99: The Five Surnames and Seven Families are as wealthy as a nation, yet they are robbing people of their very bones and sucking their marrow! They deserve to die!

The air was terrifyingly still, with only the chattering “clack-clack” of teeth and heavy, terrified gasps audible.

Li Taixu, propping up the dignity of his aristocratic clan, his lips trembling, couldn't utter a single word. He felt as if he wasn't facing a person, but an ancient demon god about to awaken. The pressure made even breathing feel like a luxury.

Looking at the pathetic state of these good-for-nothings, the mockery in Li Chengqian's eyes transformed into a towering rage.

It was these parasites!

It was these two-faced opportunists!

They incited the emperor, threw the court into chaos, and treated the common people as mere fodder!

A majestic Killing Intent erupted from within Li Chengqian!

He abruptly raised his head, and in his eyes, thunder exploded!

“Come and execute!!!”

A furious roar, earth-shattering!

This voice was no longer human; it was the roar of a Dragon and a tiger, the decree of a Heavenly God!

Rumble—!

In the clear night sky, a muffled clap of thunder sounded without warning!

Immediately after, the originally star-and-moonlit sky was swallowed by endless inky black clouds at a visible speed. A fierce wind howled, making the banners on the city gate tower flap wildly, like wailing ghosts and howling gods.

The torchlight was suppressed to its extreme in the strong wind, flickering unsteadily, casting a ghastly pallor on people's faces.

An unspeakable, terrifying pressure descended from the heavens!

That was not the Killing Intent of an army, but a higher-level, cosmic power originating from heaven and earth!

Everyone on the city gate tower, including battle-hardened veterans like Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin, felt their hearts clutched by an invisible large hand, almost stopping their beats.

They looked down at the city in horror.

They saw the three thousand Bad People in black armor, silent as mountains.

Looking up at the Void Realm, three thousand Shu Mountain Sword Immortals stood in the Void Realm!

With Li Chengqian's furious roar, these three thousand Shu Mountain Sword Immortals moved in perfect unison, as if one body.

Clang—!!!

Three thousand long swords were drawn simultaneously!

The sound converged into a Dragon's roar that could pierce metal and crack stone, soaring into the sky, as if to tear a gash in the firmament!

Sword light, like snow, illuminated heaven and earth!

In that instant, the entire Chang'an city was lit up as if it were daytime!

Immediately after, the Three Thousand Sword Immortals raised their swords to the sky!

Three thousand brilliant Sword Qi shot up into the sky, converging in mid-air into a visible, unimaginably vast torrent of Sword Intent. That torrent transformed into a tangible, pitch-black cloud sea, swirling above the Xuanwu Gate, slowly rotating, carrying a terrifying aura of destruction.

Black clouds pressed down on the city, threatening to destroy it!

At this moment, even the sturdy city walls of Xuanwu Gate groaned under the immense pressure of this Sword Intent.

On the city gate tower, the Officials of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans could no longer endure this fear that originated from the depths of their Souls.

“Ah—!”

Someone let out a mournful shriek, and then, like wheat cut down, they collapsed in swathes, urinating and defecating themselves, making a complete spectacle.

Li Taixu's legs gave out, and he also slumped to the ground, his face ashen, his eyes unfocused, muttering to himself, “Gods... Immortals... This is the might of Immortals...”

On the other side, Li Shimin, who had just been clamoring to personally kill his rebellious son, was now leaning against the cold city wall, slowly sliding to the ground.

The Son of Heaven's sword in his hand clattered to the ground with a crisp, yet incredibly ironic sound.

He stared blankly at the scene below the city where Sword Qi soared to the sky, then looked at his son, standing alone in the wind, like a god or a demon.

His face no longer held anger, no longer madness.

Only endless desolation and bewilderment remained.

He lost.

He lost completely, utterly defeated.

He did not lose to stratagem, nor did he lose to war.

He lost to the divine.

No, more precisely, he lost to the son he had personally raised, yet had never truly seen through.

The fierce wind still raged on the Xuanwu Gate tower, stirring up dust and blood, mixed with a nauseating stench.

The terrifying Sword Intent originating from the Three Thousand Sword Immortals, like an invisible great mountain, pressed heavily on everyone's hearts.

In this deadly silence and panic, Li Chengqian moved.

He slowly turned around, his eyes burning with thunder, no longer looking at the sword formation below the city, but piercing through the wind and sand, accurately falling upon the figure slumped at the base of the city wall.

He took a step, one step after another, walking towards Li Shimin.

His steps were not fast, but heavy as a mountain; each step landed on Li Shimin's heart, on the already tattered dignity of the Great Tang's founding monarch.

He did not look at the family Officials who were slumped like mud, covered in filth, nor did he spare a glance for the ashen-faced Li Taixu.

In his eyes, there was only his Imperial Father.

The man who had once been high above, who had viewed him as a pawn, viewed him as a rebellious son.

The wind made his dark robes flutter, accentuating his increasingly tall and straight figure, like a God of War stepping out of ancient myths, full of heroic spirit, carrying the majesty to judge all.

Finally, he stopped in front of Li Shimin.

He looked down at his disheveled father from above, with not a trace of pity in his eyes, only bone-chilling disappointment and mockery.

“Imperial Father.”

He spoke, his voice not loud, but it clearly reached everyone present, overriding the wind and all other noises.

“Open your eyes and take a good look!”

His voice suddenly rose, like a clap of thunder!

Li Shimin's body trembled, and he subconsciously raised his head. Those Dragon eyes, which had once looked down on the world and seen through human hearts, now held only desolation and emptiness.

Following the direction of Li Chengqian's finger, he saw it.

He saw the Officials of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, led by Li Taixu, the patriarch of the Longxi Li Clan, each one curled up on the ground, trembling like sieves, tears and snot flowing, their bodies covered in filth, emitting a foul odor.

Where was even a shred of the aristocratic bearing they once displayed, pontificating on state affairs and speaking with the authority of heaven?

Now, they were worse than dogs begging for scraps!

“Do you see clearly?” Li Chengqian's voice was full of sarcasm, “These are your loyal subjects! These are your good generals!”

“To appease them, for the sake of so-called court stability, you fattened them up one by one, allowed them to lord it over the local populace, allowed them to control the government, allowed them to become as rich as a nation!”

“But what was the result?” Li Chengqian let out a cold laugh, a laugh more biting than the winter wind.

“The result is that when you, Li Shimin, faced a great disaster, not a single one of these dogs you fed dared to stand up and bark for you!”

“They only know how to kneel! Only know how to beg for mercy! Only know how to throw your dignity, and the face of the Great Tang, on the ground, and then fiercely trample on it a few times!”

Every word was like a resounding slap, fiercely striking Li Shimin's face.

Li Shimin's lips trembled; he wanted to retort, but found himself unable to utter a single word.

Because what Li Chengqian said was all fact!

It was he who, to balance the forces in the court, constantly compromised with these centuries-old aristocratic clans.

It was he who, to show his broad-mindedness, repeatedly tolerated the greed and arrogance of these people.

He thought he could control everything, thought these clans were merely pawns on his chessboard.

But it wasn't until today, until his son overturned the chessboard, that he discovered these so-called “loyal subjects and good generals” were nothing but opportunistic, spineless opportunists! A gust of wind, and they all fell!

How ridiculous! How tragic!

“And you all!”

His voice suddenly turned cold.

“My Great Tang's battle-hardened veterans! Where are your sabers? Where are your spears?”

“You watched him being deluded by villains, watched him about to destroy his own defense, watched him about to wield a butcher's knife against his own son!”

“What did you do? You just stood here and watched!”

Their bodies trembled, the color drained from their faces, and they lowered their heads in shame, their hands gripping their weapons tightly, veins bulging, yet they hung down powerlessly.

Yes, what did they do?

They did nothing.

They were loyal to the emperor, but when the emperor made a mistake, their loyalty turned into a silence that aided evil!

Li Chengqian withdrew his gaze, finally refocusing it on Li Shimin's pale, paper-like face.

His tone, at last, carried an unspeakable weariness and sorrow.

“Imperial Father, you lost.”

“You didn't lose to me, you didn't lose to these Three Thousand Sword Immortals.”

“You lost to yourself, lost to your pathetic imperial stratagems, lost to the court Officials you were so proud of!”

“The Five Surnames and Seven Clans are as rich as a nation, exploiting the people to the bone! They deserve to die! Imperial Father, do you know how much gold and silver a Young Master from one of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans spends in a day?”

“How much?”

“A thousand gold coins at a throw!”

“Daily expenditure, one hundred thousand taels of silver!”

“I want to ask Imperial Father, the salaries of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans are not much, how do they have wealth comparable to a nation?!”