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

Li Shen had a very pleasant conversation with the four brothers of the Wei family, but Wei Yijie, who was listening nearby, felt a little depressed.

The Wei family had been a large family since the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties, divided into two branches, the Eastern Branch and the Western Branch, with a total of twelve houses.

But with the change of dynasties and social changes, it became nine public housing units in the Tang Dynasty.

Three of the rooms disappeared and could not be found.

Due to the war, these nine public housing estates were moved to the vicinity of Chang'an, which is the Jingzhao area.

The Wei family’s ancestral home is called Weiqu, a place named after the family name, which shows how powerful they are.

The nine public housing estates are strong and weak. Although they belong to the same family, there is still a sense of comparison among them.

The Yungong branch is relatively weak. For example, Concubine Wei's grandfather, General Wei, has no father left.

Wei Siyan was the person in charge. Fortunately, there was a Concubine Wei, otherwise they would have been in an even worse situation.

The other members of the Yungong family were all local officials, only seven or eight of them.

Wealth is the least.

But now, thanks to Prince Ji Li Shen, General Wei's group has stood up overnight.

Although his power is not great, his wealth is already among the best in the Wei family.

And it is increasing every year.

I don’t know how many members of the Wei family are envious and jealous of this.

Many people regretted why they had chosen to pick a fight with Prince Ji. If they had known earlier, he would have achieved what he has today.

No matter what, we have to work with outsiders to deal with King Ji.

But it was too late to regret now. Watching Li Shen chatting and laughing with Wei Siyan and the others, a fortune came into the account in the blink of an eye.

It is really sad.

Wei Siyan actually wanted to change the subject, but they couldn't help but listen to what Prince Ji said.

I can only answer them one by one.

Wang Wan was already a little anxious at the moment. She didn't come here to chat.

Seeing that Prince Ji was talking endlessly, she kept winking at Wei Siyan and the others, but they didn't notice.

In desperation, she could only look at Wei Daijia. Wei Yuanzheng and Wei Daijia belonged to the same Xiaoyao public housing.

Wei Daijia was also in a dilemma. He was not of high enough rank and was not as influential as Wei Siyan and the others.

"Your Highness, Prince Ji."

Wei Daijia gritted his teeth and stood up to salute, interrupting the conversation between Li Shen and the others.

Li Shen raised the corner of his mouth and felt amused in his heart. It seems that you still can't keep your temper.

"Oh? What's the matter?" Li Shen pretended to be surprised.

"Your Highness Prince Ji, we came here today to ask for a favor." Wei Daijia bowed again.

"Really? What's the matter?" Li Shen asked.

"We are here because we hope that His Royal Highness Prince Ji will spare Wei Yuanzheng."

Wei Daijia didn't beat around the bush and said it directly.

"Let Wei Yuanzheng go? I'm not making things difficult for him. I haven't heard of this name for many years."

Li Shen looked puzzled.

"Your Highness, Prince Ji, I would like to ask Your Highness to show mercy and allow Wei Yuanzheng to return to the government as an official."

Wei Kun stood up and saluted.

“If I remember correctly, he was dismissed by His Majesty and will never be employed again.

Even if you request it, you should go to the palace to ask His Majesty. Although I am a prince, I never care about state affairs.

I am afraid I cannot help you with your request."

Li Shen picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and said expressionlessly.

"Your Highness Prince Ji may not know that we have already requested His Majesty, but His Majesty ignored us.

The Queen Mother did not agree either.

We all know that Wei Yuanzheng was wrong back then, and Your Majesty and the Queen would never agree to this.

If you want Wei Yuanzheng to be re-enrolled as a scholar, His Royal Highness Prince Ji must forgive Wei Yuanzheng's past.

So today we come to beg His Royal Highness Prince Ji to show mercy, put aside the past grudges, and spare Wei Yuanzheng this time.

We are grateful to you." Wei Daijia bowed again, lowering his posture to the lowest level.

Li Shen frowned but said nothing.

Wei Yijie looked at it and stood up helplessly:

"Your Highness Prince Ji, Wei Yuanzheng was previously the governor of a state, a high-ranking official, and was very helpful to our Wei family.

Nowadays, although my Wei family's situation in the court has improved, it is still no match for the aristocratic families.

Very few can truly get to the core.

I hope His Royal Highness Prince Ji will show some mercy to you because of our relationship with the Wei family. Our Wei family will do our best to help His Royal Highness Prince Ji and repay his kindness."

Whether a great family is powerful or not is first determined by how much say it has in the court, and secondly by its wealth.

Only with the right to speak can you have wealth.

Why are aristocratic families so powerful? They have had a lot of say in the court throughout the dynasties.

The Changsun family was able to become strong thanks to the Queen and Changsun Wuji.

Relying on these two top figures, the Changsun family was able to arrange family members to serve in the court.

There are only so many officials in the court, just like a cake. Some get more, and some get less, but the total remains unchanged.

If anyone can get in, then go in.

Wei Yuanzheng was the governor of Tongzhou back then, a high-ranking official. It wouldn't be difficult for him to be transferred to the imperial court. If he managed well, it wouldn't be a dream for him to become a minister.

Therefore, Wei Yuanzheng, the former governor, is much more important than a new member of the Wei family who has just entered the officialdom.

Everyone looked at Li Shen, who kept frowning. After a long while, he spoke:

"Everyone, I'm sure you all know about Wei Yuanzheng's attempt to assassinate me, right?"

"We know, but Wei Yuanzheng was deceived by the noble family and broke the rules.

He has been reflecting on his mistakes behind closed doors for the past few years." Wei Kun nodded.

"That's good to know. According to my investigation, Wei Yuanzheng was the executor. It's hard to know who ordered him to do this, and I don't want to pursue it.

According to Tang law, murdering a prince was a serious crime of treason, and the person's property should be confiscated and the whole family should be exterminated.

But at that time, I spared his life for the Queen's sake.

This is my own will. Otherwise, even if Your Majesty spares his life, I will not let him go.

If it weren't for my mother, I would have chopped Wei Yuan into pieces and fed him to the dogs.

He wanted to kill me, but I repaid him with kindness by sparing his life. This is already a favor.

Now you actually want Wei Yuanzheng to become a scholar? Don’t you take me seriously? "

Li Shen had a cold expression, sharp eyes, and a domineering aura. Everyone could feel the anger emanating from Li Shen.

Just as Wei Siyan was about to open his mouth, Wei Siqi beside him quietly grabbed Wei Siyan.

Wei Siyan turned around and saw Wei Siqi secretly shaking his head, so he didn't move.

Being scolded by Li Shen, Wei Daijia glanced at the four brothers Wei Siyan and saw that none of them said anything.

Knowing that he couldn't count on them, he stood up and saluted:

“Your Highness Prince Ji, it was indeed Wei Yuanzheng who did the wrong thing back then, but Wei Yuanzheng was really deceived by the aristocratic families.

We have punished him over the years.

I also hope that His Highness can spare Wei Yuanzheng this time and give him a chance.

My Wei family now really needs Wei Yuanzheng to become a scholar again, so as to strengthen my Wei family's power in the court."

(I'd like to apologize in advance for not posting this yesterday as I was resting. When I woke up yesterday morning, my other eye suddenly became severe and I couldn't see clearly, so I rushed to the hospital.

The doctor said that it was too thick and that surgery couldn't be done yet. It needed to be treated with anti-inflammatory treatment and the swelling would go down before surgery could be done.

So I took some medicine, got an injection, and rested for a day.

Later I thought, if I wasn’t swollen, why would I have to do surgery? It would just heal, right? How weird.)