Chapter 66: Preparing for the Rain

Late at night in the Eastern Palace, Cai Cong and the other three gazed at the mountain of gold, silver, and copper coins stacked before them, their mouths dry with excitement. Neither Li Chengqian nor Li Tai had ever lacked for money, yet faced with this pile of wealth, they all felt dizzy—a primal human instinct, inherited through the ages.

Cai Cong was especially delighted. Today, six gambling house owners had died—each one a close or distant relative of the true power behind the scenes. In other words, he had made enemies of six powerful families, and now they found themselves in a dilemma. If they refused to pay, Cai Cong could ruin their reputations with a word; if they paid, they would be ruined for years. As for dismissing the wives of the deceased, that was unthinkable—no one would ever respect them again.

“So much money! It’s really so much! I feel faint—how many fried chicken legs could this buy? I can’t even count,” Li Tai exclaimed, feigning dizziness, though his grin nearly reached his ears.

“All you think about is chicken legs—you’re already round as a ball. If this money went to the national treasury, Father and Mother would be so pleased,” Changle said brightly. Raised by Empress Zhangsun’s example, she was thoughtful of her country and her people even at her young age.

Li Chengqian laughed. “Sister is right. If this money went into the treasury, Father’s burdens would be greatly eased. Right now, the treasury is desperately short of funds.”

“In your dreams! Only fifteen thousand taels here are yours; the rest is mine, and don’t even think about touching it. I have important use for this money,” Cai Cong retorted. The three of them, acting in concert, clearly wanted to use his fortune to curry favor with the emperor. Shameless!

“I’m hardly so poor as to covet your paltry fortune!” Li Shimin strode in, majestic as a dragon, and affectionately patted his three children’s heads before giving Cai Cong a kick. “Do I look like someone who would stoop to such greed? Have you no filial piety at all? All my kindness to you—wasted on a dog?”

Cai Cong wanted to say “yes”—last time, he’d seen the emperor and empress’s eyes go wide over twenty thousand taels. But he kept the thought to himself and grinned. “How could Your Majesty be such a person? Absolutely not! It’s just that I need this money to make more money—soon, it will be needed for something far greater.”

“A child barely as high as a cart wheel, talking about grand uses! Today you’ve stirred up a storm in the city, and six people are dead. Their families are crying before the Empress. Tomorrow, Wei Zheng will surely impeach you in court. The crown prince and his siblings want to give the money to the treasury to protect you, but you don’t appreciate their good intentions.”

Li Shimin felt a headache coming on. Sometimes he regretted bringing Wei Zheng into the fold—the old man’s every word was barbed and biting, and more than once the emperor had wanted to hurl his desk at him.

“Repaying debts is only right. If the gambling house owners killed themselves over unpaid debts, that’s normal. Has Your Majesty considered how many people borrow from the gambling dens, can’t repay, and are forced to sell their wives and children? The owners are lucky—their relatives are wealthy and may yet choose to save their families.”

Cai Cong spoke coolly. He’d spent two months laying this trap—how could he let Zhang Liang and the others off so easily?

“Your mother’s calm nature likely means she’s already forgotten this, but you refuse to let it go,” Li Shimin tried to persuade him, but Cai Cong stood stubbornly silent. How could Cai Jie’er let it go? She avoided even the house bought in the city, let alone Chang’an itself.

“Don’t just stay silent. What would it take for you to let this go? You’re in the right, but you’ve made no friends. You act too harshly—no one will speak for you.”

Li Shimin tried reasoning with him. Being emperor was exhausting enough, with the affairs of the realm, but now he had to guide wayward children like Cai Cong as well.

“It’s simple. Let the six families’ matriarchs publicly come to Cai Village to apologize to my mother and invite her to return to Chang’an. Then I’ll forget the remaining two hundred thousand taels.”

“That’s impossible. For families of rank and honor, reputation is everything. Such humiliation is worse than death.” Li Shimin refused without hesitation—these men had fought with him for the empire; he couldn’t bear to see them so shamed.

“They care for their dignity, but my mother doesn’t? She’s been so shamed she can’t return even to her own house in Chang’an. Whenever she thinks of the city, she remembers the women who humiliated her. And that’s supposed to mean nothing?” Cai Cong spoke with passion. If not for this, Li Shimin’s forceful nature would have compelled Cai Cong to let it go.

“This is not for me to decide. Handle it as you see fit. The women and children are innocent—do your best not to harm them.”

“I’ll restrain myself. Their fates lie in their own masters’ hands; I can do little for them.”

“I wash my hands of you. We’ll see how the Empress deals with you. And what does a child want with so much money? Let the Empress keep it for you until you’re grown. The rest of you—no smirking—you’ll do the same.”

Perhaps this was the butterfly effect, for Li Shimin now showed a tenderness before his children he’d never displayed before.

Li Chengqian and his siblings looked crestfallen. After so much effort to gather funds, if they handed it to Empress Zhangsun, she would never spend it on the medicine they sought. To her, state expenses were endless, and Cai Cong’s so-called medicine might not even exist—it wasn’t worth wasting money on it.

“I won’t agree. This money needs to be invested. If I may be so bold, in a few months’ time, even emptying the treasury may not be enough. That’s when this money will truly be needed—not now, wasting it all at once.”

Cai Cong had grounds for his words. Throughout the Zhenguan era, except the fifth year, disasters were constant. The Tang often made war on its neighbors. That the empire thrived was not only luck, but also the brilliance of its early rulers and ministers. Yet these calamities left the Tang, even at its peak during the Kaiyuan era, less prosperous than the Sui before it. Sometimes, innate deficiencies are enough to hold people back.

“Empty the treasury? What do you know?” Li Shimin’s expression grew grave. Cai Cong’s greatest mystery was his knowledge of past and future; perhaps Li Shimin’s kindness toward him sprang from a secret yearning for such insight.

“In early summer, Shandong will suffer a great drought; in autumn, Guanzhong will be flooded. Corpses will litter the land for a thousand miles, and the children sold for food will fill Chang’an’s streets. Your Majesty, can the imperial treasury withstand it?”

Cai Cong bowed his head. He’d pondered these things for long. He’d mentioned them before, but no one had listened. Would Li Shimin heed him now?

“How could that be? I’ve divided the realm into ten circuits, prioritized waterworks, built granaries—how could child-selling fill Chang’an’s streets?”

Li Shimin was incredulous. He’d issued orders, improved infrastructure, and prepared grain reserves, all to prevent such horrors.

Faced with the emperor’s rising agitation, Cai Cong could only remain silent. Historical records told how Emperor Taizong emptied the treasury to ransom sold children and return them to their parents. If the disaster had been minor, he would never have taken such measures.

“All the silver is yours. You wretched boy, stop haunting my presence. Every time you appear, disaster follows—pity my poor people of the Tang!”

“I’ll not shoulder that blame! I’m no jinx—why must trouble come every time you see me?” Cai Cong called out after the departing emperor, desperate not to be labeled a harbinger of misfortune.