My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

inside the house.

Li Chen, who was wrapped in a soft and warm quilt of the finest silkworm silk and having a sweet dream, was instantly awakened by the death-threatening banging on the door.

He suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at the pitch-black night outside the window.

An uncontrollable surge of morning grumpiness erupted like a volcano straight to my head!

Holy crap!

Li Chen roared, threw off the covers, and rushed to the door without even putting on his outer clothes, wearing only a white undergarment and slippers.

With a loud "bang!"

He suddenly yanked the door open from the inside.

Li Chen, with his hair a mess, bloodshot eyes, and bulging veins on his forehead, pointed at Li Shimin outside the door and began to curse.

"Old Deng! Are you crazy?!"

That earth-shattering shout completely stunned everyone outside the door.

"What time is it? Huh?! Look up at the sky, it's not even dawn yet! Even the chickens are still sleeping in their coops!"

Li Chen pointed angrily at the dark sky, spitting as he spoke.

"What are you doing? You're up so early, are you rushing to steal before dark?! Couldn't you have waited until dawn?!"

Faced with Li Chen's furious and torrential rant.

Li Shimin was also a man who cared about his reputation, especially when his son pointed his finger at him and cursed Lao Deng in front of his ministers; his imperial temper flared up instantly.

"presumptuous!"

Li Shimin, with his neck stiffened, retorted without backing down.

"What do you mean it's too early?! You know that getting up early is good for your health! You're supposed to be a cultivator, how can you be lazier than a pig? Why do you sleep so late every day?"

Li Shimin looked Li Chen up and down, his face full of disdain.

"Aren't you an immortal? The immortals described in those ancient books live on dew and wind, meditating day and night. How could someone like you need to lie in bed and sleep all day? You must be a fake immortal!"

"Pah!"

Li Chen put his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes dramatically, completely lacking any semblance of an immortal.

"Who says immortals don't need to sleep? What am I supposed to do if I don't sleep? Count stars in the courtyard in the middle of the night?"

Li Chen shouted loudly and confidently.

"I suffered in the cold palace for over a decade, finally cultivating to the Golden Core stage. What's wrong with me lying in bed and enjoying myself? What law have I broken?"

"Play music! Then... Ugh! I'm so annoyed, they even mixed up the lyrics!"

Li Chen scratched his hair in frustration, grabbed the doorknob, and yelled, "Close the door! I'm going back to sleep! We'll talk about it when I'm awake! Otherwise, I'm out of here!"

"Bang!"

Just as Li Chen was about to slam the door shut.

Li Shimin reacted quickly, wedging his foot in the door crack, and was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.

Upon hearing the words "withdraw from court," the Great Khan of the Tang Dynasty immediately flew into a rage.

"Dismiss the court? Dismiss my foot!"

Li Shimin pointed at Li Chen's nose and roared, "Is this empire yours or mine? Are you the emperor or am I? You're calling for the court to adjourn; do you intend to rebel?!"

Faced with this serious charge that could lead to the extermination of nine generations of one's family.

Li Chen showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he looked Li Shimin up and down with an extremely disdainful gaze, as if he were looking at an idiot.

"rebel?"

Li Chen let out an exaggerated, cold laugh. "Am I just bored out of my mind, or do I think I've lived too long?"

"Old Deng, ask yourself honestly. I wouldn't take that damn throne of yours even if it were given to me for free!"

Li Chen unleashed a frenzy of physical damage with a look of utter disdain.

"What's the point of becoming emperor? You'd be sleeping later than a dog and waking up earlier than a rooster! Every day you'd be sitting in that cold, hard chair, reviewing mountains of memorials that you could never finish reading."

"If you eat even one more bite of meat, the censor will accuse you of extravagance; if you sleep a little longer, the court officials will call you incompetent! Being watched by a bunch of old men every day, with all sorts of things forbidden, is worse than being in prison!"

Li Chen curled his lip without any mercy.

"You're treating that kind of life, worse than that of pigs and dogs, like a precious treasure, afraid I'll steal it from you? Give me a break! I wouldn't go even if you begged me to rebel!"

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

In the courtyard, apart from the rustling of the cold wind blowing through the treetops, there was no other sound.

Li Shimin was stunned by Li Chen's shocking "theory of the emperor being imprisoned," and his face instantly turned a deep liver color.

"You...you unfilial son! I'm going to beat you to death today!"

Li Shimin broke down. He, the proud emperor of all time, was being thoroughly humiliated by this brat. Enraged, he looked around, as if to find a stick.

"Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!"

Cheng Yaojin was startled and quickly grabbed Li Shimin from behind, pulling him backward with all his might.

"His Highness is still half asleep and talking nonsense! Please don't take him seriously! Saving Old Qin is the most important thing!"

At this time.

Qin Qiong, Qin Huaidao, and the gentle eldest daughter stood at the edge of the courtyard.

The three members of the Qin family, father and sons, have been completely transformed into weathered stone sculptures.

Their brains had completely crashed, utterly unable to process the overwhelming amount of information they were receiving, which was like a nuclear explosion.

This...this is the legendary immortal who can summon wind and rain and has a compassionate heart?!

This is clearly a vulgar, short-tempered, and extremely grumpy young man from the streets!

What shocked them even more was...

This immortal actually pointed at the emperor's nose and cursed him as "Old Deng," even belittling the supreme imperial throne of the Tang Dynasty to the point that it was worse than being imprisoned!

What's most appalling is that, despite being verbally abused like this, His Majesty the Emperor only went to get a stick and didn't issue an edict to behead him?!

The eldest daughter of the Qin family stared blankly at the young man who was wearing undergarments, had disheveled hair, and was arguing with the emperor.

The awe she once felt for immortals, so lofty and ethereal, in her beautiful eyes suddenly seemed to be pulled back to the human world.

This real, vivid, and even slightly roguish "deity" did not disillusion her; instead, it gave her a strange and inexplicable sense of novelty and intimacy that had been building up in her tense heart.

"Alright, alright! Stop putting on a melodramatic show in front of my door!"

Li Chen was so disturbed by this family's antics that he couldn't fall asleep at all.

He looked at the faint first light of dawn on the horizon and sighed helplessly.

"Since you're already here, just wait in the yard. I'll change my clothes and come out."

"Bang!"

The door was slammed shut.

Half an hour later.

The sky finally brightened, and the early winter sun shone on the warm backyard of the Qin Prince's Mansion.

Li Chen changed into a neat, moon-white robe and tied his hair up with a jade hairpin. After washing up, he regained his cool, languid, and otherworldly demeanor, completely different from the irritable young man he had been moments before.

He yawned and slowly walked to the white marble table in the center of the courtyard and sat down.

Li Shimin snorted coldly, still furious, and sat down opposite him.

"Chen'er, let me introduce you."

Li Shimin pointed at Qin Qiong lying on the soft couch, and Qin Huaidao and the eldest daughter of the Qin family standing beside him, and was about to speak.

"Alright, no need for introductions. I know them all."

Li Chen waved his hand, picked up the freshly brewed hot tea, took a sip, and glanced at Qin Qiong.