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

"Wang Gui, I'm asking you a question! What exactly is hidden in that estate?"

When Li Shimin saw that Wang Gui remained silent, he slammed his hand on the imperial desk.

Wang Gui trembled with fear.

Does he dare to say it?

If Li Shimin didn't rip the Wang family off after they said that, then something strange would happen.

"Back...back to Your Majesty."

Wang Gui, steeling himself, began to fabricate a story.

"There's really no treasure hidden away, just some old grain from previous years and a few hundred strings of cash in rent that the estate manager just collected."

As soon as Wang Gui finished speaking, a burst of laughter rang out in the hall.

Cheng Yaojin laughed as he pointed at Wang Gui's nose and cursed:

"Old Wang, at least make your lies believable."

The Turks rode thousands of miles on horseback just to rob your family of a few hundred strings of cash? To steal your family's moldy old grain?

What's going on? Have the Turks switched to a vegetarian diet this year?

Yuchi Jingde then spoke up:

"Exactly. I bet it's because your Wang family was unwilling to pay the guards, so they emptied the estate and ran away, and in the end, the blame was pinned on the Turks."

Normally, Wang Gui would have already started arguing with Cheng Yaojin.

But today, he didn't dare to utter a single word in rebuttal.

Li Shimin waved his hand, interrupting the laughter of his ministers.

He looked at Wang Gui and sneered.

This old fox isn't telling the truth; does he really think he's a three-year-old child?

"Since Minister Wang is certain it was the Turks who did it, then I cannot stand idly by. How can we tolerate such rampant foreign aggression under the Emperor's nose?"

Li Shimin roared.

"Li Junxian".

Li Junxian stepped forward from the side and said:

"Your subject is here."

"You shall immediately lead the elite troops of the Hundred Cavalry to the Southern Mountain Villa. Investigate thoroughly for me."

Li Shimin stared at Wang Gui's old face and slowly said,

"Don't let a single blade of grass or tree go unpunished. I want to see just how much the Turks have stolen."

"As you command!"

Li Junxian accepted the order and walked directly out of the Taiji Hall.

Wang Gui's mind was buzzing.

This is it. With the Hundred Cavalry Division mobilized, the hidden vault beneath the manor will be exposed.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the court session, Wang Gui rushed out of the Taiji Hall without even saying goodbye to his colleagues.

"Return to the manor immediately. Have the steward arrange for a fast horse to take you back to the main residence."

Wang Gui gripped the carriage tightly and roared at the driver.

"Burn all the accounts for Nanshan Villa. Quickly."

......

Da'an Palace.

Li Yuan squatted on the ground, holding two gold bricks in his hands, repeatedly banging them together, listening to the crisp sound.

"I'm rich! I'm finally rich!"

The money and Shu brocade stolen last night are all displayed in the main hall.

Li Chengqian sat on a mahogany box, tossing a gold ingot in his hand, watching his imperial grandfather go mad with amusement.

"Grandpa, that's enough. Look, your drool is almost dripping onto the money."

Li Chengqian jumped off the box and clapped his hands.

"We agreed that you would keep 30%, and the rest would be taken by our grandson."

Li Yuan looked at the money with lingering reluctance, and finally waved his hand dismissively:

"Take it away, take it away. Thirty percent is enough for me to use for a while later."

These bastards from those aristocratic families are damn rich. If I'd known this was such a quick way to make money, I should have sent men to raid them first when I was conquering the world.

Li Chengqian winked at Xiao Shunzi behind him.

Xiao Shunzi, accompanied by a dozen or so trusted eunuchs, immediately stepped forward and loaded the remaining money onto the carriage, bit by bit.

"Grandpa, how do you plan to spend this money?"

While directing the loading, Li Chengqian casually asked a question.

Li Yuan immediately perked up, put his hands on his hips, and said:

"Flowers? Of course, they'll be huge and extravagant. I'm going to renovate the Da'an Palace."

I can't stand this awful place for another day. Replace all the floor tiles with white marble, and use the finest golden nanmu wood for the pillars. Go and hire the top craftsmen; start work today, I don't want to wait a single day longer.

Li Chengqian was startled and quickly ran over to cover Li Yuan's mouth.

"My dear grandfather, have you gone mad? We just robbed the Wang family, and today the Hundred Cavalry Division is searching the world for clues. Where did you get the money to build a palace on such a grand scale?"

"Aren't you openly telling Father that we did this?"

Li Yuan shoved Li Chengqian's hand away, puffed out his beard, glared at him, and cursed:

"What's there to be afraid of? I've been an emperor my whole life, what's wrong with me spending my own money now? Does your unfilial son dare to tell me what to do?"

If he dares to ask, I'll pelt him with gold ingots. Don't think I don't know his personal treasury is dirt poor.

Li Chengqian was speechless as he looked at Li Yuan, who had become so arrogant that he had forgotten himself.

No wonder they're from the Li family.

Once you have money, you can stand tall and confident.

"Alright, alright, whatever makes you happy. But please keep the palace repairs a bit understated. Don't be too ostentatious. I'm off now; this batch of goods needs to be stored in a safe place."

Li Chengqian waved his hand and left with the carriage full of money.

......

Outside Chang'an City, at the Nanshan Villa.

Li Junxian led over a hundred elite cavalrymen to completely surround the entire manor.

The yard was a mess, with ropes used to tie up the guards scattered all over the place.

Li Junxian paced back and forth in the courtyard, checking the situation.

Suddenly he walked to a well, picked up a few sheepskin water bags that had been left on the ground, and weighed them in his hand.

"Commander, this water bag is crudely made and smells strongly of mutton; it is definitely a Turkic item."

A captain from the Hundred Cavalry Division approached and said.

Li Junxian didn't speak, but walked to the front door and looked at the knife marks that Li Chengqian had made on the door panel.

He reached out and touched the knife mark, his brows gradually furrowing.

"The Turks have always been known for their horsemanship and archery. When they use their scimitars to slash, they emphasize powerful and heavy strikes, and the blade marks should be deeper at one end and shallower at the other."

Li Junxian turned his head and pointed to the door panel.

"Look at these marks, they are all the same depth, indicating even force."

This was clearly someone deliberately slashing at it with a curved sword; it wasn't done during actual combat.

Upon hearing this, the captain was stunned for a moment, then quickly went over to take a closer look. When he saw it clearly, his expression changed drastically.

"And this water bag."

Li Junxian threw the sheepskin water bag on the ground.

"The Turks value water above all else, and they always carry their water bags close to their bodies. How could they just leave them lying around in the yard like that? This is clearly a false piece of evidence deliberately left behind."

Li Junxian walked up to a bound guard and grabbed him by the collar.

"What exactly happened last night? What did the person who came look like?"

The guard, terrified, hurriedly said:

"Sir, it was too dark to see their faces clearly, and they were all masked and wearing sheepskin coats. They rushed in shouting in Turkic language."

"How did they subdue you?"

Li Junxian pressed for an answer.

"That's too fast, there's no time to react."

The guard said with a look of terror on his face.

"They were ruthless, specifically targeting joints and vital points. The youngest of them had barely pulled out his knife when someone dislocated his arm and then tied him to the ground."

Li Junxian ripped open the guard's sleeve and looked at his dislocated joint.

He then squatted down and carefully examined the knots in the ropes tied to the guard.

That's a unique military technique called "deadlock." Moreover, this kind of dismemberment and grappling technique emphasizes defeating the enemy with a single blow.

This is neither a Turkic bandit nor a江湖草莽 (jianghu caomen, meaning outlaws or江湖草莽, meaning ...

This is a team composed of soldiers from the Tang Dynasty.

"Commander, we've discovered a huge cellar in the rockery in the backyard."

At this moment, a captain who was inspecting inside rushed over to report to the commander.

"There was nothing inside, but there were drag marks on the ground indicating that heavy objects had been dragged away. Judging from the tire tracks outside, at least a dozen large truckloads of goods had been taken away."

Li Junxian stood up and felt a chill run down his spine.

They were able to move more than a dozen cartloads of goods from Chang'an without anyone noticing, and they could even stage a robbery by the Turks, all while using the troops of the Tang Dynasty.

The person behind this must have immense influence and connections.

"Leave a team to cordon off the area; no one is allowed to approach."

Li Junxian mounted his horse and pulled on the reins.

"The rest of you come back to the palace with me."