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

The Eastern Palace.

Li Chengqian lay sprawled on a specially made rocking chair, holding a freshly chilled cream popsicle in his hand.

This is the kind of life a human being should live.

Since those "ancestors" were packed up and sent to various parts of the world, I've finally had some peace and quiet.

In the past, Li Tai would carry a pile of thick blueprints that could kill someone every day, running over in a sweat to ask why "friction makes the kettle hot"; Li Zhi, that little brat, always tugged at his clothes, clamoring to see "the big iron bird that can fly".

What now?

The entire East Palace was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Apart from the occasional chirping of cicadas in the distance, the only other sound was the dripping sound of the popsicle melting in Li Chengqian's hand.

"Your Highness, these are the profit-sharing statements from each state that have just been delivered. Would you like to take a look?"

Wu Meiniang walked over silently, carrying a thick stack of official documents.

She has grown even more beautiful, wearing a light purple gauze dress, and walking with a refreshing breeze.

Li Chengqian didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, casually pointing to the empty seat next to him: "Meiniang, didn't I say that you can handle such trivial matters? As long as the numbers at the Tang Bank keep rising, I don't care about the rest."

Wu Meiniang smiled, placed the official document on the stone table, and turned to one of the pages with her slender fingers.

"The rubber plantations in Lingnan have tripled their output this year, and the spice trade in Southeast Asia has monopolized the entire shipping route. In addition, the revenue share from the 'Global Partner' program you mentioned earlier has been gradually coming in."

"Oh? Fourth Brother and Ninth Brother are making money so quickly?"

Li Chengqian became interested and sat up.

Wu Meiniang gently shook her head: "No, these are the advance deposits for the craftsmen and merchants they took away. As you instructed, for all those who go out to sea to do business, the bulk of the money goes to the Crown Prince's Palace, and the smaller portion goes to them. Currently, it seems that our national treasury... or rather, Your Highness's private treasury, is almost overflowing."

Li Chengqian nodded in satisfaction, then casually grabbed a handful of fresh bamboo shoots from the side and handed them to the Iron-Eating Beast, which was snoring at his feet.

This round little guy has been fattened up to be as big as a ball, and even turning over is difficult for him.

"So peaceful, so peaceful."

Li Chengqian sighed and then slumped back down.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside the Taiji Palace was at the complete opposite extreme.

Li Shimin was staring at the kneeling ministers below with a dark expression, and he almost broke the imperial pen in his hand.

"I'll say it again! Don't tell me the Crown Prince is lazy in overseeing the country! Is that really overseeing the country? He's just dumping all the work on the Secretariat!"

"Fang Xuanling! As the prime minister, can't you advise him? Hiding in the Eastern Palace all day playing with cats and dogs—what kind of behavior is this?"

Fang Xuanling had a bitter expression on his face, and his hands inside his sleeves were trembling.

"Your Majesty, I have already offered my advice. But His Highness the Crown Prince said that since the Three Departments and Six Ministries have already been established, we must learn to 'delegate power' and let professionals do what they are good at. He also said..."

"What else did he say?" Li Shimin's eyes widened.

"He said... he said if the emperor does all the work, then what's the point of having ministers? It would be better to dismiss all the ministers and save a lot of their salaries, just enough for him to build a swimming pool for the Eastern Palace."

Li Shimin was so angry that his temples throbbed.

He finds fault with everyone now.

Although his sons used to cause trouble, it was still lively, and you could hear Li Tai and Li Ke arguing every day.

Now the eldest son is a salted fish in the Eastern Palace, while the other sons have all been sent to the ends of the earth.

As a father, all he did every day was look at those old men's wrinkled faces and revise those endless, pointless memorials.

"I'm furious! I'm furious right now!"

Li Shimin slammed his hand on the table, causing the golden goblet on the imperial desk to tip over.

"Go! Convey my decree! Tell Li Chengqian to get over here for a meeting! Tell him the Turks are causing trouble again, and he needs to come up with a plan!"

The chief eunuch, Wang De, trembled and shrank his neck: "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince sent word this morning that he will be conducting 'closed-door research' soon, refusing all visitors, and anyone who violates this order will be punished for disturbing scientific progress."

Li Shimin: "..."

Scientific progress?

He's made no progress whatsoever!

He clearly wanted to avoid me and go to the East Palace to eat hot pot!

Just as Li Shimin was preparing to personally march towards the Eastern Palace to teach Li Chengqian a lesson about the depths of fatherly love, a dusty courier rushed frantically into the Forbidden City.

"Report! Urgent dispatch from the Western Regions! Must be delivered by express courier!"

The piercing shout instantly shattered the oppressive atmosphere of the palace.

The courier had run until his voice was hoarse, clutching a red-lacquered iron pipe tightly in his hand. He collapsed to the ground, exhausted, as soon as he reached the bottom of the steps.

Wang De quickly took the iron pipe and ran to present it to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin frowned. This red-lacquered iron pipe was the highest-level intelligence transmission tool in the Tang Dynasty.

It will absolutely not be used unless a full-scale war breaks out.

He took a deep breath, removed the sealing wax, and pulled out the parchment inside.

After watching for less than three seconds, Li Shimin's expression became incredibly interesting.

"This...this was written by the third brother?"

Li Shimin was stunned, then shouted, "Quick! Go to the Eastern Palace! Drag that rebellious son out for me! Tell him his third brother has caused a great disaster overseas!"

Half an hour later, in the inner chamber of the East Palace.

Li Chengqian was still half asleep when he saw the letter that Li Shimin had forcibly stuffed into his hand.

He rubbed his eyes, looking at the crooked handwriting that clearly conveyed a sense of "impatience".

"Big brother, help! These bastards in South America are so unreasonable! They may not be as well-equipped as us, but their poison arrows flying through the trees are endless. And that thing called rubber, we found it, but there's some high priest here who insists we're demons incarnate and is organizing tens of thousands of people to besiege our camp!"

"Most importantly, the third brother, Li Ke, said in his letter that they were almost out of the dry rations they brought, and the wild fruits they ate there were causing them diarrhea. They urgently needed reinforcements!"

Li Chengqian looked at the large tear stain at the end of the letter, then at the date, and his face suddenly turned very dark.

"Wait, old man, when was this letter written?"

Li Shimin didn't even check the date and quickly flipped it over to the back.

"The third day of the ninth month in the first year of Zhenguan... more than half a year has already passed?"

Li Chengqian slammed the letter on the table, laughing in exasperation.

"Six months! By the time this letter reaches Chang'an, Li Ke will probably be reduced to ashes by those Native American tribes!"

Li Shimin panicked; after all, that was his own son.

"What can we do? Chengqian, you have to save him! Didn't you say North America was all meat? How come it turned into diarrhea and poisoned arrows for him?"

Li Chengqian paced back and forth in the room, muttering curses under his breath.

"I knew it! These guys are all a handful! Is the South American rainforest even a place for humans? They went in without any desensitization training; who else would get diarrhea if not them?"

Li Chengqian walked to the window and looked at the busy cargo wagons in the distance, feeling an unprecedented sense of frustration.

The Tang Dynasty expanded its territory too quickly, to the point that its technology could not keep up.

This is what is meant by "taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble."

"This communication speed is as slow as a snail's pace! By the time the letter arrives, it'll be too late!"

Li Chengqian suddenly turned around and stared at Li Shimin.

Li Shimin felt uneasy under his gaze: "Why are you looking at me like that? It wasn't me who sent him to South America, it was you who drew the boundary!"

Li Chengqian gritted his teeth and said, word by word, "Old man, I can't continue like this. If we don't want these overseas bases of the Great Tang to become 'puppets with broken strings,' we have to do something groundbreaking."

Li Shimin was taken aback: "A revolutionary era? What are you planning to do now? Who are you going to bombard with cannons this time?"

Li Chengqian snorted coldly, his eyes revealing a ruthless glint.

"No, this time I won't blast people. I'm going to get radios, I'm going to get telegraphs! I'm going to get what's happening on the horizon back to Chang'an in seconds!"

Li Shimin was completely confused and subconsciously asked, "What about Li Ke? He's still surrounded by those birdmen!"

Li Chengqian casually picked up a dusty booklet from the bookshelf; it contained basic circuit diagrams he had drawn in his spare time.

"We definitely have to save him, but it took half a year for this letter to be sent back, which means he's at least not going to die anytime soon. That third kid is tough; he survived all the whipping you gave him in Chang'an. The most important thing now is to break this damn communication barrier."

Wu Meiniang asked softly from the side, "Your Highness, what should we do in response to the plea for help in this letter?"

Li Chengqian walked to the door and looked at the bustling streets of Chang'an.

"Reply? What a load of rubbish! By the time you send a ship, it'll be another six months. Pass on my order: tell those Mo tribe bastards to stop spending all their time figuring out how to improve toilets and to assemble before me!"

"Your Highness, what if Lord Wei Zheng causes trouble again?"

Li Chengqian stepped onto the carriage without looking back.

"Tell Old Man Wei, anyone who dares to hinder my rescue of my brother, I'll send them to South America to talk to the High Priest about morality and ethics!"