Duke of Zhenguan

On the last day of August, Li Shimin issued an edict to confer the title of Princess Gaoyang upon his seventeenth daughter and betroth her to the eldest son of Changsun Wuji.

The powerful and influential people in Chang'an were not surprised by this. Changsun Wuji's abilities were beyond doubt, and he was a minister who had helped the emperor rise to power. Moreover, he had a younger sister who was the empress. It would be surprising if he did not marry into the royal family.

In the past, when news of a princess's arranged marriage spread, rumors, both true and false, would inevitably circulate in the restaurants and teahouses of Chang'an.

But the people of Chang'an were concerned about something else at that time.

The owners and managers of two salt shops in Chang'an, along with about ten other people, were arrested by the yamen runners of the Dali Temple.

The people of Chang'an, who had experienced a salt shortage for more than a month, were naturally delighted and wished that the court would arrest all the salt merchants who had raised prices earlier.

The powerful and wealthy knew more than ordinary people. For example, the two salt shop owners who were arrested and sent to the Dali Temple were surnamed Pei and Cui, respectively.

Furthermore, they also knew that, in addition to Chang'an, local governments in Gyeonggi Province and Hadong Province were also arresting people.

If they were to oppose an emperor like Li Shimin who was still able to consider the overall situation, and they won, they could naturally force Li Shimin to make concessions. For the sake of stability and to ensure that the people would not go hungry, even if they hoarded goods and inflated prices, Li Shimin would pretend not to see it.

But they lost!

Li Shimin certainly wouldn't be polite to them, and settling scores later was only natural.

The arrests were just the visible actions; behind the scenes, the two sides continued to clash.

Compared to Li Shimin's later retribution, Lin Chuan was more interested in the fact that Li Shimin had bestowed a marriage between Princess Gaoyang and Changsun Chong.

He made a special inquiry and learned that Princess Gaoyang was only three years old at the time, while Changsun Chong was fifteen, exactly one cycle older.

Now that she's married to someone else, who knows if Princess Gaoyang will also cuckold Changsun Chong in the future.

In the Cheng family garden, Cheng Churou, dressed in a pale yellow ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), looked at the strange smile on Lin Chuan's face and asked softly:

"Lin Lang, what are you laughing at? Why does it sound so... strange?"

"I just remembered something strange!"

Feeling a little guilty for thinking about other women, Lin Chuan replied awkwardly, his gaze returning to Cheng Churou beside him.

Although it was late summer, the weather in Chang'an was even hotter than in the height of summer because it hadn't rained for many days.

Cheng Churou's dress was the kind of dress that young ladies from powerful families would wear at home.

Inside, she wore a light green, high-waisted, belted dress, with a matching sheer shawl over it, her crystal-clear, jade-like skin peeking through the fabric.

A jade hairpin adorned her cloud-like hair bun, exuding elegance and refinement while retaining the innocence of a young girl.

Looking at the large expanse of white skin around the girl's collarbone and the shallow cleavage under the thin gauze, Lin Chuan felt the surrounding air become even hotter.

Under Cui's guidance, Cheng Churou, dressed like this for the first time, noticed Lin Chuan's burning gaze. Although she was shy, she blushed and let Lin Chuan look her over, asking softly:

"Lin Lang, is it handsome?"

"Chu Rou is a fairy descended from heaven, of course she's beautiful!" Lin Chuan said with a smile, holding the girl's hand.

Cheng Churou chuckled twice upon hearing this, and rolled her eyes at Lin Chuan:

"Lin Lang is just good at sweet-talking people; he's not that handsome!"

"You look really good in this outfit today!"

"My mother specially had it made for me!"

Speaking of Madam Cui, Lin Chuan recalled that Madam Cui's complexion hadn't been very good when he paid his respects at noon, so he asked, "Auntie, you didn't look well just now. Are you feeling unwell?"

"We've had the doctor examine her, and he said it's nothing serious. It's been too hot these past two days, so she hasn't been sleeping well at night and has no appetite. Father suggested she stay at the estate outside the city for a couple of days, but she doesn't want to go..." Cheng Churou said.

"Is it too hot? Are you out of ice?" Lin Chuan asked.

"Yeah, we used it all up a long time ago. Who knew it would get this hot these past few days!" Cheng Churou nodded.

After hearing Cheng Churou's words, Lin Chuan stood up and said to Cheng Churou with a smile:

"Take me to Uncle Quan, I need to get some ice for Auntie!"

Although Cui was not Cheng Churou's biological mother, she treated Cheng Churou quite well and always took good care of Lin Chuan.

"Lin Lang, there's no ice left even in the palace, where else can we get ice? Asking Uncle Quan won't help!"

"Come on, I'll broaden your horizons today!"

Follow Cheng Churou to the front yard and find Cheng Quan, ask Cheng Quan to prepare some saltpeter.

Saltpeter was not only a traditional Chinese medicine, but also a very important strategic material. The Imperial Workshop had a special warehouse for storing saltpeter.

There were naturally many shops selling saltpeter on the market, and in less than an hour, Cheng Quan placed a sack of saltpeter weighing at least several dozen kilograms in front of Lin Chuan.

He then had his servants fetch a copper basin and a wooden bucket with good heat conductivity, as well as clean water. Lin Chuan then began to work with ice in the side hall of the front yard.

Hearing that Lin Chuan was going to make ice, Madam Cui also came to the front yard with her maids and curiously surrounded Lin Chuan.

The ice-making process is not complicated. Cheng Quan found saltpeter with very high purity. When Lin Chuan put the saltpeter into the wooden bucket and slowly stirred it with a wooden stick,

As the saltpeter slowly dissolved, the water temperature in the wooden bucket dropped rapidly. Due to the excellent thermal conductivity of copper, the water in the copper basin also began to cool down quickly, and soon wisps of steam appeared.

After a while, a thin layer of ice appeared on the edge of the copper basin. Cheng Churou looked at the magical scene before her, her gaze towards Lin Chuan filled with undisguised admiration, and exclaimed in surprise:

"Lin Lang, it's really frozen!"

Cui looked at Lin Chuan with equal shock, and asked with a mixture of surprise and doubt:

"Xiao Chuan, are you using some kind of supernatural magic?!"

"Auntie, this isn't some kind of magical trick. Saltpeter absorbs heat when it dissolves in water; it's a normal natural phenomenon!" Lin Chuan explained.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, who would believe it!" Cui sighed softly.

"Mother, Lin Lang noticed you didn't look well and told me it was because you were too hot, so he specially prepared this for you!" Cheng Churou said softly from the side.

"Our daughter isn't even married yet, but she's already receiving filial piety from her son-in-law!" Madam Cui joked with a smile.

"Mother!" Cheng Churou cried out in a low voice.

"Alright, I know how filial your Lin Lang is. I'll remember that!"

Madam Cui patted Cheng Churou's shoulder and said in a deep voice to Cheng Quan beside her:

"Everyone who knows about this today should keep their mouths shut. If they dare to utter a single word, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"Don't worry, Madam. If anyone can't keep their mouth shut, I'll seal it!" Cheng Quan replied.

Cui then turned to Lin Chuan and asked:

"Xiao Chuan, I went to the palace a few days ago to pay my respects to the Empress, only to find out that the palace is out of ice. The Empress hasn't been feeling well lately, so I'll have someone get some ice and send it to her. What do you think?"

"This is for your aunt. She can use it however she wants without asking me!" Lin Chuan said.

"How could I, as an elder, possibly compete with you for such a small amount of credit?" Madam Cui shook her head with a smile.