While Li Jue continued the trial, Chu Suiliang ran back to Taiji Palace in tears to complain to Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is lawless and doesn't respect you at all, sob sob sob..."

Upon hearing this commotion, Li Shimin immediately sensed something was wrong.

"What happened?"

"Doesn't he know it's my will?"

"I know!"

"Your humble servant showed your imperial edict to the Crown Prince, who said it was fake and even ordered me to be beaten with sticks. Waaah..."

Li Shimin was furious when he heard this and kept slamming his fist on the table.

"This is outrageous!"

"This rebellious grandson is so arrogant and disrespectful, he's infuriating me!"

"Guards, bring me my whip! I want to personally deal with that rebellious grandson!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Anan quickly presented the whip and then carefully offered a reminder.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince must have a reason, otherwise he wouldn't..."

"Shut up!"

"If you dare say another word to that rebellious grandson, I'll sew your mouth shut!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Anan dared not utter another word and could only carefully serve from the side.

Upon seeing this, Chu Suiliang hurriedly followed, full of pride and arrogance, intending to witness the spectacle of His Majesty disciplining the Crown Prince.

However, when he saw Li Shimin leaving the palace with only a few guards, he immediately spoke up to remind him.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's side is heavily guarded. You should take more men with you."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin replied nonchalantly.

"Need not!"

"That rebellious grandson dares not be presumptuous before me!"

Although Li Shimin said this, he still gave Zhang Anan a look, instructing him to secretly select five hundred Imperial Guards to accompany him.

Halfway there, Li Shimin felt uneasy and ordered the Hundred Cavalry Guard stationed outside Xuanwu Gate to dispatch 500 elite troops. Only then did he feel at ease and continue on his way.

Xuanwu Gate was not far from the Prince of Qin's residence, only a few hundred steps away, and Li Shimin arrived in just half an incense stick's time.

When he arrived at the Prince of Qin's residence, he found Master Huichan lying on the ground, being brutally beaten by Li Jue's men.

Upon seeing this, Li Shimin immediately roared in anger.

"stop!"

"Master Huichan is a highly respected monk; how dare you disrespect him!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers looked helplessly at Li Jue. Seeing Li Shimin arrive, Li Jue knew he couldn't kill Huichan today and could only wave his hand dismissively.

"Spare this bald monk's life for now!"

“Grandpa…”

"Shut up!"

"I dare not be your grandfather!"

As Li Shimin finished speaking, he immediately lashed out with his whip, and a crisp "crack" was heard as Li Jue's face was struck squarely by the whip.

But this whipping not only stunned Li Jue, but also left Li Shimin speechless.

That's not right!

Normally, this brat would have dodged a whip with that kind of force long ago.

Why didn't he hide today?

Li Jue wanted to dodge, but just as he was about to turn around, he found that his ribs were being pricked with needles.

Then, he was struck hard by the whip.

Although Li Shimin was surprised to draw Li Jue, he quickly composed himself and gave Li Jue a stern lecture.

"You unfilial grandson!"

"You dare to disregard my imperial edict? Are you plotting a rebellion?!"

"I didn't..."

"Then why do you say it's fake!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jue stiffened his neck and said.

"Your Majesty, your edict only has handwriting, no seal, so of course I must consider it a forgery!"

Li Shimin was stunned when he heard this, and then turned to look at Chu Suiliang.

"Wasn't it stamped just now?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Suiliang shook his head, then quickly added a sentence.

"Your Majesty, even if you didn't affix your seal, the Crown Prince has been taught by you for many years, how could he not recognize your handwriting?"

"In my humble opinion, the Crown Prince is deliberately pretending not to recognize me and is deliberately disobeying the Emperor's orders!"

Li Shimin naturally knew about this matter; he had just said it on purpose to give Li Jue a way out.

Now that Chu Suiliang had dismantled his way out, Li Shimin was extremely frustrated.

"Li Jue, why are you defying the imperial edict!"

“Grandpa, I didn’t disobey you. Your edict has no seal, so I can only assume it’s fake!”

"Even if this matter were taken to the imperial court, I would still be in the right!"

"Cough cough cough..."

Li Shimin coughed awkwardly.

"Even if there was something wrong with the imperial edict, I personally sent someone to warn you. Why didn't you listen?"

Li Jue, still stubbornly insisting on his words, replied.

"When a general is in the field, he may disobey the emperor's orders!"

"Besides, I was trying to help you solve the problem. You didn't even offer to help me, so why did you have to jump in and make things worse!"

"help me?"

Li Shimin was stunned when he heard this, wondering what this had to do with him.

"Grandfather, under your prosperous reign, some common people, unable to bear the humiliation, committed suicide by poisoning themselves. Does this have nothing to do with you?"

"this……"

"Grandpa, this is tarnishing the reputation of your prosperous Zhenguan era!"

"Just imagine, when people thousands of years from now talk about the prosperous Zhenguan era, and suddenly see that people in Chang'an were forced to commit suicide because they couldn't repay their loans, won't they blame you, the emperor, for it?"

"this……"

Li Shimin broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this, thinking to himself that it really was his doing.

After all, people in later generations didn't care who lent money at exorbitant interest rates; they would only attribute the act of allowing private lending to be done to that person.

“Grandpa, that bald monk Huichan has usurped the position of abbot of Zhaoguo Temple, and has been privately condoning his monks and lay disciples to lend money at exorbitant interest rates. He has also been maliciously collecting debts, resulting in the tragic deaths of innocent people. Shouldn’t he be severely punished?”

Li Shimin nodded solemnly upon hearing this.

"This matter certainly needs to be addressed, but..."

Just as Li Shimin was hesitating whether to intervene, Shan Daozhen galloped back on horseback.

"The Crown Prince!"

A large amount of gold and silver treasures has been discovered inside Zhaoguo Temple!

Li Jue curled his lip in disdain upon hearing this, thinking to himself that this country bumpkin had never seen the world and was simply embarrassing himself.

How much treasure could Zhaoguo Temple possibly have?

"No matter how much treasure Zhaoguo Temple has, can it possibly surpass the Goguryeo royal palace?"

"Your Highness, I cannot compare..."

"That's right, how can Zhaoguo Temple compare to the Goguryeo royal palace?"

"Your Highness is mistaken. What I meant was, how can the Goguryeo royal palace compare to Zhaoguo Temple!"

"ah?"

"How many exactly?"

After hesitating for a long time, Shan Daozhen finally managed to utter four words with difficulty.

"countless!"

Li Jue and Li Shimin were both slightly shocked upon hearing this, but just as they were in shock, Shan Daozhen's next words drove them even crazier.

"According to the gold I just counted, it amounts to at least three million taels..."

"The amount of silver is countless, at least tens of millions of taels!"

"As for copper coins... there are too many to count. I have found more than a dozen cellars for storing copper coins, each as big as the national treasury!"

"hiss……"

Upon hearing this, both Li Shimin and Li Jue gasped. Then, their eyes gleamed with the same light, a light that flashed with two large golden characters—greed!