In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

"Hahaha!" Li Chengqian laughed again.

"Is that so?"

"Is that so?"

"How could it not be?" Li Shimin pounded his leg.

"Father, let me ask you this: is this the Prince of Wei's fault, or your fault?"

"Is appointing Wei Zheng as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince a gesture of goodwill towards me, or a move to appease the court?"

The blunt question tore apart the last shred of decorum between father and son, and also exposed the bloody truth behind Li Shimin's image as a great emperor of all time.

Li Chengqian looked at Li Shimin.

Quietly.

Then he turned around and limped outside.

There was no repentance, no pleading, no farewell.

Li Shimin slumped on the dragon throne, watching his retreating figure, tears finally welling up in his eyes.

He closed his eyes in grief and indignation, gazing at the sky.

Perhaps at this moment, he also felt regret, pain, and extreme struggle.

outside the temple.

Li Chengqian came out.

In an instant, all eyes were on him.

But Li Chengqian did not stop, nor did he look at anyone. He just kept walking forward, without crying or sobbing, only with the determination to face death.

Without Li Shimin's orders, the imperial guards dared not obstruct them and could only follow.

The ministers made way for them, and the two sides passed each other.

At that moment, when they sensed Li Chengqian's determination to die, countless people sighed inwardly.

Not long after, the Hall of Supreme Harmony changed again.

Li Shimin, overwhelmed by successive blows, suffered a relapse of his old illness and this time fainted in the palace.

"His Majesty!"

"His Majesty!"

Chaos erupted in the Hall of Supreme Harmony as everyone rushed inside.

All reports and all matters were temporarily put on hold.

The palace has come to a complete standstill.

Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and others took the lead in ordering the palace to remain under martial law. No one was allowed to enter or leave the palace until Li Shimin woke up, in order to prevent any further complications.

Thus, Li Yuanchang was also stranded in the palace.

Li Shimin remained unconscious for a full day and night, until he was revived the following morning by the imperial physicians.

When Li Yuanchang was summoned along with other high-ranking officials of the court, he was slightly surprised!

In just one night, Li Shimin was a completely different person.

At forty-five, he shouldn't have been considered old, but now he looked like a fifty-five-year-old, his once majestic and powerful face now appearing pale and weak.

Most importantly, much of the sharpness in his eyes had been lost.

"Your Majesty, why don't you rest a bit more?" Changsun Wuji asked worriedly.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the rebellion has been suppressed. We can help Your Majesty stabilize the situation and prevent any unrest," Fang Xuanling added.

Li Shimin insisted on getting up, and, draped in heavy brocade, sat up.

"My dear ministers, I'm sorry to have worried you."

"But I can still hold on."

The ministers remained silent, their expressions complex.

"Perfect timing, you're all here now. Share your thoughts on how to deal with the Crown Prince's rebellion—to kill him or not?" Li Shimin coughed.

Those here are all officials of the Tang Dynasty at the ministerial level or above; otherwise, they are all confidants.

Since Li Shimin asked whether to kill or not, everyone knew that His Majesty did not want to kill.

No one would be foolish enough to ask Li Shimin to kill his own eldest son; doing so would bring him eternal infamy.

"Your Majesty, you are truly a loving father!" Changsun Wuji said briefly, but with enough weight.

Fang Xuanling continued, "The Crown Prince is guilty, but he also has merits."

"The Crown Prince must not be killed."

The ministers began to speak one after another, including Li Yuanchang.

This was almost entirely in line with Li Shimin's stance; it wasn't so much a plea as giving Li Shimin a way out.

After all, the laws of the land were in place, and Li Shimin couldn't simply offer to forgive them directly, otherwise everyone would follow suit.

Li Shimin looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, as if he was forcing himself to stay awake.

"The Crown Prince is immoral, and I am guilty!" he said with great sorrow, without directly stating whether to kill or not.

"Your Majesty, please take care of your health," all the ministers advised.

Li Shimin slowly regained his senses: "Go, bring Hou Junji and the others to me. I want to ask them in person why they rebelled."

Clearly, he was deeply troubled by this matter and was heartbroken.

"yes!"

About half an hour later, Hou Junji and his entourage were brought to the Hall of Supreme Harmony one after another.

They didn't receive the same treatment as the Crown Prince; almost everyone was practically carried along.

Among this group, Hou Junji was undoubtedly the most influential. In terms of status, strength, and the importance Li Shimin attached to him, Du He and his group combined were no match for Hou Junji.

When he was brought here and knelt down with a thud, his weathered and resolute face was expressionless.

"Hou Junji, do you have anything to say?" Li Shimin asked in a deep voice.

Hou Junji's voice was hoarse, but he didn't cry or make a fuss. He directly admitted, "Your Majesty, I have nothing to say."

"I did participate in the treason case."

"Why have you rebelled against me?" Li Shimin's voice trembled as he spoke, unable to believe that the person he trusted and placed so much hope in had turned against him.

But in reality, this kind of question is meaningless.

If Li Chengqian's rebellion was forced due to the imbalance between father and son, lack of love, and high pressure, then the others were purely motivated by self-interest.

Faced with Li Shimin's questioning, Hou Junji lowered his head and remained silent.

There was almost no regret on his face, only a calm acceptance of the consequences of his gamble.

This disappointed all the ministers present.

"Hou Junji, why did you remain silent when His Majesty asked you a question?" Wei Zheng couldn't help but step forward and reprimand him.

Hou Junji looked up and sneered at Wei Zheng: "Lord Wei, what do you want me to say? That I harbor resentment since Gaochang, or that I intend to fight to the death after the Zhang Liang incident?"

"You!" Wei Zheng was so choked that his face turned completely red.

Hou Junji despised Wei Zheng and his ilk from the bottom of his heart, thinking they were just a bunch of smooth talkers.

He raised his head: "As for the matter of treason, I, Hou Junji, have nothing to say."

"If you really want to ask why I rebelled, why I betrayed His Majesty's trust, I, Hou Junji, also have something to say."

As he spoke, he suddenly exerted force.

Sizzle!!

His entire shirt was torn in two, revealing his still-strong upper body, with angular muscles covered in scars from various knives, spears, axes, and arrows.

The deepest ones were even dented inwards, making them a shocking sight.

His eyes gleamed defiantly: "That's exactly what I wanted to say!"

"I too have rendered great service to the Tang Dynasty, and I too have sworn to serve it to the death!"

"But you are plotting a rebellion!" Wei Zheng rebuked angrily.

"When the Xuanwu Gate Incident was a life-or-death struggle, you, Wei Zheng, weren't even around yet. Who do you think you are, to dare criticize me?"

Hou Junji looked at Wei Zheng with an extremely arrogant and unruly gaze, showing that he didn't take Wei Zheng, the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, seriously at all.

"How dare you!" Wei Zheng glared angrily.

Li Yuanchang sighed.

Fang Xuanling and others were all deeply saddened, feeling sorry for Hou Junji and helpless.

Despite years of criticism and neglect, he still couldn't learn to temper his brilliance.