The Great Tang's King of Provisions

Chapter 41: The Tang Prince the Court Historian Couldn’t Write About

“Why? Why can’t I write it down? How is this possible?” While the civil and military officials were all fine, the court historian—tasked with recording history—was thrown into a panic. He muttered incomprehensibly to himself, and finally let out a loud cry, staring at Li Xuanba in disbelief, his entire being seemingly frozen in terror. The moment the historian spoke, it startled Cheng Yaojin and the others! Cheng Yaojin glared at the historian and barked, “You pen-pusher, what are you shouting about? What do you mean you can’t write it?” The historian’s gaze was vacant, as if he hadn’t heard Cheng Yaojin’s shout; he stared at Li Xuanba in astonishment. “The five characters—‘Prince of Tang,’ ‘Li Xuanba’—I simply cannot write any of them.” “What! Bring it here!” Hearing the historian’s words, Li Shimin was startled. He waved his hand, signaling Cheng Yaojin to bring over the historian’s brush and paper. Taking the brush and paper from Cheng Yaojin, Li Shimin raised his hand and wrote the five characters “Tang Wang Li Xuanba.” The first character, “Tang,” was still visible, but the moment the second character, “Wang,” appeared, those two large, ink-black characters vanished instantly, as if they had never been there at all. “How is that possible!” Li Shimin’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. He tried again, skipping the words “Prince of Tang” altogether and writing the three characters “Li Xuanba.” Of these three characters, the first two—“Li Xuan”—appeared clearly on the white paper. But as soon as Li Shimin wrote the character “Ba” after them, all three vanished together, leaving the paper as clean as new, without a single trace of ink. “Whoa!” Seeing this, Li Yuan, Li Shimin, and the others all gasped in unison, staring wide-eyed at Li Xuanba, who was deep in thought. What was going on? Why was it that when written separately, the five characters “Tang,” “Wang,” “Li,” “Xuan,” and “Ba” could be written, yet when “Tang Wang” and “Li Xuanba” were combined, they vanished instantly? Is there an explanation for this? “Pfft! Cough, cough…” Just as Li Shimin and the others stood there dumbfounded, Yuan Tiangang—the Volcano Order official dressed as a Taoist priest—suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, startling Li Shimin and the others! Yuan Tiangang stared blankly at Li Xuanba, paying no heed to the blood staining his chin, and muttered to himself, “I… I can’t figure it out. I can’t figure out the Tang Wang’s destiny?” After the muttering subsided, Yuan Tiangang snapped back to his senses. He prostrated himself before Li Xuanba and said with a mix of reverence and trepidation, “This junior disciple, Yuan Tiangang, pays his respects to the Immortal Master. Earlier, I acted rashly in attempting to divine your destiny. I humbly beg you not to hold it against me!” “Uh… it’s fine, it’s fine.” Seeing that the court historian couldn’t even write his own name and Yuan Tiangang couldn’t calculate his own destiny, Li Xuanba’s eyes began to dart back and forth. “What’s going on here? The historian can’t even write his own title and name, and Yuan Tiangang—who came up with that incredibly mind-blowing *Tuibei Tu*—can’t even calculate his own destiny?” “It seems that as long as this young master doesn’t do anything too drastic to alter history, I can live a carefree life without being erased by the forces of history—because I’m not even part of history to begin with!” Just a dozen or so seconds later, a mysterious smile flashed across Li Xuanba’s face. He looked at the historian haughtily and said, “Young master—no, this prince—has already transcended the Three Realms and exists beyond the Five Elements. Do you, a mere mortal, really think you can use that ink-stained brush to write down this prince’s name?” As soon as Li Xuanba uttered these words, the historian suddenly shuddered and bowed to Li Xuanba with trembling reverence. “This humble official dares not. I was unaware of this beforehand. I beg Prince Tang not to hold it against me!” “Hmm, ignorance is no excuse. Just be more careful next time!” Li Xuanba pretended to be magnanimous as he waved his hand dismissively, then cast a smiling glance at Yuan Tiangang and chuckled, “Master Yuan, you’re too kind. If you hadn’t calculated that I would return in twelve years and persuaded my second older brother to seal me in that Ice Cave, my physical form would likely have been cremated by now. I really must thank you! Come, come! Get up quickly!” After helping Yuan Tiangang—who was looking at him with reverence—to his feet, Li Xuanba winked smugly at Li Yuan and Li Shimin, then turned to the assembled ministers and declared haughtily, “From now on, my courtesy name will no longer be ‘Dade’; it will be ‘Xiaoyao.’ You may address me as King Xiaoyao.” As soon as Li Xuanba finished speaking, Li Yuan and Li Shimin exchanged glances, recognizing the amusement in each other’s eyes. “Da De”—er… “Xiaoyao.” Since returning from the Immortal Realm, Xiaoyao had become much wiser; he even knew to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Indeed, Li Xuanba’s decision to change his courtesy name to “Xiaoyao” not only signified his desire to roam the world freely but also his hope that he could truly live a carefree life in the Tang Dynasty—thus living up to his visit here and bearing witness to its golden age. As for going down in history—it’s enough just to have been here. Why bother leaving a name behind? Those historians can’t even write their own names properly anyway! “I pay my respects to the Prince of Tang!” Seeing that Li Xuanba had spared them, the civil and military officials wiped the sweat from their brows and bowed to Li Xuanba. “All right, all right! No need for formalities!” Seeing a crowd of people before him who were half a head shorter than he was, Li Xuanba placed his hands on his hips, looking like a smug little boy, which made Li Yuan and Li Shimin chuckle. Li Xuanba wasn’t putting on an act at that moment; he was naturally somewhat of a homebody with a deeply innocent heart. Thinking of the “Prince of Tang” who had never actually existed—and who wasn’t even recorded in history—he couldn’t help but feel elated. From now on, he could live a carefree life in the Tang Dynasty without fear of being erased by the forces of history. That evening, Li Xuanba didn’t leave the imperial palace at all; he stayed in the Taiji Hall, sleeping alongside Li Yuan and Li Shimin. This was partly to enjoy the reunion and conversation among the three—father and sons—but also because Li Xuanba simply hated trouble. After all, with him—the first “Prince of Tang”—suddenly appearing out of nowhere, he suspected that many people were likely waiting for him at the gates of the former Prince of Qin’s Mansion, now the Prince of Tang’s Mansion! Li Xuanba’s hunch proved correct. At that moment, the old Prince of Qin’s Mansion had already been fitted with a new plaque above its gate. However, the plaque on Li Xuanba’s residence did not bear the words “Prince of Tang’s Mansion”; instead, it simply read “First Prince’s Mansion,” a subtle allusion to Li Xuanba’s status as the greatest hero under heaven and, by extension, as the foremost prince of the Tang Dynasty. The common folk below were largely unaware of the symbolism on the plaque, but that did not bother those in high places. At that moment, both the front and back gates of Li Xuanba’s mansion were swamped with carriages; the stewards and servants delivering gifts had already packed the entrance so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through. Fortunately, Li Shimin had instructed that gifts be accepted but the bearers not be received, which allowed wave after wave of gift-bearers to come and go in shifts; otherwise, the areas near both the front and rear gates would likely have been completely gridlocked. Back in the Taiji Hall, the smug expression on Li Xuanba’s face vanished, replaced by a look of concern. His second older brother, Li Shimin, had ascended the throne too early, effectively altering the course of history. He wondered if this would cause subsequent events to take a different turn. He also wondered if Khagan Jieli might launch an attack on the Tang Dynasty ahead of schedule. “What’s the matter? Does the Prince of Tang—the future Emperor of the Great Tang—get troubled by such things too?” Seeing the troubled look on Li Xuanba’s face, Li Yuan raised an eyebrow and teased him. He took a sip of the tea handed to him by a maid, then casually passed a cup to Li Xuanba. “Huh? Pfft!” Li Xuanba was deep in thought about the changes to the Wei River Alliance two months from now. He hadn’t even noticed that what he was holding was actually a fan. He took a big gulp, drinking half the cup of tea, then opened his mouth wide and—with a “pfft”—spewed it all out. If Li Yuan hadn’t dodged quickly, it would likely have splattered all over his face; even so, some of it still landed on the front of his robe. “Cough, cough… What on earth is this? It tastes so weird! Spit! Li Xuanba kept spitting out the residue from his mouth, frowning as he stared at the pitch-black liquid in his hand. “It’s tea! Don’t you like it?” After explaining this to Li Xuanba, Li Yuan raised his cup and took another sip of tea. Though it tasted bitter, his face was filled with an expression of pure enjoyment, causing Li Xuanba, standing nearby, to twitch the corner of his mouth, his eyes brimming with admiration.