160: On the top of Mount Shu, the seal is about to be broken

The next day, before dawn, Civil and Military Officials already stood on both sides of Zhuque Avenue in Chang'an City.

They were dressed in brand new court robes, each with a solemn expression, even a hint of nervousness and apprehension, bowing their heads, waiting for the palace gates to open.

Everything that happened in front of Xuanwu Gate last night had too great an impact on them.

The Emperor went mad, the Saint knelt, the Immortal was defeated, and a hundred thousand troops defected.

A powerful authority, full of iron and ruthlessness, which they had never seen before, rose overnight.

They did not know what fate awaited them.

Would The New Emperor carry out a brutal purge of these "old Officials" who had once been loyal to the Retired Emperor?

Everyone was on tenterhooks, not daring to even breathe.

"Creak—" The heavy palace gates slowly opened.

Li Junxian, clad in golden armor, stood expressionlessly inside the gate, his embroidered spring blade at his waist.

Behind him were two rows of Shence Army soldiers, holding long halberds, their eyes cold.

That chilling Aura made the hearts of all the Officials leap to their throats.

"Your Majesty has decreed, all Officials enter the hall for an audience."

Li Junxian's voice was devoid of emotion.

Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui exchanged glances, seeing the bitterness in each other's eyes.

They straightened their attire and were the first to step into this familiar yet unfamiliar palace.

Taiji Hall.

It was still that magnificent hall, but today, the feeling here was completely different.

On both sides of the hall stood not the steady Imperial Guards of the past, but rows of Bad People in black flying fish robes, with embroidered spring blades at their waists.

Each of the Bad People exuded a chilling Aura that warned others to keep their distance; their eyes, like eagles, scanned every Official who entered the hall, making these normally pampered dignitaries feel completely uneasy.

And on the high Dragon Throne, a young figure in a dark dragon robe sat.

It was Li Chengqian.

He did not wear the heavy imperial crown; his long, dark hair was simply tied up with a jade hairpin.

He just sat there quietly, one hand resting on the armrest of the Dragon Throne, the other casually placed on his lap, his gaze calmly looking down.

But the innate imperial Aura on him, which commanded respect without anger, solidified the air in the entire hall.

"Your Majesty, your humble servants prostrate themselves before you! Long live, long live, long long live our Emperor!"

Led by Wei Zheng, the entire Civil and Military Officials knelt in unison, burying their heads deeply on the cold golden bricks.

This genuflection was born of genuine awe.

"Rise."

Li Chengqian's voice rang out, very calm, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The Officials rose, still keeping their heads down, not daring to meet the gaze from the Dragon Throne.

Li Chengqian's gaze slowly swept across those below.

He saw Wei Zheng's graying hair, Fang Xuanling's and Du Ruhui's furrowed brows, and the undisguised fear in the eyes of many Officials.

"Regarding yesterday's events, I presume all my dear ministers are already aware."

Li Chengqian slowly began, "Past grievances, I will not pursue."

Upon hearing this, many Officials secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"However..."

Li Chengqian's voice suddenly shifted, becoming cold.

"From today onwards, the reign title will be 'Kaiyuan'. Kaiyuan signifies the creation of a brand new era. My court does not need factions, does not need feigned obedience, and certainly does not need those useless people who only know how to talk empty words."

His gaze, like a knife, scraped across everyone's faces.

"What I need are capable and dedicated Officials!"

"When my decrees are issued, there is only one thing you need to do—execute them without compromise!"

"Whoever can do it, I will not hesitate to reward. Whoever cannot, or does not want to..."

A cruel arc formed on Li Chengqian's lips.

"Then in this court, there are plenty of people who want to do it, waiting to replace him."

These words, full of naked threats, instantly made the hearts of all Officials pound again.

This New Emperor was indeed completely different from the Retired Emperor.

The Retired Emperor, Li Shimin, though also a powerful ruler, still emphasized "joint governance between ruler and ministers" and "accepting criticism readily."

But this Kaiyuan Emperor, what he wanted was absolute obedience!

It was unreserved execution!

This was a true, autocratic overlord of all ages!

"Li Junxian."

Li Chengqian's gaze fell on the entrance of the hall.

"Your servant is here!"

Li Junxian strode into the hall and knelt on one knee.

"Yesterday at Xuanwu Gate, you set things right and deserve the highest merit."

Li Chengqian said, "I appoint you as the Grand General of the Shence Army, in overall command of the capital's defenses, and bestow upon you the title of Duke of Zhao."

"Boom!"

This bestowal shocked the entire court!

Grand General of the Shence Army, commander of the Bad People!

This meant entrusting all military and supervisory power of Chang'an City to Li Junxian alone!

And the title of Duke of Zhao!

This was a ducal title rarely bestowed after the founding of the dynasty!

Li Junxian also trembled, his eyes filled with excitement and disbelief.

"Your servant... thanks Your Majesty for your divine grace! I will dedicate my life to Your Majesty, even if it means death a thousand times over!"

He kowtowed heavily, making a loud thud.

"Qin Huaiyu, Cheng Chumo, Yuchi Baolin."

Li Chengqian called out a few more names.

"This subordinate is here!"

The sons of Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin, flushed with excitement, stepped forward and knelt on the ground.

"You all are descendants of generals, and you also rendered meritorious service during the Dragon's ascent yesterday. You are appointed to the Shence Army as Left and Right Guards, to assist Li Junxian in guarding the capital."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The young men's voices trembled with excitement.

A new emperor, a new court.

With these few simple and direct appointments, Li Chengqian announced to everyone that his era had arrived.

The old noble factions would be suppressed.

And a new power core, loyal only to him, was being established.

After all this, Li Chengqian's gaze returned to Wei Zheng and the others.

"Yesterday, I already issued five decrees."

"Investigate Buddhist Temples, redistribute land, expand the army by three million, establish Shu Mountain as the state religion, and build a Cultivator army."

"These five matters are the Foundation of the Kaiyuan New Deal, and they are of utmost importance."

"I give you one month's time."

"Within one month, I want to see the first batch of money and grain confiscated from Buddhist Temples deposited into the national treasury. The first batch of equal-field system documents distributed to the common people. The first batch of expanded army recruits assembled."

"Do any of you, my dear ministers, have any objections?"

He asked "Do you have any objections?", but his gaze and tone clearly implied: Who dares to object?

Wei Zheng's lips moved.

With his temperament, he could have found at least a hundred flaws to refute these five shocking policies.

Such as investigating Buddhist Temples would shake the people's hearts, redistributing land would force aristocratic families to rebel, expanding the army by three million would bankrupt the treasury... But the words caught in his throat, and he swallowed them back.

He looked at the cold-eyed young man on the Dragon Throne, and he knew that reasoning with this Your Majesty was useless.

What he wanted was not discussion, but results.

"Your old servant... obeys the decree."

Wei Zheng, with difficulty, squeezed out these three words from between his teeth and bowed.

With him taking the lead, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and others could only follow, bowing and accepting the order.

"Your servants obey the decree!"

"Very good."

Li Chengqian nodded with satisfaction.

"Court dismissed."

He stood up, without the slightest hesitation, and turned to walk into the back hall.

Leaving behind the Civil and Military Officials, who looked at each other, their hearts filled with mixed emotions.

They knew that from today onwards, the sky of the Great Tang had truly changed.

An unprecedented storm, sweeping across the land, was about to begin.

Chang'an, Daming Palace, Wude Hall.

This palace held extraordinary significance for the Li imperial family.

In the past, Emperor Gaozu, Li Yuan, was here when he passed the throne to Prince Qin, Li Shimin, and became the Retired Emperor.

And now, history played a cruel joke.

Li Shimin also moved in here.

Also, as the Retired Emperor.

Inside the hall, incense smoke curled, and the furnishings were still as they were before Li Shimin's ascension, luxurious yet dignified.

But the current master had long lost his former high spirits.

Li Shimin, wearing a bright yellow casual robe, sat on a soft couch, his hair disheveled and his eyes hollow.

Before him was a table of exquisite dishes and wine, but he had not touched a bite.

He just sat there blankly, like a clay statue that had lost its Soul.

In front of Xuanwu Gate, his son, who descended like a god or devil, those heart-wrenching words, and the final revelation of the truth about "saving the world," crushed all the pride and dignity of this "Emperor of the Ages."

His proud "Reign of Zhenguan" seemed so insignificant, so ridiculous, in the face of his son's grand blueprint of "contending with Heaven."

He lost.

He lost everything.

Now, he was confined here, ostensibly for "support," but in reality, imprisoned.

That rebellious son didn't even bother to kill him.

Because letting him live, watching with his own eyes everything he built being overthrown, and watching the son he most looked down upon ascend to a peak he could never reach, was the cruelest punishment for an emperor who had been proud his entire life.

"Your Majesty..."

A gentle voice sounded from the side.

Empress Zhangsun, holding a bowl of ginseng soup, walked to Li Shimin's side, her eyes full of distress.

"Have something to drink, you haven't eaten all day."

Li Shimin slowly turned his head and looked at his wife.

This gentle and virtuous face, which he had seen for decades, now made him feel incredibly unfamiliar.

"Guanyinbi,"

His voice was hoarse and dry, like two broken tiles rubbing together, "You say... was I wrong?"

Empress Zhangsun's hand, holding the soup bowl, trembled slightly upon hearing this.

She didn't know how to answer.

As a wife, she should comfort him.

But as an Empress, as a mother, she had witnessed Li Chengqian's changes over the years and vaguely guessed some things.

She knew that her husband was indeed wrong.

Wrong in that he had never truly understood his son.

"Your Majesty..."

Empress Zhangsun put down the soup bowl and gently held Li Shimin's cold hand, "Chengqian... perhaps, he just used the wrong method..."

"Method?"

Li Shimin suddenly laughed hysterically, his laughter full of self-mockery.

"Haha... method... do you think this is just a matter of method?"

He violently flung away Empress Zhangsun's hand, stood up, and paced back and forth in the hall, like a madman.

"I was fighting against people! Fighting against Jiancheng, fighting against Yuanji, fighting against those aristocratic families, fighting against the Turks! I thought I had won the world!"

He pointed to his chest, then to the sky outside the hall.

"But him! He is fighting against Heaven!"

"He is using this entire world as a chessboard! Using the common people as chess pieces! He is planning something that even Immortals would tremble at!"

"Do you understand?! I and he, from the very beginning, were not on the same level!"

Li Shimin's eyes were bloodshot, filled with unwillingness, jealousy, but more so, a deep fear of being completely crushed.

"I am but a Mortal Emperor. And he... he is a monster! He is a madman!"

"How can I fight him? What do I have to fight him with?!"

He roared, venting the humiliation and fear in his heart, and finally, powerlessly, collapsed back onto the soft couch.

"It's over... it's all over..."

He muttered to himself, his eyes once again becoming unfocused.

Empress Zhangsun looked at her husband in this state, her heart aching.

She knew that Li Shimin's spirit had been completely crushed.

This man, who once stood tall, could no longer rise.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the hall.

A small eunuch, trembling, walked in and knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head.

"Reporting... reporting to the Retired Emperor, Empress."

"What is it?"

Empress Zhangsun asked, suppressing her grief.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty has just decreed that... that the former Crown Princess Su... be... be made the Kaiyuan Empress, mother of the world."

"Boom!"

This news, a final clap of thunder, struck fiercely at Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun's heads.

Lady Su... their daughter-in-law whom they had deposed and banished to the cold palace.

The woman they considered a blemish on Li Chengqian's life.

Now, she had become the Empress of the new dynasty.

And she, the former Empress, would have to spend the rest of her life in this Wude Hall, accompanying a useless man.

Empress Zhangsun's body swayed, her face instantly turning ashen white.

And on the soft couch, Li Shimin, who had already lost his Soul, upon hearing this news, his unfocused eyes suddenly narrowed!

An indescribable humiliation, more painful than death, surged into his heart.

That rebellious son!

He not only wanted to seize his empire, but he also wanted to humiliate him in this way!

To tell him that all the decisions he had made in the past were wrong!

"Pfft—!"

Li Shimin could no longer suppress it, and a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out, staining the front of his robe.

Immediately, he rolled his eyes and fell straight down.

"Your Majesty!"

Empress Zhangsun let out a mournful shriek.

The entire Wude Hall descended into chaos.

And all of this could no longer affect the power structure of Chang'an City in the slightest.

The old sun had completely set.

Just as Chang'an City was rife with undercurrents due to The New Emperor's ascension, Shu Mountain, a thousand miles away, was shrouded in gloom.

At the peak of Shu Mountain, in front of the Demon Lock Tower.

Daoist Qingwei, the five Grand Elders, and the Wine Sword Immortal, who had just returned to the mountain gate, looked solemnly at the colossal tower reaching into the sky before them.

At this moment, the Demon Lock Tower was even more dilapidated than what Daoist Qingwei had shown Kong Boyuan and others using the water mirror technique.

The massive crack on the tower body, which almost traversed half of it, had widened further.

Strands of inky black Demonic Qi continuously seeped out from within, staining the surrounding sky with an ominous gray hue.

Around the tower, the Two Forms Micro Dust Sword Formation formed by thousands of Shu Mountain Disciples had grown very dim.

Many young Disciples, having exhausted their spiritual power, had fainted and were being carried to the back by their fellow Disciples.

Those who were still holding on were all pale, with traces of blood at the corners of their mouths, relying solely on willpower to endure.

"Senior Brother, we can't go on like this!"

Daoist Feng looked at the tottering Disciples, her eyes filled with anxiety and distress.

"If this continues, before the demons in the tower come out, our Disciples will be exhausted to death by this Demonic Qi!"