The old man lost his horse, how could he know it was not a blessing?

  Can't help but say, Suning calculated the importance of this matter and Li Xiaogong's attention to it. He cleverly devised a plan, pretending to be weak and lying in bed, with three women crying beside him, creating a tragic scene. When Li Chongyi came in to identify himself and his intentions, Suning hadn't spoken yet, but Su Xiao Mei went up and kicked Li Chongyi's leg twice, before being pulled away by Su Dingfang.

  But Li Chongyi didn't feel angry, instead he felt even more ashamed. Although it wasn't his fault, since his sister was three years old and made her first mistake, every time it happened, the three brothers would take the blame for their sister, accepting the scolding from the victim's family. This had been going on for eight years now, and over time, they had all subconsciously come to think that their sister's mistakes were their own mistakes, so they naturally fell into this role...

  Looking at Su Ning's pale face lying on the bed, his painful expression, and his swollen left palm, as well as the two crying women beside him, all five members of the Su family were present. This made Li Chongyi feel even more ashamed, thinking that his own family was taking advantage of their weakness. With hundreds of people in his household, they were bullying this family of five, wasn't it laughable? So Li Chongyi couldn't speak for a moment, feeling more and more guilty the longer he stayed. His face turned red as he bowed to Su Ning, said a few words of gratitude, and promised to return with a gift before hastily leaving...

  "Haha! Mother, aunt, big brother, little sister, didn't I tell you? Hehe! They're the ones who got ripped off! The Wang family is so rich, big brother, take a look at the gift list and see what's on it?" Su Dingfang sent Li Chongyi away from the Su residence and re-entered the house. Su Ning had already sat up spiritedly, with a smug face, looking at the four people with a "what can you do" expression. Su Dingfang handed over the gift list, and Su Ning took a look: "Haha! We're going to be rich!"

  Valuable medicinal materials, a box of gold beads, two bronze small cauldrons from the Warring States period, 100 taels of gold, 300 taels of silver, numerous pearls and jade, valuable books, works by famous calligraphers and painters, and a whole hundred sheets of Xuan paper!

  What a big hand! Gold and silver are not important to Suning, now they can't be used as money, jewelry and jade are also unimportant, the Warring States bronze tripod is just that kind of thing. The key lies in the precious books and those one hundred pieces of Xuan paper! Oh my god, he actually took out one hundred pieces of Xuan paper at once! One hundred pieces! Even the Hongwen Museum only has one piece per person, Li Xiaogong took out one hundred pieces at once. In this gift, precious books are ranked first, famous calligraphy and painting are ranked second, and Xuan paper is third!

  Finally have paper to wipe butt!

  After arriving at the Su residence, just yesterday, more than a dozen small paper pieces cut from the Xuan paper brought back from Dingxiang were used up. Su Ning was forced to use bamboo slips to wipe his buttocks for a whole day and felt extremely uncomfortable. Now that there is Xuan paper, he can finally stop worrying about wiping his buttocks. However, using such precious things to wipe one's buttocks is also a bit wasteful. It's time to put the matter of toilet paper on the agenda. Grass paper should be introduced; otherwise, it would be too unbearable!

  As Su Ning's eyebrows furrowed, the other four people didn't dare to make a sound, thinking that Su Ning was pondering some important issue. Just at this moment, the servant rushed in again: "Young Master and Second Master, Dai Guogong's eldest grandson Li Boyao has sent a visiting card!" Su Dingfang was taken aback, and Erlang said it was right, indeed someone had come again!

  Su Dingfang had not yet finished reading Li Baiyu's visiting card when another servant came running in: "The Second Master, the Eldest Son of Duke Cao, Li Zhen, has sent up his visiting card!"

  Su Dingfang was completely Spartan, and the three women in the house looking at Su Ning's complacent expression also became Spartan. Su Ning was indeed quite complacent, he knew that Li Jing and Li Shimin would not sit idly by, but did not expect that the ones who came would be Changsun and Changzi. Sun and Zi were nothing to worry about, but adding a "Chang" character made it different. Eldest son, that was necessarily going to inherit Li Shimin's family business and title; as for eldest grandson, Li Jing's eldest and second sons were both mediocre, not worthy of great use, only the eldest grandson was relatively clever, and the eldest and second sons were older, not suitable for interacting with Su Ning. So, Su Ning understood what Li Jing and Li Shimin meant.

  Su Ning adjusted his clothes and sat up, saying to Su Dingfang: "Big brother, it's just right that the two of them came together, no need to separate them for reception. Let them all come in! Remember to collect the gifts well! The general and the commander are very generous with their gifts, we're going to make a fortune again! Hehe!"

  Su Dingfang rolled his eyes and walked out to greet Li Bo Yao and Li Zhen. Before long, the two of them followed Su Dingfang into the house. One youth was handsome and robust, with a few similarities to Li Jing's appearance, clearly Li Bo Yao, Li Jing's grandson. The other youth was slightly chubby, with a warm face, also bearing some resemblance to Li Shi Zhi, who should be Li Zhen. In the future, he would lead an army against Wu Zetian, and his father, Li Jing Ye, seemed to be destined for a literary official career, while Li Bo Yao appeared to be a military general.

  "I'm afraid I couldn't get up to welcome you, please forgive me." Su Ning sat on the bed and bowed to the two young Lis, asking them to sit down. Li Zhen, who was more talkative, returned the bow and said: "What's this? Brother Sanming has brought us so many shocks today that I'm afraid we won't forget today for the rest of our lives. When we saw Brother Sanming being scolded by Mr. Kong, we were really worried. After returning home, we told Father about it, and he ordered me to bring gifts to visit Brother Sanming."

  Li Baiyao also bowed: "As Brother Li Zhen said, today Sanming's move is really making me admire him. Moreover, the delicious food that Sanming sent over the other day, so today when I returned to the mansion, Grandfather ordered me to come and visit Sanming, and brought our family's golden wound medicine, which has a miraculous effect on stopping pain and swelling. Just apply it for three days, and your palm will recover as before."

  Suning exclaimed: "Both of you, Li brothers, are also studying at the Hongwen Academy? Ah! Today, I didn't see you at all, it's really impolite!" Suning thought for a moment and indeed had no impression of seeing Li Bohu and Li Zhen. Instead, they seemed to have been paying attention to him? It seems that Li Shijie and Li Jing had already made up their minds...

  Li Zhen smiled and said, "That's natural. The two of us didn't greet Brother Sanming, and he was busy writing all along. Today's events were somewhat unexpected, so I suppose he didn't see the two of us. However, Brother Sanming's actions have fallen into our eyes. A wise man doesn't speak in riddles, it's truly admirable! No wonder Father praised Brother Sanming that way."

  Li Bo-yao also smiled and said, "Once at home, Grandfather would talk about San-ming brother all the time, talking about San-ming brother's affairs in the army, and even mentioning San-ming brother's talent for remembering everything he saw. Along with that, he scolded me, his younger brother, until I couldn't lift my head."

  Su Ning's eyes lit up, this was a heaven-sent opportunity. Li Jing and Li Shiming's intentions were clear, if they didn't seize this chance, it would be unfilial to the two elders: "Alas! I didn't expect General Cao to hold me in such high esteem, but it's made things difficult for you two brothers. How about this, as an apology, let's have a simple meal at my place tonight? You two Li brothers must still be craving that delicious food from that day, haha!"

  Li Zhen and Li Baiyao indeed showed a look of longing, after all, they were still young children, one fourteen years old and the other twelve years old, just at the age when they loved good food. They had been sent out by their elders to do their first public relations in life, which originally had a symbolic meaning, cultivating their ability to inherit the family business. So the two of them agreed, and Su Ning ordered the two chefs who had been trained well to prepare a meal of fried and grilled delicacies that would fill their bellies.

  "Da Lang Er Lang, Crown Prince and eldest son of the Duke of Qi, has arrived to pay his respects!"

  Alright! These two guys still came, Suning also had this kind of preparation, but it's clear that Suning thought that Li Chengqian and he hadn't known each other for even two days, Li Chengqian shouldn't have reached the point where he needed to go out of the palace to see his own land, Emperor Li II probably wouldn't allow it either. On the other hand, Changsun Chong might come back, who knows if Li Chengqian and Changsun Chong came together...

  "Your Highness the Crown Prince?!" Su Dingfang was clearly shocked, how could his second brother be so capable? He got injured once and actually let the Crown Prince come out of the palace to visit him? What exactly happened during these few days when he wasn't around? What had happened? Was he beaten up? And then there were so many people coming to console him?

  After thinking for a while, Su Dingfang showed a relieved smile and walked to Su Ning's front, saying in a low voice: "Second brother, after the Crown Prince arrives, I will return to the army, today it depends on you."

  Su Ning was taken aback, understanding Su Dingfang's meaning. There were only children over ten years old here, and Su Dingfang, a man in his thirties, was somewhat out of place. The women could go to the back room without coming out, but Su Dingfang was a big man. Su Ning hadn't thought of this, which had put Su Dingfang in an awkward position. So Su Ning said with some embarrassment: "Big brother, I'm really sorry to trouble you."

  Su Dingfang shook his head and smiled: "Big brother is busy in the military, and has no energy for family matters and court affairs. Fortunately, there's Erlang to help out, so these things will still be handled by Erlang. Just be careful, as the saying goes 'accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger', big brother understands this principle; big brother can't help you in the imperial court, but can only create a world of his own in the military to support you."

  Su Ning's nose turned sour, and he seriously nodded his head. Su Dingfang patted Su Ning's shoulder and left. Liu Shi and Wang Shi exchanged a glance, nodded, and took Su Xiaomei away...

  Ancestors? Brothers? Mothers? Second aunts? Little sisters? Is there any difference? They treat me with sincerity, and I naturally repay them with sincerity. As for the rest, let's just forget about it!

  Li Chengqian and Zhangsun rushed in, Li Zhen and Li Baochu bowed their heads: "Greetings to the Crown Prince." They were also surprised that the Crown Prince had come, was this the Crown Prince's own idea or the Emperor's? Li Zhen was even more clever, thinking more, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to train Li Jingye, so he looked at Su Ning with greater importance, and Li Shiming's words left an indelible mark on his heart...

  Li Chengqian had long expected Li Zhen and Li Bo Yao to come, and he saw them looking at Su Ning more than once during the day. Moreover, considering Li Shi Ji and Li Jing's relationship with Su Ning, it was clear that Li Zhen and Li Bo Yao were following the orders of their family's elder to gather the younger generation together for future plans. Wasn't Li Chengqian thinking along the same lines? The shock and surprise brought by Su Ning were too great, beyond measure, he had never felt such an urgent desire to understand someone before.

  In the past, it was impossible for Li Chengqian to leave the palace alone. Emperor Taizong and Empress Changsun would never have allowed him to do so. All he could do was read books, practice calligraphy, and increase his knowledge every day with a group of old men. His greatest wish was that Li Ruheng could enter the palace every day... But today, when I mentioned this matter to Emperor Taizong, he unexpectedly agreed...

  As for this matter, Su Ning had long expected that it would be a case of "losing the horse to gain the territory", but he did not expect that Li Fu's good fortune was so great. The actions of Li Shi and Li Jing already represented that they would stand on the same front line as him. The arrival of Changsun Chong was also within his expectations, but the arrival of Li Chengqian was somewhat unexpected. The crown prince leaving the palace is not a rare thing, but to leave the palace alone to visit his subjects, this is the treatment for those old and meritorious officials, let alone Su Ning...

  "Your Majesty, now that you've allowed Chengqian to leave the palace to visit Su Ning, isn't this a bit excessive? How will others view this matter?" After Li Chengqian left the palace, Empress Changsun came to Emperor Taizong's study, asking with some doubt. She shouldn't have asked about these things, but since they involved Li Chengqian, she couldn't help but raise some questions. She really didn't understand her husband's unusual behavior.

  Emperor Li II smiled when he saw Empress Changsun: "Su Ning is very talented, and at such a young age, he excels in both literature and martial arts. He's an exceptional talent that can't be found easily. The people who followed me to conquer the world are gradually getting old, and among the younger generation, there aren't many who can shoulder the burden. Su Ning is one of them. As long as I'm around, I can still intimidate those old ministers. But if I were gone, Crown Prince Chengqian doesn't have any achievements to his name, so he might not be able to intimidate those old ministers. At that time, we'll need someone like Su Ning to balance things out for him. The way of the imperial court is all about balance."

  It's no longer possible for the older generation to follow Cheng Qian wholeheartedly, so we can only start with young people. Suning is the first choice. I talked to him a few days ago. Guanyin, this kid is very smart and has no ambition, which is what I value most about him. Now let's start cultivating him, and in the future, he can be of great use to Cheng Qian. Of course, emotions are indispensable. Without deep feelings, mere power struggles are not enough."

  The Empress Changsun exclaimed in surprise: "Second Brother, what are you thinking?"

  Li Er smiled and said nothing more.