The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"gentlemen."

One day in December, Chen Huai'an took some time to teach Li Chengqian and others. When get out of class ended, Cheng Chumo called him over.

Looking at the young boy before him, who seemed much more mature than when they first met, Chen Huai'an couldn't help but smile and ask, "Little Fengshuang, what's the matter?"

Cheng Chumo: "...Sir, it's one thing for Bo Bing to call someone that like that, but why are you doing it too?"

He was somewhat speechless; his husband was still as unserious as ever.

"If Bo Bing can call out, and so can the monk, why can't I?" Chen Huai'an retorted.

Cheng Chumo was speechless, and disregarding these minor issues, he said, "Sir, the matter you asked my father to investigate last time has yielded results."

"I worked with Bo Bing and the monk's family, and it took us a long time to collect a lot of information and evidence."

Would you like to take a look now?

Chen Huai'an paused, then gestured to Cheng Chumo to return to the school.

At this time, Li Zhen, Tang Heshang, and Li Chengqian had not left yet, and the first two seemed unsurprised by Chen Huai'an's return.

"Come on, tell me what you found out," Chen Huai'an asked, sitting down.

Cheng Chumo pulled out a stack of envelopes from his pocket. At a glance, there were at least twenty or thirty: "Sir, everything you asked us to investigate is in here. We have verified a lot of the information and found evidence. These are things we can confirm."

"My old man said that this matter is much more complicated than we imagined. The former Prince of Chang Le was not the only one. Noble families have done this kind of thing quite often."

Chen Huai'an took the envelope, not surprised by Cheng Chumo's words: "So you mean many people have done this kind of thing in the past, and the powerful families were the driving forces behind it?"

"For example, Prince Chang Le, much of his salt actually came from aristocratic families; was Prince Chang Le just a middleman?"

"That's right!" Cheng Chumo said angrily, "These bastards are really bold. If we investigate carefully, these people are the ones who are really colluding with foreign enemies. My old master said that the Prince of Changle is very likely just a pawn."

Chen Huai'an smiled upon hearing this. The son of a military officer is still so young. He mostly only sees the surface of things and is angry about it.

"Sir," Li Chengqian frowned, "according to Chu Mo, the aristocratic families... at least a portion of them were definitely involved."

"If the Prince of Chang Le is not the only one, and there are many others who have been used by powerful families, then at least we have obtained evidence."

"Does this mean we can use these things to punish them from a moral high ground?"

"That's possible," Chen Huai'an said, tapping the envelope in his hand. "But how can you be so sure that Prince Chang Le was being used?"

"Is a vassal king who commands a large army and guards the border so easily manipulated?"

Li Zhen said incredulously, "Sir, we've found evidence that they supplied salt to Prince Chang Le and others. Isn't that enough to prove the point?"

"It wasn't the Prince of Changle who actually sold salt to the Eastern Turks, but rather these aristocratic families."

"What good is it if powerful families are involved in secret dealings with the Eastern Turks? That's a capital offense, and no one can protect them."

"Haven't you always wanted to deal with the powerful families? Aren't these enough?"

Chen Huai'an almost burst out laughing.

These kids in front of me will almost certainly have a simple future, but even though they've matured a bit compared to before, they're still a bit... well, naive.

"You seem to have misunderstood something. What does it mean to have illicit relations with the Eastern Turks? The person who sold salt to the Eastern Turks was the Prince of Chang Le, not someone from a noble family."

Several people were about to retort when Chen Huai'an raised his hand to stop them: "I know what you want to say. You want to say that the salt was provided by a powerful family, right?"

"If the aristocratic families hadn't supplied salt, how could the Prince of Changle have been able to secretly collude with the Eastern Turks?"

"In your eyes, Prince Chang Le is being used."

"But I must tell you, it is virtually impossible for the Prince of Changle to be manipulated. His collusion with the Eastern Turks is his own business."

"Purchasing salt from established families is a normal business practice."

Chen Huai'an looked at them and said, "It's like I'm a farmer selling farm tools. You buy a hoe from me, and then use that hoe to kill someone. Am I, the farmer selling farm tools, guilty?"

"This..." Li Zhen was stunned for a moment.

Yes, if someone uses farm tools they bought to kill someone and commits a crime, does that mean the person who sold the farm tools is also guilty?

That's impossible.

He was somewhat unwilling to believe Chen Huai'an's words, yet he couldn't find a reason to refute them.

Because if he admits it, wouldn't all the information that the three of them have worked together to investigate for more than half a year be completely useless?

Tang He said lazily, "Frost and thin ice, I told you long ago, don't take these things too seriously."

"Sir, you're not looking for evidence of wrongdoing by these powerful families. How could they, with their long and distinguished lineage, possibly make such a basic mistake that you could use against them?"

"Even if they do commit a crime, they will do it flawlessly so that you can't find any evidence."

"The aristocratic families only care about selling salt; they have no say in anything else. Whether the Prince of Changle keeps the salt for himself or sells it to others is none of their business."

"Our wine has even been sold outside of the Tang Dynasty, you can't accuse us of colluding with foreign enemies, can you?"

"These are not the same!" Li Zhen retorted. "Can salt and wine be the same?"

"Salt is essential..."

"And what about your salt, sir?" Tang Heshang asked again. "Your Ministry of Revenue sells salt everywhere, doesn't it? Foreign merchants come to buy it, and you sell it to them just the same way."

"Do you dare accuse the gentleman of colluding with foreign enemies, or that the government is colluding with foreign enemies?"

Li Zhen immediately fell silent; of course, he dared not say such things.

But he still felt that these were two different concepts.

Chen Huai'an chuckled: "Alright, I know what you're thinking. You just feel that this is the first time I've asked you to do something, and you've worked so hard for so long, but the results you've found out seem to have no effect whatsoever on the enemy I've been trying to deal with."

"It's not very effective... at least not as effective as you think, right?"

Cheng Chumo and Li Zhen were somewhat embarrassed; that was indeed what they thought.

They also really wanted to help Chen Huai'an.

"Don't worry," Chen Huai'an explained patiently, "These things are definitely useful, but definitely not now."

"We want to use it against the powerful clans, which will be difficult, but we can use it against the other Princes of Chang Le, can't we?"

"Your efforts have not been in vain; you have helped me a great deal."

"These things will be of even greater help to me in the future."

Thank you!

"..."