Li Shimin remained silent, while Chuyi softly said beside him: “Young Master, they truly seem quite pitiful. Perhaps… we should spare them this once.”

Li Shimin said expressionlessly: “Big Brother is right. Having committed a crime, one must receive punishment. This rule cannot be broken by anyone!”

Chuyi was stunned. Having followed Li Shimin for several years, he knew this young master had always been kind-hearted, but he hadn’t expected him to be so unfeeling this time.

The woman, disregarding her own weak body, crawled forward saying: “No, Young Master, please have mercy, don’t arrest my husband. You… arrest me instead!”

The man embraced her, gritting his teeth fiercely: “Don’t worry, no one can take me away.” After helping the woman sit against the wall, he picked up a stick as thick as an arm from the ground, gripping it tightly in his hands, and said with a trembling voice: “Leave immediately, otherwise… otherwise I’ll fight you to the death!”

Li Shimin seemed not to hear his words and stepped forward. The man retreated a step, his voice becoming increasingly tense: “Stop! If you come any closer, I… I won’t be polite anymore.” As he spoke, he made a striking motion, wanting to frighten Li Shimin, but unfortunately the latter showed no hesitation whatsoever, walking toward him step by step. Seeing they were only two steps apart, he steeled his heart, let out a low roar, and swung the wooden stick forward.

“Thud!” A dull sound echoed in the broken temple. The wooden stick fell to the ground, stirring up countless tiny particles of dust that were clearly visible in the sunlight streaming in.

The man looked at Li Shimin with a bloodless face. Just when the stick was still in mid-air, Li Shimin had seized it and casually thrown it to the ground, clearly showing that the latter’s martial skills were far superior to his own. His escape last time had truly been due to luck, but unfortunately, his luck had run out.

“Anyone who steals shall receive twenty strokes of the rod and thirty days in prison.” Faced with Li Shimin’s words, the man bit his teeth tightly, choking with emotion: “Why… why must you all drive people to a dead end, unable to leave anyone a way to live?” He wasn’t afraid of being punished himself, only afraid that once he left, his wife and daughters would die of illness and starvation.

Just as the man was in anguish, a voice like heavenly music fell upon his ears: “Your wife’s illness – I will have a physician treat her. As long as she can be saved, she will definitely be saved. After you’re released from prison, come to Ji Garden to find them.” Law and human compassion need not be mutually exclusive.

After Li Yuan arrived in Hedong, he found an uninhabited estate and, like in Honghua Commandery, named it Ji Garden, distributing rice and porridge to the poor people. In just one month, it had become known to many people, with long queues forming daily to receive rice and flour. However, Li Yuan alone couldn’t provide relief to all the people of Hedong, so he could only distribute one bag of rice and flour per day, often running out in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, leaving those who came later to return empty-handed.

The man looked at Li Shimin with surprise and uncertainty. He had also gone there several times to receive aid, so he knew who operated Ji Garden. This young master before him, who spoke of bringing them to the Ji Garden established by Duke of Tang, must have an extraordinary identity. He probed: “You… who are you?”

Chuyi lifted his chin somewhat proudly: “My young master is the Second Young Master of Duke of Tang, the Pacification Commissioner for Hedong and Shanxi. You’re probably the first person who dared to steal my young master’s money pouch.”

The man looked at Li Shimin in shock, never having imagined he would be the Second Young Master of the Governor’s Office. He… he had truly disturbed the peace of a powerful figure this time. The person who had instructed him to steal Li Shimin’s money pouch… what exactly was his intention?

“Well, are you still unwilling?” Li Shimin’s words pulled his thoughts back. He probed tentatively: “Second Young Master, will you… truly have someone treat my wife?”

“Since I’ve spoken, I will certainly do it. What about you?” Before Li Shimin finished speaking, the man had already fallen to his knees with a “thud,” crying: “Thank you, Second Young Master! Thank you, Second Young Master! As long as you’re willing to care for them, let alone twenty strokes, even two hundred strokes, this humble person will endure!”

Chuyi said with amusement: “If you really took two hundred strokes, you’d have no life left.”

The man wiped away his tears: “My death doesn’t matter, as long as the mother and daughters are safe.” Then he repeatedly thanked Li Shimin before standing up, saying excitedly to the woman: “Wife, with Second Young Master’s care, your illness will surely recover quickly.”

“Yes, we’ve met a good person.” Saying this, the woman struggled to prop herself up, weakly saying: “Husband, let’s kowtow to Second Young Master together.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The man repeatedly agreed, pulling over their two young daughters to kowtow to Li Shimin together: “Second Young Master’s great kindness, we husband and wife will remember in our hearts. From now on, whenever Second Young Master has need of us, even if it means being ground to powder and crushed to pieces, we will certainly comply!”

“Alright, all of you get up.” After helping them up, Li Shimin said: “Chuyi, go to Ji Garden and find some people to carry this lady there, then go invite a physician to come and treat her properly. All consultation fees and medicine costs will be paid by Ji Garden.”

“Yes, I’ll go right away.” After Chuyi left, Li Shimin remembered something: “After talking for so long, I still don’t know your names.”

The man slapped his forehead: “This humble person is confused. This humble person is called Zhou Xing, and my wife’s surname is Qi.” After a pause, he added: “Second Young Master, rest assured. After my wife and the others go to Ji Garden, this humble person will immediately go to the yamen to surrender.”

Li Shimin nodded and took out some copper coins to give to Zhou Xing, telling him to buy some meat buns for the two little girls to eat. Zhou Xing repeatedly waved his hands: “This humble person has already received Second Young Master’s great kindness and absolutely cannot accept more of your money. Those from before, after this humble person gets out of prison, I will definitely repay you as quickly as possible.” Then, fearing Li Shimin would misunderstand, he hurriedly added: “You can rest assured, this humble person will never steal or rob again, and guarantee that every penny will be completely clean.”

Li Shimin smiled slightly: “Consider these few coins as a loan from me. You can repay them all together then.”

Seeing him say this, and with the two children looking on eagerly, Zhou Xing finally accepted the money. After walking just a few steps, he suddenly stopped again, turned around, and said hesitantly: “There’s one matter that, after thinking it over, this humble person feels should be told to Second Young Master.”

Li Shimin casually asked: “What matter?”

“Actually, when this humble person stole Second Young Master’s money pouch that day, it wasn’t by chance. Someone specifically pointed out Second Young Master to this humble person.” Zhou Xing’s words made Li Shimin start, his brows immediately furrowing: “So you’re saying someone instructed you?”

Zhou Xing shook his head: “It can’t quite be put that way. Two days before meeting Second Young Master, this humble person stole someone’s money pouch on the street and was caught red-handed by him. He told this humble person to do something for him, otherwise he would send this humble person to the yamen.”

“For the next two days, he kept watch with this humble person near the Governor’s Office. That day, when he saw you and another young master come out, he told this humble person to follow you and then steal your money pouches when the opportunity arose.”