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

"Xiao An!"

Chen Sujin stepped into the martial arts hall, where Chen Huai'an was doing push-ups as usual.

Several large stone slabs pressed down on his back, and beads of sweat dripped onto the ground, but Chen Huai'an seemed to feel nothing, and his breathing remained steady.

"What's up, sis?" he asked without looking up.

Chen Sujin moved a small stool and sat down next to him, saying gently, "I miss my parents and Uncle Youde. Aren't you free lately? Why don't you take us back to our hometown?"

Chen Huai'an paused for a moment: "Why would you have such a thought?"

"You have the nerve to ask me why I have such thoughts?" Chen Sujin couldn't help but scold, "Think about how everyone treated you back then? Uncle Youde even took out his own coffin to let you study, and what about Uncle Boshan, Aunt Yuegui, and Sister Shanxing? Didn't they all risk their lives to support you?"

"Look at what you've done!"

"Yes, you're powerful now, Minister of Works, Minister of Revenue, with immense power. What's wrong? Have you forgotten about everyone now that you've become a high-ranking official?"

"That's not what I meant." Chen Huai'an couldn't hold back any longer; he couldn't possibly respond to that. "What I meant was, why do you want to go back now?"

"Was it a spur-of-the-moment decision?"

"What do you mean by 'spur of the moment'?" Even Chen Sujin, who valued Chen Huai'an the most, couldn't help but complain at this moment, "If you weren't so busy, and if I, a woman, didn't dare to travel far, why would I have waited until now?" "I've wanted to go back for a long time."

"For so many years, I haven't visited my parents' graves to pay my respects..."

In the end, Chen Sujin couldn't help but feel sad.

He had suffered too much before, and had been wandering with Xiao He for so long, so he was ashamed to go back to the village. He only thought about going to Chang'an to entrust Xiao He to Chen Huai'an.

Now that everything is alright, she naturally wants to go back and pay respects to her parents, but she hasn't been able to find a good opportunity.

She understood that Chen Huai'an was busy, but even if Chen Huai'an was busy, after two or three years, he should be able to squeeze out some time, right?

Chen Huai'an didn't say anything, he just kept doing push-ups, I don't know what he was thinking.

Chen Sujin was furious. Her younger brother was never this disobedient when they were children.

"Are you going back or not? Qiao'er has married into this family, and we haven't even taken her to visit her parents' graves yet."

"I...I'll think about it."

"Want to?" Chen Sujin raised her voice, abandoning her stool and sitting directly on the stone slab on Chen Huai'an's back.

"What's your decision now?" Chen Huai'an's eyelids twitched. It wasn't that he felt it was too strenuous; the weight was nothing to him, and he didn't feel much of it.

The only problem is that Chen Sujin wants him to make a statement.

After a long silence, Chen Huai'an finally asked, "Are you really going back?"

"Nonsense." Chen Sujin was exasperated. She knew Chen Huai'an was the one who most wanted to go back. "Returning home in glory is like wearing fine clothes in the dark!"

"What are you still hesitating about?"

"If you don't go back, I'll take Qiao'er and Xiao He back by myself."

Chen Huai'an: "..."

"Alright... then." He reluctantly agreed, "But I must tell His Majesty that, given my position, I cannot leave at will."

Chen Sujin sneered, but didn't expose Chen Huai'an's true intentions.

Doesn't she know her younger brother?

Even when burned to ash, the lips remain hard.

She clearly wanted to go back, but she pretended to be reluctant, acting all coy. "Then it's settled. I'll prepare a little first. You should take a shower and change your clothes to see His Majesty right now."

"It's settled then."

Chen Huai'an: "..."

His eyes widened in surprise: "So rushed?"

"Are you leaving or not?"

"......Walk!"

Leaving the martial arts hall, Chen Sujin's lips curled up slightly, her mood noticeably improved.

"You think I can't handle you?"

"..."

"What did you just say?"

Inside the Ganlu Hall, looking down at Chen Huai'an, Li Shimin found it amusing and put his hand to his ear, "Say it again, I didn't hear you clearly just now."

"What do you want to do?" Chen Huai'an said awkwardly, "Your Majesty, I wish to return to my hometown, which may take quite some time. Could Your Majesty please allow me to go home?"

"Hahahaha!" Li Shimin laughed loudly, "Want to go back to your hometown?"

"Are you making a request of me?"

Chen Huai'an forced a smile and said yes, despite his reluctance.

Li Shimin was even more pleased and pointed at him, saying, "Hahaha, you've just gotten married and want to go back to your hometown. I can understand."

"Speaking of which, you have been with me since the ninth year of the Wude era, and this year is the third year. You have never returned home to visit your family."

"If I do not approve it, it would be because I am heartless."

"But the problem is... can the imperial court leave you for that long now?"

Li Shimin asked with great interest.

He had thoroughly investigated Chen Huai'an before. Chen Huai'an's hometown was Chenjiazhuang, also known as Chenjia Village, in Wanqiu County, Huaiyang Prefecture, Chenzhou, Henan Province.

Speaking of which, Chenzhou is also the place with the most people with the surname Chen, because Huaiyang in Chenzhou was the location of the ancient State of Chen.

The Chen family branch, however, were distant descendants of Chen Hugong, and had long since declined into farming households. It wasn't far from Chang'an, but it wasn't exactly close either.

If you travel by horse-drawn carriage, it would take at least twenty days for a round trip, more than a month, not even considering other factors.

It would take Chen Huai'an at least two months, and possibly as long as three months, to go back to his hometown.

If you think about it carefully, Chen Huai'an's departure time is indeed quite long.

"Doesn't Your Majesty know whether the court can be separated from me for so long?" Chen Huai'an was speechless. He knew that Li Shimin wanted to tease him and make fun of him.

But since I needed to speak with them, I went along with it.

"Now the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue are actually not much to do. The Ministry of Revenue has been preparing for the campaign against the Eastern Turks for too long, and all the provisions and supplies are ready. Your Majesty can just find someone to temporarily take over, or even let the prime minister take charge for a while."

"The Ministry of Works... The Ministry of Works has its own complete procedures. The Yellow River restoration is on track and there's nothing major going on."

"What if?" Li Shimin spread his hands. "If something happens, how will I contact you?"

"Fine, fine, fine!" Chen Huai'an felt a headache coming on and didn't want to continue this nonsense. "Just tell me what you want to do!"

Li Shimin immediately burst into laughter, showing no anger whatsoever: "What do I want to do?"

"I didn't intend to do anything, so how about... you beg me? If you beg me, I'll agree, how about that?" Chen Huai'an said with a forced smile, "Your Majesty, do you really want me to beg you?"

"When..." Li Shimin was about to agree, but suddenly remembered that this strange thing was very vengeful.

Li Shimin's smile immediately froze, fearing that he might suffer even more in the future.

"Of course not, why would I do such a thing?" Li Shimin coughed lightly. "Alright."

"I'm not going to argue with you. If you want to go back, then go back, but you'll have to wait until August."

"I am about to announce the dispatch of troops to the Eastern Turks. You can return after that."

"..."