Chapter 3 002 Is This How You Entertain the Modern Li Shimin?

Chapter 3 002 You're Using This to Fob Off the Modern-Day Li Shimin?

Song Tianyang and He Jianshen were not meeting for the first time.

The last time they met, she was brought to the He family estate by a senior assistant from Qidian Group. She had been wondering which villa the He family lived in, only to be told that the entire property belonged to them.

They lived in a mansion.

Back then, He Jianshen sat on the far end of the sofa, giving Song Tianyang a once-over with undisguised rejection, contempt, and wariness—in Old Master He’s eyes, this new granddaughter with He blood was also a candidate for inheritance. Even without an elite upbringing, it didn’t matter; as long as she could collect dividends, use online banking, and know enough to come home when it rains, that was enough.

For every share she took, he lost one.

After a quick once-over, He Jianshen went back to playing on his phone.

It wasn’t until he heard Song Tianyang refuse to change her surname that he looked up with a sneer: “Your adoptive mother works at a hair salon. Is her surname really worth clinging to so tightly?”

He didn’t get to finish before Song Tianyang slapped him.

“You!”

“How dare you look down on working women who earn an honest living?” Song Tianyang flexed her wrist. “If I were you, I wouldn’t talk to someone as poor as me like that. I might snap and take you down with me—then hope I reincarnate into a better life. You? You’d be lucky to come back as livestock.”

Poor families tend to breed two extremes.

Timid submission or vicious ferocity—both are forms of self-defense.

And Song Tianyang believed in the principle of desperate attack.

He Jianshen scoffed, “I could bankrupt your family with one word.”

Song Tianyang laughed even harder. “My family has always been proletariat.”

In He Jianshen’s high-class, sophisticated life, he clearly had no experience dealing with people who didn’t even own a single asset. For a moment, he was stunned. When he tried to speak again, He Mingyi shot him a cold glance, and he instantly shut up and sat up straight.

Thus, a grudge was born between them.

But...

The system was telling her to initiate the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Who was the protagonist of the Xuanwu Gate Incident?

Li Shimin.

The strongest biological being of the 7th century, also known as the Chief of Asia, the boss of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Song Tianyang figured her only commonality with him was that they both lived in Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere as carbon-based life forms.

She tried to talk some sense into the system: “I’m not Li Shimin.”

The system replied, “Your Majesty, please don’t underestimate yourself.”

Besides, He Jianshen stood 1.87 meters tall, with a body honed from skiing and rugby. If she actually went and fought him to the death, he’d be on his knees begging her not to die in under three rounds.

She was light-years from Emperor Taizong, but frighteningly close to Emperor Hui of Jin.

And let’s not forget—Li Shimin shot his brother with a bow.

Couldn’t the system at least give her a sniper rifle?

Just as Song Tianyang was telling the system that the gap between her and Li Shimin might be bigger than the gap between humans and apes, He Jianshen walked over.

He stopped right in front of her, standing against the light, his tall shadow casting over her.

He Jianshen commented on his biological sister’s outfit: “Is this what you wear when you go out? All those colors?”

“Is someone holding a funeral at your place? Do I need to wear black, white, or gray?”

Song Tianyang retorted.

“If you don’t consider the He family your own, feel free to leave right now. Stop shamelessly leeching off the He family.” He Jianshen’s face darkened.

He desperately wished she’d run off with her poor person’s pride.

But Song Tianyang wasn’t falling for that.

Still, she did find one thing she had in common with Emperor Taizong.

She also wished her brother were dead.

Based on her experience over the past few days, the tasks issued by the Emperor System didn’t always have to be completed exactly as described. There were loopholes she could exploit, as long as she could generally convince the system.

With that thought, Song Tianyang opened the task details, ready to watch the progress bar at any moment.

She switched gears and recalled the layout of the estate she had memorized during her last visit.

A second later, she spoke up: “I’m here because Grandpa said he wanted to see the two of us. He told me to bring you along.”

“Who are you trying to fool? Why would the old man have anything to discuss with you? Even if he did, he wouldn’t ask you to call me.”

He Jianshen saw right through her lie.

Song Tianyang said, “If you don’t believe me, then don’t follow me. I’ll go bond with Grandpa by myself.”

Hearing that, He Jianshen’s face changed instantly.

Who the old man favored more could mean a difference of tens of millions.

Seeing her make as if to leave, he quickened his pace to catch up: “I’ll follow you and see what game you’re playing.”

—In 626 AD, the night before, Li Shimin secretly reported to Emperor Gaozu, accusing Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji of committing crimes in the harem, unforgivable offenses. He tricked his brothers into entering the palace, having already stationed his loyal troops at the Xuanwu Gate.

And before all that, he had already sent Emperor Gaozu and the central government officials onto a boat, essentially seizing control of the most important piece—the emperor—in the power struggle.

Song Tianyang, on the other hand, only had her mouth.

No bow, no loyal army. The only part of her statement that was true was that she really did have a grandfather.

“Don’t follow me!”

She deliberately turned back and glared at him, and sure enough, he chased her even more eagerly.

He chased; she ran.

The He family estate was vast, which was one reason He Jianshen believed her story—even if all family members were home, they’d need to call each other just to meet up.

Song Tianyang remembered that last time, the east wing corridor was being renovated, with a large pit that hadn’t been filled or fenced off yet. The main family generally didn’t go that way, but the butler had warned her about it on her first visit, in case she wandered off—nothing dangerous, just a three-meter drop—it would hurt if she fell, but there was a ladder to climb out.

She also noticed He Jianshen never listened to any of the household staff, including the butler.

In his eyes, these people were lowlifes, NPCs whose every line he could choose to skip.

"I'm gonna follow you today, no matter what. Let's see how far you can get!"

Following behind Song Tianyang, He Jianshen couldn't help but feel a sense of superiority.

A poor little girl with thin arms and legs, the only way she could imagine resisting him was to run.

And she ran so slowly at that.

The two of them bolted one after the other into a patch of green woods. In the cloudless sky, aside from the sun, there was actually another star hanging there.

The leaves cut the sunlight into irregular shards of light that quickly swept across Song Tianyang's back.

She suddenly stopped short and sidestepped.

He Jianshen behind her needed a second to stop his momentum, and in that one second, she used all the strength her adrenaline could give her, slapped him on the back, and pushed him into the three-meter-deep pit just half a step away.

"What the f*ck!!!!!!"

An epic, blood-curdling scream echoed through the sky.

She bent over, hands on her knees, panting like an ox, while also kicking the ladder down.

"Song Tianyang, what the f*ck is wrong with you?!"

Hearing her brother's cursing outburst, Song Tianyang was as happy as a puppy.

When the task progress bar passed halfway and an item to help her was automatically dropped, she became even happier.

The next second, her hand suddenly felt heavier.

Song Tianyang looked down.

A 12.7mm caliber pistol with a steel slide and aluminum alloy frame sat in her palm.

Song Tianyang: "..."

Anyone who has played CrossFire would be familiar with this gun, like the Desert Eagle.

Song Tianyang: "Wait, you're actually giving me a sniper rifle?!"

The cold killing machine in her hand was like a hot potato.

She couldn't bring herself to shoot another living person with a gun.

At best, she could hide under her blanket and curse her brother to get hit by a truck on his way out.

Emperor System: "Detected gap between you and Emperor Taizong. Need more firepower to make up for it."

Song Tianyang insisted on swapping it for something else.

Her hand suddenly felt lighter, and it became a Zhuge repeating crossbow.

Song Tianyang: "Can you give me something that won't get me arrested under Chinese law?"

After swapping again and again, the system finally turned the crossbow into a water gun.

She was overjoyed!

This was perfect—low damage, max humiliation!

The water gun was heavy, filled with water. She aimed at He Jianshen in the deep pit and unloaded a stream of water on him.

Splashed full in the face, He Jianshen yelled, "Are you nuts! Where did you get a water gun? How old are you?!"

As soon as he opened his mouth, she shot water right into it.

After she emptied the water gun, she eagerly asked the system, "Can you top it off with dog pee?"

System: "Your Majesty, please remember your own dignity."

"Then champion-bred dog pee."

The system went dead silent for a long, hopeless moment.

Song Tianyang reluctantly called it quits.

But seeing the progress bar stuck at 99%, she needed to do something to push it to 100%.

After thinking for a moment, she crouched by the pit, looking down at He Jianshen with a poker face. "Brother."

"Why are you suddenly calling me 'brother'... I'm not claiming you as my sister. Yuan Yuan is my real sister."

He Jianshen wiped the water off his face, his face red from anger.

"Do you know why I lured you away from the Xuanwu Gate?"

Song Tianyang asked.

He Jianshen: "Hey, we came in through the Chenhan Gate in the south of the estate."

Song Tianyang let his words go in one ear and out the other and continued, "The struggle for the crown prince position has always been like this."

He Jianshen started to think that proletarian talk was really hard to follow.

Song Tianyang paid him no mind. She just stared at the task progress bar.

Ding!

System:

"Congratulations to Your Majesty for completing the task 'Xuanwu Gate Incident'!"

"Performance Rating: Z"

"Historical Evaluation: Warfare is all about deception, not just the sword."

And a line was added to Emperor Tianyang's daily chronicles: "Venus crossed the sky at noon. Emperor Tianyang summoned Prince Shen into the rear garden, arriving at a newly dug pit. Prince Shen followed closely. The Emperor suddenly pushed his back, and Prince Shen fell into the pit. The Emperor removed the wooden ladder, took a brass water blaster loaded with clear water, and sprayed into the pit more than ten times. During this, she once intended to replace the water with dog urine, but didn't go through with it."

Even Song Tianyang couldn't hold it together at this point:

"Can you remove that last line?"

But just like many emperors who tried to get the court historian to rewrite history, she failed.

"Your Majesty has received the situational task reward. Based on the task rating, the national treasury gains 4,000 silver taels!"

"Additionally, a mysterious newbie gift pack awaits Your Majesty's collection."

"Four thousand bucks?"

Song Tianyang couldn't believe it: "You're trying to fob off a contemporary Li Shimin with this?"

She had very lenient standards for her own work results but expected a lot for the payout.

System: "Historical scenario missions can be triggered repeatedly. If Your Majesty wishes to obtain higher rewards, please improve your performance rating next time."

Song Tianyang understood—the Xuanwu Gate Incident could be triggered again and again.

This meant she could have a 'size-change' anywhere, anytime from now on.

"What are you mumbling about up there? Get me out of here!"

He Jianshen was pissed off.

Song Tianyang had come to the He residence hoping to score some gold coins to support her foster mother. Unexpectedly, Young Master He had walked right into her trap, basically hitting her goal ahead of time. She stood up and strode away, remembering to tell the security guard to fish her brother out of the pit.

At the same time, on one of the airplanes slowly entering the city's airspace, in a first-class cabin, sat a good-looking young guy.

A faint smile played on Chi Zhiqing's face.

He had woken up in this world ten days ago.

Before that, he was Vice President Chi, a self-made business shark. He had followed his fellow townspeople to a big city when he was penniless, making a name that scared everyone in the stock market and business world. Yet no matter how successful he became, Chi Zhiqing always referred to himself outwardly as Brother Bai's right hand man.

Everyone said that Boss Bai, who had recognized his talent back then, had scored an SSR gold card and could coast on his success forever. But unfortunately, the heavens didn't give him more years. After instinctively rescuing a pregnant woman trapped in the back seat of a taxi during a car accident, he was blown to pieces—SSR fragments, literally—on the spot.

The next thing he knew, Chi Zhiqing transmigrated into a trashy rich-family drama novel and got stuck with the Loyal Minister System.

As long as he completed the tasks and helped his fated ruler become an outstanding emperor, he could return to his original world.

Otherwise, the reward he'd front-loaded would be taken back—

a second life.

Succeed or die.

Chi Zhiqing didn't mind supporting others. In fact, he enjoyed the thrill that came from cooperating with others, trusting each other, and finally reaching the pinnacle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our plane will arrive at Shuitian Airport in fifteen minutes—"

He was already looking forward to meeting his Little Emperor.

Author's note:

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Emperor Hui of Jin, Sima Zhong, was Sima Yan's son. He had been slow since childhood. Sima Yan was very troubled by this, so he specially gave his son a few questions to test him, setting a three-day deadline. In the end, it was Sima Zhong's wife, Jia Nanfeng, who brought in several experts to answer them. This shows how… um…

The saying 'Why not eat meat porridge?' also came from him. History has rated him as 'very foolish' or 'an idiot,' but perhaps he wasn't a medically diagnosed one.

Ahhh, I didn't know that on JJ, posting 10,000 words allows you to be on the new book list for a week. I haven't even reached 10,000 words yet (anxiously spinning around in circles).

The text says that impoverished families tend to breed extremes—not to imply that poor families are bad. On the contrary, children from such backgrounds have a particularly hard time and sometimes need to act tough to protect themselves (my family is poor too, so I can especially relate. Adding this disclaimer just in case).