Liu Hongji raised his head and stared at him steadily, “Your Highness, please think carefully. Since the uprising in Taiyuan, has the Crown Prince truly never shown any dissatisfaction toward you?”

Liu Hongji’s words made Li Shimin’s eyelids twitch. The events that occurred on the road to Jiangdu in the thirteenth year of the Daye era surfaced in his mind, but he quickly suppressed them and shook his head, saying: “No.”

Liu Hongji sighed softly and said: “I know Your Highness is benevolent, but considering too much will only cause Your Highness to be constrained at every step, which is greatly disadvantageous to Your Highness.”

Li Shimin stared at him for a moment, his expression coldly stern as he said: “I am very grateful for your assistance, sir. These past two years, if not for your constant guidance, I would hardly have achieved today’s accomplishments, and even now, it would be difficult to pacify Western Qin. However, those words just now – please do not speak of them again in the future, sir. I will absolutely never compete with my elder brother for anything. It was so before, it is so now, and it will be so in the future.”

Liu Hongji smiled slightly, “Your Highness dwells in the court yet still maintains this pure heart of a child, which I admire. However, the Crown Prince… will disappoint Your Highness.”

“You…” Before Li Shimin could speak, he continued: “I know Your Highness doesn’t believe me, so why don’t we make a wager? If I lose, I will never speak those words again for the rest of my life. If I win, please consider the matter of the Crown Prince carefully.”

After a moment of silence, Li Shimin said: “What shall we wager on?”

Liu Hongji said slowly: “Let’s wager on whether His Majesty will immediately bestow rewards upon you after returning to Chang’an this time.”

Li Shimin frowned, and before he could speak, Liu Hongji already said: “I know Your Highness doesn’t care about these rewards, but undeniably, rewards often reveal many things.”

“Even if Father Emperor doesn’t reward me, that is Father Emperor’s affair and has nothing to do with elder brother. Isn’t it too forced for you to connect the two, sir?”

“These past few months, Your Highness has devoted all your attention to defeating Xue Rengao and pacifying Western Qin, without paying attention to the movements in Chang’an, so you are unaware of many things.” Liu Hongji stroked the hand warmer in his hands that had already cooled somewhat, saying: “More than a month ago, the Crown Prince gathered two absolutely beautiful women to present to His Majesty, greatly winning His Majesty’s favor. A few days ago, he simultaneously conferred upon them the rank of seventh-grade Imperial Ladies. Though the position of Imperial Lady seems insignificant, they are still people by His Majesty’s side, not to mention that after being conferred, they monopolize three thousand favors. If they want to whisper a few words in His Majesty’s ear, wouldn’t that be effortless?”

Li Shimin said in amazement: “Do you mean, sir, that elder brother presented these two women with the intention of influencing Father Emperor?” Before Liu Hongji could respond, he already denied it: “Elder brother would never do such a thing.”

Liu Hongji didn’t rush to refute, but smiled and said: “If there were no such intention, why would the Crown Prince present beauties to His Majesty? Is it merely to fill the harem? Such matters would naturally be handled by Noble Consort Wan – why would the Crown Prince trouble himself?”

Li Shimin looked him over, his voice slightly cold as he said: “They are merely two women. Whether to fill the harem or please Father Emperor, neither is wrong. But you, sir – your words constantly target the Crown Prince. What is your intention?”

“It seems Your Highness still doesn’t believe my words. Very well.” Liu Hongji stood up and said: “There’s no point in debating these matters now. Let’s wait until we return to Chang’an to see.” With that, he bowed to Li Shimin and turned to leave.

Looking at the tent curtain that had returned to calm, the furrows between Li Shimin’s brows did not relax. Though Mr. Liu had not argued forcefully with him, judging by his expression, he clearly had great confidence in his prediction. Could elder brother really do such a thing?

No, though elder brother had once erred, that was merely momentary confusion. He had long since reformed and wouldn’t repeat the same mistake. It was Mr. Liu who had harbored prejudice against elder brother that made him think so. Yes, it must be so.

In all his years of warfare, this was the first time Li Shimin had such deep expectations for rewards – not for power or glory, but to prove that Liu Hongji’s words were wrong, to prove that elder brother was not as cunning and power-hungry as he claimed.

On December 18th, Li Shimin returned in triumph. Chang’an city was filled with celebration, and everywhere he passed, the people spontaneously bowed to this King of Qin who had single-handedly pacified the Western Qin rebellion like a god of war.

Li Shimin entered the palace to have an audience with Li Yuan. Though the latter had expected victory with Li Shimin leading the troops, only upon seeing it with his own eyes did his heart finally settle back into his chest, and he gladly received these generals who had achieved such glorious military merits.

No, there was one person who had achieved no military merit. This person was Xue Rengao, who stood in the Taiji Hall paying respects to Li Yuan as a surrendered general. His thoughts at this moment were more complex than anyone else’s. Once upon a time, he too had sat upon the imperial throne, receiving the homage of all officials. But after merely a few months, he had become a war criminal, having to bow to others. Truly, the affairs of the world were unpredictable.

However, fortunately, he had at least preserved his life. In the future, relying on his abilities, even if he couldn’t stage a comeback, he could at least live in wealth and comfort.

Among the generals, Li Yuan immediately spotted Xue Rengao, who looked as if he had been carved from the same mold as Xue Ju. Li Shimin, noticing his gaze, cupped his hands and said: “Reporting to Father Emperor, Xue Rengao has come here wishing to surrender to our Great Tang and serve in the army!”

Xue Rengao, thinking this was the time to show loyalty, quickly said: “This guilty general will certainly serve Your Majesty unto death, pacifying the Central Plains for Your Majesty and spreading the might of our Great Tang.” He was quick to change his words, immediately switching from the recent “our Western Qin” to “our Great Tang.” Unfortunately, regardless of how he showed loyalty, from the moment he killed Liu Wei, his fate was already sealed.

Li Yuan stared at him and said slowly: “Where is Liu Wei?”

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Xue Rengao’s face. He quickly knelt down and said: “At that time, this guilty general was in a different camp from Your Majesty, and General Liu resisted desperately, so in a moment of rage, I killed General Liu. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Li Yuan said coldly: “He resisted desperately and was killed by you. According to your words, should Liu Gan have opened the gates of Jingzhou city wide and let you ransack it?”

How could Xue Rengao dare say yes? He quickly said: “This guilty general doesn’t mean that, Your Majesty…”

“Enough.” Li Yuan interrupted him expressionlessly and said: “Xue Rengao brutally killed General Liu Gan, an unforgivable crime. Order his immediate execution by waist cutting!”

Upon hearing this, Xue Rengao nearly collapsed to the ground. Seeing guards approaching him, he desperately kowtowed: “This guilty general knows his crime! Your Majesty is benevolent and magnanimous, please give this guilty general another chance!”

Seeing that Li Yuan remained silent, he frantically turned to Li Shimin for help: “Your Highness, save me! Your Highness, save me!”

Li Shimin, who had long anticipated this outcome, would never plead for him. In fact, even if Li Yuan didn’t kill him, he would have done so himself. Xue Rengao’s hands were stained with far too much blood of Tang soldiers – there was no reason to let him continue living.