Li Shimin’s thin lips were tightly pressed together. He knew that although Liu Hongji’s words were somewhat heartless, they were the most rational and all for his own good. However, Xia Houduan had committed the crime of deceiving the emperor for his sake, and now that something had happened, to stand by and watch… he truly found it difficult to accept!
Over there, Liu Hongji said to Chuyi, who was still standing there: “You take a few trustworthy people and guard outside the palace gates. Be careful not to let anyone discover you. If there’s any movement, report immediately!”
Though Chuyi didn’t quite understand what was happening, from listening to their previous words, he knew something major had occurred. Not caring about the heavy rain outside, he agreed and hurried out.
Li Shimin stared at the puddle of water Chuyi had left behind, gritting his teeth: “What can I do?”
Liu Hongji shook his head: “I’ve said it before – Your Highness can do nothing now. However, we can make a move regarding Deputy General Du.”
Li Shimin asked in confusion: “What do you mean?”
“Deputy General Du’s wife is a daughter of a noble family. She regularly enters the palace to pay respects to Consort Shu and the others. We can ask her to enter the palace once and, through Consort Shu, inform Noble Consort Wan about this matter, letting Her Ladyship mediate for you. This way, you might be able to escape unscathed.” When saying the last four words, Liu Hongji lacked some confidence. This incident had truly become too big. Even with Noble Consort Wan’s intervention, achieving complete safety would still be very difficult.
“I’ll go speak with Ruhui.” Before Li Shimin could take a step, Liu Hongji had already said: “I’ll go instead. Your Highness should stay here and think carefully about how to respond if His Majesty summons you. Remember, without the sacred command, you must not enter the palace. Even when before His Majesty, you absolutely must not plead for Lord Xia Hou and the others, and should even try to distance yourself from them.”
“This isn’t standing by and watching, much less kicking someone when they’re down, but rather not making meaningless sacrifices and not falling into the trap set by the Crown Prince and others. Only this way can you live up to Lord Xia Hou’s loyal heart, and only then can you posthumously honor them later, demonstrating their loyalty and bravery.”
Li Shimin said painfully: “They are no longer alive. What use are posthumous honors?”
Liu Hongji sighed heavily: “Though the dead cannot be brought back to life, at least it can bring blessings to their families.” After pausing for a moment, he said: “There are too many helpless situations in this world. Not to mention Your Highness is only the Prince of Qin today – even if you become the Son of Heaven in the future, there will still be times when you feel powerless. At such times, making choices becomes particularly important.”
While Liu Hongji was heading to the Du residence through the rain, Wang Yuanzhi was also racing on horseback, being brought into Chang’an City through the rain and rushing non-stop to Taiji Palace. By the time he stepped into the imperial study, Wang Yuanzhi’s robe hem was so wet it could be wrung out.
Whether from the rain or not, Wang Yuanzhi’s face was frighteningly pale. Upon seeing Xia Houduan kneeling in the study with blood all over his face, even his fingers began to tremble. He bowed respectfully, lowering his eyes: “This humble Daoist greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be well!”
After waiting a while without Li Yuan speaking, Wang Yuanzhi carefully asked: “May I ask why Your Majesty urgently summoned this humble Daoist?”
Li Yuan pointed at Xia Houduan with a dark expression: “Do you recognize this person?”
Wang Yuanzhi pretended to examine him, respectfully saying: “In response to Your Majesty, this humble Daoist has never seen this person.”
“Is that so?” Li Yuan slowly smiled, though his eyes showed no trace of amusement but were instead cold as knives. “Then why did I discover that he comes from the same sect as you in Mount Zhongnan?”
“Thump! Thump!” Wang Yuanzhi’s chest pounded wildly, his legs weakening. Li Yuan had indeed investigated! He struggled to steady himself, feigning surprise: “Such a thing exists? However, Mount Zhongnan has many cultivators, not just this humble Daoist’s lineage. We don’t interact much with each other, so cultivating on the same mountain yet never meeting is nothing unusual.”
Faced with his words, Li Yuan laughed coldly: “Wang Yuanzhi, if you tell the truth now, I might still consider sparing those at Xuanjing Temple. Otherwise… don’t blame me for being merciless!” By the last sentence, his expression had completely turned cold.
Wang Yuanzhi hastily said: “Forgive this humble Daoist’s dullness – I truly don’t understand Your Majesty’s meaning!”
“Still pretending to be confused? Good!” Killing intent emerged in Li Yuan’s eyes, making Wang Yuanzhi’s heart jump with fear. Before he could think further, Li Yuan had already said: “I ask you, does the Prince of Qin truly have the bearing of an emperor?”
Wang Yuanzhi tried to remain calm: “This matter, this humble Daoist has already reported to Your Majesty before. The Prince of Qin’s birth date and time are indeed extremely precious, with the bearing of an emperor. However, he has killed too much, is surrounded by bloody light, and his forehead lacks radiance – he has already destroyed his own imperial qi!”
“Good! Truly good!” Surprisingly, Li Yuan not only didn’t get angry but clapped his hands in approval. However, everyone soon understood this was all pretense. After approaching Wang Yuanzhi, he kicked him into a rolling gourd: “You’re all so loyal to the Prince of Qin, conspiring to deceive me! And at this moment, you still lie with open eyes – are you all tired of living?”
Xia Houduan gripped the brick joints forcefully, weakly saying: “Every word this subject spoke is true. Even if Your Majesty asks this subject a hundred or thousand times, it will be the same answer – there is no second one!” Though the wound on his forehead wasn’t large, it was deep, and even now hadn’t stopped bleeding, forming a small pool of blood on the ground that made him dizzy and weak in the limbs.
Wang Yuanzhi also quickly knelt down again: “This humble Daoist doesn’t know why Your Majesty says this, but the word ‘conspiracy’ truly cannot be mentioned!”
“Wang Yuanzhi, I previously thought you were a man of virtue and treated you with respect. I never imagined you would deceive me together with Xia Houduan. What exactly did the Prince of Qin give you to make you willing to risk the capital crime of deceiving the emperor?!”
Li Yuan became angrier as he spoke, not only his face turning red but also blue veins bulging on his forehead, his chest heaving violently. Gaoyang said worriedly: “Your Majesty, please calm your anger and don’t harm the dragon body!”
“I…” Li Yuan had just said one word when dizziness struck his mind, followed by darkness before his eyes, and he lost consciousness. This appearance frightened Gaoyang terribly: “Your Majesty? Your Majesty?”
No matter how he called, Li Yuan showed no response, his face frighteningly pale. Gaoyang quickly called for people to help, supporting Li Yuan to lie down in the warm chamber beside the study, and had someone hurry to fetch the imperial physician.
Though the heavy rain continued, no one dared delay. Soon Imperial Physician Li came running in breathlessly. After he took Li Yuan’s pulse, Wan Shi, Yin Shi, and Zhang Shi also arrived successively. They had all heard the news that Li Yuan had fainted in the imperial study and hurried over in panic.
As soon as Imperial Physician Li withdrew his hand, Zhang Shi eagerly asked: “Imperial Physician Li, how is His Majesty?”
“His Majesty only had a momentary surge of qi and blood, causing the fainting spell. It’s not serious. After resting and taking a few doses of medicine to calm the spirit and qi, he’ll be fine. However, His Majesty is advanced in years. Your Ladyships must persuade His Majesty more, asking him to try not to get angry in the future – not every time will be without consequence.”