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

On the way to Yajingju, Li Chengqian's words struck a chord with Li Shen.

Li Shen certainly didn't tell the truth. How could he reveal his plan in front of Li Zhi?

Isn't this just making things difficult for yourself?

"Hehe, it's true that you have a discerning eye, brother. You saw right away that I wasn't telling the truth."

Li Shen did not try to deny it; he had nothing to hide from Li Chengqian.

"You, you, are you thinking of ways to trick those two again?" Li Chengqian couldn't help but laugh when he saw Li Shen telling him the truth.

"No way, they jumped in on their own. If I don't accept them, wouldn't I be letting them down?"

I'm a businessman, and I operate on a purely business-oriented basis. I'm in business to make money, and as for conscience...

Brother, have you ever seen a conscientious merchant make a fortune?

Li Shen countered with a question: "Everyone says that there are no merchants without cunning, but Li Shen thinks that the change is correct."

Even with a conscience, you can't make money.

However, Li Chengqian had a different opinion:

“Tenth Brother, you are wrong. As you often say, a merchant’s business is based on integrity. As long as you do this, you will definitely accumulate a good reputation and more people will do business with you in the future.”

"No, no, no." Li Shen shook his head.

"Brother, you're wrong."

"Oh? Then please enlighten me, Tenth Brother." Li Chengqian asked curiously. He liked to argue with Li Shen, and he could learn a lot of useful things from Li Shen's fallacious theories.

"Brother, the principle of integrity is inherently impossible; it's merely a definition from a businessman's perspective."

Just like the saying "human nature is inherently good," for businessmen, integrity is the most basic requirement, not a virtue.

To avoid cheating the people, shortchanging them, or selling inferior goods as superior ones, these are all basic requirements for a businessman.

But now, even you, brother, believe that only those who achieve these things can be considered qualified businessmen. It's easy to imagine that most merchants can't do that.

Li Shen's first point of view made Li Chengqian fall into deep thought. After careful consideration, he felt that Li Shen's words made sense.

This is the same as morality and etiquette. Filial piety is a matter of course, and not harming people's lives is the bottom line of morality.

No one would proclaim that this person is truly kind and doesn't kill anyone.

"Go on," Li Chengqian nodded, urging him on.

Li Shen had nothing to say; there were some things he couldn't explain either.

"Actually, there's not much to say, brother. From the perspective of ordinary people, or rather, from the perspective of buyers, getting good value for money is very important."

But which merchant can truly offer more than their fair price?

Just like the goods sold in my household, every single one is ridiculously expensive, having absolutely no value for money whatsoever.

All I've done is ensure the goods are genuine and the weight is accurate; sometimes, even that's not always possible.

To make Li Chengqian understand, Li Shen kept using himself as an example. He was a cunning merchant, but so what? He only cheated wealthy noble families, and he had no qualms about it.

Li Shen disliked merchants who feigned sincerity and put on a show; they were not only swindling money from the people, but also deceiving their feelings.

Making money is fine, as long as I can guarantee the quality of the ingredients, there's no need to act like I'm doing this for your own good.

If you really care about me, why don't you just give it to me for free?

Although Li Chengqian's words were somewhat unclear, he still roughly understood what Li Shen meant.

"So, tenth brother, you're also a heartless merchant?"

He smiled and looked at Li Shen, asking with a playful expression.

"Of course, otherwise how could I be so rich? I can sell hawthorn pills for four million strings of cash, which is unprecedented and will never be repeated."

Li Shen not only felt no shame, but instead became proud of himself.

"Hahahaha." Li Chengqian couldn't help but burst into laughter. He thought of how Li Shen had tricked his father, the emperor, out of four million strings of cash with hawthorn pills, and found it amusing.

This incident will likely go down in history and become a stain on his father's record.

"Tenth brother, with four million strings of cash, you will definitely go down in history," Li Chengqian said after laughing.

"Didn't my elder brother also play a part in this? History records that Crown Prince Chengqian wrote to Prince Ji upon his return to court, swindled over four million strings of cash with pills, and then disappeared without a trace."

Li Shen deliberately spoke in a deep voice.

Li Chengqian was taken aback at first, then he and Li Shen burst into laughter:

"Hahahahaha."

The two laughed heartily, leaving Li Tai and Li Zhi behind them bewildered, wondering what the two brothers in front were laughing about.

Out of curiosity, the two quickened their pace.

Wang De, who was leading the way, couldn't stop twitching at the corners of his mouth.

He now regrets being too close to those two brothers. How could a eunuch like him hear such things?

What kind of talk are these?

If it were just Prince Ji spouting nonsense, that would be one thing, but His Highness the Crown Prince is also involved.

"Cough cough!!" Helpless, Wang De could only cough twice to remind the two brothers that there were other people around, and they should be careful with their words and actions.

"What's wrong, Old Wang? Have you caught a cold? You're coughing like that. Get away from me right now, or you'll spread it to me."

Li Shen was completely unaware of his own ignorance and looked at Wang De with disdain.

"Yes, yes, this old servant will go further away."

Wang De couldn't wait to get as far away from Li Shen as possible, so he quickly took a few steps.

Li Shen didn't recognize it, but Li Chengqian did. He looked around and saw that besides Wang De, there were two other eunuchs.

"Tenth brother, stop talking, walls have ears."

As he spoke, Li Chengqian glanced at Si, indicating to Li Shen that there were others present.

Li Shen looked around and nodded. It wasn't that he was afraid of anything else, but mainly that if word got back to his father, he would get a beating again.

The group quickly arrived at Yajing Residence. Before entering, the brothers tidied their appearances, but Li Shen strode inside.

The group was then taken to the second floor.

"Is Dad so irritable? Why do we have to meet on the platform? Isn't it cold?"

When Wang De went to report, Li Shen frowned as he looked at the platform outside and said, "What kind of weather is this? They're still receiving people outside?"

They really prioritize style over warmth.

After receiving permission, everyone went inside, only to be stunned by what they found: there was a glass room on the platform.

"Greetings, Father." The group bowed as they entered.

"Yes, please sit down." Li Shimin nodded slightly.

Everyone else sat down, but Li Shen curiously went to the glass and carefully examined the structure of the glass room.

There were also gaps on the side, just like his, filled with cotton.

It's actually very simple; it's just connecting wooden frames together and then putting glass on top. There's not much technical skill involved.

Does this look familiar?

Li Shimin's voice came from behind.

Li Shen turned around and nodded slightly:

"These glass pieces do look familiar. I wonder where Father got them from?"

(I'm getting a little anxious; there are only nine minutes left before it's too late. My keyboard is practically smoking from typing.)