The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"Your Highness, there has been a slight mishap."

Gao Shilian, along with armed prisoners, met with Li Shimin at Xuanwu Gate before dawn, as agreed.

By this time, all their men had been assembled, and Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui had also secretly joined in, disguised as Taoist priests.

Upon hearing Gao Shilian's words, Li Shimin frowned. At this critical moment, there was no room for error: "What happened?"

Gao Shilian, recalling the two men in the cell, lowered his voice and said, "When I went to organize the prisoners, I found two men in the prison."

"It was Wei Zheng and Chen Huai'an from the Crown Prince's Palace. They didn't seem surprised at all that I was going to the Heavenly Prison; it was as if they had expected it all along."

"What did you say?" Gao Shilian's words instantly changed the expressions of everyone around him.

"You... what did you say?" Yuchi Gong nearly lost his voice, and after realizing what he'd said, he managed to restrain himself, "Our operation was all carried out in secret, and the decision was only made tonight. How could they possibly have anticipated it?"

"Uncle!" Changsun Wuji could no longer remain calm and said anxiously, "If the Crown Prince's forces anticipated our actions today, aren't we walking right into a trap?"

"Putting aside the fact that it's almost impossible, just consider this: if the Crown Prince knew about our actions, would we still be able to get to Xuanwu Gate?"

"I'm afraid that by the time we've made our preparations, we've already been captured by the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi's forces."

Li Shimin stared intently at Gao Shilian, without uttering a word.

The latter said with some annoyance, "I don't know how to explain it either. Anyway, these two are very strange. Not only do they not care at all about me gathering prisoners, but they even tried to persuade the prisoners to come with me."

"And Chen Huai'an also said..."

"What else is there to say?" Li Shimin pressed.

"He also said that he did not go on the orders of the Crown Prince, but went behind the Crown Prince's back, saying that it was better to go in voluntarily than to be passively imprisoned, so as to avoid suffering and humiliation."

"..."

After hearing Gao Shilian's words, even the wise Li Shimin looked somewhat bewildered.

What does it mean to say that it's better to go to jail voluntarily than to be passively imprisoned, so as to avoid suffering and humiliation?

Why am I going to jail?

Did these two really guess their actions?

No... those two definitely guessed it!

Li Shimin's eyes flickered, his thoughts racing.

Changsun Wuji's face was gloomy; no matter how you looked at it, this didn't seem like good news.

"Your Highness, what should we do?" Zhang Gongjin gripped the reins tightly, clearly in a state of great turmoil.

"What else can we do?" Changsun Wuji said coldly, "At this point, we have no way out. As long as Chang He stands with us, even if Li Jiancheng knows about our actions, we may still have a chance to win!"

"That's right!" A fierce glint flashed in Yuchi Gong's eyes. "Who cares what lies ahead? Even mountains of knives and seas of fire, or riches and glory, we'll fight!"

"Your Highness, go ahead and fight."

Li Shimin ignored Yuchi Gong, his gaze fixed on the Xuanwu Gate in the distance.

In this mutiny, the most important person was not them, but Chang He, the general guarding Xuanwu Gate.

If Chang He were on their side, Li Jiancheng would surely die!

If Chang He sides with the Crown Prince... and given that their conspiracy is likely to be discovered by the enemy, then today, this will be their burial ground!

Logically speaking, no one can remain calm at such a moment; even people like Zhang Gongjin and Changsun Wuji are clearly panicked.

But Li Shimin calmed down and slowly said, "Don't worry. Since Wei Zheng and Chen Huai'an both said that they didn't go to the prison on the Crown Prince's orders, but went there behind his back."

"Why don't we trust him this once?"

"We've already run out of options, haven't we?"

The group exchanged glances, feeling a mixture of helplessness and relief, before tightening their grip on the reins and knives.

When they chose to follow Li Shimin in launching the coup, they had already disregarded their own lives.

There are just some changes now, but we still have to fight. What's there to panic about?

"Let's proceed according to plan..."

Li Shimin gave the order.

.......

The sky gradually brightened, and a pale white light appeared in the east.

Inside the Eastern Palace, Crown Princess Zheng Guanyin helped Li Jiancheng with his makeup and tidied his remains. She also brought him a bronze mirror to look at himself.

Li Jiancheng's lips curled slightly: "My head isn't bad, is it?"

"What can the King of Qin do? What can the General of Heavenly Strategy do?"

"Aren't we still fish on the chopping block now?"

Zheng Guanyin hesitated for a moment, then said tactfully, "Yesterday, I heard that one of your advisors suggested that you delay for a few days and not enter the palace. I remember... Prince Qi had said something similar before..."

Li Jiancheng was immediately displeased.

King Qi, Li Yuanji, was like this.

Wei Zheng was like that.

Chen Huai'an is like that.

Even Zheng Guanyin is like this now.

For some reason, Li Jiancheng recalled the look in Chen Huai'an's eyes when he left.

It wasn't anger, fear, or disappointment; it was an emotion he couldn't understand.

This infuriated him even more: "How can you all be such cowards?"

"If I disobey the imperial decree and do not attend court, wouldn't that be like protesting too much? Wouldn't Father Emperor see it as a guilty conscience and solidify the charge of promiscuity in the harem?"

"Besides, I have no idea what you're worried about!"

"The King of Qi ordered me to gather all the troops from the Eastern Palace and the Qi Royal Palace, and to pretend to be ill and not attend court, saying that he would see how things went."

"What's the point of watching this situation? I think the King of Qi is just unwilling to give up. He wants to see the King of Qin and me both suffer heavy losses so that he can reap the benefits in the end."

Li Jiancheng paused, then scoffed, "As for Chen Huai'an, he's even more ridiculous."

"To say that the King of Qin would ambush me on my way to the palace is utterly ridiculous."

"I have managed to secure Chang'an Palace for many years. It is now impregnable. The general guarding Xuanwu Gate is my man, and I also have two thousand elite soldiers in the Eastern Palace that I can mobilize at any time."

"If the King of Qin is truly oblivious to his impending doom and has set up an ambush, then I can conveniently confirm his claim of rebellion, and then mobilize my elite troops to eliminate him. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Zheng Guanyin was somewhat uneasy, feeling that something bad was about to happen. She opened her mouth to continue to persuade him, but Li Jiancheng interrupted her directly.

"Alright, stop saying such discouraging things!"

He stood up, straightened his collar, and said smugly, "Little King Qin, just watch how I handle him!"

After saying that, Li Jiancheng didn't give Zheng Guanyin a chance to speak and strode out.

Before mounting his horse, Li Jiancheng glanced at his Eastern Palace and chuckled softly, "Today is truly a good day..."

"..."