135: The people of the world have given you the reason Your Majesty needs!

Yuan Tiangang's voice was soft, merely stating a simple truth, yet it caused the air on the entire Xuanwu Gate tower to solidify.

"Your Highness, the reason you seek, the people of the world have already given you."

He didn't look at Li Chengqian, but slowly turned around, his ancient, unmoving eyes sweeping over the angry and bewildered commoners below, and over the high-ranking court Officials, pressed to the ground by the imperial guards, their faces ashen.

"The evils of Buddhism are too numerous to recount. They do not engage in production, yet they possess vast tracts of fertile land; they do not pay taxes, yet they are as rich as a nation. They use the incense money of the commoners to practice usury, forcing families into ruin. They turn Buddhist Temples into dens of iniquity, and compassion into a butcher's knife. Of these countless incidents, which one is not a bloody reality? Which one is not a grave crime that shakes the foundation of the nation?"

Yuan Tiangang's voice suddenly rose, filled with the desolate sorrow of one who grieves for humanity.

"Your Highness, this world is sick. Very sick."

He stretched out his withered finger, pointing at the captured monks, and then towards the distant, majestic city of Chang'an.

"These monks are festering sores on the flesh. And those aristocratic clans, entrenched in the court, colluding with Buddhism, and sucking the people's blood and sweat, are the virulent poison that has entered the bone marrow! If the sores are not dug out, and the poison not removed, the body of the Great Tang will sooner or later collapse!"

"Your Highness's actions today are not slaughter; they are healing! They are using thunderous means to act with a Bodhisattva's heart!"

"The reason you seek was never to convince yourself, but to give an explanation to the world. And now, that explanation is the will of the people! It is the surging wrath of tens of thousands of commoners below the city tower!"

"Your Highness, you no longer need to seek any excuses. All you need to do is follow the will of heaven and respond to the people. Carry this cleansing through to the end!"

"Attain Dao through killing!"

The last four words, Yuan Tiangang spoke with resolute determination, resounding clearly.

These words made Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Wei Zheng, who were held at knifepoint by the imperial guards, feel a chill run through their bodies.

Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng felt an endless sadness in their hearts.

They knew that Yuan Tiangang spoke the truth; the poison of Buddhism and the aristocratic clans had long penetrated the bone marrow.

But could such cruel methods truly save the Great Tang?

How was this any different from the tyrannical rulers of previous dynasties?

As for Zhangsun Wuji, what he heard was another meaning.

He looked at Yuan Tiangang, then at the expressionless Li Chengqian, and a terrifying thought arose in his heart, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

All of this was meticulously planned!

From exposing the crimes of Buddhism, to igniting the wrath of the commoners, and then to Yuan Tiangang's current rhetoric of "following the will of heaven and responding to the people"... This was a perfect closed loop!

Li Chengqian's actions were not a momentary fit of madness; he had planned every step from the very beginning!

What he wanted was not merely the throne; he wanted to use the bloodiest means to purge all obstacles he perceived, and then, on a clean chessboard, establish a completely new order belonging solely to him!

And these so-called loyal Officials were merely his first sacrifices to consecrate his banner!

Realizing this, Zhangsun Wuji felt a chill shoot from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head, even his teeth chattering.

He looked at his nephew, the Prince who once needed his support, but who had now become an unfathomable monster he could not comprehend.

Li Chengqian listened quietly to Yuan Tiangang's words, his face still bearing that cold expression.

He, of course, knew all of this.

He didn't need Yuan Tiangang to teach him how to act.

What he needed was Yuan Tiangang's mouth, the mouth of a "Celestial Master," to articulate what he wanted to do in a way that the people of the world could accept.

"Celestial Master, well said."

Li Chengqian spoke indifferently, no emotion discernible in his voice.

He paced to the edge of the city tower, looking down at the chaotic and oppressive scene below.

His unconscious father, his fainted mother, the arrested high-ranking Officials, and the group of monks he had terrified into submission.

In his heart, there was no trace of triumph, only a cold emptiness.

He slowly raised his hand.

The entire Xuanwu Gate instantly fell silent.

All eyes were focused on his raised hand, awaiting his coming pronouncement.

"Li Junxian."

"Your subordinate is here!"

Below the city tower, Li Junxian rode out, his voice like a great bell.

"Take all these criminal monks away!"

Li Chengqian's voice was not loud, but it clearly carried across the entire square, "I will personally interrogate them! Every ounce of silver they have taken must be spat out! Every blood debt they owe must be paid with their lives!"

"Understood!"

The Jinwu Guard rushed forward like wolves and tigers, dragging away the monks who had long since collapsed into a heap of mud.

Monk Liaofan and Monk Huiji, at this moment, didn't even have the strength to cry out. Their faces were ashen, their eyes hollow, allowing the soldiers to drag them away, their mouths only unconsciously muttering: "It's over... It's all over..."

After dealing with these monks, Li Chengqian's gaze slowly fell upon the Officials on the city tower, whose expressions varied.

Especially those few Officials from the Five Surnames and Seven Clans who had previously followed Li Taixu, clamoring to distance themselves from him.

Now, they all cowered, wishing they could become transparent, fearing that the terrifying eyes of His Highness the Prince would notice them.

However, what was destined to come, ultimately could not be avoided.

In this deadly silence, Li Shimin, still unconscious, his eyelids twitched, emitting a faint groan.

A imperial physician quickly stepped forward and firmly pinched the philtrum on his face.

"Ugh..."

Li Shimin slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze, at first, was bewildered, hollow.

He looked at the gloomy sky above, at the panicked eunuchs and Officials around him, and for a moment, he couldn't remember what had happened.

But when his gaze fell upon Zhangsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling, who were still held at knifepoint by the imperial guards, all his memories, like a bursting flood, instantly surged into his mind.

The dark secrets of his wealth exposed in public, the humiliation of being condemned by all the people, the collapse of being rendered speechless by his own son's words of "fratricide"... And that soul-piercing sentence.

"Li Shimin! Are you worthy?!"

"Pfft—" He couldn't catch his breath, and a sweet, metallic liquid surged up his throat again, but this time, he didn't spit it out, but forced himself to swallow it back down.

He couldn't collapse!

I am Your Majesty!

I cannot collapse here!

The last shred of imperial dignity supported him, making him struggle, trying to sit up from the cold ground.

"Your Majesty!"

"Imperial Father!"

The surrounding eunuchs and unarrested Officials, as if granted a great pardon, rushed forward to assist him.

Li Shimin, supported by the crowd, shakily stood up.

His face was utterly devoid of color, his lips tinged with blue-purple, making him look as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

His gaze pierced through the crowd, firmly locking onto the figure standing with his hands behind his back.

Li Chengqian.

His rebellious son!

Anger, humiliation, unwillingness, and even a fear he himself refused to acknowledge, intertwined and churned in his chest.

He wanted to speak, to rebuke, to use the authority of the Son of Heaven to completely suppress this rebellious son.

But he opened his mouth and found that he couldn't say anything.

Say what?

Say that he amassed wealth for the sake of the Great Tang?

He had already said that, and it had only brought deeper humiliation.