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

When Li Shimin asked, "I can control things without having to review memorials," he was clearly testing the waters, but also revealing an undisguised burning desire.

His fingertips hovered above the pulsating numbers on the holographic screen, his entire body leaning slightly forward, as if he would plunge into this sea of ​​data without hesitation if Li Chengqian gave a positive answer. Inside the imperial study, the air, which had been somewhat murky due to the earlier vandalism, now seemed thinner due to the eerie silence.

Seeing the old man's delighted expression, Li Chengqian finally felt relieved. He knew that the most crucial turning point of this "dimensional reduction attack" had arrived.

But he didn't show any impatience. On the contrary, he was unusually calm, even showing a kind of patience as if he were coaxing a child.

"Father, your question is an insult to me."

Li Chengqian straightened up, put his hands in the pockets of his black trench coat, and slowly paced a couple of steps amidst the mess. His boots creaked softly on a broken inkstone, but to Li Shimin, the sound was like the rhythm of some destiny.

"What you're worried about is simply losing this power of life and death, being sidelined by this cold, impersonal machine, right?"

Li Shimin remained silent. His eyes were deep, his pupils slightly contracting in the blue light—a wariness befitting an emperor. Although the numbers fueled his fervor, his deep-seated desire for absolute power had subconsciously erected a high wall around his head.

Li Chengqian saw through the old man's guard at a glance. He smiled and directly revealed the core logic.

"Father, the 'Artificial Intelligence Cabinet Assistance System' that I have prepared for you is, to put it bluntly, an emotionless and fast-calculating 'abacus'."

Li Chengqian walked to the light screen and drew a line on the complex logic diagram with his finger.

"What does it handle? It handles trivial administrative approvals, repetitive report comparisons, and those insignificant matters that can make your hair turn white. It has no ambition, doesn't take a salary, and certainly doesn't form cliques. Its sole purpose is to filter out the noise and present you with the most authentic and essential results."

At this point, Li Chengqian suddenly stopped, turned around and stared intently at Li Shimin, his tone becoming serious.

"The most important point, Father, listen carefully. I have only set up one entry point for the highest level of access to this system."

He pointed to Li Shimin's bloodshot eyes.

"That's iris binding. No one in the world but you can press that final 'approval button.' It's your shadow, your pen, but it's definitely not your substitute. All the power of life and death in the Tang Dynasty is still firmly in your hands. It's just that before you were fighting hand-to-hand in the mud with a sword in hand, now you sit high in the sky, coldly watching the ants of this world struggle in the millstone of the system."

As Li Shimin listened, his breathing became increasingly rapid.

An extremely grand and soul-stirring image involuntarily appeared in his mind.

He seemed to see himself no longer as a hardworking ox confined to this small imperial study, but as a god seated on a cloud, overlooking the entire blue planet. He no longer needed to distinguish which memorials were true and which were deceitful. He only needed to move his little finger and adjust the parameter called "resource quota," and a province thousands of miles away might instantly prosper, or be utterly extinguished due to his disgust.

This sense of high-level control, this exhilarating feeling of manipulating the world with a single hand, was even more exhilarating than when he charged into battle alone at Hulao Pass.

His micro-expressions were absolutely brilliant at that moment.

The initial resistance to the unknown, under the allure of that immense power, melted away like a thin layer of ice exposed to the scorching sun, collapsing at a visible speed. His brow gradually relaxed, and the scrutinizing and doubtful look in his eyes was slowly replaced by an extreme curiosity about the unknown power.

Then, that curiosity transformed into greed—an ultimate desire belonging to emperors, a desire to manipulate the fate of the entire world.

Looking at those pulsating red lines, he even had a strange feeling—those weren't numbers, but the beating pulse of the Tang Dynasty, and he was the only true god who controlled that pulse.

Wang De, who was standing to the side, secretly raised his head.

The old eunuch was completely dumbfounded. Seeing his emperor's fanatical expression, he felt a chill run down his spine. Although he didn't understand what higher-dimensional control was, he could sense that the imperial power before him seemed to be undergoing some kind of terrifying transformation.

Behind this tense and almost deadlocked game, Li Chengqian's heart was bursting with excitement.

"It's done! Judging from the old man's expression, he's definitely taken the bait!"

Li Chengqian maintained his innocent expression, as if to say, "Your son is offering you his most treasured possessions." He even feigned a sigh, revealing a hint of heartache, as if handing over the blueprints was like tearing out a piece of his heart.

But he was already hatching his own scheme.

"Hurry up and agree! Take it now! As long as you nod, every blade of grass and every tree in the Tang Dynasty will be bound to you, the chairman. I'll be completely free! I'm going to Hawaii to fish for that legendary tuna, and I'm going to lounge on the beach until the end of time!"

This stark psychological contrast made Li Chengqian's lips almost uncontrollably curl into a smile. He had to lower his head slightly, using the act of adjusting his collar to conceal the gleam of ecstatic joy in his eyes that came with his impending retirement.

The atmosphere reached a mysterious balance in that instant.

Li Shimin stared at the huge holographic screen, then turned his head and stared intently at Li Chengqian for a full half minute.

In that half minute, the Imperial Study was so quiet that even the sound of falling leaves outside the window could be clearly heard.

The bloodshot in Li Shimin's eyes was still striking, but the destructive rage he once possessed had vanished. He slowly loosened his grip on the hand that had been clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, and the trembling fingertip of his right hand finally tapped heavily on the curve representing total assets.

The light screen flashed and emitted a cheerful notification sound, as if welcoming its new owner.

Li Shimin took a deep breath, his previous dejected and disordered aura instantly replaced by an extremely aggressive imperial pressure. He slapped his thigh hard, the sound booming through the hall and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Li Shimin stared at Li Chengqian for a full half minute before finally throwing away the broken wooden stick in his hand and slapping his thigh: "Deal! But you must leave these blueprints with me today!"