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

The warm touch, mixed with the domineering aroma of meat, was like a warm current that instantly broke through Li Shimin's last psychological defenses.

He no longer cared about imperial dignity or the quarrel between father and son.

He snatched the chicken leg, opened his chapped lips, and took a big bite.

The outer skin is crispy, and the meat is tender.

The combined aroma of cumin and chili exploded in his mouth, and the oil dripped down his chin, making him gasp for breath.

good to eat!

It's fucking delicious!

This was the first hot meal he had eaten in the past two days and two nights, the first... real food.

Compared to the half-cooked, bloody horse meat I had eaten before, this was like pig swill from hell.

Li Shimin wolfed down his food, eating like a starving ghost who hadn't eaten for three days, but his eyes uncontrollably reddened.

An indescribable mix of bitterness and grievance, along with the overwhelming joy of surviving a disaster, rushed straight to my nose.

He wanted to cry.

I want to hold this good-for-nothing son and cry my heart out.

But he was the emperor.

he can not.

……

After eating a chicken leg, Li Shimin felt as if he had finally come back to life.

With food in my stomach, I also have strength in my body.

He glanced at the Xuanjia Army soldiers beside him, who were also staring at him expectantly, his face flushed, and he cleared his throat.

"Chengqian, is there any more?"

"Enough is enough."

Li Chengqian snapped his fingers, and Xu Xiao immediately understood, waving his hand in response.

From the "food carts" pulled by pandas behind, eunuchs immediately unloaded boxes of steaming compressed biscuits and canned beef.

"Brothers, don't be shy, His Highness the Crown Prince is treating!"

Cheng Yaojin was the first to rush forward, snatched a box of canned food, smashed it open with the back of his axe, grabbed a piece of beef and stuffed it into his mouth, screaming in pain from the heat.

"Mmm...delicious! It's even better than my wife's cooking!"

The Tang soldiers who had survived the ordeal erupted in thunderous cheers and pounced on the enemy like hungry wolves.

Seeing the scene of people wolfing down their food, Li Shimin's mood improved considerably.

After eating and drinking his fill, he finally remembered his business.

He subconsciously reached into his robes and touched the wrinkled, bright yellow silk cloth soaked in blood.

The will.

Li Shimin's old face instantly turned red again.

This thing must not be seen by anyone else, especially not by that rebellious son, or he will laugh at it for eight hundred years.

While everyone was busy grabbing food, he quietly took out the will, intending to tear it up without anyone noticing.

however.

He's fast, but someone is faster than him.

A blur flashed by.

Li Chengqian had somehow gotten close to him and snatched the "evidence" from his hands with lightning speed.

"Father, what is this? It's hidden so well, could it be a love letter to one of your concubines?"

Li Chengqian unfolded the yellow silk with a gossipy look on his face.

Li Shimin's face instantly turned green, and he reached out to snatch it: "You unfilial son! Give it back to me! That's not..."

"Ouch!"

Li Chengqian let out a strange cry, nimbly dodging his father's clutches, and then, in front of everyone, he began to read aloud in a loud and rhythmic voice.

"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"

"I know I am unworthy, that I underestimated the enemy and advanced recklessly, and that I am now surrounded. This is the will of Heaven."

"However, the Tang Dynasty's fate cannot be broken, and the country cannot be without a ruler for even a day."

"Therefore, the throne shall be passed to Crown Prince Chengqian!"

"I hope he will carry on my will, expel the barbarians, and revive our Great Tang..."

Li Chengqian recited it with such vividness and clear pronunciation that one might mistake it for an opera performance.

With each sentence he read, Li Shimin's face darkened further.

By the time the last phrase, "謝此" (Is so decreed), was read, Li Shimin wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

It’s over.

That's it, everything's over.

The entire army knew that Li Shimin was so frightened that he wrote his will.

His image as a wise and powerful general has been completely shattered.

"His Majesty……"

Cheng Yaojin and the others looked at each other, wanting to laugh but not daring to, their faces turning purple from holding it in.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Father, you really think highly of me."

Li Chengqian waved the imperial edict in his hand, a mocking look on his face. "You think you can just dump this mess on me? Dream on."

"Give it back to me!"

Li Shimin was filled with shame and anger, and lunged forward to snatch it.

"Don't rush."

Li Chengqian deftly dodged, and then, to everyone's astonishment, he did something that could be described as utterly rebellious.

He did not return the will.

It wasn't torn off.

But...

Slowly and deliberately, with utmost elegance, he used that blood-written edict that would change the course of Tang Dynasty history…

He wiped his slightly greasy fingers from where he had just handled the roasted chicken leg.

Once.

One more time.

He kept wiping the oil off his hands until the bright yellow silk cloth was completely black.

"You...you..."

Li Shimin pointed at Li Chengqian, trembling with anger, unable to utter a single word.

What a waste!

Blasphemy against the sovereign and father!

This is my will, written in my own blood!

You actually...you actually used it as a napkin?!

"Oh dear, Father, please don't get agitated."

Li Chengqian casually tossed the unrecognizable "waste paper" onto the ground and even crushed it with his toe, completely destroying the evidence.

He looked up and saw his father's expression, which was about to explode with anger, and his face returned to that smug smile.

He leaned close to Li Shimin's ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"I already told you not to force yourself."

"Look."

He pointed to the dark clump of garbage on the ground, and then to the unseeing head of the dead Jieli in the distance.

"Isn't this... a complete waste of a good piece of paper?"

"You say it is or isn't?"