My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

"stop!"

A sharp woman's voice came from outside the hall.

Madam Cheng, Cui, with her hair disheveled, rushed into the main hall, lifting her skirt. Her eyes immediately welled with tears when she saw her three sons lying on the floor, covered in blood.

She rushed over without hesitation and lay on top of Cheng Chuliang.

The leather whip stopped in mid-air, only an inch from Cui's back.

Cheng Yaojin was panting heavily. Sweat dripped down his chin.

"Cheng, you old hag! What's gotten into you?!" Madam Cui, protecting her son, turned and yelled, "You can kill them, but kill me first!"

Cheng Yaojin looked at his wife, and then at his three sons wailing on the ground.

The madness in his eyes slowly faded, leaving only a bone-deep exhaustion.

He loosened his grip. The leather whip fell to the ground.

He turned around and slowly walked to the threshold. He plopped down on the floor.

His tall frame was hunched over. His broad shoulders trembled.

He covered his face with his rough hands.

"It's over." The voice was muffled, trembling with sobs. "Our Cheng family is ruined."

The main hall fell silent. Only the sons' gasps of surprise rang out.

Mrs. Cui sensed something was wrong. Her husband had crawled out of a pile of corpses; he wasn't someone who would suddenly go mad.

She stood up and walked to the doorstep. "What happened?"

Cheng Yaojin rubbed his face vigorously. He raised his head, his eyes glistening with tears.

"I just returned from the Prince of Qin's residence. Your Highness opened the History Book of Time."

The moment the words "history of time" were uttered, the main hall fell silent.

Cheng Yaojin stretched out his trembling hand and pointed at Cheng Chuliang on the ground.

"Second son. You will have a son in the future. His name will be Cheng Qianli."

Cheng Chuliang swallowed hard: "And then?"

"He who commands a large army and betrays his country to the enemy is, according to Tang law, beheaded and his entire family executed."

Cheng Chuliang's jaw dropped. His face turned deathly pale. "Treason...treason?"

Cheng Yaojin then pointed at Cheng Chubi.

"Third son. Your grandson is insatiably greedy."

He looked up at the roof beam. "And then there's his great-grandson. He monopolized the canal transport, lent money at exorbitant interest rates, and hoarded grain to drive up prices. No one in the court dared to do anything about it. He was practically throwing the Cheng family's face into a cesspool and trampling on it!"

The hall was dead silent.

Cui swayed, but managed to grab the door frame to avoid falling.

Cheng Chuliang looked down at his hands. Suddenly, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face twice.

"I'm not having any more babies! I'm not having any more! I'm going to have a vasectomy tomorrow!"

Cheng Chumo kicked him, yelling, "Go to hell!"

Cheng Yaojin stood up. His back view made him appear old.

"Go and get some brambles."

The butler asked, trembling, "Master?"

"Go to the backyard and break off the thickest bramble branches, then bundle them together." Cheng Yaojin took off his outer robe, revealing his bare arms covered in knife scars. A cold wind blew, raising goosebumps.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll carry it to Taiji Palace."

He looked in the direction of the palace.

"This can't be kept secret. I have to go to His Majesty to beg for forgiveness. Whether you kill me or torture me, I accept it. I can't wait until decades later, for the whole world to point fingers at me and curse me!"

The next morning. The sky was overcast.

The news that Duke Lu entered the palace shirtless and carrying thorny branches spread like wildfire throughout Chang'an.

The Duke of Liang's Mansion.

Fang Xuanling sat at his desk. The steward rushed in and whispered a few words in his ear.

Fang Xuanling stopped writing with his brush. A drop of thick ink fell onto the rice paper, spreading out.

Old Cheng's grandson betrayed the country?

and many more.

Now that the King of Qin has established a historical record, does it record any other families?

Fang Xuanling suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

... ...

At dawn, in a side pavilion of the Taiji Hall, the underground heating was blazing, and the heat wafted through the windowpanes.

Li Shimin, dressed in casual clothes, sat behind his desk reviewing memorials. Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji stood on either side, quietly checking the Ministry of Revenue's accounts.

A commotion broke out outside.

"We can't stop you! We really can't stop you! Duke Lu, you can't just go in like this!" the eunuch shouted in a shrill voice.

The door was kicked open. A cold draft rushed into the warm room, and the candlelight flickered violently.

Cheng Yaojin strode in, shirtless. A large bundle of thorny brambles was tightly bound to his rough back with hemp rope. The barbs pierced his flesh, and drops of blood rolled down his muscles, dripping onto the floor tiles.

He walked five steps to the imperial desk.

His knees buckled, and he slammed heavily to the ground with a dull thud.

Li Shimin stopped writing with his vermilion brush. A drop of red ink fell onto the rice paper and spread.

"What's wrong with you?" Li Shimin frowned and put down his pen.

Cheng Yaojin's forehead was pressed against the floor tiles. "Your Majesty, this old minister has come to accept his death sentence."

Changsun Wuji's eyelids twitched. Fang Xuanling stopped flipping through the account books.

"Have you sent your troops to rob the cattle of Goguryeo merchants again?" Li Shimin asked.

"no."

"Whose front door was chopped down?"

"No, that's not it." Cheng Yaojin raised his head, his eyes red and swollen. "My grandson led his troops in rebellion. He even defected to the enemy."

The warm room was deathly silent.

Li Shimin stared at him for a full three breaths.

"Old Cheng," Li Shimin's voice turned cold, "have you lost your mind from drinking? Your second son, Cheng Chuliang, just got married last month. What kind of grandson are you talking about leading troops in rebellion?"

Cheng Yaojin swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Your Majesty, yesterday I went to the Prince of Qin's residence. I requested that Your Highness open the 'History of Time'."

Upon hearing these four words, Li Shimin's expression changed.

Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling exchanged a glance. Their breathing simultaneously softened.

Cheng Yaojin's voice was hoarse, and he spoke each word slowly and deliberately.

"It is written clearly in the Heavenly Book. My grandson, Cheng Qianli, who held great military power, rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and was executed in the marketplace."

"My great-grandson has seized control of the grain transport, engaged in usury, and oppressed the local people. None of the officials in the court dare to do anything about it."

His forehead hit the ground again.

"This old man is finished today. I beg Your Majesty to arrest my entire family and imprison them in the Imperial Prison right now, and execute them all. So that those little beasts may not tarnish the Tang Dynasty's land and my title of Duke of Lu!"

Li Shimin remained silent.

He leaned back in his chair, looking at the few drops of blood that hadn't dried on the floor.

After a long pause, Li Shimin sighed.

Get up.

Cheng Yaojin lay there without moving.

"I told you to get up!" Li Shimin raised his voice.

Cheng Yaojin shrugged and slowly got up, the thorns rubbing against his back, making him gasp in pain.

Li Shimin picked up the hot tea beside him and took a sip. "That's a hundred years from now. By then, your bones will have turned to ashes. How will I settle accounts with you then?"

"But Your Majesty..."

"The Heavenly Book reveals cause and effect, not destiny. Now that you know, go back and discipline your son and grandson to the bitter end. The laws of the Tang Dynasty—how can they justify killing a founding hero on trumped-up charges a hundred years later?"

Li Shimin waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly. "Get out of here now. Put your clothes on. I'd be ashamed to see you like this."

Cheng Yaojin froze. Tears streamed down his face.

He kowtowed three times. "Your subject... thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!"

He got up, without even untying the thorns, turned and strode out. His back wasn't as hunched as before.

The door to the warm room was closed again.