After Suo Yuanli wailed in the large urn for four hours, he was finally roasted to death. When his corpse was being carried out for burial, it was torn apart and eaten by a group of crazed people using their bare hands. By the time the soldiers drove those people away, only some intestines and bones remained in the thin coffin.

Yun Shou had promised Zhou Xing he would preserve his intact corpse, so although Zhou Xing’s body was also cooked, every part was very complete. The fat rendered from roasting had soaked through his brand-new official robes, making his entire body glisten.

For some reason, Yun Shou’s heart felt cold—not because of the punishments, but because of the person being punished. Zhou Xing hadn’t uttered a word during the torture process. Whether being scrubbed with bamboo brushes or having his head squeezed by iron hoops, he never groaned once. When entering the large urn, others needed soldiers to forcefully stuff them in, but he didn’t—after resting a while, he climbed in himself. After being roasted for a bit, he even told the soldiers that his previous design wasn’t quite perfect. If they added a little water to the large urn, the effect would be better. So the soldiers agreed to his condition and added half a bucket of water to the large urn. Before long, the smell of cooking meat wafted out…

Zhou Xing even had the soldiers wrap wet towels around his neck so he could clearly tell them his sensations during torture one by one, and he strongly requested that the recording officials write it all down…

When Yun Ye recounted the process to Li Tai, not a trace of color could be seen on his chubby face. What he had eaten that morning had already been vomited up completely. But as a scholar, this fellow still wanted to see the records Zhou Xing had made. After flipping through just two or three volumes, he had already gone mad. Carrying those records like a crazed rhinoceros, he went to find Li Chengqian.

After Li Chengqian looked through two pages, although his expression was very ugly, he said calmly to Li Tai, “To accomplish great things requires sacrifices. Doing this damages one’s lifespan. I’m destined not to live long—this is my sin. Qing Que, you must remain clean, must be very clean. I’m the eldest brother and also the Emperor. Therefore, these matters are what I must do. In my heart, as long as the Li family dynasty endures forever, whether I, Li Chengqian, live long or not doesn’t matter.”

“Are you satisfied now? The entire court of civil and military officials looks at you as if they’re seeing a monster. When you lose your temper, they can literally be scared to death. You can’t hear honest advice that grates on the ear, and you don’t like hearing others flatter you. Now it’s wonderful—I’ve attended several morning court sessions. The court is so quiet you could fish there! The ministers don’t make any decisions. Even orders to suppress a small band of bandits require you to personally issue them. Look at yourself—how emaciated you’ve become! Emperor Qin Shi Huang reviewed three hundred pounds of bamboo slips daily. The memorials you review daily are approaching three hundred pounds!”

“The regions have traveling inspectors, the army has the Five Li Commanders. There’s also the Directorate of Waterways monitoring the realm, and censors and remonstrating officials report at the slightest wind. The gazette’s articles are diverse and varied—these are enough!”

“We’re brothers, so only I can say this. I always feel the entire court of civil and military officials harbor ill will. They just want to work you to death. Yun Ye previously used this trick against Zhangsun Wuji. Now they’re using the same old trick on you.”

“Listen to your younger brother—let’s go to Yushan to recuperate for a while. Ask Master Sun to properly regulate your body. I’ll accompany you to hunt, fight crickets, chase rabbits—anything works. Let’s set aside court affairs for now. There won’t be major chaos in the short term.”

Li Chengqian’s eyes filled with tears. The corners of his mouth twitched many times. He walked out from behind the desk, embraced Li Tai, let out a long sigh, waved his hand at Li Tai, and went directly back to the rear palace.

Li Tai looked up at the colorful coffered ceiling in the great hall, stamped his feet, and also left the Hall of Ten Thousand People. The fat man rode a plump horse, traveling quickly yet with difficulty to the Yun residence. Seeing Yun Ye cheerfully and leisurely watching his young grandson practice calligraphy, his chest full of fury immediately erupted. Grabbing Yun Ye’s collar, he roared, “Chengqian is nearly worked to death! Chengqian is nearly worked to death! You haven’t seen him in two or three years—go see him! He’s so thin he doesn’t look human anymore, like a monkey wearing dragon robes. Are you really so heartless that you must watch him be worked to death? Do you have a human heart or not…”

The young grandson was very perceptive. Seeing the two grandfathers fighting, he dropped his brush and quickly ran to the rear hall to report to Grandmother.

Yun Ye sighed and let Li Tai shake him. After he calmed down a bit, Yun Ye said, “He trusts no one—what can I do? How many times has he been to the Strategic Planning Office? Has he agreed to even one of the new management methods the Academy submitted?”

“Xu Jingzong submitted a memorial to abolish the horse administration. He was rebuked in front of the entire court of civil and military officials until Old Xu couldn’t save face. Is Li Yifu someone who knows how to conduct himself? He spent a month laying groundwork, then tactfully mentioned to him that the authority of military commissioners shouldn’t be stripped too severely. You know the result—Li Yifu was nearly exiled to the North Sea to herd sheep!”

“These are all legitimate court affairs! Setting aside whether they’re appropriate or not, when ministers raise them, there are issues to address. Everyone should sit together and discuss, weigh the pros and cons, then arrive at a decision. Isn’t this good? Making a legitimate suggestion gets you sent to the North Sea to herd sheep? Do you know that when Li Yifu returned home, he was so angry he nearly vomited blood? He didn’t even submit an apology memorial. Stiffening his neck, he demanded to go herd sheep at the North Sea. The only one who could infuriate the famous Human Cat to this extent is your eldest brother.”

Li Tai finally calmed down and sat in a chair with a worried expression. “I’m very worried about him. Worried he won’t live as long as my Imperial Father. Then the realm will fall into great chaos. Ye Zi, our quarrels are quarrels, but we must help him. If Li Xiang becomes Emperor then, there will truly be disaster. Forget comparing him to my Imperial Father—if he can match one-tenth of my eldest brother, I’ll acknowledge him. While we’re alive, the realm seems unable to fall into chaos. After we die, the Great Tang will certainly have major troubles.”

“The Great Tang now needs someone who understands it to be Emperor. The great trends of the realm are tumultuous and chaotic, and many matters have no precedent to reference. If the Emperor doesn’t succeed and the realm falls into chaos, with firearms exploding everywhere, I think we won’t sleep peacefully even in our coffins.”

Yun Ye scratched his head. This was indeed a major problem. Firearms killed people much faster than swords. If Li Tai’s prophecy became reality, the realm would truly be in chaos.

Suddenly, he discovered he couldn’t stand steady. The surrounding walls seemed to be rising and falling. This was strange. Supporting himself on the table, he finally understood—it wasn’t his senses malfunctioning, but an earthquake.

“The earth dragon is turning over!” Li Tai shouted frantically, wanting to leave but being grabbed by Yun Ye. Running around at this time was too dangerous.

The two watched in terror as roof tiles fell from the house with crackling sounds. After quite a while, things quieted down. Yun Ye shouted and rushed into the house, while Li Tai wailed and rushed toward the Yushan Palace.

Just reaching the moon gate, he saw Xiao Miao flying out of the house carrying two children in her hands. The window had been smashed through with a large hole. Inside the house stood Xin Yue with a deathly pale face.

“Come out quickly!” Following Yun Ye’s furious shout, everyone in the Yun household rushed out wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves. After Yun Ye counted the household members, he found that apart from a few minor injuries from tiles hitting heads, there seemed to be no serious injuries. He had Xin Yue settle the household while he and Yun Shou immediately split into two routes—one to check the Yun family manor, one to check Yushan’s city defenses.

Wang Cai was terrified. The panic in his large eyes made Yun Ye’s heart ache. After comforting him by hugging his large head, he took him up onto the Yushan city wall.

After three drum signals, all the generals assembled. Yun Ye immediately ordered them to inspect their respective sections while closing the front and rear gates of Yushan City, preventing the law enforcement teams from entering Yushan City to inspect. Anyone plundering civilian property would be killed; anyone disobeying orders would be killed! At this time, severe laws absolutely needed to be activated.

The generals had just left when the earth began shaking again. This time was even more severe than the first. Yun Ye watched as the winding city wall undulated up and down like a giant dragon. Looking into the distance, a section of wall built on the cliff collapsed with a thunderous crash. Boulders mixed with dust obscured the entire mountain.

Taking out his telescope to gaze at the palace, he saw that one corner of that magnificent palace had already collapsed. Painfully closing his eyes, he tremblingly climbed onto horseback, let Wang Cai grab his clothes with his teeth, and rushed quickly toward the palace. In his heart, he prayed over and over—please, please don’t let smoke signals rise from the palace! That would be Li Er’s signal to the world that he had died.

The swift horse flew like wind. Yun Ye desperately urged his warhorse, hoping it could run faster. Li Er’s health had been very poor these past days. If he suffered another fright, he most likely wouldn’t survive.

Though the distance was very short, Wang Cai was already running with foam covering his mouth. Affectionately comforting Wang Cai, he himself hurriedly entered the palace. The Hall of Containing Origins had already half-collapsed. Li Er lay on the brocade couch laughing heartily. Seeing Yun Ye arrive, he said with a smile, “We just had a dream—dreamed We were driving an ox to plow fields. Who knew that immediately there would be an earth dragon turning over. Hahaha, boy, We cannot survive. We are about to depart. You all live well yourselves!”

At these words, all the dust-covered people prostrated themselves and wept. Li Er picked up his wine gourd and took a great gulp, saying with a smile to the Empress, “The Heavenly Emperor sent an earth dragon to receive Us. This is a joyous occasion. Don’t be sad. After living out your natural lifespan, come find Us!”

Li Er’s words had barely fallen when the earth began shaking violently again. That massive boulder on Eagle’s Beak Cliff fell from midair with the force of thunder, landing on the meadow below the cliff with a thunderous boom!

Li Er’s laughter became even more shrill. He actually raised the upper half of his body and said with a laugh to the shaking mountains, “Don’t rush, don’t rush—We come!” Yun Ye wanted to help Li Er lie back down. Tormenting himself like this could kill even a healthy person.

But Li Er turned his head and looked carefully at Zhangsun, Yang Fei, and Yin Fei. He extended his hand toward Li Tai, who was crying until nearly fainting, touched Li Tai’s head, and let out a long breath—as if expelling all the breath from his chest in one go.

Yun Ye listened for a long time and only heard exhalation, no inhalation. Greatly alarmed, just as he was about to press his hand on Li Er’s chest to give him emergency aid, he was stopped by Zhangsun: “His Majesty is very happy. Let him ascend to heaven on the dragon! He was unwilling to lie in bed all day!”

Unable to move his entire body, lying in bed—perhaps this was heaven’s greatest punishment for a hero. Encountering the earth dragon turning over was the greatest auspicious omen for him. Rather than saying he died, it would be better to say he killed himself.

When Li Er exhaled his last breath, the earth quieted down… A thick smoke signal rose from Yushan City…

On the seventh day of the first month of the sixth year of Taixing, the Emperor passed away in the Hall of Containing Origins at Yushan Palace. At that time, the earth dragon turned over as if to receive him, bringing disaster to three hundred thousand households… His posthumous title was the Civil and Martial Great Sage Great Guangxiao Emperor…