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

The Tang Dynasty's advance in Pyongyang Prefecture was slow, but it was still making steady progress.

In less than a month, they had already swept through all the cities that had come before Pyongyang.

The army was at the gates of Pyongyang. Inside the city, Yeon Gaesomun had lured them with promises of wealth and riches, while the general who was ordered to stay behind and defend the city was filled with tension and fear.

At almost the same time, in the capital city of the Goguryeo puppet king, a bloody coup swept through the power families of the entire capital.

Apart from the Goguryeo clans, who were in the same camp as the Tang Dynasty clans from the very beginning.

A group of high-ranking civil officials, including the prime minister controlled by the Jiang family and the Zhongwei Dafu controlled by the Liu family, were immediately slaughtered by the soldiers who stormed the palace and their ancestral lands that day.

With the help of the experiences of the Tang Dynasty aristocratic families such as the Cui family of Qinghe, the Li family of Zhaojun, and the Lu family of Fanyang, these families discovered various places in the territory of the Goguryeo Jiang and Liu clans where these disgraced officials' clansmen could be hidden, including deep wells, secret passages, and unknown external properties.

The soldiers visited it all.

The biting winter wind on the execution platform, mixed with ice and snow, froze the blood spurting from these people into foul-smelling scum.

Three days later.

The cities facing Silla and Baekje, such as Ansil Castle, Louguan Castle, and Puji Castle, which were originally controlled by Yeon Jeongdo and other descendants of Yeon Taejo, were all taken over by aristocratic generals such as the Cheongha Choi clan.

The heads of Yuan Jingtu and others were delivered to the royal city by fast horse.

It was placed before the new king, Yeon Gaesomun.

Yeon Gaesomun stared at the heads of his brothers, laid out side by side before him, each with their eyes wide open in disbelief, shock, resentment, or horror. His face was filled with cruelty and icy coldness.

"Don't blame me. If you must blame someone, blame our father. He's old and senile, giving you things you shouldn't have... Don't you agree, Father..."

aside.

Yeon Tae-jo's head was grabbed by Yeon Gaesomun and placed together with the heads of his several younger brothers.

After examining it carefully for a long time, Yeon Gaesomun suddenly burst into a series of wild laughs.

This caused the palace maids in the main hall of the royal palace to tremble with fear.

"Hahahaha! I am the king!"

"I am now the king of Goguryeo! Hahahaha!"

Yeon Gaesomun went mad, a sentiment echoed by both King Yi Yin of Liang and General Yi Ji of Yanzhou upon receiving the news.

"Your Highness, this is precisely our chance to take down Goguryeo in one fell swoop!"

Even Xue Rengui, who was usually extremely restrained, rushed to Li Yin's side immediately upon receiving the news and requested a large-scale troop deployment.

Upon hearing this, Marquis Jing Junhong of Jingshui also nodded and volunteered for the battle.

"Your Highness, with the rotation of troops in cities like Amuro Castle, there must be some oversights. Even if we can't capture the cities, it's still an opportunity for us to lead our troops to plunder them!"

Li Yin nodded slightly, his eyes flashing with ruthlessness: "Send troops!"

"Together with General Li Ji, we will launch a pincer attack on Goguryeo from the east and west!"

"Since they've thrown themselves into disarray, now's the time for us to tear a piece of flesh off them!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Before Chang'an, as Li Chengqian's convoy from Luoyang was still more than ten miles away from Chang'an, a series of magnificent horn sounds, along with the welcoming procession of Chang'an officials, appeared in front of the convoy.

Upon receiving Wang De's report, Li Chengqian lifted the carriage curtain and saw that all the officials were waiting there despite the cold weather.

For a moment, I didn't know what to say.

"Your Highness, Your Highness the Crown Prince, you're finally back! Waaaaah..."

Wang Yuyan's father, Wang Ming, was the first to rush forward, with obvious bruises around his eyes, looking like he had been beaten.

It was only at this moment that Li Chengqian realized that it wasn't just Wang Ming.

The faces of Zheng Jiang, Wu Shiyue, and even Kong Yingda, who came up next to him, were all bruised to varying degrees, leaving him momentarily confused about what had happened in Chang'an.

Zheng Jiang was surprised to see that his daughter, Zheng Lizhen, was in the same carriage as the Crown Prince.

Suddenly, a pitiful wail, like that of a pig being slaughtered, burst forth.

"Waaah! Your Highness, you're finally back! If you had been a few days later, I fear I wouldn't have been able to see this old minister again..."

Seeing the other person looking so miserable.

Zheng Lizhen became nervous, but Li Chengqian then realized that the Chang'an officials who came to greet them, such as Ma Zhou, Dai Zhou, Duan Lun, and Tang Jian, were not much better off.

I immediately understood.

"Sigh...you guys, didn't I arrange everything before I left? How could you still fight like this?!"

Li Chengqian glared at them irritably, lowered the carriage curtain, and immediately ordered his men to continue their journey back towards Chang'an.

royal palace.

In the Ganlu Hall, Emperor Zhenguan couldn't help but glance at the huge clock beside him every now and then, watching the hands tick away.

Every now and then, he would pretend to pick up his teacup and, while drinking tea, look out towards the direction outside the hall.

"Your Majesty! Who is handling official business, you or us?! If it weren't for my sister, the Empress, intervening, we wouldn't be bothering with this mess you've created!"

With a loud slam, Yin Fei slammed the calligraphy brush in her hand onto the table.

The good-natured Consort Yang and Consort Wei dared not speak up, but she had long disliked her emperor husband.

She pointed to the stack of approved documents in front of her, and then to the stack of documents in front of Li Shimin, which was half the size of hers.

"All morning you were either going to the toilet or having food prepared, then you'd eat after you pooped, then poop again after you ate..."

Li Shimin's expression froze instantly.

The concubines, including Consort Yang, also felt that Consort Yin's words were too vulgar, but considering that the emperor had been slacking off every day for the past two days and had taken it for granted that he had left everything to them to handle.

They pretended not to see it at all.

"I am not as incompetent as you make me out to be. The official business I handle involves military affairs, so naturally I need to make careful decisions. It is nothing compared to the trivial matters you approve..."

Before he could finish speaking, his words infuriated Consort Yin, who instantly stood up.

"You didn't?!"

"In less than three hours this morning, you went to the toilet seventeen times! Twelve times for small things and five times for large things! You also drank eight pots of tea and three dishes of snacks!"

"The eunuchs have already poured out three plates of peanut shells, and you..."

As Consort Yin spoke, she became more and more agitated. When she thought of her beloved son, Li You, who had not been able to return and had to stay in Lingnan Road, her beautiful eyes welled up with tears of grievance.

Seeing that her sister was about to pick up the inkstone and commit regicide, Consort Yang and the others quickly got up and pulled her back.

He offered words of comfort.

Consort Yin's eyes were filled with grievance.

"If it weren't for the Empress's peace of mind during her pregnancy, and for the Crown Prince to have less political duties upon his return, I wouldn't care about these so-called trivial matters of yours!"

Li Shimin was utterly embarrassed. Being scolded by his own concubine like this, he felt guilty and, with his empress backing her up, could only feign humility and quickly comfort her.

"This, I'll handle it right away, my beloved consort, don't be angry, don't be angry. Don't be fooled by my seemingly slow pace; I'm thinking things through carefully. Just watch, I'll definitely finish approving all these documents by tonight..."

As he said this, Consort Wei, who couldn't bear to watch any longer, sighed.

"Your Majesty... the Ministry of War's memorial needs to be approved and sent over before the Ministry of War begins its shift this afternoon. General Li Ji on the Goguryeo front and the Ministry of War in Yanzhou are still waiting... and now it seems that the Ministry of War's lunch break is about to end."

Li Shimin: "......."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Li Shimin's forehead as he looked at Consort Yin, who was nestled in Consort Yang's arms and on the verge of tears from his anger. Every pore on Li Shimin's body seemed to be crying out for help.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince has returned!"

"His Highness the Crown Prince is back!"

Li Shimin's eyes instantly lit up with intense joy, and he abruptly stood up!

With a bang, he knocked the little eunuch who was about to rush in away, and then transformed into a whirlwind, suddenly rushing towards the palace gate.

"Chengqian, Chengqian! My Chengqian, you've finally returned..."

The carriage had just stopped in front of the Xiande Hall of the East Palace when Li Chengqian got off. He then heard a series of voices, as frantic as Fan Jin's after passing the imperial examination, that were indistinguishable as joy or sorrow, coming from behind.

Turning around, Comrade Li Er seemed to be completely oblivious to the eunuchs and the six soldiers of the Eastern Palace blocking his way.

Amidst gasps of alarm, it charged headlong into view of them.

His unshaven, ghostly appearance, coupled with his slightly reddened eyes, gave Li Chengqian a sense of panic, like someone selling themselves into prostitution and encountering a drugged client.

What the hell!

As for that? !

Li Chengqian tensed up instantly and instinctively dodged.

However, at that moment, another voice, full of resentment and coldness, like the whisper of a ghost, came from the other side.

"Your Majesty...you have kept me waiting for so long!"

Blue, a bluebird?!

Li Chengqian turned his head and looked at his fourth brother, Prince Wei, Li Tai. Compared to when he left Chang'an three months ago, Li Tai had become noticeably thinner, and his face was pale and unsightly, giving off a sinister aura.

He was so shocked that his mouth dropped open.

Wow, what a strong class atmosphere!

Li Tai seemed to be surrounded by a gloomy aura, which made the eunuchs, including Fan Qi, who followed behind him, all look nervous, keep their heads down and stand far away, not daring to step forward.

"Brother, three months... You clearly promised before you left that it would be at most two months..."

Do you know how I've spent the last three months?!

Do you know what?!

Li Chengqian: "!!!"

This little brother was so scary today...

Li Chengqian didn't have time to go to the Empress's place, so the Empress herself came to the Xiande Hall of the East Palace after hearing the news.

As soon as he entered, he saw his fourth son, Li Tai, standing behind his eldest son, Crown Prince Li Chengqian, with a gloomy and terrifying expression, staring intently at him as he reviewed documents with ghostly eyes.

"Mother, Empress Dowager, your son has returned..."

Li Chengqian had also fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even when Jieli and Tuli joined forces with an army of 200,000, he was never afraid. Now, he felt the chilling aura behind him.

For the first time, he felt a chill run down his spine with fear.

He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, and looked at his mother, who had become even rounder, while continuing to review documents without pausing for a moment.

Empress Zhangsun had intended to persuade Li Tai, but upon seeing this scene, she silently swallowed back the words she had prepared.

Forget it.

Who told their eldest son to break his promise? Of all people to lie to, he had to lie to his younger brother Qingque, who trusted him the most...

"Your Majesty, you're too slow! There are still three stacks of documents waiting for your approval. Get up, get up! Don't you want to establish a glorious Tang Dynasty?"

"Did you go on your honeymoon and lose all your skills?!"

Li Tai was howling like a living dead again, but he didn't take out his whip—a final act of respect for his elder brother's martial prowess and his status as the Crown Prince...