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

The sounds of battle, along with the cries of the people of Pyongyang, inevitably rang out once again on the former territory of Goguryeo, where the war had only just ended a few years prior.

Lu Zhaojing was led away and rushed frantically toward the city gate.

however.

Wherever they went, the streets and houses were filled with rebels.

Lu Zhaojing's eyes widened.

He not only saw many young men from powerful families wearing armor, shouting and chasing after him to intercept him.

He also saw many former nobles and retainers of Goguryeo. At this moment, he truly understood how unpopular his idea of ​​submitting to the Tang Dynasty royal family was in Pyongyang.

Perhaps, aside from the local people who were once part of Goguryeo, even his own relatives might support him...

His weary eyes looked at his son, who was now holding a knife and protecting him.

"Wenjie, you're also an accomplice of Cui Jun, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Wenjie's expression only paused briefly before he slowly turned to look at his father, and his gaze had already changed completely.

"Father......."

He murmured a call, but the tenderness in his eyes carried little warmth.

The carriage had changed course without anyone noticing, and then slowly came to a stop in front of a group of soldiers.

"Prime Minister, this humble general greets you!"

When Lu Zhaojing lifted the carriage curtain and saw Cui Guangshou, riding a warhorse and dressed in military attire, clearly waiting there for some time, he immediately understood that it was the Cui, Lu, and Li families, as well as a group of smaller aristocratic families.

This moment truly marks the beginning of a dead end.

He let out a long, dejected sigh. His body, which had been sustained by medicine over the years, seemed to have lost all its strength and collapsed weakly.

"So be it, so be it... This is the fate of my family, hahahaha..."

He laughed bitterly and sadly, but tears streamed down his face uncontrollably as he laughed.

"Brother Cui! Brother Li!"

"I've done my best..."

When Lu Wenjie, with a cold face, appeared before Lu Wenhu again with his father, the latter's loyal guards were already dead or wounded.

Even Lu Wenhu, who was known as the "Tiger of Lu" since childhood, had several tears in his armor and an arrow stuck in his shoulder.

He stared blankly and incredulously at Lu Wenjie, who was actually holding a knife to his father's neck. Even someone as simple-minded as him could see clearly what had happened behind all this.

"Lu Wenjie! Are you not a son of a man?!"

His eyes were bloodshot, filled with resolute hatred and boundless rage. Ignoring the arrows pointed at him, he charged angrily toward Lu Wenjie.

The Mo Dao, already covered in a layer of blood, carried an aura that even Cui Jun and the others greatly feared.

"Shoot the arrow!!!"

"Wait!"

Cui Jun gave the order, but Lu Zhaojing suddenly shouted.

"Wenhu, stop!"

Lu Wenhu looked at him with surprise and suspicion, and even Cui Jun frowned as he looked at Lu Zhaojing, wondering what kind of trouble this old scoundrel was up to now.

Lu Zhaojing took a deep breath, and for some reason, his body seemed to suddenly become strong again.

She doesn't even need anyone's help anymore.

He looked at Cui Jun with a complicated expression: "Now, even among my Lu clan, those who were willing to submit to the court have been almost entirely killed by you. You have been plotting this for so long, and even I have been misled by many of you..."

His gaze swept over many heads of prominent families, some of whom had expressed their support when he proposed relocating some of them to Baikal County and changing their surnames.

I never imagined that I would end up on this dead end.

Cui Jun squinted and looked at him silently.

"Your current uprising, with its so-called 'overthrow of the Tang and restoration of the Sui,' is utterly laughable. Not only will it never be accepted by the people of the world, but it will also inevitably invite attacks from neighboring regions..."

Cui Jun sneered, thinking that the old man was about to lecture him again. Just as he was about to wave his hand to order the arrows to be fired and Lu Wenhu killed.

Lu Zhaojing's words made him pause involuntarily.

“If you are willing to let Wenhu leave, I, the Prime Minister of Pyongyang, am willing to personally write a proclamation for you in my name.”

"Uncle! No! If you write a proclamation, you will be just like them!" Lu Wenhu exclaimed in alarm.

However, Lu Zhaojing looked at Cui Jun and said, "Back then in Chang'an, your father and the head of the Li family both died before my eyes. If I had personally written a proclamation saying that the Li Tang royal family was ruthless and tyrannical, you would still have some justification for your actions."

"Since you all believe that this uprising will surely succeed, shouldn't you also consider the long-term implications?"

Lu Zhaojing's gaze was calm, but it carried a sense of oppression that made Cui Jun feel a chill in his heart.

He glanced sideways and immediately noticed that many family heads had a hint of doubt and unease in their eyes, which made him shudder.

He couldn't help but feel annoyed and snorted coldly.

That old scoundrel, even at his last moment, he still resorts to this psychological warfare tactic?!

"Hmph! Lu Wenhu has seen what happened today. If you let him go, what difference will it make whether you write this proclamation or not, Prime Minister Zong?"

Feeling that it was polite, everyone turned their attention to Lu Zhaojing.

Lu Zhaojing's aged face showed a rare hint of ease as he gazed intently at the figure who, to the family, was already a figure of utmost sincerity.

“Wenhu... Today, in the name of the Lu clan chief of Fanyang, I will expel you from the clan genealogy.”

Cui Jun was not satisfied. However, the next moment, he saw Lu Zhaojing pull out a sharp blade from her bosom. Her son, Lu Wenjie, was startled and quickly grabbed it.

But it turned out to be a razor.

“You once became a monk with the Dharma name Fuhu. From today onwards, Lu Wenhu, the eldest son of the second branch of the Lu family of Fanyang, will die in this city of Pyongyang, and his body will be lost forever. From now on, you shall live as a monk and chant Buddhist prayers.”

After saying this, he glanced coldly at his son, and in the latter's panicked eyes, he pulled his hand away and then walked up to Lu Wenhu.

"I will shave your head..."

Lu Wenhu cried out in grief and knelt before Lu Zhaojing: "Uncle!"

Lu Zhaojing's eyes even welled up with tears. She reached out her aged hand and removed the helmet from Lu Wenhu's head. As the razor in her hand swept across the head, the black hair that had grown back for more than a year was cut off in clumps.

He landed on the ground, which was covered with blood and the corpses of his guards. It was as if, at that moment, Lu Wenhu had truly died in Pyongyang alongside them.

"Uncle!" Lu Wenhu cried out in grief again, his tears staining the bloodstains on his face, making him look even more disheveled.

For some reason, Lu Wenjie, who had repeatedly spoken behind Cui Jun's back about Lu Wenhu being a fool and a brute, felt ashamed in front of this scene.

She wanted to reach out and cover her face.

After shaving Lu Wenhu's head, Lu Zhaojing took out something from his bosom—a Buddhist ordination certificate stamped with the imperial seal.

Lu Wenhu's cries at this moment were even louder and more mournful.

"Uncle, oh my god..."

......

Lu Wenhu was wearing a monk's robe, but his head was not completely shaved and had streaks of blood on it.

At this moment, he seemed to have lost his soul. He rode on a warhorse alone, not urging the horse on, and just let the other party carry him along the official road at will.

After an unknown amount of time, a series of dense neighing of horses, accompanied by the distinct sound of banners fluttering, made him look up in a daze.

What he saw made his pupils shrink involuntarily.

A massive, dark army, armored as mountains, spears like a forest, and ranks of imposing cavalry...

He stared blankly at his second brother, Wang Qingyun, who was standing in front of him in full military uniform, then looked at his third brother, Zheng Wuyang, beside him, and Cui Xiaoguo, the Jinyiwei guard who always had a cold face.

He mechanically turned his head to look at the boundary marker beside the official road.

"Pyongyang Road, Dragon Bone City"

His pupils trembled as he looked at Wang Qingyun and his men, who shouldn't have been there but had instead appeared in Pyongyang Province with a large army, seemingly unhurried.

"Why are you all here?!"

Why are you all here?!

"You, you shouldn't be in Liaodong Circuit, shouldn't you be in Shengjing Prefecture?!"

"Speak! Speak up! Why?!"