We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Li Che looked at Shan Chao and asked in a cold voice, "When the false emperor fled south, didn't he take his brother with him?"

Although Shan Chao was frightened out of his wits, he still nodded desperately in response when he heard the emperor's question.

Li Lin, who was standing by, was surprised and disbelieving when he heard this: "Why is that? They are brothers!"

Li Che did not immediately answer Li Lin's naive question, but he was very clear in his mind.

Not only are they brothers, they are twin brothers.

But so what?

In the face of the supreme imperial power, even fathers and sons can kill each other, let alone brothers?

He immediately deduced the dirty intention behind Li Ming's move.

Li Ming fled south in a hurry and was in a very embarrassing situation, but no matter how embarrassed he was, he was still an emperor.

Li Ming was a puppet emperor and it was true that he had no real power, but he was still an emperor no matter how powerless he was.

The aristocratic family took advantage of his identity, and Li Huan was also the blood of his father. Although he was deposed and had no legal title, he was still a prince after all.

If Li Huan was also taken to the south, if there was any discord between the aristocratic families and Li Ming, it would be very likely that Li Ming would be deposed and Li Huan would be made emperor.

This alone was enough to make Li Ming determined to abandon his twin brother in the imperial capital that was about to fall and leave him to fend for himself.

As for why Li Huan went crazy... Li Che also knew it in his heart.

This former crown prince was first imprisoned by Emperor Qing for three years, suffering great physical and mental damage.

After finally joining forces with the aristocratic families to launch a palace coup, and seeing success on the verge of happening, he was deposed in public by his father at the last moment, falling from the clouds to the abyss.

In the end, the throne fell into the hands of his mediocre twin brother, and he himself was ruthlessly abandoned to death by his own brother.

Even the strongest man could not withstand this series of fatal blows.

He was able to hold on until now before completely collapsing, and his mental strength is far beyond that of an ordinary person.

After figuring this out, Li Che calmly ordered Qiu Bai, the commander of the personal guards beside him: "Open the door and go in and take a look."

"Yes!" Qiu Bai responded.

The night watchmen were worried that Li Huan had a weapon in his hand, so they quickly took out their arm shields and crossed them in front of Li Che to form a shield wall.

Ying Bu kicked open the palace door and the night watchmen swarmed in.

Seeing that there was no sound of fighting inside the hall, Li Che signaled the shield wall to separate and stepped into the hall side by side with Li Lin.

The Xuan Zheng Hall was dimly lit and in a mess, as if it had just been looted.

Li Huan was wearing an old dragon robe that he had found from somewhere, and he sat crookedly on the dragon throne.

Her long hair fell down like dry grass, covering most of her face.

The eyes that appeared through the gaps in the hair flickered with paranoid and crazy flames.

At this moment, he was surrounded by the Night Watch, unarmed, and posed no threat to Li Che.

He just sat there, sometimes grinning, sometimes whispering.

Li Che and Li Lin walked up to him and stood a few steps away, looking at their former brother. Thousands of thoughts flooded into their minds at once, and they remained silent without saying a word.

Li Huan seemed to have regained some clarity at this moment.

He raised his cloudy eyes, focused his gaze on Li Che's face, and pulled the corners of his mouth upwards in a strange arc:

"It's Sixth Brother? Lucky Sixth Brother, mighty Sixth Brother, the Sixth Brother that Father loves the most is here!"

Li Che just looked at him indifferently without saying anything.

Seeing that he remained silent, Li Huan continued to speak to himself, "I am very happy to see my Sixth Brother... Come! Give my Sixth Brother a seat!"

Naturally, no one responded to such crazy words, and no one was brave enough to give Li Che a seat.

Li Huan seemed to be enraged. He suddenly jumped up from the dragon throne and waved his arms:

"How dare you! A bunch of sluts! Didn't you hear what I said?!"

The night watchmen had no expression on their faces. They just stepped forward together and blocked Li Huan firmly around the dragon throne.

Then, Li Huan seemed to have triggered a switch, and angrily cursed Li Che incoherently:

"Father is blind! He is blind!"

"Why did he choose you? Why?!"

"How are you better than me? Huh?!"

Li Huan acted like a madman, roaring these words over and over again.

Li Che just looked at him coldly, as if he were a dead man.

When Li Huan calmed down, he noticed Li Lin beside Li Che and forced a smile on his face:

"Fourth brother is here too? You and Sixth brother have such a good relationship, you are really inseparable..."

Then, he flew into a rage again, pointing at the two men and shouting, "Why are you pretending to be so affectionate?! You're obviously not brothers from the same father and mother! Who are you pretending to be so harmonious for?!"

Facing Li Huan's accusation, Li Lin's expression was cold: "Second brother is your brother, why did you attack him in the first place?"

"Why?!" Li Huan interrupted sharply, "The struggle between princes has always been like this! The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. What's wrong with that?!"

"Li Lin, do you dare to honestly say that you've never thought about that position? You've been following Sixth Brother around so long, but have you never been jealous of him?!"

These words were so hurtful that even Li Che frowned slightly.

I couldn't help but wonder, is Li Huan really crazy, or is he using his madness as an excuse to sow discord?

Faced with such a heart-piercing question, ordinary people would have panicked and been eager to defend themselves.

However, Li Lin remained calm, facing Li Huan's frantic gaze without dodging, and uttered two words clearly:

“Never.”

The voice was extremely calm, yet weighed a thousand pounds.

Hearing these two words, Li Che's mouth corners rose slightly.

Li Huan was stunned for a moment, as if he had heard a huge joke, and burst into even crazier laughter: "Hahahahahahaha!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

He danced on the dragon throne and began to shout incoherently some illogical and crazy words. He looked completely mentally confused.

Li Lin stopped looking at him and just sighed deeply.

He turned to look at Li Che beside him, with a hint of pity in his eyes.

Li Che understood the look in the eyes of his kind-hearted fourth brother. After all, he cared about the brotherhood and wanted to find a way out for Li Huan, who had gone completely crazy.

Whether Li Huan was really crazy or just pretending to be crazy, Li Che had already made up his mind.

"Fourth brother, don't worry."

With just these five words, Li Lin's tense heartstrings suddenly relaxed.

He understood Li Che and would keep his word.

With these words, although Li Huan went crazy, at least his life was saved.

Li Che's gaze fell back on Li Huan, and his voice regained its imperial dignity:

"Li Huan, I don't know if you are truly mad or just pretending to be crazy. Regardless, you must pay the price for what you did in the past."

He paused and pronounced the verdict loudly:

"Propagate my decree: strip commoner Li Huan of all his royal family status and depose him as a commoner!"

"From now on, you will be imprisoned in the former Prince of Shu's mansion and will not be released unless you are dead! The clan office and the night watchmen will jointly guard you and provide you with the same expenses and supplies as the prisoners!"

Killing Li Huan would not benefit Li Che except venting his anger for a moment. Instead, he would be branded as a brother-killer.

Rather than this, it would be better to imprison him for life and isolate him from the world.

If he was just pretending to be crazy, it wouldn't take long for him to become truly crazy in this endless confinement.

Maybe they can't even last a few years and will die of depression.

There is really no need to dirty your hands for this and bear unnecessary blame.

Upon receiving the order, the two night watchmen immediately stepped forward, one on the left and one on the right, holding up Li Huan, who was still struggling and screaming, and tried to drag him out of the hall.

"Li Che! You usurper, you shall not die a good death!"

"Father! Did you see that? This is the good son you chose!"

"Daqing will perish in his hands, and the Li family will be destroyed in his hands!"

Li Huan was dragged away forcibly, still cursing in a shrill voice.

The officials passing by all turned pale, lowered their heads, and wished they could cover their ears and pretend they heard nothing.

At this moment, a figure suddenly flashed out from the crowd of officials and rushed towards Li Huan!

The two escorting night watchmen reacted very quickly, but the newcomer's actions were even more decisive.

There was a flash of cold light!

puff-

A sharp sword has accurately pierced Li Huan's chest!

"what--"

The ministers screamed at the explosion, and the crowd was instantly in turmoil, and they all retreated in fear.

The man who had attacked was not giving up yet. He twisted his wrist and tried to draw out his sword to stab again.

At this time, the surrounding soldiers finally reacted, swarmed forward, and hurriedly stopped him and snatched the sword from his hand.

But it was too late.

Blood gushed out of Li Huan's chest. The long sword pierced through his chest and directly pierced his heart.

He looked up at the person who had attacked him, and the madness in his eyes disappeared.

Then his body went limp and he fell heavily to the ground. Blood spurted out of his mouth mixed with fragments of internal organs. It was obvious that he was not going to survive.

The sudden change was so sudden that one could hear a pin drop in the entire Xuan Zheng Hall.

Li Che and Li Lin's expressions suddenly changed and they stepped forward quickly.

When he saw the face of the man who had tried to assassinate Li Huan, Li Lin cried out in shock, "Third Brother?!"

The murderer was actually King Jin!

Li Che silently looked at Li Huan, who was rapidly losing his life on the ground, and then looked at Prince Jin, whose expression was terrifyingly calm, with a complicated look in his eyes.

Li Lin was filled with grief and rushed to the front of King Jin, his voice trembling, "Third brother! You... why are you doing this?!"

"He's already a madman, and His Majesty has sentenced him to life imprisonment. Why would you kill him yourself and bear the name of a fratricide?"

The King of Jin was being held down by the soldiers, but his face showed no excitement after killing someone.

He looked up at the angry Li Lin, then at the silent Li Che, and spoke slowly:

"Fourth Brother, this is what I have to do."

Upon hearing this, Li Lin remained silent and could only look at Li Che for help.

Li Che took a deep breath and waved to the soldier holding Prince Jin: "Let him go."

The soldier released it as instructed.

Prince Jin moved his twisted arm and continued to stand straight.

Li Che stared at Prince Jin and asked in a deep voice, "Brother, do you have such a deep hatred for Li Huan that you are determined to kill him yourself, even at the cost of violating the law?"

Prince Jin shook his head slowly, then nodded.

"Your Majesty, when I was imprisoned in a dark room by Li Huan, my second brother told me this many times."

His voice was a little choked, but soon became firm again:

"He said that among all his brothers, the one he disliked the most was Your Majesty; but the one he respected the most from the bottom of his heart was also Your Majesty."

"The person he has the best relationship with is Li Huan; but the person he hates the most is also... Li Huan!"

Prince Jin's gaze suddenly became sharp, piercing Li Huan's corpse on the ground:

"I killed Li Huan today not to avenge myself, but for my second brother!"

He straightened his back, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders, and said word by word:

"This matter has to be done. It's not about right or wrong, it's just about... peace of mind."