I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

Li Tai stood in the long corridor, looking out at the courtyard covered in white snow, which was dazzling in the sunlight.

Li Tai was somewhat dazed by what he saw, and reached out to rub his hands.

"The snow is so dazzling, why does the Tenth Prince still keep it, and why does His Majesty follow suit? I really don't understand."

Li Tai rubbed his eyes and looked away.

In his palace, the snow was not cleared; only the roads were swept clear. He wanted to know what Li Shen was thinking.

As a result, I didn't see the idea, and my eyes got blurry from looking at it every day. Under the scorching sun, everything was a white blur, and after looking at it for a long time, I felt like there was a flash of light no matter where I looked.

"Your Highness, His Highness Prince Ji's actions are sometimes truly unpredictable. For example, I just learned that Prince Ji has started building that so-called Ice and Snow City on the banks of the Hao River."

I have never understood what is fun about playing in the freezing cold.

But Prince Ji was able to stay there for over a month and seem to be having a great time.

Du Chuke said with a smile, "Some of the things that Prince Ji does are things that they can't figure out for days."

As a prince with so much wealth, it's understandable that he lives a luxurious life; even frequenting brothels and pleasure boats wouldn't be surprising.

But King Ji didn't indulge in those refined pursuits.

They spent tens of thousands of dollars to build that thing, and it was gone in just a few months. I don't know what they were after.

"I don't know either. Based on my understanding of him over the years, he's probably just playful. We don't need to concern ourselves with that."

Keep a close eye on the movements of Prince Ji's residence. The tenth prince is back, and he will definitely take action.

Let's close all our betting shops and switch to other businesses.

Li Tai shook his head. He didn't understand why Li Shen was like this either. He had been analyzing Li Shen for years.

This includes Li Shen's style of doing things, personality traits, words and deeds.

The goal is to analyze these points to determine Li Shen's next move, which is the purpose of his actions.

But there are always some things that can't be analyzed, such as building this ice and snow world.

"Closed? Why closed? The Prince Ji's Mansion has already said that the competition will continue after the start of spring tomorrow."

Hearing Li Tai say it was closed, Du Chuke was somewhat surprised. Over 400,000 strings of cash a year! A business that made a fortune.

"Because the tenth brother is back," Li Tai said calmly.

"Is Your Highness perhaps worried that His Highness Prince Ji will target us?" Du Chuke guessed.

Li Tai shook his head. He walked to the end of the corridor, where an unfinished painting was displayed.

After sitting down, I picked up my pen and looked at a plum blossom tree not far away.

"Your Highness, the betting game brings us over 400,000 strings of cash a year; we shouldn't give it up so easily."

Besides, it's not just us. As long as we're careful around Prince Ji, even if we earn less, it's fine.

Seeing Li Tai's nonchalant demeanor, Du Chuke anxiously offered some words of advice.

It's such a big piece of meat, and we've only just taken a bite. It's a real shame to have to shut up and watch others eat it now.

"Shanbin, look at those plum blossoms. They are unique and different from other flowers. They choose not to bloom with other flowers in spring and summer, but instead choose to stand out alone in the cold winter."

What I admire most about him is this: he's different from everyone else.

As Li Tai painted plum blossoms, he spoke softly, as if talking to himself.

Du Chuke looked up at the plum blossoms, but frowned. He didn't understand what Li Tai meant by talking about flowers.

Although he was the strategist of the King of Wei, he had to admit that Li Tai was indeed exceptionally intelligent and talented.

Otherwise, His Majesty would not have favored the Prince of Wei so much back then; he was the most favored prince among all the princes.

Seeing that Li Tai remained silent, Du Chuke bowed.

"Please enlighten me, Your Highness."

"Alas, Shanbin, in terms of strategy, you are no less than your brother, able to assess the situation and win battles from afar. But you still don't understand the tenth brother enough."

Have you forgotten about the Ascendant Chamber of Commerce? To this day, no one knows how that 800,000 taels of gold disappeared.

Everyone knows that this matter must be related to Lao Shi; he was the one who started the fire in Dongshi that day.

The same applies to the burning of spices; although there is no evidence, everyone knows who did it.

Everyone was on guard, thinking he would use some clever methods, but who would have thought he would use such crude methods, directly setting fires and stealing.

We had taken every possible precaution and considered every possible scheme, but in the end he did the opposite.

This is Chang'an, the capital city, right under the emperor's nose. Who would have thought?

Li Tai sighed. That time, they suffered a crushing defeat. No one expected Li Shen to be so ruthless.

“Your Highness is right. Prince Ji’s actions were indeed somewhat reckless. His Majesty must have guessed that it was Prince Ji who did it, but he did not punish him.”

Du Chuke echoed the sentiment, noting that Prince Ji had indeed gone too far that time, setting fires and looting in Chang'an, and importantly, the emperor had not yet punished him.

“No, you’re wrong.” Li Tai shook his head: “It’s very likely that His Majesty has given his permission for this.”

"His Majesty has agreed? No way! Arson and looting in Chang'an is a grave taboo. Even His Majesty wouldn't allow it, would he?"

Du Chuke found it hard to believe. How could this be? This is the capital city. If word got out, the court would lose face.

"You don't understand. If this matter were directed at someone else, His Majesty would definitely not agree. He might even punish Li Shen, strip him of his title, or exile him."

However, this matter was aimed at the aristocratic families. At that time, the aristocratic families were not as impoverished as they are now. The tenth prince's actions were to deplete the aristocratic families' wealth and weaken their power for His Majesty.

That's why His Majesty allowed it; otherwise, do you think Li Shen would have such audacity?

His courage was always given to him by His Majesty.

Li Tai knew better than anyone how eager his father was to weaken the power of the aristocratic families.

He had the support of a powerful family back then, but his ultimate downfall was largely due to this.

"I see," Du Chuke said, suddenly understanding.

Li Tai picked up the teapot from the charcoal stove next to him, poured a cup, and handed it to Du Chuke:

"What I want to tell you is that, like the Chamber of Commerce, there are great profits involved in betting, and I, the Tenth Prince, will not allow anyone to get a piece of it."

He's back, and he'll definitely pull some strings.

Those vying for this piece of meat are mostly aristocratic families, and His Majesty certainly won't stop them. In the end, we'll just be innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.

It's better to jump out sooner rather than later and get away from this vortex to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

"Does Your Highness mean that His Highness Prince Ji will use some methods to make everyone suffer losses this time?"

But all the families should have considered this and be on guard. I just wonder if they'll share the same thought as the prince, closing all their betting shops to avoid the limelight?

Du Chuke thought for a moment and then said.

Li Tai's analysis was very insightful. Prince Ji would definitely make a move for the sake of the betting profits, and His Majesty would also support it in order to further weaken the power of the aristocratic families.

As for some nobles and officials, if they were injured, so be it; consider it their bad luck.

(Thank you all for your concern; I am very pleased.)