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

Jiucheng Palace, Ningyun Pavilion.

Unlike the unusual tranquility of Chengxiang Palace, a palpable rage and panic, almost solidified, permeated the residence of Prince Wei, Li Tai.

"No one may leave without an imperial edict?! What does he mean by this?! Does he intend to leave me and that madman to die in this desolate wilderness?!"

Like a restless, trapped beast, Li Tai paced back and forth in the elegantly decorated palace, veins throbbing on his forehead and his face flushed red with extreme anger.

He suddenly kicked over a beautiful porcelain vase beside him, the crisp sound of it shattering echoing through the hall, shards flying everywhere.

"The Prince of Jin was poisoned? And of all times?! And right here in Jiucheng Palace?! What a coincidence!"

His voice was hoarse, filled with disbelief and a furious rage at being fooled:
"Father... what is he trying to do?!"

"Could he really believe that it was that madman Li Chengqian who poisoned him? Or... is he just using this as an excuse to make trouble?!"

He abruptly stopped, staring intently at Su Xu, who sat beside him with an equally grave expression:

"Mr. Su! Tell me! Has Father... has he already taken a liking to Zhinu?!"

"He wants to trap us two brothers here to pave the way for that brat Li Zhi?!"

Su Xu stroked his beard, his brows furrowed, and said in a deep voice:
"Your Highness, His Majesty's thoughts are unfathomable."

"But Prince Jin is young and has suddenly encountered this calamity. His Majesty loves his son dearly and has temporarily separated the Crown Prince, who is the most suspected, from Your Highness. This is understandable in terms of both reason and sentiment. However..."

"Just what?!"

"But His Highness the Crown Prince's reaction is too abnormal."

Su Xu's eyes flickered with doubt:

"According to our reports, after receiving the decree, the Crown Prince showed no anger or attempt to defend himself. On the contrary, he was unusually calm and even chatted and laughed with Pei Xingjian in the palace."

"Calm? Composed and laughing?"

Li Tai spoke as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, his voice shrill:
"Is Li Chengqian a fool?! Can't he see that the Emperor has imprisoned him here, and the next step is likely to be to use this poisoning incident as a pretext to depose him under the guise of 'harming his brothers and being morally corrupt'!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, waving his arms:

"I was poisoned at the Crown Prince's residence, and now my servant has been poisoned again at Jiucheng Palace!"

"These two things combined mean that if Father is determined to depose him, this is the most convincing and readily available charge!"

"The Crown Prince is cruel and intolerant of his brothers! Everyone in the world will believe that!"

"Because both Zhi Nu and I are the Empress's legitimate sons, and both are the strongest contenders for the throne! As long as we both die, he will be the one and only heir!"

Li Tai's voice trembled with a hint of despair:

"Once he is deposed, I will be the next target to be eliminated!"

"If we brothers fight each other, the one who will ultimately benefit is Li Zhi, who can hide in Chang'an and do nothing!"

He suddenly grabbed Su Xu's arm, his nails almost digging into the other's flesh, his eyes bloodshot.
"How can he not react at all?! How can he still laugh?! Does he really just sit here and wait to be crippled, and then die like Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji?!"

Su Xu endured the pain, looked at Li Tai who was almost out of control, and sighed in his heart.

His Highness Prince Wei is still too impatient.

He took a deep breath and offered words of comfort:

“Your Highness, the Crown Prince is a man of deep thoughts and may have other plans. We must not panic. His calm demeanor suggests either that he has a pre-existing strategy or... that he has already resigned himself to his fate.”

"Accept his fate? Would Li Chengqian accept his fate?"

Li Tai seemed to have been pricked by a needle, abruptly shaking off Su Xu's hand, and said through gritted teeth:
"No! He would never accept his fate! He must be plotting something in secret!"

He paced anxiously around the hall twice more, then suddenly stopped, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes:

"No! I absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait to die! Father Emperor wants to support Li Zhi? Dream on!"

As he spoke, he abruptly turned to Su Xu, lowered his voice, and spoke with urgency and determination:
"Mr. Su, you must immediately find a way to convey my message to Chancellor Liu in Chang'an!"

"Tell him that Father Emperor has already decided to change the heir apparent, and the target is likely Prince Jin, Li Zhi!"

"If Father Emperor issues an edict to depose Li Chengqian because of this poisoning incident, we must never allow Li Zhi to become the Crown Prince!"

His eyes turned unusually sinister:

"Furthermore, have Prime Minister Liu contact all our forces in the court and prepare accordingly!"

"Once the edict to depose the crown prince is issued, we must immediately mobilize our forces and unite with the meritorious officials, veterans, and powerful families who also do not want to see a young emperor ascend the throne, to put pressure on the emperor!"

"Even if... even if the position of crown prince doesn't ultimately fall to me, it absolutely cannot be Li Zhi!"

“A young crown prince will only become a puppet of powerful ministers. The Tang Dynasty cannot be handed over to such a child! This is for the sake of the Tang Dynasty’s future!”

He cloaked his ambition in a veneer of grandeur.

Su Xu was shocked, knowing that the Prince of Wei was going all out, even going so far as to directly challenge His Majesty's authority and forcibly interfere in the selection of an heir after His Majesty had deposed the Crown Prince.

This move is extremely risky; the slightest misstep could lead to utter ruin.

But seeing the desperate look in Li Tai's eyes, he knew that further persuasion would be useless at this point, so he could only bow and say:
"Your Majesty, I understand! I will immediately go and find a way to contact Chancellor Liu!"

"be quick!"

Li Tai emphasized heavily, "We must act before Father Emperor makes his final decision! We... don't have much time left!"

Su Xu left in a hurry, leaving only Li Tai in Ningyun Pavilion.

He walked to the window, gazing at the deep night outside and the faint lights of Chengxiang Palace in the distance. His chest heaved violently, his eyes filled with anger, fear, and a frantic determination born from being driven to the brink of despair.

"Li Chengqian... Father... You all want to force me to my death..."

"Let's see who will be the last one to die!" He clenched his fist, his nails digging deep into his palms, drawing blood, but he felt no pain whatsoever.

The night at Jiucheng Palace became even more profound and unpredictable because of the two brothers' drastically different yet equally dangerous reactions.

An even greater storm is brewing beneath the seemingly calm surface of this detached palace.

Meanwhile, inside the imperial carriage returning to Chang'an.

The wheels rolled over the official road, making a monotonous and dull sound.

Inside the spacious and luxurious carriage, the atmosphere was even more heavy and oppressive than the sweltering heat outside.

Empress Zhangsun leaned against the cushions, her face pale, with tear stains still clinging to the corners of her eyes. Her usual gentle and graceful demeanor was replaced by a deep sorrow and bewilderment.

Looking at Li Shimin across from her, who was resting with his eyes closed and whose face was cold and hard, she finally couldn't help but speak, her voice trembling slightly:
"Second brother...do you really want to do this?"

Li Shimin slowly opened his eyes, his gaze calm yet unfathomable, as if containing the ice of millennia past:

"Guanyinbi, what are you trying to say?"

"Chengqian...he is our eldest son!"

Empress Zhangsun's voice was choked with sobs:

“He may act radically, and his methods may be ruthless, but he has expanded the territory and made great contributions to the country! How can you... how can you doubt him so much just because of the poisoning of the young slave, and even have the idea of ​​changing the heir?”

"Isn't this exactly what the mastermind behind it all wanted, to make you father and son turn against each other, and brothers fight amongst yourselves?!"

Her tone was pleading, but also tinged with an unspeakable fear, as if she were witnessing a terrible future becoming a reality.

Li Shimin's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he sat up abruptly. An invisible imperial pressure instantly filled the carriage, and even the air seemed to freeze.

"Father and son killing each other? Brothers fighting each other?"

He repeated those words, a cold and bitter smile curving his lips, a smile filled with endless mockery and a certain resolute determination:

"Guanyinbi, tell me, how many infamy have I borne in my life?!"

His voice suddenly rose, carrying a long-suppressed emotion that was almost about to burst forth:
"Xuanwu Gate! I killed my own brother! I forced my father to abdicate! I will bear this eternal infamy of 'fratricide and patricide'!"

"Why?! Do you think I want my hands stained with the blood of my own family?!"

"It's all for the sake of the Tang Dynasty! It's to prevent this hard-won empire from being destroyed by mediocre, incompetent, and jealous people!"

He stared intently at Empress Zhangsun, his gaze burning as if trying to pierce through all pretense.
"Yes! I admit it! Chengqian is capable! He has the courage! He is even more ruthless and decisive than I was back then! He pacified Liaodong and destroyed the Japanese, his achievements are outstanding!"

"But it is precisely because he is so capable that his ambition is even more terrifying! He is out of control! Guanyinbi!"

"Have you forgotten how we forced Father to abdicate step by step?! Do you want to see me suffer the same fate as Father?! To become a retired emperor, sidelined and imprisoned by my own son, left only to wait for death in the deep palace?!"

These words struck Empress Zhangsun like a thunderbolt, leaving her pale and chilled to the bone.

She opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but found that her throat felt like it was blocked by something, and she couldn't say a word.

Looking at her distraught state, Li Shimin's tone softened slightly, yet carried a deeper, more unsettling weariness and insight:
"And Guanyinbi, don't you really feel anything?"

“Chengqian... has changed a long time ago.”

His gaze became distant, as if piercing through time, returning to that thrilling afternoon many years ago.

"From the moment he woke up when he was eight years old... he changed."

"He is no longer the Chengqian we know."

"His eyes, his thoughts, his endless stream of unprecedented methods... artillery, navy, smallpox vaccination, even those exquisitely terrifying scientific methods..."

"Don't you find it strange? How could an eight-year-old child understand these things? How could he have such a deep mind and such ruthless and decisive methods?"

Li Shimin's voice lowered, carrying an almost cruel clarity:

“He may still be our son, but his soul… I sometimes feel that it is inhabited by a completely unfamiliar being.”

"A more powerful, more ruthless, and more difficult-to-control existence."

He looked at Empress Zhangsun again, his eyes revealing both the decisiveness of an emperor and the deep-seated pain and helplessness of a father.
"I don't know what happened to him, and I don't want to delve into it. All I know is that the Tang Dynasty was conquered by me, sword by sword, over mountains of corpses and seas of blood!"

"I absolutely cannot stand by and watch it fall into the hands of a 'son' whom I cannot even see clearly or control!"

"My empire must be inherited by my son!"

"A true Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, who shares the blood of both me and you, and who can be understood and influenced by me!"

Empress Zhangsun listened in a daze, feeling a sense of absurdity and chill as she listened to the information revealed in Li Shimin's words.

[Changed? Changed since age eight?]

Another soul?

These words sounded so incredible, but upon careful reflection on Li Chengqian's words and actions over the years, his maturity beyond his years, his almost superhuman talent, and his ideas that were incompatible with the Tang Dynasty yet remarkably effective, she could not completely deny them.

A tremendous sense of powerlessness and fear gripped her.

She looked at her husband, who was equally exhausted and also struggling in the vortex of power and family ties.

In the end, all the words of comfort and doubt turned into a long, desperate sigh, and tears fell silently.

She got it.

Faced with the fate of the nation, the unchallengeable authority of the emperor, and his unfathomable suspicion, the so-called father-son bond proved to be so fragile and vulnerable.

The carriage continued its bumpy journey, carrying the empire's most distinguished couple, the irreparable rift between them, and a heavy, dangerous secret concerning the empire's future, heading towards the politically charged city of Chang'an. (End of Chapter)