All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

Li Chang'an never admitted that the poems were plagiarized, because no one would believe him anyway, and in the end, the blame would fall on him, so why bother?

Li Zhi quickly said, "Fan Jian has a daughter, and I have a daughter too. You should also send a painting to Roujia; she's your own niece!"

Li Chang'an curled his lip and said, "Since she's my own niece, why bother giving her a gift?"

If it were a fake niece like Lin Wan'er, who had no blood relation to him, Li Chang'an wouldn't mind raising her seriously.

Li Zhi slowly recited the new poem: "Viewed horizontally, it's a range; viewed vertically, it's a peak. From afar and near, high and low, it looks different. I can't recognize the true face of Mount Lu, simply because I am in the mountain myself."

"The poems are well written, at least they're not the kind of poems about lamenting the passing of spring and autumn or about beautiful women and their youthful appearance. You've made some progress."

Although Li Zhi said that, his face was filled with excitement. He grinned for a long time before finally sitting down.

"The Second Prince is going to participate in politics. You two are the same age, so His Majesty may also make some arrangements for you."

Li Chang'an knew that Emperor Qing had already used Li Chengze as a whetstone.

"Second Brother, can't I just stay in the Prince's Mansion every day like you? You plant flowers, and I listen to music. How pleasant that would be!"

Li Zhi's face darkened, and he glanced at Wang Qinian. Li Chang'an waved his hand, and Wang Qinian left.

"You've been a child prodigy since you were a child. With your current reputation, do you think His Majesty would let you be idle?"

"Your Majesty's mind is so profound. I also accomplished quite a lot back then; I wasn't idle all the time."

"However, as the Crown Prince grew up, I grew tired of the trivialities of government affairs and was not good at them, so His Majesty finally allowed me to leave..."

Prince Jing's words are true, but not entirely accurate. His distance from the court was also related to Ye Qingmei's tragic death.

In fact, Li Chang'an does not want to get too involved in the court right now, because the net of intrigue has not been fully set up yet.

Without the support of a mature intelligence agency, one would be at a great disadvantage in the imperial court.

Many so-called power struggles are nothing more than information asymmetry.

He needed to personally travel to various regions to help them truly recruit talents with espionage skills and to fully establish the network of espionage between Southern Qing and Northern Qi.

However, this is just an idea for now. To implement it, we need to find a reason to push it forward.

He came to Prince Jing, of course, to ask Prince Jing to speak on his behalf and bring Liu Shuyan out of the palace.

"Second brother, I want to bring Mother out of the palace."

Li Chang'an got straight to the point, and Prince Jing remained silent for a moment after hearing this. "According to custom, you can only bring Consort Liu out to live out her days in peace after she gets old."

Li Chang'an stated his thoughts directly, "But I am ignorant and unruly, and I need someone to discipline me."

Li Zhi disagreed, saying, "You even invited courtesans to the Prince's residence to sing, and His Majesty didn't find you unruly or incompetent."

Li Chang'an knew that deep down, His Majesty hoped that Li Chang'an would be even more unruly, preferably indulging in wine and women and having no great ambitions.

“Hongcheng has been getting very close to a courtesan lately, and I’m sure he’s exhausted every day. As his uncle, I’m heartbroken for him.”

"I'm worried his body can't handle it. How about I beat him up for you so he can rest for a while?"

Li Chang'an meant that he went to the brothel and beat up Li Hongcheng, which should be considered extremely unruly.

Li Zhi slapped his thigh, looking somewhat excited. "Such a good thing! Go ahead and hit me!"

"That stupid pig isn't even fully grown yet, and he doesn't know how to respect himself. Just don't kill him!"

"Now that you're done hitting him, I'm going to report you to His Majesty! I'll say you committed violence and assault, and that you need to be disciplined!"

……

A few days later, in the red-light district of Liujing River, a street lined with brothels.

This was the day before Miss Si Lili was to open her shop to customers.

Li Chang'an took a carriage directly to Zuixianju, which was the most popular brothel in the capital.

As they reached the door, Li Chang'an suddenly turned around and said, "Old Wang, don't go in."

Wang Qinian swallowed hard and exclaimed in regret!

Li Chang'an, accompanied by Xi Ren and Qing Wen, who were disguised as men, entered Zui Xian Ju and immediately saw a large group of beautiful women.

Qingwen pouted in grievance; these women were far inferior to her sisters.

She was somewhat puzzled. Why would His Highness come here to pick wildflowers when there was plenty of food available in his residence?

Li Chang'an was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had an elegant demeanor, clearly indicating that he was from a wealthy family.

Several young men with their arms around girls passed by and couldn't help but make sarcastic remarks.

"Who is this? He looks familiar."

"With such beautiful twin maids by your side, why would you come to a brothel? Are you out of your mind?!"

"Not necessarily, maybe people are just tired of what they've been doing and want to try something new."

"Damn, I'm so envious!"

……

Li Chang'an never invited the most beautiful courtesan from Zuixianju to sing at the Prince's Mansion; he always invited performers from dance halls, not brothels.

Therefore, no one here should have seen him in person.

Soon, a still-attractive madam warmly greeted them.

"Young master, you look unfamiliar. Do you know any ladies here?"

Li Chang'an looked around curiously, and several passing brothel women eagerly cast flirtatious glances his way.

He casually remarked, "I don't have any familiar skills... cough cough!"

The madam looked slightly embarrassed. She thought Li Chang'an hadn't been there before, and calling the girl a prostitute was rather undignified.

"Young master, so this is your first time here. Let me introduce you to some popular girls."

Li Chang'an coughed twice to cover up his slight embarrassment, "This young master is looking for Yuan Meng!"

The madam looked troubled. "Young master, you're looking for Yuan Meng... The most popular courtesan usually doesn't entertain new clients!"

"Miss Yuan Meng is renowned throughout the capital for her beauty and talent. If you, sir, are truly seeking her out... hehe!"

"It'll cost more! Two thousand taels of silver per hour!"

The cost of two hours was equivalent to Fan Jian's salary for twenty years, and that was for a courtesan.

Li Chang'an said lazily, "Stop talking nonsense. Do I look like I'm short of money?"

The madam gave a forced smile and made a gesture with two fingers to ask for money.

"Young master, you've never been here before, so you don't know the rules. You need to pay with silver notes first..."

Li Chang'an paused for a moment, somewhat surprised, then his voice became stern.

"Nonsense! Such a respectable, high-end place should of course provide service first and charge later!"

"Look at you, you're not exactly young anymore. Do you even have any business sense? Do you know how to do business? Do you understand the rules?"

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Chapter 37 Disarming! Slapping Yuan Meng's face until it's swollen!

After being scolded by Li Chang'an, the madam opened her mouth awkwardly, but couldn't refute him.

Actually, Li Chang'an is right. For acquaintances and important guests, of course, it's fine to pay whenever you want.

Li Chang'an shook his head in disappointment. He still needed to demonstrate his strength. "Xi Ren, let her see what I'm made of."

Xiren obediently took out a stack of silver notes and waved them in front of the madam, saying, "You blind fool, take a good look!"

The madam's eyes widened; this stack of notes was worth at least 100,000 taels of silver!

"Oh dear, I was blind! I didn't recognize our distinguished guest! Young master, you are right!"

"I will take you to a private room now, and then find Miss Yuan Meng to keep you company!"

After leading Li Chang'an into the most prestigious private room, the madam excitedly went to Yuan Meng's room.

Yuan Meng was somewhat displeased. "Mom, who's so blind as to ask me to go with them?"

Regular customers of Liujinghe know that Yuan Meng has recently become the exclusive possession of Prince Jing's heir, Li Hongcheng, so they all tacitly stop seeking her out.

The madam knew, of course, that Yuan Meng hadn't entertained anyone in a long time, but there was no reason not to make money when it was already in her hands.

"Mengmeng, the young master who came this time is a fool with lots of money. He's a new customer, and he might even be a virgin!"

"Go play the piano and sing some songs. You're a pure courtesan, so new customers usually won't touch you inappropriately."

Yuan Meng's expression was somewhat unpleasant. After all, with Li Hongcheng protecting her, she hadn't had to resort to selling smiles for a long time.

"Okay, Mom, I'll go and deal with it."

Yuan Meng followed her out, giving the maid in the room a wink as she left.

The maidservant understood immediately; this meant she was to inform His Highness the Crown Prince.

Let His Highness the Crown Prince step in and teach this young master a lesson for daring to order girls to entertain guests.

This is a warning to others; let's see who dares to ask a girl to accompany them in the future!

In Li Chang'an's private room, Yuan Meng followed the madam into the room.