Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 220 Let them exchange grain
"You can go out for a few days."

As soon as Li Daozong finished speaking, he expected to see Wen He beaming with joy, but to his surprise, Wen He simply replied, "I'm not going."

"I know nothing about your Honglu Temple affairs, don't ask me to leave." Wen He's expression immediately changed. Seeing the maid bring over bowls and chopsticks, she shouted, "No need to give them to him, he'll be leaving soon."

"What's going on here?" Li Daozong got up, took the bowl and chopsticks from the maid, sat down, and asked Wen He with a smile, "Little girl, how did you know it was about the Court of State Ceremonial?"

"Otherwise, what are you doing here?"

Wen He rolled her eyes at him.

No wonder he was able to get in; it turns out Li Er had something to discuss with him again.

"I'm under house arrest, I'm not going."

"Alright, alright, I won't go then." Li Daozong coaxed Wen He like a child, and seeing that her expression had softened, he continued, "The Goguryeo people heard that the Japanese did business with you, and they're thinking of..."

“We can give it to them, let them exchange it for grain.” Before Li Daozong could finish speaking, Wen He interrupted him.

"I thought you would refuse."

Li Daozong was somewhat surprised, then glanced at the meat in the pot and reached out with his chopsticks to pick it up.

To everyone's surprise, Li Tai was one step ahead and snatched it away.

He then set his sights on another piece, but Li Ke beat him to it again.

"No, I'm a guest, okay? Don't you know the importance of courtesy?" Li Daozong said irritably, looking at the three little ones who were staring longingly at the meat in the pot.

"The master said the family is too poor, and from now on they can only eat meat once every five days," Li You sighed.

Since he came to Wen He's house, he hasn't had a single good day.

Every morning I have to get up early to work, then read, take a nap at noon, and then get up to work again.

Although we eat three meals a day, it's rare to see meat.

"So you're doing business with the Goguryeo people because you're poor?" Li Daozong looked at Wen He in astonishment.

"It can't be that bad, can it? Didn't His Majesty just fine you a year's salary?"

"More than three thousand strings of cash? You call that not serious?"

Wen He asked Wen Zhong and found out that his annual salary was this much.

Li Er had all of it confiscated.

Changsun Chong isn't made of gold; is it really necessary to fine him so much money just for beating him up?

"Alright, then I'll go talk to the Goguryeo people. Wait a minute, what do you need the grain for?"

Li Daozong suddenly remembered that Wen He had said to have the Goguryeo people exchange grain for it.

Wen He paused for a moment, pondered for a moment, and said, "Someone appeared to me in a dream last night and said that there will be a drought next spring, so I need to stock up on some food."

"Uh, a dream?"

Li Daozong felt that Wen He was deceiving him.

This little kid must be hiding something from me, and he even made up an excuse that someone else appeared in his dream.

"Tell me, what is the reason?" Li Daozong pressed on relentlessly.

Wen He rolled her eyes at him.

He was telling the truth.

He just couldn't find a suitable reason right away, so he used a dream as an excuse.

"The Imperial Observatory informed His Majesty, which is why the Ministry of Works previously issued a tender for water conservancy projects. By the way, speaking of this matter, have they started yet?"

Wen He remembered the bidding process.

It was originally his responsibility, but he's currently under house arrest, so he doesn't need to worry about it anymore.

"It started yesterday. The imperial family was divided into three parts, with each part receiving 80,000 strings of cash. The rest was taken by the powerful families and the Guanzhong region."

Li Daozong felt a pang of heartache when he thought about how much money he had to spend for no reason.

The person who started this whole thing was sitting right in front of him.

He immediately turned his grief and anger into appetite, picked up the meat on the table and put it into the pot.

This little kid is eating beef!

He also said he had no money.

So shameless.

Seeing his indignant expression, Wen He assumed that he thought there was something wrong with him eating beef.

"Why are you looking at me like that? This ox died recently, I didn't kill it."

"I'm not talking about beef; I'm poor."

Li Daozong glared at him.

"Oh."

Wen He responded with a faint "yes".

"Oh, you'll have to find a way to make money for me."

"I want to make money myself. Besides, you're a prince. You can go out and have plenty of people give you money. Why do you say you're poor?"

Wen He didn't believe that Li Daozong was the kind of person who was incorruptible.

He can sit at home and people will send him money.

"After that incident at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, those people have been behaving themselves for a long time. No suckers have come knocking on our door yet. Why don't you have wine while you're eating meat?"

Li Daozong smacked his lips a few times. He had felt something was missing earlier, and now he realized it.

Oh, there was no wine.

"Who among us do you think can drink?" Wen He rolled her eyes.

Li Daozong then realized what had happened and chuckled sheepishly, "I almost forgot."

"Alright, then the matter of Goguryeo is settled. But are you really not going out?" Li Daozong probed.

"No, I'm not going. As the saying goes, 'It's good to have nothing to do.'"

He wished Li Shimin would confine him for a longer period of time.

Since he won't get paid this year anyway, he's not going to be stupid enough to go out and work for free.

Seeing this, Li Daozong stopped trying to persuade him, shamelessly ate a meal there, and then left satisfied.

"gentlemen."

Shortly after Li Daozong left, Li Ke suddenly tugged at Wen He's sleeve.

"what happened?"

"What does it mean when Uncle Wang said that the princess is going to be betrothed to you?" Li Ke asked, blinking.

Li Tai, Li You, and Wenrou only then realized what was happening.

Wen He was taken aback.

They really didn't know about his relationship with Li Lizhi.

Before Wen He could answer, Li You exclaimed in surprise.

"Could it be that aunt?"

“Yes, Father’s daughters are still princesses. No, my eldest sister was a princess before, but she married Changsun Chong, right?”

Li Tai was puzzled.

"Oh right, how come she's a princess?" Wen He finally came to her senses.

However, he soon received the answer from Wenzhong.

Li Lizhi was granted the title of Princess Chang Le.

Upon hearing this, Wen He was taken aback.

How long has he been confined to his quarters, and so much has already happened?

It is truly true that a day in the mountains is like a thousand years in the world.

Wen He soon realized that being confined to her home was indeed difficult.

so boring.

He used to feel like he didn't have time to sleep, but now it seems like he really has nothing to do except sleep.

If it were in later generations, he could spend a whole day looking at a mobile phone.

Now he can only face the three little ones and one little girl each day.

After a busy period, the sudden silence can make people feel tired.

After arriving in the Tang Dynasty, he was almost never idle and lived a very fulfilling life every day.

But now he can only rest his chin on his hand and stare blankly at the sky.

Sometimes when he was really bored, he would grab Li You and Li Tailai and beat them up.

But recently, these two seem to have figured something out, because they've stopped causing trouble and are behaving like little lambs every day.

Wen He couldn't even find an excuse to beat them up.

"Ugh."

Just when he was bored.

Li Daozong has come again.

“Little one, the Goguryeo people said they have little food, could you exchange it for copper… What’s wrong with you? You look so hopeless.”

Li Daozong felt that Wen He seemed to have become quite haggard.

Upon seeing him arrive, Wen He grabbed his sleeve.

"Didn't you say before that the Goguryeo people wanted to see me? After thinking it over these past few days, I feel that I should still meet with them."

"what?"

Li Daozong was quite surprised. He then looked at Wen He, who was looking depressed, and laughed, "I think you're just bored."

"Just tell me, are you taking me with you or not?"

Wen He turned to look at him.

"Alright, since I'm a good person, but you're still under house arrest. Don't cause any trouble after you get out."

"When have I ever caused trouble? The trouble at Wangchun Tower is all because of you."

"Well, that makes sense."

Li Daozong still felt quite guilty about what happened at Wangchun Tower.

If he hadn't taken Wen He there, they wouldn't have met Changsun Chong.

What happened next will not happen again.

After tidying up, Wen He and Li Daozong went out through the side door.

After all, they were under house arrest, so they still had to put on a show for others.

Li Daozong's carriage was parked to the side. The two of them went out the door and then, with lightning speed, slipped inside.

"Why are we acting like thieves? Are you sure His Majesty sent you to take me out?"

Once inside the carriage, Wen He realized what had happened.

Li Daozong paused for a moment, his hand stroking his beard suddenly stopping.

"Um, last time was yes, but I haven't had a chance to tell His Majesty yet."

"hehe."

Well, he was tricked by Li Daozong.

"Lee Seung-beom..."

"Got it, damn it. By the way, who exactly is this 'grandpa'?"

"roll!"

……

The two carriages arrived at the Court of State Ceremonial shortly afterward.

While on the road, Li Daozong sent someone to inform the envoys of Goguryeo.

After getting off the carriage at the side gate of the Court of State Ceremonial, a servant was already waiting for us.

"Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, people from the Ministry of Rites have also arrived."

The servant bowed and then mentioned it.

"What brings the people from the Ministry of Rites here?"

Li Daozong frowned. Foreign affairs of the Tang Dynasty had always been handled by the Court of State Ceremonial.

Unless it's an envoy mission, which is arranged by His Majesty, the Ministry of Rites has absolutely no say in other matters.

"The messenger said that the people from Goguryeo had contacted him before, so he came. He has already consulted with Minister Tang about this matter," the servant replied.

"The fact that Goguryeo would actually send someone from the Ministry of Rites shows they don't take our Court of State Ceremonies seriously?"

Li Daozong was furious.

Although the Court of State Ceremonial was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites.

But unfortunately, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial was Li Daozong.

Even Tang Jian doesn't dare to interfere in the affairs of the Court of State Ceremonial.

A mere Ministry of Rites...

"What is the official rank of the person who came?"

"In charge."

"what?"

Li Daozong thought he was hallucinating.

A mere steward dares to interfere in the affairs of their Court of State Ceremonies.

"You've all gone hysterical! He's just a leader; you could have just sent him out. Why did you have to let him negotiate with the Goguryeo people!"

"But, but that person had Minister Tang's warrant, so I dared not stop him." The servant quickly bowed his head and apologized.

Li Daozong was furious and raised his hand to teach the servant a lesson.

Just then, Wen He stopped him.

"What's the use of making things difficult for him? Go and see who he is. These people can't afford to offend someone who can get a warrant from Minister Tang."

Upon hearing this, Li Daozong also felt that it made sense, and immediately waved his hand to dismiss the servant.

He led Wen He and hurriedly headed towards the government office.

(End of this chapter)