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

Beneath the surface of calm, Jiucheng Palace harbors turbulent undercurrents.

Li Chengqian stood by the window of Chengxiang Hall, toying with a warm, white jade chess piece in his hand.

The moonlight, like water, shone on his sharply defined profile, reflecting a pair of unfathomable eyes.

"Your Highness, a secret report from Chang'an."

Pei Xingjian's voice sounded from behind, deliberately kept very low.

Li Chengqian didn't turn around, but gently pressed the chess piece on the windowsill: "Read it."

"Yes. Lord Ma Zhou reported that within three days of His Majesty's return to the capital, he has summoned senior officials such as Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Xiao Yu three times for closed-door talks, each lasting more than an hour."

"Pei Qian, the Sima of the Prince of Wei's residence, frequently visits Liu Ji's residence. Yesterday, Liu Ji hosted a banquet for Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong, the Prince of Rencheng, at his residence."

"This morning, His Majesty issued an edict to seal off Taiji Palace, citing the need for Prince Jin to rest and recuperate. No one is allowed to visit him, including the Empress."

Li Chengqian's fingers gently caressed the edge of the chess piece, a cold smile curving his lips.

Is sealing off Taiji Palace for protection or isolation?

Or perhaps... to prevent anyone from getting close to Li Zhi and asking things they shouldn't?
"Any more?"

"Have."

Pei Xingjian's voice was even lower:

“Yesterday at dusk, news spread through the palace that His Majesty… summoned Yan Shigu, the Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, and ordered him to examine all the edicts and memorials issued by the deposed Crown Prince Jiancheng during the Wude era.”

Click.

A fine crack appeared between Li Chengqian's fingers on the white jade chess piece.

He slowly turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife: "The format of the edict to depose the crown prince during the Wude era?"

"Yes."

Pei Xingjian's face turned ashen: "Your Highness, His Majesty is... is preparing for..."

"Edict to depose the Crown Prince".

Li Chengqian calmly replied, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

He placed the cracked chess piece in his palm and examined it closely: "Father's actions were faster than I expected. It seems that Zhi Nu's poisoning gave him the perfect excuse."

"Your Highness! We cannot sit idly by and wait to die!"

Pei Xingjian knelt on one knee, his eyes burning with rage: "Let this humble general lead the troops to escort Your Highness out of Jiucheng Palace! As long as we return to Chang'an, back to our Crown Prince's residence, His Majesty will not dare—"

"and then?"

Li Chengqian interrupted him, his voice remaining calm:
"Then I will become a true traitor, and Father Emperor can rightfully mobilize the army of the whole country to punish me. Those court officials in Chang'an who are still watching will immediately side with Father Emperor. The garrison troops and the Twelve Guards in Guanzhong will not hesitate to draw their swords against me."

He walked to the desk, picked up the imperial edict of house arrest: "Father is only 'suspicious' now, only 'house arrest'. He is still waiting, waiting for me to lose my temper, waiting for me to make the first move."

“If I make a move, he will be a wise and enlightened emperor who ‘sacrifices his own family for the greater good.’ And I will be a traitor who ‘murders his younger brother and raises an army in rebellion.’”

Pei Xingjian gritted his teeth: "Are we just going to wait like this? Until the edict to depose the crown prince is delivered to Jiucheng Palace? Until His Majesty's knife is at our throats?"

"wait?"

Li Chengqian smiled, but there was no warmth in his smile, only a frozen resolve: "Of course not."

He walked to the huge map of the Tang Dynasty inside the hall and slowly traced his finger from the location of Jiucheng Palace towards Chang'an.

"Xingjian, you just said something wrong."

"I don't need to fight my way back to Chang'an."

His finger stopped on the city of Chang'an, then suddenly swept westward, landing on the Longyou Road.

"The place I'm going to is not Chang'an."

Pei Xingjian was taken aback, then his pupils shrank sharply: "Your Highness means... Jiangling? But that place is..."

"It is my foundation!"

Li Chengqian shook his head: "Those soldiers and generals in Jiangling don't recognize the imperial seal, they recognize my face, Li Chengqian's face."

He turned around, and for the first time, a flame, almost ambitious, ignited in his eyes:

“Father thought that by confining me to Jiucheng Palace, he could cut off my escape route. But he forgot that I have never only had the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace.”

"I have troops in Jiangling, troops in the Anbei Protectorate, troops in the Andong Protectorate, and troops in the Dengzhou Navy—these are my true sources of confidence."

Pei Xingjian's breathing quickened: "Your Highness intends to raise an army?"

"No." Li Chengqian shook his head again, a complex look flashing in his eyes: "I want to give Father Emperor one last chance."

"The last chance... to see his son for who he really is."

He walked back to his desk, spread out a sheet of plain paper, and dipped his brush in ink.

The pen hovered above the paper, pausing for a full ten breaths.

It finally landed.

"Your subject, Gaoming, weeps blood and kowtows, humbly reporting this to Your Majesty the Emperor..."

This is not the format of a memorial to the throne; this is a family letter.

It is a son's final confession and questioning of his father.

Li Chengqian wrote very slowly, word by word, as if he wanted to pour out the more than ten years of father-son relationship, the seven years of his life as crown prince, all the grievances, resentment, anger, and even the last glimmer of hope on this thin sheet of paper.

He wrote that when he was eight years old, he went to Jiangling alone, and that if he wanted to receive the crown, he would have to bear its weight.

He wrote about the perilous situation he faced during the pacification of Liang Shidu and the fierce battle against Jieli Khan.

He wrote about the hardships and dangers of destroying the Xueyantuo and conquering the Tuyuhun and Tubo.

When he wrote about the campaign against Goguryeo, his father, the emperor, would send him a handwritten edict every three days from Chang'an inquiring about the battle situation.

He wrote that after he pacified Japan, his father praised him in front of all the civil and military officials in the Taiji Hall for "protecting the country and bringing peace to the nation".

Then, the writing style shifted.

He wrote about his father's growing suspicion over the years, about the spies planted in the Crown Prince's residence, and about the checks and balances and suppression that followed each time he made a contribution.

He wrote about how Li Tai pressed Li Tai relentlessly, and how his father indulged and even supported him.

He wrote about how his father used Su Wan to set a trap at Jiucheng Palace, and how he framed him for murdering his younger brother without asking any questions.

Finally, he wrote:

"Your subject has long heard that there are no relatives in the imperial family. I did not believe it before, but now I know it."

"Father suspects that I have ulterior motives, but how could I not know that Father already intends to change the heir?"

"However, I ask myself, during my seven years as crown prince, I have never dared to forget my father's teachings for a single day, nor have I ever failed the Tang Dynasty in any way. In expanding the territory, governing the country and bringing peace to the people, I may have made mistakes, but I have never had any disloyal intentions."

"Now, Father Emperor has imprisoned me here on trumped-up charges and has secretly prepared an edict to depose me as heir apparent. My heart is as cold as ice, yet I still refuse to believe that Father Emperor would be so heartless."

"If this letter reaches the ears of the Emperor, I have only one request: I beg Your Majesty to come to Jiucheng Palace and speak with me face to face."

"If Father Emperor still regards me as his son, I am willing to return all military power and seals of office, imprison myself in my fiefdom, and never set foot in Chang'an again."

"If Father has already decided to depose me..."

Li Chengqian's pen paused here, and the ink spread a little black spot on the paper.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the last trace of warmth in them had vanished.

He continued writing:

"If Father has already decided to depose me, please issue a public edict to the world to announce my crimes. Do not let me die without knowing why."

"Your subject, Li Chengqian, bows twice."

After finishing writing, he put down his pen, looked at the densely packed characters, and suddenly smiled.

That smile contained mockery, sorrow, but more than anything, it was a sense of relief from having completely let go.

He knew the outcome of sending the letter.

The best-case scenario is that it will disappear without a trace.

The most likely outcome is that it will become a catalyst that angers the emperor and accelerates the removal of the heir apparent.

But he still had to write.

This was his final farewell to the identity of 'Li Chengqian,' a burial of the boy who once idolized his father and longed for recognition.

"Seal it tightly and send it directly to Taiji Palace using the fastest possible channel."

Li Chengqian handed the letter to Pei Xingjian: "Don't let it pass through anyone else's hands."

Pei Xingjian took the letter with both hands, his eyes reddening as he looked at the heart-wrenching words on it: "Your Highness, this letter..."

"This is the last chance I'm giving my father."

Li Chengqian turned to look out the window: "This is also to give...the former Li Chengqian an explanation." (End of Chapter)