Tang Dynasty: Feeding Chang Le, Emperor Li Er exclaimed that she was a true immortal!

The next day.

Taiji Hall.

early morning.

Civil and military officials lined up on both sides.

The atmosphere was extremely eerie.

Everyone knows what happened last night—the emperor mobilized troops to surround the Changsun residence, and Changsun Chong had his legs crippled.

This was nothing short of an earthquake in the political landscape of the Zhenguan era.

Everyone was waiting to see how Li Shimin would deal with the Changsun family at today's court assembly.

Will they raid my house?

Will our entire clan be wiped out?

Will they remove Changsun Wuji from the Lingyan Pavilion?

The entire court held its breath in concentration.

Changsun Wuji stood at the end of the civil officials' line.

Yes, at the end.

He was originally standing at the very front, at the head of all the civil officials.

But today he voluntarily stepped down to the last position.

His face was ashen.

It wasn't pale white, it was gray.

It looked like a thin layer of ashes covered his entire face.

With sunken eyes and tightly pursed lips, he stood there like a stone statue.

All the courtiers who passed by him subconsciously quickened their pace.

No one dared to meet his gaze.

Yesterday's high-ranking leader of the Guanlong Group has become a plague god today.

Even touching it is considered bad luck.

Li Shimin has arrived.

He wore a dragon robe and a black crown, and strode up the imperial steps.

After settling down, he glanced around the court.

He saw Changsun Wuji.

But his gaze did not linger on Changsun Wuji for even a moment longer.

I slid right over it.

It was as if he had glanced at the dust on the pillar.

Changsun Wuji felt that gaze.

To be precise, I sensed the absence of that gaze.

The emperor did not look at him.

There was no angry glare, no cold snort, not even a single unnecessary glance.

This is a million times more terrifying than anger.

Anger means you're still within the emperor's sights.

Disregarding this means you are no longer worthy of distracting the emperor.

A chill ran down Changsun Wuji's spine.

He had lived for over fifty years and this was the first time he had ever experienced this feeling.

Like an ant looking up and seeing the soles of a human shoe brushing past overhead.

The shoe didn't come down.

It's not because I don't want to.

It's because I'm too lazy to step on it.

The morning assembly proceeded unusually uneventfully.

Each department reported, and Li Shimin reviewed and approved them one by one.

The tone was calm and the handling was appropriate.

The eldest grandson family was not mentioned.

There was no mention of assassins.

The princess was not mentioned.

It was as if nothing had happened last night.

This calm, however, only made the officials even more uneasy.

The calm before the storm usually means that the real storm is brewing.

The court session has ended.

The officials filed out of the Taiji Hall.

Changsun Wuji walked last.

He swayed slightly as he passed through the palace gate.

The accompanying servant quickly reached out to support him.

"master--"

Changsun Wuji waved his hand.

He didn't speak.

But his lips were trembling slightly, as if he were chewing something extremely difficult to swallow.

He had no idea what the emperor had seen in Chang Le Palace the night before.

But he could sense it—

Starting this morning, Li Shimin has changed.

It's not about becoming angrier, nor is it about becoming more assertive.

Instead, they became... indifferent.

They no longer care about the valves.

They no longer cared about the power struggles in the imperial court.

That indifference wasn't feigned.

It is a kind of contempt that comes from the very marrow of one's bones after seeing a bigger world.

Changsun Wuji clenched his fist hidden in his sleeve.

His prized political maneuvering completely lost its footing at this moment.

Because you can't compete with someone who doesn't care about you.

After the court session ended, Li Shimin went straight to Changle Palace.

He didn't even change his dragon robe.

He strode through the corridor, leaving the two eunuchs who tried to follow far behind.

Upon reaching the entrance to the sleeping quarters, he took a deep breath and pushed the door open to enter.

Chang Le was sitting on a low stool in front of the boundary wall, holding a carton of milk in her hand.

When she saw her father enter, she quickly stood up and bowed.

"Sit down, sit down." Li Shimin waved his hand, his gaze passing over Chang Le and looking at the other side of the light screen.

Lu Ming is here.

He was facing the computer screen, seemingly doing something.

Hearing the noise, he turned his chair around and took a look.

"You're here?"

His tone was so casual, as if he were greeting a neighbor.

Li Shimin's lips twitched.

After last night's confrontation, he has accepted this way of getting along.

The other party would not call him Your Majesty, would not bow to him, and would not give him any of the respect due to an emperor.

But what he gave—

It's worth more than all the respectability combined.

"Mr. Lu."

Li Shimin sat down on another low stool next to Chang Le, his back ramrod straight.

"The thing you showed me last night... I couldn't sleep a wink, pondering it over and over again."

He carefully considered his words.

"I would like to know—to what extent are you willing to help the Tang Dynasty?"

Lu Ming did not answer immediately.

He turned around and picked something up from the table.

A paper.

But it's not ordinary paper.

It is an A1-sized, high-definition, color-printed modern world map.

He found a high-resolution version online last night after Li Shimin left and had it printed in color at the print shop near his apartment complex.

It cost thirty-five yuan.

Lu Ming folded the map twice and handed it over from the light screen.

"Open it and take a look."

Chang Le helped take it, and the two of them spread it out on the ground together.

The map took up most of the floor area.

Colorful.

The ocean is azure, the continents are shades of green and brown, the mountains are marked with fine contour lines, and the rivers meander through them like silver ribbons.

Each continent is distinguished by a different color.

Every country has clearly defined borders and its name is marked.

Li Shimin squatted in front of the map.

His first reaction was—this painter's skill is too good.

The best map he had ever seen was a military map used by the Tang Dynasty army.

Those maps were so crude that they could only mark the approximate locations of major cities and mountains, and the distances were all estimated, with the scale completely distorted.

And this one in front of me—

The jagged edges of every coastline are clearly visible.

The orientation of each mountain range is so precise it's almost unbelievable.

"What is this?" he asked.

Lu Ming's voice came from the other end of the light screen.

"A world map. The entire landscape of the earth beneath your feet."

Li Shimin paused for a moment.

The entire earth?

The whole picture?

He looked down and examined the map again.

Then he started looking.

Where is the Tang Dynasty?

His finger began on the left side of the map and slowly moved along the area marked with strange characters.

He couldn't recognize the words.

But he could recognize the shape.

Great Wall.

Yellow River.

Yangtze.

His finger found an area bisected by two large rivers.

The shape vaguely matched the map on the military map of the Tang Dynasty in his memory.

"here."

Lu Ming's finger reached over from the light screen and tapped on the map of eastern Asia through the barrier.

"This is your Great Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin stared at that spot.

Then his gaze began to expand outwards.

To the west lay a vast landmass he had never heard of before, covered with countless names.

To the east—there stretches an endless expanse of azure blue—that's the ocean. On the other side of the ocean, there lies a vast landmass.

Southward—more seas, more islands, more unheard-of territories.

Heading north—the barren permafrost stretches all the way to the top of the map.

His finger traced a huge arc on the map.

From Asia to Europe.

From Europe to Africa.

From Africa across the Atlantic to the Americas.

From the Americas, across the Pacific Ocean, and back to Asia.

A circle.

The whole world is a circle.

And the Tang Dynasty—

The Tang Dynasty only occupies a small part of this circle.

It's a very small piece.

Li Shimin's Adam's apple got stuck.

He wanted to swallow.

I can't swallow it.

My mouth felt like it was on fire.

He had always believed that the Tang Dynasty was the Celestial Empire, the most powerful civilization in the world.

He always thought that by conquering the Turks and subjugating the Western Regions, he had already reached the top of the world.

But this map told him—

The places he conquered were not even a corner of the world map.

The Tang Dynasty was not the center of the world.

The Tang Dynasty was only a small part of the world.

The world was many times larger than he had imagined.

Li Shimin's finger stopped on the map.

It landed on that huge landmass labeled "America".

"There are people here... too?"

"Yes, but not many. And the level of civilization there is far inferior to that of the Tang Dynasty." Lu Ming's voice was as calm as if he were introducing the neighborhood next door. "That continent has gold, silver, and copper mines that you can't even imagine. They're open-pit mines, and you can't mine them all."

Li Shimin's fingers curled slightly.

His fingernail scratched across the map's surface, leaving a faint white mark.

"And here?" He pointed to a continent to the south.

"That's called Australia. There's a type of ore on the island called iron ore, and the whole mountain is made of iron. There are also vast grasslands suitable for grazing."

Li Shimin's breathing became heavier and heavier.

His finger traced the map, pausing at each new continent.

Each time he paused, Lu Ming would release a piece of information.

gold mine.

Silver mine.

Spice Islands.

Fertile land unclaimed by any other.

An endless pasture.

Each piece of information was like a spark, landing on the pile of dry wood in Li Shimin's chest.

His eyes grew increasingly red.

It's not a tired red.

It's the kind of bloodshot red that only a hungry beast would have when it sees its prey.

Chang Le squatted down beside him, watching her father's changing expressions.

She had never seen her father look like this before.

That kind of undisguised, almost greedy desire that comes from the very core of one's being.

It's like someone who's been poor their whole life is suddenly brought to a mountain of gold and silver and told, "All of this can be yours."

"Mr. Lu—"

Li Shimin's voice was hoarse.

He looked up at the light screen.

His eyes were bloodshot and his eye sockets were red.

The expression on his face wasn't pleading, but it was more naked than pleading.

It is the irrepressible, primal, and conquering desire of an emperor when faced with infinite possibilities.

"You said you could help the Tang Dynasty."

His palm pressed firmly on the map, holding down the entire Eurasian continent.

"Then let's help to the end."

"I want every inch of land on this map to be covered with the flag of the Tang Dynasty."