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

This is absolutely the most absurd scene in the history of Taiji Palace.

The founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, like a thief, ran wildly across the White Jade Square, carrying his robe in his hand. His swift and agile movements showed no trace of "old age and frailty."

And behind him.

The eight-year-old prince, who was usually so lazy that he couldn't even be bothered to walk, was now like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Li Chengqian moved with incredible speed, his feet barely touching the ground, leaving only a white afterimage. He even used the top-tier lightness skill rewarded by the system, like a white eagle spreading its wings, directly leaping over the long staircase.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

Just as Li Shimin was about to step out of the palace gate, Li Chengqian descended from the sky. With a perfect leap, he tackled his father, who was preparing to escape, and knocked him down onto the hard bluestone slab.

"Ouch! You unfilial son! Let go!"

Li Shimin was thrown around and was completely disoriented, lying on the ground struggling desperately.

Li Chengqian was unwilling to let go. He clung tightly to Li Shimin's leg, his face pressed against the ordinary robe, and began a "pleading" performance that was even more exaggerated than what Li Shimin had just said in the palace.

"Father! You can't leave!"

Li Chengqian's voice was so shrill it sounded as if the sky had collapsed.

"I'm only eight years old! Look at my young face!"

He raised his head and forced out two tears, looking utterly pitiful.

"How can an eight-year-old child get up earlier than the rooster and go to bed later than the dog every day, while also having to review hundreds of pounds of official documents?"

"You know better than anyone what a miserable job the throne is! How can you bear to deprive me of a happy childhood? This is inhumane!"

These words were spoken.

All the officials who chased after them, including Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji, felt their cheeks twitch wildly.

Childhood? Naïve?

Changsun Wuji's lips trembled, and he couldn't help but mentally rant.

When you were using your red cannons to bombard the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions, did you ever think that you were only eight years old?

When you swindled the Japanese envoy to Tang China until he was left with nothing but his underwear, and forced envoys from hundreds of countries to kneel outside the Taiji Hall waiting for you to wake up, did you ever think that you were only eight years old?

Now that we need you to do the work, you suddenly remember you're a child!

"You're talking nonsense!"

Li Shimin was also furious. He braced himself with his hands on the ground and tried to pull his leg out.

"Don't try to intimidate me with your age! You're even more cunning and shrewd than I am!"

"The Tang Dynasty's rule is now as stable as a rock, and its wealth is so vast that even Dai Zhou couldn't keep track of it. You could be emperor with your eyes closed; you're just plain lazy!"

"I don't care! I've already issued the decree, and a ruler's word is law! You have to do this hard labor today, whether you like it or not!"

Li Shimin was determined to retire.

He's spent half his life fighting wars and governing, finally making the country invincible. And his son is a god-like figure who can elevate the nation to new heights. If he were to still cling to that exhausting position, he'd be a complete sucker!

The father and son sat there in the square of Taiji Palace, completely disregarding their image.

One clung tightly to the leg, refusing to let go, while the other desperately kicked its legs, trying to run away.

The scene was so beautiful that the guards and eunuchs around them all turned away, pretending to look at the clouds in the sky, afraid that if they saw something they shouldn't have, they would be silenced.

The Tang Dynasty was plunged into a farcical political crisis.

There has never been anyone like him before, and it is estimated that there will be no one like him in the future.

This is an invincible super empire, yet it faces the absurd stalemate of "no one willing to claim the title of emperor."

"Father, if you really dare to leave, I will distribute all the money in the national treasury to the people tomorrow, and then transform Taiji Palace into the number one amusement park in the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Chengqian started acting like a rogue, issuing vicious threats.

"You dare!"

Li Shimin was so angry that his beard trembled, and he pointed at Li Chengqian's nose and cursed.

"That's the foundation of the Tang Dynasty! If you, you spendthrift, dare to touch it, I... I'll whip you!"

"Then come and draw! As long as you stay in this position, you can draw me every day!"

Li Chengqian stuck out his neck, acting like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water.

The two were locked in a stalemate, neither willing to back down an inch.

The surrounding ministers were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, yet dared not step forward to offer any advice. Both father and son were on the verge of exploding; whoever intervened would be cannon fodder.

At this critical moment.

Li Chengqian glanced at his father's resolute expression, so unyielding and determined to retire, and his eyes flickered slightly.

He knew very well that people like Lao Li had a fanatical warlike spirit and an extreme desire for supreme glory flowing in their veins.

The reason he wanted to retire was simply because he felt there were no more challenges in the world that could excite him.

The area surrounding the Tang Dynasty had been completely cleared away by his own superior strategy, and Li Gongquan lost his sense of accomplishment as the General of the Heavenly Strategy, which is why he found being emperor boring.

That being the case...

Then let's find him a new, exciting, even crazy, target!

Li Chengqian suddenly released his hands from Li Shimin's legs.

He stood up, dusted off non-existent dust, and his previously aggrieved expression vanished instantly.

Instead, a deep, even somewhat cunning and calculating, cold smile appeared.

"Father."

Li Chengqian looked down at Li Shimin, who was still sitting on the ground, his tone exuding a fatal allure.

"Do you feel that the Tang Dynasty's territory has already expanded to its limit?"

"Do you feel that there is no place left in this world worth conquering for a general like yourself?"

Li Shimin was taken aback.

Seeing his son's sudden change in attitude, he felt a strange sense of unease, but his deep-seated pride still made him give a defiant snort.

"Isn't that right?"

Li Shimin got up from the ground, patted his casual clothes, and proudly raised his head.

"The Western Regions are pacified, Tibet is subdued, and Goguryeo is destroyed. Even that wretched island across the sea has become our ATM."

"My Great Tang Dynasty is now invincible under heaven!"

"If I don't retire, am I supposed to just sit here in Chang'an counting ants?"

Looking at his father's arrogant demeanor.

Li Chengqian's smile deepened, a satisfied smile like that of a hunter watching its prey step into a trap.

He turned his head and looked at Xu Xiao, who was running towards him from a distance, covered in sweat and struggling to carry a huge object.

"Old Xu, bring it here."

Li Chengqian's voice echoed across the empty square, carrying a mysterious, ritualistic feel, as if the veil of a new world was about to be lifted.

He looked at Li Shimin again, his eyes flashing with fanatical madness.

"Father, you think you are invincible."

That's because your eyes only see a small patch of sky, the size of a well opening.

"Today, I will show you..."

Li Chengqian walked up to the huge object covered by a black cloth and forcefully ripped off the cloth.

"Just how vast is this real world?"