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

The snowy plateau, Lhasa city.

The wind here is harder than a knife in Chang'an. It feels like someone is rubbing your face with sandpaper.

Inside the rugged and majestic Potala Palace (its early form), a campfire licks at a huge copper basin, and the air is filled with the strong aroma of yak butter tea and roasted beef.

The young king Songtsen Gampo was sitting shirtless on a complete snow leopard skin.

He held a scimitar inlaid with turquoise in his hand and was slowly slicing meat from the roasted beef leg in front of him.

This person is extremely good-looking.

His nose was high and straight like an eagle's beak, his eyes were deep-set, and his pupils shone like stars on a plateau. Although he was only in his early twenties, the wildness and domineering aura he exuded were the result of fighting his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Snapped!"

He tossed a piece of bloody beef into his mouth, chewing it until the juices flowed freely, then casually slapped a secret report from Chang'an onto the table.

"The Demon King?"

Songtsen Gampo chuckled, the curve of his lips carrying three parts disdain and seven parts arrogance.

"An eight-year-old toddler dares to call himself a demon king?"

"I think the people of the Tang Dynasty are so terrified by that cowardly Turk that they treat any prince they find like a god."

The tribal chiefs sitting below burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"The Zanpu is right! It's said that Li Chengqian can't even climb onto a horse; he relies entirely on his few mad dog generals to maintain appearances!"

"What 'Great Snow Dragon Riders' and 'Beiwei Army'? I think it's all just hype! If they really came to our plateau, dragons would have to coil up and tigers would have to lie low!"

"One of our Tibetan warriors can take on ten of them!"

Songtsen Gampo listened with satisfaction, picked up the barley wine in front of him, and took a big gulp.

Cool!

He had just unified the various tribes on the plateau and was brimming with confidence, feeling invincible.

In his eyes, that so-called Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty was nothing more than a spoiled brat born with a silver spoon in his mouth, who relied on his father's legacy to act arrogantly and domineeringly.

"You don't understand."

Songtsen Gampo wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, his eyes gleaming.

"This Li Chengqian may be a little clever, but that's not important."

"The important thing is, the Tang Dynasty is currently weak!"

He stood up, walked to the sheepskin map hanging on the wall, and slammed his scimitar heavily on the location of "Hexi Corridor".

"We just finished a battle with the Turks. Although we won, it was a Pyrrhic victory! The national treasury is empty and the troops are exhausted. It's like a lion that has just hunted a lion and is panting and licking its wounds."

"At this moment, we just need to take a small bite..."

Songtsen Gampo made a biting motion, his eyes fierce.

"We could tear a huge chunk of fat off this lion!"

"and……"

He abruptly changed the subject, a slightly aggressive, wicked smile that belonged to a young man.

"I heard that Li Shimin had a daughter, whose title was Chang Le?"

"She's said to be the most beautiful woman in the Tang Dynasty, proficient in all the arts—music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—a well-educated and refined lady from a noble family?"

The guard beside him nodded hurriedly: "Your Majesty, there is such a princess. It is said that Li Chengqian protects her like the apple of his eye. Last time, the Turkic envoy was humiliated on the spot simply for mentioning her."

"A slap in the face?"

Songtsen Gampo laughed, a laugh that was utterly unrestrained.

"That's because the Turks are useless!"

"No woman I, Songtsen Gampo, set my sights on will be unsuccessful!"

He turned around abruptly, his curved sword pointing straight east, exuding heroic spirit.

"Pass down the order!"

"Let our warriors on the Silk Road make even bigger moves! Seize all the Tang Dynasty caravans!"

"Tell Li Shimin that he wants to trade? Fine!"

"Exchange Princess Chang Le for her!"

"This king not only wants the silk and porcelain of the Tang Dynasty, but also to seize the legendary first princess of the Tang Dynasty and make her his chieftain's wife!"

"I'll show that damned prince who the real father is on this plateau!"

"roar--!!!"

Inside the main hall, the crowd was filled with excitement.

The Tibetan men roared with excitement, as if they could already see the Tang princess writhing and pleasuring herself beneath their king, and the endless stream of gold and silver treasures being transported into Lhasa.

Only one person didn't laugh.

Grand Chancellor Lu Dongzan.

The wisest old man in Tibet was huddled in a corner, his brow furrowed so deeply it could trap a fly.

He held the detailed intelligence report about Li Chengqian in his hand, his hands trembling slightly.

Those were spies lurking in Chang'an, who risked their lives to bring them back.

The above doesn't record anything romantic or sentimental, but rather—

"Thousands of noble families were massacred in one night."

"They treated 100,000 Turkic prisoners of war like livestock."

"They treated the Turkic Khan like a dancing girl."

These are all things that an eight-year-old child could not possibly do.

This is clearly a monster in human skin!

"Tsangpu...Tsangpu, no!"

Lu Dongzan could no longer sit still, so he forced himself to stand up, his voice trembling.

"We must not underestimate our enemy! We must never underestimate our enemy!"

"What? Has the Grand Minister been made stupid by reading Han Chinese books?"

Songtsen Gampo looked at the old man who always contradicted him with some displeasure. "He's just a little kid, what's there to be afraid of?"

"He's more than just a doll!"

Gar Tongtsen was so anxious that he slapped his thigh and held the intelligence report up in front of Songtsen Gampo.

"Look! Look closely!"

"Li Chengqian's actions are completely unpredictable! He's ruthless, vicious, and extremely protective of his own!"

"The Turks only wanted to propose marriage, and he destroyed their kingdom; the noble families only wanted to raise their prices, and he confiscated their property!"

"This person... is really strange!"

"We seized his caravan and even tried to kidnap his sister... this is like licking a tiger's tail!"

Lu Dongzan's eyes were filled with deep fear.

It was a wild animal's instinctive premonition of an impending natural disaster.

"If we push him too far, he might really dare to bring those red-coated cannons up to the plateau and raze our Potala Palace to the ground!"

"That's enough!"

Songtsen Gampo impatiently waved his hand, knocking the intelligence report out of Gar Tongtsen's hand.

"Boosting the morale of others while diminishing our own!"

"This is the plateau! This is the snowy region! Han Chinese can't even catch their breath when they come up here, and you think you can raze my palace to the ground?"

"Keep dreaming!"

He shoved Lu Dongzan aside and strode out of the hall, leaving behind only an extremely arrogant back view.

"If the Prime Minister is scared, he should go home and hold his grandson!"

"This king will go and prepare the army!"

"I want that Tang Dynasty crown prince to know that he's not the only one in the world who can go mad!"

Watching Songtsen Gampo's departing figure, Gar Tongtsen collapsed to the ground, staring at the love letter that had fallen to the ground, stained with yak butter tea.

On the paper, in the simple sketch of Li Chengqian, the corners of his mouth seemed to be curving into a mocking smile.

It looks like he's laughing.

It was like looking at a group of dead people.

"It's over..."

Lu Dongzan closed his eyes in pain and muttered to himself.

"The sky... is about to fall."