A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"Your Majesty, an unknown army is invading outside Luoyang. Minister Gao has already gone to oversee the situation."

Li Bai stepped forward and spoke.

"An unknown army?"

"Minister Li, you are unaware of this, but they have come to review the troops on my orders."

"I am far from the soldiers on the border, so I ordered them to come to the capital to see the heroic figures of the border soldiers."

"Prime Minister Li, is it possible that I don't even have this much power?"

Li Longji's expression showed a hint of excitement, and his gaze towards Li Bai was eager to try.

You have usurped my power, forced me to issue an edict of self-reproach, and forced me to remove my maternal relatives and most capable assistants.

I am the emperor, how can I be coerced by my subordinates?

Since you've put me in such a difficult position, don't blame me for flipping the table. I will not be threatened in any way.

I did lose in court, but I can still turn the tide with the help of the border troops.

My army has arrived; now it's time to deal with the affairs of the court.

In Li Longji's eyes, An Lushan and Shi Siming were nothing more than knives in his hands, and he was not worried at all that they would be out of his control.

"His Majesty certainly has this authority, but has His Majesty issued an edict?"

"Why haven't the Secretariat and the Chancellery received the corresponding imperial edict?"

Li Bai asked.

Both of them actually knew the truth, but they were pretending not to know.

"This matter does not involve court affairs, so why does it require an imperial edict from the Secretariat and Chancellery?"

Li Longji said calmly.

The two looked at each other, and the incomprehension, regret, and pity in Li Bai's eyes deeply stung Li Longji's pride.

Why should Li Bai pity himself?!

Li Longji remains the supreme ruler of this empire, so why should Li Bai be allowed to do so?

He wanted to see if Li Bai would still be so arrogant when he purged the court and held a knife to Li Bai's neck!

Li Longji's icy gaze and furious aura were seen by all the ministers in the court.

These ministers were not blinded by power like Li Longji; they were all very clear-headed.

The border governor was a regional warlord, and now he's leading a large army into the capital. Who knows what will happen?

They originally thought that Li Longji was just summoning these foreign troops outside Luoyang to intimidate Li Bai. They never imagined that Li Longji would actually prepare to let these foreign troops enter the capital directly.

Thinking of this, they felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

If these soldiers were to enter the capital, would they be able to withstand the prosperity of Luoyang?

The answer is definitely no. At that time, the entire Luoyang will probably become a land of soldiers and bandits, with soldiers passing through like sieves, and they may not be able to escape either.

They all petitioned Li Longji, requesting that he reconsider and that An Lushan and Shi Siming's armies should not enter Luoyang. This was their bottom line.

But now Li Longji has become extreme; the more they try to stop him, the more they feel they are doing the right thing.

Li Longji felt that these ministers had already pledged allegiance to Li Bai, and naturally did not want him to regain power by relying on the army.

Li Longji ignored the advice of his ministers, and even when one minister committed suicide by crashing into the palace to remonstrate with him, he remained unconcerned.

Instead, they felt that this was a self-inflicted injury plot prepared by Li Bai to prevent An Lushan and Shi Siming from leading their troops into Luoyang.

The more the enemy tries to stop me, the more it proves that I am doing the right thing.

With these thoughts in mind, Li Longji's desire to bring An Lushan and Shi Siming into Luoyang became even stronger.

"Gentlemen, why don't we go to the city gate together and see how mighty the imperial army is?"

When Li Longji realized that Li Bai was determined to stop An Lushan and Shi Siming from entering the city, he had another idea.

He refused to believe that when he, the emperor, stood at the city gate and ordered An Lushan and Shi Siming to enter the city, they would dare to stop them!

No one wanted to go with Li Longji, and Li Longji didn't care. He even skipped court and left all the civil and military officials behind, heading straight for the city gate.

All the officials looked at Li Bai, who actually wanted to imprison Li Longji.

How is he any different from those powerful and treacherous officials in history?

He sighed helplessly and followed Li Longji out of the main hall.

The other ministers looked at each other in bewilderment and had no choice but to follow them out.

When the group arrived at the gate of Luoyang, they went up to the city wall and looked at the 20 elite troops outside the gate. Li Longji was overjoyed.

"As expected of my border defense army, they are indeed mighty and mighty."

The Imperial Guards and Central Army soldiers standing nearby looked very displeased upon hearing this. They, especially the Imperial Guards, were the most elite soldiers selected from all over the world.

Now, Li Longji was actually praising the Pinglu Army and Fanyang Army, which they looked down upon, right in front of them, so these imperial guards were naturally dissatisfied.

The same applies to the Central Army. As one of the elite armies directly controlled by the Luoyang court, they have always looked down on other armies. The Pinglu Army and the Fanyang Army are mighty, but are they not mighty too?!

An Lushan and Shi Siming also noticed that Li Longji had come to the city wall, so they quickly rode their horses to the city gate and bowed deeply to Li Longji.

Li Longji was very satisfied. As expected, An Lushan and Shi Siming were the only ones loyal to him, while the rest of the court were rebels and factions.

This is what it feels like to be respected—it's awesome!

"Your Majesty, I was ordered to enter the capital, but I was prevented from entering the palace in time by Minister Gao. Please forgive me."

An Lushan shouted at Li Longji.

Li Longji raised an eyebrow. "Loyal ministers! It was clearly Gao Shi who obstructed us, it was Gao Shi's fault, but An Lushan and Shi Siming still felt that they had failed to fulfill my wishes and apologized to me. This is what a loyal minister does."

Li Longji seized the opportunity to mock him.

Now he sees everything about An Lushan and Shi Siming as good, and the more he looks at them, the more he likes them.

"Open the city gates and let them in."

Li Longji gave the order.

"this……"

Upon hearing Li Longji's order, Gao Shi couldn't help but look at Li Bai.

Li Bai closed his eyes; it was too late. It seemed that Luoyang was indeed destined for war.

He nodded silently, indicating his agreement to open the door.

Gao Shi gritted his teeth and called out to the door, "Open the door!"

With a creaking sound, the gate beneath the city tower slowly opened, and An Lushan and Shi Siming led their army into Luoyang.

Li Longji's mouth was practically stretched to the back of his ears in a wide grin. With every step An Lushan and Shi Siming took closer to Luoyang, he was one step closer to reclaiming his power.