The East Palace Is Like a Coffin

In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, all the ceremonial guards in the East Palace were withdrawn, and the edict deposing the prince was sent to Cheng'en Hall. When Li Chengqian knelt down to receive the jute edict, he remembered the winter day when he first entered the East Palace. At that time, he was only eight years old, his dress was heavy on his shoulders, and the jade steps were cold. His father asked him in the Tai Chi Hall: "Are you tired?" He replied: "A little." His father smiled and said: "You have to stand firm even when you are tired." He believed that as long as he stood firm, he could be the most satisfying son to his father and the most qualified prince of the Tang Dynasty. But the East Palace is not home. It is the place of the prince, and it is also a cage built up by layers of etiquette, courtiers, ancestral temples and father's wishes. Li Shimin once regarded his eldest son as the foundation of the new dynasty's order, and personally taught him reading, riding, archery, and political administration, placing his country's future on him. Empress Changsun loved the child who entered the East Palace deeply, but she had to tie the crown prince's crown for him with her own hands. She wanted to protect her son, but she also understood that the eldest son of the royal family could never just be a child. Young Cheng Qian grew up in his father's expectations, and gradually lost himself in his father's eyes. Foot illness, loss of etiquette, the favor of the King of Wei, the death of his mother, the admonishment of the East Palace, and the death of Yi Xin. Incidents piled up one after another, turning the once warm affection between father and son into a cold judgment between the monarch and his ministers. This is a tragedy about a royal father and son. A father wanted to carve his son into a prosperous prince, but finally admitted that he could not take over the world. A son spends his whole life longing for a "good" from his father, but in the end he only waits for a "retired to a commoner". The East Palace was originally the road leading to the throne. To Li Chengqian, it was like a slowly closing coffin.