Li Shimin's smile was cunning, as cunning as an old fox.

As long as Da Sun can obediently practice calligraphy, what does Qujiang Pond matter?

"Sizi, you only used Qujiang Pond to make him willingly write a million words?"

"Isn't it too cheap?"

"Father, of course not. My nephew also wants the land of Qinglongfang..."

"Would you like a plot of land?"

Li Shimin frowned slightly. He naturally didn't care about a ward, but he felt that directly bestowing a ward upon the child might seem a bit too high-profile.

After all, his most beloved son, Prince Wei, Li Tai, only occupied half a ward in his mansion in Chang'an.

But Chang'an only had 108 wards in total. Even the former Prince Wei, Li Tai, only occupied half a ward in his mansion in Chang'an.

Seeing his father's predicament, Sizi immediately explained.

"It shouldn't be, right?"

"My nephew doesn't have such a big appetite; he just wants to buy a piece of land in Qinglongfang to build a house!"

"It's just buying a piece of land!"

Li Shimin secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He had thought he had been exposed, otherwise how could this bastard have made such a request?

"Is there any vacant land in Qinglongfang?"

When Li Shimin asked this question, he saw that Sizi was staring at him blankly, neither of them knowing whether there was any vacant land in Qinglongfang.

"Father, shall we go and check it out tonight?"

Li Shimin was somewhat tempted by the idea, but he thought it was too dark and a curfew had already been imposed, so it wouldn't be good if word got out.

"Isn't that a bad idea?"

"Father, please come with me to take a look. If you don't come, I'll go by myself. Don't be upset if I get carried away by wolves on the way!"

Li Shimin could not resist his youngest daughter's coquettishness, and immediately followed her out of the palace with a beaming smile.

The two walked smoothly along Zhuque Avenue to Qinglongfang, only to find that Qinglongfang had already closed its gates, forcing him to wait for the magistrate inside to open the gates for quite a while.

Because both men were dressed in ordinary clothes, the neighborhood head Liu Quanyou did not know who had come, only that they were important figures whom he could not afford to offend.

"May I ask what your orders are, sir?"

"Nothing much, I just wanted to come and take a look at Qinglongfang..."

"Just to take a look?"

"certainly!"

"Tell me how many households there are in Qinglongfang, and what vacant land is available for sale."

"An empty lot..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Quanyou thought to himself, "Where in Chang'an is there any vacant land? Even if there is, it's just rotten land that can't be used to build houses."

"Your Excellency, Qinglong Ward is about 700 paces long from east to west and about 350 paces wide from north to south. It has a total of 1,300 military and civilian households with a population of 20,000,386 people."

"There's no open space inside the neighborhood, but there are many dilapidated houses that have been neglected for years. If they were leveled, they could be considered open space. In addition, Qujiang Pool is right outside the neighborhood, and there are many open spaces around Qujiang Pool, about two neighborhoods in size. However, the terrain is low-lying and not suitable for building houses, so I'm afraid the nobles won't need it..."

"Oh oh oh!"

Li Shimin nodded upon hearing this, and then walked to the small courtyard where Li Jue had once lived. He saw that the courtyard was still brightly lit and bustling with people.

Upon seeing the distinguished guest stop at the young master's door, Liu Quanyou immediately hurriedly offered an explanation.

"My lord, this is the residence of the Man of Xianyang County!"

"The man from Xianyang County is a good man. In order to take care of the poor, he was willing to use his own mansion as a kitchen to supply goods to the street vendors."

"Many people in Qinglongfang rely on the young master for their livelihood. Many people who have no food or clothing work here, helping to knead dough and make buns. Those who are able to walk buy small carts and go to the streets with the people of Sanglin Village to sell wontons, buns, soup noodles and the like."

"I see……"

After hearing the explanation from the head of the ward, Li Shimin finally understood why his eldest grandson insisted on the land of Qinglong Ward. It turned out that he wanted to expand the kitchen and give more people the opportunity to earn money.

"He's a good boy!"

Fangzheng was stunned when he heard this, and then tentatively asked.

"Is the distinguished person praising the man from Xianyang County?"

"Um!"

"You're right, sir. The young lord is indeed a very good person. He takes great care of the neighbors and villagers. If he has any unsold buns or wontons, he gives them away to the elderly living alone in the neighborhood. Many people in the neighborhood have benefited from the lord's kindness!"

Li Shimin smiled happily upon hearing this.

"If the man from Xianyang County wanted to buy land in your neighborhood to expand this kitchen, would the people of your neighborhood be happy about it?"

Upon hearing this, Fangzheng's eyes widened in excitement.

"Is what the benefactor said true?"

"I am naturally happy to do so, and not only am I happy, but the other people in the neighborhood are also very happy!"

"If the young lord really needs land, he doesn't even need to buy it. There are plenty of dilapidated houses in the neighborhood. I can talk to the owners on his behalf and give them to him for free..."

Li Shimin laughed heartily upon hearing this.

What's this?

This is the will of the people!

His grandson won the heartfelt support of the people without lifting a finger; how could such virtue not make people happy!

"No need to give it to me, let's just buy it!"

"That grandson isn't short of money, he can afford this much, hahaha!"

Fangzheng hesitated upon hearing this, as the nobleman's tone suggested he knew the young master.

But since the important person didn't say anything, he couldn't very well ask rashly.

"Where else would you like to see, sir?"

Let's go check out Qujiang!

"My lord, it is dark now, and we may not be able to see anything clearly. Perhaps we should do it tomorrow..."

"I won't have time tomorrow, so I'll take advantage of the free time tonight to watch it!"

Although it was already completely dark with only a full moon hanging in the sky, Li Shimin wanted to take a night stroll on Qujiang Pool. Not only did no one dare to stop him, but in a short time, thousands of lanterns were lit up on Qujiang Pool...

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!