Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Inside the Danxiao Palace.

Li Chengqian bowed respectfully, his voice deliberately carrying a hint of barely perceptible hoarseness and tension:
"Your subject thanks Your Majesty for bestowing this marriage upon you."

Li Shimin put down his vermilion brush, his gaze sweeping calmly over him, as if trying to pierce through the feigned composure and see the turmoil within his heart. The air was filled with the fragrance of incense, yet it could not dispel the invisible pressure.

[This unfilial son, in the end, couldn't hold his temper!]

Li Shimin thought to himself, but his face remained expressionless:
"Hmm, Miss Su comes from a family of upright character and is a good match for you. As the Crown Prince, your marriage is also a matter of national importance, so you should act accordingly."

Li Chengqian straightened up, but did not immediately take his leave.

He raised his head, his gaze meeting Li Shimin's directly. His eyes no longer concealed the probing and a hint of suppressed sharpness within them. He spoke slowly, his voice low, yet each word clear:

"Father, if I may be so bold as to ask, have you... already made up your mind?"

The question seemed abrupt, but both people present knew exactly what it referred to.

[The position of heir apparent, and the true intentions hidden behind the arranged marriage.]

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin not only did not get angry, but instead smiled faintly.

That smile held a hint of mockery, a hint of insight, and an indescribable chill: "A decision? Chengqian, didn't you... already make up your mind long ago?"

He didn't deny it; instead, he threw the question back at them, like a mirror reflecting their unspoken confrontation.

Li Chengqian's pupils contracted slightly, then he smiled, a smile that carried a hint of arrogance and knowingness: "That's true."

He took a step forward, no longer beating around the bush, his tone becoming direct and dangerous:
"So what does Father Emperor intend to do? Openly or covertly? And how far does he intend to escalate this matter?"

This almost provocative question frightened the eunuchs, including Wu She, who were standing in the hall, so much that they dared not even breathe.

Li Shimin's smile faded, and he leaned forward slightly, his imperial aura descending as if it were a tangible force.

He stared at Li Chengqian, his eyes sharp as an eagle: "It seems you are very confident?"

Li Chengqian met his gaze without flinching, his tone resolute: "It's not that I'm confident. I just don't want to lose."

In just one short sentence, he expressed all his obsession and determination.

He had no way out, and he couldn't afford to lose.

Li Shimin looked at the undisguised, desperate flame in his son's eyes, remained silent for a moment, and a complex emotion flashed in his eyes, including disappointment, anger, and perhaps a faint trace of weariness.

His voice lowered, carrying a question that seemed to come from the bottom of his heart: "Chengqian, you and I, father and son... do we really have to come to this?"

"Why... couldn't you have waited a little longer?"

This question seemed to strip away some of the emperor's pretense, revealing a trace of a father's character.

However, Li Chengqian's heart was already encased in layers of ice armor.

He listened to these seemingly earnest words and felt only utter irony.

Wait? Wait until you're like Li Jiancheng, caught completely off guard and killed in front of Xuanwu Gate?
Or should we wait until we are stripped of our titles and reduced to commoners, and die on the road to exile?
Given the experiences of my predecessor, how could I possibly repeat the same mistakes?
He slowly stood up, no longer looking at Li Shimin, but turning his gaze to the seemingly free sky outside the hall. In an almost calm to cold tone, he uttered three words: "Can't wait."

After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave this suffocating place.

Just as he was about to step out of the palace gate—

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened!!" A eunuch stumbled in, his face deathly pale, his voice trembling with anguish: "His Highness Prince Jin! His Highness Prince Jin... he's been poisoned!!"

boom--!
It was like a thunderclap exploding in the Danxiao Palace!
Li Shimin abruptly stood up from his throne, his face instantly turning ashen. The complex emotions he had just felt were completely replaced by rage and horror.

He shouted angrily, "What happened?! How could Zhinu be poisoned?! Where was she poisoned?! Who did it?!"

Li Chengqian also suddenly stopped and turned around, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief.

Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) was poisoned? In the heavily guarded Jiucheng Palace?
He instinctively pressed, "How is Zhinu now? What poison has she been given?"

However, his instinctive concern was interpreted in a completely different way by Li Shimin, who was in a state of extreme shock and anger.

Li Shimin suddenly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Li Chengqian like they were spitting fire, filled with unprecedented rage and suspicion.

He pointed at Li Chengqian, his voice trembling with extreme anger: "You?! You still have the nerve to ask what happened?!"

"Did you do it?! Did you—!!"

This unreasonable, loud question, like an ice pick, pierced Li Chengqian's heart.

He looked into Li Shimin's undisguised, almost murderous, suspicious eyes, and into his fatherly rage that instantly over the possibility of his other son's death...

Li Chengqian stood frozen in place, as if he had been frozen in place.

Shock, anger, a chilling sense of being utterly wronged, and a sinister feeling of having discovered some cruel truth overwhelmed him instantly like a tidal wave.

The color drained from his face, replaced by an extreme, abyss-like gloom.

[What a cruel heart... Li Er!]

In his heart, he uttered this silent roar, each word distinct and chilling, filled with unwavering resolve.

He knew that once his father had confirmed his feelings, he had completely dropped the pretense.

That was a ruthless tactic to forcibly link the poisoning incident at the Crown Prince's residence with the poisoning incident at Li Zhi's residence.

Even if I wanted to explain myself now, I'm afraid my father wouldn't listen to me.

As expected, Li Shimin did not wait for his answer at all, or rather, this was the 'answer' he had already decided on.

Li Shimin shoved aside the eunuch who tried to help him up, and like a wounded tiger, filled with boundless anger and anxiety, he rushed out of Danxiao Palace and ran wildly towards the palace of Prince Jin, Li Zhi.

Li Chengqian was left alone, standing in the empty and cold Danxiao Palace.

The incense in the hall still wafted gently, but it could no longer bring any warmth.

Li Chengqian slowly raised his head, gazing in the direction where Li Shimin had disappeared. The gloom on his face gradually transformed into an extremely cold calm, beneath which lay a world-destroying storm about to erupt.

He lightly brushed off non-existent dust from his sleeves, a chilling smile curving his lips.

This time... I really can't wait any longer.

Before long, a large group of guards rushed in from outside the hall and surrounded Li Chengqian.

Then, Yun Duan, the leader, stepped out from among the guards and said calmly and indifferently:
"Your Highness, His Majesty has decreed that I escort you back!" (End of Chapter)