hsntnovel Chapter 2650 He was beaten to tears again.
Chapter 2650 He was beaten to tears again.
Li Shen finally nodded and said no more, but he uttered a sinister threat.
Moreover, his gaze was fixed directly on Li Zhi without any restraint, as if he were speaking directly to Li Zhi.
Li Zhi showed no fear and stared directly into Li Shen's eyes. Their gazes met, and the space between them seemed to distort, sparks flying everywhere.
Li Shen was telling Li Zhi that this guy was the mastermind behind the Xizhou incident. Li Shen knew everything about it and had evidence in his hands, which could implicate a great deal of people.
Behind him is the shadow of that old scoundrel Changsun Wuji, plus other nobles and aristocratic families; even his father cannot punish them all.
Since that's the case, Li Shen might as well bide his time and prepare to launch a major attack on them.
Seeing the two bickering, Li Shimin sighed inwardly. Was this fate's arrangement, or perhaps retribution?
Li Chengqian was helpless. It seemed that he would have a lot of troubles after he ascended the throne, and he would have to find a way to solve them.
"Tenth Brother, we haven't said anything about the Xizhou Workshop, yet you brought it up?"
Li Tai then spoke up to question him.
Their workshop in the West was reduced to ruins overnight, and everything was burned to the ground.
Everyone knew it was related to Prince Ji, Li Shen, but they had no evidence. Their men returned that day and said it was indeed the work of the Gaochang rebels. These men spoke the Gaochang language and looked like Gaochang people.
But regardless of the circumstances, everyone was convinced that it was Prince Ji, Li Shen, who did it.
If it weren't for His Majesty's banquet to mediate, these people would have joined forces to deal with Li Shen long ago.
The main problem was that Li Shen was too ruthless, and the impact was very wide, including all the nobles. He didn't spare any of the cotton-growing workshops and warehouses there.
Some people didn't suffer any losses because they sold early and got paid, while others who sold late lost a year's harvest.
The worst off were the wealthy households with workshops. They bought cotton from other nobles, but before they could even start production, their cotton was robbed, and all their equipment and warehouses were burned down, resulting in huge losses.
"Fourth Brother, don't say things like that. I was a victim too. Do you know how dangerous it was for me back then?"
They used the workshop area to lure me away from my position, but in reality, they wanted to kill me when my subordinates sent troops.
I only had five thousand guards with me. The enemy was in the dark while we were in the light. If it weren't for my younger brother's alertness, I'm probably already dead in a foreign land.
Li Shen lay there half-reclined, his tone innocent, his expression now showing lingering fear.
But the people who heard this all curled their lip and scoffed, as only Li Fu and Li Ming knew nothing about it.
The others glanced sideways at Li Shen's performance, making Li Shen feel no sense of accomplishment.
"Tenth Brother, there are no outsiders here, why do you need to hide it? All the nobles and officials in Chang'an know that this matter is related to you."
"Hiding things like this isn't like you, Lao Shi," Li Tai mocked.
Li Zhi also snorted coldly:
"Hmph, daring to do it but not daring to admit it, utterly ridiculous."
"Of course I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions, but not everything can be framed against me. I will admit to what I should admit."
If you have evidence, I am willing to accept punishment. But you have no evidence and are making baseless accusations. Is this just bullying a weaker subordinate?
You are my dearest family and friends, my brothers and sisters.
Li Shen became increasingly agitated as he spoke, expressing his deep sorrow and pounding his chest in frustration.
He acted as if he had suffered a great injustice. Unfortunately, his performance was too theatrical, making Li Shimin want to give him a good beating.
However, Li Shimin really admired this scourge, who actually dared to sweep away all the properties of aristocratic families and nobles.
This further weakened their power; the weaker they became, the stronger the imperial power became.
Everyone knows he's involved in this, but this troublemaker has such a good attitude, he just refuses to admit it, he's shameless enough.
"Alright, Lao Shi, we're all brothers and no one blamed you. Even if you didn't say anything, we would know it was you who did it."
"But won't you compensate us for this loss?" Li Tai said calmly, taking a sip of tea.
He suffered significant losses this time.
"Tch, do you think I don't know? Your losses aren't that big. Half of them have already been sold to the Changsun family, but the other half just hasn't been transported there yet. But you've already taken the money."
Our uncle probably won't ask you to return the money.
"So you suffered almost no loss." Li Shenyi curled his lip; he already knew how much stuff each family had.
"You scoundrel! Even if your uncle doesn't want it, how can we go back on our word? Of course, we must return the remaining half of the money for the undelivered goods!"
Do you think everyone is like you, driven by greed?
Li Zhi was furious upon hearing this.
He didn't want to give money, but things couldn't be done that way; it would be morally reprehensible.
“I said I didn’t do it, so it wasn’t me who did it.”
I swear.
As Li Shen spoke, he sat up straight and raised his right hand, saying:
"We, the descendants of the Li family, have a deep respect for our ancestors... Oh dear."
Li Shen had just opened his mouth when Li Shimin kicked him to the ground.
"You worthless brat, have you forgotten the lesson from last time?" Li Shimin glared angrily at Li Shen.
This guy is getting more and more outrageous. Last time he tricked Songtsen Gampo by swearing an oath by their ancestors, and now he's doing the same thing again.
Why are the ancestors of the Li family so worthless that you can just play with them like this?
Li Shen struggled to his feet, an embarrassed smile on his face, used to not being able to stop himself from speaking:
"Hehe, Father, please forgive me, I know I was wrong." Li Shen chuckled awkwardly twice, then continued his previous actions and shouted loudly again:
"I, as a father... Oh my god."
"You bastard!" Li Shimin kicked Li Shen again, knocking him to the ground.
Li Shen was about to go crazy. Was it so hard to make a vow? Isn't this how everyone makes vows?
Seeing his father's fierce gaze, Li Shen swallowed back what he wanted to say, raised his hand for the third time, thought for a moment, and then spoke again:
"I swear on my elder brother Chengqian, this was not my doing..."
"You unfilial son!" Li Shimin roared again.
But this time Li Shen smiled:
"Haha, I missed."
Having learned from his mistakes, Li Shen was prepared. As soon as Li Shimin raised his leg, Li Shen snatched it away.
But before he could even finish celebrating, a dark figure pounced on him. Li Shimin, like a hungry tiger, leaped onto Li Shen's back.
Li Shen instinctively used his arm to protect his thrower, curled up his body, and then unleashed a barrage of punches.
Thump, thump, thump, he pounded on the fist more than a dozen times before stopping.
Li Shimin finally let out a satisfied sigh, got off Li Shen, and comfortably leaned back on the cushion, feeling happy.
"Woo~~~~"
Li Shen cried, his heart screaming, "What are you doing? What are you doing? I just made a vow, is it really that big of a deal?"
"Waaaaah~~~ I can't live like this anymore, are you trying to kill me? You hit me all the time, I want to go home, I want to cut ties with you all."
(I got a beating from my dad today, I have to write this down. He kicked me several times.)