75: Father, do you still want me to wear the imperial robe?

That golden Imperial Edict, like Mount Tai pressing down, the imperial power of the human Dao, with its brilliant heavenly might, was terrifying to such an extent!

Inside Taiji Hall, there was a deathly silence.

Li Chengqian still stood in place, his back ramrod straight.

The standoff outside the hall, capable of overturning mountains and rivers, had nothing to do with him. He merely watched his Imperial Father calmly, that face twisted with rage.

This calmness was more glaring than any provocation.

Li Shimin's chest heaved violently, his eyes blood-red. He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles cracking from the excessive force.

He felt it—the silent mockery from his blood-related son!

"Good! A good Crown Prince indeed!"

Li Shimin, infuriated, laughed, but his laughter was colder than weeping.

"Today, I shall see what other trump cards you possess!"

He roared, his voice filled with desperate madness.

Before his words finished, he violently flung his Imperial Robe and strode out, actually walking directly towards the outside of the hall!

He wanted to see it with his own eyes!

He wanted all the Civil and Military Officials, and everyone under Heaven, to see whether his imperial destiny was stronger, or Li Chengqian's immortal methods!

"Your Majesty!"

Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and others turned pale with shock, instinctively crying out.

But Li Shimin's steps did not falter in the slightest. That resolute back intended to tear apart the enemy before him in the most primal and tragic way.

The Civil and Military Officials, recovering from their initial shock, had all the color drained from their faces.

They looked at the Emperor's back, then at the still expressionless Crown Prince, feeling a chill rise from the soles of their feet directly to their heads.

They've gone mad!

All of them have gone mad!

This was no longer a game; this was flipping the table! This was a gamble to stake the entire Great Tang Dynasty's fate!

No one dared to say another word, only moving with stiff steps, like walking corpses, following behind Li Shimin, stepping out of Taiji Hall one by one.

The moment Li Shimin's Imperial Boots stepped onto the white jade stairs outside Taiji Hall, the scene outside Chang'an City unfolded before his eyes like a scroll.

At that moment, even this eternal emperor who founded the Reign of Zhenguan and had witnessed mountains of corpses and seas of blood, his pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks.

His breathing paused for an instant.

The sky was split in half.

One half was the golden Dragon Qi, gathered from the Great Tang Dynasty's fate, hovering above the Imperial Palace. The Golden Sun, transformed from the Imperial Edict, hung in the center, radiating an awe that suppressed all.

It was commanded by the Great Tang Dynastys National Preceptor, Yuan Tiangang.

The other half was Sword Qi, like dark clouds pressing down on the city!

Three thousand longswords floated silently in mid-air, forming a torrent of steel that spanned the sky. Each sword gleamed with a cold light, its tip pointing directly at the Imperial City!

Those were not three thousand soldiers wielding weapons.

Those were three thousand Shu Mountain Sword Immortals, standing on their swords!

They exuded a transcendent Aura that Mortals could not achieve, a sharp Sword Intent capable of severing mountains and tearing apart the earth!

Even though their radiance was dimmed by the Imperial Edict at this moment, that latent power to destroy Heaven and Earth still made Li Shimin's heart tremble.

Among the Civil and Military Officials following behind him, some felt their legs give out, collapsing directly to the ground, a foul stench emanating from their crotches.

When had they ever seen such a sight?

This completely exceeded their understanding! This was mythology brought to reality!

Just then, the suffocating, entangled standoff between Heaven and Earth was broken by a figure.

Between the Imperial City and the sword array, a figure silently appeared in the Void Realm.

He wore a wide, grey Daoist robe, held a whisk, had white hair and beard, an ancient face, and was integrated with Heaven and Earth.

Commander of Bad Boys, Yuan Tiangang!

He stood in the Void Realm, his back to the Imperial City, alone, facing Daoist Feng and Daoist Hu of Shu Mountain, and the Three Thousand Sword Immortals behind them.

His appearance did not bring forth an earth-shattering Aura, but he commanded the Great Tang Dynasty.

Daoist Feng and Daoist Hu, seeing him, both showed extremely grave expressions on their already pale faces.

Li Shimin's gaze swept over Yuan Tiangang, finally returning to the 'dark cloud' formed by the Sword Immortals.

The rage in his heart was, at this moment, replaced by a deeper, colder chill.

Shock!

Unprecedented shock!

He suddenly turned his head, his gaze piercing through layers of palaces, through the trembling Officials, finally landing on his son, still standing alone at the entrance of Taiji Hall.

Li Chengqian!

Were these...all his forces?

A son he had never truly looked at, and even once considered mediocre and incompetent, had, without his knowledge, accumulated such terrifying power?

Destroying the Turks' one hundred and fifty thousand strong army, annihilating the Qinghe Cui Clan... It turned out those were not rumors!

He truly had the capital to overturn this nation's foundation!

At this moment, what surged in Li Shimin's heart was no longer mere anger, but a deep-seated terror, penetrating to his bones, after being completely deceived and betrayed!

His wings...had actually grown so full!

Li Shimin abruptly turned his head.

That deep-seated terror, like a cold hand, clutched his heart tightly. But he couldn't dwell on it now. His gaze, like a sharp arrow, bypassed the terrified faces of the Officials, crossed the white marble railings, and was firmly fixed on the empty entrance of Taiji Hall.

A figure emerged from the shadows of the hall door.

Not walking, but strolling.

Li Chengqian.

He was still wearing his princely court attire, a golden crown on his head, his face as calm as an ancient well in late autumn, without ripples, without emotion.

He descended the steps, one by one.

Footsteps, tap, tap, tap.

Each step seemed to land on the hearts of the Civil and Military Officials.

No one spoke; the entire plaza was deathly silent. Only the sound of the wind could be heard, and those clear, regular footsteps, carrying a certain rhythm of Heaven and Earth.

Then, everyone saw it.

Li Chengqian did not walk towards the side passages like other Officials.

He walked directly down the middle.

That imperial path, paved with the purest white jade, carved with nine Dragons and auspicious clouds, which only the True Son of Heaven could tread during the most solemn ceremonies like enthronement, sacrifices to Heaven, and grand court assemblies.

The Son of Heaven's Path!

"Hiss—"

Gasps of cold air rose and fell.

Fang Xuanling's pupils instantly contracted, and he unconsciously retreated half a step, his body trembling slightly. Du Ruhui's hand, hidden in his sleeve, clenched into a tight fist, his nails almost digging into his flesh.

The color drained from Cheng Yaojin's fearless face, his mouth opened, but not a single word came out.

He's gone mad!

His Highness, the Crown Prince... he's gone mad!

Li Chengqian's steps were neither fast nor slow.

His black official boots, with each fall, precisely landed on the Dragon patterns of the imperial path's central axis.

He ignored Li Shimin's roar, ignored the Emperor's face twisted with rage.

He also ignored the pale faces of the Officials from the Five Surnames and Seven Clans in the crowd.

Wang Gui, the head of the Wang Clan of Taiyuan, felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to his head, his limbs stiffening. The Qinghe Cui Clan elder beside him trembled, his teeth chattering softly.

Their gazes towards Li Chengqian were no longer scrutiny or calculation, but pure, bone-deep fear.

Just half an hour ago, when the news of the Shu Mountain Sword Immortals besieging the city arrived, and before Li Chengqian had even left the hall, they were still gathered, exchanging the most vicious conspiracies with their eyes.

Taking advantage of the chaos among the Imperial Guards, taking advantage of everyone's attention being on the city's outskirts, they planned to send their family's assassins, at all costs, to assassinate this mediocre Crown Prince within the palace!

A dead Crown Prince, even with Shu Mountain's backing, would be nothing more than a corpse.

But now... it was too late.

Everything was too late.

He had walked out.

Outside Chang'an City, Three Thousand Shu Mountain Sword Immortals besieged Xuanwu Gate, their sword tips pointed at the Great Tang Dynasty's imperial power!

Before Taiji Hall, the current Crown Prince openly trampled the Son of Heaven's Path, advancing step by step, directly confronting his Imperial Father!

One intimidated with military force outside the city.

The other attacked the heart with propriety before the hall!

How arrogant! How presumptuous!

Li Shimin's body trembled violently. That bone-deep chill of betrayal was now completely ignited by a volcanic eruption of rage, burning his internal organs until they boiled.

He looked at that figure, that son he had once thought mediocre, who was now, in a way he could least tolerate, declaring his existence to him, and to the entire world!

That leisurely, unhurried posture, that calm, unwavering gaze, made him feel more humiliated and angry than the three thousand sharp swords hanging over the city!

That wasn't walking!

That was slapping his face! That was trampling the last shred of his dignity as an Emperor!

"Rebellious son!"

A roar, suppressed to the extreme, squeezed from the depths of his throat, tore through the solidified air of the plaza.

Li Shimin's eyes were blood-red, veins throbbing on his forehead, and he trembled all over as he pointed at that unhurried figure.

"You... you rebellious son!"

His voice became hoarse and sharp from extreme rage.

"Three Thousand Sword Immortals outside the city! You walk the Son of Heaven's Path before the hall! What else is there that you, this rebellious son, dare not do!"

Li Chengqian's footsteps did not stop.

He didn't hear, maintaining that steady pace, getting closer and closer to Li Shimin.

That silent oppressive feeling made Li Shimin almost go mad.

All his pride, all his majesty, were at this moment trampled underfoot by his son in the most direct and humiliating way, crushed to dust!

"What more do you want to do!"

"Ah?!"

"Are you going to put on the Imperial Robe now?!"

Li Shimin's roar echoed across the empty Taiji Hall plaza, carrying a hint of unwilling tremor.

And what answered him was still Li Chengqian's unhurried footsteps.

Tap, tap, tap.

At this moment, in the crowd, the Officials of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, led by Li Taixu, the head of the Longxi Li Clan, their faces were no longer pale, but ashen.

Their bodies shook like sieves, their teeth chattering, not from cold, but from bone-deep fear.

Just a short while ago, before the Shu Mountain Sword Immortals had even besieged the city, they were secretly conspiring, plotting to take advantage of the Crown Prince's underdeveloped power, find an excuse, and with a thunderous momentum, completely depose him, or even... kill him.

They thought that as long as they acted fast enough, they could nip this hidden danger in the bud.

But now, it seemed how ridiculous, how naive that idea was!

Too late?

No, it was a world of difference!

He wasn't underdeveloped; he had already ascended to the Nine Heavens like a Dragon! In his eyes, these self-important aristocratic clans were probably not even praying mantises trying to stop a chariot, at most a few noisy summer insects by the roadside.

Li Taixu's throat made a strange gurgling sound. He looked at the figure walking on the Son of Heaven's Path, and for the first time, an emotion called 'despair' appeared in his eyes.

He was finished, the Five Surnames and Seven Clans were finished.

At this moment, all the Civil and Military Officials, whether loyal to Li Shimin or harboring ulterior motives, had one absurd yet singular thought arise in their minds.

A miracle.

They needed a miracle.

They hoped that at this most crucial moment, Li Shimin, this Khan of Heaven who had founded the Reign of Zhenguan, could unleash incredible power with his supreme imperial might!

They hoped that with a command from Li Shimin, the Three Thousand Shu Mountain Sword Immortals outside the city would suddenly realize their mistake, fear the heavenly might, understand they were aiding evil, and thus turn their swords against the rebellious Crown Prince!

This was their last and only straw of hope.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on Li Shimin, their eyes full of pleading and urgency.

"Your Majesty! Give the order quickly!"

"Your Majesty! The Mandate of Heaven is with you! Slay this villain!"

Finally, Li Chengqian stopped.

He stopped at the bottom of the nine steps, no more than ten paces from Li Shimin on the Dragon Throne.

He raised his head, and those ancient, unruffled eyes, for the first time, directly met his father's furious gaze on the Dragon Throne.

There was no fear, no guilt, not even a trace of emotion.

That look was like looking at a... stranger.

This complete indifference was more hurtful than any blade.

Li Shimin's heart felt as if it were tightly clutched by an invisible hand, the pain almost suffocating him.

"Good... good!" Li Shimin, infuriated, laughed, his laughter shrill, "You rebellious son, do you think I... cannot do anything to you?!"

He suddenly stood up, his Imperial Robe billowing, the Emperor's Aura unleashed without reservation.

He no longer looked at Li Chengqian, but abruptly looked up towards Xuanwu Gate, and with all his strength, he let out his strongest voice as the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty!

"Shu Mountain Sword Immortals, heed my decree!"

His voice thundered, rolling out, carrying the undeniable imperial authority.

"You are people from outside this world; why do you interfere in the affairs of Mortal emperors! I am the Son of Heaven of the Great Tang Dynasty, appointed by Heaven! Your aiding this rebellious son is Heaven-Defying!"

"I command you to immediately lay down your weapons and return to Shu Mountain! Otherwise, one day I shall flatten Shu Mountain and turn your thousand-year Dao tradition into dust!"

The sound shook the four fields!

The Officials before the hall were invigorated. Yes! His Majesty is the Son of Heaven! The Son of Heaven's wrath means millions of corpses! How dare a mere Shu Mountain oppose the entire Great Tang Dynasty?

A miracle was about to happen!

However... outside Chang'an City, before Xuanwu Gate.

Three thousand longswords hung in mid-air, their Sword Qi chilling, enveloping the entire city gate in an atmosphere of 肅殺.

Daoist Feng, in her white robes, floated like an Immortal. Daoist Hu, with his robust physique, had an Aura like a mountain.

They heard Li Shimin's roar, but there was no change in their expressions.

Before Taiji Hall.

Deathly silence.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the reaction of the Shu Mountain Sword Immortals outside the city.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths... Nothing happened.

The three thousand sharp swords hanging over Chang'an remained steadily in place, their tips still pointed at the Great Tang Dynasty's Imperial Palace.

Li Shimin's imperial majesty fell into a bottomless pit, not stirring a single ripple.

The flame of hope that had just ignited in the Officials' hearts was instantly extinguished by a bucket of ice water, leaving only a wisp of smoke and a bone-chilling cold.

How could this be... Why is this happening?

That was the Son of Heaven's command!

At this moment, Li Chengqian walked up to Li Shimin.

"Imperial Father, did you just say 'put on the Imperial Robe'?"

"Imperial Father, do you still want your son to put on the Imperial Robe?"

"Actually, there's no need for such trouble."

"This Imperial Robe, if you take it off, your son can wear it himself; it's the same."