My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

Li Shimin swallowed the taste of blood in his mouth.

He didn't turn around to look at his son in the rocking chair.

"Prepare the carriage and return to the palace."

Li Shimin's voice was muffled in his throat, like a rough whetstone scraping against something.

There were no ceremonial guards, nor any eunuchs announcing their greetings.

Several of the most powerful men in the Tang Dynasty walked silently, like ghosts, in a line towards the courtyard gate.

Empress Zhangsun pulled Chang Le along, walking very quickly.

The embroidered shoes made no sound at all when they stepped on the bluestone slabs.

The courtyard gate creaked shut, taking away the terrifying sense of oppression with it.

Li Chen stood beside the shattered bluestone table.

He looked down at the waterline of the warship, which was half-drawn with a twig at his feet.

"I should have known better than to show them so much." Li Chen patted the orange peel crumbs off his hands and turned to walk into the house.

"Old Deng's mentality is not good. Sigh! Wasn't I the same way in my past life? But things are different now."

Qin Wan'er tiptoed over and swept the broken teapot pieces off the ground with a broom.

"Your Highness, are we really going to war?" Qin Wan'er asked in a low voice, her eyes still a little red.

The images in the celestial book terrified her.

"It's not called fighting a war, it's called exorcising demons." Li Chen didn't even look up, his charcoal pencil scribbling lines on the parchment.

"Bring more people," Qin Wan'er bit her lip, "I'll make a few more batches of wound medicine for you to have on hand."

Li Chen paused, his pen poised.

He looked up at Qin Wan'er, smiled, and thought, "Do I, a Golden Core cultivator, need to bring so many people? If word gets out, will I still be able to live with myself?"

"No need for wound medicine," Li Chen said, pointing to the large ship skeleton on the paper. "Just bring some kerosene; we can fence those bastards in and burn them later."

Qin Wan'er didn't reply; she knew His Highness wasn't joking.

Li Chen lowered his head again, the charcoal pencil making a soft scratching sound as it rubbed against the paper.

……

Taiji Palace, Ganlu Hall.

Normally by this time, the rows of thick red candles in the hall would have been blown out long ago.

Tonight, however, all the candles are lit, illuminating the hall as brightly as day.

Li Shimin walked up to the huge wooden map of the territory hanging on the wall.

The painting depicts the vast landscape of the Tang Dynasty, stretching from Chang'an all the way to the sea.

He pointed his finger and emphasized the location of Dengzhou.

"The sword will not be sheathed for four days." Li Shimin murmured these words.

Each time he recited it, it felt as if a piece of flesh had been ripped from his heart.

That was his Tang Dynasty, those were his people, and the people of future generations.

Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling sat on the brocade stools at the lower end.

The two men stood ramrod straight, neither daring to utter a sound.

Cheng Yaojin didn't sit down; instead, like a raging black bear, he paced back and forth beside the red-lacquered pillar.

The leather boots squeaked impatiently as they stepped on the gold bricks.

"Stop turning." Li Shimin suddenly spoke, his voice a little hoarse.

Cheng Yaojin suddenly stopped and turned around.

His eyes were as red as if he had just drunk raw blood.

"Your Majesty! This old minister is filled with pent-up emotions!" Cheng Yaojin loosened the buttons on his collar, panting heavily. "That's at least thirty million innocent people!"

Li Shimin stared at the map and didn't respond.

Whenever he closes his eyes, all he sees in his mind are those glaring, scarlet words from the celestial book.

The baby was carried on a knife's edge, and the people were stuffed into the gas furnace.

The emperors of the Tang Dynasty were not afraid of the dead; the blood outside Xuanwu Gate had not yet dried.

But he couldn't stand this kind of cruel treatment that treated people like animals.

"Prime Minister Fang." Li Shimin turned his head and looked at Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling's body trembled violently, and he quickly stood up, cupping his hands in a salute.

"Your subject is here." Fang Xuanling's voice revealed an uncontrollable weakness.

"You have read the most classic texts."

Li Shimin interlaced his fingers, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. "Tell me," he said, "how can such a heartless beast exist in this world?"

Fang Xuanling opened his mouth.

He was usually eloquent, but at this moment he felt like he had a handful of dry grass stuck in his throat.

"These barbarians beyond the reach of civilization fear power but do not cherish virtue." Fang Xuanling gritted his teeth, emphasizing each word.

"Your Highness is right, they are not worthy of learning the teachings of our Great Tang Dynasty."

Changsun Wuji stood up and walked to the center of the main hall.

"Your Majesty, the King of Qin intends to cross the sea and massacre the entire country. This is a very serious matter and requires careful consideration."

Changsun Wuji's fox-like eyes flashed with a cold, sinister light, like a venomous snake coiled in the shadows.

"But those few hundred Japanese left in Chang'an must not be allowed to live."

Li Shimin leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the wooden armrest.

"How should we kill them?" Li Shimin asked. "What will the people think of me if I execute a foreign envoy without cause?"

The Tang Dynasty values ​​its reputation and cannot kill people indiscriminately for no reason.

Changsun Wuji sneered and turned to look at Fang Xuanling.

These two, the two smartest minds in the Tang Dynasty, came to the same conclusion at this moment.

"Treason." Fang Xuanling uttered the two words with absolute certainty.

Cheng Yaojin slapped his thigh, causing the jade belt at his waist to jingle loudly.

"Old Cheng, I'm taking the Imperial Guards to storm the Four Directions Pavilion tomorrow!" Cheng Yaojin roared.

"You brute!" Changsun Wuji glared at him.

"Going to Sifangguan to arrest people would give them a pretext to be criticized."

Changsun Wuji turned around and bowed deeply to Li Shimin.

"Didn't the envoy file a complaint with the emperor in court yesterday?" Changsun Wuji asked in a low voice.

"Your Majesty may summon him alone tomorrow; the meeting place will be in the side hall."

"Once he steps through that door, whether he's assassinating His Majesty or plotting something sinister, it's no longer up to him to decide."

Li Shimin understood.

This is a case of trapping a dog behind closed doors, fabricating a serious crime of assassinating the emperor.

With this title, not a single Japanese person in Chang'an could escape it.

Li Shimin did not nod immediately.

He stood up and walked to the palace gate.

Pushing open the heavy palace doors, all that could be seen outside was pitch black night.

A cold wind blew in, making his clothes flutter wildly.

Li Shimin stood at the threshold for a long time, so long that the palms of his three trusted ministers behind him were covered in cold sweat.

"Let's do it this way."

Li Shimin's voice drifted in the wind, revealing neither joy nor sorrow.

"Remember, don't die a quick death."

Li Shimin turned around. His face flickered in the candlelight, revealing a chilling murderous intent.

"However many instruments of torture are in the prisons of the Great Tang Dynasty, we will use them on them."

"I will collect interest first, and make them wish they were dead."