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

The muscles at the corners of Empress Wei's eyes twitched violently, and her gaze, like a poisoned ice spike, shot straight at the eunuch behind her.

The two burly eunuchs immediately understood what was going on. Their boots made a dull sound as they rolled over the gold bricks, and they suddenly rushed forward.

Li Xian's shoulders and arms were pressed tightly against the armrests of the dragon couch. The grain of the rosewood hurt his bones. During his struggle, the bright yellow dragon robe was torn askew, and a large part of the collar was torn open, revealing the bulging blue veins on his neck, which coiled like the roots of an old tree.

"Let me go! You bunch of traitors!" His roar hit the caisson on the top of the palace, making the copper bells on the eaves ring, but it could not penetrate the thick palace walls.

Empress Wei slowly squatted down, and the yogurt cherries in the silver bowl swayed gently with her movements. The plump cherries floated in the cheese, just like the red carps he had seen by the Luoyang pond when he was young.

"Your Majesty, why are you so angry?" Her voice was as soft as the finest silk, yet it contained a force that could break a neck. "These yogurt cherries are sweetened with sugar from the Western Regions, and they're incredibly sweet. They're much better than the sour plums from Fangzhou back then."

Li Xian's jaw was pinched hard by the eunuch, and his knuckles almost dug into his loose flesh.

He clenched his teeth tightly, leaving deep bloody marks between his teeth, and the fishy and sweet smell of blood filled his mouth.

The silver bowl was forced to his lips, and the sweetness of the cheese mixed with the slightly sour taste of the cherries rushed into his nostrils. That sweet fragrance should have been his favorite taste, but now it was as disgusting as the smell of rotten meat.

"Bitch! How dare you!" His roar came out from between his teeth, with a dying determination.

The armchair was shaken violently by his struggle, and the three-legged incense burner beside the chair fell over with a clang, and the ashes inside were scattered all over the floor, mixing with the fallen pearl hairpins.

He recalled the cold night in Fangzhou when he was also pinned to the muddy ground of a dilapidated temple, and Empress Wei stood in front of him, using her thin back to block the sticks of the rural thugs.

At that time, her voice was trembling, but she gritted her teeth and said, "Whoever dares to touch my husband must step over my dead body first!"

Now, the body that once protected him has become the executioner who delivered the poison.

The smile on Empress Wei's face faded, and a hint of impatience appeared in her eyes. She raised her hand to adjust the pearl hairpin on her temples, the cool pearl face pressed against the burning earlobe: "Your Majesty, please don't force me."

Before he finished speaking, two more eunuchs came forward and held down Li Xian's legs.

His struggle became more and more violent, and the dragon-patterned jade belt on his ankle was broken. The jade buckle rolled onto the gold bricks, making a crisp sound, as if tolling the death knell for this farce.

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from the palace entrance. Princess Anle rushed in, her pomegranate skirt lifted high. The gold-embroidered phoenix on the hem was darkened by sweat. The golden hairpin in her hair tilted to one side, and the beads clashed with her breathing, making a small, crisp sound.

Empress Wei looked up at her, her eyes carrying an unquestionable command: "Come here."

Princess Anle paused, her fingers tangled in the hem of her skirt. She watched her father pinned to the couch, his white hair disheveled. The hands that had once gently caressed her head now waved in vain, their nails digging into the bloody marks on the eunuch's arm.

She remembered that when she was ten years old in Fangzhou, her father carried her across the icy river. The soles of his boots were worn out, but he took off his only cotton shoe and gave it to her.

Thinking of her fifteenth birthday, he secretly used his saved salary to buy her a silver hairpin, saying, "When we return to Chang'an, your father will inlay the brightest gem on it for you."

"What are you standing there for?" Empress Wei's voice turned cold. "Do you want the Jinwu Guards to rush in and hang our heads at the palace gate for public display?"

These words pierced through Princess Anle's last hesitation.

She took a deep breath, walked quickly to the edge of the couch, and reached out to hold down Li Xian's knee, which was kicking continuously.

Her fingertips touched the old wound on her father's knee - that was the place where he was grazed by an arrow from pursuers in Fangzhou. It would ache slightly on rainy days.

At this moment, the skin there was burning hot, with a dying heat.

Li Xian's struggle suddenly stopped.

He turned his head in disbelief, his gaze passing through the eunuch's sturdy arms and falling on his daughter's face that looked so much like his own.

Princess Anle's eyes were red, but she bit her lips tightly, not daring to look at him, but just holding down his legs hard.

The beads on the golden hairpin hung down and brushed against his cheek, and the cold touch was very much like the snow in Fangzhou on a winter night.

It was these hands that once secretly handed him a piece of candied fruit while he was reviewing memorials.

It was these eyes that once followed him and called out "Father" sweetly.

Li Xian's body suddenly relaxed.

The strength of his struggle disappeared like the tide, his limbs stopped waving, and he just let the eunuchs hold him down.

The moment his jaw was pinched open, he no longer clenched his teeth, but just opened his mouth slightly.

The cheese mixed with cherries slid into the throat, the sweet taste slid down the esophagus, spreading a cool warmth in the stomach, and then turned into a sharp pain, like countless needles piercing at the same time.

Empress Wei watched the light in his eyes dim little by little, and finally a smile of relief appeared at the corners of her tense mouth.

She signaled the eunuch to release her hand, and she picked up the silver bowl, scooped up a spoonful of curd cherries, and slowly passed it to Li Xian's lips: "That's right, Your Majesty, it's always better to be decent."

Li Xian didn't look at her again, nor did he look at Princess Anle.

His gaze passed over them, over the messy palace, and fell directly on the three hanging portraits.

Li Shimin, his eyebrows were as sharp as a knife, his eyes penetrated a hundred years of time, and he had a majesty that looked down on the world.

Li Xian's gaze lingered on those eyes for a long time, and a barely perceptible bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He thought of the Xuanwu Gate Incident recorded in history books, the image of his great uncle Li Jiancheng lying in a pool of blood, and how this ancestor paved the way for the prosperous Zhenguan era with the blood and bones of his brothers.

It turns out that this imperial road has been soaked in blood from the very beginning.

Three gazes were cast down from the canvas, like invisible shackles, trapping him firmly in this small space.

The abdominal cramps became more and more severe, like a ball of fire burning among the internal organs, spreading along the blood vessels to the limbs and bones.

His vision gradually blurred, and the figures in the portrait began to overlap and shake, eventually turning into a dim yellow.

He seemed to hear the ringing of the bells in the Chang'an Palace, from the majestic ones during the Zhenguan period, to the long ones during the Qianwu period, and now to the weak ones during the Jinglong period, each sound knocking on the bones of this corrupt dynasty.

He remembered that when he had just restored the throne, he had stood in the Taiji Hall, looking at the officials below the steps, and was determined to recreate the Zhenguan era.

But in the end, he was neither as decisive as Taizong nor as patient and restrained as his father, and ended up being forced to abdicate by his wife and daughter.

Empress Wei watched the light in his eyes completely go out and released her hand that had been pressing on his chest.

The blood drops on the fingertips dripped onto the dragon robe, looking like red plum blossoms falling on the snow.

Princess Anle had already turned her head away, and the beads on her golden hairpin hung down, covering her trembling lips, but could not hide the sobs that leaked out from between her fingers.

Li Xian took a last breath, his chest heaving violently, but he could no longer utter a word.

His gaze was still on the three portraits, as if he was confessing to his ancestors, or questioning them.