Li Shimin left after saying this, leaving Gao Yang and Li Jue staring at each other.
"Has your grandfather always been like this?"
"Aunt Gaoyang, you should know your father better than I do. Don't you know what kind of person he is?"
"I……"
Gao Yang was at a loss for words upon hearing this, and could only awkwardly twist his handkerchief to pretend to be calm.
"Li Jue, is there anything else you need your aunt's help with?"
"Um……"
"If it's convenient for you, Aunt, could you inquire for me whether there are any cases in Chang'an where people have been driven to death by the desire to buy houses..."
"oh?"
Gao Yang looked at Li Jue with considerable surprise upon hearing this.
"Nephew, shouldn't you ask your men about this? They'd know better, wouldn't they?"
Li Jue lay on the bed, propping his chin up as he spoke.
"well!"
"How could I possibly trust them now!"
"I'll have to trouble you, Aunt, to find out what really happened. If your father has wronged me, I'll definitely settle the score with him!"
Gao Yang blinked and smiled upon hearing this.
"What if your grandfather didn't wrong you?"
Li Jue pointed to his own buttocks.
"I've already paid the price!"
"Hehe, this is a life-threatening matter, a spanking is too lenient on you!"
Li Jue rolled his eyes dramatically upon hearing this.
"Aunt Gaoyang, how dare you talk to me like that? Haven't you done enough outrageous things over the years?!"
Gao Yang was not offended by this and laughed it off.
"We are different!"
"Auntie is a woman, and there aren't many women in our Li family with good reputations. Auntie learns from her aunts, and the younger generation sets an example. You can't do anything to me, Grandpa, hahaha!"
"you……"
Li Jue was completely defeated by Gao Yang's shamelessness.
"You can rest and recover. I'll go back to Chang'an to find out for you!"
The next day, as Li Jue boarded his carriage, he saw Li Shimin approaching with a gloomy face.
Why don't you ride in the same carriage as me?
Li Jue snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"My grandson is of humble birth and cannot possibly be worthy of your status!"
"you……"
"Guards, drag him to my carriage!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue erupted on the spot, pointing at Li Shimin and cursing loudly.
"Li Shimin, don't go too far. What's wrong with me riding in my own carriage..."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin merely snorted coldly, then snatched the whip from his attendant's hand and cracked it in the air, startling Li Jue into shutting his mouth tightly.
Before long, Li Jue obediently climbed onto Li Shimin's imperial carriage, placed the thick cushion in the corner, and carefully sat down. Then he leaned against the carriage wall and fell asleep.
Seeing this, Li Shimin ignored him and simply sat quietly to the side reading. However, after reading for a short while, he received an urgent report.
Li Shimin opened the urgent report, glanced at it, and immediately slammed his fist on the table in anger.
"This is outrageous!"
Hearing the commotion, Li Jue secretly opened his eyes and glanced at Li Shimin, who was in a rage.
"What's wrong with you now? Can't a person get some sleep?!"
Upon hearing such rude words, Li Shimin was not angry at all; instead, he showed a hint of remorse.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have punished you without even knowing the facts last time!"
"ah?"
Li Jue was completely stunned when he heard this, wondering what this was all about.
Just as Li Jue was completely bewildered, Li Shimin threw the memorial in his hand to him.
"Take a look for yourself!"
Li Jue opened the memorial and saw that it was a report by Yuchi Fan about the case of a man who died due to a forced purchase of a house in Chang'an.
According to Yu Chi Fan's account, an old woman did die when Li Jue's men bought the house. However, this old woman had a conflict with her daughter-in-law and hanged herself in a fit of anger; it had nothing to do with the house sale.
Li Jue was also very angry after reading it, and immediately started cursing at Li Shimin.
"I told you, I paid high prices for all of these, how could I possibly drive someone to their death!"
"You old man, you just won't believe me! You'd rather believe someone else's false accusations than trust me!"
"I need Uncle Yuchi to investigate thoroughly before I can clear my name!"
Li Shimin did not offer any defense when he heard Li Jue's accusations. It was only after a while that he spoke up quietly.
"I did wrong you, but the beating I gave you was not unjust!"
"Do you still remember what you said that day? You said you were going to rebel against me and send me back to the harem to nurse my children!"
Li Jue blinked awkwardly upon hearing this.
Did I say that?
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin glared fiercely at Li Jue.
"Coward!"
"I dare to say it, but I don't dare to admit it!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue thought to himself, "You old idiot, do you think I'm stupid? If I dare to admit to this, you can tear me apart with five horses!"
However, I was really enraged that day, which is why I spoke without thinking and accidentally revealed my true feelings!
"Your Majesty, you have wronged me! You must make it up to me!"
"Call him Grandpa!"
"If you don't compensate me, I won't call you Grandpa anymore!"
What kind of compensation do you want?
"I want……"
Li Jue suddenly paused here, unsure how to continue speaking.
Opening it too small would be a huge loss, but if it's opened too large, given Li Er's stingy nature, he definitely won't give it to him.
"Your Majesty, weren't you planning to personally lead an expedition against Goguryeo?"
"yes!"
"Once you conquer the lands of Goguryeo, along with the Liaodong Peninsula, you can bestow them all upon me as my fiefdom!"
"What?"
Li Shimin was so surprised by these words that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He had always been grooming Li Jue as his successor, but he never expected that this grandson would want to go to the Liaodong Peninsula to take up his fiefdom!
"no!"
"Then let me go to the southwest and become a vassal king!"
"The Southwest won't work either!"
Li Jue almost burst into tears upon hearing this.
"This won't work, that won't work, where exactly do you want to seal me off?!"
Li Shimin snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"I have already made arrangements for you, so you don't need to worry about it!"
"It was planned in advance?"
Li Jue didn't believe it a million times. If Li Shimin had any brains, Li Ke wouldn't have been unjustly killed by Changsun Wuji.
Given Li Shimin's brain capacity due to cerebellar atrophy, he would most likely have set his fiefdom near Guanzhong!
Whether I feel comfortable or not, I don't know, but Changsun Wuji must feel very comfortable when he's cleaning me up!
Thinking of this, Li Jue immediately took out a map of the Tang Dynasty from his sleeve, stared at the land near Guanzhong, and guessed where Li Shimin would eventually enfeoff him.
If they get too close, I'll have to speed things up. I must train a loyal elite army before Li Shimin kicks the bucket!
Although the people of Sanglin Zhechong Prefecture were quite loyal, their numbers were too small and their weapons and equipment were too poor, making them no match for the central army of the Tang Dynasty.
If they wanted to rebel, these thousand-plus people wouldn't even be enough to fill someone's teeth.
Seeing that Li Jue remained silent for a long time, Li Shimin curiously looked at what Li Jue was holding and saw that it was a simple map of the Tang Dynasty. He couldn't help but ask.
Why are you looking at this thing?
"Nothing much, just thinking about my future!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
