hsntnovel Chapter 2684 Lu Dongzan Visits Again
Chapter 2684 Lu Dongzan Visits Again
Li Shen brushed his teeth while nodding:
"That's right, I brought everything. It's just that it's cold there, so you should wear more clothes and not get sick."
"Don't worry, I'm already wearing lots of clothes, including a cotton-padded coat underneath." Li Mengjiang readily accepted her younger brother's concern.
She knew that her younger brother was good to her and cared for her.
Li Shen rinsed his mouth, spat the water into the basin, wiped his mouth, and then began to change his clothes.
"Shen'er, I heard that you were beaten by your father again during the first month of your life?" Li Mengjiang sat there quietly, looking at Li Shen with clear eyes.
“Yes, and it wasn’t just one beating, it was several.” Li Shen said to Li Mengjiang, who was outside the screen, as Lu Dingniang and the others helped him get dressed.
His tone was confident and self-assured, with a hint of accomplishment.
"You always cause your mother so much worry," Li Mengjiang's voice came.
"Did your mother tell you that?" Li Shen asked.
"Of course, Mother felt sorry for you being beaten and scolded you for always acting so rashly."
Shen'er, why do you always make Father angry? Doesn't it hurt when you get hit?
You could hear the helplessness in Li Mengjiang's voice; her younger brother was truly a worry.
His unruly nature might anger His Majesty at any time, and what if he is severely punished?
"Sister, we only have one father. If we don't provoke him, who else should we provoke?"
Li Shen then changed his clothes and came out from behind the screen.
"What kind of logic is that?" Li Mengjiang glared at Li Shen.
“Of course that makes sense. I’m doing this so that my father can have a complete middle age. I want him to experience the joy of being surrounded by children and grandchildren, and to understand what it means to be kind to parents and filial to children.”
Li Shen walked up to Li Mengjiang and said with a smile.
"Stop talking nonsense." Li Mengjiang stood up and slapped Li Shen, reminding him not to say such treasonous things.
"Alright, sister, don't worry about me. What do you think of my outfit today?"
Li Shen turned around and showed it to Li Mengjiang.
Today, for the sake of convenience, Li Shen did not wear royal robes or a long gown, but instead wore trousers similar to those worn by non-Han peoples.
The cotton-padded jacket and trousers were covered with silk on the outside and cashmere clothing underneath, making the whole outfit very bulky.
"That's right. You're not very healthy, so you should wear more clothes so you don't catch a cold." Li Mengjiang reached out and straightened the wrinkles in Li Shen's clothes.
"Then let's get ready to set off."
Li Shen put on cotton shoes and wore a sheepskin hat with fur trim, making him fully armed.
"Your Highness, the Tibetan Grand Minister Gar Tongtsen is outside the gate requesting an audience."
Just as Li Shen and his group were walking out, a servant ran in to report.
"If you don't want to see me, just say I'm not home," Li Shen said impatiently as he walked away.
"Your Highness, that man also said that what you promised Your Highness is negotiable."
The servant added a sentence.
Li Shen made a turn and headed towards the main reception hall, calling out as he went:
"Please come in quickly, my lady. You take them to the carriage and wait for me. I'll be right back. The money's here."
After saying that, he excitedly quickened his pace.
Seeing this, everyone could only shake their heads helplessly, but they still didn't ask any further questions. Women shouldn't meddle in men's affairs.
Li Shen didn't have to wait long before Lu Dongzan was brought in by his servants. He was taken aback when he saw Li Shen's attire, then stepped forward and bowed.
"This foreign subject pays respects to His Highness Prince Ji."
"Hmm, no need for formalities. May I ask what important matter brings you here today, Your Excellency?"
As you can see, I'm about to leave, so please get to the point.
Li Shen cut to the chase without beating around the bush, not even offering a cup of tea.
Although Lu Dongzan was dissatisfied with this, he dared not show it.
"Hehe, Your Highness Prince Ji is very straightforward, so I will speak frankly as well," Lu Dongzan said with an awkward smile.
"Go ahead and speak," Li Shen nodded.
"Your Highness, our Zanpu has agreed to your request, and the five thousand catties of gold have been collected."
However, we can give it to you, but His Highness Prince Ji needs to agree to some conditions.
After all, our Zanpu (Tibetan king) wouldn't be happy to just hand over five thousand catties of gold for nothing.
Seeing that Li Shen was getting impatient, Lu Dongzan stopped beating around the bush and spoke directly.
"Oh? Conditions? I wonder what conditions your Zanpu has proposed?" Li Shen asked curiously.
He wanted to see what other conditions Songtsen Gampo might have.
Lu Dongzan bowed and then said:
"Your Highness, our king's demands are actually quite simple. First, Your Highness must facilitate peace talks, and they must be successful. During the talks, Your Highness must not interfere."
"No." Li Shen rejected Lu Dongzan's first request outright.
"Prime Minister, this is not how we discussed it before. I can refrain from interfering and even help you see the Emperor of my Great Tang Dynasty. This is already a testament to my sincerity."
You're asking me to facilitate this? How am I supposed to know if it will succeed or not? It's not like I'm the one negotiating.
"If you wish to speak with me, I can offer you a position at Honglu Temple. What do you think?"
"This..." Lu Dongzan was speechless after hearing this. He absolutely couldn't let Prince Ji handle the peace talks; otherwise, with his greed, who knew what he might want?
It might take half of Tibet.
"Alright, this is all I can do. Any more and it will cost extra, understand? You'll have to pay more."
Li Shen said in a very serious tone.
"Add... how much?" Lu Dongzan asked tentatively.
“Ten thousand catties of gold.” Li Shen held up one finger.
"Ten thousand catties of gold?" Lu Dongzan was insane; even the Tang Dynasty court didn't receive that much.
This compensation has already emptied the palaces of their gold reserves.
“Your Highness Prince Ji, isn’t this a bit too much? Our Tubo doesn’t have that much gold anymore.”
"This time, the entire clan has exhausted its resources to give His Highness five thousand taels of gold; we simply cannot afford that much more."
Suppressing his anger, Lu Dongzan explained.
"So poor, how many pounds is that and it's all gone? In that case, forget it. Don't worry, I will definitely not interfere again."
"But don't expect me to help you make this happen." Li Shen felt quite aggrieved, which infuriated Lu Dongzan.
“Your Highness, since this is not possible, our Zanpu has another condition,” Gar Tongtsen continued.
"Why are there so many conditions? It's just a little money, why are you going on and on? Just tell me." Li Shen was getting impatient.
Lu Dongzan was so enraged by what he heard that he wanted to kill him. "You're paid but you won't do anything? You just take the money!"
Suppressing his anger, Lu Dongzan spoke:
"Our Zanpu has always wanted to establish a friendly relationship with the Tang Dynasty. We have long admired the culture of the Tang Dynasty."
The Zanpu (Tibetan king) hoped that King Ji could help him speak to His Majesty the Emperor about marrying a princess to his Zanpu, so that Tibet would follow the lead of the Tang Dynasty.
"You're dreaming!"
(Please take care of yourselves, everyone.)