Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

Everyone: "..."

Inside the Xiande Hall, there was complete silence.

Everyone, even the usually bold Cheng Yaojin, looked at Li Chengqian, who was frowning and seemed quite dissatisfied with Li Shimin's lack of composure, and even directly questioned his father as a son.

Glazed eyes.

Li Shimin was also dumbfounded.

"What did you just say? Are you lecturing me?!"

Li Chengqian frowned: "Father is not yet the emperor, and has not even received the flattery of his ministers, yet his vision has already become so narrow?"

"This scroll was originally intended for Qingque to use in her resurgence. It was left to Qingque and my mother after I died alongside my father at Xuanwu Gate, giving them the confidence to rise again in the future."

"My father didn't even finish reading it. He called me over and scolded me because of a few words that didn't suit his taste."

"how?"

"Could it be that in the future, when Father truly becomes His Majesty, he will only read half of the memorials submitted by his ministers? And if he is dissatisfied with any of them, he will immediately order the minister to be demoted or executed?"

Li Shimin: "I..."

He stared with wide eyes, his tiger-like gaze seeming to spit fire.

But at this moment, facing Li Chengqian's eyes, which were calm to the point of showing no anger, yet held a strange emotion of disappointment and frustration.

Thinking about his actions just now, for some reason, his anger turned into guilt in an instant.

"Your Highness, how could His Highness the Crown Prince have such thoughts? Today's court assembly and the recent investiture ceremony have left him exhausted," Du Ruhui stepped forward to ease the tension.

however.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian snorted coldly.

Suddenly, before anyone could react, he stepped forward.

He snatched the scroll he had prepared from Li Shimin's still-dazed hand.

"Since Father feels that I have made too many oversights, and I don't want Father to be so tired, I will take that thing back first."

With that, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, and to everyone's astonishment, walked straight out of Xiande Hall without looking back.

Watching Li Chengqian's departing figure, still clutching the scroll in his hand, Li Shimin finally snapped out of his daze.

Why didn't you stop them?

He glared at Cheng Yaojin and the others who were still standing there dumbfounded, then suddenly seemed to have thought of something.

He suddenly turned his head.

"Kemin, do any of you have a record of what's written on that scroll of the rebellious son?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui's expressions changed simultaneously, and they knelt down in front of Li Shimin without prior agreement.

"Your Highness, we would never dare! We haven't even looked at the contents of this document closely!"

"Yes, Your Highness, salt and iron are involved, and are closely related to the foundations of aristocratic families. We dare not have any private interests or covetous thoughts!"

Li Shimin felt a little relieved.

however.

He angrily shouted, "Then you all just stood by and watched that rebellious son take the scroll back?"

Everyone: "This....."

"Go! What are you waiting for?! Quickly retrieve the scroll for me!"

But said the other side.

Li Chengqian, who had been inexplicably summoned to the palace, had just arrived at the gate of the East Palace.

Looking at the eunuchs and palace maids who were still being replaced, something suddenly occurred to him.

He grabbed Wang De, the eunuch who was chasing after him.

"Wang De, where are the former officials and families of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi being held now?"

"what?"

Li Chengqian frowned: "I'm asking you a question, what's with the 'huh'?"

Wang De immediately tensed up.

"Your Highness, this old servant..."

"What? Wang De, could it be that you are a former official of the Crown Prince Yin, intending to keep this from them?"

A cold killing intent flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes. Suddenly, before Wang De could react, he threw a punch that slammed into the side of Wang De's head.

"boom!"

On the vermilion solid wood pillar, there is a clear fist mark, with the paint shattered.

Startled, Wang De's legs went weak, and he immediately knelt on the ground.

"They were all imprisoned by order of His Highness the Crown Prince, locked up in the northern prison within the palace..."

Just as Li Chengqian rode away, Cheng Yaojin rushed out and saw Wang De, who was leaning against a pillar and slumped on the ground like a noodle.

"What are you doing, you scoundrel? Where is the Prince of Zhongshan?"

Upon hearing this, Wang De hurriedly shouted anxiously.

"Quickly! Your Highness, go to the place where the Crown Prince's family is being held!"

"what?!"

......

When Li Chengqian arrived at the palace prison in Wang De's mouth.

To his surprise, the guards here were none other than the original Xuanwu Gate guards, the two men who had fought alongside him outside the Xuanwu Gate that day.

Jing Junhong and Lü Shiheng.

"I've come here to take a look."

If it were someone else, Jing Junhong and Li Chengqian might have hesitated to consider whether they were remnants of the Crown Prince, but since it was Li Chengqian, they didn't think much of it.

He immediately opened the door for Li Chengqian with a smile on his face.

In the chaotic prison, the clanging of iron chains, accompanied by the sound of footsteps entering, startled the imprisoned Crown Prince and the Qi King's family members.

"It's you! Li Chengqian!"

A voice filled with intense hatred rang out, and the moment Li Chengqian turned his head, he was startled to see several familiar figures from his memories.

"Hehe, Prince Anlu, Prince Hedong, Prince Wu'an, Prince Runan, Prince Julu... In the past, it wouldn't have been easy to see all of you at once."

As he spoke, the second son of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, Li Chengdao, the Prince of Hedong, saw Li Chengqian slowly drawing his long sword, and a small face that looked even more immature than Li Chengqian's.

The face turned deathly pale instantly.

"You, what are you going to do?"

“Prince of Zhongshan, do you know that if you kill them today, you will be forever barred from that position? Even if the current Crown Prince ascends the throne, you will have absolutely no chance of being named Crown Prince!”

An aged voice came from the cell behind Li Chengqian.

Hear the words.

Li Chengqian turned his head slightly, only to meet a pair of eyes filled with decisiveness and coldness. It was a middle-aged civil official whose original official robes had probably been stripped off.

At this moment, his patched-up undershirt was revealed.

Despite being imprisoned and looking somewhat weak, he stood up straight when he looked at Li Chengqian.

"Wei Zheng?"

Wei Zheng's pupils contracted slightly, not expecting Li Chengqian to reveal his identity so quickly.

"The Prince of Zhongshan actually knows my name."

Li Chengqian smiled faintly: "How could I not remember those who wanted me dead? You've told my uncle more than once to have them exterminate my Qin Prince's lineage."

Hear the words.

Behind Li Chengqian, several angry curses came from the sons of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng.

Li Chengqian turned his head slightly, his eyes sweeping over his cousins ​​before slowly landing on Wei Zheng.

"It seems that Lord Wei has a lot of prestige in the Eastern Palace. My cousins, who were originally like quails, have become brave because of a word from Lord Wei."

"It seems Lord Wei has a way to save them?"

Wei Zheng stared at Li Chengqian, his teeth clenched.

"I've already said it: once you kill them, you will have absolutely no connection to that position!"

Li Chengqian smiled dismissively.

"Alarmist!"

As he spoke, to the latter's horrified gaze, he suddenly slashed with his knife.

"Crack!"

Seeing Li Chengqian break the prison door chains, walk in with his sword, kick over several princes who tried to rush up to resist, grab the eldest prince, Anlu, and bring him to his own prison cell.

"Prince of Zhongshan! What are you doing!?"

Li Chengqian's face was icy cold, a long sword held against the Prince of Hedong, whom he remembered had clashed with several of the Qi Prince's sons and targeted the Qin Prince's family.

"Since you are the Crown Prince's strategist, today I will give you a chance to save them!"

"If you can answer my question to my satisfaction, I will spare his life!"

Before Wei Zheng could agree or disagree, Li Chengqian took a deep breath.

"The Prince of Zhongshan seeks advice!"

"If my father were to ascend the throne and rule the nation, what would be the most pressing matter, and how should it be resolved?"

Wei Zheng gritted his teeth, but he saw that the blade in Li Chengqian's hand had already left a faint bloodstain on the neck of the Prince of Anlu.

The birth mother of the Prince of Anlu, who was nearby, also cried out for help to Wei Zheng from across the prison.

Even though I was unwilling in my heart.

At this moment, all I can do is furrow my brow and ponder.

half an hour.

"His Majesty's only heir is the Prince of Qin, whose palace controls the imperial palace and holds military power. The most important thing right now is to appease the officials, especially the former officials of the Eastern Palace and the veteran officials of His Majesty's Wude era."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian's smile turned strange.

"So, Wei Zheng, are you begging for mercy from me?"

Wei Zheng was shocked, and his old face instantly turned red. He was so angry that he stood up on the spot.

"Even if I die, I will never betray my Lord!"

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow and gently pressed down on the long sword in his hand.

Amidst the Prince of Anlu's terrified cries, Li Chengqian's icy voice rang out once more.

"The Prince of Zhongshan seeks advice!"

"How can I make you, Wei Zheng, do something so disloyal?"

Wei Zheng's eyes widened in anger instantly.

"You are humiliating me!"

"Ahhhh! Don't kill me, don't kill me, waaaaaah..."

Hearing the Prince of Anlu's terrified cries and seeing Li Chengqian's cold and hard gaze, Wei Zheng felt as if he could barely breathe.

I almost fainted on the spot.

"You... since you are satisfied with my answer just now, you should release Prince Anlu!"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow.

When asked about the Prince of Anlu, whose neck still bore a bloody mark, Li Chengqian readily agreed.

Amidst the horrified cries of the Crown Prince's children and concubines, Li Chengde, the Prince of Hedong, who was already trembling like a leaf, was immediately brought out.

A cold steel knife rested against the other person's neck.

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow at Wei Zheng.

"Lord Wei, save me, save me... Waaaaah!"

Wei Zheng took a deep breath.

"I serve only a wise ruler who can distinguish between loyalty and treachery and who listens to unpleasant advice! If the King of Qin wishes to continue serving me, he shall issue an edict of self-reproach, admitting to the plot to seize the throne, and then..."

"Ahhh, Lord Wei, Lord Wei, please stop!"

The King of Hedong suddenly let out a series of screams. The cold, stinging pain and pressure on the back of his neck caused a warm current to flow between his legs.

Li Chengqian ignored him, staring at Wei Zheng, who seemed to have his neck choked.

He didn't say anything, but the coldness in his eyes was already very obvious.

half an hour.

Wei Zheng gritted his teeth: "The edict of self-reproach may not be issued, the officials of the Eastern Palace should be released, and the relatives of the Crown Prince must be treated well, though they may be imprisoned..."

Li Chengqian turned his head slightly and looked through the prison cell at the pairs of eyes filled with fear and hatred.

"But I can't sleep if they don't die."

Wei Zheng: "..."

He took a deep breath, felt a sharp pain in his chest, and forcefully suppressed the surging blood in his chest.

Wei Zheng gritted his teeth: "His Majesty can order the Prince of Hedong and his ilk to be expelled from the imperial genealogy, and court officials are forbidden from visiting them."

The Crown Prince and the relatives of the Prince of Qi present immediately turned pale.

It's fair to say that if that really happens...

They were then kept in captivity and monitored...

These people truly have no hope of turning their lives around.

Seeing Li Chengqian remove the knife from the neck of the Prince of Hedong, Wei Zheng breathed a slight sigh of relief. It seemed that he had preserved the bloodline of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi.

Although these bloodlines will inevitably not be able to continue in the future.

"Your Highness's behavior is unbecoming of a wise ruler!"

Li Chengqian scoffed: "Wei Zheng, do you think I am someone who cherishes my reputation? The wisdom you speak of has its merits, but have you not heard that tyranny also has its uses!"