Chapter 16: The Unspoken Secret (Part 2)

  "Treasure?!" Xiaosì's eyes sparkled with excitement as he eagerly asked, "Where is it? How much?"

  Li Shimin smiled but did not speak, and suddenly Xiao Si woke up, putting on a stern expression that wealth could not corrupt, and said solemnly: "Wealth is like floating clouds. What I want is... to have a vast mansion with thousands of rooms, to provide shelter for scholars from all over the world and bring joy to their faces!"

  "Good words!" Li Shimin applauded and praised: "It's hard to get a brother like you who has this kind of heroic and sympathetic heart. I, Shimin, admire it very much. According to my father's words, the treasure is hidden in a certain mountain in Jiangnan. There are no less than tens of millions of taels of silver in stock, as well as armor, military equipment, and a large number of antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and jewels that can be used to equip 30,000 elite soldiers. There are also the magical weapons and sacred medicines collected by the Southern Dynasties, as well as a vast collection of classics."

  Xiao Si asked: "So, in order to open the treasure of Dacheng, the key lies in the few formation diagrams that Princess Jincheng let me decipher?"

  Li Shimin replied, "Brother Xiong is indeed clever. Inside and outside the treasure trove of Chen are set up with grand and mysterious gate arrays and restrictive spells. If one can't crack the code, even if they have divine powers to move mountains and seas, it would be useless. At that time, Your Majesty and my father led three thousand elite iron cavalrymen around the outer perimeter of the treasure for three days and nights, trying every possible method but ultimately returning without success, not even finding the entrance to the treasure. If we had the treasure map in hand at the time, everyone would have been able to find it according to the map and wouldn't have returned empty-handed."

  Xiao Si suddenly realized and thought for a moment, only to find that Lao Er was actually planning to draw an array diagram.

  He couldn't help but take another look at the seemingly elegant and handsome young man in front of him, thinking to himself: "The array map in Princess Little's hands is probably given by Yang Guang. Li Shimin and Li Yuan, father and son, clearly know this, yet they still want me to help them steal the array map, it's clear that they want to take advantage of the situation and compete with the Emperor for the treasure."

  Li Yuan was only a Tang Guo Gong with the highest position among officials, he had money when he wanted it and power when he needed it, why would he bother to fight the emperor for treasure?

  Xiao Si's heart skipped a beat as he thought to himself, "Damn it, could it be that Li Yuan, that old white face and Duke of Tang, has also gotten tired of being emperor and wants to try his hand at being an emperor again?"

  He quickly came to his senses and realized that a Tianzi bamboo stick was delivered right to his doorstep, if he didn't give it a good whack, he would be letting down heaven, earth, and humanity.

  Xiao Si's eyes sparkled with excitement, and he said slowly and deliberately: "To be honest with you, Second Master, I have memorized all these formation diagrams in my mind, and I can reproduce them on paper at any time without missing a single detail. However, Princess Jincheng must also have taken precautions, so she intentionally scrambled the order of the formation diagrams. The few incomplete fragments I grasped may not be useful."

  Li Shimin's face flashed with excitement, and he said in a low voice: "If Brother Diao can quietly copy the solution to all the formation methods given to the princess, I am willing to pay 10,000 taels of silver for it!"

  If he didn't know the secret of the treasure, Xiao Si might have agreed readily. But now this offer was clearly no longer in his eyes. It's worth knowing that according to Li Shimin's words, there were only several tens of millions of silver taels in the treasure, not to mention those priceless jewels, calligraphy and paintings, antiques, magical weapons, sacred medicines and so on.

  Such a huge treasure, and the formation map used to open it only sells for 10,000 taels of silver per copy. It's too cheap!

  Don't underestimate the power of knowledge, information is wealth. Without my guidance, see who can make it in?! You think you can just dismiss people like beggars? Not even a chance!

  Xiao Si's face turned red with rage as he said, "Does Second Master think that a few pieces of stinky money can buy me, Xiao Si?"

  Li Shimin hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "Xiong brother, don't be angry, I absolutely didn't mean it that way. It's just that this matter is extremely risky, and I definitely can't let you take the blame unjustly."

  "Who told Xiaochai to be brothers with me? One family doesn't speak two languages, I'll provide the map and you provide the labor, dig up the treasure and we'll split it 2:1, fair and reasonable, no cheating of young or old."

  Li Shimin was stunned by his words and smiled bitterly after a long while: "Xiao brothers, you are alone, but I have the entire Tang Dynasty imperial court..."

  Xiao Si interrupted Li Shimin's words, saying: "The Tang State Duke Mansion can have so many people, but my back can represent the 60 million old people of the Great Sui!"

  Li Shimin was speechless, and no matter how he looked at this kid, it didn't seem like the representative of the 60 million people of the Great Sui Dynasty. He had no choice but to listen, as the Breaking Array Diagram was in someone else's hands, even if that person claimed to represent all living beings since ancient times.

  Only then did the small fourth pain heart and first said: "The second young master is raised with a golden spoon, where do you know that our ordinary people in Great Sui have so much bitterness? No place to live, no clothes to wear, no silver to buy rice and meat... On bad luck, encountering a disaster year, even tree bark and grass roots are snatched away without leaving any leftovers. In some places, selling children, selling wives, just to exchange for a few mouthfuls of food."

  His voice choked with emotion, he said: "Those tens of millions of taels of silver may not be worth much in the eyes of the second young master, at most it's just adding flowers to the brocade, building a few more palaces, buying a few more beauties, and when there's nothing to do, taking a boat ride, riding a horse, playing the flute, and drinking wine. But if I had that much silver, I don't know how many people in the world could be saved, letting them eat their fill, wear warm clothes, and never again suffer the hardships of slavery."

  Li Shimin remained silent for a moment, then slowly said: "Xiong brother, I am not a spoiled son of a wealthy family, and my father is not one who indulges in pleasure. This treasure trove of the Chen family... all the magical weapons, sacred medicines, and secret manuals are yours to keep, plus an additional 1 million taels of silver, how about that?"

  Xiao Si said with disdain, "These things can't be eaten as rice, what's the use of taking them? How about we make a deal, all the immortal soldiers, magic treasures, spiritual elixirs, sacred medicines and secret recipes will be yours, plus an additional 10 million taels of silver. Second Master, isn't this brother being very generous and reasonable? One must have a conscience when doing things!"

  Li Shimin thought that one head was bigger than two, and he originally thought that Xiao Si was young and inexperienced. He, as the son of the Tang State Duke, personally came forward to move him with emotions, enlighten him with reason, and entice him with benefits, thinking that it would be easy to settle the matter in three or five days. However, he didn't expect that Xiao Si wouldn't follow the rules at all, and his wild and unreasonable behavior left Li Shimin helpless.

  When you talk to him about brotherly love, he says the world is full of people; when you talk to him about the world being full of people, he talks about money; when you talk to him about money, he chats with you about righteousness and conscience. In short, his words are inconsistent, sometimes having feelings, justice, reason, and rules, while other times being shameless and unscrupulous, a small-minded person and a gentleman all in one.

  Xiao Si noticed the change in tone and knew that the timing was almost right, but if they really fell out, there would be no advantage to gain. If Little White Face got angry and shut himself up, it wouldn't be fun anymore.

  He smiled and said, "Second Master, don't mind me. I was just joking with you earlier. Actually, brother understands that you want this treasure not just for indulging in pleasures, but definitely have a greater ambition."

  Li Shimin remained calm and asked in a normal tone: "According to what you brothers have said, what is my ambition?"

  "It's only natural for a rebel to become the leader." Xiao Si muttered to himself, but he wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud.

  He burst out laughing: "Of course, it's about becoming a high-ranking official, making a lot of money, and best of all, marrying into royalty. To be honest, I've thought the same thing in my heart, but unfortunately, I have the desire but not the guts."

  Li Shimin let out a sigh of relief and said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "What a scoundrel, this kid has no sense of propriety in his speech."

  Xiao Si said with a steady tone: "A gentleman has the beauty of being an adult, and I won't have any difficulty doing it for the two young masters. Let's just follow the price you previously quoted, and add another three million taels of silver."

  Li Shimin made a brief calculation, lamenting that his luck was not good this year, and he actually haggled with a little rascal like a street vendor, saying in a low voice: "Two million five hundred thousand taels, this is the highest price I can offer."

  Xiao Si slapped the table and said: "Two million five hundred and ten thousand taels, it's a deal!"

  Li Shimin laughed and said: "Xiao brothers, why must you be so calculating about this small sum of 10,000 taels of silver?"

  Xiao Si's expression turned solemn: "A sum of 10,000 taels is a small matter, but losing one's integrity is a big deal. I'd rather die than be a traitor."

  Li Shimin couldn't help but burst out laughing and said: "Forget it, I'll pay the 10,000 taels myself."

  He took out a silver ticket that had been prepared in advance from his sleeve and placed it on the table, saying: "This is the deposit, please accept it, Brother Xie."

  He glanced at the silver ticket, and the fifty million taels of white flowers dazzled him. He couldn't help but respectfully say to Li Shimin: "The second master is indeed a man who does great things. This handwriting, this momentum, will earn 5 million, 50 million taels of silver in the future!"

  He took the silver ticket without any sign of shame and said: "I will draw all the Breaking Array Diagrams tonight, please send someone to collect them tomorrow morning."

  Li Shimin nodded and discussed some details with Xiao Si again before opening the door to see him off.

  Xiao Si followed Chai Shao and Li Xiuning to greet them, and returned to the private room with a spring breeze on his face. He saw Fang Xuanling chatting enthusiastically with a refined-looking middle-aged scholar.

  "Hou Junji introduced: 'This is Du Ruhui, a guest of the Tang State Duke's mansion. He happened to be drinking in the next room and heard Xiaofang mention Your Majesty's three expeditions to Goguryeo. He was suddenly inspired and ran over.'"

  "Wan'er asked: 'Where did you go? Why did it take so long for you to come back?'"

  Xiao Si smiled and said: "I'm going out to discuss business and make some money."

  Wan'er hummed softly, thinking that Xiao Si was just talking nonsense, and didn't realize that she had been charmed by some beauty downstairs.

  Everyone at the wine table chatted enthusiastically for a long time until late at night before dispersing.

  Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were like old times, the bookworm's temper flared up and he followed him home, saying that he wanted to sleep with his feet together and chat all night.

  Xiao Si let him go, and took Wan Er to stroll through the night market. Hou Junji, being half a local host, volunteered to be their guide, but ended up making Xiao Si so angry that his teeth itched.

  Didn't want to just go downstairs and ran into Chai Shao, saying he wanted to take him to a fun place.

  Fun place? Xiao Si's four eyes lit up and looked at Yuanyuan, guessing that the place was definitely not suitable for girls.

  Unfortunately, Wen Er didn't understand the situation and enthusiastically signed up, saying that no matter what, she had to see for herself what was so fun about Taiyuan City.

  Xiao Si had no choice but to sigh secretly, thinking that heaven was blind to have such a troublesome girl who followed him everywhere and caused trouble wherever she went.

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