He had already wronged Yunyi greatly, and to let Yunyi die because of him again – even after death and descending to hell, his heart would never find peace.

“Liu understands. The slaughter of blood relatives is an ancient and modern great evil. Your Highness does not wish to bear such an infamous name, but now they are harming Your Highness first. Your Highness is merely acting in self-defense – all under heaven will understand. Moreover, it is merely crossing blades, not necessarily killing them. If Your Highness truly cannot bear it, after success, simply imprison them.”

“I understand, I…” Li Shimin’s complexion changed repeatedly. After a moment of pause, he heavily struck the rosewood desk with his fist, staring toward the Taiji Palace direction, and said through gritted teeth: “Good! Everything shall be as you say!”

At this moment of life and death, he finally made his decision to use every means at his disposal to protect those around him and to fight for the benefits he deserved.

Just as Li Yuan and the others feared, the Great Tang was conquered by him. On this vast land were his footprints, his spilled blood – he was the one most deserving to inherit the Great Tang realm!

Seeing Li Shimin’s resolve, Liu Hongji’s heart settled greatly. What he feared most was that Li Shimin could not overcome the barrier in his heart and miss this golden opportunity.

While they conspired in the Prince of Qin’s mansion, Li Jiancheng once again sent a generous gift – a gift sufficient to completely break the last bit of father-son affection Li Yuan had for Li Shimin.

On the twenty-fifth day of the seventh month, Grand Astrologer Fu Yi requested an audience with Li Yuan. The latter was in a fury over the Xia Houduan incident and did not wish to see him, but Fu Yi waited outside the hall refusing to leave, even saying he had matters concerning the Great Tang’s realm that he must see Li Yuan about.

Seeing him speak so gravely, Li Yuan finally received him. Without waiting for Fu Yi to bow, he coldly said: “Speak, what matter is it?” Xia Houduan and the other had already been imprisoned in the Lateral Courts under strict guard.

“Your Majesty, last night this minister observed the stars and discovered that the Venus crossed from the southeast, falling toward the northwest. According to this minister’s years of star observation, this stellar configuration foretells… foretells…”

Li Yuan impatiently said: “Foretells what? Speak quickly!”

Fu Yi swallowed and said in a low voice: “Venus appears in the Qin sector – this foretells that the Prince of Qin shall possess the realm!”

Hearing his words, Li Yuan’s eyes immediately narrowed. Heh… it seems his good son truly covets this Great Tang realm urgently – even heaven has issued a warning!

After dismissing Fu Yi, Li Yuan pondered for a moment and said: “Gaoyang, immediately summon the Prince of Qin for audience. There must be no delay!”

“This slave will go at once.” As Li Yuan’s personal eunuch, Gaoyang knew a bloody storm had already begun that would soon tear all those caught in it to pieces.

In the Prince of Qin’s mansion, Li Shimin’s tense discussion with Liu Hongji and the subsequently summoned Zhangsun Wuji was interrupted by knocking at the door. “Your Highness, Eunuch Gao has arrived.”

Li Shimin’s eyes darkened as he muttered: “So fast!”

“Eunuch Gao’s arrival must be to summon Your Highness to the palace. Your Highness should simply go. Leave the rest to Liu. If Your Highness has not emerged by sunset, Liu and Lord Zhangsun will follow our previous plan – mobilize all available troops, including the patrol battalion, and storm the Taiji Palace. Most soldiers are outside the city, so neither His Majesty nor the Crown Prince can mobilize them in time. We should have great chances of victory.”

“Good, then I entrust everything to you both.” Saying this, Li Shimin strode out. Upon meeting Gaoyang, the matter was indeed as Liu Hongji predicted – he carried Li Yuan’s command to summon Li Shimin for immediate audience.

Li Shimin asked no questions and immediately followed Gaoyang to the Taiji Palace. While heading to the Taiji Hall, a palace maid rushed forward and accidentally collided with Li Shimin. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she hastily knelt to beg forgiveness: “This servant did not intentionally collide with Your Highness the Prince of Qin. Please forgive this servant!”

Gaoyang scolded: “Which palace are you from, girl? Acting so carelessly! Fortunately the Prince of Qin is unharmed, otherwise you could die a thousand or ten thousand times and still not make amends.”

“This servant… this servant…” The palace maid seemed terrified and could not speak properly, only kowtowing continuously. As Gaoyang was about to scold further, Li Shimin said: “I am fine. Do not make things difficult for her. Let us go quickly lest Father Emperor wait long.”

At his words, Gaoyang remembered Li Yuan was waiting and nodded repeatedly, glaring at the palace maid: “Be more careful in future.”

As the palace maid repeatedly acknowledged, Gaoyang departed quickly with Li Shimin following. However, he lagged a step behind Gaoyang, and when Gaoyang was not paying attention, he opened his right hand that had been tightly clenched since earlier. Inside was a folded paper slip that the palace maid had secretly slipped to him during their collision.

After opening the note, Li Shimin’s pupils suddenly contracted. It contained only eight characters, yet they were more shocking than eight hundred or eight thousand words – “Li Jiancheng has relations with Consort De!”

He recognized this handwriting as Imperial Consort Wan’s. But he did not understand why Imperial Consort Wan chose this moment to specifically send someone to tell him this matter. Could it assist him in this visit?

With such doubts, he followed Gaoyang to the Taiji Hall. Upon entering the great hall, he saw both Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were present, presumably also summoned by Li Yuan.

Li Shimin glanced once then withdrew his gaze, respectfully saying: “Your son pays respects to Father Emperor. May Father Emperor live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years.” After rising, he also bowed to Li Jiancheng.

Li Yuan looked down at the composed-faced Li Shimin from his elevated position: “Looking at your complexion, your illness should be mostly recovered.”

“Thank you for Father Emperor’s concern. Your son only had a minor illness. After resting two days, there is no serious problem. But I wonder – Father Emperor urgently summoned your son here, what commands do you have?”

Li Yuan stared at him for a moment, then said coolly: “Fu Yi observed the stars last night and discovered a major secret. Do you know what it is?”

Li Shimin had not expected Li Yuan to open not with accusations but with talk of star omens. However, he dared not relax, carefully saying: “Your son is foolish and does not know what secret Fu Yi discovered.”

“This secret concerns you, Shimin. You should know it.” While speaking, Li Yuan’s gaze remained fixed on Li Shimin’s face, trying to find traces of panic or fear. Unfortunately, he was disappointed – Li Shimin remained calm and composed, at least on the surface.

“Your son truly does not know. I hope Father Emperor will enlighten me.” In truth, Li Shimin’s heart was beating extremely rapidly, but he understood that the more panicked and afraid he was, the less he could show it, so he continued forcing himself to appear calm.

“Fu Yi said Venus crossed the sky, deducing that the realm will belong to you. Shimin, is this truly what you think?”

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately knelt: “Your son is wronged! Your son absolutely has no such thoughts! Please let Father Emperor clearly see!”