Duke of Zhenguan

As the sun set, Pei Ji returned home from his shift at the palace.

When she didn't see her son, Pei Zhongyu, coming to greet her, she learned that her son had fainted from anger and was being treated by a doctor.

Looking at his son's sallow face on the hospital bed, Pei Ji's withered face was full of doubt, and his gaze finally fell on the butler beside him:

"What happened?"

"Master, there's been a problem with the salt!" the butler replied cautiously.

"Salt?"

Pei Ji's face immediately turned extremely gloomy. If his son could be so angry, something must be serious.

Although he didn't speak about the salt issue, his silence was tantamount to acquiescence.

If he doesn't allow it, even if Pei Zhongyu and Cui Guinian wanted to do it, they wouldn't be able to.

If something happens at this time, naturally only His Majesty the Emperor can take action; no one else has the ability or authority.

But solving the salt problem is not something that one or two people can accomplish. He is the Minister of Works and the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and he actually heard this news from his own steward.

He tacitly approved the salt matter, as did he tacitly approve the grain matter last time. Although the Pei family was forced to present a congratulatory message last time, the cartloads of silver were actually put into their own treasury.

It's a draw.

What about this time?

Pei Ji considered the salt issue a minor matter; while the poor might lack salt, Li Shimin and the powerful would certainly not.

What terrified him most was that the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel knew absolutely nothing about salt.

As the saying goes, "A new emperor brings a new court," and it was only natural for Li Shimin to promote his confidants after ascending the throne. Therefore, no one found it strange that there were two Left Vice Ministers in the Ministry of Personnel.

He also wisely handed over all power to another Minister of the Left, Fang Xuanling.

However, it seems that Li Shimin is still not satisfied with his concession.

They used the salt shortage as an excuse to sideline him.

He's only been on the throne for less than a year, and they've already sidelined this loyal minister who helped him rise to power. What will happen next? Will he be able to keep the title and wealth he gained by sacrificing the lives of his entire clan and all his family's wealth?

Pei Ji suddenly felt a little dizzy, and it wasn't until someone helped him sit in a chair that he recovered after a long while.

At this moment, Pei Zhongyu, who was lying on the bed, slowly woke up under the doctor's treatment.

Helped by the housekeeper to get up from the bed, I saw my father sitting beside me with a gloomy face.

"Father!"

Pei Zhongyu shook off the steward's hand, struggled to his feet, and bowed to Pei Ji.

"What happened?" Pei Ji asked softly.

"Father, these are the messages that the servants in the house have gathered!" Pei Zhongyu took out several slips of paper covered with writing from his pocket and handed them to Pei Ji with both hands.

Pei Ji took the note, quickly scanned it, glanced at his son, and coldly asked:

"You're so angry over such a small thing?"

"I am ashamed!" Pei Zhongyu said awkwardly.

"When faced with a situation, one must remain calm. Do I really need to teach you such a simple principle?"

"Salt can't be sold in Guanzhong, can't be sold in Jiangnan? Can't be sold in the Turkic Khaganate? Even if it's all piled up in the warehouse, the loss is only a little silver!" Pei Ji coldly rebuked.

"Father, what worries me is not the money, but the fact that what I did this time is taboo. If we win, no one will mention it, but if we lose..." Pei Zhongyu said worriedly.

"So what if we lose? Does His Majesty intend to confiscate the Pei family's property?" Pei Ji retorted.

Seeing his father say this, Pei Zhongyu finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked softly:

"Father, those Huang's, Sun's, and Li's trading companies are clearly the same group that caused the famine last time. What I don't understand is, where did the imperial court get the salt from?"

"Your Majesty is wary of even me this time. I don't know where Your Majesty got the salt from, but more than a month ago, Cheng Yaojin led more than 10,000 Right Guards to Liangzhou, and Lin Chuan was with them!"

"Now it seems that what they did in Liangzhou was clearly just a smokescreen. Perhaps they discovered a salt mine somewhere in Liangzhou!" Pei Ji said.

"Could this matter really be related to that brat Lin Chuan?" Pei Zhongyu asked.

"It's almost certainly true! Otherwise, why would Cheng Yaojin have brought him along?" Pei Ji nodded.

"It's that kid again!"

Pei Zhongyu's face showed intense hatred. He reached up and made a slashing motion across his neck, then softly asked Pei Ji:

"Father, should we...?"

"That scoundrel Cheng Yaojin treated that kid like his own son. The arrow in Qin Qiong's body was also removed by that kid. Killing is the specialty of those scoundrels like Cheng Yaojin."

Their men had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Does Lin Chuan have anyone like this in his life?

If it weren't for these considerations, would Pei Xu have refrained from seeking revenge?

"Even I wouldn't dare take such a risky move? Zhongyu, how dare you even entertain such a thought?"

At this moment, Pei Ji looked at his son as if he were an idiot.

At this moment, he thought of his eldest son, who had died young. If his eldest son were still alive, he wouldn't have to worry about such a trivial matter...

After speaking, Pei Zhongyu realized how foolish his idea was and asked hesitantly:

"Father, what should we do next?"

"How to do it? Just do it the same way you did it last time!" Pei Ji waved his hand.

The next morning, a salt-buying frenzy swept through the east and west markets of Chang'an.

At five coins a pound, many people had been without salt for more than half a month and now wished they could take all the salt from the salt shops home.

Amid this buying frenzy, many people in the West Market, seeing the long queues outside Huang Ji Salt Shop, fearing they wouldn't be able to buy any salt, had no choice but to turn to other shops to buy salt.

That's why salt from businesses like Pei Ji wouldn't just sit in the warehouse indefinitely.

Not only in Chang'an, but also in salt shops in various prefectures and counties throughout the capital region, all looked like this.

The buying frenzy lasted for two days, until people noticed that carts loaded with salt were continuously entering Chang'an, and the number of people rushing to buy gradually decreased.

Lin Chuan had been going through a lot of hardship lately. Ever since his engagement to Cheng Churou was finalized, Cheng Churou had been visiting the Lin family much more often.

Sometimes they come in the morning and then again around noon.

Lin Chuan's modern mindset hadn't completely changed in a short time. Every day, he would stroll hand in hand with Cheng Churou in the garden next to the east wing. Looking at Cheng Churou's smiling face, he felt incredibly uneasy.

The reason for his guilty conscience was not only because he felt sorry for Cheng Churou.

More than anything, he was afraid that Cheng Yaojin would break his legs.

Fortunately, Cheng Churou was straightforward and simple-minded, and did not notice anything.

Besides spending time with Cheng Churou, Lin Chuan also began to diligently practice martial arts.

Two days ago, Lin Chuan took his siblings to the Qin family.

Qin Qiong touched Ah Lang all over and actually persuaded Lin Chuan to take Ah Lang as his apprentice.

He personally taught them martial arts.

Thus, the clueless Ah Lang became Lin Chuan's apprentice.

As for Ah Shui, Qin Qiong only glanced at her before letting Lin Chuan make his own arrangements. No matter how good a woman's physique is, she will eventually get married and have children, and at that time, even the best martial arts skills will be greatly diminished.

That evening, Lin Chuan was practicing martial arts with Ah Lang and Ah Shui in the east wing when Er Ya suddenly ran in:

"Brother, someone claims to be from the palace and says His Majesty summons you to the palace!"