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

"Bang!"

With a heavy, muffled thud, the custom-made, pure gold and jade-inlaid remote control, which cost a fortune, drew a golden afterimage in the air before slamming into the center of the huge LCD screen.

The ultra-high-definition image, which was so clear that even the fine hairs on Li Chengqian's nose could be seen, shattered in an instant.

Countless streaks of eerie blue electricity crisscrossed the cracks like a spiderweb, hissing and screaming in despair. The once rosy sunset on the beach was instantly replaced by a chaotic mass of flickering black and white specks of light. The piercing sound of the electrical interference was particularly eerie and jarring in the otherwise quiet imperial study, where even breathing could be clearly heard.

Eunuch Wang clung to the cold, white marble dragon pillar like a withered leaf shivering in a hurricane. Overwhelmed by terror, his once round face was now ashen white, and even his usually nimble hands were clenched in violent spasms. His mouth gaped open, but no coherent syllable could be uttered; cold sweat streamed down his temples, splashing onto the smooth marble floor. In his mind's eye, that second stretched infinitely. He watched as the remote control, a symbol of imperial power, shattered on the screen, and he watched as the Tang emperor, still possessing the youthful appearance of a twenty-year-old, teetered on the brink of utter loss of control.

Li Shimin ignored the completely broken television.

His dark, deep eyes were fixed on the shimmering snowflake, his chest heaving violently, his rapid breathing creating heavy gusts of wind.

"The old ox...working..."

Li Shimin squeezed out these words through gritted teeth, each word as if carved from millennia-old ice, carrying a chill that could freeze the air.

He suddenly erupted.

His strong, powerful legs strode forward, and he began to stride wildly through the excessively spacious imperial study. His leather boots pounded heavily on the floor, producing a series of muffled thunderous thuds that made the rare treasures displayed on the antique shelves tremble slightly.

His thick, black hair swayed violently with each step. His once dignified and composed imperial aura was completely dispelled at this moment by a grief and indignation called "being schemed against by his own son for decades."

Li Shimin finally found out.

He finally understood why, over the past few decades, that rebellious son had always managed to produce bizarre blueprints at crucial moments. Why that rebellious son always acted like a coward, saying, "Father, you are a genius, and your foolish son can only cheer you on from behind."

It turns out it was all a setup!

That was an ultimate trap meticulously planned over decades, spanning the entire Industrial Revolution and the Space Age!

He, Li Shimin, the mighty Khan of the Great Tang Dynasty, whose power shook the world, was actually just a blindfolded "old ox" in the eyes of that rebellious son, who only knew how to frantically turn the millstone around and grind the grain!

"Li Chengqian! You heartless and unfilial son!"

Li Shimin suddenly stopped in his tracks, pointed at the cluster of dancing snowflakes, and let out a hysterical roar.

His handsome face was contorted with rage, his features contorted in a grimace. The veins on his forehead throbbed like writhing blue snakes, pulsating violently with his heavy breathing, as if they might burst through his thin skin at any moment.

His gaze shifted and landed on the ridiculously large solid steel desk.

There, there were countless electronic tablets, shimmering with a faint blue light.

Those were memorials from various provinces around the world during the Tang Dynasty.

That was about the approval process for building a lunar base.

That was a dispute about environmental taxes in North American industrial areas.

That was an urgent request regarding pests and diseases in South American rubber plantations.

Li Shimin glanced at it briefly and saw that the number of unprocessed electronic folders had jumped to a despairing astronomical figure of 50,000.

Originally, when he looked at these memorials, he felt a sense of pride, as if he were establishing an everlasting dynasty. He felt that he was working hard for the Li family's empire and for the future of the Tang Dynasty.

But now, in Li Shimin's eyes, these flashing screens are no longer medals of honor.

They became heavy shackles.

They turned into bloodstained whips.

They were woven by that unfilial son himself to whip him, this "old ox," into working hard!

"Immortality..."

Li Shimin slumped back into the huge swivel chair, gripping the armrests tightly with both hands, his tone filled with an unprecedented sorrow.

"This is not the immortality bestowed by the gods...this is clearly the most vicious and cruel curse in the world!"

He burst into self-deprecating laughter, the sound echoing in the empty hall, sounding both desolate and ironic.

He finally realized it.

Without this immortality, Li Shimin would be lying in his imperial mausoleum now, enjoying the incense offerings for eternity.

But because of this damned peak physique, he has to stay in this dark and gloomy imperial study, facing these damned, cold screens, reviewing endless nonsense until the end of time!

And what about that rebellious son?

He's sunbathing in Hawaii! He's peeling coconuts on his private island! He's performing Versailles before the entire world, saying he just wants to be reborn into an ordinary landlord's family as a carefree young master!

"Wang De! No... which great-grandson of Wang De are you again?"

Li Shimin suddenly raised his head, and his lightning-like gaze nearly made the eunuch Xiao Wang, who was pressed against the pillar, faint on the spot.

"Your Majesty... This servant is Xiao Wang, the fourth-generation direct descendant of Eunuch Wang De..." Eunuch Xiao Wang's voice trembled so badly that he knelt on the ground with a thud, not daring to lift his head.

"Get out of here! You useless piece of trash!"

At this moment, Li Shimin no longer cared about maintaining any imperial demeanor.

He shoved aside the table blocking his way, and with such force, several tablets were swept to the ground, making a crisp cracking sound.

He strode towards the innermost part of the imperial desk.

There stood a special machine.

It was a red dedicated telephone made entirely of bright red metal with a long satellite antenna on top.

This phone is the highest-security communication device in the entire Datang Telecom network.

Its wavelength penetrates directly into the ionosphere, reaching the beach villa on Hawaii's Saltwater Island via three communication satellites positioned over the Pacific Ocean.

Li Shimin grabbed the heavy telephone receiver.

His knuckles cracked from gripping the weight too tightly.

He pursed his lips tightly, and in his deep pupils, it seemed as if two raging red lotus flames were violently flickering.

"Beep—beep—"

That's the beep indicating that the satellite signal is capturing a frequency band.

Each beep of the waiting prompt was like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into Li Shimin's blood pressure monitor, which was already on the verge of exploding.

He has already made up his mind.

The moment the call connected, he wanted to unleash every curse word he had ever learned on that unfilial son.

He wanted to immediately dispatch the most elite mechanized mixed brigade of the Tang Dynasty to turn that Salt Fish Island upside down!

He wanted to drag that rebellious son back, chain him to the table leg in the Imperial Study with heavy iron chains, and make him watch as he slapped all 50,000 memorials onto his lazy face!

"Feed?"

On the other end of the phone came a slightly languid voice, as if someone had just woken up, with even a faint lingering sound of someone slurping coconut juice.

That was Li Chengqian's voice.

At that moment, Li Shimin felt every cell in his body explode with rage.

He took a deep breath.

The lungs emitted a series of hissing sounds due to the violent expansion.

He opened his mouth, and the grief and indignation accumulated over decades, the humiliation of being deceived, and the impotent rage of being a "workhorse" all transformed in that instant into a roar that was enough to shatter the glass of the imperial study and resounded throughout the entire Tang Dynasty palace.

"Li Chengqian—!"