I, the most powerful minister of the Tang Dynasty, have been exposed by the heavens.

Li Longji opened his mouth, but could not utter a word.

Yes.

Which one isn't true?

He slumped back onto the dragon throne, as if his spine had been removed.

Lu Wuming did not stop.

He looked at the old emperor before him, whose hair was already graying and whose face was full of anger but could not hide his exhaustion, and his voice suddenly became very soft and slow:

"His Majesty……"

Have you noticed that you've changed?

Li Longji was taken aback.

"You weren't like this back then."

Lu Wuming's gaze seemed to pierce through the person before him, revealing the spirited young man from decades ago:

"In the first year of the Kaiyuan era, you were only twenty-seven years old. You said you would work hard to govern the country and bring peace and prosperity to the world."

"You readily accept advice, and Yao Chong, Song Jing, Zhang Yue, Zhang Jiuling... you are surrounded by capable ministers and generals."

"You personally rectified the court, eliminated redundant officials, and suppressed the influence of powerful relatives of the emperor. At that time, your heart was with the world and its people."

Li Longji's lips moved.

"But what about now?"

Lu Wuming's voice was still very soft, yet it was like a knife:

"The people surrounding you are Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong."

"What you're listening to is slander and flattery."

"What you hold in your heart is the Imperial Concubine, the Pear Garden, and the Rainbow Feather Robe in the Hall of Eternal Life."

"His Majesty."

Lu Wuming stared directly at him, speaking slowly and deliberately:

"Do you remember what you said back then?"

"You said, I want the Tang Dynasty to once again usher in a golden age, lasting for thousands of generations!"

The hall was completely silent.

Li Longji sat blankly on the dragon throne, as if his soul had been ripped out.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

……

The Zhenguan era.

Li Shimin remained silent.

He stared at the sky, his brows furrowed in worry.

From Lu Wuming's words, he realized that Li Longji was not born incompetent.

In his youth, he was also a wise and diligent ruler.

He readily accepted advice, appointed virtuous and capable officials, and ushered in a prosperous era.

How come I've turned into this awful state as I've gotten older?

He turned his head and looked at the several important officials below:

"Tell me, what happened?"

"He was a wise ruler before, but then he became a tyrant. It's like he became a completely different person."

Changsun Wuji lowered his head and remained silent.

Fang Xuanling also lowered his eyelids, pretending to look at his official tablet.

How are they supposed to respond?

Those were emperors from later generations; no matter how incompetent they were, they were still descendants of the Tang dynasty.

To put it mildly is meaningless, to put it harshly... who can bear the weight of that?

Li Shimin glanced at them but didn't urge them.

Finally, his gaze fell on Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng did not dodge.

He stepped forward and stood in the center of the hall:

"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Li Shimin nodded:

"explain."

Wei Zheng raised his head, his voice stiff and unyielding:

"His Majesty asks, why does a wise ruler turn into a foolish one?"

"I believe the reason is simple: as people get older, they tend to forget their roots."

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"When I was young, I suffered hardships and fought wars, so I know that this country did not come easily."

"Back then, I dared not indulge in pleasure, nor did I dare ignore advice, because I knew that if I relaxed, I would lose everything."

"But it's different when you get old."

"The battles that needed to be fought have been fought, and the businesses that needed to be started have been started. Sitting there, all you hear is flattery, and all you see is peace."

"This is when the thought is most likely to arise: 'I've worked hard all my life, what's wrong with enjoying myself a bit?'"

Wei Zheng's voice wasn't loud, but it was so forceful that no one in the hall dared to utter a sound.

"Once you start enjoying it, you can't stop."

"He engaged in extravagant construction projects, favored sycophants, and refused to listen to honest advice."

"That's exactly what Qin Shi Huang was like!"

"Li Longji of later generations... was probably the same."

After listening, Li Shimin remained silent for a long time.

He neither got angry nor argued back.

He simply nodded slightly.

"Um."

"Xuancheng's words... make sense."

……

Above the sky, in the Xuanzheng Hall.

Li Longji remained silent.

He sat on the dragon throne, like a clay sculpture.

Lu Wuming's words were like a dull knife that had been rusted for many years, scraping open his memories that had been sealed away for decades.

The first year of the Kaiyuan era.

He was twenty-seven years old.

Back then, he would get up before dawn every day to review memorials. Yao Chong advised him to take a break, but he said, "I am not tired."

Back then, he enjoyed listening to Zhang Jiuling argue; the harsher the arguments, the more enthusiastic he became.

At that time, he had the world in his eyes and the people in his heart.

What now?

He looked down at his hands resting on the handrail.

The skin was loose, and the veins were bulging; it was already an old man's hand.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Lu Wuming did not stop.

He looked at Li Longji, his voice steady, as if stating something unrelated to himself:

"Your Majesty, you ask this old minister why you have become like this?"

Li Longji did not answer.

Lu Wuming turned to the assembled officials:

"Colleagues, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Do you think His Majesty has changed?"

The hall was completely silent.

No one dared to speak.

Prime Minister Lu is putting everyone on the hot seat!

To say that His Majesty has changed is a great disrespect.

To say that His Majesty hasn't changed is blatant lying; Yang Guozhong's head is still hanging on the city gate!

Just when everyone wished they could bury their heads in the floor tiles, a voice rang out.

"It's changed."

Crown Prince Li Heng stepped forward, his voice clear and undisguised:

"Your Majesty, I dare to speak frankly, but you have indeed changed."

He raised his head, meeting Li Longji's almost murderous gaze:

"During the Kaiyuan era, my father held court every morning and reviewed memorials until late at night. Now... my father has not held court for three years."

"During the Kaiyuan era, my father said, 'Use a bronze mirror to straighten your clothes; use history as a mirror to understand the rise and fall of dynasties.' Now, how many people dare to speak the truth before my father?"

"During the Kaiyuan era, my father severely punished relatives of the empress and suppressed powerful officials. Now..."

He glanced at the box of incriminating evidence that hadn't been moved yet, and said nothing more.

But he has already said enough.

Behind Li Heng, several officials from the Eastern Palace immediately followed:

"We, your humble servants, second Your Highness!"

"His Majesty is indeed different from before!"

The wind direction has changed.

Those who are opportunistic know best when to fall.

More and more ministers began to bow their heads in agreement, their voices initially scattered but gradually merging into a chorus.

"We...second the motion."

Li Longji sat on the dragon throne, his whole body ice-cold.

The first person to stand up and say that I have changed.

He is my crown prince.

Lu Wuming watched this scene quietly, and only turned to Li Longji after the hall had quieted down again.

"Your Majesty, all the officials have spoken, and the Crown Prince has also spoken."

"You have indeed changed."

Li Longji's lips turned pale, and he remained silent.

Lu Wuming did not press him for an answer.

He simply spoke to himself, his voice aged yet incredibly clear:

"Having served four dynasties, I have witnessed far too many examples of wise rulers turning into foolish ones."

"Why has Your Majesty changed? This old minister has pondered this for a long time."

"Later I realized that it didn't suddenly turn bad; it just naturally turned out this way because I had reached this point."

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, or perhaps he was simply tired and needed to rest.

Then he began, listing them one by one, as if counting old objects in his home:

"The first thing is that after His Majesty reached his peak, all that remained was complacency."