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

"Sigh, it's hard to imagine how you got through those days, Qingque... Your brother apologizes to you..."

Li Tai, who was still in a daze, suddenly heard his elder brother apologize as soon as he came up.

Suddenly snapping back to reality, he gripped the teacup tightly.

She pursed her lips, trying to remain calm, and looked at her elder brother, the Crown Prince, whose eyes were still bloodshot with fatigue.

Li Chengqian seemed a little embarrassed, scratching his hair which was casually tied with a hairpin but looked disheveled as if he hadn't taken care of it for several days.

Even as Wang De and Gao Hai hurriedly tidied up the table, it remained a mess, filled with writing brushes, ink, paper, and manuscripts piled high with documents and drafts.

"In the end, I took too big a step. My teacher, my father, and my mother have advised me more than once that governing a large country is like cooking a small fish, and many things cannot be rushed, but I just couldn't control myself..."

"I always thought that if the people were richer, and our Great Tang had more land and a larger population, even if things were a bit more intense, we could just endure it and it would eventually pass. The government work was tiring, but it would definitely get easier in three to five years anyway."

"That's always been my thought..."

Whether it was his imagination or not, Li Tai felt that his usually domineering elder brother seemed somewhat desolate and lonely today.

Li Chengqian looked lost and dejected, glancing at the messy desk, and gave a bitter smile.

“We brothers used to be together, but it’s only been a few years. The third and sixth brothers went to Dengzhou and Silla, respectively. You were also sent to Luoyang and Chang’an by me. Now the fifth brother has also been sent away by me. When I was returning to Chang’an from Guangzhou and boarding the ship, he was shouting to me from the shore.”

"He said he didn't blame me, and he would help me keep an eye on the new policies in Lingnan Province..."

Li Chengqian's voice was tinged with a noticeable sob as he pursed his lips, which still tasted bitter from the strong tea.

"...I, your elder brother, was too naive. I always thought the hardship would only last three to five years. I thought that from the beginning, but now three to five years have passed...and the younger brothers who were originally by my side have been sent to all corners of the country by me."

Li Tai remained silent, but his eyes couldn't help but redden.

I took deep breaths, trying again and again to calm the pounding in my heart.

The next moment, a large hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up abruptly and met his elder brother's bloodshot eyes, filled with guilt and heartache.

"I shouldn't have lied to you. I know that even if I had told you I wanted to stay for another month, you wouldn't have agreed at first, but you would definitely have been willing to help your elder brother later. You are like that, and so are the third, fifth, and sixth princes."

"You are all my good brothers... but I have not been a good elder brother to you."

"Qingque, I have failed you and all of you younger brothers."

Li Tai's breathing was noticeably disordered at this moment.

He sat there stiffly, the resentment in his heart seemingly exhaling through his nose with each breath, yet it stubbornly refused to stop, stirring his eyes.

It made his nose sting, and tears began to well up uncontrollably.

He held on.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down, but my voice trembled uncontrollably.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean by saying this, Your Majesty? Your humble brother dares not blame Your Majesty."

A sigh from Li Chengqian made Li Tai's heart clench.

Seeing the other person looking lost and dejected, and sitting back down at the table, I couldn't help but offer some words of advice.

"Since Your Majesty is aware that many political affairs are being handled too hastily, why are you still unwilling to cut some of them? If you say that Tibet or Goguryeo are threatening our Great Tang, I simply do not believe it."

"Judging from their current wretched state, a single force from our Great Tang could easily crush them all to death."

"Or perhaps Your Majesty is worried that the Turks will rebel?"

Li Tai tried to persuade him, but Li Chengqian shook his head slightly with a bitter expression.

"Qingque, ever since I got married, I have been having nightmares and feel like I am not accepted by the world. As time goes by and as the Tang Dynasty becomes more and more magnificent, and as the barbarians around us submit and all respect the mighty power of the Tang Dynasty, this feeling becomes stronger and stronger."

His face showed exhaustion, and a helpless expression that Li Tai couldn't understand but felt extremely nervous about.

"At the beginning of my father's reign, floods still occasionally appeared in my dreams in Guannei and Hedong regions, as if it were a divine response, or perhaps some unseen force was constantly telling me..."

"My days are numbered..."

"Wow!"

Li Tai jumped up from his seat in shock, his face filled with anger and astonishment.

"Brother, what nonsense are you spouting?!"

He was filled with shock and anger, and he shook off his elder brother's hand, which was trying to pull him back to sit down. He slammed the teacup in his hand heavily on the table.

Tea splashed everywhere.

"Such nonsense should not come from your mouth, Crown Prince! Huh?! What will happen if the officials hear this? What will happen if Father Emperor and Empress Dowager hear this?!"

Li Tai roared angrily; it was the first time he had ever lost his temper like this in front of his elder brother, the Emperor.

Even when Li Chengqian returned that day and was brought to the Taiji Hall to review memorials, he was mostly sarcastic and unfriendly.

"But that old scoundrel Yuan Tiangang is just spreading rumors?!" Li Tai's voice was cold, as if his imperial brother would nod slightly or show some emotion that he had guessed at the next moment.

Following his elder brother's large-scale persecution of Buddhism, Prince Wei, Li Tai, would then thoroughly punish the Taoist sect.

Li Chengqian quickly pulled him back, shaking his head repeatedly.

"Oh dear, I've already told you, it's a matter of divine intervention. I've only told you about this; even my father, mother, and the third and sixth princes don't know anything about it. Keep your voice down..."

Li Tai's anger subsided slightly, but lingering rage remained on his face.

"You're clearly exhausted! Listen to your brother's advice, slow down the new policy plans in Xizhou County or other places. Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish; it's about the people's livelihood and good governance, not about you, the Crown Prince!"

Li Chengqian chuckled softly, and Li Tai glared at him again.

"You can still laugh?! Look at yourself now, you... have you even seen the imperial physician?"

He was still worried about the health of his elder brother who had angered him.

Li Chengqian nodded: "Hehe, don't worry, I'm in very good health. I've already said it's a connection between heaven and man."

"Stop talking that bullshit about the connection between heaven and man!" Li Tai shouted angrily, this time as if he had been provoked, and he directly swore.

This made Li Chengqian, the emperor's elder brother, appear even less imposing.

The two brothers remained silent for a long time in the Taiji Hall, but Li Chengqian gently shook his head.

"I know you mean well, but... the new policies cannot be delayed! The policies mentioned must be implemented, and the land to be occupied and developed must be planted with the banner of my Great Tang!"

Li Tai stared wide-eyed in anger and confusion, only to see his elder brother wave his hand and suddenly take out two scrolls from a locked box on a nearby table.

He handed one of them to him.

"Didn't you always ask me why I knew so much about the Western Regions, Japan, and Silla, even though I've never been there?"

"This is the answer, and also the four words I was most worried about."

"It's a connection between heaven and humanity..."

Li Chengqian let out a long, sorrowful sigh, and Li Tai frowned as he opened the scroll.

What came into view was an extremely detailed geomantic map. His brows furrowed even deeper, and suddenly a few lines of text in his vision made his pupils shrink sharply.

Tang Dynasty...

He looked at the slightly darker red area, which was even marked with the various circuits of the Tang Dynasty.

There were also the surrounding Tibetan Empire, Nepal, Harsha's Kingdom, the Chalukya Kingdom, Sassanid Persia, Arabia, and the Abbasid Caliphate...

He gasped, looking at his elder brother with horror, only to see the other nod slightly with a bitter expression.

"Of course I haven't been there. Those places and their names, as well as this world map in your hand, were all told to me by that voice from the depths of my being. The reason I was so anxious to send out the Embroidered Uniform Guards before... was also for this."

Li Tai stared in shock, his mouth agape.

He never expected that a casual stroll here would lead to such a bombshell from his own elder brother, leaving him completely blank-headed.

His lips trembled: "This, this... you mean, everything on this is real?"

Li Chengqian nodded: "Exactly!"

Li Tai pointed to the land that stretched beyond the vast ocean, a land several times larger than the Tang Dynasty.

"this......."

Li Chengqian nodded: "It's highly likely to be true."

Li Chengqian smiled bitterly: "So now you know why I'm in such a hurry, right? That voice from the darkness told me that the area is still a wild wilderness, but it has crops that are even more productive than the Heavenly Treasure Gold Seeds of my Great Tang Dynasty, as well as countless gold and silver mines."

Li Tai: "......."

He was at a loss for words when suddenly, his mind jolted.

She stiffly turned her head and met her brother's bitter eyes.

"Gudong..."

My brother... does he not have much time left?

All the resentment and anger he had felt before exploded in Li Tai's world with this news, making him completely oblivious to everything else.

He was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes, and he was about to call for the imperial physician.

But Li Chengqian, who was prepared, grabbed him.

"Alright! I've already said I'm fine. Did you summon the imperial physician today because you want to destroy the foundation we've worked so hard to build?!"

Tears streamed down Li Tai's face: "But, but what should we do?!"

Li Chengqian gently shook his head and handed the imperial edict he had just taken from the brocade box to Li Tai, his face solemn.

"This is the other thing I want to tell you today..."

Li Tai seemed to realize something, his forehead veins throbbing. At Li Chengqian's prompting, he slowly opened the imperial edict.

"I, Li Chengqian, the Crown Prince of the Great Tang, have received the mandate of Heaven and the power of the divine regalia. I have never dared to slacken my duties during my reign. However, the Mandate of Heaven is unpredictable, and I deeply feel that Heaven has not granted me the full glory of the nation. I feel that the heavy responsibility of the state cannot be entrusted to another. My younger brother, Qingque, followed me in my youth, fighting against the Turks and barbarians in the northern frontier. He has also won my favor with the new policies and possesses the talent to govern the country and bring peace to the land. Therefore, I hereby issue this edict entrusting him to succeed me as Emperor..."

Li Tai's pupils suddenly contracted, his body trembled violently, but his heart was filled with only sorrow and anger.

"Brother, what are you doing?! How can you believe in those superstitious and bizarre tales? The university also says there are no ghosts or gods in the world, you..."

He spoke very quickly, and in his haste, he tried to shove the imperial edict that Li Chengqian had prepared back at the other party.

But Li Chengqian grabbed him and held him down.

A pair of eyes full of relief gazed at him, her face conveying a reassurance and encouragement that broke Li Tai's heart.

"If Heaven truly does not favor the sun and moon over me, my brother... then I should be a sage like Yao and Shun!"

.......

In the dead of night, Li Tai tossed and turned, his mind filled with the words his elder brother had spoken during the day.

His brows were furrowed.

Lying on the bed, he was surrounded by a jumble of medical books and historical records of emperors throughout history.

The moment I close my eyes, all I see is the horrifying image of my own elder brother, who was perfectly fine, suddenly vomiting blood and dying a tragic death.

"No, no... this is absolutely not allowed!"

Li Tai got up angrily, suddenly grabbed the imperial edict from beside his pillow, and then found a brazier.

As the flames rose, the imperial edict transformed into plumes of fire and black smoke, ascending into the sky.

The next day.

According to the rules of this period, the eunuchs who were preparing to send the documents that needed to be reviewed to the Taiji Hall before dawn were suddenly stopped by several people.

"By order of His Highness Prince Wei, who is overseeing the state, half of these documents shall be sent to His Highness Prince Wei. You may hand over the documents to us. His Highness Prince Wei will report to the Crown Prince..."