Starting with his deathbed remonstrance to Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperors were brought to their knees.

The entire court seemed to freeze, staring at him as if he were a madman—at a time of national mourning, how dare he talk about desecrating graves and exposing corpses in public? His words were unrestrained and outrageous!

At first glance, these words seem to make some sense, but every sentence is like a knife stabbing into one's heart, every sentence is treasonous, making one feel uncomfortable all over.

The more Li Shimin looked at the face, the more familiar it seemed; the more he heard these words, the more his heart sank.

His tone, his frenzy, his reckless attitude—it's exactly the same as that censor who died remonstrating last time.

Who would have thought that such a madman was hiding in the imperial court?!

Li Shimin suppressed his raging anger and forced out a low growl through gritted teeth:

"You audacious scoundrel! To utter such foul language and blasphemy against the late Emperor during the national mourning period is utterly disrespectful! Guards, throw him out!"

His intention was to give this madman a small punishment as a warning, and to provide him with a way out.

But Li Qing was not afraid at all; on the contrary, he became even louder, more arrogant, and more unrestrained, roaring in front of everyone, disregarding all the rules between ruler and subject:

"Caning? What right does Your Majesty have to punish me! Every word I have spoken is the truth. Is Your Majesty unwilling to listen to the truth, or are you afraid that what I said is right?"

Cao Cao of the Eastern Han Dynasty established the Tomb Raiders, who dug up all the imperial tombs of the previous dynasty, leaving the remains scattered all over the wilderness. Has Your Majesty never heard of this?

What dynasty under heaven doesn't perish? The Tang Dynasty was bound to decline and fall sooner or later! If future generations couldn't even protect the empire, how could they possibly protect the imperial tombs?

Tomb raiders only care about gold and silver treasures, they don't care whose former emperor you were! The more treasures you buried with them, the more miserable your death will be! At that time, not only the retired emperor, but even Your Majesty's own tomb will be ransacked, leaving nothing behind!

"Your Majesty's current grand-scale construction of the imperial mausoleum is not an act of filial piety, but rather an invitation to disaster for the late Emperor and a pretext for the Li family's descendants to suffer the humiliation of having their graves desecrated!"

"Ugh—!"

The guards dared not delay any longer and rushed forward to cover Li Qing's mouth tightly, fearing that he might utter something even more outrageous.

Li Shimin was so angry that he trembled all over, his chest heaved violently, his face was as pale as paper, and he almost couldn't catch his breath.

The entire set of speeches that Yu Shinan, Fang Xuanling, and others had prepared suddenly became stuck in their throats, leaving their minds completely blank.

Because they knew better than anyone else that what this madman said was all true, all the truth that hit home!

A lavish burial inevitably invites looting, not only wasting resources and manpower, but also leaving the body exposed in the wilderness. Who doesn't understand this? Yet who dares to say it during a period of national mourning?

Only Li Qing, that reckless and crazy censor, would dare to tear off his mask in public and speak so harshly and bluntly!

Yu Shinan and Fang Xuanling exchanged a glance, their faces filled with aggrieved resentment, as if they had swallowed flies—unable to refute or admit it.

Li Shimin also understood that this court meeting had been completely ruined by this madman, and continuing the discussion would only make things more embarrassing.

He coughed heavily twice, forcibly suppressing his anger, and gritted his teeth as he made the decision:

"Ahem! My beloved ministers, heed my decree: in accordance with Fang Xuanling's suggestion, model the mausoleum of Emperor Guangwu of Han on a mound of earth to bury the Retired Emperor!"

Fang Xuanling, Yu Shinan, Changsun Wuji, and the others quickly bowed and responded in unison:

"Here you go!"

Tang Dynasty tombs were divided into two types: those built on earthen mounds and those built into mountains.

Li Yuan's Xianling Mausoleum was originally simple in scale, but Li Shimin's Zhaoling Mausoleum was the largest mausoleum in the Tang Dynasty.

After Empress Zhangsun passed away in the tenth year of the Zhenguan era, Li Shimin spent thirteen years extensively renovating the Zhaoling Mausoleum, fearing that a simple burial would be looked down upon.

But after being confronted by Li Qing's arrogant words today, Li Shimin felt extremely frustrated.

Before the person was even buried, they were already cursed to have their grave robbed, their grave dug up, and their corpse exposed!

Once this news gets out, not only Li Yuan, but even his own mausoleum after his death will seem to be targeted in advance!

The thought of his burial treasures being looted and his remains being disturbed filled Li Shimin with unease and anger.

The court meeting ended in discord, and Li Shimin left in a huff.

A perfectly peaceful court meeting during a time of national mourning was turned upside down by a few words from a mad censor. The entire court fell silent, no one daring to utter another word.

But the funeral of the retired emperor could not be stopped, and the imperial mausoleum could not be delayed. It would be a great taboo for the country if it was not settled even for a day. Li Shimin felt extremely agitated.

……

"Holy crap, I never thought a desperate plea could be interrupted!"

Outside the Taiji Hall, Li Qing stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the hall.

To everyone's surprise, Li Shimin simply threw him out.

He did want to return to the imperial court and continue to provoke Li Er.

But the guard in front of him seemed unhappy and kept staring at him.

Honestly, you're making it sound like he's some kind of dangerous person!

Li Qing did not see Li Shimin again until the court session ended.

"Brother Zhang, you almost caused a huge mess!"

After the court session ended, Wang Xin came over and said sullenly.

"What's wrong, Lao Wang? You also think funerals should cost that much money?"

Li Qing hadn't thought about that.

"How dare you say such a thing?! Are you out of your mind?!"

Wang Xin said anxiously.

"Haha, what do we imperial censors care about dying!"

Li Qing didn't care at all.

He was still thinking about how to persuade Li Shimin when he suddenly had a good idea.

"That's right! I can submit a memorial directly. Li Shimin may not want to see me, but he has to read my memorial!"

Li Qing became excited and, after saying goodbye to Wang Xin, hurriedly ran home to write a memorial to Li Shimin, which he then handed to the palace guards.

……

At night, Li Shimin, as usual, began to review memorials.

"Um?"

When he saw Li Qing's memorial, he was completely bewildered.

I never expected this censor to be so persistent!

"snort."

Li Shimin snorted coldly and threw the memorial aside.

He didn't want to see anything unpleasant in the middle of the night.

As it turned out, when he picked up the next memorial, he discovered that it was also written by Li Qing!

He wrote more than one book of memorials!

"You bastard, I want to see what you've written!"

Li Shimin angrily opened the memorial and looked at its contents:

"Your Majesty, although the entire court praises your decision, I must say that they are all just talking nonsense."

To try to demonstrate filial piety by building a luxurious imperial mausoleum is, to put it bluntly, incredibly stupid!

The Tang Dynasty was not an invincible dynasty; its rule would eventually come to an end.

Who will guard the tombs then? Aren't imperial tombs just easy prey for grave robbers?

What you're doing isn't filial piety, it's unfilial piety! It's not respecting your father, it's disgracing him!

They take the people's hard-earned money to gain a false reputation for themselves, regardless of whether the late emperor is at peace in the afterlife or whether the people have enough to eat.

What kind of sage ruler would do something like that? What kind of sage ruler would do that?

I'm risking my life today just to tell you this.

No matter how well you build the imperial mausoleum, the Xuanwu Gate Incident will never be erased from history books!

You still became emperor by killing your brothers and imprisoning your father!

Okay, that's settled then.