My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

"King Li Chen of Qin, receive the decree."

Li Chen quickly put away his pitiful look and stood properly with his hands clasped in front of him.

"As a prince of the Tang Dynasty, a person of noble birth, you have acted improperly, going out without guards and wandering alone in the dark alleys of the city, almost causing a great disaster and damaging the dignity of the royal family."

Li Shimin snorted coldly, raised the board high, and gently brought it down.

"He is to be fined six months' salary and confined to the Prince of Qin's residence for three days to reflect on his actions. Without my decree, he is not to go anywhere. Court adjourned!"

Li Shimin flicked the wide sleeves of his black dragon robe, stood up from the dragon throne, and walked into the inner hall without looking back.

"Your subject accepts the decree and expresses his gratitude," Li Chen said, drawing out the words, a lazy smile returning to his lips.

The court session ended, and the civil and military officials left one after another.

Li Chen stepped out of the main hall with his hands behind his back. The rising sun was a bit dazzling, and he squinted as he felt the cool breeze on his face.

Qin Huaidao quickly caught up, moved closer to him, and grinned broadly.

"Your Highness, what do you think of the excuse I came up with for the trampling? Is it convincing enough?"

Li Chen glanced at him sideways, then patted the cold iron armor on his shoulder with a smile: "Not bad, you've improved. You'll have a bright future working with me."

The two chatted and laughed as they walked down the white marble steps toward the palace gate.

Meanwhile, inside the Ganlu Hall behind the Taiji Palace, a completely different scene unfolded.

Li Shimin did not review the memorials as usual; he stood silently before his desk.

The old eunuch, Wang Gonggong, was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe and kept his head bowed deeply.

Li Shimin braced his hands on the table, his chest heaving violently.

Others may not know, but he knows his sixteenth son all too well.

Chen'er is usually extremely lazy. He would rather lie down than sit, and he would rather talk than fight. When faced with provocations from powerful families, he is too lazy to fight them personally. He usually uses schemes to trick them.

But yesterday in the dark alleys of the West Market, it was pure physical torture, aimed at torturing people to death.

From the wounds of the two seriously injured Japanese soldiers, Li Shimin sensed a chilling, undisguised, and terrifying killing intent. This was definitely not a street brawl; it was clearly a blood feud.

But Chen'er grew up in the deep palace and rarely left Chang'an. How could he have formed a deadly feud with the Japanese barbarians who lived far overseas?

"go."

Li Shimin suddenly sat up straight, his eyes as cold as knives, and gave an order to Eunuch Wang.

"Change into civilian clothes. Send someone to summon Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Cheng Yaojin to me, and have them also change into civilian clothes and wait for me outside Xuanwu Gate."

Eunuch Wang was taken aback and asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, are you leaving the palace?"

"Go to the Prince of Qin's residence."

Li Shimin gritted his teeth and strode into the inner room to change his clothes.

"Once no one else is around, I'm going to pry open this brat's mouth and find out exactly why he treated those foreign envoys so harshly!"

……

Several hours later.

The backyard of the Prince of Qin's mansion.

The early spring sun was warm, and the wind blew across the courtyard wall, carrying a few newly sprouted willow leaves.

There were quite a few people in the courtyard.

Empress Zhangsun sat at a stone table, holding a small silver knife in her hand, carefully peeling a pear.

Princess Chang Le sat next to her, her head down, twisting a silk handkerchief that was not yet finished being embroidered in her hands, chatting idly with her mother about palace gossip.

On the open ground to the east, Crown Prince Li Chengqian, shirtless, was holding two heavy stone weights in his hands, moving them up and down.

Qin Qiong stood to the side, occasionally offering a few pointers on how to exert force.

Qin Huaidao had just finished practicing and was leaning against a pillar, gulping down large mouthfuls of cold water.

Further along the wall, Li Tai squatted on the ground, his purple robe stained with black ash. He held a file in his hand and was hammering away at an iron gear.

Qin Wan'er stood guard in front of a bronze alchemy furnace that was about half a person's height, holding a palm-leaf fan in her hand, carefully controlling the heat.

The quietest room was the east wing of the main house.

The door was tightly closed.

Little Sizi was up too late last night and is still fast asleep inside.

Li Chen lay on a rocking chair covered with a white tiger skin.

With eyes closed.

A thin blanket was covering him.

He was holding two walnuts in his hand.

Click. Click.

The sound of walnuts clattering together became the most peaceful backdrop in this courtyard.

"Bang."

The wooden gate to the backyard was pushed open without knocking; it was pushed rather hastily.

The door hinges emitted a harsh, screeching sound.

Everyone in the courtyard stopped what they were doing at the same time.

I turned my head to look.

Li Shimin walked at the very front.

He wasn't wearing a dragon robe; instead, he wore an inconspicuous blue silk shirt. His face was ashen, and a fire burned in his eyes.

Behind him followed Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Cheng Yaojin, all dressed in casual clothes.

No one spoke; the atmosphere was as heavy as lead.

Empress Zhangsun put down the silver knife in her hand.

Stand up.

"Erlang." She went to greet him, glancing at her husband's face. "What happened? Why are you so angry?"

Li Shimin did not respond to his wife's words.

He walked straight across the yard and stopped in front of the rocking chair.

Li Chengqian threw down the stone lock, wiped his sweat, and respectfully called out "Father Emperor." Li Tai also dropped his file and ran over, while Qin Qiong and the others bowed respectfully.

Li Shimin waved his hand.

He exempted everyone from formalities.

His gaze was fixed on Li Chen, who was sitting in the rocking chair.

Li Chen didn't move, his eyes were still closed, and the walnut in his hand was still spinning.

Click.

"Stop turning," Li Shimin said, his voice deep.

Li Chen stopped what he was doing and opened his eyes.

He glanced at Li Shimin, then at the three dukes standing behind him.

"Bringing so many people here to interrogate me?" Li Chen yawned, threw off the thin blanket, and sat up straight.

Li Shimin pulled over a bamboo chair.

He sat down opposite Li Chen.

Changsun Wuji and the other two did not sit, but stood behind Li Shimin.

"The drama in the court is over." Li Shimin stared into his son's eyes. "Everyone has been sent away. Now there are no outsiders here, only family."

Li Shimin leaned forward, crossed his hands, and placed them on his knees.

"Tell me the truth."

Li Shimin's tone lacked the majesty of an emperor, revealing only bewilderment and a deeply hidden sense of dread.

"What grudge do you have against those Japanese people?"

The courtyard fell silent.

Princess Chang Le looked at her mother with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Empress Zhangsun gently patted her daughter's hand, signaling her to be quiet.

Li Chen picked up the teacup on the table, but the tea had gone cold, so he didn't drink it and put it down again.

"We have no grudge," Li Chen said.

"Bullshit!" Li Shimin suddenly raised his voice.

He pointed in the direction of the palace, his eyes twitching.

"No grudge? If there's no grudge, why did you kill me?!"

"The coroner from the Dali Temple examined him and found that all his ribs were broken, his hand bones were shattered, his kneecaps were smashed to pieces, and not a single tooth was left!"

Li Shimin's chest heaved, and his breathing became labored.

"This is called a street fight? This is called accidental injury?!"

"Chen'er, I crawled out of piles of corpses. I know better than you what killing is like."

Li Shimin stared intently at Li Chen's face.

"That's a fighting style aimed at torturing people to death, a method that's relentless and deadly."

"You grew up in the deep palace and have rarely even left Chang'an. Tell me, why would you be so ruthless towards a few barbarian tribes separated by thousands of miles?"

"The murderous aura emanating from you is so intense that even I feel my heart tremble!"

Cheng Yaojin, standing at the back, scratched his head.

"Your Highness," Cheng Yaojin interjected in a gruff voice, "Old Cheng is also a rough man, but those two Japanese were truly pitiful, looking like they had been chewed up and spat out by a bear. What kind of deep hatred could they have?"

Fang Xuanling remained silent, but the doubt in his eyes was equally profound.

As the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, he couldn't understand why a prince would fight to the death with the Japanese envoys to Tang China when they had no conflict of interest.

Everyone was watching Li Chen.

Waiting for an answer.