Chapter 138: Fatty's Aversion to Politics

Cui Cong's words left Kune speechless, and he could only lower his head and continuously chant Amitabha Buddha. Growing irritated as well, Cui Cong simply continued his scolding: "Leaving aside how you bald donkeys bought and sold emperors multiple times back in the day, just look at how much peasant land you bald donkeys have seized over the past two years under the pretext of natural disasters! You all go around talking about compassionate hearts—bah! Were your hearts of compassion eaten by dogs? Are you here trying to make me sick to my stomach?"

Kune could no longer remain calm, beads of sweat already appearing on his face. That aged face was filled with utter dismay; every single word spoken by Cui Cong was a demon within his heart, frequently startling him awake in the middle of the night.

"You preach about the emptiness of all things, yet you are greedy in every way; you claim to save the world with benevolence, yet you bring disaster to the nation and its people. You claim to be outsiders exempted from taxes, yet you aggressively lend money at usury. Tell me, who could possibly save bald donkeys like you? Right now, this Marquis even wants to wipe you all out."

In pain, Kune retreated back into the darkness. The behavior of the Buddhist establishment in recent years was indeed disgraceful; he was powerless to refute it, and powerless to change it.

*Four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties, how many towers and pavilions are lost in the misty rain.* After that era, Buddhism had completely exhausted the trust that the imperial family had once placed in them. The legend of the eighteen warrior monks saving the Prince of Qin only thoroughly exposed the Buddhist sect's utter lack of respect for the imperial ruler; now was the time to swallow the bitter fruit.

"Forcing me to lose my temper in the middle of the night, these stinking bald donkeys are truly odious," Cui Cong declared, and walked away in a huff. Right now, Li Shimin was merely sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight. Above the aristocratic families stood the Daoist and Buddhist sects, whose influence was terrifyingly vast. Since it was impossible for him to strike at them directly, they deserved to let each other tear one another apart, and once he had cleared his hands, he could deal with them then.

Since even Old Li was keeping his distance, it was all the more impossible for Cui Cong to foolishly plunge himself into the fray. Had Sister Cui not been instigated by others this time, he wouldn't have even set foot in the Shaolin Temple. Talk to him about gratitude or lack thereof? Wanting him to use his entire family's lives as a gamble? That was simply out of the question!

When Kune returned to his quarters, Luran hurried forward to greet him and asked, "Master Uncle, did he agree?"

Kune shook his head. Luran smiled bitterly; as expected, it was still like this. The Buddhist sect remained a colossal entity, yet it stood right at the edge of a cliff, ready to plunge into the abyss at any moment and be smashed to pieces.

"Is the favor of the Buddhist sect truly not enough to make him offer a helping hand?" Luran asked, unwilling to accept the outcome. In his view, how great was the Buddhist sect? A single favor from them should have been enough to make countless people ecstatic.

"The Marquis of Chang'an is right. The peril of Buddhism does not come from Daoism, nor does it come from the imperial family. It comes from the disciples of our own Buddhist sect!" Kune said solemnly. Luran looked at him, his face dark with gloom, and pushed the door open to leave without saying another word.

Sister Cui was eager to return home. The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became: What if the old master refused to accept Yaoyao? At this thought, panic seized her anew, and she urged the drivers to slow down the pace. Trapped in this tangled and unsettled state of anxiety, she had not slept well for many consecutive nights.

Unlike her, Cui Cong refused to dwell on such troubles and simply did whatever came to his mind, taking Chu Yao out to eat, drink, and make merry every day. This was to prevent that clever little spirit from noticing Sister Cui's unusual mood and losing her own smile along the way.

Along the road, bailiffs and constables frequently stopped carriages for inspection, having heard that a wealthy household had been broken into by bandits who carried out murder and pillage, leaving many dead.

How could Cui Cong allow them to cause such a disturbance? He directly displayed the insignia of the Lady of Filial Piety and Virtue, and after that, no one dared to entertain the thought of searching the carriage anymore, which quickened their pace considerably.

***

The road to Cui Family Village was as broad as an official highway, and the villagers were anxiously waiting. Sister Cui had sent someone ahead to sound out the mood, but the old master had not spoken a word, merely instructing the estate servants and villagers to come out and welcome them.

This left everyone guessing blindly—what on earth did the old master's attitude mean? Did he agree, or did he not?

"Respectfully welcoming the Lady and the Marquis back to the estate!"

Seeing the carriages arrive, the servants dropped to their knees in a body, shouting in unison. The villagers also chimed in with various greetings. Cui Cong leaped down from the carriage to acknowledge the villagers' well-wishes, but pointedly left the servants kneeling on the ground.

Once Sister Cui and Chu Yao had stepped down from the carriage, Cui Cong pointed at the dejected-looking Chu Yao and proclaimed, "Look closely and remember this well: this is my younger sister, and from now on she is the Eldest Young Miss of the Marquis's Estate. Whoever dares to show any disrespect to the Eldest Young Miss, this Marquis will strip the bones from his body."

"Respectfully welcoming the Eldest Young Miss back to the estate!"

Everyone shouted with fervent passion, sounding almost as if their monthly wages were being distributed. Chu Yao raised her head in astonishment to take in this scene. Young though she was, how sensible and clever was she?

She had seen all of Sister Cui's anxiety over the past few days, and she had secretly feared that the Marquis's estate would never allow her to be the Eldest Young Miss. At this thought, her adoration for her older brother deepened even further; her brother was simply too amazing, even better than her mother.

"Yaoyao, with your older brother here, you are the happiest little sister in all under heaven!" Cui Cong patted his chest and made a loud guarantee. Chu Yao burst into tears right then and there—she had finally found a home.

"Nonsense! My younger sister is the happiest little sister in all under heaven!" Li Chengqian shouted as he walked over, while Li Lizhi held her head high, looking down at Chu Yao like a little phoenix gazing at a humble chick.

*So skinny she doesn't look as pretty as me, so timid she doesn't look as brave as me—it's obvious that I am the happiest little sister,* Li Lizhi thought to herself.

Li Chengqian and Cui Cong instantly locked horns, each refusing to yield an inch when the honor of their respective younger sister was at stake.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, my estate has a very large martial training ground. Would you dare to come and tour it?" Cui Cong asked with a beaming smile, his small fists cracking as he clenched them.

"Not going. His Imperial Highness has a myriad of affairs of state to attend to every day—when would I have the time to look at any training ground? I heard you were back, and I came specifically to collect a gift. I've already taken Tai's share for him; he was unwilling to handle affairs of state and threw a tantrum, so my imperial father had him locked up."

Li Chengqian said with a sympathetic tone. Li Tai had been enfeoffed with far too many prefectures, and while he didn't need to personally handle matters in every region, he was still required to sit by the side to listen, watch, and learn.

In less than half a month, Li Tai had wished he were dead. What grand and lofty ambitions? None of them compared to the joy of playing! And so he had sneaked out to play, nearly scaring everyone in the Prince's Mansion out of their wits.

To discover that the Prince had gone missing meant launching an immediate search and dispatching men to inform Li Shimin—who promptly blew his top. Historical records stated that Li Tai was the most favored among all the princes, and looking across the entire realm of China, no other prince was ever favored quite like Li Tai. That was no exaggeration.

Li Shimin immediately issued an order to close the city gates and search the entire capital, turning the city upside down and causing chaos everywhere. In the end, it was Li Chengqian who guessed correctly where to look—checking the places that sold food—and finally found Li Tai at a snack stall. Furious enough to drop dead on the spot, Li Shimin ordered him directly placed under house arrest within his own mansion.

"Don't even think about it, I can't help you with this favor. Your father is still in a rage—who would dare to go and persuade him?" Cui Cong leaned close to Li Chengqian's ear and whispered. Any talk of gifts was fake; Li Chengqian was currently studying in the Secretariat, so there was no way he would run all the way out here just to wait for him over a mere present. It was glaringly obvious that he wanted Cui Cong to plead for him before Li Shimin.

"Don't speak so absolutely. If you don't help, when little fatty gets let out, he will definitely never let you off the hook. He's not going to be polite to you!"

Li Chengqian threatened in return. Cui Cong rolled his eyes and walked toward his house, thinking that he would just send over some amusing playthings later; that was guaranteed to make Li Tai forget everything completely.

Besides, if Li Tai truly abhorred affairs of state, wasn't that precisely what Cui Cong wanted? Was he really supposed to lecture Li Tai and turn him into a diligent administrator of government affairs, only for the two of them to engage in fratricidal bloodshed years later and leave that brat Li Zhi to reap the benefits?

"If you have any conditions, just state them! My younger brother is locked up and looks so pitiful, and Imperial Father won't let us see him. I heard he's been binge eating and is practically giving up on himself."

Li Chengqian trotted along behind, pleading with a miserable expression. Cui Cong barely managed to keep from laughing out loud. Should he call that little fatty cunning, or should he say Li Shimin was simply too doting on this son?

Driving himself to binge eat wasn't torturing himself—it was scheming for his own welfare! Li Tai had caused Chang'an to lock its gates for a massive city-wide search, yet in the end he was merely confined to his mansion without so much as a single stroke of the whip. This was entirely Li Shimin's delaying tactic; once the censors' attention shifted elsewhere, he would inevitably release the little fatty.