The door closed again as the emperor entered alone, his robe’s hem brushing past Li Yuanji’s shoulder and neck as he turned to sit on the small couch. He crossed his long legs, his black leather boots extending right before Li Yuanji’s eyes.
“I shouldn’t have come, and I can’t stay long. Passing by the North Gate, I heard you, Fourteenth Brother were refusing food, so I came up to see this peculiarity.”
His voice was cold, devoid of any pretense of care or mercy, carrying obvious mockery. For some reason, this attitude put Li Yuanji at ease. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his thoughts and raised his head to respond:
“Your Majesty, this subject has not intentionally refused food to defy imperial orders or attempt to evade responsibility for my crimes. Since my capture, I have waited day and night for officials from the Imperial Clan Court or Court of Judicial Review to conduct an investigation, but none have come. In my confusion and distress, I could neither rest nor eat properly, unable to swallow food or water…”
“Fool!” the emperor burst out, “That smart face of yours is wasted if you can’t understand this simple logic! Once your case goes to the Imperial Clan Court and Court of Judicial Review, it falls under official judicial authority—a perfect example of ‘princes breaking the law are punished as common people’! Sun Fuqia, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Wei Zheng, Imperial Secretary—which of them would show favoritism and bend the law? Could your royal brother still protect you then? Even now, as we delay turning you over, Minister Wei Xuancheng has already remonstrated with me several times face to face, which I’ve had to deflect with excuses of filial piety and brotherly love. Yet here you are, rushing to your death?”
Li Yuanji stared fixedly at this half-brother who held supreme power, momentarily forgetting proper court etiquette. The emperor, however, clearly wasn’t concerned with such minor infractions at the moment. He leaned on the couch, studying his younger brother, his expression showing not so much anger as irritation or perhaps—regret.
Their facial features truly resembled each other, and with their expressions, the similarity was even more striking… naturally referring to how Crown Prince Chengqian resembled his father. In comparison, the emperor in his thirties showed more maturity and weathering, with a natural air of authority, along with the persistent weariness of one who had long carried heavy burdens.
“This subject knows Your Majesty’s great kindness in showing filial and brotherly consideration. I was young and foolish, betraying Your Majesty’s grace. I am beyond shame, and ten thousand deaths could not atone…”
“Spare me these formulaic court phrases,” the emperor interrupted. “You think I haven’t heard enough flowery speech from the scholars and ministers droning on all day in court? Speak plainly—what exactly were you trying to do, colluding with enemy barbarians, forging imperial edicts, breaking into your sovereign father’s residence at night, committing murder and arson?”
Li Yuanji closed his eyes briefly. What must come, cannot be avoided.
“Though this subject committed treasonous acts, I harbored no intention to harm the sovereign father or destabilize the state. It was because my young sister of the same mother was kidnapped by barbarians, and then pressured by the Crown Prince and the evil woman Consort Yin. In my desperate confusion, I temporarily lost my senses…”
“Regarding Seventeenth Sister’s matter, Chengqian handled it improperly, and both his mother and I have reprimanded him,” the emperor frowned. “Your desire to protect your sister wasn’t wrong, but why didn’t you come to the Empress or me at Lizheng Hall? Did you take us for foolish rulers who blindly favor our son and cannot distinguish right from wrong?”
How could he answer this? The phrase “outsiders cannot intervene in family matters” explained it all. Moreover, Li Chengqian was managing the forbidden garden affairs on his father’s orders—how could Li Yuanji, a powerless minor prince, dare to bypass the heir apparent to complain to his parents?
Besides, this imperial brother before him also had quite a “reputation” when it came to dealing with his brothers…
“Rescuing your sister is one thing, but colluding with Tuyuhun assassins—don’t you know what time this is?” the emperor grew increasingly angry. “We’re at war! Yet you dare bring enemy death squads into the heart of the Tang forbidden palace! Endangering the state is ‘plotting rebellion,’ destroying ancestral temples, imperial tombs, and palaces is ‘plotting great treason,’ and betraying the country to join pretenders is ‘plotting defection’! Striking or plotting to kill parents is ‘malicious defiance,’ stealing or forging imperial seals and showing no subject’s respect is ‘great disrespect,’ cursing or falsely claiming parents’ death is ‘unfilial’! The Ten Abominations are unpardonable even in general amnesties, and you’ve committed at least six or seven of them. Well done, Fourteenth Brother!”
In truth, whenever Li Yuanji recalled that fierce battle in Da’an Hall, he felt vague regret and fear. He had been too impulsive and blindly confident, always believing in his ability to control the situation and make events unfold according to his plans… Only when chaos truly erupted, when he found himself surrounded by fire, blood, weapons, shouts, and panicked crowds, did he understand the dangerous disorder and his powerlessness.
If given another chance to choose, he would certainly plan differently… but definitely would not do as the emperor wished and go complain at Lizheng Hall.
If the person now listing his grave crimes were Sun Fuqia, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Imperial Secretary Wei Zheng, or even the empress’s brother Zhangsun Wuji, he thought he would accept it without argument. But it had to be Second Brother… who nine years ago led death squads through this very gate to kill his brothers and imprison his father.
Li Yuanji’s gaze unconsciously turned toward the south window, beyond which lay the square inside Xuanwu Gate. Past the facing Chongxuan Gate, wasn’t the blood of former Crown Prince Jiancheng and Fourth Brother Yuanji still soaked deep in the soil?
The emperor followed his gaze out the south window, his expression instantly changing.
“I know what you’re thinking,” the elder brother ground out word by word. “You think you’re following my example, is that it? Li Yuanji, do you—have the right to follow my example?”
His figure shifted as he left the couch, dropping to one knee before Li Yuanji, grasping his half-brother’s chin, forcing Li Yuanji to look directly into those eyes bright as stars:
“At eighteen, I was already in Taiyuan with Father, raising righteous armies, establishing banners, planning for the realm. At twenty-four, I secured the Central Plains in the Battle of Hulao, with all the Tang dynasty’s great strategists and generals under my command, carrying the people’s hopes, and winning the realm’s heart. The six armies’ elite guards viewed me as divine, and hearing I led troops, foreign Turks dared not advance! Only with such great achievements and talent did I dare risk the world’s condemnation, forced by circumstances to violate human relations and spill blood at the palace gates! Li Yuanji, what merit have you shown to the country or people that you dare imitate me?”
The emperor was truly angry now. Li Yuanji felt as if flames were radiating from the body looming over him. With his chin gripped tightly, he could barely move his mouth to speak, yet dared not struggle or resist, momentarily unable to answer.
“You rely on just one thing,” the emperor sneered. “You rely on Father taking a fancy to your mother back then! You know I’m reluctant to move against brothers, know I care about my reputation! And you know the Emperor Emeritus is critically ill and can’t take the shock, knowing I’m dispatching troops for war campaigns, taking every precaution for fear something might happen!”
Hearing the contempt for his deceased mother in those words, Li Yuanji’s ears rang and anger flared in his heart. He violently jerked his head free of the emperor’s grip, throwing caution aside:
“This subject relies on nothing, and dares not compare himself to the sage ruler! With a clear conscience, I have just one point: one man’s deeds, one man bears responsibility! Yuanji wasn’t forced by circumstances, nor need anyone to gloss over his faults. For the crimes I’ve committed, I ask Your Majesty to punish me according to law—death is all!”
With a sharp crack, Li Yuanji felt pain explode across his left cheek as a powerful blow sent him crashing down, his forehead and temple striking the floor.
Worthy of being the world’s most famous archer, such powerful hands… For a moment, the young prince’s vision spun with stars as his ears rang. Through the din, he heard someone knocking outside, followed by what seemed to be Cheng Yaojin’s voice:
“Your Majesty, the auspicious time approaches on the other side…”
With the rustle of robes and the sound of boots, the emperor rose and strode away, slamming the prison cell’s wooden door heavily behind him.