My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

A shard of porcelain pierced Li Shimin's palm.

Fresh blood seeped down the grain of the golden nanmu wood, dripping onto the bluestone bricks.

He didn't loosen his grip; instead, he squeezed even tighter.

The veins on the back of his hand looked like thick earthworms, spreading down his forearm all the way to his neck.

Those bloodshot eyes, filled with the result of days and nights of staying up late, were fixed on Li Tai, who was kneeling on the ground, and the temperature in their eyes had dropped to freezing point.

"Father...Father Emperor..."

Li Tai knelt on the ground, his fat trembling as if he were shaking. He desperately tilted his head back, his teeth chattering softly.

"Your subject...your subject has absolutely no such intention! Immortal Master must be...must be joking! Your subject doesn't even have an eldest son yet..."

"Shut up."

Li Shimin's voice was soft, yet it carried a chilling intensity that could cut to the bone.

He did not help Empress Zhangsun, who had dropped her handkerchief, but instead slowly turned his head and stared intently at the white-haired old man leaning against the back of the chair.

In those eyes, there was fear, doubt, and a kind of madness that wanted to dig out the truth.

"Immortal Master," Li Shimin's Adam's apple bobbed, "such words that pierce the heart should not be uttered lightly. I... beg the Immortal Master for guidance."

Empress Zhangsun disregarded her weakened state and struggled to her feet. Her knees buckled, and she was about to kneel on the cold bluestone slab.

"I beg the immortal to guide me through my confusion."

Li Chen leaned back in his chair, watching the family on the verge of collapse, and his brow twitched involuntarily twice.

He actually really dislikes these kinds of scenes.

I was just making a casual comment, but these feudal royalty reacted like cats whose tails had been stepped on.

"Tsk, troublesome."

The old man sighed hoarsely, stretched out his withered fingers, and casually flicked them in mid-air.

"I told you I'd gone mad from practicing cultivation, but you wouldn't believe me. Since you're still obsessed with worldly desires and insist on prying into the secrets of heaven, then I'll show you just how rotten your Li family's empire will become."

Li Chen did not stand up. He simply raised his palm slightly.

Within his dantian, a wisp of the newly replenished liquid true essence flowed into his palm along the eight extraordinary meridians.

The Water Gathering Technique combined with the Minor Illusionary Technique.

"Splash—"

The surface of Taiye Pool suddenly exploded. A jet of water as thick as a wrist, like a living water snake, defied all the laws of gravity, soared into the air, and flew straight across a distance of more than ten feet before stopping in mid-air in front of the old man.

The water column quickly spread out and thinned in mid-air, instantly transforming into an oval-shaped water mirror, three feet square, with swirling water ripples.

The mirror surface was chillingly cold, and the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped.

Li Shimin gasped, instinctively shielding Empress Zhangsun behind him. Li Chengqian and Li Tai were so frightened they stopped breathing, staring intently at the water mirror floating in mid-air.

Li Chen closed his eyes.

His divine sense quickly searched through his mind for memories of that period of history from his past life, then crushed them and forcibly projected them onto the surface of the water mirror.

The water began to ripple violently.

The originally transparent mirror gradually took on a dim yellow hue. The image gradually became clearer.

It was a dimly lit palace.

In the scene, Li Shimin looks much older, with half-white hair and beard, sitting wearily on the dragon throne. Kneeling below the throne is none other than Prince Wei, Li Tai, who was much fatter than he is now.

The water mirror not only projected images, but also transmitted the simulated sounds from Li Chen's memory.

"Father!"

In the water mirror, Li Tai was crying with snot and tears streaming down his face, clinging tightly to Li Shimin's leg with both hands, his voice filled with sorrow.

"If I were to ascend the throne and inherit the imperial line... I swear! A hundred years from now, I will personally kill my son and pass the throne to Zhinu (Prince Li Zhi)! I will never let Father Emperor witness such fratricide!"

The scene abruptly ends there.

Li Chen clenched his fingers slightly.

"Smack."

The water mirror instantly shattered, turning into a pool of ordinary water that poured over Li Tai, who was kneeling on the ground.

The icy water soaked through Li Tai's brocade robe, but he knelt there stiffly, like a soulless corpse, his pupils unfocused.

The Imperial Garden was deathly silent.

The only sound was the rustling of the wind through the willow leaves.

If the old man's words were just a prophecy without any evidence, then the water mirror condensed by the immortals' methods was like slapping the future right in their faces.

Li Shimin lowered his head, looking at his right hand, which was still dripping blood.

His chest began to heave violently, and his breathing became like pulling a broken bellows.

"Kill your son...and pass the torch to your brother?"

Li Shimin chewed on those four words, one word at a time. He suddenly raised his head, his eyes now completely red, like a lone wolf driven mad.

His greatest worry after killing his brother and forcing his father to abdicate at Xuanwu Gate was that his sons would repeat the same mistake.

The results of it?

As a result, his most beloved son was so heartless that he would even say something as depraved as killing his own son for the sake of that position!

"brute!!!"

Li Shimin let out a roar that sounded inhuman.

He took a sudden step forward, his waist and hips moving in unison, and his right leg, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, kicked Li Tai hard in the chest.

"Bang!"

Li Tai, who weighed over 200 pounds, was kicked five or six feet away like a broken sack, and crashed heavily onto the white marble railing by Taiye Pond.

"puff--"

Li Tai coughed up a mouthful of acid mixed with blood, clutching his chest and curling up on the ground like a shrimp, coughing violently. He didn't even dare to cry out in pain, desperately turning over and banging his head against the bluestone slab with loud thuds.

"Father, spare me! I wouldn't dare! How could I possibly kill my own flesh and blood! Father, please see the truth!"

The veins on Li Shimin's forehead throbbed, and he drew the sword from the waist of the guard beside him, ready to charge forward.

"His Majesty!"

Empress Zhangsun clung tightly to Li Shimin's arm, her frail body staggering forward. Tears welled in her eyes, her voice piercingly pleading, "Your Majesty, please calm down! Qingque hasn't done it yet! He hasn't done it yet!"

Beside him, Crown Prince Li Chengqian was sweating profusely, and the back of his robe was completely soaked.

He bit his lip hard to keep the chattering sound from coming out. He looked at his brother, the King of Wei, who was usually so arrogant and vying for power with him, now being beaten half to death like a dog.

An unprecedented fear surged from Li Chengqian's tailbone all the way to the top of his head.

This is what happened to Li Tai.

what about me?

Empress Zhangsun held onto Li Shimin tightly, turned her head, and looked at the indifferent old man sitting in the main seat with tears streaming down her face.

"Immortal Master..." Empress Zhangsun coughed up two mouthfuls of saliva tinged with blood, "Since Qingque would go mad for the throne... what about Chengqian? Chengqian is the Crown Prince, what will become of him in the future?"