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

The scene was somewhat awkward. Li Shen hadn't expected his father to fall for it. He had been speaking so passionately just moments before, but now he was denying everything.

"Father, didn't you just say you would help me make this happen?"

Li Shen put on a wronged expression.

"Yes, I did say I would help you accomplish this, but I didn't say I would let you do whatever you want with me."

"What? Do you think you can take advantage of this situation to profit from the chaos? Or are you planning to muddy the waters and deceive me?"

Li Shimin glared at Li Shen.

This son must not be allowed to be too proud, otherwise he will become arrogant and complacent.

"Couldn't the imperial court sell me some grain?"

Li Shen knew that giving it away for free was impossible, and in the end he would have to buy some.

"Of course, but the price needs to be set according to the market price, and I want a 50% profit."

Li Shimin made an outrageous demand.

The furious Li Shen that everyone expected did not appear. After listening to his father's words, Li Shen showed no expression whatsoever.

He didn't say a word, but poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and nodded to show his satisfaction.

"What? Do you agree or disagree?" Li Shimin asked, frowning as he saw Li Shen's behavior.

“Father, today is the first day of the new year, let’s not talk about state affairs. By the way, elder brother, I heard that you went to the Dali Temple prison a few days ago and praised the Dali Temple Minister for handling matters impartially, is that right?”

Li Shen calmly changed the subject, no longer talking about doing business.

This made Li Shimin very uncomfortable; this guy clearly disagreed.

"That's true. I've always heard about cases of forced confessions being extracted under torture in the Dali Temple prison. I took a look recently."

More than fifty prisoners were found, but only two should be sentenced to death. Neither of them protested their innocence. I also asked some of the prison guards inside.

They said that in the past, the Dali Temple was full of people crying out for justice, and many of them were forced to confess under torture.

Li Chengqian nodded and said.

"Hmm? That's not right. Isn't the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Sun Fujia? I heard he was a top scholar in the imperial examination, an upright and incorruptible man who repeatedly remonstrated with the Emperor. How could he have been wronged?"

Originally, Li Shen only wanted to change the subject, but after hearing Li Chengqian's words, Li Shen's curiosity was piqued.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was Sun Fujia—that was his recollection.

Li Chengqian shook his head and smiled:

"Hehe, tenth brother, you have been away from the court for a long time, so you naturally do not know that Sun Fujia has been transferred to the position of governor of Shanzhou, and the current Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is Tang Lin."

"Tang Lin?" Li Shen looked confused. He had never heard of this person before, not even in the novel *Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties*.

"Tang Lin was one of the ten most talented men. Back then, he was your uncle's strategist and once offered a plan to assess Wang Shichong."

Later, he was appointed as the assistant magistrate of Wanquan County. He became famous for releasing prisoners who had committed minor crimes to return home to farm. After the farming was completed, all the prisoners returned to prison.

I heard of his talent and thus promoted him to the position of Imperial Censor, later transferring him to the position of Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate.

Without Li Chengqian's explanation, Li Shimin explained this passage to Li Shen.

Li Chengqian probably wouldn't dare to explain it so completely; the Crown Prince was a taboo subject, and almost no one dared to bring it up.

"Oh, I see." Li Shen suddenly realized that the Tang Dynasty did indeed have many talented people, but compared to the founding heroes who helped the emperor rise to power, they were relatively unknown.

At this point, Li Chengqian added:

"Later, I promoted him to the position of Acting Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and not long ago he was transferred to the position of Minister of the Court of Judicial Review."

This person is indeed exceptionally talented, well-versed in the law, and kind, tolerant, and frugal.

And there's something else you might be interested in.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Li Shen asked curiously.

"Tang Lin wrote two tales of the strange and supernatural called 'The Records of the Underworld'," Li Chengqian said with a smile.

"The Chronicles of the Underworld? That sounds familiar, like someone mentioned it to me before."

Li Shen fell into deep thought; he was sure someone had mentioned that name.

“I’ve read this ‘Record of the Underworld’ before,” Li Tai said at that moment.

"Oh? Then tell me, Fourth Brother, what exactly is the story behind this 'Record of the Underworld'?"

The character "冥" (ming) appears; could it be referring to the underworld?

Li Shen became interested; in this era of scarce entertainment, having a novel to read was incredibly important.

Li Tai nodded:

“You’re right. This book on retribution does indeed relate to the underworld. It mainly tells about various causes and effects, persuades people to do good and avoid evil, and promotes Buddhist teachings and supernatural phenomena.”

"Promoting Buddhist supernatural powers?" Li Shen frowned upon hearing this. There are many schools of thought that encourage people to do good deeds; Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism all teach people to accumulate merit through good deeds.

Taoism also has legends about how evil is punished and good is rewarded.

But why specifically is it about promoting Buddhism? Are the Brahmins in the west going to open their doors in the east?

Li Tai didn't catch the seriousness in Li Shen's tone, and instead continued speaking to himself:

"There are many stories inside, such as Emperor Wu of Zhou, who loved to eat eggs. After his death, the underworld jailers cut open his stomach, and more than a dozen loads of eggs flowed out."

Jiang Lu also enjoyed hunting, and before he died, he saw a headless bird chirping around him in front of the book.

There was also the monk Huiru of Zhenji Temple in the Sui Dynasty who was invited to the underworld by Yama, the King of Hell, while he was in meditation. He asked to see his old friends, but he only saw a tortoise. The other person could not be summoned because of his heavy sins.

He was also accidentally burned by sparks from purgatory, and in the end, Yama, the King of Hell, gave him thirty bolts of silk. Someone went to his room and indeed found the silk.

"Haha~~"

Li Shen couldn't help but chuckle as Li Tai finished speaking.

"Does the Tenth Brother disagree with something about this? Although the Records of the Underworld is a collection of strange tales, I do believe some of the stories in it."

Because some of these are also mentioned only briefly in ancient books.

When Li Tai saw Li Shen smile, he said, "He is also a Buddhist, because his mother is a Buddhist."

"Well... I couldn't help myself just now. When I heard Fourth Brother talk about the ending, I was convinced that it was written by Tang Lin and not a historical record."

"Oh? Why are you so sure?" Li Tai asked curiously after hearing Li Shen's words.

Most of the strange tales and legends are derived from ancient books or folk tales.

Li Shen smiled slightly:

"Because my older brother just said that Tang Lin lives frugally."

"What does this have to do with the story?" Li Tai still didn't understand.

"Because he was poor, he had never seen money, so the King of Hell, who was in charge of the underworld, gave him thirty bolts of silk."

In the early Tang Dynasty, a bolt of silk cost 200 coins. Even if it cost 400 coins in the Sui Dynasty, 30 bolts would only amount to 12 strings of cash.

The King of Hell asked him to descend to the Netherworld, and upon his return, he was given a silk brocade worth twelve strings of cash.

There isn't even a single piece of fine silk or satin. Fourth Brother, don't you find that ridiculous?

Even with his official rank, he hadn't seen anything of value.

Li Shen scoffed at this, saying it was just like the short dramas and novels of later generations, where people wrote about things they hadn't experienced, like the world's richest man showing off his wealth by driving a new energy vehicle.

Then it's described as top-tier luxury, and having a Western meal is seen as a sign of wealth.

(Can't you change this habit every day, staying up so late? I've actually read the ghost story.)