The Idle Man of Zhenguan Intercepts Wu Zetian at the Start

The officials accompanying the emperor were of high rank, almost all of them being of the third or fourth rank. The third rank was already the ceiling for the official rank granted in the Tang Dynasty. For Changsun Dan, a mere county magistrate, to be ranked at the very end was already a special imperial decree and a sign of divine favor from the emperor.

Empress Zhangsun assigned a palace maid to tie his hair, tidy his clothes, and clean the footprints off his face. However, Zhangsun Dan did not listen to a word of what Li Shimin and his ministers were discussing.

The affairs of the court had nothing to do with him, so Changsun Dan simply stuffed some food into his mouth and stretched his neck to watch the acrobatic performance below the stage.

A burly, bearded man from Central Asia was performing fire-breathing. He held a jar of black liquid in his mouth and spewed a long string of flames at a torch, drawing loud cheers from the Tang Dynasty crowd watching.

Changsun Dan watched with great interest. In later generations, there were also people performing fire-breathing acts using alcohol on the streets, but the low-alcohol wines available in the Tang Dynasty were not strong enough to be flammable. They could only use natural petroleum-based flammable substances, such as liquid fire oil. However, performing these acts too often would be extremely harmful to the body, as some of it would always remain or be accidentally swallowed.

Changsun Dan secretly praised the Tang Dynasty, thinking that it truly deserved to be called the Celestial Empire. There were many foreigners engaged in trade in Chang'an, and many caravans had sent performance teams to take turns performing under the imperial platform.

Exotic customs seemed to attract the attention of the Tang Dynasty people, especially the plump Hu women whose dances were graceful and their every move was trembling. So, wherever there were Hu people performing, there were more people watching.

Empress Zhangsun's gaze kept drifting towards Zhangsun Dan. She had been worried that the child would be too frightened, but seeing that he was enjoying the performance, she thought that Dan'er was still a child after all, and her heart was filled with affection. A faint smile appeared on her face.

At this point, all the officials had made their choices. Apart from Wei Zheng and Wang Gui, who clearly supported the Crown Prince's plan, the rest were either hesitant or supported the King of Yue's low-cost approach. Changsun Wuji had always supported the Crown Prince, but the King of Yue's proposal was clearly much better, so he chose to remain neutral and kept quiet.

Changsun Dan sat in the corner, thinking that no one was paying attention to him anyway. Suddenly feeling playful, he took a big gulp of wine, picked up the palace lantern on the table, lifted the lampshade, leaned against the railing, and sprayed the flame into the lamp. A long string of intense blue flames shot out, which looked even more eerie compared to the red flames sprayed out by the fierce oil.

The crowd below erupted in thunderous cheers. On the imperial platform was His Majesty himself! It seemed that the Tang people could not only breathe fire, but also breathe blue flames they had never seen before. The Hu people's performance paled in comparison. The burly man with the thick beard simply stopped, still holding the torch in his hand, and stared blankly at the imperial platform with an incredulous expression.

Empress Zhangsun covered her mouth and gasped softly. Li Shimin followed her gaze and saw Zhangsun Dan facing the audience below, breathing fire from his mouth. Moreover, the flames were of such an eerie color. All the ministers turned their heads as well. At this moment, everyone on the imperial platform was stunned. No one had expected that he was holding this "Immortal's Intoxication" in his mouth.

Li Shimin was shaken, becoming even more certain that he was indeed the direct disciple of the old immortal Yuan Tiangang. Yuan Tiangang had an extremely high reputation among the people, and if it was truly the old immortal master who sent him to support him, then all the noise from the court and the public pointing fingers at him would disappear without a trace.

After spitting out the "Immortal's Intoxication" he had just finished, Changsun Dan turned around and saw all the ministers and the emperor staring at him dumbfounded. He thought to himself, "I'm doomed. They're just a bunch of Han and non-Han people, what's the point of me showing off?"

He quickly climbed back to his food counter, head down, unsure of what to do.

Yan Shigu stroked his beard and laughed: "This boy is incredibly talented, very interesting indeed."

Fang Xuanling was overjoyed. What a blessing his second son was! A mere order had led him to befriend such an extraordinary person. Ignoring the strength of the wine, he downed it in one gulp, his old face flushed, and said to the palace maids behind him:

"Give me some more."

Fire-breathing creatures were not unusual, but blue flames were something the Tang people had never seen before. This was beyond the comprehension of an entire era, so both the ignorant commoners and the learned court officials were stunned.

Changsun Wuji's fingernails dug deeply into his flesh, his expression a mixture of fear and anger, as he muttered to himself:

"As expected, she's a demonic rebel... as expected, she's a demonic rebel..."

Sizi is already five years old and understands many things. Just now, in the face of life and death, it was this older brother who saved her. Seeing that he can breathe fire, she found it even more amazing and pointed her little finger at Changsun Dan: "Mother, brother, hug me."

Empress Zhangsun felt a little smug. After all, this was her own nephew. Although she was the Empress, seeing the ministers so impressed by Dan'er made her feel proud as well. A faint smile appeared on her face as she held Sizi's little hand.

"Next time my brother comes to the palace, Mother, can you let him play with Sizi?"

Sizi clapped her little hands happily.

Li Shimin, being an emperor with a deep mind, after a brief moment of surprise, shouted loudly:

"You brat, get over here right now."

In his previous life, Changsun Dan was just a loser with a slightly higher degree. He was determined not to do the stupid thing of showing off and being headstrong after being reborn. If he wanted to live, he had to develop in a sneaky way. He quickly got up and scrambled forward.

Li Shimin nodded inwardly. This boy was timid and afraid of death, but also extremely intelligent. Master Yuan was indeed Master Yuan. The person he chose was not only easy to control, but also made mistakes all the time. Even if he made great contributions, I could save on rewards. However, he was too weak-willed and would find it difficult to stand alone in the future. He still needed to be properly trained before being handed over to Chengqian. Only then would he be of great use.

Li Shimin said calmly:

"As a county magistrate of the Great Tang Dynasty, holding a noble title, you neither serve the court nor plead for the people. What use are you to me?"

"I ask you, which disaster relief plan do you think is better, the Crown Prince's or the Prince of Yue's?"

Changsun Dan was stunned, cold sweat pouring down his face, but he still answered without hesitation:

"I believe the Crown Prince's plan is the best."

Changsun Dan knew very well that Li Chengqian would not have rebelled if Li Shimin hadn't had such high expectations of him and driven him mad. Moreover, it was precisely because he was too kind and hesitant that the rebellion failed. In short, no matter how history unfolded, Li Tai was not the right person for him to cling to.

Li Tai's expression darkened slightly, then he smiled and absentmindedly fiddled with the wine glass in his hand.

Li Shimin glanced at him with interest. This lad was more honest than his grandfather. Although he had no idea what the two plans were, he understood the importance of things and was more loyal than his grandfather.

"Oh, tell me your reasons?"

Empress Zhangsun could see Dan'er's predicament. Although she knew that interrupting Erlang was too presumptuous, she couldn't bear to see Erlang intimidate Dan'er any further. She beckoned to Dan'er, "Dan'er, come here."

Li Shimin naturally knew Guanyinbi's thoughts, but he was happy to see it, so he simply turned a blind eye and pretended to drink with his head down, but in his heart he thought, "I'll see how you turn the tables for the Crown Prince later."

Changsun Dan felt a sense of relief; this was truly his own aunt. He quickly stepped forward, leaned against the right side of the Empress's desk, and called out with deep affection, "..."

"aunt!"

Si Zi smiled and stuffed a dried fruit into Changsun Dan's mouth.

Changsun Dan opened her mouth to take it, then made a face at her little cousin. Li Shimin glanced at her sideways, and Changsun Dan immediately became serious, her mouth still full of a fruit. Si Zi was amused and let out a giggle.

While gently wiping the blood seeping from Changsun Dan's wound with a handkerchief, Empress Zhangsun quietly recounted the cause of the incident.

The courtiers were speechless, thinking that the boy's ability to escape danger time and time again was not entirely due to luck, because the Empress would really set aside her reputation for benevolence and openly help him cheat.

After the Empress finished speaking, Li Shimin tilted his head back, took a sip of wine, and said coldly:

"Go down and give me an answer."