12: The prince's plan

The night wind grew colder.

Huaiyu’s knees were already numb from the cold, and the sweat on his forehead, mixed with dust, formed a thin layer of frost in the icy night wind.

He didn’t dare to look up, only staring intently at the cold bluestone bricks on the ground, the crisscrossing patterns on them reflecting his chaotic thoughts at this moment.

The silence of His Highness was more chilling than any severe reprimand.

The hot blood that had rushed to his head was slowly cooling, replaced by a bone-chilling panic.

Were they too impulsive?

Were they… being presumptuous?

Yuchi Baolin clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging deep into his palms; only the stinging pain allowed him to barely maintain his kneeling posture.

He couldn't understand why, after bringing out their ultimate skills and gambling the future of their entire Family, all they received in return was such disregard?

A sense of humiliation, like a venomous snake, began to coil around his heart.

Just then, in the dead silence, a faint “click” sounded.

The sound wasn't loud, yet it was like a clap of thunder, exploding in everyone's hearts.

Everyone subconsciously lifted their eyelids, only to see His Highness extend his hand, and unhurriedly… open the latch of the golden birdcage.

The door was open.

The magnificent silver eagle tilted its head, its sharp eyes looking at the open cage door, then at Li Chengqian, but it didn't immediately fly out.

It merely flapped its wings, letting out a clear, piercing cry that echoed through the night sky.

This birdcall was both a taunt and an urging.

Li Chengqian finally turned around slowly.

He looked down from above at the descendants of generals kneeling before him.

There was no expression on his face, neither joy nor approval, only a bottomless calm, a calm that made people uneasy.

“Willing to die?”

He spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly audible to everyone, carrying an indescribable chill.

“Easier said than done.”

He paced to the edge of the high platform, his gaze sweeping over the faces of Yuchi Baolin, Luo Tong, and Cheng Chumo one by one, his eyes penetrating their skin to see the deepest thoughts in their hearts.

“Your fathers shed blood on the battlefield, narrowly escaping death, to earn their current titles and glory. Do you think that with a few flashy moves and some empty slogans, you can expand territory and achieve great deeds?”

His words were like a bucket of ice water poured over their heads, extinguishing the last embers of warmth in their hearts.

Luo Tong suddenly looked up, his lips moving as if to argue, but the moment his gaze met Li Chengqian’s cold eyes, he swallowed all his words.

Li Chengqian paid no attention to his reaction, continuing calmly, “Following this Young Master is not attending a lavish banquet. Instead, it is embarking on an endless thorny path, at the end of which might be boundless glory, but more likely… an abyss of eternal damnation.”

He paused, his voice dropping even lower, carrying a fatal allure and warning.

“You, and the Families behind you, will all be tied to this Young Master’s war chariot. We will prosper together, and if one falls… all fall.”

“Now, this Young Master gives you another chance.”

He extended a finger, shaking it gently, “Stand up, walk out of this Eastern Palace gate, and this Young Master will overlook tonight’s events. You will still be the Young Masters of Chang'an City, dressed in fine clothes, riding spirited horses, with wealth and luxury within reach.”

“But if you don’t leave…”

His gaze once again fell upon the silver eagle still perched at the cage opening.

“Then leave your lives.”

“From now on, your lives are no longer your own, but this Young Master’s.”

A deathly silence spread over the Eastern Palace’s high platform.

Li Chengqian’s words were an invisible blade, hanging over everyone’s necks.

To leave, or not to leave?

Wealth and ruin, decided in a single thought.

Sweat trickled down Yuchi Baolin’s temple, dripping onto the cold stone slab with an almost inaudible sound.

He gritted his teeth, the muscles in his jaw taut like iron.

Leave?

How the hell could he leave!

If he, Yuchi Baolin, walked out of this door today, he would never be able to hold his head high in Chang'an City again!

His father, Yuchi Gong's, dark face would probably glare him to death.

Cheng Chumo was even more of a reckless character; his father, Cheng Yaojin’s, three-axe fighting style hadn't taught him much else, but it had taught him the meaning of “courage.”

He stiffened his neck, already cursing in his heart: Damn it, is His Highness looking down on someone?

This Young Master hasn't even married a wife yet, what's life worth!

Time, under Li Chengqian’s cold gaze, passed minute by minute, each second like a battle drum pounding in everyone’s hearts, heavy and oppressive.

No one rose.

No one dared to move.

These tiger cubs of prominent families, who usually roamed Chang'an, now resembled lambs targeted by a fierce tiger, even their breathing becoming cautious.

They gave their answer with silence and rigid kneeling.

Li Chengqian saw it, but his heart was clouded with confusion.

He couldn't understand why these people were so resolute?

Was his disguise of being an ignorant Young Master, obsessed with eagles and dogs, not successful enough?

Or was there an unknown hand behind this?

His gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Qin Huaiyu at the very front.

Qin Qiong’s son, indeed, was calmer than the hot-headed Yuchi Family Young Master and the Devil King of the Cheng Family.

Just then, Qin Huaiyu, who had been silent, suddenly prostrated himself forward, his forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud.

“Your Highness!”

His voice was hoarse, yet carried an undeniable resolve.

“We are not ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, nor are we cowards who fear death!”

Qin Huaiyu raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, devoid of the previous panic, only a tragic determination to break the cauldrons and sink the boats.

“We were born into military Families, growing up hearing stories of our fathers dying on the battlefield, their bodies wrapped in horsehide, expanding our territory! But now, with peace across the land, we, despite our martial skills, can only race horses and fight cocks in Chang'an City, ridiculed by those civil officials and censors as ‘uneducated wastrels’!”

He stiffened his neck, his voice growing louder, wanting to roar out all the pent-up frustration of many years.

“We are not reconciled! Unreconciled to living our entire lives under the shadow of our fathers, unreconciled to dying of old age in the soft embrace of Chang'an! We also want to go to battle, to kill enemies, to expand the territory for the Great Tang, and to prove ourselves worthy of the title ‘descendants of generals’ with our military achievements!”

“Your Highness, you said that following you is stepping onto a thorny path, at the end of which might be an abyss of eternal damnation. But for us, remaining in Chang'an, watching ourselves become useless, that is the true eternal damnation!”

Qin Huaiyu once again kowtowed heavily, roaring out each word distinctly: “We beg Your Highness… give us a way to live! A way… to live honorably like real men, even if it’s a path to death!”

“We beg Your Highness to grant our wish!”

“We beg Your Highness to grant our wish!!”

Behind him, Yuchi Baolin, Cheng Chumo, Luo Tong, and others were instantly ignited, all kowtowing together, shouting themselves hoarse.

The voices converged into a torrent, impacting every corner of the Eastern Palace, and also impacting Li Chengqian’s heart, which was wrapped in layers of disguise.

Li Chengqian fell silent.

He looked at these young people before him, at the almost desperate longing in their eyes.

He suddenly understood a little.

This was not a carefully planned allegiance, but a group of young tigers abandoned by their era, seeking a way out in desperation.

What they needed was not a gentle lord, but a pack leader who could lead them to tear open their cage and return to the mountains and forests.