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

"What?!"

Li Chengqian's voice instantly rose eight octaves, his originally lazy tone now sounding like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

The half-eaten cantaloupe in his hand fell with a "thud" onto the expensive Persian carpet. He sprang from the large, comfortable chair as if he were on a spring.

The last vestiges of sleepiness vanished instantly upon hearing the words "throne."

To become emperor?

What a joke!

Why did he travel back in time and work so hard to develop the Age of Exploration, the Industrial Revolution, and establish banks to reap the benefits of the world?

Is it so that he has to get up before dawn every day, wear a dragon robe weighing dozens of kilograms, sit on a hard dragon throne and listen to the old men below arguing?

Could it be because of the mountain of memorials that he had to review every day, even those concerning the most trivial matters?

He does all this so that he can live a more carefree and luxurious life as a high-class salted fish, eating and waiting to die, counting money until his hands cramp!

Now that the infrastructure of the Tang Dynasty is on track, wealth is flowing in continuously. He is preparing to enjoy this early industrial life, perhaps taking a hot spring bath in Luoyang or going fishing in the South China Sea on a yacht.

As a result, at this critical juncture, Lao Li actually wanted to forcibly leave the group and shirk responsibility?

This is the ultimate devastating blow to the salted fish's life!

"No! Absolutely not!"

Li Chengqian didn't even bother to put on his shoes properly, and rushed down the steps with one bare foot.

Under the shocked, bewildered, and even somewhat dazed gazes of the entire court, all the officials and civil servants were stunned.

This usually aloof and powerful Tang Dynasty crown prince, who could decide the fate of nations with a single word, suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Li Shimin's leg tightly as Li was about to turn and run away.

"Father! Please reconsider!"

Li Chengqian let out a mournful wail, his eyes instantly reddening, and he even forced out two tears.

His grief-stricken appearance was ten times more exaggerated than Li Shimin's clumsy acting earlier.

"What did you just say about being old and frail? That's utterly ridiculous!"

Li Chengqian clung to Li Shimin's leg, looking up at Li Shimin's face, which twitched slightly with embarrassment.

"Your Majesty, I saw it with my own eyes: the day before yesterday, in the Imperial Garden, you knocked down a fully grown tiger from the Western Regions with a single punch in order to test the power of the newly produced musket!"

"With your current physique, you could easily rule the world, let alone give the Tang Dynasty a dozen more princes and princesses!"

"How can you bear to leave this weighty empire to a young and ignorant child like me?"

Li Chengqian became increasingly engrossed in his storytelling, even wiping his tears with the hem of Li Shimin's dragon robe.

The assembled officials below, witnessing this scene, suffered another severe blow to their worldview.

Young and ignorant?

Changsun Wuji's lips twitched violently.

With a single sentence, you swindled Japan out of its entire silver reserves, and with a flick of your wrist, you crushed hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo's troops. If you were young and ignorant, then what are we old bones? Did we drop out of prenatal education?

Li Shimin was also taken aback by his son's sudden attempt to curry favor with him.

He tried to shake his legs off, but found that Li Chengqian was holding him tightly and he couldn't shake him off at all.

"Get up! What kind of behavior is this for the Crown Prince!"

Li Shimin lowered his voice and growled through gritted teeth.

"No! Unless you retract your order!" Li Chengqian resorted to shamelessness, almost rolling on the ground.

When Li Shimin saw that force wouldn't work, he simply tore off the mask of politeness and began to hurt each other.

"You're young and ignorant? Don't try to play the victim in front of me!"

Li Shimin pointed at the bright light bulbs outside the main hall, spitting as he spoke.

"Look outside! You're the one who installed the electric lights in the Great Tang Dynasty, and you're the one who created those brainwashing newspapers!"

"Now, people all over the world travel by your trains, spend your money, and even discuss your martial arts novels in bed every night!"

"In the Tang Dynasty, only you, the living god-like Crown Prince, are recognized! I, the Emperor, sit here like a transparent decoration! This throne belongs to you alone! You will take it today, whether you like it or not!"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian cursed his father inwardly for being shameless, for so confidently shifting the blame.

"Father! You're wrong about that!"

Li Chengqian continued to pester him relentlessly.

"Those fancy tricks and ingenious techniques are nothing more than my idle tinkering. It's like changing a wheel on a carriage, but the one who can truly steer this carriage and control the course of the Tang Dynasty is none other than you, the battle-hardened emperor of all time!"

"Your Majesty, I only know how to spend money, not how to govern a country. Without your stabilizing force, this giant ship of the Tang Dynasty will capsize sooner or later!"

"Bullshit!" Li Shimin pointed angrily at his jet-black hair.

"I'm tired! I'm really tired! I've spent half my life fighting wars and governing. Now that the world is at peace, can't you let me enjoy myself a bit?"

"You're only eight years old, a perfect time for you to gain experience. Reviewing more memorials will be good for your health!"

"Your son is only eight years old! How can you bear to make an eight-year-old child get up early and work late every day, losing his happy childhood? This is inhumane!"

Inside the Taiji Hall.

The two most honorable people in the Tang Dynasty.

A ruthless emperor who ushered in the prosperous Zhenguan era, and a cunning crown prince who swept the world with cutting-edge technology.

now.

In order to push the dragon throne, which represents supreme power, to the other party.

Like two petty hooligans throwing a tantrum at the village entrance to avoid doing too much farm work, they talked back and forth, pulling and tugging at each other, spitting at each other.

The civil and military officials below, including Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, were all dumbfounded.

They lived to be so old and read so many history books.

I've seen people kill their fathers and brothers for the throne, and I've seen people feign madness for the throne.

But I've never seen a father and son publicly expose each other's shortcomings and compete to see who is more miserable in order to avoid becoming emperor!

The scene was so beautiful that they didn't even have a chance to interrupt.

Li Shimin was so persistent with Li Chengqian that he had no choice but to give up.

He found that he couldn't reason with this sharp-tongued brat, nor could he outdo this jerk who knew how to feign tears in a misery contest.

Old Li's stubbornness finally kicked in.

"Li Chengqian!"

Li Shimin suddenly raised his voice, shouting out his full name. His twin dragon eyes revealed a resolute determination to achieve his goal.

"Let me tell you, no matter what you say, I will absolutely not take this emperor's position!"

Li Shimin ripped off the heavy twelve-tassel crown from his head and roughly shoved it into Li Chengqian's arms.

"This lousy hat, let whoever wants to wear it wear it!"

"I will take your mother and move to the temporary palace in Luoyang first thing tomorrow morning!"