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

When that crimson dragon flag, symbolizing the majesty of the Tang Dynasty, fluttered in the gale-force winds of the plateau, it finally settled firmly on the tallest flagpole of the Hongshan Palace.

The entire city of Lhasa was in complete uproar.

However, this excitement was not due to the fear of war, but rather to the mountains of silk, tea, and glass that had entered the city with Wang Xuance.

The Tibetan people celebrated as if it were a festival, crowding around the Tang Dynasty caravan, eagerly exchanging their cattle and sheep hides for those rare and precious items that had previously only existed in legends.

Meanwhile, a solemn and grand surrender ceremony was being held in the huge square in front of the Red Mountain Palace.

Songtsen Gampo removed his golden armor, which symbolized the authority of the Zanpu (king), and wore only a very plain white robe.

Holding the newly drawn map of the entire Tibetan territory and the heavy surrender document in his hands, he walked slowly and heavily up the high platform.

Behind him were hundreds of Tibetan civil and military officials, their heads bowed, their faces filled with shame yet also with a hint of expectation.

On the high platform, Li Shimin sat upright on a dragon throne temporarily covered with the finest tiger skin.

Today, he specially wore the bright yellow dragon robe that symbolized the supreme ruler, a twelve-tassel crown on his head, and the Tian Ce sword that accompanied him on the battlefield at his waist.

Although the wind on the plateau made his hair a little messy, and the thin air made him need to take a few breaths of oxygen every now and then.

But this could not conceal the fact that the Emperor of Tang was beaming with an almost overflowing radiance.

"This guilty subject, Songtsen Gampo, wishes to lead all the people of Tibet to submit to the Great Tang!"

Songtsen Gampo walked to the dragon throne, knelt heavily on both knees, raised the surrender document in his hand, and his voice trembled slightly with excitement or humiliation.

"From this day forward, Tibet will honor the Emperor of the Great Tang as 'Heavenly Khan'! For generations to come, we will never betray him!"

"Your humble servants pay homage to the Heavenly Khan!"

As Songtsen Gampo knelt, all the officials behind him knelt down in unison, their shouts echoing through the sky.

"Heavenly Khan! Heavenly Khan! Heavenly Khan!"

The tens of thousands of Tibetan people watching in the square were also infected by the deafening shouts, and they all knelt down and worshipped the man on the high platform.

Looking at the magnificent scene of everyone submitting, Li Shimin felt that his life had truly been worthwhile.

The humiliation of the Wei River Alliance and the shadow of the Xuanwu Gate Incident vanished in an instant.

He was not only the emperor of the Han people, but also the Heavenly Khan to whom all nations submitted!

This unprecedented sense of accomplishment made him so excited that he even wanted to compose a poem on the spot and then do a 360-degree Thomas spin.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Li Shimin stood up, made a gesture of support with his hands, and smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Rise, my lords! Now that we are one family, I will treat the Tibetan people as my own children! As long as you sincerely submit, you will have everything the Tang Dynasty has!"

Just as Li Shimin was immersed in that extremely inflated sense of vanity and was preparing to publish a 30,000-word "Letter to the Tibetan People".

Li Chengqian, who had been yawning listlessly on the side, could no longer stand this tedious and boring ritual.

He rubbed his slightly sore cheeks, took a preserved plum out of his sleeve, and popped it into his mouth.

"Father, could you please wait until we get back to deliver this message? It's windy on the plateau; if you stay out here any longer, you'll get a headache again when we get back."

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes, showing no respect for his father whatsoever.

Li Shimin glared at him, but considering how well-behaved Songtsen Gampo had been just now, he didn't hold it against him.

"You unfilial son, you have no appreciation whatsoever for my moments of glory!"

Li Chengqian ignored him, seeing these so-called "highlight moments" as meaningless formalism.

What's with all this talk of Heavenly Khan? Can it be eaten? Can it be exchanged for real gold and silver?

He cares more about tangible benefits than empty titles.

As soon as the ceremony ended, Li Shimin was still chatting with several Tibetan officials, showing his approachable image.

Li Chengqian walked straight to Songtsen Gampo, who had just stood up.

Looking at this eight-year-old boy who was half a head shorter than him but had single-handedly orchestrated the destruction of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo felt a mix of emotions.

It was a mixture of hatred, fear, and even an inexplicable sense of awe.

"Your Highness... Your Highness." Songtsen Gampo rubbed his hands nervously, unsure of what to say.

Li Chengqian, however, acted like an old friend, putting his arm around Songtsen Gampo's shoulder with the same warmth as a long-lost buddy.

"Oh, Lao Song, don't be so formal."

Li Chengqian patted Songtsen Gampo on the back with a smile, and quite hard, which made Songtsen Gampo cough.

"Now that we're family, shall we settle our past scores?"

Songtsen Gampo was taken aback, thinking to himself, "Didn't I just hand over the map and the treasury? What else do I need to settle?"

"Your Highness...what account?"

Li Chengqian pulled out a small abacus that he had prepared beforehand from his pocket, and his fingers flew across it, making a crisp "clattering" sound.

"Look, just now, to welcome your surrender, I brought out the best performing arts troupe of the Tang Dynasty."

"The appearance fees for those hundreds of dancers, the labor costs for the musicians, and the cost of materials for building the stage—all of these need to be factored into the price, right?"

Li Chengqian calculated and muttered to himself, making Songtsen Gampo's head buzz.

"Also, to ensure the safety of this surrender ceremony, my hundred red-coated cannons are on standby throughout the entire process, ready to set off fireworks for you at any time."

"The wear and tear on these cannons, the depreciation of the gunpowder, and the security costs for those ten thousand musketeers—that's no small sum, is it?"

Songtsen Gampo was completely dumbfounded.

What kind of robber logic is this?!

You set up cannons in front of my house to scare me, and now you expect me to pay you security fees?!

"Um... Your Highness, this... this is too much, isn't it?" Songtsen Gampo looked at the astronomical figure on the abacus and felt his heart bleeding.

"Is it a lot? Not really."

Li Chengqian shoved the abacus into Songtsen Gampo's arms, and the smile on his face instantly became somewhat meaningful.

"Old Song, you need to understand, this is money to buy your life."

"Compared to the losses from actually bombarding us with a hundred cannons, this amount of money is just a drop in the ocean."

"What? Does the Zanpu think that your life and the hundreds of thousands of people in Lhasa are not worth this performance fee and security fee?"

Songtsen Gampo looked at the small abacus, then at the hundred dark cannons still pointing towards the Red Mountain Palace in the distance.

He swallowed hard, feeling as if his throat was stuffed with cotton.

This is no eight-year-old prince!

This is clearly a vampire in human skin!

"Worth it! Absolutely worth it!"

Songtsen Gampo gritted his teeth and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Your Highness, rest assured, Tibet accepts this debt! We'll send it to you immediately!"