A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

At this moment, the imperial physician that Pei Ji had summoned for Li Yuan also rushed over, and Li Yuan immediately had them treat Li Yuanji.

The imperial physician examined Li Yuanji's eyelids, took his pulse, and shook his head at Li Yuan. Li Yuanji was dead.

Li Yuan staggered and nearly fainted. Pei Ji quickly ordered the imperial physician to check on Li Yuan's condition.

"Your Majesty, this is due to excessive anger. You only need to rest for a period of time and avoid getting angry, and you will recover."

The imperial physician took Li Yuan's pulse, relaxed his grip, and then spoke to Pei Ji.

"I am fine, Pei Ji. Order the news to be kept secret. What happened today must not be spread."

Li Yuan waved his hand, suppressing his grief, and said to Pei Ji.

"Father, rest assured, I have already given the order. The people I brought this time are all trustworthy, and there will be no leaks."

"I cannot guarantee the safety of the people my fourth brother brought."

Li Shimin glanced at the group of scoundrels from all walks of life and frowned slightly.

"Then kill them!"

Li Yuan said coldly, "A bunch of bastards who instigated his son to rebel, why not kill them or let them live through the New Year?"

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin frowned slightly, tacitly agreeing with the answer.

Raising an army in rebellion is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family; killing only one of them is already considered an extraordinary act of mercy.

"Pei Ji, I'm leaving this place to you. Eldest and Second Brothers, come with me!"

Li Yuan led Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to the imperial study and dismissed all the eunuchs and palace maids.

Tell me the whole story!

"I want to hear the truth!"

Li Yuan still found it hard to believe that his son could be so stupid.

Not only stupid, but also wicked!

Stupid and wicked!

He prefers to believe that someone deliberately plotted against him, or even misled Li Yuanji.

His education could never have failed like this.

Li Shimin recounted the entire incident to Li Yuan in its entirety, including Li Yuanji's words, presenting them with absolute neutrality without omitting or altering a single word.

After he finished speaking, Li Jiancheng, in his capacity, confirmed that it was true and that Li Shimin's words were not false at all.

These words prove that Li Yuanji is indeed that stupid and wicked.

Li Yuan slumped helplessly onto his large dragon throne. The facts were undeniable, and he had nothing to say in his defense.

"Eldest brother, second brother, kneel down!"

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin exchanged a puzzled look, but still knelt down as instructed.

"Before your father, you brothers swear to Heaven that from this day forward, you will be of one heart and mind, live in harmony, and that the descendants of the Li family will never kill one another!"

Li Yuan said painfully, "It is the cruelest thing in the world for an old person to send off a young person with black hair. What is even crueler is that the death of a young person with black hair is caused unintentionally by an old person with white hair."

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin then understood why Li Yuan had made them kneel down.

The two of them had already discussed their future, so they naturally swore an oath to the heavens without hesitation.

"I, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, hereby swear to Heaven that we will never kill any member of the Li family. If we break this oath, may we be struck down by Heaven and Earth and meet a terrible end!"

"Very well," Li Yuan nodded with satisfaction as he saw the two men swear their oaths without hesitation.

Then he thought of Li Yuanji and couldn't help but sigh that the Wei family's education was truly excellent.

Look at the sons raised by others, and then look at the sons raised by myself. They are the same kind of people, so how can there be such a big difference?

"You may leave; I am weary."

"Father, please take good care of your health."

"How should we explain this matter concerning our fourth brother? We need to agree on a consistent story."

Li Shimin reminded him.

The death of a prince of the reigning dynasty must be explained reasonably, otherwise it will likely cause chaos in the court and the country, making countless people uneasy and fearful.

"Erlang, do you have any good suggestions?"

"The guard of Xuanwu Gate, Yu Buyan, is a remnant of the previous dynasty. He intends to kill my two brothers and me when we pass through Xuanwu Gate together, so as to cut off the direct bloodline of the Li family."

"In the battle, my fourth brother was killed, but fortunately Cheng Yaojin came to my rescue in time, and my eldest brother and I were spared."

"The three thousand people killed were all assassins whom Yu Buyan had laid in advance."

Li Shimin quickly came up with a good excuse, pinning the blame on the remnants of the previous dynasty. This would both explain Li Yuanji's death and avoid tarnishing the royal family's reputation.

"Let's do as Erlang says."

Li Yuan closed his eyes wearily and waved his hand.

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin bowed to Li Yuan again and slowly withdrew.

Under the various propaganda methods employed by the imperial court, the matter was quickly concluded as the fault of the remnants of the previous dynasty. Li Yuanji was accused of heroically sacrificing his life for his country, and the imperial court captured and executed three thousand remnants of the previous dynasty, displaying their heads to the public in revenge for Prince Lu, Li Yuanji.

The following day, Li Yuan issued an edict appointing Li Shimin as Crown Prince, placing him in the Eastern Palace.

The courtiers were shocked to learn that Li Yuan had indeed not appointed his eldest son, Li Jiancheng, as the crown prince!

What is he trying to do?

Many ministers submitted memorials requesting Li Yuan to establish the eldest son of the legitimate wife and to appoint Li Jiancheng as the crown prince.

To their surprise, Li Jiancheng's trusted subordinates remained unmoved.

They were the ones who benefited the most from Li Jiancheng's rise to power!

But they all remained silent. How strange! How truly strange!

The next day, Li Yuan was so annoyed that he issued an edict to change Li Jiancheng's title to Prince of Qin, concurrently appointing him as General Who Conquers the West, leading an army of 1.5 million to recover the Western Regions, and making Guanzhong, Liangzhou, and the Western Regions his fiefdom.

The imperial decree caused an uproar among the court officials.

What is Li Yuan trying to do?

Those who could ascend to the imperial court were all shrewd individuals, and they quickly realized the schemes of the Li family.

Li Shimin succeeded to the position of crown prince, while Li Jiancheng was responsible for conquering the outside world and establishing another equally powerful Tang Dynasty.

What a spirit!

No wonder Li Jiancheng's men didn't make a move; they must have been promised fiefdoms and kingdoms as well.

Thinking of this, the ministers' eyes reddened. With the entire known world now covered by the Chinese civilization, and with the establishment of all kinds of large and small vassal states, it has become very difficult for them to have their own vassal states.

Because none of the foreign countries are weak, and the territory of the Divine Empire is too vast, the manpower and resources required for external conquests would be astronomical.

How could a country possibly expend so much manpower and resources to support an outsider in establishing a feudal state?

So for them now, this is almost impossible.

Unexpectedly, these people encountered such a tremendous opportunity. With the Shenzhou Empire's territory lost, the Tang Dynasty naturally had to fight desperately to expand its territory.

They could take this opportunity to establish fiefdoms and ancestral temples abroad, which was far more tempting than the merit of following the emperor.

While serving a ruler may grant one the highest rank, one is ultimately still someone else's subject. Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; one might lose their head at any moment.

Even if you experience both glory and disgrace in this dynasty, with each new emperor bringing his own court, you might still face death and extermination of your clan in the next.