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

Above the sky.

After hearing about those five incidents, Li Longji felt as if all his energy had been drained.

He did not refute it.

He just sat there, unable to say a word.

Lu Wuming looked at him, stopped pressing for answers, and instead changed the subject:

"Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty of today is no longer the prosperous Kaiyuan era."

"On the surface, it is still a scene of all nations paying tribute, but in reality? The treasury is empty, the border defenses are weak, the court is corrupt, and the people are suffering."

"Once An Lushan rebelled, Luoyang was lost. Why? Because his bones were already rotten, and the outer layer of skin could be easily punctured."

Li Longji moved his lips, but no sound came out.

"So Your Majesty," Lu Wuming looked directly at him, "killing one Yang Guozhong is not enough."

"Not nearly enough."

Li Longji raised his head and said thoughtfully.

"What else is needed? Old Prime Minister, what else do you want to do?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Wuming replied decisively.

"Your Majesty, it's not about what I want to do, but what the people of the world hope Your Majesty will do!"

Immediately, Lu Wuming began to speak earnestly.

"First, confiscate all of Yang Guozhong's property, leaving nothing behind."

"Secondly, members of the Yang clan, those who are guilty will be punished, and those who are innocent will be demoted to commoners and never be employed again."

"Third, all the money and grain confiscated were used to provide relief to the people displaced by the war. Grain, money, and pensions were distributed. This was to show the world that the court still cared about their lives."

Li Longji nodded; he agreed with all of these.

It should be.

Yang Guozhong embezzled so much; confiscating his property was his just deserts. The Yang family enjoyed a life of luxury for over a decade; it's time for them to pay the price.

"Yes," he said. "I approve all of these."

Lu Wuming looked at him but did not say "Thank you, Your Majesty".

He then continued speaking.

"There's a fourth point, which is also the most important and absolutely must be done!"

Upon hearing this, Li Longji's heart skipped a beat.

He seemed to have guessed what the old prime minister was going to say.

"Your Majesty's Noble Consort, Yang Yuhuan."

Li Longji suddenly looked up and interrupted him.

"Old Prime Minister!!!"

His voice suddenly rose, trembling with barely suppressed emotion:

"As for the others, whether it's Yang Guozhong or any member of the Yang family, you can kill or torture them as you please, I will grant your request!"

"But the Imperial Concubine... the Imperial Concubine is just a woman! How could she have interfered in politics? How could she have harmed anyone? What crime has she committed?!"

Lu Wuming did not avoid his gaze.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine is indeed innocent. She did nothing wrong, and she was not corrupt."

His voice was calm, very calm as he spoke.

"But her surname is Yang."

"She is Yang Guozhong's sister."

"Why was Yang Guozhong able to become prime minister? Because his sister was a concubine."

"Why could the Yang family act so arrogantly in Chang'an? Because the Imperial Concubine was favored in the palace."

"Half of the money Yang Guozhong embezzled was obtained by taking advantage of the imperial concubine's name. People all over the world hate Yang Guozhong, and by extension, they hate the Yang family and the woman in the palace."

Lu Wuming paused, looked at Li Longji, and said with a sinister look in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, this is not the time for reason."

"It is time to talk about people's hearts and minds, it is time to talk about the will of the people."

Li Longji's face turned ashen, and he was at a loss for what to do.

He stared intently at Lu Wuming, as if he were staring at a wall pressing down on him.

"The old Prime Minister..."

His voice was low and pleading:

"This is my bottom line."

"Bottom line?"

Lu Wuming finally lost his temper.

He took a step forward, and his hunched body seemed to grow taller instantly:

"Your Majesty! An Lushan's iron cavalry has already trampled Luoyang! The soldiers at Tongguan are risking their lives to defend the city! The people of Hebei are being slaughtered like pigs and dogs by the rebel army!"

"You're talking about bottom lines with a veteran minister at this point?!"

"Is your bottom line the fate of the Tang Dynasty, or a woman in your harem?!"

Li Longji was forced to lean back.

"I……"

"If Your Majesty insists on doing so," Lu Wuming said, not giving him a chance to speak, "then this old minister has nothing more to say."

He slowly took a step back, gathered his sleeves, and lowered his eyes:

"But when the rebel army enters Chang'an in the future, and His Majesty flees south in haste with the Imperial Concubine, he must not forget today."

"Don't forget, it was you who personally led the Tang Dynasty to its doom."

He stopped talking.

The main hall was deathly silent.

Li Longji's mouth was agape, like a fish thrown ashore.

……

The Zhenguan era.

"Bang!!!"

Li Shimin kicked over the incense table next to him.

"Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!!"

His face turned ashen with rage, and his finger pointing at the sky trembled.

"For a woman!"

"For a woman, they'd forsake their kingdom, their country, and their ancestors!"

"Bottom line? He's not even qualified to talk about bottom lines!"

He was panting heavily, pacing back and forth like a caged beast:

"How did Yang Guozhong climb up the ranks? It was all because of his concubine sister!"

"How did the Yang family manage to embezzle half the national treasury? Wasn't it all thanks to that imperial concubine!"

"Now that Yang Guozhong is dead and the Yang family is about to fall, he's still protecting that woman?!"

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!!!"

He stopped abruptly, staring at the distraught Li Longji on the screen, his voice barely audible as if squeezed out from between his teeth:

"This kind of thing doesn't even deserve to be a descendant of the Li Tang dynasty!"

Wei Zheng stood aside without saying a word.

At this point, letting His Majesty scold you is more effective than trying to persuade you.

Above the sky.

Li Longji remained silent.

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

Lu Wuming's words still echoed in the hall: "Is your bottom line the fate of the Tang Dynasty, or a woman in the harem?"

He couldn't answer.

Once the bottom line is torn apart, all that remains is silence.

After Li Shimin finished scolding, he sat back down on his throne, panting heavily.

He stared at the speechless descendant in the light screen, then suddenly let out a cold laugh:

"Mother's relatives interfering in politics."

He clenched those four words as if they were a piece of unchewable tendon:

"Throughout history, countless lessons have been taught. The Han dynasty had the Lü clan… humph."

He paused for a moment, then didn't continue.

But he turned his head away.

His gaze fell on Changsun Wuji.

Changsun Wuji felt a chill run down his spine.

Li Shimin's tone was flat, revealing neither joy nor anger:

"Wuji, you tell me. What are the dangers of interference in politics by the empress's relatives?"

coming.

Changsun Wuji's back tensed instantly.

He is Empress Zhangsun's elder brother, His Majesty's brother-in-law, and the Crown Prince's maternal uncle.

Among all the officials and civil servants, no one was more of a "matriarchal relative" than him.

He steadied himself and bowed, saying:

"Your Majesty, the interference of the empress's relatives in politics is a disaster for the country and its people."

"At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the Lü family members were enfeoffed as kings and appointed as prime ministers, which nearly brought down the Liu family's dynasty."

"In the later years of Emperor Wu of Han, Lady Gouyi, a relative of the emperor, seized power, and the court was in chaos."

"Even more so, Wang Mang, who, as a relative of the empress, usurped the Han throne and established the Xin Dynasty, which lasted for fifteen years."

He paused, then lowered his voice:

"These are all lessons from the past. When powerful relatives of the empress dowager hold sway, if they do not know when to advance and retreat, they may cause chaos in the government or even lead to the downfall of the country."

Li Shimin nodded.

He didn't get angry; in fact, his tone was quite gentle.

"Wuji is right, very insightful."

He looked at Changsun Wuji:

So, just keep it to yourself.

This sentence was spoken very softly.

But Changsun Wuji understood.

He bowed deeply, his forehead almost touching the back of his hand:

"Your Majesty, I understand."

Wei Zheng stood to the side, his eyelids lowered, and did not interrupt.

Fang Xuanling sighed softly.