46: Li Chengqian forced the emperor to abdicate: Anyone who offends me will die!

“You… you…”

Wei Zheng couldn’t catch his breath and nearly fainted on the spot.

The entire Zichen Hall was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by Li Chengqian’s extremely outrageous words.

He’s mad!

His Highness must be mad!

In front of the assembled Officials and the Emperor, he openly admitted to beating an admonishing official and even uttered such vile language!

This was no longer simple arrogance; this was an open challenge to the order of the entire court!

“Presumptuous!”

A thunderous roar came from the Dragon Throne.

Li Shimin slammed the imperial desk and suddenly stood up.

A terrifying imperial Aura instantly enveloped the entire hall.

The temperature inside the hall seemed to drop by more than ten degrees.

“Rebellious son!”

Li Shimin’s eyes were wide, glaring at Li Chengqian, his chest heaving violently, “Beating a minister, insulting an admonishing official! Do you still have me in your eyes! Do you still have the laws of Great Tang!”

He pointed at Li Chengqian, his finger trembling slightly from anger: “Guards! Bring me…”

Just as Li Shimin was about to issue an order to hold him accountable.

“Reporting to Your Majesty!”

A rough voice interrupted his words.

Cheng Yaojin strode out from the ranks of military Officials, scratching the back of his head with his fan-like hand, and said in a muffled voice, “Your Majesty, I, Old Cheng, think there’s something fishy about this. Although Wei Heizi has a foul mouth, His Highness is not someone who acts without reason. Even when beating a dog, one has to consider its owner. His Highness must have his reasons for doing this.”

“Cheng Zhijie! You…”

An imperial censor was about to retort.

“Your Majesty, I second that.”

A steady voice sounded, and Qin Qiong also stepped forward.

He cupped his fist at Li Shimin, his expression solemn: “His Highness has always been steady. There must be a reason for his actions this time. I hope Your Majesty will investigate thoroughly!”

Immediately after, Yuchi Jingde, Li Jing, Niu Jinda… one after another, renowned military generals, as if by prior agreement, all stepped out of their ranks and stood in the center of the hall.

“We hope Your Majesty will investigate thoroughly! His Highness is righteous!”

The loud voices converged, echoing endlessly in the Zichen Hall, shaking dust from the beams.

The civil Officials were all dumbfounded.

They looked at the group of military Officials filled with Killing Intent, watching them stand firmly behind His Highness, forming an insurmountable barrier, and a chill shot from their feet to the top of their heads.

Is this… is this a forced abdication? !

Li Shimin was also stunned.

His anger, as if doused with a basin of ice water, instantly extinguished by more than half.

He looked at Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, and the other old brothers who had followed him to conquer the empire, looking at their resolute faces one by one, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

Jing Province… Weren’t the ones who went to Jing Province the sons of these very people?

Qin Huaiyu, Cheng Chumo, Yuchi Baolin… He instantly understood.

This was no longer just about his son, Li Chengqian.

This was the entire Great Tang military official group declaring war on the civil official group represented by the aristocratic families!

And his Highness, Li Chengqian, was the sharpest sword in this conflict!

For a time, in the Zichen Hall, civil and military Officials were clearly divided.

On one side were the pale-faced, silent civil Officials, and on the other were the military Officials, full of Aura and united against a common enemy.

The two forces clashed invisibly, creating a suffocating sense of oppression.

Li Shimin slowly sat back on the Dragon Throne, his fingers resting on the armrest, tapping imperceptibly.

His face had regained its calm.

But in his deep eyes, undercurrents surged, and a storm gathered.

Good… good one, Chengqian… You not only have your own soldiers, but also the support of the entire military family.

Are you… going to put me on the fire too?

The dead silence in the hall was broken by a hurried and faint sound of footsteps.

A young eunuch, holding a scroll of imperial yellow memorial, trotted all the way, prostrating himself below the imperial steps, not even daring to raise his head.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, an 800-li urgent report from Jing Province, His Highness’s personal memorial!”

Li Shimin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

It’s here.

He knew this was Li Chengqian’s real trump card.

“Present it.”

His voice showed no emotion.

The young eunuch trembled as he held the memorial high above his head, and the head eunuch quickly walked down the imperial steps, took the memorial, and respectfully presented it to Li Shimin’s imperial desk.

Li Shimin did not open it immediately; his gaze swept over the Officials below, whose expressions varied.

The civil Officials had a hint of expectation in their eyes, hoping this memorial would be evidence of His Highness’s outrageous behavior.

The military Officials, however, wore expressions of composure and confidence.

He slowly unfolded the memorial, and lines of strong, vigorous handwriting came into view.

On it, densely packed, were listed the crimes of Huang Jianzhong, the Prefect of Jing Province, numbering over a hundred.

Seizing fertile land, setting up private checkpoints, disregarding human lives, embezzling disaster relief funds… every single one was shocking enough to lead to the confiscation of his family’s property and the extermination of his clan.

However, Li Shimin’s gaze was fixed on the first charge.

That line of text seemed to carry a bloody scent, rushing straight into his eyes.

“In the autumn of the seventh year of Zhenguan, Huang Jianzhong, the Prefect of Jing Province, colluded with local powerful families, openly set an ambush outside Jing Province city, and intercepted and killed Qin Huaiyu, the son of Duke Yiguo and a commander of the Crown Prince’s Guard, along with other descendants of meritorious Officials, attempting to rebel!”

“Boom!”

In Li Shimin’s mind, it was as if thunder exploded.

He felt a rush of blood to his head, and his vision blurred.

Intercepting and killing the son of a meritorious general!

And it was Qin Qiong’s son!

His hand trembled uncontrollably, and the heavy memorial almost slipped from his grasp.

In the Zichen Hall, a pin drop could be heard.

Everyone held their breath, watching the Emperor on the Dragon Throne suddenly turn ashen.

An unprecedented storm was furiously gathering at the apex of this great hall.

“Bang!”

A dull thud broke the suffocating silence in the Zichen Hall.

It was Li Shimin’s fist, slamming hard on the imperial desk.

The imperial yellow memorial was crumpled in his palm, as if he were clutching Huang Jianzhong’s neck.

His chest heaved violently, his eyes bloodshot, not with anger, but with a Killing Intent capable of incinerating heaven and earth.

Intercepting and killing the descendants of meritorious Officials!

These six words were like six red-hot branding irons, fiercely seared into his heart.

He remembered Qin Qiong’s scars, Cheng Yaojin blocking a fatal blow for him on the battlefield, and Yuchi Jingde’s loyalty in saving his lord alone.

These were his sworn brothers, and it was with their blood and bones that they paved the way for the vast empire under his feet!

And now, someone dared to touch their sons!

To touch their sons was to dig up Li Shimin’s roots and undermine the foundation of his Great Tang!

“Shubao.”

Li Shimin’s voice was hoarse beyond recognition. He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping past the trembling civil Officials below, landing directly on Qin Qiong.

Qin Qiong’s body was trembling slightly. This man, who had shed countless amounts of blood in his life and emerged from piles of corpses without batting an eyelid, now had a deathly pale face.

He heard it, he heard every word on the memorial clearly.

“Your Majesty…”

Qin Qiong’s voice trembled slightly. He wanted to say something, but found his throat clogged as if with cotton.

“Damn it!”

A furious roar, like a sudden clap of thunder, erupted. Cheng Yaojin tore off his official hat and slammed it to the ground, “Huang Jianzhong, that son of a bitch! How dare he!”

Old Cheng’s eyes were red, like an enraged bull. He took a step forward and knelt before Li Shimin on the Dragon Throne with a “thud,” making the floor shake.

“Your Majesty! There’s no need for His Highness to act! I, Old Cheng, will go now! If I don’t twist off that dog-thief’s head and kick it around like a ball, then I’m not Cheng Yaojin!”

“I second that!”

Yuchi Jingde’s voice boomed like a bell as he stepped forward.

“I second that!”

“I second that!”

Li Jing, Hou Junji, Duan Zhixuan… In an instant, the military Officials, as one, knelt down in a sweeping motion.

The entire Zichen Hall echoed with their metallic pleas to go to war.

That overwhelming Evil Qi, forged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, transformed into a tangible pressure that swept towards the civil Officials.

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and others turned pale as paper. Under this Aura, they felt it difficult to breathe and their legs weakened.

Even Wei Zheng, who had just been so righteous, now stood with his mouth open, unable to utter a single word.

He finally understood why he had received that beating.

It was a light beating!

His Highness’s words now echoed repeatedly in his ears.

Yes, compared to such a heinous crime as intercepting and killing the descendants of meritorious Officials, what did a few blows he received count for?

Li Shimin’s gaze swept over his kneeling old brothers, and the anger in his heart gradually gave way to a cold Killing Intent.

He finally understood completely.

Chengqian… my good son… you are not forcing abdication, you are handing me a knife!

You used the most brutal, most direct method to cut off all retreats and possibilities of compromise, and then personally handed a blood-stained knife into my hand.

You are telling me, telling all the Officials, telling the aristocratic families of the world — those who offend my military family shall die!

“All of you, stand up for me!”

Li Shimin suddenly stood up, his voice not loud, but carrying an unquestionable authority.

The military Officials all stood up, still glaring, their eyes fixed on the trembling civil Officials.

Li Shimin looked at the many military Officials, then at the civil Officials and aristocratic Officials.

He made his choice.

Li Shimin suddenly threw the crumpled memorial in his hand below the imperial steps and coldly looked at Fang Xuanling: “Chancellor Fang, Chancellor Du, do you still think that His Highness’s handling of a Prefect of Jing Province was an outrageous act?”

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged glances, seeing both shock and lingering fear in each other’s eyes.

The two quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said: “Your Majesty, we were foolish! This scoundrel Huang Jianzhong, daring to intercept and kill the descendants of meritorious Officials, is truly an act of rebellion, deserving of ten thousand deaths! His Highness… killed well!”

That phrase “killed well” was spoken with absolute certainty.

Li Shimin did not look at them again. His gaze, like a sharp sword, slowly swept over the face of every civil official, lingering especially long on the faces of those Officials from aristocratic families.

“Issue my decree,”

His voice was icy cold, “The Ministry of Justice, the Grand Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate shall conduct a joint trial! All those implicated in the Huang Jianzhong case, regardless of official position or family background, shall be… thoroughly investigated to the end!”