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

This cellar was very large, almost the size of a room.

What terrified Cheng Chumo was not some terrifying scene.

It was a mountain of gold and silver treasures, and countless copper coins.

Gold ingots, gold bars, silver ingots, and silver bars were neatly stacked in boxes, while various jewels were piled haphazardly on the floor like copper coins, and the walls were covered with famous paintings.

This isn't some kind of hidden cellar; it's clearly a treasure vault!

"Damn it..." Li Zhen rubbed his eyes and pinched himself hard, wincing in pain, but that made him realize he wasn't dreaming.

They weren't unfamiliar with so much money, especially Cheng Chumo, whose father always brought back a lot of treasure every time he returned from war.

But Cheng Chumo had never even heard of such a large sum of money, let alone seen it.

The impact of this scene was simply too great!

"Sir... what should we do?" Tang Heshang couldn't help but ask.

Chen Huai'an snapped out of his reverie and fell into deep thought.

To be honest, he was shocked when he first saw the money.

With so much gold and silver displayed together, who could remain calm?

But after calming down, Chen Huai'an finally understood why He Ming was so sure that Pei Ji would protect him and wouldn't abandon him.

To earn so much money, the dirty deeds He Ming did for Pei Jiqian behind the scenes are probably countless.

He Ming knew too much about Pei Ji, so he was certain that the latter wouldn't use him as a pawn.

Even after understanding the identities of Cheng Chumo and the other two, he did not reveal anything until Chen Huai'an revealed the true master behind the Beauty Pass.

With Chen Huai'an's previous foreshadowing, constantly saying things like "a new emperor, a new court," He Ming mistakenly believed that this was a power struggle among important figures, and that Li Shimin was about to take action against Pei Ji.

Pei Ji might not even be able to protect himself, so he will definitely have to make a tough decision, abandon him, and put all the blame on him.

That's when they told Chen Huai'an the location, hoping he could send his family away.

"Sir, please say something," Cheng Chumo urged, unable to remain calm.

Chen Huai'an said in a deep voice, "Monk, you must immediately use your family's connections to find Zhao Baishan and He Ming's family members. Now, have them pack their things as quickly as possible and send them away from Chang'an immediately."

Tang Heshang initially disagreed: "Sir, if I may be so bold, isn't it a bit inappropriate for us to make this decision on our own? This matter is likely to escalate. If we let He Ming's family go, it might be difficult to explain to our superiors..."

"What's so hard to explain?" Chen Huai'an waved his hand to interrupt. "Don't let the family be implicated. Besides, He Ming is just a nobody, and he even voluntarily revealed the location of the hidden money."

"He was destined to die. He has suffered so much, so let his family go."

As for how the suffering came about, that's none of your business!

"This..." Tang Heshang was still hesitating.

Chen Huai'an said earnestly, "Monk, this is what I promised him!"

".......I'll go right now."

After saying that, Tang Heshang left without looking back.

He didn't understand the concept of a gentleman's word being his bond; all he knew was that a gentleman's word is his bond.

A man's word is his bond; he always keeps his promises!

Chen Huai'an calmly said, "This matter is huge. It might cause a huge uproar. This credit cannot be taken by one person alone. So you should immediately send someone home to tell your family members to prepare."

"What preparations?" Cheng Chumo didn't understand and asked subconsciously.

Chen Huai'an glanced at him: "Go back and tell your father, he'll understand."

"Furthermore, you will personally guard this place. No one is allowed to approach unless ordered by the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, the two men felt valued and a sense of responsibility arose within them. They stood tall and said, "Rest assured, sir."

"Anyone who wants to get in here will have to step over our corpses!"

Chen Huai'an was speechless: "It's not that serious... Never mind, I bet Pei Ji is going crazy and looking for me everywhere."

"I'll go out and check the situation first. You guys stay here and keep watch."

"..."

As Chen Huai'an predicted, Pei Ji was indeed frantic and went directly to Li Yuan, who was no longer in charge of affairs.

She sounded so aggrieved.

What happened? His own men just went to buy wine, but they were beaten up. Later, when they reported it to the authorities and the perpetrators were arrested, not only were his own men beaten up, but even the government officials were beaten up.

Li Yuan was furious upon hearing this. He hadn't even abdicated the throne yet, and Li Shimin's men were already humiliating his trusted confidants like this.

That's absolutely despicable.

So he immediately summoned Li Shimin.

Upon learning what had happened, Li Shimin's first reaction was disbelief; Chen Huai'an was definitely not the kind of person who would deliberately cause trouble.

Besides, he had long been unhappy with Pei Ji.

He immediately started arguing with the other party.

"Duke of Wei, before the matter is cleared up, I advise you to watch your words. Huai'an is definitely not the kind of person you describe, condoning his student's beating of others," Li Shimin said coldly.

"Everything you're saying right now is just your side of the story, and I find it hard to believe."

"The facts are right before your eyes, Your Highness, do you still want to deceive yourself?" Pei Ji was very reluctant to confront Li Shimin, but he had no choice now. If possible, he had to protect He Ming.

Otherwise, if things are exposed, no one will escape unscathed.

"Am I deceiving myself?" Li Shimin said calmly. "If the Duke of Wei says so, then so be it. In any case, I cannot punish my subordinates without cause based solely on your word."

Upon hearing this, Pei Ji and Li Yuan's expressions froze.

Everyone knew that Li Shimin was implying something.

Wasn't Liu Wenjing like that back then?

Just because he uttered a few complaints at home, he was accused of rebellion and killed by Li Yuan despite the desperate pleas of Li Shimin and a group of ministers.

Pei Ji's face darkened. "Then it's a fact that my steward and his nephew were arrested by Chen Huai'an, isn't it?"

"They beat my steward and officials in the street, isn't that a fact?"

"With everyone watching, how can we possibly deny it?"

Li Shimin scoffed lightly: "Perhaps he deserved to be hit?"

"Some people are just born to be trifled with, to be beaten, to be slapped, to be taught a lesson!!"

"As the saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. Who knows if your housekeeper is a good person or not?"

Pei Ji's face was filled with anger: "Does Your Highness intend to protect your subordinates and tolerate such lawlessness among your men?"

"Covering up?" Li Shimin retorted, "How can you talk about covering up when the matter hasn't been clarified?"

"What if the Duke of Wei has listened to the slander of petty people?"

"...Very well!" Pei Ji said, seemingly resigned, "Since that's the case, then Your Highness, please have Chen Huai'an return my steward. Is that acceptable?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan and Li Shimin's expressions changed.

Pei Ji sounded very aggrieved, almost saying directly: Fine, you are the Crown Prince, I can't afford to offend you, you can protect him if you want, but I only ask that you return the person.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan sighed and said, "Second Brother, let Chen Huai'an return the person."

Li Shimin's face twitched, but he calmly said, "Your Majesty, I have already sent someone to find Huai'an. He should be here soon."

"Then let's wait and see." Li Yuan was also helpless; he was now a puppet emperor.

Pei Ji was extremely anxious, but he also knew that there was no other way after all that had been said.

Time passed by, second by second.

The three people in the hall remained silent, creating a slightly awkward atmosphere.

After an unknown amount of time, a eunuch rushed in to report.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, Chen Huai'an, the Vice Director of the Crown Prince's Chamberlain's Office, has arrived."

"..."