My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

"Oh my god! Is this a staged accident?!"

Li Chen's strange cry sounded particularly abrupt in the noisy West Market street.

He crossed his arms over his chest, his toes tapping lightly on the bluestone slabs. His wide, greyish-white robe billowed in the wind, and he looked like a withered leaf swept up by a gale, retreating more than ten feet away with remarkable agility.

The new guards of the Wang family of Taiyuan had just drawn their short swords from their waists when they were all frozen in place by the old man's exaggerated movements.

The lead guard glanced at his young master, who was lying on the ground foaming at the mouth, and then at the white-haired old man standing in the distance with an "innocent" look on his face.

He suddenly remembered last night when the patriarch summoned all the guards to the courtyard and gave them a death order, his face pale.

"If you encounter an old man with a full head of white hair and wearing a gray, coarse cloth robe... you all must kneel down and kowtow! Anyone who dares to provoke him, I will personally skin him alive!"

The lead guard felt a chill run down his spine, and the short knife in his hand instantly became hotter than a branding iron.

Clang.

He threw the knife on the ground, turned around, picked up the young master Wang who had fallen on the bluestone slab, and roared wildly at his men as if a demon was coming to claim his life.

"Run! Carry the young master over and run!"

Several guards scrambled through the crowd and disappeared around the street corner in the blink of an eye.

Li Chen stood still and patted his sleeves.

"Tch, boring."

He reached into his sleeve and touched the still-hot oil paper package, then turned and squeezed into a narrow dead-end alley.

The alley was dark and damp, with a sour, rotten smell of swill.

Li Chen confirmed that no one was around. He wiped his face with his right hand, and the thin, gossamer-like transformation mask was instantly ripped off and stuffed into his storage bag. His bones emitted a series of fine crackling sounds, and his tall body rapidly shrank, instantly transforming back into the handsome fifteen-year-old prince.

He glanced left and right, then moved with lightning speed, scaling several low walls along the alley and stealthily making his way back to the side hall in the northwest corner of the palace.

I just pushed open that rickety wooden door.

A tiny, delicate-looking girl rushed up and clung tightly to his leg.

"Sixteenth Brother!"

Today, Xiao Sizi changed into a clean, light yellow ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), her hair was neatly styled in two buns, the bloodshot eyes had completely disappeared, and her chubby little face was full of excitement.

"Why are you running so fast today? You're not out of breath anymore?" Li Chen bent down, picked her up, and pinched her nose.

"The prince is no longer in pain! The queen mother is no longer in pain!"

The little girl wrapped her arms around Li Chen's neck, her voice as clear and crisp as peeling a ripe water chestnut.

"Sixteenth Brother, Mother was able to sit up and drink porridge today! Father said that an old man with white hair, a deity, came down from heaven to save Mother! That old man was amazing; he just pointed his finger and Mother stopped coughing!"

Li Chen carried her to the stone table in the courtyard and sat down, trying hard to suppress his laughter.

"Really? What does the old man look like?"

"Father said he looks very fierce and doesn't let people talk." Little Si frowned, seriously recalling what the adults had said. "But Si thinks that Grandpa must be a good person."

Li Chen took the oil paper package out of his sleeve and peeled it open layer by layer.

The rich aroma of mutton mixed with sesame and pepper instantly filled the courtyard.

Little Sizi's eyes lit up instantly as he stared at the still-steaming flatbread and swallowed hard.

"Eat up, it's fresh out of the oven." Li Chen tore off a small piece, blew on it to cool it down, and put it into her mouth.

The little girl's mouth was covered in oil as she ate, and her two short legs swung happily in mid-air.

Li Chen leaned against the stone bench with a missing corner, looking at the fiery clouds on the horizon.

For the next two weeks, Li Chen would transform into an old man with white hair and go to the Lizheng Hall to perform magic every day at midnight.

As the Wood-elemental True Essence washed over her day after day, Empress Changsun's depleted essence was forcibly infused with vitality. Her withered meridians regained their resilience, and her shattered soul gradually stabilized under the nourishment of the True Essence.

On the fifteenth day, Empress Zhangsun was able to get out of bed and, with the help of palace maids, walked outside the palace gate to see the sunlight.

Day 28.

On the hard bed in the side hall, Li Chen suddenly opened his eyes.

A deep, intense dark golden light flashed in the depths of his pupils.

Just now, he completed the final adjustment of Empress Zhangsun's vital energy. He forcefully crossed three years off Empress Zhangsun's life from the Book of Life and Death.

The dynasty's fortune, like the Yellow River bursting its banks, surged wildly into his soul space.

What was originally a shallow pool of liquid true essence in the dantian has now completely transformed into a viscous lake. The true essence surges through the meridians, emitting a muffled sound like a river rising with the tide.

Peak of late Foundation Establishment stage.

Along with it, the mysterious compass at the center of the soul space also spun several times faster. The space, which could originally only spit out low-grade flying swords and low-level herbs, now quietly contained a dozen thick stacks of talismans that shimmered with a faint light.

Li Chen clenched his fist.

The air was crushed in his palm, producing a piercing sonic boom.

"At least the battery life is passable." He smirked.

……

The seventh day of the sixth lunar month, at the hour of Wei (1-3 PM).

Taiji Palace, Liangyi Hall.

This place, which should have been where Li Shimin handled daily government affairs, was now filled with a suffocatingly low atmosphere.

Li Chen, disguised as an old man with white hair, appeared out of thin air in a corner of the main hall. He was there for his final check-up.

Before Li Shimin could even open his mouth to greet the guests...

"Bang!"

The heavy wooden doors of the Liangyi Hall were suddenly smashed open from the outside.

A courier, covered in mud and with tattered leather armor, stumbled into the main hall. A tattered red flag was stuck on his back, its pole stained dark red with blood.

A strong, fishy smell of river water and blood instantly dissipated the ambergris incense in the main hall.

"Report—!!!"

The courier's voice was completely hoarse, and the sound he uttered was like sandpaper being rubbed together. He knelt heavily on the bluestone slab, holding in his hands a roll of leather document tightly wrapped in waterproof tarpaulin.

"Urgent dispatch! The Yellow River...the dikes in the Bozhou and Dizhou sections have completely collapsed!"

Li Shimin suddenly stood up from the dragon throne, and the cinnabar pen on the table in front of him rolled to the ground, splashing out a blinding red stain.

The prime ministers and ministers of the six ministries on both sides of the main hall all held their breath at that moment.

"The Yi River overflowed! The southeastern part of Luoyang was destroyed, and the plains were flooded with six feet of water! The central plains prefectures and counties, including Xu, Yu, Chen, Ru, Tang, and Deng, were all turned into a vast swamp!"

The courier kowtowed to the ground, his tears mingling with the mud and splashing onto the floor tiles.

"Millions of hectares of farmland were flooded, countless homes were submerged... and countless people drowned! The disaster is still spreading southward!"

"