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

Confused.

Not only Lu Zhaojing, but even Cui Minshi and Li Xing, who were always the most steadfast anti-Tang advocates, felt a sense of bewilderment and despair after wandering around Yanzhou City.

Heartbroken and despondent—this was the most straightforward expression of their innermost feelings.

Must I really die as a foreign subject, taking my whole family with me?

From then on, there were no more Cui families of Qinghe, Li families of Zhaojun, or Lu families of Fanyang; there were only the three Goguryeo barbarian families.

Early spring in Hedong Road is still cold, and in the past, even in the early years of the Wude era, the people in this period before the arrival of spring were often the most difficult.

They had to contend with the cold while also worrying about food and survival.

And people like them, from the five clans and seven prominent families, often choose this time to openly or secretly annex land.

however.

As the convoy drove out of Yanzhou City the next day, it traveled on a smooth, almost bumpless cement road, with large swathes of green wheat seedlings on both sides.

They all gasped in shock.

In the flat field, around the rows of lush green wheat seedlings were patches of snow that had not yet completely melted. If one did not see it with their own eyes, even if they read the contents of the Tang Dynasty Daily, which was delayed for several months, one would not believe it.

It is said that the "Tianbao Golden Seed" is highly productive and resistant to severe cold.

They would never believe it.

Cui Minshi called out to the convoy, wanting Li Zhen to stop so they could get out and look at the wheat seedlings in the field, but Li Zhen scoffed and shut him down.

"Oh~ Is Patriarch Cui giving me orders?"

Cui Minshi's face darkened at the sight of the menacing gazes, but seeing them, he silently ducked back into the car.

Things are different now. Although they are now officially known as envoys of Goguryeo.

But in reality... he's just a prisoner.

Fortunately, when the caravan reached its next rest stop, there was a large wheat field behind it, and a rather large longhouse built in the middle of the field.

"They're real wheat seedlings! They're really real... How could these wheat seeds not have frozen to death?! How is this possible?!"

Cui Minshi clutched a few stalks of wheat, trembling, still unable to believe it.

Seemingly doubting whether he was hallucinating, he grabbed a handful of half-melted snow from the ground, ignoring the few drops of cold mud mixed in with it.

Apply it directly to your forehead.

"Pfft hahaha!!!"

Not far away, Li Zhen saw this scene, and his soldiers burst into laughter.

"Look, look! What kind of new look does Master Cui Minshi, the head of the Cui family of Qinghe, have? Have you ever seen anything like it? Hahaha!"

Everyone shook their heads, and one of the lieutenant generals chimed in.

"Perhaps it's because Lord Cui has been serving the King of Goguryeo and has recently learned Goguryeo etiquette."

"They disregard the proper etiquette between the emperor and his subjects in our Great Tang Dynasty, and even dare to force the emperor to abdicate and interrogate the crown prince. So this is the kind of enlightened ruler that the Cui family of Qinghe likes to serve!"

"Hahaha! What a wise ruler! We should give these kinds of rulers to the countries surrounding our Tang Dynasty, one for each of them! I want military merit, but I still prefer the tyrants the noble families talk about!"

Everyone's words seemed to be laced with poison.

Every word struck a chord with the heads of several families.

Li Xing looked resentful and frustrated.

Lu Zhaojing sighed softly and shook her head, closing her eyes and tilting her head back to feel the cold wind in the fields. Although it was cold, it was gentler and more welcoming than the wind in Goguryeo.

Despite his anger, Cui Minshi could only try his best to remain restrained and block out this kind of powerless mockery.

He walked towards the large shed next to the post station.

"This, this is the vegetable greenhouse?"

He watched as several servants from the post station came out, their baskets filled with bright green vegetables, clearly freshly picked.

The servant glanced at him, sneered, and headed towards the post station on his own.

He also wanted to prepare a meal for these few traitors of the Tang Dynasty, a meal still fresh from the Tang Emperor's saliva.

Cui Minshi's expression froze. This was the direct treatment they received after their identities were exposed in the Tang Dynasty.

Cui Minshi felt awkward, but he could only continue to endure it.

He opened the door to the vegetable greenhouse himself. Fortunately, the servants were probably coming to collect more vegetables, so they hadn't locked the door.

As soon as the curtain was lifted, Cui Minshi hadn't even had a clear look at what was inside.

A wave of warmth washed over him, and he was momentarily stunned.

Then, one by one, vegetables, some standing upright and others entwined around the wooden frame, appeared before his eyes, full of vitality.

Cucumbers, green beans, eggplants, cabbage, radishes, and so on.

Cui Minshi was so shocked that he opened his mouth wide in astonishment: "It's...it's really true?"

When I first saw this article in the Tang Dynasty Daily, I recalled my initial disdain and mockery when I read the news about vegetable greenhouses in the same newspaper.

He stands now in front of this field of winter vegetables.

He was just like a real clown.

Lu Zhaojing and Li Xing, who came in later, also showed the same expression as Cui Minshi after seeing this scene.

"With the Tianbao Golden Seed that can grow in winter, vegetable greenhouses, and the imperial court stabilizing grain prices... can we really turn the tide?"

"Just relying on Goguryeo, where less than one-tenth of it remains?"

At this moment, a hint of unconcealed fear finally appeared in Li Xing's eyes.

Whether it was self-deception or the last pride of the aristocratic clan, even knowing it was wrong, they still insisted on continuing on with self-hypnosis.

However, no matter how much they try to weave it now, it will only be a self-deceiving lie, and it will be ruthlessly torn apart when the fruits of the Tang Dynasty's new policies are laid bare before them.

Even the once proud patriarch of their family, with its five surnames and seven prominent clans, finally truly felt the fear of having his entire family wiped out, leaving not a single chicken or dog alive.

"We can't win, it's impossible to win... Li Yuan is dead, but there's Li Shimin; Li Shimin is dead, but there's Li Chengqian; and even if Li Chengqian is finished, he still has his brothers..."

"We will never see the day when the Tang Dynasty is overthrown by us again, even until we die."

This desperate whisper escaped from Lu Zhaojing's throat, where she was struggling to breathe.

From Hedong Road, turn onto Zhenbei Road.

It seemed they were determined to crush the last vestiges of hope in these people's hearts, step by step.

Yeon Gaesomun, the king of Goguryeo, had already lost everyone's interest.

Or rather, from the very beginning, Goguryeo only paid attention to or manipulated a few powerful families who had defected to the Tang Dynasty.

Duke Ashina Quli was ordered to replace Li Zhen and escort the caravan from Zhenbei Road to Bingzhou, and then from there Hou Junji to Taiyuan Prefecture to Chang'an.

"I am Ashina Quli, Duke of Duguo of the Great Tang Dynasty and former Left Khan of the Western Turkic Khaganate, and I have met several... Goguryeo envoys."

Ashina Quli, a burly man, had long understood the meaning of what was being said. Today, he specially had his Turkic clothes brought out and put them on.

However, his use of Tang language seemed utterly absurd to Lu Zhaojing and the others.

After Ashina Quli and Li Zhen finished the handover, they circled the three people who were now like quails, stroking their chins and making sounds of surprise.

"Tsk tsk tsk... I heard that your families were once powerful and influential clans in the Tang Dynasty. My daughter... oh, right, my daughter is also the adopted daughter of His Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty! She is now married into the Zheng family of Xingyang."

The deliberate emphasis made the three of them feel even more hurt.

"Why would you give up your perfectly good lives and go to serve the King of Goguryeo? Is he that powerful?"

Ashina Quli spoke, and like a black bear standing upright, he walked up to Yeon Gaesomun, who had also gotten off the carriage and was trembling.

A pair of fierce eyes, like those of a beast that devours flesh and blood, scanned the other person from head to toe.

"You're the King of Goguryeo? You think you're so great?"

Yeon Gaesomun's face turned pale, and he tried to retreat in a panic, but he was surrounded and blocked by several burly Turkic men with ferocious expressions.

"No, no, no, it wasn't me, it wasn't me. The young king only recently became the new king..."

Although he couldn't understand what "awesome" meant, Yeon Gaesomun could tell that it wasn't something about being able to win.

Ashina Quli immediately sneered.

Turning back to look at Lu Zhaojing and the other two, he said, "Since you are not subjects of the Tang Dynasty, then according to the rules of our grasslands, you cannot ride in a carriage..."

"Someone! Prepare horses for the Goguryeo envoys!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, Your Majesty, are you trying to torture them to death...?"

In the Taiji Hall, Li Zhi, who had been summoned by his eldest and fourth brothers to work overtime, finally found a moment to slack off. Looking at the message sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, his eyes were full of schadenfreude.

Before Li Chengqian could say anything, Li Tai, who was standing to the side, snorted coldly.

"Torture them to death? Ha, what a pipe dream! They deserved to die back then for daring to force the Crown Prince to abdicate, not to mention the evil deeds of the Cui family of Qinghe who colluded with Japanese pirates to kill our coastal people!"

"You want to die already? Then all those new gadgets I had prepared will have been for nothing!"