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

Li Shen was decisive and efficient; he left as soon as he was told to, and immediately stood up and walked towards the gate.

One of his purposes in coming here today to ask for money is that it's no small sum.

"Prince Ji, please wait."

Li Shen had only taken two steps when Songtsen Gampo immediately called out to him to stop.

Li Shen paused, turned to look at Songtsen Gampo, his anger still simmering.

"Your Majesty, I am not a greedy person. I am just doing business. Since you have chosen to cooperate with me, you must keep your promise."

A person cannot stand without integrity; this is the most basic form of trust in cooperation.

Since you lack integrity, don't blame me for being impolite.

I will spread the news of your breach of faith throughout the land and the Western Regions. I want everyone to know that Tibet is a country without integrity.

"I will remind them not to associate with you Tibetans."

"Your Highness Prince Ji, please calm down. We can discuss this matter."

Upon hearing Li Shen's blatant threats, Songtsen Gampo quickly tried to dissuade him.

This Prince Ji is indeed cunning, with endless tricks up his sleeve; he even came up with the scheme to smear them.

"Discuss? There's nothing to discuss," Li Shen said angrily.

"Please sit down, Your Highness. We are sincere, but 10,000 catties of gold is too much, and we cannot produce it in a short time."

"I wonder if His Highness Prince Ji could be so accommodating and reduce the amount?"

Lu Dongzan stood up, bowed respectfully, and said...

Li Shen obtained this 10,000 jin of gold through extortion in the imperial court as hush money to keep the peace talks a secret.

Li Shen always remembered this money; he knew the Tibetan royal family had a lot of gold.

Li Shen's expression softened upon hearing Lu Dongzan's words, and he then sat back down in his seat.

"If you want to reduce the amount of gold, that's not impossible. However, I have a question: if the Zanpu can tell me the truth, I can waive half of it."

Furthermore, if this satisfies me, I will forgo the money and guarantee to facilitate peace talks. What does Your Majesty think?

Li Shen's expression suddenly changed, and the anger on his face disappeared, which surprised Songtsen Gampo and the others.

"May I ask what question His Highness Prince Ji wishes to ask?"

Songtsen Gampo asked cautiously.

"Hehe, it's not a big deal, it's just that I want to know who has been cooperating with you all along."

In addition to providing you with intelligence, we also provided you with blueprints for siege equipment, as well as powerful crossbows from the Imperial Guards.

As soon as Li Shen said this, the entire hall fell silent; you could hear a pin drop.

Cheng Chusi, who was standing to the side, narrowed his eyes upon hearing Li Shen's words and cursed inwardly, "Oh no!"

Why did I have to come along? Now look what happened, I've heard things I shouldn't have heard.

Prince Ji's question is enough to prove that there are people in the court who are colluding with foreign powers to betray the country and collaborate with the Tibetans to assassinate His Majesty.

Is this news he can hear? The more you know, the faster you die—that's what his father taught him.

Songtsen Gampo was completely taken aback when Li Shen asked that question.

It took him a while to recover, and he said to Li Shen:

"Your Highness, is there some misunderstanding? I don't understand what Your Highness means at all. Who would cooperate with us?"

I don't know where His Highness Prince Ji got his information from, it's so frantic.

Songtsen Gampo seemed to be angry.

However, Li Shen didn't pay attention; he looked intently at Songtsen Gampo:

“Zanpu, we are all smart people, let’s speak frankly.”

Regarding the attack on the key city in Qinghai, I have found some evidence confirming that someone collaborated with you to smuggle crossbows into your Tibet.

They also transported a lot of timber for you to build siege engines.

"If I only need to know these people's names, I can forgo that ten thousand catties of gold. What do you say?"

After the attack on the important town in Qinghai, a member of a prominent family was identified during interrogation, but nothing came of it afterward.

He didn't tell his father what his investigation had uncovered.

Such a major event as the emperor's attack was simply left unresolved.

This has always bothered Li Shen. Putting aside everything else, he can't just let it go when someone attacks the city he built with millions of strings of cash.

Li Shen originally intended to ask his father, but since his father hadn't told him for so long, he was sure he wasn't planning to.

Since that's the case, he'll investigate himself, and he already has a guess in mind about who it might be.

"Your Highness, it seems you have misunderstood. To be honest, that attack was indeed aided by someone."

But I don't know who it is.

That time, it was the Western Turks who sent people to persuade me, but I did not agree. Tibet and the Tang Dynasty have been on good terms for generations.

How could you do something that damages relations between the two countries?

Unfortunately, I don't know how they tricked my son into sending troops to attack Qinghai City on his own.

I feel deeply ashamed and apologetic for this.

My guess is that the Western Turks planted spies within the Tang Dynasty, and it has nothing to do with Tibet.

Songtsen Gampo answered just as earnestly, but Li Shen couldn't discern a single clue from his face.

This made Li Shen frown. Songtsen Gampo was still keeping his mouth shut, which meant he thought this ally might be useful in the future.

Therefore, he chose to cover it up for her as a trump card.

"Hehe, since the king has said so, then I will not ask any further questions."

It seems that the Zambian king values ​​this ally highly, considering him far more valuable than 10,000 kilograms of gold.

So be it.

"Send ten thousand catties of gold to Prince Ji's residence, or I will sabotage your peace talks. Your Majesty, you are a wise man; you should know which to choose."

Li Shen chuckled coldly twice and handed the choice to Songtsen Gampo.

If he didn't want to talk about it, so be it. Li Shen didn't intend to ask him all at once. Although he was a little disappointed, as long as Songtsen Gampo was in Chang'an, he would have a chance.

“Your Highness Prince Ji, this ten thousand catties of gold is far too much. Our Tubo cannot produce so much.”

Songtsen Gampo said apologetically.

"Yes, Your Highness, it was all my fault. I had no other choice but to resort to this desperate measure."

"We implore Your Highness Prince Ji to grant us your mercy and facilitate peace talks between our two nations, sparing our people from the ravages of war. This would be a blessing for the entire world and for the people."

Lu Dongzan rose, bowed, and requested permission to leave.

They weren't as wealthy as the Tang Dynasty; ten thousand catties of gold was already an astronomical figure.

At this moment, we can only hope that Prince Ji will have the well-being of all people in mind.

Li Shen remained unmoved after hearing this. He had seen too much moral blackmail in his previous life, and there was no point in playing that game with him.

"Since the Grand Chancellor has the world in his heart, why should he care about some material possessions?"

You might as well keep your promise and give me the gold to ensure that our two countries do not go to war and that peace talks can proceed smoothly.

Does the Grand Minister perhaps think the people of Tibet are less valuable than dung?

"This..." Lu Dongzan was speechless for a moment after Li Shen's words. What a sharp-tongued prince.

(I finished writing this in a rush, why are people so busy?)