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

The Cui family of Qinghe.

The area outside the gate was particularly lively at this time.

Several servants carried a door panel and rushed through the gate.

From the moment Cui Hao was carried in, he began to cry loudly.

This was the solution he had been trying to come up with all along.

He was afraid that if he didn't do this, his father would betray him out of a sense of justice.

"Dad! Help!"

Cui Mingan was sitting in the main hall drinking tea when he heard the commotion, and he was so startled that he almost dropped his teacup.

He quickly stood up and went outside.

When he saw Cui Hao lying face down on the door, Cui Minqian's anger flared up instantly.

"What happened? Who did it?"

Cui Mingan pointed at the servants and roared angrily.

"Is there anyone in Chang'an who dares to touch the legitimate son of the Cui family of Qinghe?"

The servants immediately knelt on the ground, but not one of them spoke.

Cui Hao rolled off the door and landed next to Cui Minqian, grabbing his father's leg.

"Father! Your son almost didn't make it home today. Please save your son!"

Cui Mingan bent down and patted Cui Hao on the back, saying with a pained expression:

"Don't cry! With your father here, the sky won't fall down."

Tell your father, which blind bastard dared to touch you? Your father will have someone skin him alive right now.

Cui Hao hesitated for a moment, then stammered:

"It's...it's the Crown Prince."

Cui Mingan was completely stunned.

Prince?

How is that possible?

He frowned and gave a cold snort:

"So what if he's the Crown Prince? He's barely able to protect himself, yet he still dared to attack you and beat you up like this?"

Don't be afraid. Your father has already joined forces with several other powerful families, and soon they will impeach him in court, making it impossible for him to remain as the crown prince.

"No, Father, the Crown Prince didn't hit me... he just... wanted money."

Seeing that his father had misunderstood, Cui Hao quickly shook his head.

"You want money?"

Cui Minqian felt even more contempt for Li Chengqian.

How could the crown prince of the mighty Tang Dynasty ask a noble family for money?

This is utterly disgraceful to the royal family.

"How much do you want? Just give it to him, consider it as the Cui family feeding their dog."

"We'll get this money back, with interest, in a couple of days."

Cui Hao swallowed hard and held up one finger, waving it:

"Ten thousand strings of cash..."

Cui Mingan nodded:

"Ten thousand strings of cash may be a lot, but it's worth it to buy a handle on the Crown Prince."

"There are still... 300,000 dan of grain."

Cui Hao's voice was so soft it was barely audible, like a mosquito buzzing.

Cui Mingan's smile froze; he wondered if there was something wrong with his ears.

"How much did you say?"

"One hundred thousand strings of copper coins plus three hundred thousand dan of grain. Deliver them to the Duke of Qi's mansion within three days."

Cui Hao closed his eyes, finished speaking in one breath, and then lowered his head, pretending to be weak.

Cui Mingan felt a buzzing in his head.

One hundred thousand strings of copper coins plus three hundred thousand dan of grain?

Is this some kind of freeloading?

They're treating the Cui family of Qinghe like a fool, aren't they?

In this time of food shortage, 300,000 dan of grain could completely empty the grain shops under the Cui family's name.

"What... what have you done, you good-for-nothing? How could you let someone try to extort you like this?"

As Cui Mingan spoke, he looked around. When he saw the door bolt in the corner of the yard, he rushed forward, grabbed the bolt, and turned to walk towards Cui Hao.

"How could I have given birth to such a good-for-nothing?"

Cui Mingan raised the door bolt and smashed it at Cui Hao.

But even in mid-air, Cui Mingan still couldn't bear it.

Even if this son is a scoundrel, he's still my own flesh and blood.

The bolt veered slightly in mid-air and slammed into the door panel that Cui Hao had just been leaning against.

With a "bang".

Terrified, Cui Hao abandoned his pretense of being dead and ran into the courtyard.

"Father! Let me explain."

"What are you trying to explain? I'll beat you to death today, you unfilial son, as a way of ridding the Cui family of a scourge."

Cui Mingan chased after him frantically, holding the door bolt in his hand.

The father and son began a chase in the yard.

"Father! Stop hitting us! If we don't give you the money, our entire family will be executed!"

Cui Hao shouted desperately as he ran.

Upon hearing this, Cui Mingan paused, then roared in exasperation:

"Bullshit! Who does Li Chengqian think he is? He thinks he can wipe out the entire Cui clan of Qinghe with just a few words? Even his father wouldn't dare to do that."

"It's not the Crown Prince. It's...it's the Prince of Yue and Li Gang."

Cui Hao quickly recounted everything that had happened at Qujiang Pool.

After hearing his unfilial son's words, Cui Mingan became increasingly upset.

His own stupid son actually wanted the servants to break the legs of the King of Yue and Li Gang, and even throw them into Qujiang Pool to be fed to turtles.

"You...you ordered someone to beat the Grand Tutor? And you even wanted to throw the King of Yue into Qujiang Pool?"

Cui Hao said with a mournful face:

How was I supposed to know those were the Grand Tutor and the King of Yue?!

They were dressed like beggars, and that bastard Changsun Chong stood there without uttering a sound. It was obvious he was trying to scam me.

The door bolt in Cui Mingan's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

He plotted to murder the crown prince in public and assaulted the crown prince's tutor...

Either of these two charges could be pinned on the Cui family.

Even Cui Mingan couldn't handle it, let alone two of them coming at once.

If Wei Zheng and his group of critics found out, the Cui family would either be wiped out or suffer a huge loss.

Li Shimin was always looking for an opportunity to target the powerful clans, and the powerful clans were well aware of this and never gave Li Shimin that opportunity.

Now his own son has done something quite different, directly handing the hilt of the sword to Li Shimin.

"father......"

When Cui Hao saw that his father was standing there without responding, he cautiously approached and called out.

"roll!"

Cui Mingan kicked Cui Hao to the ground with one kick.

"You good-for-nothing idiot."

Cui Hao clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground, not daring to utter a sound.

After forcing himself to calm down, Cui Mingan began to think.

The money and food must be given.

If they don't give it to them, a knife will forever hang over the heads of the Cui family.

But how could Crown Prince Li Chengqian possibly have such scheming thoughts?

How could Li Gang be made to willingly cooperate in acting?

Suddenly, one of Cui Hao's words popped into his mind.

"Send it to the Duke of Qi's residence..."

He kept pondering those words.

As my son just said, Changsun Chong was present the whole time.

They watched helplessly as their son jumped into the fire, without even uttering a word of warning.

All compensation afterwards must be sent to Changsun Wuji's residence.

In an instant, Cui Minqian conjured up a grand drama in his mind.

On the surface, the old fox Changsun Wuji colluded with the five clans and seven noble families, saying that they would jointly depose the crown prince and install the King of Yue in his place.

In reality, he had already secretly made some deals with the Crown Prince.

Taking advantage of the trust that the aristocratic families placed in him, Changsun Wuji deliberately set up this trap, luring Changsun Chong into getting his son involved.

In this way, the Crown Prince could not only extort money to enrich the Eastern Palace, but Changsun Wuji could also get a share of the spoils, and even weaken the power of the Cui family of Qinghe in Chang'an.

"What a clever tactic of feigning one step while secretly taking another."

Cui Minqian's fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

"Changsun Wuji, you old scoundrel."

"Since you dare to treat the Cui family of Qinghe like fools, then prepare to pay the price."

Cui Mingan roared at the butler:

"Go and summon all the accountants. Pawn all the shops and estates around Chang'an that can be mortgaged. Even if you have to sell everything you own, you have to raise this money within three days."

The butler hurriedly asked:

"Sir, are you really giving it to us? This is all we have..."

"Are you expecting your whole family to lose their heads if you don't give it to them?"

Cui Mingan roared angrily.

"Get it done immediately."

The butler hurriedly ran out to run errands.

Then Cui Mingan turned to look at Cui Hao and said coldly:

"From today onwards, you're getting back to your hometown in Qinghe. If you dare to step out of your house without my orders, I'll personally break your legs."

After finishing his rant, Cui Min turned and walked towards the study.

The Cui family accepted the loss.

But the Cui family couldn't swallow this insult.