Li Shimin's decision

Li Shimin reached out and accepted it, but he didn't immediately start eating.

His status was special.

As the emperor of a country, he wouldn't eat foreign food without it being inspected.

A middle-aged man walked over from the shadows.

He pulled out a small knife, cut off a small piece of fish tofu, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Instantly, the man's eyes widened.

Li Shimin furrowed his brow. "Is this thing poisonous?"

The man touched his stomach and felt no discomfort.

After a few minutes passed without any issues, he shook his head. "Your Majesty, this thing isn't poisonous. It's just that I've never tasted anything this delicious before."

Delicious?

Liu Ren was his personal guard. Whatever Li Shimin ate, Liu Ren also ate.

They had tasted all kinds of delicacies.

For him to say such a thing...

Li Shimin was curious and took a bite.

It was an explosion of flavor in his mouth!

He couldn't help but widen his eyes, staring at the thing in his hand.

Seeing Li Shimin's expression, Longle couldn't help but giggle. "Father, there's plenty of this stuff. I just didn't have much silver, so I only bought eighty or so bags..."

Empress Changsun keenly caught on to the number mentioned and asked, "Not much silver, yet you could buy over eighty bags? What's this delicious food called, and how much does it cost?"

Longle replied obediently, "The shopkeeper said this food is called fish tofu, and it costs one coin per bag."

"What a fish tofu!" Li Shimin chuckled and praised, "It combines the freshness of fish with the smoothness of tofu, truly a rare find!"

"If you like it, Father, you can have someone buy it for you every day. The shopkeeper said he has as much as you want, even a million of them."

"Hiss..." Hearing this, Li Shimin narrowed his eyes slightly, taking a sharp intake of breath. He glanced at the matches, casually asking, "And what about these matches? Are they also available as much as one wants?"

Longle nodded emphatically. "Yes, and these delicate little things are very cheap too, only two coins."

Not something precious.

Li Shimin finished the remaining fish tofu in one bite.

He toyed with the matches, unable to put them down, and casually asked, "Where is this shop?"

Longle replied, "It's in Taiping Fang. The shop is easy to recognize; it's the one with a door made of an unknown metal..."

Li Shimin nodded and signaled to the Qian Niu Wei by his side.

The man nodded lightly and left the East Palace without a sound...

Longle picked up the last item and presented it to Empress Changsun as if offering a treasure. "Mother, there's also this!"

"It's called a solar night light. The name is hard to remember; it took me a long time to remember it."

Li Shimin glanced at it but didn't pay much attention. In his eyes, this thing was just a piece of glasswork, probably something that delighted little girls.

But for him, as the emperor, the matches occupied a larger place in his mind.

Princess Changle continued to explain enthusiastically, "The shopkeeper said this thing is a kind of lamp!"

Li Shimin echoed the same question as before, "A lamp?"

Princess Changle nodded vigorously.

With a click—

He struck the match.

The night light emitted a warm yellow glow!

It directly outshone the oil lamp beside it.

Li Shimin stood up abruptly.

He looked at the glassware in his hand in astonishment.

It really emitted light.

Li Shimin pursed his lips and glanced at the oil lamp on his table. Suddenly, he felt that the copper lamp crafted by skilled artisans wasn't as appealing as before...

Princess Changle didn't notice her father's peculiar expression and continued excitedly, "The shopkeeper said this thing needs to absorb solar energy during the day and can then emit light at night."

Listening to this mysterious explanation made Li Shimin feel like he was in another world.

The current Li Er hadn't reached the age of believing in ghosts and gods.

Especially for something like this, being sold in a shop so openly.

It made him feel that this was a delicately crafted object made by a remarkable artisan.

He just didn't know the principle behind it.

Li Shimin looked at the solar night light on the table and asked softly, "How much does this thing cost?"

"Two liang of silver," Longle obediently reported the price.

Li Shimin asked again, "Are there as many as one wants?"

Princess Changle nodded vigorously.

Li Shimin furrowed his brow, silent.

He became more convinced that the shop couldn't be something mystical.

How could there be immortals selling things so casually!

He became even more curious about that shop.

Iron doors, glass tables.

And they could produce food he had never tasted before, and delicate creations he had never seen...

He discussed some family matters.

Princess Changle then retreated to her own palace to enjoy the delicious fish tofu.

Just as she left, Liu Ren, the Qian Niu Wei, returned from outside the palace.

"Your Majesty," Liu Ren knelt down on one knee and saluted.

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes and asked, "Did you find out anything?"

Liu Ren furrowed his brow, puzzled. "Your Majesty, I inquired among the shady characters in Chang'an City, and they said there had never been such a shop in Taiping Fang before."

"It's as if... it suddenly appeared overnight."

Li Shimin's brow furrowed even tighter. "Appeared overnight?"

Liu Ren nodded heavily. "Yes, Your Majesty. If such a special shop had appeared in Taiping Fang before, those shady characters would surely have noticed."

"But when I went to find them today, they only discovered the appearance of such a shop here. It's quite abnormal."

Li Shimin waved his hand, pondering inwardly.

"In that case, I'll allocate one thousand liang of silver for you to go and buy those solar night lights and matches. Let's see if he really has so much stock!"

"Also, buy some of that fish tofu for me..."