Tang Dynasty: Starting at Xuanwu Gate, this prince is better off not being one.

Even before Li Yuanji arrived, Li Chengqian had already hidden himself away with his two younger brothers.

After Li Yuanji arrived uninvited, Changsun Chong and Niu Tong were also driven out.

So the only people in the room were Li Yu, Li Yuanji, and the waiter who had come to report.

At that moment, immediately after Li Yu finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence.

After a long silence, Li Yuanji, his expression shifting repeatedly, finally spoke in a harsh voice: "Boy, what did you say?"

"I said, who do you think you are?" Li Yu said, staring straight at Li Yuanji without backing down.

"Good lad!"

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Li Yuanji's eyes, and he pressed forward step by step, forcing Li Yu, who was much shorter than him, to look up at him.

"While your father's away, I'll teach you a lesson on his behalf today!"

After uttering another harsh remark, Li Yuanji suddenly grabbed Li Yu by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

At the same time, Changsun Chong and the others, who had been observing the situation from the back, suddenly rushed out and tried to rescue Li Yu several times, but were frightened by a look from Li Yuanji and dared not take another step forward.

Cheng Chumo, having just seen off his guests, witnessed this scene as soon as he entered the back hall.

Ignoring Li Yuanji's warning look, he charged straight towards them.

"You little brat, you're asking for death!" Seeing his reckless behavior, Li Yuanji cursed and raised his foot.

The next moment, Cheng Chumo, who was known among his peers for his bravery, was kicked to the ground by him.

"Chu Mo! Get out! This is a family matter, not a place for you!" Li Yu managed to utter these words of rebuke while being lifted into the air.

Li Yu's face was flushed from being strangled. He looked at the door with difficulty and found that Li Er was still nowhere to be seen.

So he put one hand behind his back, pulled out the dagger Li Er had given him from his sleeve, and gripped it tightly in his hand.

She planned in her heart that if Li Yuanji did anything rash, she would not hesitate to stab him in the right chest.

Seeing Li Yu almost unable to speak due to the choking, Li Yuanji's eyes revealed a hint of excitement: "You little brat, I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your third brother, so you'll know what respect for elders and juniors really means!"

"Fourth brother, who are you going to discipline?"

The sudden familiar voice caused Li Yuanji to loosen his grip, and Li Yu fell to the ground, panting heavily.

Turning to look at the source of the sound, one could see Li Er standing calmly and imposingly at the doorway, a figure that commanded respect without a hint of anger…

.........

Some people are born with an aura, like Li Er, whose domineering presence fills the entire room.

This was the first time Li Yu had seen Li Er like this. Previously, he had always thought that Li Er was a very cunning uncle who liked to team up with his son to scheme against him.

Seeing Li Er's current appearance, and recalling the evaluation of "the appearance of a dragon and phoenix, the countenance of the sun and moon," he felt that the evaluation was quite fair.

In comparison, Li Yuanji was at a disadvantage.

Upon seeing his second brother arrive, he instantly lost his previous arrogance and became much more subdued.

"What? Aren't you leaving yet? Does Second Brother really want to drink so much?" Seeing that Li Yuanji remained silent for a long time, Li Er walked in unhurriedly.

Speechless for a moment after being choked by Li Er's words, Li Yuanji finally managed to say after a long pause, "This brat is so disrespectful to his elders, am I, as his uncle, not allowed to discipline him?"

"It's your business to discipline them, but not in front of me."

Without even glancing at Li Yuanji, Li Er walked over and lifted Li Yu, who was slumped on the ground, to his feet.

"Alright! My dear second brother, in that case, I'll take my leave!"

Having been rebuffed by Li Er, Li Yuanji gritted his teeth, snorted coldly, and left.

There was no way around it; Li Yuanji always felt a bit of fear when facing his second elder brother.

Because he had suffered a lot at his hands, he was plotting revenge against Li Yu and other younger generations.

.........

Watching Li Yuanji disappear through the door, Li Yu straightened his wrinkled collar.

"You son of a bitch, Li Yuanji, you just wait! If I don't rip you off until you're completely broke, I'm not a Li!"

After muttering a few angry words, Li Yu felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.

"Whose father are you?"

Li Er slapped Li Yu across the face, glaring at him and shouting, "Outrageous! Your father and I are his brothers. What's the difference between you cursing his parents and cursing us?"

"I acted on impulse," Li Yu said, rubbing his head, his tone full of grievance.

He was already furious with that bastard Li Yuanji, and then he was slapped by Li Er, leaving him feeling like crying.

"Alright! I know you're unhappy, but your second uncle just kicked him out! What kind of man acts so pathetic?"

After straightening Li Yu's clothes, Li Er ordered the young men to leave, then lowered his voice and asked, "Kid, you just said you were going to trick Fourth Brother? Tell me, how are you going to do it?"

At this point, Li Yu's grievances vanished instantly, and he chuckled mischievously, saying, "That depends on whether you allow me to sell fine salt."

"Fine salt?"

Li Er immediately became curious: "Tell me, if you can do it without attracting His Majesty's attention, I will allow you to do it."

Seeing that Li Er had given in, Li Yu looked around and, finding no one eavesdropping, replied mysteriously, "This nephew wants to sell fine salt at the price of grain."

"How can we sell it at the price of grain?" Li Er was full of questions at this moment.

After all, a dou of salt could sell for 20 wen, while a dou of rice only cost three or four wen, a difference of more than five times!

"That's easy."

Li Yu lowered his voice and said, "As long as we keep releasing large amounts of fine salt into the market, we can instantly drive down the price of salt."

"So this is enough to make Li Yuanji lose his underwear?" Li Er's face was full of disbelief.

"Of course not."

Upon hearing this, the disbelief on Li Er's face vanished instantly, replaced by a dark expression: "So you dared to make such a boast, making your second uncle happy for nothing..."

Li Yu was already used to Li Er's unpredictable temper, so he explained, "Please let me finish! Since we want to lower the price of salt, I will first try to get Li Yuanji to buy up a large amount of salt. Then I will drive down the price of salt, and the Qi Prince's Mansion will suffer a huge loss."

After hearing Li Yu's account, Li Er's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot: "Do you think Li Yuanji would be stupid enough to fall for your trick so easily? Putting aside himself, even his subordinates would definitely not agree to him doing this."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Er stared at Li Yu's face, wanting to see his reaction, but instead found that the guy was grinning mischievously, "This nephew needs your help here..."

.........