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

A gentle sea breeze rustled through the coconut palms, like nature softly singing. Li Chengqian walked barefoot on the warm, fine sand, his gaze passing over the shimmering surface of the Pacific Ocean and landing in the unseen, distant East. There, the Tang Dynasty's territory stretched across the continent and the sea, gleaming with the metallic sheen of industry and civilization under the blazing sun.

He picked up the chilled coconut beside him, took another sip, and felt the cool juice glide across his tongue. In that brief second, a magnificent panoramic view of the Tang Dynasty slowly unfolded in Li Chengqian's mind. It was a miracle he had painstakingly drawn stroke by stroke over decades.

On the plains of Guanzhong, the golden wheat fields no longer rely on the mercy of nature, but bow before the mechanized combine harvesters, guided by sophisticated irrigation pipes. The people are no longer emaciated; they sit in spacious, bright canteens, dressed in crisp twill overalls, discussing the latest improved models of steam engines. The tragedies of selling children to survive have long been locked away in the dusty archives of the past.

On the streets of Chang'an, the low earthen walls had been transformed into office buildings covered in tiles. Children, carrying schoolbags, ran into bright, well-ventilated classrooms. The blackboards were no longer filled with classical Chinese phrases, but rather with Newton's laws and chemical formulas. Those innocent voices recited: "Science is the primary productive force of the Tang Dynasty." This sound brought Li Chengqian more peace of mind than any Buddhist or Taoist scriptures.

Even in the vast galaxy, the Tang Dynasty's lunar exploration fleet, trailing pale blue ion tails, traced the path of civilization in the silent vacuum. It was the first time humanity had cast its curiosity beyond Earth, and the Tang Dynasty's dragon flag was the guide.

"This painting is truly beautiful," Li Chengqian murmured softly, a peaceful smile that he had never shown before appearing on his lips.

Wu Meiniang stood quietly behind him, holding a plate of sliced, chilled watermelon. She looked at Li Chengqian's back; the man who had once seemed absurd and cynical to her now exuded a divine tranquility.

"Your Highness, what are you looking at so intently?" Wu Meiniang asked softly, her voice as sweet as coconut milk from the seaside.

Li Chengqian turned around, his eyes gleaming with a keen insight into the ways of the world. He pointed to the civilian airliners flying across the horizon, then to the giant cargo ships cruising in the distance, his tone tinged with a touch of melancholy.

"Meiniang, what do you think is the most crucial element of this empire right now?"

Wu Meiniang paused slightly, pondering for a moment. Her intelligent eyes darted around as she tentatively answered, "Was it the divine maps Your Highness provided? Or His Majesty's tireless diligence? Or perhaps the invincible Snow Dragon Cavalry under Commander Xu?"

Li Chengqian shook his head, his smile somewhat enigmatic.

"None of those. The true core of the Tang Dynasty today is 'freedom'."

"Freedom?" Wu Meiniang was somewhat puzzled; in the context of the Tang Dynasty, this was an extremely new word.

"Yes, true freedom. The Tang Dynasty no longer relies on the benevolence or wisdom of any particular emperor to keep running. Look, even though I'm lying here drinking coconut juice, even though the old man is going crazy in the imperial study, this vast empire has begun to operate on its own, relying on the gears of technology and the levers of its systems. Factories are operating, schools are holding classes, and caravans are sailing. It's like a giant that has reached maturity, no longer needing me, its guide, to support it at all times, and can stride confidently into the future."

Li Chengqian put down the coconut, stood up, and brushed the sand off his backside. His gaze became more expansive than ever before, as if piercing through the mists of time and seeing the scene a thousand years later.

"I did not become the kind of traditional, lauded emperor of all time. I neither slaughtered all my meritorious officials nor did I spend my days performing the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai. I simply gave them the spark and the tools. And then, I created a civilization greater than any empire or dynasty. A civilization belonging to humanity, not to gods."

This is the perfect fulfillment of destiny.

From a crippled crown prince who once trembled in the imperial court, desperately hoping to save his legs, to the behind-the-scenes force driving global prosperity, Li Chengqian felt that the "exhilaration" he had experienced in his life had reached the pinnacle of physical limits. He had transformed the world and, incidentally, saved himself in the process.

The sun in the distance began to sink rapidly toward the sea level.

The fiery clouds grew even more intense, dyeing the entire sea a magnificent purple-gold color.

Li Chengqian stretched lazily, his joints cracking and popping. He felt like a fully charged battery, only to find the world no longer needed him to discharge its power. This blissful feeling of being "outdated" by the times made him want to roll around on the beach.

Wu Meiniang smiled and walked to his side, offering him a cool slice of watermelon.

"So, Your Highness, are you really going to be a salted fish on this island for the rest of your life?"

"Of course. I not only want to be the salted fish, but the most expensive one. If the old man wants me to go back, he'll have to buy the whole moon for me as a palace." Li Chengqian took a bite of watermelon and mumbled indistinctly.

He turned around, took Wu Meiniang's soft hand, and prepared to return to the villa to enjoy a grand seafood feast. The waves gently washed the beach behind them, carrying away the string of deep and shallow footprints, as if to bury this legend in the tranquility of nature.

However, just as this tranquility reached its peak, just as Li Chengqian felt his soul was about to dissolve into the sunset.

"Buzz—"

A faint yet real tremor suddenly erupted deep within his mind.

It was a physical sensation that had been dormant for far too long.

It was a cold, hard texture that Li Chengqian had almost erased from his memory, a texture unique to higher-dimensional civilizations.

Li Chengqian suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His body stiffened like a stone in that instant. The watermelon rind he was about to put in his mouth hung suspended in mid-air, trembling slightly. His pupils shrank to pinpoints in an instant, and an uncontrollable shock and confusion surfaced deep in his eyes.

Wu Meiniang noticed his unusual behavior and nervously gripped his hand.

"Your Highness? What's wrong? Don't frighten me!"

Li Chengqian couldn't hear her voice.

His world seemed to have been muted at that moment.

In that ocean of consciousness, as deep as an abyss and as silent as an ancient well.

The mechanical voice that had accompanied him through countless days and nights, witnessed his rise from a humble prince to a leader of civilization, and had been silent for so long that he thought it had completely disappeared, suddenly rang out with a cold, emotionless tone.