Tang Dynasty: After living together with Chang Le, Li and his companion were dumbfounded.

Taiji Palace.

Ganlu Temple.

After Li Shimin finished reviewing the last memorial, he rubbed his temples.

The military report from Tuyuhun had just arrived when that old fox Fuyun stirred up trouble on the border again. Hou Junji submitted a memorial requesting permission to fight, and Li Jing seconded the motion. However, upon opening the Ministry of Revenue's account books—

The national treasury's silver is now receiving a response.

"Zhang Anan".

"His Majesty."

The personal eunuch Zhang Anan appeared silently at his side.

"What has the imperial kitchen prepared today?"

"Your Majesty, it is mutton spine soup, steamed perch, sesame flatbread, and Your Majesty's favorite cheese."

Li Shimin grunted in response, but his interest was waning.

I've been eating these things over and over again for so many years, I can practically recite their flavors from memory.

"Alright, bring it up."

Zhang Anan was about to turn around to serve the meal.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the hall.

Take your time, at a leisurely pace.

But every step he took was very steady.

She was an embroiderer serving Empress Zhangsun.

"Your Majesty, the Empress has ordered me to bring something over."

The embroiderer held a small white porcelain bowl in her hands.

A clean piece of silk cloth covered the bowl.

Li Shimin raised an eyebrow.

"A gift from the Empress?"

"Yes. Her Majesty said to let His Majesty have a taste."

The embroiderer placed the white porcelain bowl on the imperial desk, bowed, and withdrew.

Li Shimin looked at the bowl with some curiosity.

Empress Zhangsun rarely brought him food.

To be precise, she hadn't had this kind of romantic moment for a long time since her health deteriorated.

They actually brought things over today.

He reached out and lifted the silk cloth.

The bowl contains half a bowl of water.

Crystal clear.

A faint wisp of heat was rising from it.

It looks like a bowl of lukewarm water.

Li Shimin was taken aback.

"this one?"

He looked down and leaned closer to examine it.

The water was indeed transparent, colorless, odorless, and contained nothing he could identify.

Zhang Anan also peeked out and looked, his expression puzzled.

"This...is water?"

Li Shimin chuckled.

"Is Guanyinbi joking with me?"

But he still picked up the bowl.

He would never refuse anything that Empress Zhangsun gave him, no matter what it was.

The rim of the bowl was close to the lips.

Slightly warm.

He took a sip.

The moment it enters the mouth—

Li Shimin stopped moving.

It felt like someone had hit him on the head.

His eyes suddenly widened.

The bowl was still held to his lips, but he was frozen in place.

sweet.

A sweetness he had never experienced before.

It's not honey.

He has been drinking honey for decades, tasting all kinds, good and bad, expensive and cheap.

No matter how good the honey is, there will always be a layer of astringent and slightly bitter aftertaste from the pollen underneath.

this is not.

This sweetness has no bottom.

It's not astringent.

There is no bitterness.

It's not cloying.

There was nothing there.

Only sweet.

Sweetness that is pure to the extreme.

It's as if someone has stripped away all the impurities in the world, leaving only the word "sweet".

Then the word was turned into water and fed to his mouth.

Clean and tidy.

Clear and crystal clear.

It was so sweet it went right to my bones.

Li Shimin took the bowl away from his mouth.

He looked down at the remaining water in the bowl.

He looked at the bowl again.

I looked at the water again.

Zhang Anan watched the emperor's expression and his heart began to pound.

He had served Li Shimin for over a decade and had never seen such an expression before.

It wasn't a surprise.

It wasn't outrage.

It's a kind of bewilderment... I don't know what word to use to describe it.

It's like someone who has walked half their life's path and suddenly realizes they've never seen what the sky looks like.

"Your Majesty?" Zhang Anan called out cautiously, "Is something amiss?"

Li Shimin ignored him.

He picked up the bowl and took another sip.

This bite is bigger than the previous one.

He closed his eyes after finishing the drink.

The sweetness spread from the tip of the tongue to the entire mouth.

Then it slides down the throat into the stomach.

My stomach feels warm now.

I felt warm all over.

"...So sweet."

The mighty Heavenly Khan.

The emperor was made on horseback.

Li Shimin, who destroyed the Turks and pacified the four directions.

Only those two words came out of his mouth.

So sweet.

Just two words.

It's like you've exhausted your entire vocabulary, and in the end, you only found these two words to describe the taste in your mouth.

He opened his eyes and drank the rest of the bowl in one gulp.

The bowl is upside down.

Not a drop left.

Put down the bowl.

Li Shimin stared at the empty bowl for several seconds.

Then he slowly began to speak.

The sound wasn't loud.

But Zhang Anan heard it clearly.

"I've lived half my life—"

"I never knew such sweetness existed in the world."

When Li Shimin said this, his tone didn't sound like he was reminiscing about a bowl of sweet soup.

It's more like lamenting what you've missed in this life.

Zhang Anan listened in stunned silence.

A bowl of water.

Did they drink His Majesty into this state?

Li Shimin put down his bowl and remained silent for a moment.

Then he reached out and turned the bowl over.

There was a very thin layer of white residue at the bottom of the bowl.

Small and fragmented.

It glows faintly.

He dipped his fingertip in the mixture and put it in his mouth.

It still tastes the same.

Pure sweetness.

"Zhang Anan".

"Your subject is here."

"What's in this bowl of water?"

Zhang Anan's forehead was covered in sweat.

"Your Majesty, this servant doesn't know either... It was the Empress who ordered the embroiderer to deliver it..."

Li Shimin pushed the bowl aside.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Zhang Anan was all too familiar with that expression.

This is the look in His Majesty's eyes when he wants to investigate something.

This was the look in his eyes when Cha Houjunji and Zhang Liang colluded.

"Go check."

"Investigate what?"

"Where did this come from? Who has the Empress met, what has she done, and whose gifts has she received these past few days?"

He paused for a moment.

"And she's beautiful."

"Find out what Lizhi has been up to lately."

Zhang Anan's heart skipped a beat.

Investigate even Princess Chang Le?

This is a serious matter.

"This servant obeys the decree."

Zhang Anan withdrew.

Li Shimin was the only one left in the hall.

He glanced at the empty bowl again.

The white powder remaining at the bottom of the bowl refracted tiny fragments of light under the candlelight.

Like a handful of shattered stars.

"Guanyinbi, oh Guanyinbi."

Li Shimin tapped on the imperial desk.

"What are you up to behind my back now?"

The tone was not harsh.

There was even a hint of a smile on his face.

But the light in his eyes was very sharp.

……

Zhang Anan was extremely efficient in handling affairs.

He had cultivated a network of connections in the palace for over a decade, and in terms of being well-informed, few officials could match him.

In less than half an hour.

Ganlu Temple.

"His Majesty."

Zhang Anan walked in, bowing slightly, holding a piece of paper with writing on it.

"Found it."

Li Shimin leaned back on the dragon throne and said, "Speak."

The ingredient used in this sweet soup is called "white sugar".

Zhang Anan's voice was very low.

"This item first appeared in the possession of Princess Chang Le. About half a month ago, Princess Chang Le began to frequently present the Empress with various novel foods and medicines."

"Medicine?" Li Shimin's brow furrowed.

"Yes. According to the palace servants of Lizheng Hall, Her Majesty the Empress started taking a new medicine half a month ago. The medicine was brought into the palace by Princess Changle, who said it was a gift from a traveling physician."

"After taking the medicine, the Empress's complexion improved significantly. The coughing up of blood stopped, the night sweats ceased, and her appetite increased considerably."