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

Just as Li Chengqian and the others were marveling at this heartwarming scene of fatherly love and filial piety, the conversation took an unexpected turn.

Li Shimin stood up and kicked Li Shen twice, shattering the scene that had just unfolded.

Li Shen winced in pain, grimacing, and slowly stood up.

At this moment, Shi Tou also came over with a teapot. Li Shen took the teapot, tested the water temperature, and then took a sip to rinse his mouth.

I took a few more big gulps to quench my thirst.

Finally, to Li Shimin's incredulous gaze, Li Shen slammed the teapot heavily onto the bluestone slab, making a loud thud.

Then Li Shen looked at Li Shimin, his face expressionless.

Upon seeing this, Li An, who was following nearby, immediately stepped forward and placed one hand on the hilt of his sword to prevent Li Shen from suddenly attacking the emperor.

"What are you going to do?"

Li Shimin waved his hand, signaling Li An not to act rashly. To him, the tall and strong son in front of him was just a weakling.

He was unarmed, and Li Shimin was not worried at all about a sudden attack by Li Shen.

Li Shimin was even confident that he could take away one of his hands and one of his feet.

"Pfft!"

Li Shen suddenly knelt on the ground and shouted in a very forceful tone:

"I was wrong!!"

This caught Li Shimin off guard, and his body trembled. He thought Li Shen was really going to launch a surprise attack.

The result was that he knelt down, just as Li Shimin was about to say something.

Li Shen suddenly grabbed Li Shimin's leg and cried out:

"Oh dear~~~ please forgive me, I was wrong~~~"

While crying, she wiped her snot on Li Shimin's clothes, which made Li Shimin feel disgusted.

He immediately reached out and pushed Li Shen's head:

"Get out of my way, stay away from me. This dress is worth 100,000 strings of cash."

He was wearing a globally limited edition dragon robe that Li Shen had custom-made for him; there was only one of its kind in the world.

"If you don't spare me, Father, I won't get out of here." To avoid getting beaten up, Li Shen wasn't going to care about saving face.

How can one's face be more important than their butt? Losing face doesn't hurt, but getting beaten up really hurts.

"Quick, someone come and pull him away!" Li Shimin broke free of one leg and tried to pull the other leg out, but Li Shen held on tightly and was dragged along.

Even Shi Tou couldn't stand it anymore and joined Wang De in trying to pull Li Shen away.

But Li Shen refused to let go no matter what.

"Gao Ming, quickly go and fetch the family law."

Li Shimin shouted something to Li Chengqian in the distance, and that was much more effective than getting out of the way.

Upon hearing the words "family rules," Li Shen immediately released his grip.

"You scoundrel, what kind of behavior is this in public? Look at how dirty your clothes are!"

Li Shimin, relieved, shook the hem of his robe.

"Don't worry, Father. I'll make another one for you and bring it to you in three months."

Li Shen quickly patted his chest and assured everyone that he had indeed spent more than three months making this garment, employing hundreds of embroiderers who stitched it out stitch by stitch.

Hearing this, Li Shimin felt much better. Although his rebellious son was a playboy, the things he sent were all precious items, far more luxurious than what he, the emperor, used.

"By the way, tenth brother, is there something you need today?"

Li Chengqian, who had just arrived, looked enviously at the dragon robe his father was wearing, which gleamed golden in the sunlight.

"Yes, I forgot about the important matter. I wasn't in Chang'an for Father's birthday, so I came here to give him a belated birthday gift."

"Where are the things?" Li Shen then remembered the important matter and tilted his head to look at Wang De.

"Your Highness Prince Ji, the carriage will enter through the side gate, and we should be arriving at Ganlu Palace soon."

Wang De quickly replied.

"So many rules," Li Shen muttered. They could have gone in a straight line, but they had to take a roundabout route.

"Please come over, Father, and see if you are satisfied with the gift I gave you?"

Li Shen said respectfully to the person who had come, "I have to make my old man happy now, or I'll get a beating."

Li Shimin nodded with a stern face:

"Hmph, let's see then. I'll see why you're going to all this trouble."

"Gao Ming, and a few other ministers, you will all accompany me."

"Yes, sir." Li Chengqian was also curious as to why Li Shen was being chased all over the place.

"Hehe, this old minister would also like to know what His Highness Prince Ji has presented to His Majesty as a tribute," Changsun Wuji said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, let's see what kind of rare and precious treasures they are." Tang Jian was even more excited.

So Li Shimin took the lead and headed towards the Ganlu Hall behind him, while Li Shen's legs were weak and he hadn't recovered yet, so he was supported by Shi Tou.

Only then did the eunuch on duty dare to come over and clean up Li Shen's vomit.

Two crisp sounds rang out as the ice fell to the ground, drawing everyone's attention.

The two eunuchs stared blankly at the two small gold bars that had just fallen onto the bluestone slab.

Li Shen leaned on the stone's shoulder, walked forward without turning his head, and simply said:

"For your reward."

This left the eunuchs bewildered, as their annual salary was less than ten strings of cash, and they never received any rewards while on duty here.

I don't know whether I should take it or not.

"Hmph, you're quite generous." Li Shimin glanced at the gold bars on the ground, snorted, and turned to continue walking.

Everyone followed.

“Take these as a gift from the Prince of Ji. Clean this place up and wash it carefully.”

Wang De walked over, glanced at the gold bars on the ground, gave an order, and then followed.

Upon hearing this, the two eunuchs immediately picked up the gold bars with delight and bowed respectfully to the departing Li Shen.

"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji, for the reward."

Normally, Li Shen wouldn't have gone to such lengths, but this time he had vomited all over the place and needed someone else to clean it up, so Li Shen felt a little guilty.

Because Li Shen knew that this was not something that could be simply finished by cleaning and drying.

This is the imperial palace; how can there be anything unclean here?

The two of them had to clean everything up first, leaving nothing behind, and then wipe it clean with a damp cloth, wiping it several times, even cleaning the grout lines between the bricks.

Otherwise, if they are discovered, they will be severely beaten.

In such cold weather, with cold water, and the need to prevent the water from freezing, you can imagine how difficult that is.

If the ice were frozen and dropped by a high-ranking official, he could easily be beaten to death.

That's why Li Shen rewarded him with two gold bars.

For him, those two gold bars were just a matter of a few packs of cigarettes, but for these two eunuchs, they were tickets home.

The group soon arrived at the Ganlu Hall, where a large crowd had gathered at the entrance.

A group of more than a dozen people carried the items from the carriage into the Ganlu Hall little by little. Judging from their movements, the items they were carrying were extremely heavy.

"Tenth Brother, what is this?"

Standing not far away, Li Shimin asked curiously.

"Hehe, Father will find out soon. I guarantee he'll like it. Although it took seven days to make..."

Kerr had been preparing for this for several years.

Li Shen chuckled and kept everyone in suspense.

(I'm now in my forties.)