Zhenguan Xiaoxian Wang Li Shen Li Shimin

Li Mengjiang also bowed to Li Shimin before taking her leave with Zhou Daowu.

She no longer yielded to Li Shenqian; she knew that since her brother had made his decision, he must have his reasons.

"Uh~~~~" Li Shen let out a burp, then continued:

"There are still over 100,000 strings of cash left. Brother, you can take them all away later. 50,000 strings are for my sister-in-law to celebrate her birthday. We've already agreed on the rest."

"Haha, then I'll accept the offer without hesitation."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian immediately grinned, knowing that the agreement was about dividing the spoils upon their return.

Li Shen promised to give 50,000 strings of cash, but only gave 18,000 strings in total.

"What did you agree on? What else are you hiding from me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately frowned and questioned whether his two sons had some unspeakable secrets.

“Reporting to Father, there is nothing I am hiding from you. It’s just that my tenth brother knows that I am in a bit of financial difficulty right now, so he has agreed to give me tens of thousands of strings of cash.”

Li Chengqian offered an explanation.

"Hmph, that's for the best. Don't be fooled by him and do bad things with him."

Upon hearing Li Chengqian's explanation, Li Shimin did not ask any further questions.

"Do bad things? What bad things could I possibly do? Father, are you thinking too badly of me?"

Li Shen was immediately displeased upon hearing his father's words, and, fueled by alcohol, immediately expressed his dissatisfaction.

"Am I thinking too badly of you? Isn't it just that your own actions make people uneasy?" Li Shimin retorted.

"Father, I've only been back for two days. I haven't done anything. Father, you're really wronging me."

Li Shen was heartbroken.

However, Li Shimin remained unmoved:

"I'm wronging you. You just said that your investment failed, that your ship encountered the Wrath of the Sea God, and then you said that you encountered a pirate crew."

Others may not know, but surely I do. Your fleet will never encounter any pirate crews. Aren't you just deceiving those spoiled brats by saying that?

Finally, you sent these young men to a port to inquire about this matter; there must be something fishy about it.

Tell me, are you planning to do something wicked and immoral again?

No one knows a son better than his father. He had been playing with Li Shen for so many years and knew Li Shen's habits like the back of his hand.

There were outsiders present earlier, so Li Shimin didn't say anything. Now that there was no one else around, Li Shimin spoke frankly.

Li Shen's final actions revealed a flaw to Li Shimin. Li Shen kept emphasizing that the goods were very likely intercepted by a pirate crew, which was abnormal.

Li Shen only has one pirate crew in the South China Sea, so how could he let someone else rob him?

Something unusual is bound to happen; this matter is definitely not simple.

"What are you saying, Father? How could I do something so heinous? As I just said, it was just a guess. Perhaps he really did sink into the sea and feed the fish."

"I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shone on the gutter. Father, you have truly wronged me."

Li Shen looked heartbroken and extremely aggrieved. Even Li Shimin began to waver upon seeing him, wondering if he had made a mistake in his guess.

"You really don't have any other plans?" Li Shimin asked tentatively.

"Father, I promise I have absolutely no plans." Li Shen immediately patted his chest.

Li Shimin stared intently into Li Shen's eyes for a long time before nodding.

"I hope so. The court is stable now, so you must not cause any trouble. If I find out, don't blame me for punishing you according to family law."

At present, Li Shimin could not figure out what Li Shen intended, so he could only wait and see. He did not believe that this troublemaker would behave himself.

"Father, rest assured, I will follow your teachings." Li Shen assured him repeatedly.

Li Shimin was then satisfied and said:

"Alright, then I'll head back to the palace. Don't forget about the 300,000 strings of cash?"

Li Shen's lips twitched. Sure enough, his father hadn't changed at all.

"Don't worry, Father. We will send the money to you as soon as it arrives in Xizhou."

"Gao Ming, you should go back with us too," Li Shimin said to Li Chengqian.

"Yes, Father." Li Chengqian glanced at Li Shen and agreed. The two looked at each other, understanding each other without words.

Li Shen, accompanied by Lu Dingniang, escorted Li Shimin and Empress Wei to the main gate.

The gate was already heavily guarded, and Li Shimin's carriage had been waiting for a long time.

"Don't forget what I just told you," Li Shimin reminded him before getting into the carriage.

"Yes," Li Shen bowed and replied.

"Also, remember that you need to prepare for the banquet held when Yuanzheng enters the palace," Li Shimin reminded him again.

"Yes," Li Shen bowed again in agreement.

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he got into the carriage, and Li Chengqian followed suit.

"Respectfully seeing off Father and Mother." Li Shen, along with the entire household, bowed to the slowly moving carriage, watching it gradually disappear into the distance until it vanished at the gate of the neighborhood.

"Summon Wang Hongfu and Wang Xuance to the study."

Straightening up, Li Shen turned and walked towards the Prince's residence, giving an order as he did so.

Upon entering the study, Li Shen felt dizzy and collapsed onto the bed.

"My lord, what are your orders?"

Not long after, Wang Xuance and Wang Hongfu entered the study.

Li Shen then slowly opened his eyes.

"Old Wang spread the word in all the ports of the Tang Dynasty that a fleet of ships belonging to Prince Ji's mansion had been intercepted by pirates, and that the ships were loaded with spices purchased from the Western Regions, worth a million strings of cash."

Remember, don't publicize this news widely; let the shopkeepers in different regions casually let it slip out.

"Yes, Your Highness, I will take care of it immediately. Does Your Highness have some grand plan?"

Wang Hongfu immediately accepted the order.

"You'll find out then. The Spice Project has been running for so long, it's time to reap the rewards."

"It seems we haven't made a move in a long time; many have probably forgotten my existence."

Li Shen squinted, looking like a retired master preparing to make a comeback.

Wang Hongfu immediately understood what Prince Ji meant. Indeed, Prince Ji's mansion had not stirred up any trouble in the business world for a long time.

I remember the last time I set up a scheme was with cloth; it's been several years since then, and quite a few people have gotten rich in those years.

"Is Your Highness planning to seize control of the powerful families once again?" Wang Xuance asked.

"Indeed, I haven't made a move in the past few years, so they must have accumulated a lot of wealth. This time, I'll harvest them again."

They think the matter in Xizhou is over? They think it's over, but I haven't gotten my revenge yet.

Li Shen felt deeply humiliated whenever the matter of Xizhou was mentioned; for several years, these people had treated him like a fool.

This includes not only those who carried out the order under Prince Ji's command, but also those who remained silent and were aware of the situation.

These people deserve to die even more; they actually concealed the truth and all tacitly chose to remain silent.

In Li Shen's view, they were accomplices. The incident in the workshop area was just the first step in his revenge. Li Shen was not completely appeased and he had to make them all pay the price.

(I feel like I've hit a bottleneck and am trying to break through. Because I'm too busy every day, I haven't had time to think about the plot, so the writing is a bit unsatisfactory. I hope you can forgive me.)