My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

"Guanyinbi, listen to my explanation! This is all nonsense from that rebellious son!"

Li Shimin quickly straightened his disheveled clothes and walked forward with a wronged expression.

"What happened in the East Market today was a misunderstanding! That ugly woman stepped on the ice herself and threw herself at me. I instinctively reached out to block it in self-defense..."

Stop making up those useless excuses!

Li Chen peeked out from behind the Empress at the opportune moment, ruthlessly interrupting Li Shimin's sophistry.

He pointed at Li Shimin's nose, his tone aggressive, like a cold-faced judge interrogating a prisoner.

"Old Deng! I saw everything. I'll only ask you one question! Tell me, did your hands touch any respectable woman's breasts in the street today? Do you dare to answer directly?!"

Li Shimin was speechless at this soul-searching question.

He opened his mouth, his face turning bright red.

Normally, he could have easily denied it. But there were so many eyes watching on the street, and he had actually pressed it against his skin; the feeling still disgusts him to this day.

"I...I did encounter it...but!"

Li Shimin gritted his teeth and uttered the word "yes" with difficulty, just about to explain that it was due to force majeure.

However, for an angry woman, the word "yes" is enough!

"That's enough!"

Empress Zhangsun interrupted him sternly again, her chest heaving with anger.

"Your Majesty! I truly never imagined you would do something so absurd!"

Empress Zhangsun pointed at Li Shimin, her tone filled with heartache and disappointment.

"You are the Heavenly Khan, the role model for all people! No matter how unrestrained you may be in ordinary times, you should not commit such a despicable act that is immoral and insults a woman's chastity in public!"

"What will the court officials think of you? What will the people of the land say about the imperial family?! Are you trying to completely disgrace the Tang Dynasty?!"

Faced with the Empress's stern lecture, which was full of classical allusions and as fierce as a storm,

Li Shimin was speechless with anger, stamping his feet in frustration, yet unable to utter a single word. He couldn't very well say that he had pushed the ugly woman because she was too strong, mistaking her for an assassin, could he?

"You unfilial son...it's all your fault, you unfilial son!"

Li Shimin could only stare intently at Li Chen, who was stirring up trouble from behind, with eyes that seemed to be spitting fire, wishing he could tear him to pieces with his gaze.

Li Chen stood there calmly, even secretly giving Li Shimin the middle finger.

Just when Li Shimin was being scolded by the empress to the point of collapse, feeling that he was more wronged than Dou E.

"Father! Mother!"

A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who had been delayed by the guards outside the palace gates, finally arrived at the Lizheng Hall.

When Li Shimin saw his eldest son arrive, it was as if he had seen a living bodhisattva who had saved him from suffering!

He grabbed Li Chengqian's arm as if it were his last lifeline.

"Chengqian! You've come at the right time! Quickly explain to your mother what exactly happened in the East Market today! Am I innocent or not!"

Looking at the desperate expression on his father's face, which was on the verge of tears, and then at his mother's icy expression, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Li Chengqian sighed helplessly.

He steeled himself and stepped forward, bowing deeply to Empress Zhangsun.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Today's events were indeed a misunderstanding."

Li Chengqian smiled wryly and recounted the entire process in detail, without missing a single detail, how the ugly woman slipped on the dark ice, how muscular she was, and how his father instinctively reached out to stop her from being pinned down.

After listening to the prince's story.

Empress Zhangsun's anger gradually froze, then transformed into a very strange expression.

She glanced at the emperor, who looked aggrieved and like a punching bag, and then at the sixteenth prince, who was still standing to the side with a wicked smile.

Empress Zhangsun then realized that she, the mother of the nation, had been completely fooled by the father and son's childish farce!

"You...you're all being ridiculous!"

Empress Zhangsun was both annoyed and amused, but in the end, she was really driven crazy by this pair of lovable father and son.

She rubbed her throbbing temples and waved her hand helplessly.

"Enough! I'm too lazy to listen to your trivial and absurd matters! Your Majesty, Chen'er, both of you, get out of here! Go to the side hall and reflect on your actions!"

Having been ordered to leave by the Empress, Li Shimin and Li Chen had no choice but to obediently withdraw from the main hall of Lizheng Hall.

The gate was closed.

Standing in the corridor, Li Shimin looked at the culprit beside him, and his anger rose uncontrollably once again.

"You unfilial son! You have utterly disgraced me today, and I will never forgive you!"

"Give me your life!"

Enraged, Li Shimin drew a decorative sword hanging on the corridor wall and made a move to slash at Li Chen.

"Even if a god came today, he couldn't keep you here! I say it!"

Li Chen was not afraid at all; instead, he let out an extremely arrogant and unrestrained laugh.

He darted behind a pillar, adding fuel to the fire: "Old Deng, go ahead and chop! If you can't chop me today, you're my grandson!"

The unrestrained laughter traveled through the door and into the hall.

"Bang!"

The main hall's doors were suddenly pulled open.

Empress Zhangsun stared coldly at Li Shimin, who was holding a sword, with a sullen face.

"Your Majesty! How long are you going to keep this up? Come in!"

When the Empress's imposing gaze swept over him, Li Shimin's raised sword froze in mid-air.

Like a defeated rooster, he could only glare fiercely at Li Chen before hanging his head and obediently following the Empress into the inner chamber to receive another round of "calm sermons".

Looking at the tightly closed palace doors, and listening to the faint sound of the Empress's stern reprimands coming from inside.

Standing in the corridor, Li Chen laughed so hard he almost cried.

"Trying to mess with me? Old Deng, you're still too green!"