Datang: Longevity for Thousands of Years, Exposed by Xiao Sizi

As soon as he finished speaking, he shouted loudly: "If you don't show up now, when will you show up?"

Although Changsun Shunde is not young anymore, his voice is still loud. Every time he speaks, he scares away the birds outside.

Abao gripped his weapon tightly and protected Shen Lian behind him. Qin Ziyi and the others also looked extremely nervous.

Everyone's heart tensed up.

They knew that the backup plan that made Changsun Shunde so confident must be extraordinary.

Maybe... the next person to appear will be the last straw that breaks the camel's back, and will make them completely despair...
So all of them were extremely nervous.

However, at this moment, Shen Lian's mouth corners slightly raised, and there was a hint of mockery on his face as if he was enjoying a good show.

Everyone is waiting.

Three breaths passed without any sound of wind.

Ten breaths passed and even the sound of birds chirping disappeared.

Thirty breaths passed, and there was no sign of a human being, not even a ghost.

The entire hall fell into a very strange and eerie silence.

The officials blinked, not knowing what was going on.

Abao also turned his sore wrist slightly and looked at Changsun Shunde suspiciously. What tricks was this old bastard playing?
What about people?

Yes!

people!

Chang Sun Shunde had a grim look on his face just now, as if he could cause the sky to collapse and the earth to split apart with a wave of his hand, and that would be the end of them all.

As a result, after such a long time, no one appeared.
Chang Sun Shunde's raised hand also stopped in the air and now seemed to be shaking, probably because it was sore from lifting it.

But that's not important.

What’s important is people?

Everyone looked at Changsun Shunde with confusion.

There was also a look of confusion on Changsun Shunde's old face at this moment.

He also wanted to ask...where is that person?
I was so arrogant and complacent just now... I was just waiting for the back-up to appear.

As a result, my hands were sore from raising them, but there was not even a single human figure, let alone a ghost figure... What's going on?

Could it be that the latter didn’t hear it?

Chang Sun Shunde gritted his teeth and shouted again: "If you don't show up now, when will you show up?"

He waved his hand and said, "Come here!"

call…….
The wind came and blew up a few hairs on Changsun Shunde's head, and then it left.

Still no one showed up!

At this moment, Changsun Shunde suddenly felt a little panicked.

There's something wrong with this situation.

What he just shouted was the secret code they agreed upon.

As long as he shouted out this secret code, it meant that he should not take direct action and would give Shen Lian and the others a thundering blow.

So all of them must be prepared at all times, and there will be no situation where they cannot hear their own voices.

Even if it exists, if I didn’t hear it once, how can I not hear it twice?

These men in black can hear it, but they can’t?
So... does this anomaly indicate that something unexpected has occurred?

Thinking of this, Changsun Shunde felt a chill in his heart for no reason.

what happened?

What about people?

What happened?

He was thinking nervously in his mind while looking down ten times and up.

Then...he saw Shen Lian.

He saw that Shen Lian was smiling and looking at him with a look of anticipation.

Seeing Shen Lian's mocking expression, an extremely absurd thought suddenly emerged in his mind. Could it be... Could it be...

"It's you!"

Chang Sun Shunde shouted subconsciously.

His voice suddenly sounded in the extremely silent atmosphere, startling everyone.

But everyone didn't care about these things at this moment, and subconsciously looked at Shen Lian.

Looking at Chang Sun Shunde's changed expression and thinking about what Chang Sun Shunde had just said, an idea that shocked everyone suddenly came to their minds.

No way?
Could it be... Could it really be...

Everyone swallowed and stared at Shen Lian closely.

And Shen Lian didn't hide anything.

He just chuckled and said calmly: "The person you are waiting for is Zheng Qiang, the deputy governor of Shangdufu, right?"

Suddenly, Chang Sun Shunde's eyes widened when he heard Shen Lian's words.

His whole face turned pale in an instant.

He looked at Shen Lian in shock, and even stuttered when he spoke.

"Why do I know it was him?"

Shen Lian took over the conversation, looked at Changsun Shunde calmly, and said lightly: "You are considered an old man in the Ministry of War. Even though you are gradually weakening due to your age, this does not prevent you from retaining your own power in the Ministry of War."

"Perhaps to others, Zheng Qiang is a general who climbed up from a small soldier through military merits entirely on his own ability, and he is worthy of being written about in great detail."

"But that's just for other people. For me, it's completely different."

"Most of the military commanders in the Ministry of War are straightforward. They believe whatever they see and have simple minds."

"So in their eyes, Zheng Qiang is a very inspiring figure."

"But unfortunately, in my eyes, Shen Lian, it is completely different."

When Chang Sun Shunde heard Shen Lian's words, his heart sank completely.

He gritted his teeth and whispered, "What's the difference?"

"What's the difference?"

Shen Lian looked at Changsun Shunde with a half-smile and said, "Now that we've come to this point, do I still need to say anything?"

"Zheng Qiang was a soldier under you at first, and later he made great contributions under the command of the army you led... In just five years, he was promoted from a small soldier to a fourth-rank military commander... You ask me, what is the difference?"

"Changsun Shunde, although you and him were very cautious in what you did and did not attract anyone's attention, do you think..."

Chang Sun Shunde's heart subconsciously tightened.

He looked at Shen Lian, but was frightened by a look from Qin Wenyuan, as if Shen Lian saw through everything about him.

At this time, Shen Lian's voice slowly sounded: "...Your little tricks may deceive others, but can they deceive my eyes?"

"He, Zheng Qiang, actually..."

Shen Lian dropped a bombshell: "It's your illegitimate child."

"What!?" As soon as Shen Lian finished speaking, a series of extremely shocked voices suddenly rang out.

In the palace hall.

When Shen Lian dropped this bombshell, everyone was completely stunned.

They opened their eyes wide, their faces filled with shock, and all looked towards Chang Sun Shunde.

At this moment, their hearts were truly extremely complicated.

At first, they were shocked by the fact that Zheng Qiang was the illegitimate son of Changsun Shunde.

After all, Zheng Qiang is a military general who has been in the limelight in recent years.

He was promoted from an ordinary soldier to a fourth-rank official in just a few years, which... is similar to the rank of Shaoqing of the Dali Temple.

Zheng Qiang!

If you think about it carefully, something is indeed not right!
He is only a little over 20 years old now, and many people believe that he has climbed up on his own, relying on military merits to get promoted. He has no background, so he has attracted much attention, and many people think that he has a bright future.

Zheng Qiang can at least be ranked among the top five young generations in the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, many people know Zheng Qiang.

And because of this, one can imagine their inner shock when they heard that Zheng Qiang, who was in the limelight and ranked in the top five of the young generation of the Tang Dynasty and was a candidate for the future military leader of the Tang Dynasty... was actually the illegitimate son of Changsun Shunde.

This was really something no one expected.

But soon, their thoughts changed again.

Zheng Qiang is only in his early twenties.

The eldest grandson Shunde is over seventy years old.

So... this Zheng Qiang was born when Changsun Shunde was in his fifties?

Qin Ziyi and others all looked at him with a strange look in their eyes.

This Changsun Shunde is always so dishonest!
Fifty years old in this era is equivalent to seventy or eighty years old in later generations.

And at this time, having an illegitimate child, you can imagine how people would view him.

Changsun Shunde also noticed the complicated gazes from Qin Ziyi and the others at this time, which made his old face turn red with anger.

He felt that his reputation was about to be completely ruined.

He clenched his fists, his face flushed, and said, "Shen Lian, you...you, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"Zheng Qiang is not my illegitimate son at all. Stop talking nonsense!"

Shen Lian squinted at him and said, "If he's not an illegitimate child, how can you take care of him like this?"

"That's because I raised him since he was a child and he is my adopted son..." Chang Sun Shunde said without thinking.

"Ow."

Shen Lian nodded and said calmly: "So he is your adopted son, no wonder you take such good care of Zheng Qiang. I was just talking nonsense just now, but now..."

He laughed and said, "Everyone is not deaf, we understand everything. This Zheng Qiang is indeed the person you left in the army."

"..."

Chang Sun Shunde was stunned for a moment.

It seemed that he didn't understand what Shen Lian meant.

But soon, he understood everything and realized that he had been fooled by Qin Shenlian again!

At this moment, he felt as if his brain was about to split apart and he was going crazy!
His eyes were red and his face was distorted.

At this time, everyone else looked at Changsun Shunde with some pity.

Meeting an opponent like Shen Lian is truly the greatest misfortune in Changsun Shunde's life.

It is true that Shen Lian is too smart, and he is also too good at lying.

It is impossible to judge whether what Shen Lian said is true or false!
Therefore, Changsun Shunde could never have imagined that what Shen Lian had just said was just a trick on him.

Because he was too ashamed and angry, and worried that his reputation would be ruined, he got anxious and, without any surprise, fell into Shen Lian's trap.

Shen Lian didn't have to do anything, he confessed everything.

Zheng Qiang is the most profound chess piece planted by Changsun Shunde. He is his greatest support and he is not afraid of anyone even if he leaves the military.

Before he left the Ministry of War, he had already paved the way for Zheng Qiang.

As long as Zheng Qiang climbs up step by step despite his commoner background, he will definitely be able to gain a place in the Ministry of War.

He knew Li Shimin too well. He knew that Li Shimin now favored the poor families and hoped to increase their power in the court. Therefore, a person like Zheng Qiang who had no background but worked step by step would definitely be favored by Li Shimin.

But who would have thought...
I have done everything and prepared everything perfectly, and I am just waiting to reap the fruits of my labor.

But who knew that at this moment, Shen Lian's words directly exposed his biggest secret completely.

This really drove him crazy.

"When you get older, it's best not to have too many emotional fluctuations. Otherwise, it would be bad if you die accidentally." Shen Lian looked at Changsun Shunde, whose face was hideous and distorted, and spoke lightly.

"Shen Lian!"

The look Changsun Shunde showed towards Shen Lian now contained anger and madness, but also inevitably, tension and fear.

He really couldn't see through Shen Lian in front of him, and had no idea what Shen Lian was thinking.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Why do you doubt the relationship between Zheng Qiang and me? And where is Zheng Qiang?"

Shen Lian said calmly: "I have already said it just now. Basically, when Zheng Qiang made contributions, it was under your command. When he was under the command of other generals, Zheng Qiang seemed to be a different person and did not make any contributions at all."

"If it happened once or twice, it would be fine, but three or four times, it's enough to make people suspicious."

"It's just that the generals in your Ministry of War are too inattentive and not sharp, so they didn't notice it... But unfortunately, when the case of His Highness Xiao Sizi was before, I, Shen Lian, used the majesty of His Highness the King of Chu to... sort out the Ministry of War. The purpose at that time was to find the possible murderer, or the spy who colluded with the Beidou Society..."

"But who would have known that, at that time, in addition to finding Tianquan and the others, I also discovered Zheng Qiang's problem."

"Why don't I know? Why have I never heard of it?" Changsun Shunde couldn't help but ask.

Shen Lian smiled faintly: "Why should I let you know? And what qualifications do you have to know what I'm thinking?"

"Don't even mention you. Even Li Jing and the others don't know about this... Zheng Qiang's case has nothing to do with the case of His Highness Xiao Sizi at the time, so I didn't mention it to anyone. I just ordered people to secretly keep an eye on him to see if there would be any surprises."

"And the result..."

The corners of his mouth slightly raised: "Is it surprising enough that we caught a big fish like you?"

When Changsun Shunde heard what Shen Lian said, he knew that Shen Lian had been paying attention to Zheng Qiang for a long time, and had been paying attention to him through Zheng Qiang...
But he was totally clueless, thinking he had hidden it from everyone, and was still smug, thinking that Shen Lian, the right wing of the King of Chu, was no better than him…

When I thought of this, I thought that Shen Lian might be sneering at me from behind like a monkey, making funny gestures there.

He couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

"You...you...so, Zheng Qiang, he, he..."

Shen Lian smiled lightly and said, "That's right, you can't wait for him. When he rashly and secretly mobilized some of his trusted soldiers tonight, he was already under control."

"So, even if you scream your throat out, he won't come to save you."

The words fell.

Chang Sun Shunde's back was instantly covered in cold sweat.

He subconsciously raised his head, wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Shen Lian with horror, and said, "Then you, then you...did you know that I was here a long time ago?"

When everyone heard this, they were suddenly moved and looked at Shen Lian quickly.

(End of this chapter)