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

Nowadays.

Yu Shu has left the palace again.

This time we went to the West Market.

It's still the same routine purchasing.

Fabrics, needles and thread, and some everyday small items.

Those who were tracking them still found nothing unusual.

Day three.

The Cui family steward personally oversaw the situation for a long time.

This time, he noticed a detail.

After Yu Shu finished shopping, she did not return to the palace immediately.

Instead, they turned into a secluded alley.

They stopped for a while deep in the alley.

Look around.

Then he took a small cloth bag out of his sleeve.

The cloth bag was very small, only the size of a palm.

She placed it behind a loose brick at the base of the alley wall.

Then he walked away without looking back.

The steward did not leave with Yu Shu.

He waited for fifteen minutes.

Then walk up to that brick.

Reach out and touch.

empty.

The cloth bag is no longer there.

Someone took it before him.

A layer of cold sweat seeped out from the manager's back.

He looked around the alley from front to back.

There are no other entrances or exits.

He kept his eyes fixed on the alley entrance.

No one has ever come in.

But the item is gone.

It was as if it had vanished into thin air.

The manager reported the matter.

After listening, Cui Jingzhi remained silent for a long time.

"Keep an eye on it."

I kept an eye on it for another three days.

Every day, Yu Shu would turn into different alleys.

Each time, I would leave a small item behind and then depart.

Every time someone arrived, the items were already gone.

The other party retrieved the item at an absurdly fast speed.

Or rather—

It's not "fast" at all.

It is "weird".

It was as if that thing was swallowed up by another dimension the moment it was put down.

Cui Jingzhi's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

……

But what the Cui family didn't know was—

Yu Shu's every move was being watched by another pair of eyes.

Zhang Anan's eyes.

Li Shimin has had Zhang Anan oversee the distribution of white sugar and five-spice powder for some time now.

It was not Empress Zhangsun.

It's to prevent outsiders.

Zhang Anan's intelligence network in the palace was far more sophisticated than that of the few people from the Cui family who were tracking him.

When the Cui family members stared at Yu Shu—

Zhang Anan's men were keeping an eye on the Cui family.

The third night.

Ganlu Temple.

Zhang Anan presented a secret report to the emperor.

"Your Majesty. The Cui family of Boling has sent people to follow Princess Chang Le's personal maid, Yu Shu, for several days in a row."

Li Shimin is drinking his daily bowl of sugar water.

Upon hearing this...

His hand stopped.

The bowl was still held to his lips.

The sweetness of the syrup still lingers on the tongue.

But his entire aura changed.

He instantly transformed from a middle-aged man enjoying sweet soup into the King of Qin standing before Xuanwu Gate, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow.

"The Cui family."

Two words.

It squeezed out from between the teeth.

Zhang Anan lowered his head even further.

"Following beautiful people."

It is not a question.

It is a declarative sentence.

His tone was completely flat, without the slightest fluctuation.

But Zhang Anan's back was completely soaked.

He served Li Shimin for more than ten years.

I know this person too well.

The quieter Your Majesty is, the more dangerous it is.

It's not so scary when someone smashes a bowl and curses.

What's truly terrifying is this calm.

A calm colder than a blade.

Li Shimin put the bowl down.

The movements were very gentle.

So lightly that the bowl touched the table without making a sound.

Then he leaned back in his chair.

He closed his eyes.

silence.

A long silence.

It went on for so long that Zhang Anan's legs started to ache.

After a long while, the watchman's drum outside the hall sounded twice.

Li Shimin opened his eyes.

"Zhang Anan".

"This servant is here."

"Do three things."

The tone was flat.

It was as bland as an announcement about what to have for dinner.

"First. Starting today, four additional bodyguards will be assigned to Lizhi's side. Their rank will be no lower than that of a Qianniu Beishen."

Prepare yourself with a thousand oxen.

The most elite force in the Tang Dynasty's Imperial Guard.

They were specifically responsible for the emperor's personal protection.

Li Shimin immediately ordered four appointments.

He became his daughter's bodyguard.

"Secondly, after Yu Shu leaves the palace, arrange for someone to secretly clear the area."

"It's not about protection."

"It's to ensure that her whereabouts are not tracked by anyone."

"If anyone else follows—"

He paused for a moment.

"Don't alert the enemy."

"Make a note of their faces. Find out whose face it is."

Report this to me.

Zhang Anan wrote them down one by one.

"third?"

Li Shimin stood up.

I walked to the window.

The night breeze blew in through the cracks in the window, stirring his robes.

"Find an opportunity. Let Cui Jingzhi know something casually."

"What is it?"

Li Shimin's back cast a long shadow in the candlelight.

"Let him know."

"I understand."

An understatement.

But Zhang Anan understood the weight of those six words.

No imperial decree is required.

There is no need to hold anyone accountable.

No overt actions are required.

All that's needed is for Cui Jingzhi to "know" that the emperor has seen what he's doing.

Then do nothing.

Just watch.

Just remember that.

This is more terrifying than any drastic measure.

Because Cui Jingzhi is a smart man.

What smart people fear most is not being punished.

The emperor has taken notice of them.

I've taken note of your little tricks.

My attention has been stretched too far.

Then it doesn't happen.

It's just left there.

When the day comes that we need to settle the accounts, we'll go through them one by one.

That would be a catastrophe.

Zhang Anan accepted the order and left.

Li Shimin was the only one left in Ganlu Palace.

He stood by the window.

A night breeze caressed my face.

My gaze passed through the palace walls, through the myriad lights of Chang'an, and landed in some unseen direction.

Five surnames and seven prominent families.

A colossal creature that has entrenched itself for hundreds of years.

The old foundation that he could not shake even after ten years as emperor.

Now these old roots are starting to get restless.

Because someone bypassed them.

Use a packet of sugar.

A packet of seasoning.

They managed to carve a hole in their impenetrable fortress.

Li Shimin's lips curved slightly.

"it is good."

"Let them be restless."

"It's good to be restless."

"A peaceful and stable family that has lived a life of tranquility for hundreds of years—"

"It's time to get moving."

---

The Cui family quieted down for a few days after being reprimanded.

But something else, like an even bigger stone, silently pressed down on us.

Li Lizhi's marriage.

This marriage didn't just happen out of the blue.

As early as the seventh year of the Zhenguan era, Li Shimin had already made the decision.

The object of his affections is Changsun Chong, the eldest son of Changsun Wuji.

This is a political marriage that is set in stone.

Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji were both relatives by marriage and comrades-in-arms.

Brothers who risked their lives during the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

The two families will be united by marriage again, making their kinship even stronger and more seamless.

Everyone in the court knew this.

The people of Chang'an also knew this.

Princess Chang Le is to marry the eldest son of the Changsun family.

The wedding date was initially set for the autumn of the eighth year of the Zhenguan era.

Later, due to Empress Zhangsun's poor health, the event was postponed.

But "postponed" is not "cancelled".

Empress Zhangsun's health has clearly improved.

The coughing up of blood has stopped.

Her complexion has become rosy.

My appetite has improved.

The reason for postponing the wedding is gone.

The five surnames and seven prominent families sensed an opportunity.

To be precise, it was the Cui family of Boling and the Zheng family of Xingyang who sensed an opportunity.

They could not find the source of the white sugar and five-spice powder.

The attempt to replicate the front side failed again.

The emperor also sent them away after they tried to track them down.

The road is blocked.

But what is a "noble family"?

The aristocratic families were veteran players who had been vying for power in the Tang Dynasty court for hundreds of years.

If one road is blocked, try another.

If we can't start with "things", then we'll start with "people".