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

"I don't agree!"

A calm, yet resolute voice rang out.

In an instant, the voices in the entire court that had been echoing the sentiment that it was too cruel to exterminate all these people and their entire families fell silent, as if a pause button had been pressed.

Everyone stared blankly in the direction from which the sound came.

Li Chengqian remained standing there calmly.

With his hands tucked into his sleeves, he appeared calm and composed, as if the cold voice from before had never come from his mouth.

"Your Highness, what did you say?"

Li Shimin also frowned; he was not a monarch who would show mercy to women.

But even he felt that it would be too cruel to execute all of them by killing their entire families.

After all, these women and children were not really deeply involved in the aristocratic rebellion.

"Your Majesty, I say that I disagree!"

Li Chengqian stepped forward with his hands clasped.

The voice remained firm.

Behind him, Wei Zheng said excitedly, "Your Highness, what have these women and children done? They are nothing more than appendages of these aristocratic families. They are not valued much among these families. What can they do when corrupt officials like Cui Mingan rebel?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian slowly turned around.

"Lord Wei, I have only one question for you: are these women and children of noble families considered equal by ordinary people?"

"Do these aristocratic women and children have to toil in the fields like farmers, their faces to the earth and their backs to the sky? You may say they are not valued within the aristocracy, or that they suffer humiliation within it..."

"Can they really live like those poor people?"

"No matter how bad they are, they are still members of aristocratic families. They may not live in luxury, but they are at least well-fed and clothed!"

Li Chengqian took a deep breath, and the ruthlessness in his expression made some of the people present tremble.

This caused Cui Mingan, who was kneeling on the ground, to change his expression drastically.

"Lord Wei, if we follow your advice, how should these people be dealt with?"

“If we don’t kill them, then naturally we can’t raise them like the aristocratic families used to.”

"Take everything from them and turn them into ordinary citizens?"

"These women are used to the life of aristocratic families where everything is done for them. If you make them live like ordinary people, let alone whether they can survive, even if they do, what do you think will happen to them in their hearts because of the hardships of ordinary life?"

Li Chengqian let out a cold snort, his killing intent growing even more intense.

"It will become oppression and humiliation of them by the Li Tang royal family!"

"Does Lord Wei's insistence on letting these people live mean he thinks he has enough influence to make them grateful to the royal family for saving their lives even when they are in dire straits?"

Behind Li Chengqian, Prince Li Tai of Yue was speaking as soon as his elder brother, the emperor, finished speaking.

He immediately stepped forward and bowed.

“Father! My elder brother is right! I also believe that these people should have their entire families executed! Those who plot rebellion should have their entire families executed! This is the rule since ancient times, and it is the law of the land!”

"Your Majesty, I beg you not to show any womanly compassion!"

Li Shimin frowned.

Looking at his own crown prince, he took a deep breath.

"Your Highness, do you know that among these people are many pitiful concubines, and many of the children are still infants who don't even remember anything..."

"Father, I admit that there are certainly innocent people among them, but before the law of the land, they are all ants!"

"When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. Your subject does not believe that Cui Min was unaware of this principle before committing such a traitorous rebellion!"

Li Chengqian showed no restraint despite the signal from his emperor father.

On the contrary, Li Chengqian, who knew the principle that if you don't cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back in the spring breeze, became even more determined to slaughter all of them.

"The concubines that Father Emperor spoke of are also concubines of aristocratic and powerful families. Now that they have entered the household, whether it's through the front door or the back door, they are now members of the aristocratic family!"

"Besides... babies don't remember anything? Father, did those babies tell you?"

Li Shimin's brows furrowed instantly, and then there was a loud bang.

He slammed his fist onto the dragon throne.

"Your Highness, how dare you!"

A roar caused all the ministers to tremble and bow their heads repeatedly.

however.

Li Chengqian, who was standing below the stage, suddenly let out a cold snort.

His gaze was fixed on Li Shimin, who had risen angrily from the dragon throne.

"If Father Emperor lets these people go today, or demotes them to commoners, or exiles them to the remote Lingnan region, they will still consider themselves noble families. After all, they have neither the ability to farm nor a place to stand, and all they have left is the pitiful pride brought by their so-called noble family background."

"When women encounter hardship, they either submit to merchants or marry soldiers."

"They were all from aristocratic families; they were adept at pleasing men and using their charm."

"If they gain a foothold... Father!"

Li Chengqian's rebuke was no weaker than Li Shimin's previous roar, startling the assembled officials once again.

The military officers were also secretly lamenting their predicament.

"Among these people, if one day a person emerges who is biding his time and harboring evil intentions, colluding with each other, forming a network in the local areas, he might even one day extend his reach into the imperial court!"

"The world is turned upside down; the day treacherous officials enter the court!"

"Is it the fault of the officials, my fault, or His Majesty's fault?"

Li Shimin was almost driven mad by Li Chengqian's words.

In front of the assembled officials, his face turned bright red.

"You're exaggerating! How could these lowly people possibly overthrow my empire?"

Li Chengqian curled his lip in disdain.

"Even the First Emperor could never have imagined that his glorious Qin Dynasty, built upon the achievements of six generations, would ultimately be overthrown by a mere village head from Pei County!"

They didn't give Li Shimin, who was already trembling with anger, any chance to refute them.

Li Chengqian slowly shook his head.

"Father, today you can say I'm cruel and tyrannical, or that I'm making a mountain out of a molehill!"

"These people have no chance of survival as long as I remain the Crown Prince!"

"If Father Emperor wants these people to live and wants to show benevolence, then please, Father Emperor, depose the Crown Prince!"

Li Chengqian's words startled all the civil and military officials, causing their expressions to change drastically.

Zheng Jiang of the Xingyang Zheng family hurriedly stepped forward.

Overwhelmed with excitement, he stumbled and fell to the ground, ignoring the pain in his body.

"Your Majesty! This is absolutely not right! The Crown Prince's words are all too extreme. How could he have gone this far? How could he have gone this far!"

Pei Ji also hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him, while pulling Li Chengqian along.

"Your Highness, I would never dare to speak such words. The Crown Prince is the foundation of the nation. How can one lightly speak of deposing the Crown Prince? Your Highness, quickly apologize to His Majesty!"

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and others also stepped forward in fear.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince spoke without thinking; he had absolutely no intention of disrespecting Your Majesty!"

"Your Highness, you should quickly apologize to His Majesty!"

Seeing so many people suddenly come up and make his elder brother apologize, Li Tai was instantly furious.

"Enough! What has my royal brother done wrong? Why should he admit to it!"

"Before the Cui family of Boling rebelled, which of these so-called innocent people you speak of didn't have their servants beat and scold them whenever they encountered people in the countryside who didn't meet their expectations?"

"Wei Zheng, you dog! I should have chopped you up with one stroke back then! That would have saved you from barking like a dog here today!"

"Have you ever seen the lives of the people around Boling County? Do you know how many people have been injured and left with illnesses because of the so-called concubines and children of the Cui family?"

Li Tai was now unleashing his full power. Having fought alongside his elder brother against the Turkic barbarians, he was young but now filled with murderous intent, roaring like a ferocious tiger in the court.

“My royal brother works tirelessly day and night, while you officials of the court, instead of thinking of sharing the burden of the country, are fighting tooth and nail over these things that bring you fame but harm the country!”

"They all put on airs, claiming innocence and accusing others of being benevolent!"

"In reality, they are all hypocrites!"

Everyone was so shocked by Li Tai's murderous look that they were speechless.

Li Tai snorted angrily, raised his head, and bowed to his father, whose face was so gloomy it seemed as if water was about to drip from it.

It can't be described as showing much respect.

"If Father Emperor deposes my elder brother from his position as Crown Prince, according to the rites, the one who succeeds to the throne will be me. However... even if I become Crown Prince, the entire nine generations of the Cui family of Boling will be punished!"

"I'm determined to kill them all! Even the Heavenly King himself couldn't stop me!"

Li Shimin was furious.

"Very good! They are all my good sons!"

"What a fine prince! What a fine king of Yue! You are both outstanding!"

Li Shimin, enraged to the point of laughter, gave a thumbs-up to Li Chengqian, who remained calm below, and to the Prince of Yue, whose eyes glared as if he were treasonous.

"But you've forgotten! I have more than just two sons!"

He kicked Grandpa Sun hard.

"Go! Summon all my sons to me!"

"Using the position of Crown Prince to threaten me? Very well! Today I will show you rebellious sons whether or not I will make you sit on the throne!"

Sun Gonggong looked flustered. He had been kicked by Li Shimin and was now walking with a limp.

But she could only endure the pain and hurriedly run outside.

Noticing the gaze from Li Shimin on the stage, Li Ke, the Prince of Hanzhong, who had remained silent below the stage, slowly moved to stand on the other side of his elder brother.

Together with King Li Tai of Yue, they stood on the left and right, like guardian deities.

The meaning is self-evident.

This infuriated Li Shimin even more. He gritted his teeth and glared at Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who was calm and composed, seemingly without a doubt that he could achieve his goal, as if victory was in his grasp.

Take a deep breath.

I've made up my mind to deal with this treacherous prince severely today.

I refuse to believe that my other sons, who were bribed by you after spending half a year with those two fools Li Tai and Li Ke in Bingzhou, would refuse the position of Crown Prince!

"If that good-for-nothing Sun Yi gets too old to work, he should go to the imperial estate! Why are you dragging your feet like this?!"

Inside the Taiji Hall, you could hear a pin drop.

Faced with this situation, even Changsun Wuji and his group, along with veteran ministers like Pei Ji, were exchanging glances, yet they still couldn't come up with a way to break the deadlock.

Such a father-son relationship within the imperial family as that of the Li Tang dynasty is unprecedented in the entire history of China.

Furthermore, they are unable to learn from history, nor can they find a way to appease the public.

They were all helpless, their faces filled with anxiety and numbness.

Soon, Eunuch Sun, limping, led a group of nervous-looking princes to the Taiji Hall.

Li Chengqian glanced calmly at his younger brothers.

In this world, besides my younger brother Li Kuan who died young, I am now the only one left.