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

Chapter 433: A Coup

"How are everything prepared?"

In a secret room, the candlelight flickered, casting an ever-changing light throughout the room.

"Your Highness, everything is ready."

"Chang He, the garrison commander of Xuanwu Gate, is not a close confidant of Your Highness. He was saved by Your Highness during the Battle of Hulao Pass and even voluntarily revealed the location of his family. He has no ulterior motives."

"The senior officials in the court are all standing by and watching; no matter what the outcome, it will not shake their positions."

"The Pei family has been sent out of Luoyang by us under various pretexts. Only Pei Ji remains by His Majesty's side, so he is not a threat."

"Currently, there are 200,000 troops in the capital, including 100,000 Imperial Guards and 100,000 Capital Garrison troops. Among them, 50,000 are elite soldiers who once followed His Highness in battles across the country."

"There are 5 under the command of the King of Qin, and they are now under our control. However, we need to not only use these 5 but also guard against them. We will continue to use them to counterbalance the other armies, but for important matters, we will still need Your Highness's 5 troops."

"The remaining 5 belong to Princess Pingyang Zhao. Princess Pingyang has chosen to remain neutral, slightly favoring Your Highness."

"The last 5 are His Majesty's trusted confidants. These 5 troops are all in the palace, responsible for guarding the palace. Although they are said to be elite, they have been out of battle for a long time, and His Majesty does not dare to let His Highness and the army under the Prince of Qin mix in, so their combat strength is not strong."

"We only need to use Xuanwu Gate to send troops into the palace and quickly take control of His Majesty. These 5 imperial guards will be useless."

"The pretext for this military action is quite simple: the former remnants of the previous dynasty, the same group that assassinated Li Yuanji, are now attempting to assassinate Your Majesty again. Upon learning of this, Your Highness led troops to your rescue."

"His Majesty was successfully rescued from the assassins, but he was shocked and disoriented, unable to govern. The Crown Prince took over the reins of the state, and His Majesty moved to the inner palace to recuperate and not concern himself with politics."

Fang Xuanling explained all their plans in detail, and each person added to them. This matter concerned everyone's life and death and future, so no one took it lightly.

The final number of people to enter Xuanwu Gate was set at 800.

The quality of an army is more important than its quantity. If this matter goes smoothly, 800 will be enough.

If things don't go smoothly, the remaining troops will swarm in, storm the palace, and fight to the death!

"What should we do about the King of Chu?"

It wasn't until the very end that someone mentioned Li Zhiyun, the King of Chu, who should have been the main character in this incident.

"He's a piece of trash, don't bother with him."

"Once it's done, an imperial decree will be issued, and I'll be the butcher, while he'll be the fish on the chopping block. There's no need to care."

Li Shimin said disdainfully.

He never took Li Zhiyun seriously, not even Li Yuan. If Li Yuan weren't his biological father and the current emperor, Li Shimin wouldn't have thought much of Li Yuan based solely on his abilities.

Poor Li Zhiyun, the dignified Prince of Chu, was a pawn used by Li Yuan to counterbalance Li Shimin, but from beginning to end, neither Li Yuan nor Li Shimin respected him.

Even if Li Shimin were to launch an uprising, he wouldn't bother to send even a few hundred men to deal with him first.

He was truly a failure as the King of Chu!

Sad, deplorable!

When Li Zhiyun learned the truth afterward, he was devastated!

Once everything was planned, the secret room fell into a deathly silence.

"Since that's the case, I'll cast a divination to predict whether this matter will be auspicious or inauspicious."

Zhang Gongjin suddenly spoke, breaking the silence in the secret room.

He took out a tortoise shell from his pocket, put a few copper coins inside, and shook it in front of his chest.

"Your Highness?"

Li Shimin snatched the tortoise shell and slammed it to the ground under Zhang Gongjin's questioning gaze.

"Since things have come to this, what's the point of divining? Are we just going to give up just because the divination results are bad?"

"Success means life, failure means death, what is there to doubt?!"

Having made up his mind, Li Shimin no longer hesitated. He touched the wooden sword in his hand, determined not to allow anyone to harm his Guanyinbi and children.

Even if that person is his father.

A hint of admiration appeared in Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui's eyes. His decisive actions were the Li Shimin they remembered.

Li Shimin, who was able to use the imperial seal as bait to defeat three kings in one battle.

After Li Shimin's actions, the unease in everyone's hearts clearly disappeared, and the entire secret room was filled with a do-or-die spirit.

If an ordinary person were to enter this secret room, they would be overwhelmed by its imposing atmosphere.

"Proceed according to plan!"

At dawn, Empress Zhangsun personally helped Li Shimin put on his armor and watched him leave.

When Li Chengqian got up in the middle of the night, he happened to see this scene. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew that his father was an invincible war god.

"Father, your son awaits your triumphant return."

Li Chengqian rubbed his sleepy eyes, returned to his room, and lay down on the bed again.

Li Shimin's eyes turned red, and a raging fire burned in his heart. He wanted to win; he had to win!

"Walk!"

Under the cover of night, Li Shimin's eight hundred personal guards, all clad in armor and fully armed, arrived outside the Xuanwu Gate.

"Coo coo coo~"

Cheng Yaojin made a few cooing sounds towards the city gate, which was the pre-arranged signal between them and Chang He.

"Coo coo~ Coo~"

Hearing the echo from Xuanwu Gate, Cheng Yaojin made a few more cooing noises.

"Coo coo~ Coo~ Coo coo coo~"

After these gurgling sounds reached Xuanwu Gate, the gate was opened from the inside.

Li Shimin led his army directly into the city, while Qin Qiong led 300 men to firmly guard Xuanwu Gate. In case of any mishap, he would send a signal to allow the main army outside the city to directly enter through Xuanwu Gate.

Taiji Palace.

"The Crown Prince?"

The guards outside Taiji Palace were at a loss for what to do when they saw Li Shimin's murderous aura.

Li Shimin walked to his side and beheaded him with a single sword stroke. Behind him, Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, and others quickly dealt with all the other guards.

However, a guard still cried out in alarm, waking Li Yuan, who was already asleep inside.

What was that sound?

"Someone come here!"

Li Yuan shouted outside.

"Squeak!"

The sound of the door opening startled Li Yuan; the voice sounded off.

The eunuchs used to enter very quietly, so why is there a sound of armor clashing?

"Jiro?"

Li Yuan looked at Li Shimin, who was walking in fully armored, with a puzzled expression. "Why are you here?"

"Is there any urgent military situation in the Western Regions?"

Li Yuan got up from the bed and looked at Li Shimin.

"no."