Li Shimin smiled slightly after hearing Su Dingfang's words, and then said calmly.

"I can't tell if you're loyal or not, but you've never done anything to betray the Tang Dynasty, so overall you can be considered loyal!"

Upon hearing this, Su Dingfang took a deep breath and then looked at Li Shimin with a determined gaze.

"May I ask Your Majesty, since I am brave in battle and loyal in life, why have you treated me coldly for more than ten years?"

Su Dingfang's words not only made Su Dingfang himself nervous, but also made Li Jing, the former Grand Commander of the Army, very concerned.

As Su Dingfang's former superior, Li Jing valued this subordinate highly and recommended him to the Emperor several times over the years. Unfortunately, each time he was rejected.

When Li Shimin heard Su Dingfang ask him this question, a mocking smile appeared on his face.

"I thought you knew all along, but it turns out you've wasted the last ten years of your life!"

Upon hearing this, Su Dingfang kowtowed heavily and then said with tears streaming down his face.

"Your Majesty, I have reflected on what happened back then countless times, but I just can't understand it. Please enlighten me, Your Majesty... *sobs*..."

Li Shimin sighed upon hearing this.

"well!"

"Have you forgotten the time when you allowed your troops to plunder privately?"

"Letting troops plunder privately?"

Su Dingfang had always been a man of integrity and had never engaged in robbery. But upon hearing Li Shimin's words, he was immediately reminded of an incident from over a decade ago.

At that time, he only had a few hundred men under his command, and they were soldiers from several different prefectures who did not know each other well.

Therefore, he didn't have much control over his subordinates.

As long as they fight bravely in battle, he really can't care about anything else...

One of the groups seemed to have robbed a caravan from the Western Regions, and the leader of the caravan even tried to bribe him, but he firmly refused.

Upon realizing this, Su Dingfang looked at Li Shimin with a face full of astonishment.

"Your Majesty, you're not referring to Wang Dayou and his men robbing the Gaochang caravan, are you?"

Li Shimin thought for a moment after hearing this and said...

“It happened so long ago that I can’t remember it clearly, but it was indeed your men who robbed the caravan and were reported to me.”

"However, this is not the reason why I have neglected you for more than ten years, but because you did not reflect on your actions afterward, nor did you apologize to me."

"Since the founding of our Tang Dynasty in Jinyang, we have never harmed merchants or common people in the slightest. If it weren't for your merits back then, I would have executed you!"

"I……"

Upon hearing this, Su Dingfang was momentarily at a loss as to whether to hate or be grateful to His Majesty.

Although he had nothing to do with the matter, as a commanding officer at the time, he failed to control his subordinates and therefore had to bear some responsibility.

However, the fact that this crime would lead to him being ostracized for more than a decade was truly unbearable for him.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. I will submit a letter of apology tomorrow!"

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, thus granting him this belated opportunity to apologize.

After Su Dingfang opened up, he not only felt much lighter, but also smiled more often.

"Does Your Majesty know the location of the Jiwu Hall?"

Li Shimin snorted coldly upon hearing this.

"Don't forget, this Prince Qin's mansion originally belonged to me, and the Jiwu Hall was built on my orders!"

"In that case, Your Majesty will not lead the way. Your Majesty may go to find the eldest grandson on your own."

Where are you going?

"Your Majesty, this humble subject has ordered that dinner be prepared to entertain Your Majesty and all the ministers!"

"Not bad, you've finally figured out the ways of officialdom, hahaha!"

Li Shimin jokingly teased Su Dingfang, and then led everyone to the Hall of Universal Love.

Inside the Hall of Universal Love, Li Jue was observing the newly modified textile machine, his face full of question marks.

"This shouldn't be the case. I've already improved the transmission system, so why does the loom still frequently break weft threads?"

Li Tai was holding a large bowl of noodles, squatting on the ground eating them noisily. Hearing his nephew's confusion, he couldn't help but speak up.

"Stop focusing solely on the transmission; think about whether there's a problem elsewhere!"

"Other places?"

"There's nothing else that could be broken, so what other problems could there be?"

Li Tai rolled his eyes upon hearing this. His nephew was good in every way, except that he was too confident and refused to admit that he would make a mistake.

"Li Jue, do you think it might be a problem with the yarn spindle?"

"Spindle?"

"Yes!"

"Hand-operated looms use a gentler force, so they don't have high requirements for the spindles; they can use yarn that is thicker or thinner. But our machines use the same force in every step, which requires our spindles to be of equal thickness, with no room for error."

"So, how about we improve the spinning machine and enhance the quality of the spindles?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jue's eyes lit up, and he patted Li Tai on the head.

"Fourth Uncle is so clever! How come I didn't think of that? Hahaha!"

Li Tai felt his head being slapped and immediately glared angrily at Li Jue.

"You brat, whose head are you slapping!"

"You have no right to slap my head! You have no respect for your elders!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jue laughed heartily and then stretched his head over.

"Come on, Uncle, hurry up and take the picture. If you don't, I'm going to eat now, hahaha!"

Seeing Li Jue's shameless behavior, Li Tai could only angrily punch him and then hand him the noodles on the table.

"Just have this for now. Later, your fourth uncle will take you to my house, and I'll have my cook make you bear paws, hehehe!"

Li Jue didn't stand on ceremony, took the large bowl, and started slurping down the food.

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