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

"Sizzle~ Sizzle~ Sizzle~"

In the small garden behind the Lizheng Hall.

Empress Zhangsun rolled up her sleeves high, revealing a pair of snow-white, lotus-root-like arms that made Consort Yin envious.

A strand of her hair, which was piled up, fell down and covered one side of Empress Zhangsun's fair and smooth forehead. The hair swayed gently with the movement of her hands, like a thin gauze curtain being blown by the wind.

Her delicate earlobe was revealed behind the curtain.

"Gudong~"

Yin Fei pursed her lips tightly, her eyes burning with a complex and intense light that grew ever more fervent.

He knelt down beside the Empress, cupping his face in his hands like lotus seeds, staring intently at her, and even swallowed hard.

"Thump~" Li Yuan was also very flustered at this moment.

He watched Empress Zhangsun, who was constantly sharpening her knife, with trembling eyes. Her fair hands, which did not look like they were used to hold a knife, were scraping the steel knife against the whetstone with a hissing sound.

It's as if...scraping someone's bones.

“Guanyinbi, well, Erlang is the emperor after all. He was away on a journey, and he left in such a hurry that he inevitably lacked someone to take care of him… As the empress, you should be able to understand, right?”

Li Yuan spoke weakly.

After all, he was his own son. Compared to Prince Lu, Li Yuanchang, and others who had been completely bought off by the Crown Prince and Prince Wei, Li Shimin's second son was sometimes able to consider things from his father's perspective.

Li Yuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and come to help ease the tension between the two.

"Stab!"

Empress Zhangsun paused abruptly as she sharpened her knife.

She slightly raised her eyes, and in those eyes that shone like cold stars, there was no trace of the gentle and graceful woman she once was. She raised the short blade in her hand slightly.

Li Yuan was so frightened that he involuntarily took two steps back.

"I, I didn't say you should give in to him, Erlang is definitely wrong!" He hurriedly reiterated his neutral stance.

however.

Upon hearing this, Empress Zhangsun's gentle, dignified face revealed a strange, mocking smile.

"Father, what kind of punishment do you think the emperor should receive?"

"Three cups as punishment?"

Cold sweat beaded on Li Yuan's forehead. He opened his mouth, racking his brains to think of something to say.

next second.

But then there was a loud crash.

A cold glint flashed before his eyes as Empress Zhangsun swung her fine steel dagger.

A potted pine tree sent from Goguryeo has fallen to the ground.

"Clatter..."

Pine needles scattered everywhere, and the smooth cut on the tree trunk, which was as thick as a baby's arm, made Li Yuan's pupils shrink involuntarily.

"Guanyinbi, you..."

He gaped in astonishment.

He had heard some news before that Empress Zhangsun's health was not quite right, but he just assumed that the Crown Prince, who loved his mother dearly, had found a famous doctor to treat her.

Now... upon closer inspection, it turns out Guanyinbi even knows martial arts?!

When did this happen?

Empress Zhangsun stretched out her fingers and gently stroked the blade that she had honed to an extreme sharpness. She then looked up at the retired emperor, who was also out there causing trouble, with a half-smile.

"Father, if Mother were still alive... and she found out about your debauchery and extravagance in Xizhou... how would she be appeased?"

"This isn't the first time I've encountered something like this. After all, His Majesty is still keeping Princess Yang, the wife of Prince Qi, outside the palace. I've tried to advise him, but it seems he hasn't listened..."

Li Yuan swallowed hard.

Looking at his daughter-in-law's face, which reflected the cold glint of the short blade, an inexplicable sense of panic welled up in his heart.

"This, this, heh, hehe... Erlang really went a bit too far..."

He stammered awkwardly, his nervousness growing stronger. Faced with Empress Zhangsun's questioning gaze, which held a half-smile, he couldn't think of any words to defend his second son.

"Hehe... Father, you should go back and rest. After all, Qingque is waiting for you early tomorrow morning."

Li Yuan nodded hesitantly.

"Then, Your Majesty, what do you intend to do...?"

Empress Zhangsun sneered, "Since His Majesty cannot heed the advice of this Empress, then I shall have no choice but to teach His Majesty the Emperor of our Great Tang a lesson in martial arts..."

"call out!"

"Pfft!"

With a flick of Empress Zhangsun's wrist, the short blade shot out and instantly pierced the forehead of a wooden dummy in the corner of the garden.

It emits a buzzing, vibrating sound.

Li Yuan shuddered in fright.

Li Yuan fled in panic.

"Oh no! Oh no!"

Li Yuan seemed to have been greatly frightened, and ran wildly a long way away from the Lizheng Hall before wiping the cold sweat from his face with lingering fear.

Recalling the strength that Empress Zhangsun had just displayed, he couldn't help but pinch his arm hard again.

"Hiss! I'm not crazy?!"

Li Yuan's eyes widened: "...So, it's this world that's gone mad?"

He was somewhat incredulous, his legs trembling as he leaned against a corner of the palace wall, sitting on the ground, recalling everything that had just happened, and couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Well, Guanyinbi is so gentle, she was probably just trying to scare Shimin... They've been childhood sweethearts, their relationship is so good... The Crown Prince's position is so secure, even if Shimin had a child outside, it wouldn't affect anything..."

He muttered the reasons he was trying to convince himself.

however.

As the words were spoken, Li Yuan couldn't help but shudder at the sight of Empress Zhangsun's cold, piercing gaze, a gaze that seemed to haunt his mind like a nightmare.

Want bad things!

"No, no... Guanyinbi is truly enraged this time. After all, that scoundrel Erlang left her, the Empress, in Chang'an for over a year. What woman could tolerate such treatment... and now he's brought back seven children..."

Li Yuan became increasingly frightened as he thought about it, and hurriedly leaned against the wall to stand up again.

After thinking for a while, he hurriedly headed back towards his Wude Hall.

That night.

The Imperial Guards in Chang'an then received another letter intercepted from the Wude Hall, destined for Chengdu Prefecture.

The letter was delivered to Li Chengqian's desk in Taiyuan the next day.

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a deep father-son bond! Master Li, you know, my grandfather loved my father so much, how could he have gone so far as to poison each other for the position of commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition?"

"This is truly unbelievable..."

Looking at the crown prince, who was shaking his head and looking gloating.

Even Li Gang, the Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, couldn't interrupt on this issue at this moment.

However, she still whispered a reminder: "Your Highness, will the Empress hurt herself? His Majesty's martial prowess is now unparalleled; there are very few in the world who can rival him..."

Li Chengqian couldn't help but chuckle.

Looking at his teacher with a strange expression, he said, "Teacher Li, are you saying that Father Emperor brought back seven children from outside, including a pair of twins, and after enjoying himself for more than a year, he came back and is going to make a move against the Empress?"

A cold smile played on his lips.

"Master Li, what do you think my three thousand Imperial Guards in Chang'an are for? What do you think the King of Wei's personal musketeer guards stationed within the palace are for?"

"Oh, and there's more~"

Li Chengqian's smile deepened: "Who said His Majesty the Emperor would necessarily be a match for the Empress?"

Thinking back over the years, his mother would often come to his study to look through the martial arts books he had written.

Then there's the pharmaceutical merchants under Chang Le's command, who send precious medicinal herbs to the palace every month.

Li Chengqian couldn't suppress the gloating expression on his face.

"Hehehe... Father, I hope I'll still recognize you then..."

Li Chengqian folded the letter in his hand again.

He returned it to Cui Xiaoguo, who was now a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Commander Cui, deliver this letter to the Emperor exactly as the Emperor Emeritus instructed. Under no circumstances should the Emperor discover that this secret letter has been passed through someone else's hands!"

"Since my grandfather and father have such a deep father-son bond, how can I, as their son, lag behind?"

Cui Xiaoguo lowered his head, pretending not to have heard what His Highness the Crown Prince said next.

After respectfully accepting the order, he hurriedly left.

Yu Shinan, standing to the side, sighed inwardly and shook his head gently.

"Your Highness, the Emperor Emeritus sent His Majesty to Taiyuan to ask you for help. If His Majesty comes, do you really intend to get involved in this matter?"

Li Chengqian laughed heartily.

"Hahaha, Master Yu, so you also think His Majesty went too far in this matter, don't you?"

Yu Shinan didn't speak, he just stroked his beard.

He was a man of integrity, and since his first wife passed away, he had not taken a concubine, let alone remarried.

His Majesty's behavior of having a vast harem and a virtuous, gentle, and peerless Empress Zhangsun, yet still engaging in promiscuous affairs outside the palace, is concerning.

Although he dared not say it outright, he certainly couldn't stand it in his heart.

Li Chengqian smiled.

"I only said I'd guarantee he wouldn't be punished by the Empress Dowager in Chang'an, but I didn't say I'd also protect his personal safety in Taiyuan."

Yu Shinan, Li Gang: "..."

Your Highness, His Majesty is truly blessed to have a son like you.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Emperor Taizong of Tang stood with his arms crossed, looking at the two people in front of him with a serious expression.

"Xuanling, Keming, we are all in the same boat now. We should work together. I have a plan that can bring us out of this deadly situation, but I need your assistance..."

Li Shimin had a majestic and righteous look on his face, and his voice seemed to have been deliberately made deep and dignified.

A ray of sunlight shone through the car window, illuminating his face and making him look like a righteous man about to sacrifice himself for his country.

Unfortunately.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui looked at each other as if they were fools.

"Oh, oh!"

Du Ruhui curled his lip and spat a mouthful of phlegm out of the car window.

He tossed his head and said, "A true man dies when he dies, and what's done is done. These are Your Majesty's own words!"

Fang Xuanling stood with his arms crossed, just like the Zhenguan Emperor before him.

He smiled enigmatically. A urgent report from the Hundred Cavalry Commandery finally made Emperor Zhenguan, who had originally intended to use the two of them as scapegoats, just like them, a sinner in his wife's eyes.

"Your Majesty, we are ready to fight to the death with our wives. As the sovereign and father, you must not surrender first!"

Li Shimin: "......"

Outside the carriage, Li Junxian looked at the boundary marker in front of the convoy.

"Your Majesty, we are about to enter Chang'an territory... Should we go directly to Chang'an, or should we, as the Emperor Emeritus suggested, detour to Taiyuan?"