Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

The air inside Lizheng Hall seemed to have been sucked out in an instant. The night wind outside the hall carried fine snowflakes, which slipped in through the cracks in the window frames and landed on the cold gold brick floor, instantly turning into a faint chill that intertwined with the oppressive atmosphere inside the hall.

The floor heating, which had provided some warmth, now seemed to have lost its effectiveness. A bone-chilling cold spread wildly from Li Chengqian's center outwards, even dimming the flickering candlelight on the table, reducing it to a pale, lifeless grain.

Li Chengqian still stood by the window, his back to the main hall, his thin figure appearing particularly frail in the night wind.

But no one dared to underestimate this figure. The aura emanating from him was no longer that of the naive and lazy prince he once was.

But the aura around him had become extremely unfamiliar.

That wasn't the usual salted fish prince who would feign illness for three days to avoid attending court.

He's not the kind of unscrupulous businessman who would rip off a powerful family to the point of despair just to make money.

At this moment, he was like a peerless weapon that had been sealed in its sheath for too long and had finally revealed a crack. The extreme suppression of his violence made it so painful to even breathe.

"call……"

Li Chengqian slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, which turned into white mist in the cold air and dissipated instantly.

The image of Li Shimin's expedition flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

The middle-aged man, dressed in golden armor and seemingly with "I am awesome" written all over his forehead, rode on his horse and waved to him with great pride.

"You unfilial son, watch closely, I'm going to set an example for you!"

How arrogant and smug Li Shimin was back then!

But now?

Li Chengqian closed his eyes, as if he could see that proud man now curled up in the cold, bone-chilling valley, his armor shattered and his face covered in blood.

He might be holding a piece of tough horse meat, forcing himself to swallow it while boasting to his soldiers, "Back in my day at Hulao Pass, I could win battles even while eating grass roots!"

That old man who suffers for the sake of saving face.

That silly old man who always complained about his laziness and greed, but would still awkwardly take a bite of the cotton candy after he burned down the Imperial Garden.

"Smack."

Li Chengqian gently placed his hand on the window frame.

The sturdy pear wood window frame turned to dust silently under his fingers.

"I can ruin my father, Li Chengqian's father, no matter what."

"I want to annoy him, that's fatherly affection; I want to swindle him out of his money, that's earning a living through my own abilities; I want to see him suffer, that's to teach him a lesson."

Li Chengqian suddenly opened his eyes, and two dark blue flames flickered wildly in them.

"but."

"What kind of thing are you, Jieli?"

"A barbarian who only knows how to play in the mud on the grasslands dares to touch my people?"

"You think you're worthy of letting him gnaw on tree bark? You think you're worthy of letting him kill a horse for food?"

A feeling of "protecting one's own," mixed with the rage of having one's bottom line crossed, completely ignited Li Chengqian's rationality at this moment.

He could disregard whether the Tang Dynasty's territory was vast, whether the throne was secure, or whether the world would judge him well or badly. He could even continue being that lazy, good-for-nothing prince.

But he couldn't help but care about his cheap old man who would sneak over in the middle of the night to cover him with a blanket!

"very good."

"Since you're willing to risk your life, then I'll play along with you on a big scale."

Li Chengqian slowly turned around.

At this moment, his face was expressionless; that chilling calm was more terrifying than a hysterical roar.

He looked into the deepest shadow in the hall, his voice as soft as a feather falling to the ground, yet carrying an undeniable imperial majesty.

"Old Xu."

In the darkness, there was a soft rustling sound of fabric rubbing together.

The hunched, lame old servant, who usually only swept the floor and served tea, gradually emerged from the shadows.

His steps were slow, yet exceptionally steady. With each step, the aura of humility fading from him diminished, while his imposing presence rose, and the air around him seemed to grow colder with each step.

When he stepped into the candlelight, the humility and kindness that once graced his wrinkled old face were gone.

Instead, there was an extreme excitement, a bloodlust that had been suppressed for a long time and could finally be released, bordering on perverse.

His cloudy old eyes were now flashing with a scarlet light, like an old wolf that had smelled blood and finally revealed its ferocious fangs.

"Your Highness."

Xu Xiao's voice was hoarse, with a trembling laugh.

"Are you finally... going to make your move?"

He had waited far too long for this day.

Since arriving in this world, he has always been required to be discreet and low-key. Killing a few minor figures from powerful families is nothing to him, not even enough to satisfy his hunger.

He longed for a real battlefield.

I long for that kind of hellish battlefield where corpses lie everywhere and blood flows like rivers!

Looking at Xu Xiao's face, which was contorted with excitement, Li Chengqian slowly curled a cold smile onto his lips.

"Yes, it's time to make a move."

"Someone doesn't want me to live a peaceful life, and doesn't want my father to come back alive."

"Since that's the case..."

Li Chengqian walked to the center of the main hall and reached out to take down the Crown Prince's sword that had never been drawn from its sheath and was hanging on the wall.

"Clang!"

The longsword was drawn, its cold light illuminating his youthful yet murderous face.

"Then let's poke a hole in the sky."

He pointed the tip of his sword straight north, and his voice boomed like thunder from the heavens above the empty East Palace.

"Old Xu! Go!"

"Ring the bell for me!"

"Let Bai Qi stop farming, let Yue Fei stop training troops, and let Huo Qubing feed his horses well!"

Tell them, there's work to be done!

Xu Xiao grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth, and clenched his fists tightly, his overwhelming murderous aura finally becoming uncontrollable.

"promise!"

"This old servant will go immediately and turn this Tang Dynasty upside down!"

As soon as the voice fell, Xu Xiao's figure rushed out of Lizheng Hall like a ghost and disappeared into the dark night, leaving only a series of hurried footsteps and an increasingly heavy killing intent in the air, which lingered in Lizheng Hall for a long time.

Li Chengqian, still holding the Crown Prince's sword, stood in the center of the hall, the tip of the sword pointing north. The flame in his eyes never died out. He knew that a storm that would sweep across the Tang Dynasty and even the whole world had officially begun from this moment.