Chapter 3: Li Shimin Can't Sit Still

"His Majesty, do you think this is a plea for mercy?"

Empress Changsun sipped her tea, a hint of smile in her tone.

Li Shimin said, "Isn't it?"

"I've already frightened him this way; besides confessing and begging for mercy, what else can he do?"

Empress Changsun smiled without replying.

Although she has never met Chen Yan, she does not know what kind of person he is.

But she knows Chen Yan's two uncles and his father.

Empress Changsun does not believe that the sturdy Chen family could produce a descendant who, upon hearing a hint of rumor, would be frightened into begging for mercy.

"It seems the Empress has another view," Li Shimin laughed, "Then let's see what this kid actually wrote."

"Wushe, present the letter."

"Yes." Wushe stepped forward, offering the letter with both hands.

Li Shimin initially glanced at it casually, but the further he read, the darker his complexion grew.

When he finished reading, he let out a cold snort, tossed the letter onto the table, seething with anger.

The Empress, standing nearby, saw his expression and knew she hadn't guessed wrong.

The letter's content certainly wasn't an admission or plea; otherwise it wouldn't have angered Li Shimin so much.

Empress Changsun gave a faint smile, casually picked up the letter on the table and began to read.

Li Shimin did not stop her.

"I have heard that thunder and rain are all the sovereign's grace; now to whip the princess, a crime worthy of ten thousand deaths."

"Yet Your Majesty's boundless heavenly grace even permits this guilty minister to keep his heir and prolong his legacy; such magnanimity would make Yao and Shun blush."

"I have already entrusted Lord Cheng to purchase a hundred mu of peach orchard; when Qing'er bears a child, it will be called the 'Imperial Gift Forest', yielding peaches each year to present at the Grand Temple."

"Additionally, my late father left a poem at home, which I present to Your Majesty."

"Han banners fill Yin Mountain; we do not send Hu riders back on single horses."

"May this body long serve the nation; why should my beard be born entering Yumen Pass."

"The guilty minister Chen Yan weeps blood and bows his head."

"Spring of the fourth year of the Zhenguan era."

"Pfft." Empress Changsun, after reading, couldn't hold back and laughed.

Li Shimin, angry and flustered, said, "That kid must have guessed I'm scaring him, yet he still wrote me such a letter."

"Damn him!"

Empress Changsun laughed, shaking her head, "Your Majesty, I think the Marquis of Weinan probably guessed you were scaring him, yet he dared not be sure, which is why he wrote this letter."

"In that case, even if you truly wish to kill him, you can't now."

"Why?" Li Shimin shouted angrily, "Can't I truly grant his wish, let him acquire a hundred mu of peach orchard, and then each year offer its fruit to the Grand Temple?"

Empress Changsun picked up the letter paper, pointing at the poem, "Your Majesty, why not read this poem carefully?"

"This poem… " Li Shimin began, but stopped himself.

Empress Changsun smiled lightly, "Your Majesty, this border poem seems heroic and grand, with a sense of treating death as a return home. Yet Chen Yan presented it under his father's name."

"He is reminding you that the previous generation of the Chen family all gave their lives for the country, leaving only him as the sole heir."

Li Shimin, after hearing, did not get angry; instead he sighed deeply, took the letter again and read the poem carefully once more.

He remarked, "What a line: 'May this body long serve the nation, why should my beard be born entering Yumen Pass.'"

Li Shimin, speechless, laughed, "His father and Cheng Zhijie that fellow are both brutes who can only wield a sword, not a pen."

"If I trust that this poem was composed by his father, I'd rather trust that Country Squire Wei Zheng will not rebuke me later."

Empress Changsun said, "Then what do you plan to do, Your Majesty?"

"What else can I do?" Li Shimin waved his hand, "Lock him up for another day; tomorrow we'll release him."

"The marriage appointment with Gao Yang is set for next month; I cannot truly cut him down. Let it be as it is."

Empress Changsun nodded, "Then that will do."

Li Shimin turned and ordered, "Wushe, see to it."

"Your Majesty." Wushe hesitated a moment, bowed, "Based on the unsavory informants, after exiting Dali Temple Prison, Cheng's eldest son went back to the Duke of Su's Mansion to deliver a letter, but the Marquis of Weinan's maid, after returning home once, went around visiting numerous Dukes…"

Li Shimin and his wife were both stunned; after exchanging glances, Li Shimin asked, "What is that maid doing visiting so many Dukes?"

Wushe hurriedly replied, "I heard it was to deliver gifts."

"The Duke of Su also gave the servant a portion, saying it must be presented to Your Majesty."

He said this while taking a small brocade pouch from his chest and handing it over.

Hearing that Cheng Yaojin said it must be given to himself, Li Shimin's expression grew solemn.

Does nobody else know, or does he not know?

Cheng Yaojin that fellow may seem carefree, but is actually meticulous.

Being able to make him say he must give himself something is probably not simple.

Li Shimin took the brocade pouch, opened it, and white tiny particles came into view.

"What is this?"

Wushe replied, "The Duke of Su didn't say, but I tasted it, and it seems… it seems to be salt."

"Salt?!" Li Shimin, who had just sat down, sprang up again.

Empress Changsun's phoenix eyes also narrowed, looking at the brocade pouch in Li Shimin's hand with some shock.

She had also seen the contents inside earlier.

If that truly is salt, wouldn't it be purer and finer than official salt, much more so?

Li Shimin reached into the brocade pouch, pinched a bit of fine salt, put it in his mouth, tasted it, and was utterly shocked.

It's really salt!

It has no bitterness at all and is snow‑white.

Guanyin Maid, try it.

Li Shimin hurriedly handed the brocade pouch to Empress Changsun, who without hesitation reached out, pinched a bit, and tasted it.

"It really is salt, Your Majesty." Empress Changsun could hardly believe it.

She had never seen such fine salt.

Li Shimin grabbed the brocade pouch and walked up to Wushe, saying, "You said that maid gave officials gifts, and the gift was this fine salt?"

"Your Majesty, they should all be sending this fine salt."

"What a waste!" Li Shimin exclaimed, anguished: "That brat actually gave away such fine salt for nothing—does he really think those people could stop me if I wanted to kill him?"

It would be better to just give it to me directly.

Wushe suddenly recalled another piece of information from the return of the bad guys' intel, and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, that maid always says after delivering gifts, 'His young master will have as much of this as you want; if you ever run low, just go to the Weinan Bo Fu to get some.'"

As soon as those words were spoken, the hall fell silent.

Empress Changsun and Li Shimin could no longer remain calm.

If this fine salt were only available in small amounts, difficult to produce, or costly, it could only be used as a gift.

At most they would just find it surprising and wouldn't pay much attention.

But if it's really as the maid said—'as much as you want'—then it's a different matter!

Because this shows that Chen Yan has mastered a new salt‑making method, and the cost must be extremely low; otherwise he couldn't say 'as much as you want'.

Li Shimin grabbed Wushe's shoulders tightly, suppressing his excitement, and asked, "As much as you want?"

Wushe hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, that maid really did say that."

Good! Good! Good!

Li Shimin said 'good' three times, hands behind his back, pacing in the hall.

After a moment, he finally realized.

Chen Yan had the maid give gifts to the dukes, not hoping they'd come plead for mercy, but to tell him he could make fine salt.

And it's 'as much as you want'!

Li Shimin held back for a long time, then laughed and exclaimed: "This brat... makes it impossible for me to kill him, whether from sentiment or self‑interest."

What a fine sole heir of the Chen family, what a fine Marquis of Weinan!

Wushe!

Convey my order: summon the Marquis of Weinan to the palace at once!