58: The genealogy of the five surnames and seven families is a good thing. It is convenient to kill people according to the genealogy!

Inside Taiji Hall, silence was as deep as a tomb.

The shadow cast by the Three Thousand Sword Immortals not only loomed over Chang'an City but also weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.

Li Shimin looked at the familiar yet strange Crown Prince below the dais, at that face, seven parts similar to his own, yet bearing a completely different expression.

He had spent his life in battle; what great storms had he not weathered?

The blood of Xuanwu Gate, the iron cavalry of the Turks, none of them had made him feel such a chill, originating from the depths of his Soul, and… bewilderment, as he did at this moment.

“Now, it’s Your Majesty’s choice.”

Li Chengqian’s silent mouth shape was like a red-hot branding iron, searing his heart.

Choose what?

To choose as a father, to kneel and beg for mercy?

Or to choose as an emperor, to perish together?

Behind him was the vast empire of the Great Tang; in front of him was the Crown Prince, confronting him.

On the two ends of the scale, one side was responsibility, the other was despair.

Just in this suffocating deadlock, an abrupt sound, like a needle, sharply pierced the extreme tension of the deadly silence.

“Your Majesty!”

A figure stumbled out from the ranks of the civil Officials.

It was Cui Renshi, an Official of the Qinghe Cui Clan.

His face was ashen, his official’s hat askew, and his normally pampered face was covered in cold sweat, but in his eyes burned a frantic, gambler’s flame.

Everyone’s gaze was drawn to him.

He saw him collapse to his knees, falling heavily to the ground, his voice hoarse, shouting with all his might: “Your Majesty! This official has a plan to resolve this crisis!”

Li Shimin’s pupils suddenly constricted.

Even Li Chengqian, standing with his hands behind his back, finally shifted his gaze lazily from his Imperial Father’s face, letting it fall upon the kneeling figure.

Cui Renshi did not look at Li Chengqian.

“Reporting to Your Majesty! The current crisis rests solely on the Crown Prince! As long as… as long as Crown Prince Li Chengqian can be executed on the spot, the crisis will be immediately resolved!”

Boom!

As soon as the words were spoken, the entire hall was shocked.

Those Civil and Military Officials, whose minds had been seized by fear and had almost stopped thinking, were doused with a basin of ice water from head to toe, instantly shuddering.

Execute Li Chengqian!

These Sword Immortals, these Great Snow Dragon Riders, who did they obey?

It was Crown Prince Li Chengqian!

What if Li Chengqian died?

Cui Renshi seemed to be screaming his heart and lungs out; veins bulged on his neck, his face was contorted, and his voice was sharp and piercing: “What if Li Chengqian dies? Who would obey the command of a corpse!?”

“With his death, the Three Thousand Sword Immortals will be a Dragon without a head, and chaos will surely ensue! At that time, if our Great Tang Imperial Army takes advantage of the situation to attack, there might not be no chance of victory! Your Majesty! This is the only chance for survival!”

These words were like a match struck in a dark abyss.

Although the flame was weak and flickering, capable of being extinguished at any moment, it was still light!

Hope rekindled in the eyes of many Officials.

Their formerly limp bodies also regained some strength.

Their gazes towards Li Chengqian were no longer pure fear, but rather… greed and killing intent.

That’s right, just kill him!

As long as he was killed, everything would be over!

Wei Zheng’s lips moved; his gaze towards Cui Renshi was extremely complex.

He was horrified by the maliciousness of the Cui Clan, daring to propose such a crazy suggestion at this moment.

But he also had to admit that this was indeed the only way to break the deadlock.

To be driven to death and then live!

Li Shimin’s body suddenly straightened; a storm gathered in his deep eyes.

He stared intensely at Cui Renshi, then slowly looked at his son.

Kill him?

Kill this rebellious son?

This thought, like the seed of a poisonous weed, grew wildly in his heart.

And Li Chengqian finally showed a new expression.

He no longer smiled.

That condescending indifference, that calm gaze that looked down on all beings, all faded away.

His face became expressionless.

A cold void, absolute and more terrifying than any anger.

He looked at Cui Renshi, his gaze as calm as a stagnant pool, without a ripple.

Yet it was this calm gaze that made Cui Renshi, who had just been acting like a madman, feel as if an invisible hand had gripped his throat; all the words that followed were stuck in his throat, not a single one could be uttered.

An icy, bone-chilling killing intent silently permeated the air.

It wasn’t directed at the entire court.

It wasn’t directed at Li Shimin.

Instead, it was firmly locked onto Cui Renshi alone.

Cui Renshi felt his blood freeze in that instant.

He could even hear the chattering of his own teeth.

In Li Chengqian’s mind, however, an unrelated thought was stirring.

“As expected of the Qinghe Cui Clan, the most prominent of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans; this plan is indeed venomous and ruthless.”

“What a pity… exterminated twice.”

He suddenly felt like laughing.

“No wonder Huang Chao said that one must kill according to the family register to ensure no one is missed.”

“The family register, who came up with this thing anyway? Killing according to the family register, what a brilliant method…”

This thought flashed through his mind, and Li Chengqian’s gaze finally moved.

He lifted his eyelids; in the depths of his eyes, that stagnant pool suddenly boiled, churning with a monstrous killing intent of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

“You,”

He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet clearly reaching everyone’s ears, “want me to die?”

Cui Renshi trembled violently; he wanted to open his mouth to explain, to say that this was for the Great Tang empire, for His Majesty, but under the gaze of those eyes, he felt his Soul being torn apart, all loyalty to the emperor and love for the country, all glory of the aristocratic clan, collapsed in an instant.

“I grant you permission to say it again.”

Li Chengqian’s voice remained calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.

He took a slow step forward.

Thump.

That step did not land on the cold, hard golden floor tiles of the palace, but on everyone’s hearts.

The atmosphere of the entire Taiji Hall suddenly changed.

If before it was a state of extreme alarm, now, it was a sword drawn from its sheath, a bow fully drawn.