45: I will fight Li Shimin head-on, and I will beat that old dog Wei Zheng. What can you do to me?

“Yes, yes, this lowly one understands.”

The secret envoy, as if granted a great pardon, stumbled and crawled out.

In the study, Fang Xuanling was once again alone.

He stood up again and walked to the map, but his gaze passed over Jing Province and landed on Chang'an City, on that majestic imperial palace… Ganlu Hall.

It was already the third watch of the night; the palace servants had long since retired, leaving only Li Shimin sitting alone behind the imperial desk.

Only a single lamp was lit in the hall, its dim, flickering candlelight casting his imposing figure in a somewhat desolate light.

Before him, a secret memorial was also placed.

This memorial had arrived earlier than those sent to Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling, and its contents were even more detailed.

It came from Li Shimin's most secretive and reliable intelligence source—the Bad People.

He had read the memorial repeatedly no less than ten times; he recognized every single word on it, but combined, they filled him with a bone-chilling sense of unfamiliarity and coldness.

His complexion, in the candlelight, flickered erratically, at times ashen, at times pale.

Those hands, which had once pacified the realm and looked down upon all heroes, now trembled uncontrollably.

Chengqian… his Crown Prince… he had actually slaughtered 108,000 people in Jing Province!

In Li Shimin's mind, the Xuanwu Gate of over twenty years ago resurfaced uncontrollably.

The blood there had also once stained the bluestones.

For the throne, he had personally shot and killed his elder brother, forcing his father to abdicate.

He had thought himself ruthless enough.

But compared to what Chengqian had done today in Jing Province, his Xuanwu Gate Incident back then seemed somewhat… petty.

What an absurd feeling this was!

He felt a dizzy spell, his chest heavy, as if a huge boulder pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe.

Was it anger?

Yes, there was.

Chengqian's actions completely disregarded his sovereign father and the laws of the land!

This was challenging his bottom line as an emperor!

Was it fear?

Yes, there was that too.

He realized for the first time that this son of his had grown into a behemoth he could not fully control.

He possessed his own army, his own will, and even a ruthlessness that surpassed an emperor's.

This lion he had personally raised had grown its fangs and could turn on its master at any moment.

Or was it… a secret… admiration?

Li Shimin dared not delve deeper into that thought.

He forced himself to suppress this terrifying idea.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze complex as he stared at the flickering candlelight before him.

The firelight wavered in his deep pupils, reflecting an impending storm.

A colossal storm capable of engulfing the entire Great Tang, his Li family's empire, completely.

And at the center of the storm was his most valued, yet also most feared, son—Crown Prince Li Chengqian.

After a long while, he picked up the secret memorial and slowly extended it towards the candlelight.

The edge of the memorial caught fire, and the flames rapidly spread upwards, devouring those bloody words little by little.

The paper curled and blackened in the flames, eventually turning into a wisp of smoke that dissipated into the silent air of Ganlu Hall.

Nothing had happened.

But Li Shimin knew that some things, once they happened, could never be undone.

The dawn in Chang'an City always carried a solemnity, as if cleansed of its worldly dust.

However, today's Chang'an was shrouded in an unseen cloud.

News from Jing Province, as if on wings, flew overnight to the mansions of all the prominent families within Chang'an City.

Not through official gazettes, but through those intricate, interconnected private channels, in a more rapid and heart-stopping manner.

Huang Jianzhong, the Prefect of Jing Province, a figure of great importance in the aristocratic circles, had died just like that.

No, he hadn't just died.

His entire family had been slaughtered.

Along with his partisans, whom he had cultivated for years in Jing Province, they were uprooted overnight, and blood flowed like a river.

This was no longer a simple dismissal from office, nor even an ordinary Death (granted death).

This was a massacre, a warning, a bloody butcher's knife that Crown Prince Li Chengqian had brandished, with 100,000 heads, at the entire aristocratic gentry of Great Tang.

Fear, like a plague, spread among these high-ranking gentry Officials who usually held themselves above all.

For the first time, they felt that the Crown Prince, whom they had once thought they could manipulate at will, had transformed into a man-eating tiger.

Imperial Palace, Vermillion Bird Gate.

It was not yet fully light when two swift horses, like mad, charged towards the palace gate; the riders' hair was disheveled, their official robes flapped in the morning breeze, and their faces were filled with terrifying panic.

The guards at the gate, upon closer inspection, nearly dropped their long halberds.

It was none other than the Grand Chancellor Fang Xuanling and the Minister of the Central Secretariat Du Ruhui!

“Quick! Open the palace gate! We have an urgent matter and must immediately have an audience with Your Majesty!”

Fang Xuanling's voice was hoarse, completely devoid of his usual composure.

Du Ruhui's face was even paler, sweat mixed with the morning dew soaked the hair on his forehead and streamed down his cheeks, yet he seemed oblivious, only staring fixedly at the tightly shut palace gate, as if to bore two holes through it.

The palace gate slowly opened with a creaking sound; the two dismounted, stumbled in, not even bothering to tidy their appearance, and rushed towards Zichen Hall.

Their frantic figures sent shivers down the spines of all the palace servants and imperial guards who witnessed the scene.

The sky was about to fall.

Inside Zichen Hall, the Officials were already lined up, but today's atmosphere was particularly oppressive.

The civil Officials gathered in small groups, whispering to each other, their faces showing undisguised worry and indignation.

On the martial side, however, there was an eerie silence.

Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde, Li Jing… these founding heroes, one by one, kept their eyes downcast, like old monks in meditation, oblivious to the commotion around them.

“Your Majesty has arrived!”

With a high-pitched announcement from the eunuch, Li Shimin, clad in his Dragon robe, ascended the imperial steps with steady strides and sat upon the Dragon throne.

His expression was as calm as water, showing no ripple of emotion, as if unaware of the turmoil outside.

“My lords, if you have matters, report them early; if not, the court is dismissed.”

No sooner had he spoken than a figure impatiently rushed out from the ranks of the civil Officials and knelt with a thud.

It was the Grand Master of Remonstrance, Wei Zheng.

However, the Wei Zheng of this moment was vastly different from his usual image of being impeccably formal and humorless.

His official hat was askew, his left cheek was swollen, a clear finger mark was imprinted on it, and there were still fresh bloodstains at the corner of his mouth.

“Your Majesty!”

Wei Zheng's voice, filled with grief and indignation, echoed throughout the grand hall, “This subject wishes to impeach the Crown Prince!”

The entire court erupted in an uproar!

“Yesterday, this subject received a secret report from Jing Province; before I could even finish reading it, guards from the Eastern Palace burst into my residence, beat me severely without a word, and seized the secret letter! This was the Crown Prince's doing! His Highness the Crown Prince disregards his sovereign father, scorns the laws of the land, and assaults an imperial official; how is he any different from a bandit? I beg Your Majesty to uphold justice for this subject and severely punish the Crown Prince!”

As Wei Zheng spoke, he kowtowed, his forehead hitting the cold, hard golden bricks with dull thuds.

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Li Chengqian, who stood at the front of the line.

Li Chengqian, in his Crown Prince's python robe, stood tall and straight like a pine, a faint, cold smile playing on his lips.

He hadn't even heard Wei Zheng's accusation, nor did he so much as lift an eyelid.

Li Shimin's gaze finally descended from the Dragon throne, landing on his son.

His gaze was deep, revealing no emotion.

“Chengqian.”

His voice was very calm, “Is what Wei Zheng said true?”

Only then did Li Chengqian slowly raise his head, meeting Li Shimin's gaze, the cold smile at the corner of his mouth becoming even more pronounced.

He took a step forward and said clearly, “Indeed.”

Just two words, yet they exploded like thunder in the hall.

He actually admitted it just like that!

Wei Zheng trembled with rage, pointing at Li Chengqian, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Li Chengqian, however, did not even glance at him, continuing to speak to Li Shimin, “It was I who hit him.”

He paused, then surveyed the assembled civil and military Officials, his contempt unconcealed in his gaze, and his voice suddenly rose, “I just didn't hit him hard enough! This old dog, who only barks incessantly, I regret not breaking his leg!”