"Three to five days?"
Yu Chi Fan's faith collapsed. He had been leading people to search in Goguryeo for several months, and he hadn't stopped even during the New Year, but he still couldn't find any clues.
However, for Li Jue, it only took three to five days?
"Eldest grandson, don't try to fool me!"
Why would I comfort you?
"It's just a bit difficult to capture him alive. I'm afraid the Treasure King will commit suicide if he finds out."
"ah?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Chi Fan's face immediately lit up with anticipation.
"Does the eldest grandson possibly know where the treasure king is hidden?"
Li Jue curled his lip in disdain upon hearing this.
"I knew about it last year, but I wasn't confident I could catch it alive, which is why I hesitated to take action."
"this……"
"Eldest grandson, tell me quickly, where exactly is the treasure king hiding? I will capture him immediately!"
Li Jue shook his head upon hearing this.
"Wait a moment, I'll go ask His Majesty and see what he says."
"good!"
Yuchi Fan followed Li Jue to the palace, personally escorted Li Jue inside, and then closed the door and stood guard outside.
"Grandpa, did you send Yuchi Fan to find the Treasure King again?"
"yes!"
"That bastard Yuchi Fan is getting more and more outrageous. Such a small matter has been delayed for several months..."
"Grandpa, why do you want to capture him alive this time?"
"What else could it be? Of course, it's to reinstate King Bojang and have him govern Goguryeo for me!"
"So that's how it is..."
“Grandpa, actually I started working on this last year. If you hadn’t interfered, we might have been able to lure out the Treasure King before the new year.”
"What?"
Li Shimin was shocked when he heard this.
"What did you say? You said you started doing it last year?"
"yes!"
"If it weren't for your meddling, forcing Li Shiji to rob grain, I would have already made contact with the Treasure King!"
Li Shimin was taken aback at first upon hearing this, then his expression changed to one of sudden realization.
"Oh dear, I'm getting senile! How could I not even think of something so simple!"
"Who else in Goguryeo could have consumed tens of thousands of dan of grain besides King Bojang?"
"Yuchi Fan!"
"Go find Li Shiji right now and tell him to send 5,000 troops there... Sigh, just go find him, he knows where the treasure king is hiding!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Chi Fan happily agreed, but before he could turn around, Li Jue called him back.
"Uncle Yuchi, wait!"
Li Shimin said somewhat impatiently.
What are you going to do now?
“Your Majesty, if you send Li Shiji and Yuchi Fan to arrest people now, the best outcome will be to bring back a corpse. As for the less desirable outcome, it might just be to kill a few more ordinary people, without even getting a hair on the treasure king’s head.”
"this……"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin hesitated slightly, then personally pulled over a chair.
"Grandson, sit down and talk!"
Seeing this, Li Jue didn't stand on ceremony and immediately sat down in a chair, crossing his legs.
"Your Majesty, the Treasure King has long been terrified of our Tang army. Sending troops rashly will only make him hide further away, making it even harder for us to find him."
"Last year, my grandson went to great lengths to do business with them and send them grain, all in an effort to establish a cooperative relationship with the Treasure King and let him know that our Great Tang Dynasty is trustworthy..."
"However, Your Majesty's repossession of the grain not only caused your grandson to lose credibility, but also made the Treasure King more vigilant."
"I……"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's old face flushed with embarrassment.
"I didn't know at the time... Besides, why didn't you tell me beforehand that you were handling such a big matter?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue rolled his eyes in annoyance.
What do you expect me to say?
"You have such a treacherous minister by your side, and you don't care or do anything about it. If I tell you about this, not only will my reputation be ruined, but the Treasure King will also lose his life!"
"A treacherous minister?"
"Where did these treacherous ministers come from by my side?"
Li Jue snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"Such a serious incident as a grain depot fire could not have been accomplished so easily without the interference of treacherous officials."
Li Shimin laughed heartily upon hearing this.
"So this is what you're talking about!"
"I have my own plans for this, so you don't need to worry about it, you little kid. As long as you bring the Treasure King back to me, I will reward you handsomely!"
"Grandson, do your best!"
"But your grandson has a condition..."
"What are the conditions?"
"You are not to tell anyone about what happened today, not even my great-uncle!"
Li Shimin agreed without hesitation.
"good!"
"I promise you, I will not tell anyone about this!"
Li Jue nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, then stretched out his small hand.
"Your Majesty, please allocate me 20,000 dan of grain!"
"What do you need so much food for?"
"What else can I do but pay off my debts, of course!"
"We stole so much grain from them last year, we should at least give them some back now, right?"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes, we should definitely return some to show our sincerity!"
"I will write you an imperial edict right now. Go to Li Shiji in person to collect your grain!"
With food in hand, finding the treasure king will be much easier.
Li Jue first ordered his men to take two thousand dan of grain and distribute it to the common people along the route from Pyongyang to Guwolsan Mountain. Then he asked them to spread the word that Li Shimin was looking for Baozang Wang and planned to reinstate Baozang Wang as the king of Goryeo.
Sure enough, within three days, a merchant came to his door, wanting to ask him about the grain robbery that happened last year.
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