Transmigrated into Li Chengqian, he effortlessly ascended the throne and became emperor.

That evening, the people from the Prince of Qin's residence did not personally go to Li Yuan to complain.

At this critical juncture, if the Prince of Qin were to personally accuse the Crown Prince of treason, Li Yuan, that suspicious old man, would surely think it was a case of brothers fighting amongst themselves and framing each other.

The most devastating effect is achieved when someone who seems completely unrelated breaks the ice.

"Your Highness."

A man dressed in gray cloth with an unremarkable face appeared silently in the shadows of the hall. If Li Chengqian hadn't been squinting and peeking, he would have hardly noticed his presence.

"Is the matter settled?" Li Shimin's voice was low and unreadable.

"Your Highness, the news has been inadvertently presented to His Majesty's desk through the eunuch in charge of procurement. That junior eunuch has never been involved with the Crown Prince's Palace and is a notorious gossip."

"Very good." Li Shimin's lips curled into a cold, sharp smile. "Step down."

After the man in gray disappeared, Li Shimin got up and tiptoed to the soft couch.

Li Chengqian immediately adjusted his breathing to make himself appear to be sleeping more soundly.

A warm, large hand gently stroked his forehead, its calloused fingertips caressing his delicate cheek.

Looking at his son's unguarded sleeping face, Li Shimin's fierceness instantly transformed into a deep pool of tenderness.

His beloved Yu Nu is so obedient and adorable, she shouldn't have suffered such injustice.

The Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi have bullied him for so many years, it's time they paid the price.

……

Meanwhile, in Li Yuan's sleeping quarters.

"Bang!"

A beautiful white jade teacup shattered on the ground.

Li Yuan's beard and hair stood on end, his chest heaved violently, and he gripped the secret report tightly in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

"You are a traitor! You are a traitor!"

The old emperor's voice echoed in the empty hall, trembling with disbelief, "I appointed him regent, and he's already smuggling armor into Chang'an? He's even joined forces with Yang Wengan of Qingzhou... What is he trying to do? Try to force me to abdicate? I'm not dead yet!"

"Please calm your anger, sage!"

The palace servants and eunuchs were all kneeling on the ground, not daring to utter a sound.

Li Yuan was, after all, the founding emperor of the dynasty. After a brief outburst of rage, he forced himself to calm down.

Although all the evidence pointed to the crown prince, he still held onto a sliver of hope, or perhaps it was a father's last act of mercy.

"deliver an imperial order."

Li Yuan closed his eyes, his voice sounding as if he had aged ten years in an instant, "Summon Crown Prince Li Jiancheng to the Renzhi Palace for an audience immediately."

He did not directly order Li Jiancheng's arrest; this was giving Li Jiancheng one last chance and also a test.

If you have nothing to hide, you should come openly and honestly.

The news flew to Chang'an as if it had grown wings, and also reached the ears of Li Jiancheng, who was already halfway there.

The atmosphere inside the post station beside the official road was so oppressive it was suffocating.

"Your Highness! You can't go!"

Xu Shimo, a trusted advisor, knelt on the ground and clung tightly to Li Jiancheng's leg. "Now that the Emperor is furious and the Prince of Qin is by our side, going to Renzhi Palace at this time is tantamount to throwing ourselves into the tiger's den! It would be better to defend the city, or order Yang Wengan to raise an army immediately; perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope!"

Li Jiancheng's face was deathly pale, and his once refined features were now twisted into a somewhat ferocious expression.

He knew perfectly well that this was a dead end.

But, raise an army?

Li Jiancheng glanced at the pitch-black night outside the window and closed his eyes in despair.

Although Li Shimin was cunning, he was well aware of Li Shimin's military prowess.

If he were to truly break off relations and confront the enemy head-on, he might not have a chance of winning. Moreover, if he were to raise an army now, he would be guilty of treason, and no matter how vast the world was, he would have nowhere to hide.

"No... we can't go against it."

Li Jiancheng took a deep breath, his voice hoarse, "I am the Crown Prince, the heir apparent of the Tang Dynasty. As long as Father doesn't kill me, I still have a chance."

He suddenly opened his eyes, a resolute glint in them.

"Someone come here!"

"Your Highness?"

"Remove the ceremonial guards and dismiss the guards." Li Jiancheng, his hands trembling, removed the golden crown from his head and pulled out the jade hairpin that bound his hair.

Her once neatly styled hair had fallen loose, and her disheveled appearance made her look extremely disheveled.

"Your Highness, this is improper..."

"You're about to die, what's the point of maintaining decorum!" Li Jiancheng shouted sternly, then took off the apricot-yellow dragon robe that symbolized the majesty of the crown prince, leaving him in only a plain white undergarment.

"I will leave only ten cavalrymen with me to Renzhi Palace, where I will plead guilty to my father."

……

The next morning, an unsettling dampness filled the air at Injigung Palace.

Today, Li Chengqian wore a light purple round-necked silk shirt with several exquisite mimosa flowers embroidered on the lapel, and a white jade belt tied around his waist.

He sat quietly on the embroidered stool below Li Yuan, holding a bowl of cheese in his hands and sipping it slowly, as obedient as a decorative object.

Li Shimin sat on the other side, his face ashen, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Report! His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"

As soon as this announcement was made, the air in the entire hall seemed to freeze.

Li Yuan sat on the high dragon throne, his cloudy eyes fixed on the palace gate.

A moment later, a stumbling figure appeared in everyone's sight.

There was no entourage or imposing presence.

Li Jiancheng removed his hairpins to await punishment. His plain clothes were already soaked with sweat and clung tightly to his body, showing a sense of desolation and bleakness.

He was followed by only ten terrified guards, who stopped him at the palace gates.

Li Jiancheng staggered across the threshold and saw his father sitting high above him. In that instant, it seemed as if all the grievances, fears, and regrets welled up in his heart.

"Ah-yes—!"

With a mournful howl, Li Jiancheng's knees buckled, and he collapsed heavily to his knees on the marble floor.

Instead of getting up, he used both his hands and feet to crawl towards Li Yuan, kowtowing as he went.

"Your subject...I deserve death! Your subject deserves death!"

The first head slammed to the ground, the dull thud sending a shiver through everyone present.

Li Chengqian paused slightly in the bowl he was holding, observing the dramatic royal family drama through the rising steam.

Li Jiancheng was also a ruthless man.

"Bang!"

one more time.

Blood was seeping from Li Jiancheng's forehead, flowing down his nose, mixing with the dust and tears on his face, making for a shocking sight.

"Your subject has no intention of rebelling! Your subject is just... just afraid!"

Li Jiancheng kowtowed and wailed, his voice hoarse and broken, "Your son believed the slander of villains and thought that Erlang wanted to harm me. That's why I was confused for a moment and wanted to protect myself... Father! You watched me grow up, how dare I disobey you!"

He climbed down the steps and tried to reach out to grab Li Yuan's robe, but was blocked by several fully armed guards.

Looking down at his eldest son, whom he had once been so proud of, in such a wretched state, Li Yuan felt his heart bleed, but even more so, he felt a furious rage at being deceived.

"Self-preservation?"

Li Yuan suddenly stood up, grabbed the memorial on the table, and slammed it hard into Li Jiancheng's face.

The sharp edges of the memorial scribbled across Li Jiancheng's cheek, adding another bloody mark.

"Smuggling armor is self-defense? Colluding with border generals is self-defense? Yang Wengan is about to raise his banner in Qingzhou, and you're telling me it's self-defense?!"

Li Yuan trembled with rage, pointing his finger at Li Jiancheng's nose and shouting, "Are you trying to force me to abdicate! Are you going to follow in the footsteps of Yang Guang, murdering your father and killing your brother?!"

"Your subject wouldn't dare! Your subject truly wouldn't dare!"

Li Jiancheng was smashed on the head and bled profusely, but he dared not dodge. He could only kowtow desperately. The "bang bang" of the impact was particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall. In just a moment, the floor tiles beneath him were stained red with blood.

The heavy smell of blood permeated the air, diluting the original ambergris fragrance in the hall.

Li Chengqian wrinkled his delicate little nose slightly, put down the cheese in his hand, and seemed to be frightened by the bloody scene. His small body shrank back and he subconsciously moved closer to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin sensed his son's fear, reached out, and silently covered Li Chengqian's eyes, pressing his head into his arms.

"Don't look."

However, from an angle unseen by Li Shimin, a faint, mocking smile appeared on Li Chengqian's lips.

A self-inflicted injury ruse.

A classic case of feigning injury.

The more miserable and humble Li Jiancheng appeared, the harder it was for Li Yuan to bring himself to kill him.

After all, he was his own son, and they never actually fought each other.

Sure enough, seeing Li Jiancheng covered in blood and almost fainting, the murderous intent in Li Yuan's eyes faded somewhat, replaced by deep disappointment and exhaustion.

That's enough.

Li Yuan slumped back onto the dragon throne, as if all his strength had been drained. "Stop acting here, it disgusts me."

The only sounds inside the hall were Li Jiancheng's heavy breathing and the dripping of blood.

"Someone come here."

Li Yuan's voice was as cold as ice, "Take this rebellious son away and imprison him in... Maifanting. Tonight, Chen Fu will be in charge of guarding him, and no one is allowed to visit him!"

Maifan Pavilion was an extremely simple and remote place in the palace, a place that even the servants were reluctant to go to on ordinary days.

"As for food..." Li Yuan glanced at the pool of blood on the ground with disgust. "Give him a bowl of wheat porridge. Let him taste it properly; this is the suffering the people endure for the empire he wants to seize!"

"Here you go!"

Several imperial guards stepped forward and dragged Li Jiancheng up like a dead dog.

Li Jiancheng did not struggle; he knew that his life was temporarily saved.

As Li Jiancheng passed by Li Shimin, his face covered in blood, he struggled to lift his eyelids. His bloodshot eyes stared intently at Li Shimin, his gaze filled with both resentment and a kind of inexplicable pleading.

Li Shimin remained expressionless, not even glancing in the eye, still covering his son's eyes, as if the person before him was not worthy of his attention.

Night fell again.

Behind Renji Palace, a lone tent stands heavily guarded.

Inside the tent, there was only a dim oil lamp. Li Jiancheng huddled on the damp straw mat, with a bowl of cold, hard, and coarse wheat porridge in front of him.

He was a prince who had grown up in luxury since childhood, how could he have suffered such hardship?

We can only hope that Li Yuan can calm down soon and get through this hurdle safely.