My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

The inner hall of the Prince of Wei's residence.

The air was filled with the smell of spoiled food and the dusty smell of sawdust.

Li Tai stared blankly at his perfectly intact hands, then touched his face.

There was no blood, no swelling. Even though he had just felt that his bones were about to be broken by Li Chengqian, he couldn't feel a single bit of pain now.

"Father! Believe me! He really hit me! He even forced me to eat poison!"

Li Tai, like a drowning man, clung tightly to Li Shimin's boots, pointing at Li Chengqian and bitterly accusing him.

Li Shimin's face was so gloomy it could drip water.

He looked at Li Tai's chubby face with a rosy glow, then at Li Chengqian, who stood in the corner, dressed in coarse cloth, looking particularly thin and aggrieved.

One was a fat man who ate and drank excessively and threw tantrums on the ground during his confinement;

One was the eldest son, who had just recovered from a leg ailment and was dressed shabbily.

In Li Shimin's eyes, the truth of the matter seemed to have already been determined.

"That's enough!"

Li Shimin kicked Li Tai's hand away and roared angrily.

"Look at the state you're in! The dignified Prince Wei of the Great Tang Dynasty, rolling around on the ground like a shrew from the marketplace! Your imperial brother came to see you out of kindness, and not only did you go crazy and smash things, but you also dared to falsely accuse me!"

Li Tai was completely dumbfounded.

"Father, I didn't..."

"Qingque, you have disappointed me greatly."

Li Shimin had no interest in saying another word. He snorted coldly and turned to walk towards the gate.

With Li Shimin's departure, the Imperial Guards also withdrew from the inner hall like a tide.

The once noisy room fell silent once more.

Li Chengqian slowly walked up to Li Tai.

He squatted down and looked at Li Tai, who was still slumped on the ground with a blank expression.

She reached out and gently patted Li Tai's chubby cheek.

"My imperial brother."

Li Chengqian's voice was very soft, yet it carried a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.

"There's plenty of time ahead. In the future, your elder brother will definitely take good care of you."

After saying that, he stood up, laughed loudly, and walked out of the Prince of Wei's residence.

Li Tai was left sitting alone amidst the mess, trembling like a leaf.

……

Northwest corner of the palace, a side hall of the cold palace.

In the dead of night, a burst of hearty laughter echoed from the courtyard.

Li Chengqian pushed open the courtyard gate and strode in. The gloom on his face vanished, and he seemed to have been reborn, his brows radiating an unprecedented brilliance.

Li Chen was lying on a rocking chair under the eaves, resting with his eyes closed.

Little Sizi was still awake, sitting on a small stool playing with the grasshoppers that Li Chen had made for her.

Seeing Li Chengqian walk in laughing, the little girl immediately stood up, imitating Li Chengqian, put her hands on her hips, and also started laughing loudly.

The laughter of the two, one big and one small, echoed in the courtyard, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

"That felt great! That was so satisfying!"

Li Chengqian walked to the well, picked up the ladle, and gulped down half a ladle of cold water.

He turned his head and looked at Li Chen in the rocking chair, his eyes filled with gratitude and excitement.

"Sixteenth Brother, that pill you gave me was simply a divine object! You didn't see the expression on Li Tai's face then; he even wanted to die!"

Li Chen slightly opened one eye, looking at this "underworld prince" who seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.

"What, you're this happy just because you beat up your own brother? That's pathetic."

Li Chen yawned and closed his eyes again.

Li Chengqian walked to the rocking chair and sat down on the steps without any hesitation.

"Sixteenth brother, you have no idea how I've been all these years. That beating just now cleared up all the knots in my heart."

He took a deep breath, and the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a chilling coldness.

"However, Li Tai is just the beginning. I won't let any of those who have made me suffer get away with it."

Li Chen did not respond.

He knew that Li Chengqian harbored a burning resentment. Now that the fire had been ignited, it would not stop until it burned thoroughly.

In Li Chengqian's mind, images of hypocritical faces flashed by.

Those were the Grand Tutors and Grand Preceptors of the Crown Prince's Palace.

Those pedantic scholars who spout platitudes about benevolence and morality.

Under the guise of instructing the Crown Prince, they found fault with him at every turn and frequently complained to the Emperor. They said that if the Crown Prince walked too fast, he was unsteady; if he walked too slowly, he was lazy. They said that if he ate too much, he was indulging in gluttony; if he ate too little, he was not taking care of his health.

They didn't care about the crown prince's life or death; they only cared about whether they could leave a good name in history by using the title of "speaking frankly and daring to remonstrate."

"Don't they want to be remembered for eternity?"

Li Chengqian sneered, his eyes as cold as a venomous snake.

"Then I'll grant their wish and let them have their moment in the spotlight."

The next morning.

The streets and alleys of Chang'an seemed to have been swept away by an invisible storm overnight.

Rumors about the great scholars of the Eastern Palace spread like wildfire in teahouses, taverns, and entertainment venues.

These rumors are not the kind of crudely made insults, but rather fabricated with exceptional detail, even down to the time, place, and people involved, making them virtually flawless.

"Have you heard? The great scholar Zhang who teaches the Crown Prince appears virtuous on the surface, but he has a strange quirk behind the scenes."

"His favorite thing to do was to dance the Hu Xuan dance in his backyard at midnight, wearing a woman's red bellyband! My neighbor, Butcher Wang's distant cousin, worked at the Zhang family's residence and saw it with his own eyes!"

"What's so strange about that? That Grand Tutor Li, who's always spouting righteousness and morality, is actually a homosexual! I heard he not only keeps several handsome young male servants, but also often disguises himself and goes to places like Pingkang Lane to have fun!"

"And then there's that Confucian scholar who always spouts the teachings of the sages. I heard he loves to paint naked in his room, saying it's to feel the energy of heaven and earth!"

The rumors spread wider and wider, becoming increasingly outrageous, yet they were presented with such detail and seemingly plausible evidence.

The people of Chang'an City love gossip about powerful figures falling from grace.

In an instant, those once highly respected pedantic scholars became the laughing stock of the entire city.

When those great Confucian scholars attended court, they always felt that the way their colleagues looked at them was strange, revealing an inexplicable sense of oddity and disdain.

Some were even pointed at and gossiped about, which made them so angry that they fainted on the spot.