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

March, the first year of Baoying.

The spring chill in Chang'an had not yet faded. A chilly wind, wrapped in a chill, seeped in through the broken windows of the Shenlong Hall, swirling dust from the ground and settling on Li Longji's withered clothes. The seventy-eight-year-old emperor was now huddled in a corner on the west side of the hall, his back against the cold palace wall, like an old beast whose strength had been drained away.

His hair had already turned completely white, sticking sparsely to his scalp, with a few strands hanging down in front of his forehead, covering the eyes that once held the splendor of the entire Tang Dynasty.

Now those eyes were frighteningly empty, without sadness or joy, without resentment, only a dead and blank look, as if even the birds flying by outside the hall were not worth his while to look at them for a moment.

The hall was eerily quiet, with only the occasional sound of footsteps from the patrolling soldiers outside. "Tramp, tramp, tramp," each step seemed to step on his heart.

Those soldiers were sent by Li Heng, as were the two palace guards standing in the hall - they never spoke on their own initiative, unless he asked for water or food, otherwise they would just stand there with their hands hanging down like two puppets, with no trace of the awe they had for "Your Majesty" in their eyes, only cautious surveillance.

Li Longji raised his hand, his skinny fingers trembling slightly, trying to brush off the dust on his collar, but as soon as his fingertips touched the fabric, they dropped down weakly.

He thought back to the days before the fourteenth year of the Tianbao era, when he was still the most honorable person in Chang'an City, the founder of the "Kaiyuan Prosperity", and the "Sanlang Emperor" praised by all people.

At that time, the palace eunuchs had to kneel three steps and speak in a low voice when they saw him; at that time, Chen Xuanli always held a long sword with a gilded sheath, stood at the palace steps, with a sharp eye, and as long as he gave an order, even if it was a sea of ​​fire and swords, Chen Xuanli would lead the Yulin Army to charge.

Gao Lishi, who was always by his side, held a cup of warm tea and whispered about the latest news outside the palace: "Your Majesty, Mr. Taibai got drunk again in the Chenxiang Pavilion today, and he even asked Your Majesty to give him a jar of Xinfeng wine before he would compose a new piece of music."

Thinking of Li Bai, the corners of Li Longji's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

He remembered the unrestrained poet, who always came in white clothes and with a sword in hand. When he was drunk, he would lean on the railings, and when he wrote with his brush, he didn't care if the ink splashed on the dragon robe.

Once, Li Bai was so drunk that he asked Gao Lishi to take off his boots for him. Although Gao Lishi looked reluctant, he finally did it. At that time, he could tolerate such wildness because he knew that the demeanor of the Tang Dynasty should be hidden in the pride of these talented men.

But what about now? Chen Xuanli had died of illness long after Mawei Slope, Gao Lishi was exiled to Wuzhou and has not been heard from since. And the Yuhuan who would dance "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat" for him, the woman with a peony in her hair and a smile that could brighten the candles in the Changsheng Palace, has long since turned to a pile of yellow earth at the foot of Mawei Slope.

He suddenly felt his chest tighten, as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart to death.

He recalled the summer of the fifteenth year of Tianbao, when An Lushan's cavalry crushed Tongguan and the people of Chang'an were in panic. He took Yuhuan, the prince and his confidants and escaped from the Daming Palace under the cover of night.

When they reached Mawei Slope, the six armies did not move forward.

But compared to the pain of Mawei Slope, what made him unable to sleep or eat was the rainy night in the 25th year of Kaiyuan.

That day, he believed the slander of Concubine Wu Huifei and thought that Crown Prince Li Ying, Prince of E Li Yao, and Prince of Guang Li Ju were planning a rebellion. He was so confused that he ordered his three biological sons to be demoted to commoners and then sentenced to death.

He still remembers how his three sons knelt in front of the palace gate and cried out, "Father, please spare my lives!" when they were taken away.

Li Ying was the crown prince. He was smart since childhood and could recite the "Analects of Confucius" at the age of five. He once taught him riding and shooting, and said, "My son will definitely be a good emperor who can defend the Tang Dynasty in the future"; Li Yao was good at poetry and prose. Every time he presented a new work, he would read it carefully and praised him for "having the style of Li Bai"; Li Ju loved sword dancing, and his sword skills were sharp, quite like Xue Rengui in the past.

But he just did that, because of a slander, he killed his three most beloved sons.

Later, after Wu Huifei's death, he slowly came to realize that the so-called "evidence of treason" was all fake. But the dead cannot be resurrected. He could only confess his sins over and over again in the dead of night before the tablets of his three sons. But what good was confession? The tablets were cold, and no one would ever call him "Father" again.

"Cough, cough, cough..." The violent coughing interrupted his thoughts. He covered his mouth, his body shaking with coughing, and a few drops of turbid tears seeped out of the corners of his eyes.

He recalled his youth, when he had just seized power from Empress Wei and Princess Anle. Full of vigor and ambition, he stood on the steps of the Daming Palace and declared to all the civil and military officials, "I will make the Tang Dynasty even more prosperous than during the Zhenguan era!"

He did it.

During the Kaiyuan period, the territory of the Tang Dynasty stretched from the Korean Peninsula in the east to the Aral Sea in the west, from Hue, Vietnam in the south to Lake Baikal in the north. It was the most powerful country in the world at that time.

In Chang'an City, there were many Hu merchants, and the sound of pipa could always be heard in the taverns owned by Hu girls.

In the Luoyang market, spices from Persia, silks from the Western Regions, and teas from the south of the Yangtze River were piled up like small mountains.

Outside the imperial examination hall, countless poor scholars, with the ideal of "serving a king as great as Yao and Shun", were waiting for the opportunity to display their ambitions.

In the Tang Dynasty, Xue Rengui conquered Tianshan with three arrows. When the arrows pierced the sky, even the barbarians trembled.

There was Li Jing who pacified Wuhui in the south and defeated the Turks in the north. He was a military genius and never suffered a defeat in his life. He was called the "Sword of the Heavenly Khan" by the countries in the Western Regions.

Once, He Zhizhang rode a horse as if it were a boat after getting drunk, and took off his hat and exposed his head when entering the Golden Palace, which made Xuanzong laugh. He said, "He Zhizhang's madness is a blessing for the Tang Dynasty."

There is also Xuanzang who traveled west to seek Buddhist teachings, experienced countless hardships and dangers, brought back tens of thousands of Buddhist scriptures, and translated scriptures at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda to spread the Dharma.

Huineng gave a lecture on Zen at Nanhua Temple. His words "Originally there is nothing, so where can dust gather?" spread the Zen spirit throughout the world.

Li Chunfeng deduced the astrology and wrote the Tui Bei Tu, which tells the rise and fall of the world...

At that time, the Tang Dynasty was full of talented people and the stars in the sky were brilliant. Even the stars in the sky seemed to bow to this land.

But now?

Although the Anshi Rebellion was nearing its end, the ruins of Luoyang City had not yet been repaired. The vassal states in Hebei were independent and refused to obey the orders of the court. The people were displaced and starving refugees could be seen everywhere on the roadside - all of this happened at his hands.

"I really am... the eternal sinner of the Tang Dynasty."

He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse like an old bellows, "It was almost...it was almost the end of the Tang Dynasty in my hands."

He didn't dare to think about the outside world, didn't dare to ask whether the streets of Chang'an were still as prosperous as before, didn't dare to ask whether the peonies in Luoyang were still blooming every year, and didn't dare to ask the people who once praised him whether they felt hatred or resentment when they mentioned the three words "Li Longji".

He is like a mouse hiding in the gutter, not daring to see the light, and unable to see the light.

At this moment, with a "creak", the heavy wooden door of the Dragon Temple was slowly pushed open.

Li Longji's whole body stiffened, as if he was pricked by a needle, and he suddenly raised his head.

He thought it was another palace eunuch coming to deliver food, but when he caught a glimpse of that figure out of the corner of his eye, his pupils suddenly contracted, and then he suddenly lowered his head, using his hands and feet to drill deep into the corner, as if he wanted to embed himself in the crack in the wall.

The man was dressed in a washed-out, bleached blue scholar's robe, his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin. His face was covered in wrinkles, but his eyes remained clear, revealing the serenity of someone who had experienced many hardships. He walked in with soft steps, carrying a food box. His gaze fell on the huddled figure in the corner, and his once tightly pursed lips gradually became tinged with a complex emotion.

It’s Mr. Qi.

Am I dead? He wanted to commit suicide many times, but he didn't dare to die.

What I am afraid of is the current situation.

Li Longji's body trembled even more violently, his teeth chattered, and his head lowered even lower, almost touching the ground.

Mr. Qi stopped a few steps away from him.

He looked at the shivering old man in front of him, and the high-spirited young emperor in his memory suddenly overlapped with the figure in front of him.

He still remembered that in the first year of Kaiyuan, shortly after Li Longji ascended the throne, he summoned scholars from the Xianyuan Academy to the palace to discuss matters.

At that time, Li Longji was only in his twenties. He wore a bright yellow dragon robe and sat on the dragon throne. His eyes were bright and his conversation was full of youthful vigor.

He said, "I want to get rid of bad policies and restore peace to the world," and "I want to fly the flag of the Tang Dynasty everywhere." When he said these words, there was a light in his eyes, which was the ambition of an emperor and the hope of the Tang Dynasty.

But what about now? The emperor who once aspired to make the Tang Dynasty prosperous forever has become like this—like a mouse, hiding in a corner, not even having the courage to look up at people.

Mr. Qi felt like something was blocking his heart, and he felt anxious and suffocated.

He had come with a lot to say, wanting to question why he had allowed the prosperous era he had built to fall to ruin. But looking at the white-haired, trembling old man before him, the rebuke on the tip of his tongue faltered.

Time has passed too long, long enough to smooth out all the edges, and long enough to turn a high-spirited emperor into a prisoner struggling to survive.

Mr. Qi sighed softly, put the food box on the ground, and slowly squatted down. He lowered his voice very softly, as if he was afraid of disturbing anything: "Li Sanlang, raise your head and look at me."

"Sanlang" - this is the name Mr. Qi used to call him when he was still a prince.

His body stiffened, and the trembling gradually subsided.

He slowly raised his head, revealing his face full of wrinkles and tear marks.

His eyes met Mr. Qi's, and there was finally a ripple in those empty eyes - surprise, guilt, embarrassment, and a long-forgotten warmth belonging to "Li Sanlang".

Mr. Qi looked at him, with no reproach or ridicule in his eyes, only a sigh that came after years of experience.

He pointed to the food box on the ground and said softly, "I brought this from outside the palace. It contains the sesame cakes you loved to eat back then, and a jar of Xinfeng wine."

Li Longji's eyes fell on the food box. His throat moved, and he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

He remembered that during the Tianbao period, Gao Lishi would serve him freshly baked sesame cakes at every palace banquet. They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with the aroma of sesame.

Li Bai would hold the Xinfeng wine in his hand and say with a smile, "Your Majesty, this wine paired with poetry is worthy of this beautiful spring."

Those days seem like just yesterday, yet they also seem like a long, long time ago.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Qi Huan opened the food box.

There were indeed a few sesame cakes inside, still steaming softly. Next to them was a small wine jar with cotton wool stuffed in the mouth. He picked up a sesame cake and handed it to Li Longji: "Try it, it still tastes like it did back then."

Li Longji hesitated for a moment, stretched out his hand tremblingly, and took the sesame cake.

He took a small bite of the sesame cake, and the familiar aroma spread in his mouth, but he felt it was extremely bitter. Tears fell without warning, hitting the cake and leaving a small wet mark.

"Mr. Qi..." He finally spoke, his voice choked with sobs, "I... I'm sorry for the Tang Dynasty, sorry for the people, and even more sorry... for those who trusted me."

"I was wrong."