Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

The late autumn in Zhongnan Mountain is filled with biting cold, like a pair of invisible hands, covering Cuiwei Palace layer by layer.

The copper bells on the eaves of Hanfeng Hall whimpered softly in the wind, and the frost on the glazed tiles reflected the faint light.

Li Chengqian curled up on the dragon-carved couch, his violent coughing causing the bed frame to tremble slightly. Blood seeped from between his fingers, dripping along his pale fingertips onto the bright yellow brocade quilt, a shocking sight.

There were two pieces of plain white paper on the desk, emitting a soft and cool light under the flickering candlelight.

Li Chengqian forced himself to sit up, his bony fingers gripping the wolf hair brush.

He dipped the brush in Hui ink and his eyes fell on the first piece of paper. He was going to write to Mr. Qi and Fatty Lin.

The moment the pen tip touched the paper, memories of twenty years ago came flooding back like a tide.

It was a spring day, and locust flowers were falling, dotted like stars on the pages of "Spring and Autumn Annals" annotated by Mr. Qi.

The stingy fat man's mouth was stuffed full, and the crumbs of the Hu pancakes he had secretly eaten flew down like snowflakes, staining the open book.

The three of them were arguing fiercely about the way to govern a country as described in Guanzi, their young faces full of longing for the future.

Lao Qi once said, "If you study only to kowtow to the powerful, it is better to give up your pen and feed the dogs."

At that time in Xianyang, the air was filled with the sweet scent of osmanthus honey.

They rode fast horses, galloping freely on the official road, and the dust raised by their hooves flew in the sun.

The wind blows past my ears, bringing bursts of laughter.

They threatened that the Tang Dynasty would make sure that no one in the world would suffer from hunger or cold again.

Li Chengqian's pen tip moved rapidly across the paper, recording these precious memories one by one.

The laughter and tears hidden deep in time, the days of fighting side by side, and the warmth of mutual support are all transformed into words and flow on the letter paper.

He was grateful to them for always standing by him, never leaving him no matter what the weather was like, and fighting with him for his ideals.

After finishing writing the letters to Mr. Qi and Fatty Lin, Li Chengqian put down his pen and picked up the teacup on the desk.

The tea had already gone cold and tasted bitter, but it was not even one ten-thousandth as bitter as he felt in his heart.

He looked at the second piece of paper, which was the letter he was going to write to Li Zhi.

This younger brother who had followed him since childhood had now grown into a gentle young man, and was about to shoulder the heavy responsibility of ruling the country.

He held the pen in his hand, hovering over the paper for a long time, and was reluctant to put it down.

Li Chengqian began to write slowly, from the strategies of governing the country to the principles of how to behave in society.

"My brother, please take my advice. When employing people, you should follow the example of Emperor Wu of Han, who extended favors to them. When exercising checks and balances, you should follow the example of our father, who controlled his ministers..."

When I wrote the words "Don't learn from my brother's stubbornness", tears fell on the rice paper, making it blurry.

When writing about the emotional parts, Li Chengqian's hands trembled uncontrollably and his handwriting became messy.

He recalled his years in office, which had seen both glory and setbacks.

During the days when he worked day and night to implement the new policies, he argued with the ministers in the court just to make the Tang Dynasty a better place.

Those moments in the middle of the night when I was alone facing mountains of memorials and worrying about the country and the people.

Those difficult decisions he made to protect the Tang Dynasty were like a heavy burden, making it hard for him to breathe.

How he wished that Li Zhi could take fewer detours and make the Tang Dynasty more prosperous.

Finally, both letters were finished. Li Chengqian felt relieved, as if he had completed the most important mission in his life.

He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window with empty eyes.

The night is deep and the stars are dotted everywhere. Mount Zhongnan looks like a dream in the night.

He murmured to himself, "I have done everything I could."

"When Emperor Gaozu of Han was my age, he was still watching dogs fighting at the village entrance. But I am almost done with it."

"Oh my god, damn it."

"The time given is so short, there's no way we can make it in time."

"I haven't let down my reputation as a time traveler. I'm such a good person."

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian smiled with relief.

At least I have changed history, and the Han people will no longer suffer humiliation.

He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had a good night's sleep.

In recent years, he has been overwhelmed by government affairs. For the sake of the country and the people, he has worked day and night and has never had a moment of relaxation.

Sleepiness came like a tide, and Li Chengqian's eyelids began to tremble.

Just as he was about to fall into a deep sleep, a soft voice called out in his ears: "Teacher, teacher, we are here."

The voice was so familiar, as if it came from the distant past, and it was warm.

Li Chengqian tried hard to open his heavy eyelids, and in a trance, Xianhuai and Ruzhao appeared in front of him without him knowing when.

"Teacher, we are here."

Seeing Xianhuai and Ruzhao's expressions, Li Chengqian's eyes instantly turned red, tears welling up in his eyes. "You're here, it's good that you're here. The teacher missed you."

"I thought you all didn't want a teacher anymore."

He said with trembling lips, his voice full of longing.

"Teacher, I miss you too."

Lu Jingsuo walked out from the back and bowed to Li Chengqian.

"Teacher, are you taking good care of yourself? Are the people of the world living a good life?"

When Li Chengqian saw Lu Jingsuo, he couldn't help nodding.

"Good, the teacher is in good health, and the people of the world are living a good life. The people of our Tang Dynasty are well fed and warmly clothed."

"Don't worry, the teacher did it."

Slowly, more people appeared in front of him.

Wang Wen walked out, his eyes full of respect.

Xue Rengui was wearing silver armor and looked very majestic.

Cheng Yaojin laughed loudly, and Yuchi Jingde looked serious, but he could not hide the concern in his eyes.

Fang Xuanling was elegant and calm, just as he was when he talked with him about state affairs in the study.

Familiar faces walked in from outside, and the Hanfeng Hall was gradually filled with people. The ministers who had fought alongside him were now gathered here.

At this moment, Li Shimin walked in hand in hand with Li Jingyou. Li Jingyou lowered his head, not daring to look at Li Chengqian, and looked a little nervous.

Li Chengqian looked at his father and brother, a complex emotion welling up in his heart.

Li Shimin's eyes showed both reluctance to part with his son and a hint of relief. His gaze seemed to express silent love and concern.

Li Jing followed Li Shimin closely.

Li Mingda smiled and called him brother sweetly.

He nodded and smiled at Li Mingda.

Li Chengqian looked outside the door with some anticipation. He knew that someone had not appeared yet.

Finally, he waited.

Empress Zhangsun took Su Zhi's hand and slowly walked in. "Husband."

Su Zhi called softly, her eyes full of tenderness and love, and that look seemed to heal all of Li Chengqian's pain.

"Cheng Qian." Empress Changsun's voice was choked with sobs. It was the deepest love a mother had for her son, like a trickle of water, warming Li Chengqian's heart.

"Lingxi'er, mother." Li Chengqian murmured. At this moment, all his fatigue, regrets and unwillingness disappeared in these tears.

He stretched out his trembling hands, as if trying to grasp everything in front of him. For a moment, he actually felt that death was not so bad.

He had no regrets being able to see these closest and most important people in the last moments of his life.

"Are you here to pick me up?" he asked softly, his voice filled with anticipation and relief.

They walked out slowly with Li Chengqian. Outside the door, countless people were laughing at him.

Li Chengqian looked at the scene in front of him and a smile appeared on his face.

Worth it!

That night, the lights in Cuiwei Palace were not turned off until dawn.

The candlelight flickered in the wind, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, as if telling the story of Li Chengqian's ups and downs in life.

On the top of Mount Zhongnan, the new sun is slowly rising, and its golden light is spreading to the earth, bidding farewell to the deceased emperor and bringing new hope for the future of the Tang Dynasty.

The next day, when the first ray of sunlight shone into Hanfeng Hall, Hu Bugui and Li Zhentao hurried over.

They pushed open the door of the palace and saw Li Chengqian lying on the bed.

He crossed his legs, resting his head on his hands. There seemed to be tears in the corners of his eyes, but there was a smile on his lips, just like the free and easy look of his youth.

At that moment, the two felt dizzy and tears instantly blurred their eyes. They could not believe that His Majesty had left forever.

The two of them burst into tears immediately, and their cries echoed in Hanfeng Palace.

In the autumn of the 20th year of Qianwu, Li Chengqian died in Hanfeng Hall of Cuiwei Palace in Zhongnan Mountain at the age of 45.

When Wang Can hurriedly brought Li Zhentao into the study, Li Zhi was reviewing memorials.

Upon hearing the news, Li Zhi's pen fell to the ground with a "bang" and his eyes turned red instantly.

He suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Zhentao, his voice trembling.

"General Li, has the emperor passed away? Is it possible that he is faking his own death this time?"

In his heart, he was always unwilling to believe this fact. He was still looking forward to the day when his royal brother would appear in front of him again, touch his head like when he was a child, tell him those interesting stories, and shelter him from the wind and rain when he encountered difficulties.

But seeing Li Zhentao's grief-stricken look, Li Zhi closed his eyes weakly.

"I understand. Thank you for your hard work, General Li."

He suppressed the grief in his heart and spoke in a low voice.

Li Zhentao cupped his hands, his voice choking with sobs, "Your Majesty, this is a letter His Majesty asked me to write to you."

Li Zhi took the letter with trembling hands, and saw that the letter paper was full of three pages with densely written words.

Many of the handwritings are crooked and difficult to read.

Li Zhi felt a pang of pain in his heart. He knew that his brother might be so weak at the end of his life that he couldn't even hold the pen steadily. But even so, his brother still insisted on finishing the letter, pouring all his efforts and expectations into it.

He held back his tears and looked at the letter carefully.

Many sentences overlapped and he couldn't see clearly, but he didn't want to miss any word.

He read it word by word, as if this would bring him closer to his royal brother.

The handwriting became more and more confused as he went on, but he seemed to be able to feel the difficulty his brother was experiencing in writing.

Finally, he saw the last sentence, which was written extremely clearly and at a distance.

Li Zhi understood.

“Though I haven’t accomplished everything in my life, the spark has been sown and it will spread like wildfire.”

When Li Zhi saw these words, he felt numb all over.

In a trance, he seemed to see the young emperor in bright clothes and riding a vigorous horse, passing through twenty years of time, and gradually overlapping with the frail emperor in his current impression.

His impression of the emperor's weakness returned to the past when he was a child. The emperor's brother was dressed in red and led his troops into the capital, and all the heroes in the world submitted to him. He was so heroic.

The emperor at that time was so dazzling.

"Royal brother!"

"Big Brother"

Li Zhi could no longer control his grief and burst into tears.

He pressed the letter tightly against his chest, thinking that this would preserve his brother's breath.

Li Zhi stroked the handwriting with body temperature and suddenly remembered the Lantern Festival in the third year of Qianwu.

At that time, he was riding on Li Chengqian's shoulders to watch the Lantern Festival. Fireworks from the sky fell on his brother's red clothes, and the young emperor's high-spirited laughter startled the lights all over the city.

Now the candle has gone out, leaving only this piece of paper with the will, slightly warm in the morning light.