Chapter 101: I Heard You Cried

Li Chengqian followed behind, his face pale. He secretly rejoiced that he had never crossed Master Li, resolving to warn his younger siblings later to avoid being beaten until they cried for their parents.

Upon reaching the palace gate, Cai Cong rubbed his buttocks as he hopped off the carriage, then immediately turned back to assist the elderly Li Gang down like a young eunuch.

"If you have something to say, just say it. Why did you really hit me?" Cai Cong asked in a low voice while supporting Li Gang.

"Heh, the discussion was merely secondary; hitting your backside was my primary objective," Li Gang replied, refreshed. He glanced at Cai Cong’s swollen backside and offered a hearty laugh.

"Greetings, Master Li." As soon as Li Chengqian descended and saw Cai Cong’s awkward posture, a chill ran down his spine, and he quickly bowed to Li Gang.

"You are far too bold! If you run off like this, my father will lose all face, and he’ll surely beat you to death later!" Li Chengqian looked at Cai Cong with admiration; in the entire court, this fellow was likely the only one with such guts.

"Hmph, I don't want to see your father. He is not a good person," Cai Cong said casually, not even looking at him.

"How can you say that? My father is a good person. You even told me before that he would be an emperor for the ages," Li Chengqian said, growing anxious. His father was his greatest hero, and he could not let even a close friend like Cai Cong disparage him.

"Your father is a good emperor—certainly an emperor for the ages—but he is not a good person," Cai Cong replied without hesitation. Li Chengqian stood frozen, his mind unable to reconcile the two: how could a good emperor not be a good person?

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Crown Prince and the Count of Chang'an are requesting an audience outside the hall," a young eunuch announced to Li Shimin, who was discussing calligraphy with Chu Suiliang.

"Summon them."

"Summon the Crown Prince and the others to audience!"

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty."

"Rise! You little brat, I heard you were ambushed and seriously injured. Are you better now?" Li Shimin seemed to be in a good mood, greeting him with a playful insult.

"My subject was injured, and I suspect I will never recover. I request to retire to the mountains and forests," Cai Cong said, implying something deeper.

Li Shimin’s smile stalled, and he replied firmly, "You are still just a child; what mountains and forests? If you are injured, get treated. The palace has plenty of imperial physicians, and if that fails, I am here as well. I know a bit of medicine; curing you is no problem."

The atmosphere at the banquet turned stiff. The two were speaking in riddles, and the situation felt wrong. It was best to keep a low profile.

Cai Cong stood awkwardly in the center of the hall, saying nothing. He dared not leave, fearing that if he did, the victims of the disaster in Shandong would be forgotten, relegated in history books to a single line: "In such-and-such year, a great drought struck Shandong, and countless perished."

"I know you have worked hard and have grievances, but you cannot demand rewards like this. This is the only time; let it not happen again, understand?" Li Shimin chuckled as he spoke. Had it been anyone else, he would have thrown them into the dungeon, but aside from his personal affection for the boy, he couldn't get past the Empress, and more importantly, Li Shimin felt he owed the Cai family.

Yan Dong stepped forward, holding the imperial edict, and began reading with a swaying head. The text was filled with flowery prose, praising Cai Cong as if he were peerless under heaven. Yet, Cai Cong remained standing like a wooden statue, refusing to kneel.

Yan Dong had never encountered such a situation. With the Emperor silent, he had no choice but to continue, his voice strained. The officials looked at one another, feeling a sense of dread at the bizarre scene.

At the end of the edict, Cai Cong was elevated to the title of Marquis of Chang'an County, granted a fief of one thousand households, a thousand taels of gold, and six jade ruyi. Yan Dong announced the customary order to kowtow and thank the Emperor, but Cai Cong remained standing stiffly. Yan Dong looked at him, then at Li Shimin, truly at a loss.

Li Shimin snatched the edict from Yan Dong, walked down the imperial steps, and barked, "You brat! I know you are unhappy, but do you remember who spoke of the 'thunder and rain' of imperial favor? We can discuss this in the inner palace later. Look at you—do you have any semblance of a third-rank imperial official?"

As he spoke, he shoved the edict into Cai Cong's hands. The imperial historian’s hand trembled; how was he to record this? Throughout history, there had been countless absurd tales, but an emperor shoving an edict into a minister's hands? That was surely a first.

Cai Cong’s eyes welled up with tears. Li Shimin signaled, and Li Chengqian and Li Tai immediately dragged Cai Cong away. With the protagonist gone, the atmosphere at the banquet revived. What on earth was that?

"That boy... he’s been spoiled by the Empress. If the Cai family weren't left with only this one sprout, the Empress would have adopted him as her own son. Come, come, play the music. Let us eat; as for that brat, let the Empress deal with him!"

In the inner palace, Cai Cong had nowhere else to go; the Ningqing Palace was the only choice outside the Imperial Garden. Upon entering, he heard Empress Zhangsun’s laughter: "I hear the Empire has a 'crybaby Marquis.' Come here and let me see what you look like."

"I am not a crybaby!" Cai Cong might have been stubborn with Li Shimin, but facing Zhangsun, he grew bashful, standing to the side with a flushed face.

"I know about the situation. Do not blame His Majesty for placing people around you. Military strength is of great importance; the Emperor has to be careful," Zhangsun sighed.

Cai Cong wiped his nose and said, "It is not about that. When I first learned that His Majesty had placed people around me, I felt very uncomfortable. But it is understandable. Emperors have always stood alone; how can they trust just anyone? Furthermore, with Gan Xinda’s death, that discomfort has vanished. I am merely mentally exhausted; because of this, nearly two hundred people lost their lives. My heart is heavy."

"Alas, Gan Xinda was a righteous man. I heard that when he died, his body was riddled with wounds, and eight arrowheads were extracted. He must be buried with honors and posthumously rewarded. But since your resentment has faded, why did you stir up trouble with the Emperor in the court? You must know, had Chengqian and Tai not dragged you away, the Emperor might have executed you in his anger," Zhangsun asked, puzzled. Doing such a thing before all the officials—even if the Emperor valued talent, for the sake of imperial dignity, he would have had to kill Cai Cong.

Cai Cong remained silent. Even in his rage, he could not publicly reveal that the Emperor and the seven great clans were using millions of Shandong commoners as pawns in a power struggle. If that leaked, the people of the Great Tang would view the Emperor as a tyrant.

Zhangsun saw his silence, looked left and right, and smiled: "Never mind then. We haven't seen each other in a long time; let’s eat here today. The Emperor can eat in the front, and we shall eat in the back. We will ignore him."

Her tone was that of someone coaxing a child. The palace servants wondered if they had misheard; the Empress treated Cai Cong like her own son—she had even used the term "the two of us" to describe them.

Just as the meal was served, Li Lizhi arrived. Seeing Cai Cong, she asked, "Cai Cong, I heard you cried in front of all the officials. Is it true?"

Cai Cong felt like he was going insane. How did everyone know he had cried? Even the imperial chef, who had just served the dishes, knew the "grandmaster" of his craft had wept and had specially brought him an extra bowl of sweet soup.

"I..." Cai Cong looked at Li Lizhi with grief and indignation, picked up his bowl, and shoveled food into his mouth. *I don't want to talk to you people. How could you know that my tears were for the nation and the people?*

"Don't be embarrassed to cry. Someone like you is a first in the history of this dynasty. Within three days, I suspect it will reach Luoyang," Zhangsun said with a smile as bright as a flower. Every word stung Cai Cong’s heart, making him regret it so much he lost his appetite.