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

"Your Majesty, this is a memorial submitted by Wei Rugong, the newly appointed governor of Qizhou. He claims that after taking office, he accidentally discovered a blood oath in the Qizhou government office."

"And those who swore a blood oath were none other than the deceased King of Qi and the current King of Wu!"

boom!

These words caused an uproar in the imperial court.

Countless eyes looked up in shock, their expressions incredulous and tense.

The King of Qi is gone, the Crown Prince has been deposed, and now there's going to be a third rebellion?

It was clearly visible to the naked eye that Li Shimin, who had just recovered some of his strength while sitting on the dragon throne, suddenly turned ashen-faced.

Li Yuanchang frowned.

My first reaction was, "Impossible!"

He personally suppressed the Qi King's rebellion. If there were any problems, he would have found out long ago. Why would he wait for the new governor of Qi to discover it by chance?

And most importantly, Li Yuanchang knows the script!

Li You and Li Ke were completely unrelated and had no connection whatsoever in history.

Li Shimin picked up the memorial and read it over and over again, especially the one about the blood oath. The more he read it, the angrier he became, and his veins stood out.

This was not in Li Shimin's character; it was purely a chain reaction caused by the successive rebellions of his sons.

Three sons rebelled in a row; this was going to be a huge slap in the face for Li Shimin!

boom! !

With a loud bang, Li Shimin slammed the memorial onto the desk.

The assembled officials trembled and bowed deeply.

"King of Han, what exactly is going on?" Li Shimin's voice was extremely displeased.

Li Yuanchang, as the main person in charge of the Qi Wang case, was immediately implicated.

He could only walk out quickly, cup his hands and say, "Your Majesty, I was unaware of this matter."

"When I was dealing with the rebellion in Qizhou, I had never heard of the name of the King of Wu."

"But since this involves a prince, I believe it is necessary to investigate thoroughly to find out where the blood oath came from and whether it is genuine."

Her calm and reasonable words made Li Shimin's angry expression slightly restrained.

"Your Highness, you are mistaken!"

"This matter should be taken seriously immediately; it concerns rebellion, how can we be careless?"

"That's right, does it mean we have to actually raise an army for it to be considered confirmed?"

"The blood oath is here, that's irrefutable proof. What else needs to be verified?"

"..."

In an instant, a large number of officials jumped out, as if they had planned it all along; each of them could drown a person with a single spit.

Li Yuanchang began to realize that something was wrong!

Putting aside Li Ke's matter, if this matter is confirmed, he will also be in trouble. At worst, he will be accused of failing in his duties and possibly being labeled as a cover-up.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!"

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince's affairs have been repeatedly disrupted, and the court can no longer withstand further turmoil."

"This matter can be investigated, but the authenticity of the blood oath agreement is difficult to verify, and we absolutely cannot rely on just one side's account!"

"Your Highness, whose side of the story are you referring to? Are you referring to us, or the Prefect of Qizhou?"

"With such irrefutable evidence, why still investigate? If something goes wrong, Your Highness, will you take responsibility?"

Key officials from the Censorate and other departments spoke up in unison, appearing upright and incorruptible, but in reality, their criticisms were extremely sharp.

The faces of Cheng Yaojin and the others in the imperial court were all solemn.

They couldn't tell whether it was true or false.

But those who had been in power for many years knew that when the civil service group spoke in unison, it basically meant that someone was about to be sent away.

This is clearly a tactic used against them.

"His Majesty!"

"In my opinion, we should not draw any conclusions before the matter has been thoroughly investigated."

"That's right, this matter is of utmost importance and should be thoroughly investigated before any further discussion. A blood oath cannot be considered conclusive evidence."

"The Prince of Han was in charge of suppressing the rebellion, but the trial was conducted by the Court of Judicial Review. It's unreasonable to question the Prince of Han about this matter!"

Fang Xuanling, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, and many other ministers who were on good terms with Li Yuanchang came out to support him.

Although what he said was neutral, in the current situation, it was actually helping Li Yuanchang.

In an instant, the entire Liangyi Hall was filled with a great deal of noise.

The blood oath of alliance almost instantly ignited the entire imperial court.

"Enough!" Li Shimin said in a low voice.

The entire room fell silent.

Li Shimin's eyes were cold and indifferent.

"What kind of decorum is this, making such a racket in front of the Liangyi Hall?"

"Summon the King of Wu!"

"yes!"

Watching the Imperial Guards depart, Li Yuanchang's expression turned grim, and he felt a pang of worry for Li Ke.

The situation in ancient times was different from that in later times. In later times, the principle was "no evidence, no crime," meaning that without irrefutable evidence, one was considered innocent.

However, in ancient times, the situation was reversed for a prince. If Li Ke could not prove his innocence, it would be equivalent to being guilty, and at the very least, he would be suspected and demoted.

Moreover, Li Yuanchang himself could not escape unscathed from this matter.

His gaze swept over the large group of civil officials and ministers who were coming on strong and launching an attack right away. This was not normal!

Finally, his gaze fell on Changsun Wuji, the head of all officials who had remained silent. Changsun Wuji kept his eyes down and remained silent, never making any statement.

After a short while, Li Ke, who was studying at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, was brought in.

He entered the main hall and saw countless eyes fixed on him, all looking bewildered.

"Your subject greets Your Majesty."

Snapped! !

Li Shimin threw out the blood oath as a pledge, which slid all the way to Li Ke's feet, and directly questioned, "How do you explain this?"

Li Ke picked it up, and upon seeing its contents, his handsome and decisive face instantly changed in shock.

"this!"

"Your Majesty, this is a frame-up!!" he shouted vehemently, reacting with lightning speed.

"Father, I have never colluded with Prince Qi, never!"

"At that time, I was far away, a hundred and eight thousand miles away from Qizhou. Even if I had disloyal intentions, how could I have voluntarily left behind such evidence to create future trouble for myself!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang breathed a sigh of relief. Li Ke wasn't stupid; every word he said made sense, showing composure and a clear mind even in a crisis.

"Your Majesty, do not believe so easily. A blood oath might just be a pledge of allegiance!"

"That's right, actions speak louder than words!"

Too many officials have stepped forward and directly launched an attack.

Generally speaking, this means torn off all pretense of civility and that Li Ke must be thoroughly punished.

But no one dared to help Li Ke, because the blood oath was a covenant, which was tantamount to rebellion, and who would dare to guarantee it?

Even those close to Li Ke, such as Xiao Yu, hesitated and dared not speak, because with the Prince of Qi and the Crown Prince having rebelled before, no one dared to make any promises!

Cheng Yaojin kept giving Li Yuanchang meaningful glances, signaling him not to get involved and to simply pass the buck to the Dali Temple if anything happened.

In any case, Li Yuanchang was only in charge of military suppression of the rebellion. The subsequent matters were investigated by the Dali Temple, and the main responsibility for not finding anything was also the Dali Temple's responsibility.

But Li Yuanchang pretended not to see it and still came out!

Li Ke had taken a knife for him back then, and now that he was being punished, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Moreover, this matter has a significant impact. Even if he shirks the main responsibility, he will still be affected. These officials are usually very polite to him, but today they suddenly dare to turn their backs on him. This is impossible without the support of a powerful figure behind him!