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

Taiji Hall.

Li Shimin was flipping through several memorials with a frustrated mood.

He kept feeling like he was having a bad day.

Why does everything I do seem to bring me bad luck?

"Your Majesty! Commander Li of the Hundred Cavalry Command requests an audience."

Wang De walked in from outside the palace to report.

"Announce."

After Li Junxian walked in, covered in sweat, before he could even speak, he heard Li Shimin ask:

"What did they find out? What exactly did the Wang family lose? Where did the Turks sneak in from?"

Li Junxian calmed himself down and began to speak:

"Your Majesty, there are no Turks at all."

"What did you say?"

Li Shimin stood up in shock.

"The water bags and knife marks found on the Turks at the scene were all fake. I examined the guards' injuries and the knots in the ropes..."

Li Junxian glanced at Li Shimin's expression, and seeing that he was not angry, he continued.

"That's a capture technique used by the Tang army, and the perpetrators were an elite unit of the Tang army."

Snapped.

Li Shimin immediately placed the vermilion brush in his hand onto the imperial desk.

There was actually an elite armed force hidden around Chang'an that even the emperor himself was unaware of?

"Military elites?"

Li Shimin looked at Li Junxian and asked in a cold voice.

"Yes. After carefully examining the items at the scene and the wounds of the guards, I found that everything was taught in the Tang army."

Moreover, judging from the injuries of the guards, these elite soldiers must have been on the battlefield.

Li Shimin stood there with a livid face, his mind racing.

Within Chang'an, how many people are capable of mobilizing such elite troops and dare to lay a hand on aristocratic families?

Hou Junji? That's impossible. He's in charge of the Ministry of War, and his future is practically guaranteed. There's no reason for him to seize the Wang family's estate.

Li Jing? That's even more absurd. That old man stays at home all day pretending to be sick to avoid suspicion; he never goes out at all.

When the faces of Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde flashed through Li Shimin's mind, Li Shimin was stunned.

If anyone dares to do this, Cheng Yaojin is second to none.

Li Shimin slapped his thigh in anger.

No need to investigate anymore, this was definitely done by that bastard Cheng Yaojin.

This bastard was fined his salary and his wife confiscated his savings, leaving him without even the money to go drinking and carousing in Pingkangfang.

It must have been that old bastard who came up with the terrible idea to rob the Wang family's estate outside the city.

Anyway, they've always disliked the aristocratic families, so robbing them would be pointless.

Plus, this bastard came from Wagang.

Case solved.

"These old bastards are utterly lawless."

Li Shimin said through gritted teeth,

"So desperate for money that they've gone mad? They actually turned to banditry? Do they think they're back in the old Wagang Army?"

Li Junxian stood there, completely bewildered.

"Wang De".

Li Shimin shouted loudly towards the outside of the palace.

"Immediately send men to the residences of the Duke of Lu and the Duke of E, and bring those two old bastards, Cheng Zhijie and Yuchi Jingde, to me. I'm going to skin them alive today."

Before Wang De could respond, a young eunuch rushed into the hall from outside.

"Your Majesty! Something has happened at Da'an Palace."

Li Shimin's heart skipped a beat.

What trouble has my father caused this time?

"What's the panic? Explain clearly, what happened?"

The young eunuch stammered as he reported:

"Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus suddenly ordered the recruitment of hundreds of top-notch bricklayers and carpenters from Chang'an City today."

"Now, a major construction project is underway at Da'an Palace. They say they're going to replace all the floor tiles with white marble and cover all the pillars with Phoebe zhennan wood."

Li Shimin was stunned.

Large-scale construction?

He subconsciously looked at Wang De and asked:

"Did the Imperial Treasury allocate funds to Da'an Palace?"

Wang De shook his head and said:

"Your Majesty is wise. The Imperial Treasury can't even raise enough money to repair the leak in the Taiji Hall, let alone spare funds for the Da'an Palace."

Li Shimin was completely dumbfounded.

During the years his father was under house arrest in Da'an Palace, his monthly expenses were fixed.

They even have to ask for permission to eat an extra plate of fruit from the Western Regions; you could say they're poorer than me.

Where did he get the money for the repairs?

Golden nanmu? I can't even afford that stuff myself.

A ridiculous idea suddenly popped into Li Shimin's mind.

He glanced at Li Junxian, then at Wang De.

"Prepare the carriage. We're going to Da'an Palace."

Li Shimin walked straight outside.

He just hopes that things won't turn out the way he expects.

.....

Da'an Palace.

It was unusually lively inside at this time.

Hundreds of craftsmen were chanting as they carried timber inside. Cartloads of white marble slabs were piled up in front of the palace gate.

When Li Shimin arrived, he did not bring any ceremonial guards, only Wang De and a few personal guards.

The moment Li Shimin entered, he was completely dumbfounded.

In the courtyard, several large iron pots were set up, and several old eunuchs were sweating profusely as they boiled water and made tea for the craftsmen.

Suddenly, a strange fragrance wafted over, and Li Shimin's nose twitched.

He hurriedly walked to the iron pot and looked down.

Li Shimin's blood pressure almost jumped to 200.

The firewood burning at the bottom of the pot was actually made of whole pieces of precious agarwood.

"What a waste! This is just burning money."

Li Shimin was so angry that he trembled.

He turned his head and looked at the rest area next to him.

Several bricklayers were seen resting on stone benches, with exquisite Shu brocade under their bottoms.

Li Shimin's eyes turned red. He pushed aside the eunuch in front of him and walked directly towards the main hall.

The main hall's doors were wide open, but the scene inside almost made Li Shimin spit out a mouthful of blood.

Li Yuan was seen lying comfortably on a recliner made of Phoebe zhennan wood.

Two delicate palace maids beside him were feeding him expensive grapes from the Western Regions, one by one, using pure gold sticks.

Li Yuan was munching on grapes and humming some unknown tune, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Father!"

Li Shimin couldn't help but shout.

Li Yuan didn't even open his eyes, spat out a grape seed, and lazily said:

"Erlang is here? What's wrong? Is the Taiji Hall leaking, so you've come to your old man's place to take shelter from the rain?"

Li Shimin suppressed the urge to overturn the table and pointed to the courtyard, questioning:

"What are you doing right now? Boiling water with sandalwood? Using Shu brocade as a cushion?"

Do you know that the national treasury is empty and the soldiers on the border don't even have winter clothes yet?

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan sat up and took the towel handed to him by a palace maid to wipe his hands.

"What do I care if the national treasury is empty? I'm not the emperor anymore."

Li Yuan glanced at Li Shimin.

"I'm spending my own money to build my own palace, what's it to you?"

"Your money?"

Li Shimin was so angry he laughed.

"Your monthly allowance is so small, where would you get the money to buy Phoebe zhennan wood?"

Did you secretly resell royal artifacts? Or did you collude with foreign officials?

The more Li Shimin talked, the more likely it seemed.

It must have been some powerful and influential family that was trying to curry favor and secretly sent a large sum of money to the retired emperor.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan's smile vanished instantly.

He stood up and walked a few steps to Li Shimin.

"Is Lao Tzu colluding with foreign officials?"

Li Yuan sneered and took out a gold ingot from his sleeve.

It was tossed down at Li Shimin's feet with a thud.

"I earned it myself. What? Are you jealous?"

Li Yuan pointed at Li Shimin's nose and began to curse him.

"You unfilial son, you're so poor you can't even afford to eat, and you won't let your father make a little money? Tell me, when other emperors are emperors, the national treasury is full, but when you're emperor, you're practically starving your own father to death."

"If you're so capable, go make your own money. What are you doing here, trying to show off?"

Li Shimin's face turned ashen from the scolding.

He, the emperor of the mighty Tang Dynasty, is always being scolded like he's a grandson. Doesn't he have any dignity?

Li Shimin suddenly caught a glimpse of the bottom of the gold ingot out of the corner of his eye.

He bent down and picked up a gold ingot.

When he saw the words at the bottom clearly, Li Shimin's mind was about to explode.

The character "王" (king) is engraved on it.

This is a secret mark of the Wang family of Taiyuan.

To prevent gold and silver from being switched during transportation, prominent families would mark the bottom with their own unique secret marks.

Li Shimin had seen the character "王" (Wang) several times when he paid taxes at the Ministry of Revenue.