Chapter 414: Li Heng’s Secret Investigation

In Chang’an, the incident of Princess Huo seizing fertile land had spread like willow fluff in mid-spring, reaching every corner of the city. This princess, once famous for her divorce from her husband, had once again become the focus of public attention in Chang’an after decades of silence. In fact, calling it “seizing” was somewhat unfair to her; “buying by force” would be more appropriate. Moreover, the price she paid for the land wasn’t too exorbitant—based on the market price from three years ago, even slightly above it. Perhaps due to her advanced age, she was unaware of the recent rise in land prices, which had doubled over the past couple of years. How could landowners agree to sell to her at the old price?

Half a month had passed since the Princess Huo incident. Before the Jingzhao Prefecture could render a judgment, she voluntarily returned the land she had taken and tied up the official who had forced the purchase, handing him over to the authorities for punishment. She also declared that she would not protect him under any circumstances. Logically, at this point, the much-talked-about land purchase incident should have come to an end. Yet, it continued to escalate. The imperial court formed a special committee consisting of the Deputy Minister of Punishments, the Deputy Head of the Judicial Bureau, and the Chief Censor to investigate the case thoroughly and examine all previous violations of state laws committed by Princess Huo. This land acquisition scandal was also the first major case involving a royal relative since Li Yu ascended the throne, drawing significant attention. Additionally, its involvement with Li Qing’an, the governor of Anxi, added many intriguing elements to the case. Both within and outside the palace, the case caused a great stir, with almost everyone paying close attention. It had become a conflict between the powerful elites of the Tang Dynasty and the imperial court.

At the Xishi Guiqu Lai Xi tavern, since the incident involving Di Wuqi, the place had become famous. People flocked there every day, and the tavern took advantage of the situation to thrive by offering fine wine, delicious food, and excellent service. Gradually, many became regular customers, keeping the tavern busy day after day. The Di Wuqi incident also gave the tavern a touch of current affairs relevance, making political discussions its main feature. The Tang Dynasty was generally tolerant of free speech, as long as it did not maliciously attack the current emperor; people could generally speak freely.

That morning, Emperor Li Hen of the Tang Dynasty, as usual, arrived at this tavern early in the day. Since his relationship with Li Yu had deteriorated, he had been stripped of all power and reverted to being the idle prince who used to wander around teahouses in his free time. It seemed Li Hen didn’t care much about this; he went out early and returned late every day, strolling around Chang’an. Li Yu also ignored him as long as he didn’t get involved in state affairs.

As Li Hen entered the tavern with a few attendants, the staff member greeted him warmly, “Lord Li, your seat is ready. Let me show you the way.”

Li Hen didn’t reveal his identity. Since the staff was so enthusiastic and respectful, there was no need for him to put on a show. He smiled, nodded, and turned to his advisor, Shi Zhenghua, saying, “Please go first, sir.”

Shi Zhenghua was a middle-aged man who had passed the imperial examinations but hadn’t been appointed to any official position. Instead, he worked as an advisor for powerful nobles. He had been introduced to Li Hen two years ago, and the two got along well. Li Hen usually took him with him wherever he went. Shi Zhenghua quickly bowed and said with a smile, “Since it’s Brother Li who’s treating, of course, Brother Li should go first.”

“Very well, then I’ll go upstairs first.”

The two went up to the second floor, where the staff led them to a seat by the window. From there, they could clearly see the main gate of the Western Market and hear the conversations in the main hall. It was an ideal spot. Li Hen had reserved this seat for 30 guan per month, allowing him to use it for two hours every noon. He sat down, glanced around, and saw that most of the seats in the main hall were occupied. It was lunchtime, and the place was bustling with activity.

Shi Zhenghua poured a cup of wine for Li Hen and pointed to the seat next to him, saying, “It seems everyone is talking about the case of Princess Huo.”

Li Hen sneered. Of course he understood what Li Yu was up to. Trying to take Princess Huo wasn’t that easy. She had gradually recovered her health—how could he allow such a thing? Back then, he had advised Li Yu to ensure she never woke up while she was unconscious, but Li Yu had been too lenient. Now he wanted to take Princess Huo again. It was already past lunchtime, and he was hungry. There was no such thing as ready-made lunches in the world. If only he had been in that person’s place, he could have raided anyone’s house he wanted without anyone daring to say anything. It was a pity—too lenient yet wanting to achieve great things. Such an emperor was unfit.

Li Hen remained silent. He sipped his wine slowly, his ears perked up, listening to every word of the conversations around him.

“I thought the court was being forced by Li Qing’an, but it seems Li Qing’an is just an excuse for the court. It’s obvious they want to make money from Lady Huo.”

A few imperial students from the national academy were drinking and chatting. Concerned about the country and its people and possessing some knowledge, everything they said made sense.
“Sigh! The imperial court is in a tough spot too. Many of the prosperous regions of the Tang Dynasty have been granted to princes, so one can imagine how strained the court’s finances are. If it weren’t absolutely necessary, the emperor would never dare touch the royal family—after all, they share the same bloodline!”
“The court is serious this time. They’re even bringing in the Grand Three Ministries for an investigation to dig up past secrets. How many of these royal nobles are actually clean? The court is going to make a fortune from this.”
“You’re oversimplifying things. So what if the Grand Three Ministries are conducting an investigation? Do you think they’re investigating ordinary people? They’re not fools. Didn’t Lady Huo already return the land? And she even sent her manager to confess—these were all actions of subordinates; it has nothing to do with her. Do you think they’ll find any crimes? With just one word from her, it was a gift from the late emperor—what can you do? I reckon this matter will just be dropped.”
“If that’s the case, the emperor is in trouble. After making such a big fuss, if it ends up nothing, his authority will be completely shattered. Sigh! Those ministers who incite the emperor are truly guilty of grave sins!”
Li Hen nodded in silence. These imperial students did have some insight. If even they could think of it, how could those officials not? Instead of speaking up, they instead encouraged Li Yu to take drastic action—their hearts were truly despicable. It was sad that such fools were so self-righteous. This time, they would learn their lesson. Li Hen despised their stubbornness and was already utterly disappointed in Li Yu. At that moment, his advisor Shi Zhenghua whispered, “Lord, the emperor’s actions are heading in a negative direction. I suggest you persuade him.”
“Hmph! What does his life have to do with me?”
Li Hen replied coldly, “Being too lenient, having a woman’s heart, constantly pursuing so-called benevolence and righteousness, yet not realizing that officials also need to support their families. If you only care about the interests of ordinary people, who will handle affairs for you? Who will fight battles for you? If you still don’t reflect and continue to follow those scholars’ plans, such a fool isn’t even worth keeping.”
Shi Zhenghua fell silent. He drank his wine in silence. Although he had been with Li Hen for some time, it was only recently that he truly understood Li Hen’s true nature—a man with immense ambitions. Though he seemed idle at the moment, that didn’t mean he would stand by doing nothing. Shi Zhenghua felt that Li Hen seemed to be waiting for something, but he wasn’t sure what. Li Hen’s deep cunning filled Shi Zhenghua with fear, and he was afraid of saying the wrong thing again.

Li Heng paid no attention to Shi Zhenghua’s mood changes. He remained fully focused on listening to the conversation at the table behind him. He heard a topic that interested him: it was about three low-ranking officials. He didn’t know them, and they probably didn’t know him either. That’s why the three officials spoke of secrets that shouldn’t be known by higher-ups.

“Brother Jiang, tell me the truth. How much subsidy has Anxi given you? We’re both of the eighth rank. Logically, we should receive the same subsidy, but I feel you must have gotten more than me. Just tell me the truth, and I promise to keep it secret.”

“Brother, you’re overthinking it. Didn’t Anxi make it clear when giving the subsidies? They’re distributed according to rank each month. It’s not about the amount, but about fairness. Anxi surely understands this, so we must get the same amount. If there’s any difference, it’s probably because my wife is a bit more generous than your wife, that’s why I have a few more silver coins in my pocket. Got it? Haha!”

“Shh! Speak softly. We signed a confidentiality agreement—no one is allowed to reveal this.”

“That’s right! Let’s drink! Let’s only talk about pleasure.”

Li Heng was shocked. He understood part of the officials’ conversation. Li Qing’an was secretly giving them subsidies. In other words, Li Qing’an was taking advantage of the court’s inability to pay salaries to secretly bribe officials. If it were just the matter of the Princess of Huo, Li Heng could remain indifferent, but Anxi secretly subsidizing officials made him uneasy. The consequences of this were serious, and the fact that it hadn’t been exposed meant all the involved officials had willingly accepted Anxi’s subsidies.

Li Heng shuddered. What was Li Qing’an doing? This wasn’t just simple bribery—it was him, Li Qing’an, openly competing for the throne. Otherwise, why would he pay officials salaries? What worried Li Heng even more was whether the officials accepting Anxi’s subsidies were, to some extent, acknowledging Li Qing’an’s authority. The more he thought about it, the more afraid he became. He could no longer sit still and immediately stood up, saying to Shi Zhenghua, “I have an urgent matter to attend to. You go ahead and drink slowly. Don’t worry about the cost—I’ll settle it all at the end of the month.”

Shi Zhenghua understood that Li Heng didn’t want to take him along, so he quickly stood up and bowed, saying, “May you go safely, sir. I’ll head back on my own in a moment.”

Li Heng glanced at the three low-ranking officials one last time before turning and leaving in a hurry.

……

Half an hour later, Li Heng’s carriage entered Anye Fang and stopped in front of a small house. Covering about one mu of land, the house had seven or eight rooms and appeared rather old. It was the home of Li Wenjun, an assistant instructor at the Imperial Academy. Li Wenjun came from a distant branch of the Tang dynasty’s declining royal family and came from a poor background. Through his hard work, he passed the imperial examinations at the beginning of the Tianbao era. Due to his shyness and lack of social skills, as a typical bookworm, he fared poorly. Cui Ping, who had passed the exams with him, had now risen to the position of vice minister of Works, while Li Wenjun remained an assistant instructor of the seventh rank.

Li Heng was on good terms with Li Wenjun’s father; they had studied together. Li Wenjun’s father had passed away a few years earlier, and the family was so poor that they didn’t even have a burial site. It was Li Heng who provided them with a plot of land for burial, solving their urgent problem. For this, Li Wenjun’s family was eternally grateful to Li Heng.

Li Wenjun’s family consisted of six people: his husband and wife, his elderly mother, a pair of children, and a nanny who had been with them for thirty years. The entire family relied on Li Wenjun’s salary to make ends meet.

Li Wenjun was around thirty years old and quite frail in build, but he possessed profound knowledge and was highly respected by the students at the academy. Today was a day off from court duties, and the academy was also closed. He was studying at home when his mother suddenly told him that his benefactor had arrived. He was initially stunned. When he went outside and saw it was Li Heng, he quickly knelt down and bowed, saying, “Your humble servant pays respects to His Majesty the Retired Emperor!”

“Get up! Get up! I’m not here to put on an act.”

Li Heng pulled him up from the ground and noticed that his clothes were full of patches, which surprised him. At that moment, Li Wenjun’s wife also stepped forward to bow. Seeing her pale face and the two children’s sickly, thin appearance, Li Heng sighed inwardly. Li Wenjun was too weak to do any physical labor—a frail scholar with no salary for three years. It was unclear how his family managed to get by.

“I came to see you all!” Li Heng, who had originally been filled with anger, now felt unable to express it.

“Your Majesty, please come in!”

Li Wenjun quickly invited Li Heng into the guest room. Li Heng walked in with his hands behind his back. When he reached the door, he saw a winnowing basket filled with worn-out writing brushes. He was surprised and asked, “What’s going on here?”

Seeing his wife about to speak, Li Wenjun quickly gave her a signal and said with a forced laugh, “These are the brushes I used for practicing calligraphy. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Li Heng chuckled and said, “Your calligraphy is already excellent. With such hard work, please write a piece of calligraphy for me later.”

“Of course! Of course! Please, Your Majesty.”

Li Heng entered the guest room. It wasn’t large, and the furniture was very old, but it was kept spotlessly clean. Li Heng sat down. At that moment, his wife brought in two cups of water and said apologetically, “We don’t have any tea cakes at home. I’ll go buy some right away. For now, we can only offer water instead of tea. Please forgive us, Your Majesty!”
“No need to worry. Don’t bother buying anything. You go back to your tasks. I’ll talk to my nephew Wenjun for a while.”
Li Wenjun’s wife left, leaving the two of them alone in the room. Li Wenjun didn’t dare sit down and stood there with his hands hanging limply at his sides.
Li Heng watched him. Noticing something unnatural in his eyes, he realized this was someone who couldn’t lie. But Li Heng wasn’t in a hurry to ask about that matter. Instead, he said, “I want to ask you—how have you managed to get by without a salary for three years?”
After a long silence, Li Wenjun replied in a low voice, “We sold our land. Twenty-five mu of permanent farmland was sold three years ago.”
“How much did you get for it?” Li Heng asked calmly.
“Our land was of average quality, and it was located in the relatively remote Sanshui County. We got 150 guan in total.”
“150 guan should be enough to get by for three years, right? Then why are your two children so thin?”
Li Wenjun shook his head, looking gloomy. Li Heng stared at him for a while before suddenly asking, “Did you receive money from Anxi?”
Li Wenjun’s face turned red instantly. He knelt down and kowtowed, saying, “I dare not hide it. I indeed received it, but I didn’t dare use it. It’s kept in a box. If the court gives an order, I’ll hand it over immediately.”
Li Heng let out a heavy snort. “Tell me, how much did they give you?”
Li Wenjun bit his lips until they turned white before finally saying, “I signed a confidentiality agreement. I absolutely cannot reveal it.”
“You’re hypocritical!”
Li Heng slammed the table angrily and said, “Since you claim to want to hand it over, yet refuse to say now, what kind of secret are you keeping from me? Will you talk or not?”
With no other choice, Li Wenjun finally said in a low voice, “Anxi gives me 30 silver dollars per month. Someone will deliver it to me. They say it’s a special allowance from Anxi. Prince Zhao heard about Yang Bingcao’s wife being forced to engage in prostitution and eventually committing suicide due to poverty. He was deeply saddened and told us to focus on our official duties and avoid such dishonorable work.”
“Hah! Not bad! 30 silver dollars a month—almost three times your salary. Li Qingan is quite generous to you. You must be very grateful, right?” Li Heng’s gaze turned stern.

Li Wenjun gritted his teeth and said, “Yes! I am extremely grateful. Not only me, but all the officials are deeply thankful. Perhaps the Retired Emperor doesn’t know, but our lives are truly miserable. We have to support our families, yet the court hasn’t paid our salaries for three years. We lack the capital to do business, and we can’t afford to lose face. We have no choice but to sell our land and houses. My colleague, Assistant Teacher Luo, went to the East Market at night to work and earn money, only to be humiliated. He almost committed suicide when he returned. The Retired Emperor surely doesn’t know any of this! We’re even worse off than petty traders; we’ve lost all our dignity. We are grateful to Prince Zhao, for at least he has given us some basic dignity!”

At that moment, Li Wenjun’s wife also came in, knelt down, and wept, saying, “My Wenjun is pitiful too! To support our family, he copies books for others until midnight every day. It’s been three years now—the worn-out pens alone amount to almost a basket’s worth. It’s right by the door. Didn’t the Retired Emperor see that just now?”

Li Heng was stunned. After a long while, he said, “Weren’t you able to get 150 guan by selling land, and use 50 guan per year? It’s not much, but it shouldn’t be so difficult.”

The couple could no longer hold back their tears. Li Wenjun choked up and said, “My father passed away leaving us in debt. We spent 60 guan repaying it. My mother is often ill, and at least 60 to 70 guan has been spent on medical treatment over these three years. Rice prices keep rising every day, and life is really hard. Recently, my child fell ill too. If it weren’t for the 30 silver coins sent by Anxi, I really wouldn’t know what to do.”

Although Li Heng resented him for accepting money from Li Qing’an, seeing their dire situation, he couldn’t help but feel pity. He sighed and said, “Forget it. You don’t need to hand in that money. Use it to treat your child and buy some clothes. It’s not just you who’s using it—after all, it’s not illegal, and the court won’t do anything to you.”

Li Wenjun was deeply grateful and quickly kowtowed, saying, “Thank you, Retired Emperor. We know it’s wrong to take money from Anxi, but after all, it’s not An Lushan’s money. I think the court should be able to understand us. As long as the court pays our salaries regularly, I will never ask for money from Anxi again.”

His wife, kneeling beside him, was reluctant to part with the money, so she secretly pinched her husband’s leg. Li Heng saw this and couldn’t help but smile bitterly inwardly. How could the court possibly have money to pay salaries? Not to mention them, even he hadn’t received any for a year. He relied solely on his savings. It was all because of his unfilial son, who only cared about maintaining his army and ignored the officials. Perhaps the high-ranking officials had wealthy families and didn’t need salaries, but these low-ranking officials relied entirely on their salaries to support their families. He should have paid them at least something, so they wouldn’t be exploited by Li Qing’an. How incompetent!

……
“Incompetent!”

After leaving Li Wenjun’s house, Li Heng felt extremely frustrated and couldn’t help but sigh deeply. A year ago, he could have taken care of the Yang family and earned a large sum of money, which would have solved many problems. But he didn’t dare to do it. Now that the Yang family had moved their assets away, he was only thinking of dealing with Lady Huo of Guo. He could have handled it simply by sending 300 soldiers, but instead he wanted to hold a grand trial through the Three Judicial Offices and try to convince them with logic. But would they just wait to be executed? Would they reason with him? It was utterly childish! Li Heng sneered repeatedly. He wouldn’t say anything and just wanted to see how it would end.