Chapter 653: Sizi: I

"You again tried to push your idea onto my Father Emperor?"

After the guests left, Gao Yang glanced at Chen Yan, his tone already a bit helpless.

My own husband is fine in every way, but why does he always stare at Li Shimin? Does he have to think about extracting a layer of oil from Li Shimin?

If you keep doing this, will Li Shimin be pleased?

Won't you get punished again?

Besides, she doesn't believe that with Chen Yan's abilities, he wouldn't think of other ways to increase the treasury's revenue.

Chen Yan curled his lip: "What do you know? Salt is a necessity for everyone. If the court monopolizes salt, it can be spread across the Tang Dynasty most quickly; not only can the Tang people eat fine salt, but it can also be sold at high prices to other nations. What a huge income that would be!"

"Look, I gave the fine salt to your Father Emperor. What did he do? He's still selling it covertly; the price isn't high, but the output is truly too small."

"If it's handed to the court, and the departments unite to put the fine salt openly on the market, is there any need for secrecy?"

Gao Yang sighed inwardly, already clear that Chen Yan's mind was set; they would probably have to contend with Li Shimin for a while.

Regarding this, she couldn't say much, only warned: "You'd better not get yourself tangled up. You're already the Marquis of Weinan; don't end up with no title at all, not even better than your own daughter."

Chen Yan shrugged: "If it's gone, it's gone. Anyway, this thing is useless. His Majesty only stripped my title, not my fiefdom or anything, and I'm still not satisfied."

"If they could take away my fiefdom entirely, I'd finally be at ease for a long time."

"Forget it, don't worry about this. The fine salt definitely can't be in your Father Emperor's hands; he can't even make any use of it."

Gao Yang and Li Lizhi fell silent for a moment.

"Alright, are you implying Li Shimin is not reliable at all?"

"If you don't want to say it, then don't. I'm too lazy to bother with you." Gao Yang gave him a cold stare, sarcastically saying, "All I ask is that you don't start fighting again; otherwise you'll end up in prison three times, and your sister will have to fetch you."

Chen Yan: "......"

"Gao Yang!" he glared, "Don't bring up unrelated matters; this issue is already over."

"Tch, who cares about you."

Gao Yang let out a light snort, hugged his daughter, and left.

Li Lizhi, about to speak but stopped, finally said gently, "Husband, you really need to take it easy, don't keep angering the Father Emperor."

"Otherwise, in the end, won't you be the one suffering?"

Chen Yan smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, I know the situation. As long as I don't change my stance, I'll never get into trouble; everything else is trivial."

As he said, he took Li Lizhi's hand, "Besides, aren't we still together?"

"If I have to be punished, could you plead on my behalf?"

Li Lizhi said irritably, "I thought the same at first, but last time you were locked in Dali Temple Prison, we didn't even see the Father Emperor's face. How could we plead?"

"Sigh, never mind."

"I really admire you two, husband and son‑in‑law, you spend all day thinking how to trap each other; across all of China, you're the only example."

"I won't talk to you anymore; I need to find someone to deal with this."

When she finished, she withdrew her hand to leave, and Chen Yan said with a smile, "Don't be so quick to leave; how about we discuss having a child in the next two months?"

Li Lizhi's steps suddenly halted, she lowered her head slightly, her fair neck gradually flushing.

Having a child was something she had thought about for a long time; previously Chen Yan always refused, because he saw that Gao Yang giving birth was dangerous and feared something would happen to her.

So Li Lizhi could understand.

After all, Chen Yan's medical skill is superb; he couldn't harm her in this regard.

But this year, Chen Yan told her that it's about time; when the season is right, the two will have a child.

Counting the days, it's already April, the weather has long been warm.

If they wait another month or two, conception in October means the child would be born around this time in the seventh year of Zhen Guan…

Li Lizhi, thinking about it, felt a surge of joy, turned, and with a stern face said, "You said this yourself; you can't go back on it."

"Right, I said it, I won't backtrack." Chen Yan smiled lightly and nodded.

"Okay." Li Lizhi's eyes sparkled, a slight smile at the corners of her mouth, her whole being radiating lightness and excitement.

Anyone can tell at a glance that she's in a great mood.

"Yo, Rhythm sister has been coaxed into becoming a fetus again."

Sizi appeared beside Li Lizhi at some point, tilting her little head and looking at her own underperforming sister.

Li Lizhi: "......"

"You… forget it, I'm happy today, I won't hit you; wait until tomorrow."

Sizi cheerfully said, "If you hit me, later I'll hit my little nephew or niece; for every strike you give me, I'll return tenfold."

"When your child grows a bit, I'll take them to fish, climb trees, cockfight, play with dogs, and throw cow dung."

"You go ahead and hit me."

Li Lizhi: "......"

"You little thing, seems I haven't punished you in a long time." She suddenly got angry, raised her hand to grab Sizi's ear.

"Alright, alright, why are you holding a grudge against her? Don't you know her virtues yet?"

"Perfect, I have something to tell her; you go attend to your business first."

Li Lizhi's expression softened considerably upon hearing that, then she glared fiercely at Sizi, turned, and left.

"Brother, are you trying to trap me again?"

Sizi blinked and said.

Chen Yan raised an eyebrow, crouched down to be eye level with the little creature, and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Do I need to ask? In all this time, when have you ever told me something good?"

Chen Yan was speechless, "You phrase it as if I were abusing you."

"That's hard to say." Sizi, imitating Chen Yan's old manner, spread her little hands and shook her head.

"....... You little rascal." Chen Yan chuckled and scolded, then hugged her, pondering: "Sizi, I indeed have something to tell you."

"Now your little sister has grown up a lot, your grandparents haven't properly lived with you for a long time; you need to go live with your Chengyang older sister for two months."

"After two months, you can come back again."

Sizi immediately became unhappy upon hearing it: "I refuse to go; is the Imperial Palace even a place for people to live?"

"Just let Chengyang older sister go back and live there; why drag me along?"

"Are you disliking me again because I keep gossiping about you, so you want to drive me away?"

"How could that be, how could that be?" Chen Yan said earnestly: "Don't you forget how I taught you? Hundreds of good deeds, filial piety comes first."

"You're not a three-year-old kid anymore; how can you throw a toddler's tantrum?"

"As a Princess, you've lived at my place much longer than in the palace; what will others think?"

"That's not appropriate."

Sizi sniffed, tilted her head, and rolled her eyes, as if pondering something.

Then, in front of Chen Yan, she rolled her eyes, plopped down on the ground, and gasped heavily.

"Older Brother! Older Brother, it's bad, my breathing ailment is acting up again, please save me, save me!"

"Save me!"

"......"