Time Travel: I am the idle king Li Shen and Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty

Upon hearing Li Shen's words, Lu Dingniang quickly covered Li Shen's mouth and looked around.

Although she knew that everyone in the room was one of her own, she was still a little worried.

She didn't know why her husband never paid attention to the proper etiquette between ruler and subject, or the principles of heaven, earth, ruler, parents, and teachers, which even a woman should understand from a young age.

But Li Shen simply lacked the reverence that one should have for the emperor.

Lu Dingniang even suspected that Li Shen might have dropped out of school when he was young, which is why he didn't study well and thus developed a rebellious nature.

"Oh dear, there are no outsiders here, what's there to be afraid of? I would say the same thing even in front of my father."

My lady, you have no idea how much gold and silver there is in Father's private treasury. The tributes from various vassal states are countless, all of them rare and precious treasures.

I've heard of a blood coral as tall as a person, a luminous pearl as big as a head, and a South China Sea clam pearl as big as a fist.

Unfortunately, I couldn't even go in to take a look. The closest I ever got was when I was discovered by my father and kicked out as soon as I reached the door.

Now the palace has set a precedent for me, establishing a new rule that forbids me from approaching within a hundred feet of the inner treasury. This is utterly outrageous and goes too far!

Li Shen grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, constantly complaining that this person didn't treat him like a human being.

Over the past decade, so many rules have been set for myself; even laws haven't been changed this frequently.

For their own sake, the Li family inexplicably came up with a family rule, which is utterly ridiculous.

The royal family actually has family rules, and they were even set up specifically for them. Li Shen was even wondering if they would be written into the family genealogy and make a name for themselves for generations to come.

In a certain year of the Zhenguan era, new family rules were established, specifically to punish and discipline Wang Shen.

If our ancestors knew this, wouldn't they laugh their heads off?

Getting beaten up isn't a big deal; I got beaten up a lot when I was a kid in my previous life. The main problem is that I can't stand the embarrassment.

If I had caused trouble in my past life, the first thing I would have said was, "Don't tell my mom."

Now it's become "Don't tell my dad."

"Your Highness, isn't this because you're always eyeing His Majesty's private funds?" Lu Dingniang comforted her helplessly.

My husband is indeed too eccentric, unlike normal people, but perhaps it's related to his brain disorder.

Lu Dingniang had heard that people with brain disorders behave differently from ordinary people.

"The imperial treasury has so much money, what's wrong with me eyeing a couple of things? If we don't get them now, they'll all belong to the Crown Prince in the future, and we'll get nothing."

Let me tell you a secret: there are at least 30 million strings of cash in the imperial treasury. 30 million!

"If only I had thirty million strings of cash."

Li Shen sighed, his eyes filled with longing. He had calculated his father's meager savings perfectly.

Li Shen knew perfectly well how much the palace spent each year, how much money was distributed as dividends each year, how much was assigned to Consort Wei, and how much was spent on repairing the palace and the imperial residence each year.

He has trained an entire auditing team.

If all this money were his, he could just lie around doing nothing and buy who knows how many nice things he could buy.

Thirty million strings of cash would be more than enough to build another Chang'an city.

“Three thousand…so many.” Lu Dingniang’s eyes widened in disbelief when she heard the number.

The fact that their royal family made millions of strings of cash a year shocked Lu Dingniang for a long time. At that time, she thought that the Ji royal family accounted for half of the wealth in the world.

But when she heard that the imperial treasury actually had 30 million strings of cash, she felt a little unreal. It turned out that the Ji Prince's mansion didn't have that much money.

Now I finally understand why Prince Ji was always eyeing the imperial treasury. So much money—what a temptation that must have been for someone as greedy as Prince Ji!

"Shh... Don't flaunt your wealth. You can't tell anyone. This money didn't come from a legitimate source." Li Shen shushed him.

"Illegible origins?" Lu Dingniang almost lost her voice. Was some royal secret about to be revealed to the world today?

"Alright, you don't need to know these things. I just want my wife to understand me."

By the way, how's Xiaoxiao? I haven't had a chance to ask her since she got back. When is she due?

Li Shen changed the subject, saying it was best not to let anyone know about this matter, hoping it could be passed down as unofficial history in the future.

"I was just about to bring this up. My little one is due to give birth in a little over a month. Doctor Sun has examined her twice and said there are no problems."

"But I've had a slight cold these past two days," Lu Dingniang replied.

"A cold? Have you taken any medicine? Will it affect the fetus?" Li Shen immediately became anxious.

Winter is indeed not a good time for pregnant women, especially during this period. If they catch a cold, they have to take medicine, otherwise it can become more dangerous if it gets worse.

But after taking the medicine, Li Shen didn't know if it would affect the fetus. In any case, in her previous life, pregnant women couldn't take medicine casually.

"Your Highness, please calm down. The doctor has already examined you and there is nothing serious. He has also prescribed some medicine, so it will not have any effect on the fetus."

Seeing Li Shen so nervous, Lu Dingniang quickly comforted him. She understood how important the child in Su Xiaoxiao's belly was to Li Shen.

This is the first child of Prince Ji in many years.

"Huh?" Lu Dingniang seemed to have thought of something and asked in a low voice:

"My lord, has Ruyan not been serving the prince?"

"You served me? What's wrong?" Li Shen asked, puzzled, not quite understanding.

"I'm asking if you've served me in bed," Lu Dingniang said softly, her face flushed.

"Oh, yes." Li Shen finally understood.

"Then why hasn't Ruyan gotten pregnant yet? I sent her with the prince in the hope that she could give birth to his child."

But today the doctor took my pulse, and it wasn't a pregnancy pulse."

"This... I'm not sure either. Could it be that I've fallen ill again?"

Li Shen was somewhat embarrassed by what was said, but he did not shirk responsibility; instead, he shifted the blame onto Liu Ruyan.

He already had this problem; it was caused by his excessive indulgence in sex.

Li Shen attributed this to the low survival rate. There was nothing he could do; with seven wives, he was the only one taking care of everything.

Even if he is young and vigorous, he can't withstand such a heavy burden.

"Your Highness, perhaps we should let Physician Sun take another look? The Ji Prince's mansion is still short of people, with only two men."

Lu Dingniang made a tentative suggestion. As the mistress of the house, she bore the heavy responsibility of ensuring the continuation of the Ji Prince's family line.

If the Prince Ji's mansion is sparsely populated, people will gossip about her.

Li Shen looked worried; this was beyond his control. He had worked hard, but nothing grew, not even a blade of grass.

Had he really gone too far? Li Shen began to doubt himself.

Although he was the biggest playboy, he almost always went out to have affairs and only communicated with his beautiful wives and concubines at home. But it shouldn't be that inefficient.

He still planned to continue his life of debauchery, with tigers in the hall, slaves from Kunlun, the Red-Robed Girl, and Silla maids...

Isn't life wonderful?

(I think I'm really feeling weak; I'm always sleepy.)