Li Shimin naturally didn't understand what urban village renovation meant, but he was too lazy to understand it either. After all, no matter how much Li Jue messed things up, he was the ultimate beneficiary.

"Does this grandson have anything else to say?"

"Your Majesty, the two retainers of the eldest grandson have begun dredging the waterways and repairing the roads."

"This move also earned the people of Chang'an endless praise for the eldest grandson!"

Li Shimin smiled with satisfaction upon hearing this, thinking that his efforts had not been in vain and that his grandson had finally understood his intentions.

"Um!"

"Keep an eye on him, and report to me immediately if that bastard makes any move!"

"promise!"

After sending Yuchi Fan away, Li Shimin ordered someone to summon Zhang Anan's adopted son, Zhang Gui.

"Zhang Gui, how's Li Jue doing lately?"

"Your Majesty, the eldest grandson goes to the Eastern Palace to study every day on time, and then practices calligraphy and does his homework. He is very diligent and hardworking..."

"oh?"

"I heard he's recently become obsessed with cricket fighting?"

"ah?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down. The eldest grandson only plays with his classmates occasionally, not often..."

"snort!"

"I sent you to follow Li Jue so that you would keep an eye on him. If you dare to cover up for him, I will not let you off lightly!"

"This servant knows her crime, Your Majesty, please punish me..."

"I'll let you off this time, but next time..."

Zhang Gui was a smart man, and he immediately kowtowed deeply in gratitude.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, this servant will never do it again!"

Seeing Zhang Gui's words, Li Shimin grunted twice and let him go.

After listening to Li Jue's story for a while, Li Shimin lost interest in official business and strolled to the Lizheng Hall to see what Li Jue had been busy with lately.

Just as he stepped across the threshold of the Lizheng Hall, he heard a piercing chirping of crickets. Li Shimin frowned in displeasure upon hearing the sound.

He had long heard that his rebellious grandson had recently become obsessed with cricket fighting, but he never expected that this rebellious grandson would actually dare to bring crickets to the Lizheng Hall!

It should be noted that Lizheng Hall was once his and Empress Zhangsun's bedroom, and Empress Zhangsun even died there!

If Empress Zhangsun could see from heaven that her beloved eldest grandson was spending his days fighting crickets in the palace, how heartbroken she would be...

Thinking of this, Li Shimin felt an itch to beat this brat, realizing it had been a while since he'd done so. Seeing a weeping willow tree at the entrance of the Lizheng Hall, he immediately broke off a willow branch about the thickness of a finger, clutched it in his hand, and stormed into Li Jue's bedroom.

To Li Shimin's surprise, he found nothing!

Where are they?

"Your Majesty, the eldest grandson is in Princess Jinyang's room..."

"oh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately picked up a willow branch and headed towards Princess Jinyang's room. Just as he reached the door, he heard the two talking.

"Nephew, could you give me a little more land..."

"no!"

"I've already given you plenty, why do you need so much?"

“Nephew, I asked for it on behalf of your Aunt Gaoyang…”

"she?"

"You don't know, your Aunt Gaoyang is having a terrible time now. Father Emperor took away her fiefdom and estate, and even took away all the shops where she collected rent. She can't even afford to eat now."

Li Jue was somewhat incredulous upon hearing this.

Is she really that poor?

"certainly!"

"Then why did he give me so many things before?"

"My dear nephew, your Aunt Gaoyang has emptied her coffers to apologize to you!"

"If you don't believe me, go to his mansion now and you'll be shocked by its shabby state!"

"oh……"

"Since you make it sound so pitiful, then I'll give him a hundred acres..."

Upon hearing this, Sizi rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"You're being too stingy! What can you do with a hundred acres? You should at least give me a thousand acres!"

Li Jue was immediately displeased upon hearing this.

"Little aunt, you spendthrift woman, do you even know how much a thousand acres are worth?"

"A thousand acres would be worth at least ten thousand strings of cash!"

"Gao Yang bullied me like that before, and I only gave him a thousand strings of cash worth of land because of our blood ties. You can forget about me giving him any more!"

"Wait, what did you just say to me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jue immediately blinked awkwardly.

Did I insult you?

"have!"

"You called me a spendthrift woman!"

"No, right?"

You must have misheard!

When Si Zi saw that Li Jue still dared to argue, she immediately grabbed his ear. But just as she was about to teach Li Jue a lesson, she heard a loud "bang" and the door was kicked open from the outside.

"Father?"

Li Jue snorted coldly upon hearing this.

"Don't try that on me, you're not going to fall for it!"

"It really is you, Grandpa..."

"impossible!"

Just as Li Jue was stubbornly insisting it was impossible, he suddenly felt himself being lifted off the stool.

Li Jue turned around in alarm and, sure enough, saw Li Shimin's face, as hard as an iron pot.

“Grandpa…”

"snort!"

Have you been studying diligently lately?

When Li Jue saw Li Shimin carrying willow branches, he knew that the old man had no good intentions, and he quickly nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Yes, yes, yes!

"Then why have I heard that someone has recently become very fond of cricket fighting, and even organized a cricket fighting competition for the students of Chongwen Academy, with silver, gold, and bronze levels?"

"Grandpa, how did you know?"

"You don't need to know how I know, just tell me if this happened or not!"

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