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

A night breeze swept across the spacious terrace of the East Palace, carrying away a whiff of the strong, smoky aroma of roasted lamb skewers. Li Chengqian casually tossed the iron skewer in his hand into a white jade plate beside him, making a crisp sound. He stretched lazily, his joints cracking like popping beans. Wu Meiniang considerately handed him a handkerchief, gently wiping the grease from the corner of his mouth.

"Your Highness just said you wanted to visit some of the princes who are far away overseas, how come you've lost interest in the blink of an eye? Could it be that you've become bored now that the world is at peace?" Wu Meiniang teased with a smile, her eyes full of tears.

"It's not that I'm bored, it's just that I feel a little dazed." Li Chengqian took the towel and wiped his hands, then leaned back and sank deeply into the soft rocking chair.

He gazed at the city of Chang'an outside the terrace, its steel outline etched by neon lights, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

"Meiniang, do you remember when we first took over this mess? Back then, Taiji Palace was noisy like a marketplace every day. Those stubborn old aristocratic families were practically spitting in my face."

Wu Meiniang covered her mouth and giggled, giving him a charmingly disdainful look.

"How could I forget? Back then, the head of the Cui family of Qinghe led hundreds of students in a sit-in outside Chengtian Gate to obstruct your new policies. But you did just that, you had several large pots set up next to them to cook hot pot, making those hungry scholars cry with envy."

Li Chengqian burst into laughter, the sound echoing across the empty terrace.

"Yes, those old fogies were so powerful back then. Five surnames and seven noble families, even when the old man wanted to find a husband for the princess, they all refused because the Li family had non-Han blood. At that time, they held the land and the scholars in their hands, thinking they could control the lifeline of the Tang Dynasty."

He snorted coldly, his tone carrying a hint of disdain after delivering a crushing blow.

"But look at them now. What have they become? Land annexation? I simply opened the map of the earth to them, telling them that there are inexhaustible gold mines and endless cotton fields outside. The wheels of industrialization have rolled over them, and those once invincible aristocratic families have instantly become a joke."

Wu Meiniang nodded in deep agreement, walked to a small table to the side, and poured Li Chengqian a glass of chilled sparkling water.

"Your Highness is right. A few days ago, the current head of the Cui family of Boling even came to the East Palace gate to request an audience, and stood in the sun for three whole hours. I heard that their newly built large textile factory in Lingnan has encountered some technical problems, and they are anxious to ask the East Palace to grant them an extension for their order of a few of the latest model steam looms."

"Just give them a few, they can't cause any trouble anyway." Li Chengqian waved his hand dismissively.

"These people are now obsessed with how to increase the production line's capacity and how to gain a larger share of global trade. They've long since transformed from aristocratic families into ordinary capitalists reeking of money. As long as they still rely on the Crown Prince's technological blueprints for their livelihood, they'll have to obediently follow our lead."

At this point, a hint of unreadable emotion flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes.

If internal enemies have become miserable wage earners, what about those powerful external adversaries?

"Ashina Shi! Get over here and take this plate away from me!" Li Chengqian suddenly raised his voice and shouted down from the terrace.

In less than half a minute, a burly young man with deep-set eyes ran quickly onto the terrace. Although he had a typical Turkic face, he was wearing a well-tailored Tang Dynasty suit and his hair was slicked back and polished.

"Your Highness, please give your orders, and I'll tidy up the table for you right away! How about the roasted mutton tonight? If not, I'll go to the East Market tomorrow and pick out a few more authentic Ningxia Tan sheep for you!"

When this Turkic lad spoke, he actually spoke with a genuine Guanzhong accent, even with a touch of local flavor.

Watching his practiced movements, Li Chengqian couldn't help but tease him, "Stone, I remember your grandfather used to swagger around the Wei River with Khan Jieli. How come your skill in slicing mutton is even better than the butchers in Chang'an?"

Ashina Shi chuckled, wiping the tabletop deftly while straightening his back with pride on his face.

"Your Highness, please don't mention my grandfather's senility. The grass on his grave has been replaced more than a dozen times. Back then, they were blind to dare oppose the Tang army. Things are different now. I'm a legitimate civil servant who passed the Tang Dynasty's highest level of Chinese language proficiency test! These days, among the Turkic lads back home, if you can't speak a few words of fluent Chang'an dialect, you can't even find a pretty wife!"

"Alright, alright, stop your nonsense. Go to the kitchen and see if the white fungus and lotus seed soup that I made is ready. If it is, bring a bowl up to Meiniang."

"Alright! Your Highness, please wait a moment, I'll be right there!" Ashina Shi, carrying the plate, slipped off the terrace as if his feet were greased.

Looking at that cheerful figure, Wu Zetian couldn't help but sigh.

"Your Highness, the power of cultural assimilation is truly more formidable than a thousand troops. Back then, when the Turks invaded our borders, it was an incredibly dangerous national crisis. Yet today, their descendants consider it the highest honor to be citizens of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian picked up the sparkling water and took a sip. The icy liquid slid down his throat, extinguishing the last trace of restlessness in his heart.

"It's not just the Turks. Look at Goguryeo now. Those former people who used to clamor for the restoration of their homeland are now all working as technical backbones in our Liaodong heavy industrial base. To get more grain coupons and dividends from the Tang Dynasty at the end of the year, they work harder than the men of Guanzhong. If anyone dares to say a bad word about the Tang Dynasty, the villagers themselves can tie up that traitor and hand him over to the authorities without the government even having to intervene."

He stood up, walked to the edge of the terrace, and looked down at the vast empire he had completely transformed.

"The word 'enemy' has long been forcibly erased from the dictionary of the Tang Dynasty. Now, on this earth, there are only the workers of the Tang Dynasty and the bosses of the Tang Dynasty. We have connected the world into a huge network with steel and cables, and crushed all will to resist with absolute productivity."

Li Chengqian's tone gradually became calm, even carrying a sense of emptiness after reaching the pinnacle of physics.

"The ideal of universal harmony should have been a mere fantasy recorded in the books of sages. But Gu Ying has turned it into reality with countless blueprints and roaring machines. Now, in the schools of the Great Tang Dynasty, regardless of skin color or social status, everyone is reciting the same laws of physics and speaking the same Chang'an dialect."

This is a truly suffocating, invincible loneliness.

Gone were the intrigues and power struggles of the court, gone were the constant alarms and beacon fires at the border. The Tang Dynasty had not only lost its enemies with swords and spears, but even its cultural rebels had vanished. Li Chengqian suddenly realized that his greatest adversary in this life, besides his father, the Scroll King, who was always engrossed in reviewing memorials, was someone else entirely.

"This invincible taste is incredibly refreshing at first, but after drinking too much, it becomes somewhat bland." Li Chengqian sighed deeply, a hint of loneliness in his eyes that he himself did not realize.

Wu Meiniang noticed the subtle change in his emotions, walked to his side, and gently took his strong arm.

"Your Highness, isn't this wonderful? There is no war or turmoil, and the people live in peace and prosperity. The golden age you have created is unprecedented and will never be repeated. All enemies have become dust in history. This is exactly the wonderful situation you envisioned back then."

"Okay, of course." Li Chengqian patted her soft hand in return, and the carefree smile returned to his lips.

"I'm just suddenly finding it a bit hard to get used to these peaceful days without any villains jumping out to slap me in the face. Before, whenever I felt a little bored, I could go to the imperial court and kick that stubborn mule Wei Zheng a couple of times, or go to Cheng Yaojin's house and steal a couple of jars of his hidden good wine. Watching those old guys blow their beards, glare, jump up and down and curse was quite a rare treat."

Upon hearing these familiar old names, Li Chengqian's eyes suddenly flickered intensely.

Those dukes who once argued heatedly in the imperial court over a few taels of silver for military expenses.

Those fierce generals who once fought bloody battles for their fathers at Xuanwu Gate, wielding their swords.

There were also those loyal and upright officials who, though their tempers were as foul as rocks in a latrine, were utterly devoted to the Tang Dynasty.

Time, that merciless butcher's knife, is cruel and ruthless to enemies, and it shows no mercy to friends either.

"Meiniang." Li Chengqian's voice became somewhat low and hoarse, as if it had been largely blown away by the night wind.

"I'm listening."

"The fate of the world has been settled. All the former enemies are dead, and the rest have become law-abiding citizens. But I suddenly remembered, where are all those old comrades who accompanied me through the years, joking and laughing, and watching the Tang Dynasty struggle to climb out of the mud?" Li Chengqian turned his head and looked at the flashing neon lights in Chang'an, his eyes filled with the unyielding vicissitudes of time.

"The old man has the elixir of immortality to support his physique, so he can go crazy and compete in the Imperial Study every day. But Cheng Chumo, that simpleton who only grows muscles and not brains, Qin Huaidao, that silent gourd who can't utter a fart even after three kicks, and Changsun Chong, that pretentious pedant who's always trying to be cultured. They don't have my heaven-defying ability of being immortal."

The night wind seemed to grow even more desolate, rustling the precious potted plants on the terrace. Wu Meiniang's expression also darkened completely, and she sighed softly.

"Your Highness, time waits for no one. Most of the Duke Cheng and his ilk... have already retired to enjoy their old age. I heard that the young Duke Cheng recently suffered a serious leg ailment and even needed servants to support him when he went to court."

Li Chengqian remained silent for a very long time.

He looked down at his hands, still fair and powerful. These hands could draw intricate blueprints to launch rockets, yet they couldn't grasp the precious moments that slipped through his fingers.

The enemy is gone, but what about the old comrades who have accompanied us all the way? Will they also turn into a handful of dust?

"Let's go, Meiniang." Li Chengqian suddenly turned around and strode downstairs.

"Your Highness, where are you going to cause trouble in the middle of the night?" Wu Meiniang quickly lifted her skirt and followed.

"I'm going to dig up a few jars of that damned liquor I buried myself back then! Prepare the carriage! We're going to the Duke of Lu's mansion! I'll tell that old rogue Cheng Yaojin that I'm going to drink him under the table today!"