A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"Bluebird, who taught you this?"

Li Shimin asked with a livid face.

Li Tai was filled with doubt and grievance, but he still stubbornly said, "Father, what do you mean by this? No one taught me, I am just speaking from my own feelings."

"you……"

Li Shimin was so angry that he laughed instead. He was about to curse when Wei Zu stopped him.

"Your Highness is still a child. Your Majesty need not be so stern. I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

After Wei Zu finished speaking, he turned and left, and Li Shimin had no face to stop him.

Wei Zu was suggesting that he resolve this privately, since he was Li Shimin's son. Li Shimin could only force a smile and say, "I'll see you off, sir."

After seeing Wei Zu off, Li Shimin returned to Taiji Palace with a blank expression.

"Bluebird, do you know your mistake?"

Li Shimin looked at Li Tai with disappointment. He used to think that this son was extremely intelligent and quite similar to himself, but now it seemed that he was just clever in a superficial way. He resembled him on the surface, but only in appearance.

"Father, what wrong have I done?"

Li Tai asked, puzzled.

"I taught you honesty from a young age, and how have you lived up to that?"

"He truly made me look good in front of the Prince of Yan's heir!"

Li Shimin gritted his teeth, and the words he uttered seemed to come from between his teeth.

"That's what I thought myself. Father, don't you believe me?"

As Li Tai spoke, tears welled up in his eyes, and he looked utterly aggrieved.

In the past, whether it was Li Shimin or Empress Zhangsun, they would coax him and let the matter pass.

So he did the same thing this time, but all he got in return was Li Shimin's cold gaze.

"Qingque, you have disappointed me greatly."

"Who do you think your little tricks can fool? Can they fool me, or your senior brother?"

"You don't think you're the only smart person in the world, do you?"

Li Tai's face turned pale instantly, and he lowered his head in grievance, tears streaming down his face.

This time, the tears were genuine. After all, he's just a child under 10 years old, and he doesn't have that kind of deep scheming yet.

"Tell me, who gave you this idea?"

"This person is truly intelligent; how could he guess my thoughts so accurately?"

Li Shimin's lips curled into a smile, but his eyes were filled with coldness. He had already decided to kill the fool who thought he was so clever.

"Yes, it's Wei Ting."

Startled by Li Shimin's words, Li Tai quickly revealed Wei Ting's identity.

"The Wei family of Jingzhao? They've got a long way to go. Don't blame me for chopping off their hands."

Li Shimin snorted coldly, then looked at his good-for-nothing son. If Li Tai could keep holding on, he might think more highly of him.

"Go back and reflect on your actions."

After Li Tai left, Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian, still somewhat disappointed. If Li Chengqian had stepped forward during that opportunity, it would have earned him a lot of points.

"Chengqian, you should go back first. Get some rest when you get back. I'll take you to the Prince of Yan's residence tomorrow."

"Go down."

Li Shimin waved wearily, signaling Li Chengqian to go back.

He realized that there were indeed some problems with his teaching of his son, and he hoped even more that his Crown Prince Li Chengqian could be placed under the command of the Prince of Yan's heir, so that the Prince of Yan's heir could teach him to be a good person.

Li Chengqian respectfully bowed to Li Shimin and went back to rest as Li Shimin instructed.

At Li Tai's residence, Wei Ting was waiting for news.

When Li Tai finally returned, his heart skipped a beat when he saw Li Tai's red and swollen eyes from crying.

This is probably not good news.

Wei Ting thought to himself.

"Your Highness, what has happened in the palace?"

"snort!"

"Men, throw him out of here!"

Li Tai said fiercely, and then the guards of his mansion dragged Wei Ting out.

"Your Highness, I am innocent!"

"I am utterly loyal to Your Highness."

Wei Ting was dumbfounded. He never expected that tonight, when he thought he would be praised and rewarded, he would be kicked out by Li Tai.

"If it weren't for you, I might have already become a disciple of the Prince of Yan's heir, and how could I have incurred the Emperor's displeasure?"

Li Tai glared angrily at Wei Ting, feeling that he had done everything Wei Ting had told him to do, and that it was all Wei Ting's fault.

He simply trusted the wrong person, which led to this disastrous outcome.

Wei Ting: "..."

The next day, Li Shimin brought Li Chengqian to visit the Prince of Yan's residence. During the visit, he brought up the matter of Li Chengqian becoming a disciple again, but Wei Zu smiled without saying a word.

Li Shimin had no choice but to send Li Chengqian to the Imperial Academy to study under Emperor Wei.

Two months later, Wei Zu received a message from the farmers' people in various places. His expression became somewhat solemn. He personally went to the land around Luoyang, dug up the soil, and sure enough, found a lot of insect eggs.

He hurriedly went to the palace to meet Li Shimin.

Li Shimin was equally astonished upon hearing Wei Zu's explanation.

"In the past two years, northern regions have indeed experienced drought and little rainfall, with the Guanzhong Plain being the most affected."

"If there are so many insect eggs even around Luoyang, what must the situation be like in Guanzhong and Chang'an?"

"Sir, do you have a method to control locusts?"

Li Shimin now places all his hopes on the Wei family, since the people alone are simply not capable of controlling the locust plague.

"Your Majesty may not know this, but according to the latest research by physicians on locusts, they have been discovered to be an excellent health supplement."

"Locusts contain a variety of nutrients that the human body needs, and in extremely high amounts."

"It has 3 times the nutrition of beef, 5 times the nutrition of eggs, and 3 to 7 times the nutrition of chicken, duck, fish and goose of the same weight."

Wei Zu handed Li Shimin a report, which was a medical study on the nutrition of locusts.

It was precisely because a research team discovered something amiss while studying locusts that, with the help of the Wei family, farmers were able to conduct investigations in various regions, which led to the discovery of the locust plague, which was still in its early stages.

Li Shimin's eyes lit up. "What do you mean, sir?"

"eat!"

"Although people have enough grain to eat these days, they rarely see meat or fish."

"This might not be a bad opportunity. It could both eliminate the locust plague and provide the people with more nutrition. Why not?"

Wei Zu smiled lightly, "There are many locusts, but how many can there be?"

It's at most a few hundred billion. How many people are there in the entire northern region now?

It's close to one hundred million.

On average, each person gets only a few hundred locusts, which is about the amount needed for one meal.

What's most terrifying about locusts is that they swarm in large numbers, darkening the sky.

As long as the locusts are prevented from gathering, they are nothing more than a bunch of food waiting to be slaughtered.

For the Chinese, a nation known for its love of food, the survival of a diverse species depends solely on how delicious it is.

"However, in order to gain the people's trust, Your Majesty and I need to do one more thing."

"What is it?"

Li Shimin was overjoyed that the locust plague could be resolved.

If the locust plague could be completely eradicated starting with his generation, he would surely be remembered for generations. Therefore, Li Shimin was extremely proactive at this time.

"Hold a feast of locusts, and eat locusts in front of all the people and officials."

Li Shimin's face froze shortly after the performance began. Eating locusts?!

Such disgusting bugs?!