chengdao had said before that his health was not good, but he did not expect the bearded guest to die so suddenly.

The sudden death of the bearded guest made Li Xiu very sad, so he locked himself in the study for several days and did not come out. Princess Pingyang and others didn't know what was going on at first, and Li Xiu could not tell them about Li Yuan, so he only talked about the death of the bearded guest, which made Princess Pingyang and others look sad, but they still advised Li Xiu to think about it and not to hurt his body due to grief.

"Boy, you can't be resurrected by death, so don't be too sad. Speaking of the hero of the bearded guest for a lifetime, if it weren't for the surrender of the country, the Central Plains wouldn't have been unified so quickly." On this day, Ma Ye also came to persuade Li Xiu personally that his health was not good and was about to hand over the Feinusi to Zhao Deyan, so he was busier than usual. However, when he heard something happened to Li Xiu, he hurriedly threw down his work and ran to comfort him.

"Well, Uncle Ma, don't worry. I just couldn't accept this news for a while. It's much better now!" Li Xiu said with a forced smile. He didn't want to eat or eat well these days, so he looked much haggard.

"When people get old, they will inevitably leave. This time they are a bearded guest. Maybe they will be me, the old man next time. Then don't cry like a woman, otherwise I will jump out of the coffin and kick you a few times!" Mr. Ma said half-jokingly and seriously. He used to not accept his fate and did not accept his old age, but he has not been able to accept it in the past few years.

"Uncle Ma, don't say that. Are you still waiting for Ping Anlang and the others to get married and have a few great-grandchildren to have you then?" Li Xiu immediately persuaded him when he heard Ma's words. He really felt the terribleness of his relatives' death now, so Ma's words also made him feel very uncomfortable.

Mr. Ma seemed to be able to feel Li Xiu's thoughts. He laughed so hard that he did not argue with Li Xiu. However, at this moment, he suddenly thought of something and said again: "By the way, does Li Jing and his wife know about the death of the bearded guest? The Americas are so far away, it is probably difficult for them to get news over there, right?"
Chapter completed!