Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

The next morning.

Taiji Hall.

Li Chengqian stood there looking sleepy.

Last night, he was pulled aside by the four stewards of Tingfeng Pavilion to report on matters until midnight.

I finally managed to fall asleep, but then I was dragged out of bed to attend the morning court session.

The court meetings were filled with trivial matters reported by various prefectures and counties. The Ministry of Revenue complained of poverty, and the Ministry of Works asked for money, making everyone drowsy.

Just as Li Chengqian was about to fall asleep standing up, a loud shout suddenly dispelled his drowsiness.

"Your Majesty! This old minister wishes to impeach you!"

Li Chengqian was startled by the shout.

He turned his head and saw Cui Minyuan of the Qinghe Cui clan walk out from the queue.

When Cui Mingan was not in Chang'an, Cui Minyuan was in charge of the Cui family of Qinghe.

After glancing at it, Li Shimin casually asked:

"Minister Cui, who do you wish to impeach?"

Choi Min-won cried out in grief and indignation:

"This old minister wants to impeach Duke Lu, Cheng Zhijie, for failing to properly educate his son."

His son, Cheng Chumo, disregarded the law and, in broad daylight, gathered a group of idle people to forcibly break into the Zuixianlou restaurant, which was run by the Cui family of Qinghe in the West Market.

They not only smashed, looted, and burned, damaging the store's property, but also publicly insulted and beat the store's employees and managers.

This is nothing short of banditry; they have trampled the laws of Chang'an underfoot.

"I beg Your Majesty to severely punish the perpetrators, to restore justice to this old minister, and to give the people of Chang'an a bright and clear world!"

No sooner had Cui Minyuan finished speaking than Cheng Yaojin in the ranks of military officers exploded.

"You old scoundrel, what kind of string of stinky farts are you spewing?"

Cheng Yaojin pointed at Cui Minyuan's nose and started cursing.

"My son Chu Mo is a well-known honest boy in Chang'an City. He wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken. How could he possibly smash up your shabby restaurant?"

Don't think that just because your Cui family is powerful and wealthy, you can just throw dirty water on my son like that.

Choi Min-won was so angry at Cheng Yaojin's shameless remarks that he trembled all over.

Is your Cheng Chumo an honest child?

Then there would be no more纨绔 (playboys) in Chang'an.

He pulled a folding cloth from his pocket and said:

"Cheng Zhijie! Stop making trouble here. I have records from Wuhoupu in the West Market, as well as testimonies from the shopkeepers of more than a dozen shops around here."

They witnessed Cheng Chumo smashing up Zuixianlou. How can you still have the nerve to call him an honest kid?

To everyone's surprise, Cheng Yaojin didn't even look at the testimony. He put his hands on his hips and continued to shout:

"Testimony? Your family is rich and powerful, what's so difficult about buying a few testimonies?"

I'm telling you, I went back and asked Chumo yesterday.

He did go to Zuixianlou, but that's because your Zuixianlou was a swindler, a fraudulent operation.

Cheng Yaojin turned around, cupped his hands in greeting to Li Shimin on the dragon throne, and said...

"Your Majesty, you must do justice for this old minister."

My husband went to the West Market for dinner yesterday, but because he believed the boast of Zuixianlou Restaurant, he ordered a jar of Lanling wine priced at fifty strings of cash.

When they tasted it, they realized the liquor tasted like horse urine. It was all cheap, diluted liquor.

My son is straightforward and couldn't stand being wronged, so he went to argue with the shopkeeper.

As a result, they took advantage of their numbers and tried to harm my son.

Chu Mo was acting in self-defense. Those tables, chairs, and benches were accidentally broken by the Cui family's servants while they were beating people; what does that have to do with my son?

Li Chengqian almost burst out laughing on the spot.

Listen to this, now that's what you call top-notch tantrums.

Who else in Chang'an could be more adept at turning the tables than Cheng Yaojin?

Choi Min-won's face turned ashen with anger:

"You...you're being completely unreasonable."

"The wine at Zuixianlou is always of the highest quality. The wine that costs fifty strings of cash is a ten-year-old vintage. How dare you slander it like this?"

Cheng Yaojin walked up to Cui Minyuan with disdain:

"Authentic? You old bones, do you dare to let the Dali Temple people investigate your family's wine cellar right now?"

If they can't find any water added, I, Old Cheng, will swallow the stone lions outside the Taiji Hall whole today.

Choi Min-won instinctively took a step back.

Is there anything clean in the business world?

Moreover, most restaurants have some degree of shady practices, such as adding water to their dishes.

If the Dali Temple were to thoroughly investigate, they could find something even if nothing was found.

Cui Minyuan knew he wouldn't gain the upper hand by arguing with Cheng Yaojin about this matter.

So he decided to change the battlefield.

"Your Majesty, Cheng Zhijie is unreasonable and arrogant. This old minister will not engage in a verbal dispute with him."

But Cheng Chumo wasn't the only one who committed the crime yesterday.

Choi Min-won then rattled off a string of names.

"Not only Cheng Chumo, but also Fang Yi'ai, Yuchi Baolin, Du He, and even Changsun Chong."

This group formed cliques for personal gain and incited disturbances.

This old minister humbly requests Your Majesty to arrest and bring all these dissolute young men to justice, and to hand them over to the three judicial departments for joint trial.

These words stirred up a hornet's nest.

If Cui Mingan were in charge of this matter, he would never have dragged Fang Yi'ai and the others into it.

Fang Xuanling and the others, who had been watching the commotion, suddenly turned pale.

I never thought that just watching a melon seed would lead to something like this happening to me.

Yuchi Jingde was the first to rush out, pointing at Cui Minyuan and roaring:

"You old man Cui! I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you're already attacking my Baolin."

My son always follows the rules and is very disciplined. Smashing your shop is already giving you face.

"If you're not satisfied, let's go to the martial arts arena for a one-on-one duel after court today. I'll give you a handicap."

Several military officers nearby quickly grabbed Yuchi Jingde and pulled him back.

Choi Min-won was so frightened that he hid among the civil officials:

"This is an insult to culture! It is an utter insult to culture!"

The dignified Duke actually dared to openly intimidate a court official in the imperial court.

Where is justice? Where is the law?

Just then, Fang Xuanling, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them and stepped out of the queue.

He first bowed to Li Shimin, then turned to Cui Minyuan and said:

"Lord Cui, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

My unfilial son, Yi'ai, though somewhat unruly, has read some classic texts and understands propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame.

How could he possibly vandalize the Cui family's restaurant for no reason?

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard, his tone calm yet every word sharp.

"In my opinion, Zuixianlou must have really done something heinous that angered these righteous young people, who couldn't stand it and spoke out for justice."

Instead of reflecting on the drawbacks of his family business, Lord Cui preemptively accused others of wrongdoing in court.

Could it be that the Cui family, relying on their powerful clan background, intends to suppress us old ministers who have followed His Majesty through thick and thin?

Fang Xuanling's words were far more impactful than Cheng Yaojin's.

Cheng Yaojin was at most just a rogue, but Fang Xuanling directly labeled Cui Minyuan with the political accusation of "suppressing founding heroes."

If this accusation is firmly placed on him, Choi Min-won will definitely be in deep trouble.

"Fang Xuanling, you are spouting nonsense."

Choi Min-won immediately lost his temper and, disregarding all etiquette, began calling him by his first name.

Seeing this, other officials from prominent families also jumped out.

"Your Majesty! Lord Fang is simply making unfounded arguments."

"The emperor is subject to the same laws as commoners; these sons of dukes knowingly violate the law and should be severely punished!"

When the military generals saw that the powerful families were starting to band together, how could they just stand by and do nothing?

Niu Jinda, Zhang Liang, and others also jumped out.

"Bullshit! Who doesn't know about the scumbag affairs of your aristocratic family? I think you all deserve a beating."

"Your Majesty, why don't you let this old minister lead troops to raid the West Market and see just how much embezzled money they've hidden?"

In an instant, the Taiji Hall was transformed into a vegetable market.

Civil officials criticized military generals for being vulgar and uncouth, while military generals criticized civil officials for being hypocritical and full of wicked and promiscuous thoughts.

Spit flew through the air, and several hot-tempered generals had even started rolling up their sleeves, ready to fight.

Li Chengqian stood in the front row, completely wide awake.

He watched with great interest.

Yesterday, he deliberately sent Cheng Chumo and his men to vandalize the Shi family's properties, just to drag those old foxes into it.

No matter how powerful a powerful family is, it's impossible for them to directly confront the entire Wu Xun Group in the imperial court.

Li Shimin sat on the dragon throne, feeling his head buzzing.

Cheng Chumo and his gang usually caused trouble in Chang'an, but they had never been so coordinated in targeting a single objective as they were this time.

Moreover, they specifically targeted the largest property of the Cui family in Qinghe.

This is definitely not some sudden incident.

Li Shimin's gaze involuntarily turned to Li Chengqian.

Then they saw Li Chengqian smirking there.

That little rascal!

Li Shimin knew immediately that Li Chengqian was the one who instigated this.

"Trying to hide in the back and watch the show?"

"Hehe, that's clever, you're overthinking it."