I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

Just as Changsun Wuji returned to the yard and had not yet sat down, the servant came in to report.

Changsun Wuji was stunned.

"His Royal Highness King Jin?"

Then he hurried to the door to greet him.

"Your Highness Prince Jin, I pay my respects to you."

"No need to be polite, uncle. We are all family. Calling him that shows your status."

Li Zhi lifted up Changsun Wuji's arm and said with a smile.

"Etiquette cannot be abolished. Your Highness Prince Jin, please come in."

Zhang Sun Wuji took Li Zhi to the front hall, ordered someone to serve tea, and then asked:

"May I ask what orders does His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin have for you?"

Li Zhi waved to the people he brought with him, then looked around. Changsun Wuji also waved his hand, asking everyone else to go out.

"Your Highness Prince Jin, there is no one else here, so feel free to speak up if you have anything to say."

When Li Zhi saw that there was no one around, he stood up and bowed deeply to Changsun Wuji.

"Hey? What does your highness the Prince of Jin mean?"

Changsun Wuji was a little confused and quickly helped Li Zhi up.

"Please come in, uncle and nephew." Li Zhi said to Zhangsun Wuji with a pleading look.

"This...this...Your Highness Prince Jin, why are you doing this?"

Seeing Li Zhi's look, Changsun Wuji was also a little confused.

A prince of the Tang Dynasty actually asked him for help.

"Come, sit down, Your Highness Prince Jin, tell me what you have to say slowly. If I can help, I will definitely help."

Changsun Wuji helped Li Zhi to his seat.

"Uncle, I...I..." Li Zhi found it difficult to speak after sitting down.

"Your Highness Prince Jin, please take your time to tell me what you have to say."

Li Zhi took a sip of tea and finally made up his mind:

"Uncle, Yang Shaowei confessed the other day, saying that the materials smuggled to Tubo were mine."

"What!!"

After hearing this, Changsun Wuji was shocked and stood up suddenly. Then he walked to the door of the hall and looked around.

He waved to his confidants and made sure that there were no outsiders around before walking back into the hall.

"Are you saying that the supplies that Yang Shaowei opened the door for to be transported to Tubo are yours?"

Changsun Wuji asked again to confirm.

"Yes...yes." Li Zhi replied in a low voice, like a child who had done something wrong.

"You...you are confused!!"

Changsun Wuji had a helpless look on his face. He had loved this youngest nephew of his since he was a child.

"Zhi Nu, how could you do such a thing? Don't you know that smuggling is a serious crime?"

Changsun Wuji felt a little disappointed with his nephew, as he used to be well-educated, gentle and talented.

But in recent years, things have changed a bit, becoming more and more bold.

"Uncle, I have no choice. My family can only survive on the prince's salary.

This little money can't do anything in Chang'an City.

The caravan of my Prince Jin’s Mansion can only go to small places now. We dare not be too conspicuous, otherwise we will be sanctioned by Prince Ji’s Mansion.

I really have no money left. I still owe my mother hundreds of thousands of strings of cash. Although my mother did not ask me to pay her back,

But I couldn't get over it. I didn't want my mother and my father to look down on me, so I had to pay the money back."

Li Zhi looked aggrieved.

"Then you shouldn't do such a thing. Do you know how serious it is?"

Changsun Wuji said angrily.

“Of course I know, uncle, I just want to make the money back so I can stop doing it.

It’s all Li Shen’s fault. If it weren’t for him, how could I be so poor and have nothing at home?

He never let me go and was always targeting me.”

As Li Zhi spoke, his eyes turned red and he gritted his teeth as if he wanted to bite Li Shen to death.

When Changsun Wuji saw Li Zhi's appearance, he shook his head helplessly. Li Zhi was crazy.

Li Zhi was completely driven crazy by Li Shen.

He was originally a very patient person, but was driven a little crazy by Li Shen.

"Tell me, what supplies have you delivered to Tubo?"

Changsun Wuji sat down and asked.

"There are grains, tea, wine, cloth, porcelain, and wood."

"Wait, you said there's still wood?"

Li Zhi was interrupted by Zhangsun Wuji when he was talking about wood.

Li Zhi nodded.

"Yes, there are very few trees in Tibet, so they asked me for a lot of logs, saying that they were going to build the palace.

Anyway, we have plenty of wood here, and they didn't specify which kind of trees they wanted.

So I shipped them a lot of normal logs and charged them a very high price.”

Changsun Wuji sighed.

"That means the siege equipment they used to attack the city was made of the wood you, Zhinu, supplied."

"What siege equipment? They said they were going to build..."

Li Zhi was stunned when he heard this.

"Are they trying to trick me? Are they going to use this wood to make siege ladders and battering rams?"

"That must be the case." Changsun Wuji nodded.

"What should we do, uncle? If this matter is discovered, I am afraid that I will not be able to save my position as a prince."

Li Zhi was a little anxious.

"Is there anything else?" Changsun Wuji asked again.

"There are also ornaments and books, and... iron."

"Is there still iron?" Changsun Wuji stood up.

Iron is a banned item. Even the iron traded in Qinghai Road is listed as a banned item that is prohibited from passing through customs, which is stricter than salt.

This King of Jin actually transported food and timber to Tubo, and finally transported iron. Isn't this aiding the enemy?

"Hey~~~ Chi Nu, what can I say about you, how could you do such a thing?

Do you realize how serious this is?"

"I know. Smuggling is also a serious crime for a prince." Li Zhi nodded.

"Smuggling?" Changsun Wuji curled his lips in disdain.

"Chi Nu, you think too simply. If we put it in a small way, this is smuggling, but if we put it in a big way... it's treason."

"Rebellion?" Li Zhi was shocked.

"Yes, it's the charge of treason. You were transporting supplies for war, food, wood, and iron.

I believe you must have smuggled a lot, right?

If the Censorate finds out, you'll be lucky to be able to save your life."

Changsun Wuji shook his head again.

"Uncle, it can't be that serious, can it be punished by death?"

Li Zhi was dumbfounded. He thought that at most he would be stripped of his title and demoted to be a provincial governor or something.

But no one expected that Changsun Wuji would actually say that he would be beheaded.

"Do you think aiding the enemy is not a big deal? Especially since you are a prince of the Tang Dynasty.

By the way, did you develop the blueprints for the crossbow and siege equipment that was used to assassinate His Majesty..."

"No, no, no, absolutely not, this is really not what I gave them."

Hearing Changsun Wuji's words, Li Zhi hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands.

"That's good. Don't tell anyone about this tax cut yet. I'll tell you later."

"But, uncle, I came here this time because I was afraid that I couldn't keep this secret.

Li Shen's men are investigating the matter. Guan Gou of the Third Wing and many other generals have been severely tortured.

Yang Shaowei was even subjected to special interrogation. I wonder if Li Shen will be able to find out something by following the clues.

Uncle, I’m a little scared. +”