Tang Dynasty: Starting at Xuanwu Gate, this prince is better off not being one.

"Your Highness! Forgive my bluntness, but at this moment, we can only advance, not retreat! If we hesitate any longer, tomorrow will be the day my entire Qin Prince's mansion is slaughtered. Leaving aside the Crown Prince, His Highness Prince Qi alone will absolutely not leave you or us any way out!"

Changsun Wuji stepped forward excitedly, delivered his speech, and then lowered his head, never to raise it again.

The other officials also lowered their heads after hearing his words.

Seeing this, Li Er frowned instantly, and said in a heavy tone, "The Prince of Qin's mansion only has eight hundred personal guards, while the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi's personal guards combined number no less than two thousand. The disparity in strength is too great, and the advantage is not on our side. What should we do?"

"To apologize to me, the Crown Prince has invited me to a banquet at Taiji Palace tomorrow, where he will personally apologize to me in front of the Emperor. What do you all think? Should I go or not?"

His words left the ministers speechless, each of them frantically searching for a solution.

After a long silence, Du Ruhui suddenly spoke up: "Your Highness, I believe you must attend this banquet."

"Oh? Kemin, why don't you explain?" Li Er raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Taiji Palace is a forbidden area within the inner palace. Even if the Crown Prince and Prince Qi have a large army, they can only station them outside the palace and cannot bring them inside. As long as we manage to send these eight hundred people into Xuanwu Gate and ambush them, even if they have a thousand troops, they will be powerless to stop them!"

Du Ruhui's words startled everyone present, including Li Er.

Only Li Yu was both nervous and excited, thinking to himself, "It's here, it's finally here!"

"No!"

Li Er suddenly stood up. "Let's leave Li Yuanji aside for now. I have never intended to kill my elder brother, and in my opinion, he feels the same way!"

"Your Highness! The Crown Prince and Prince Qi are of one mind. Even if the Crown Prince himself has no intention of killing, with Prince Qi interfering, we are all doomed!"

"Furthermore, I believe that, given the Crown Prince's character, he would absolutely not hesitate because of this brotherly affection, especially when he is unsure whether you would be willing to go to extremes!"

After saying this, Du Ruhui actually knelt down before Li Er.

At this moment, Li Er hesitated for a while, pondered for a long time, and then lowered his head to look at Li Xuanba beside him.

"Third brother, what do you think?" he asked.

Li Xuanba was also somewhat at a loss, and stammered, "Second brother, I think this matter..."

Before he could finish speaking, Du Ruhui, who was kneeling on the ground, thrust his head to the ground and shouted, "Your Highnesses, this is a matter of life and death; we cannot be blindly loyal or filial!"

With Du Ruhui taking the lead, the others also knelt down and shouted in unison, "Please make a decision, Your Highness!"

The sound was deafening, making Li Yu's head buzz. Looking around, he realized that he was the only one still standing upright.

This made Li Yu extremely embarrassed. Just as he was hesitating whether he should kneel down too, he saw Li Er plop down on the tiger-skin chair, looking completely powerless.

"Sigh!" He sighed helplessly, not caring about Li Yu's reaction.

He had foreseen this scene before him; in fact, it could be said that he had deliberately orchestrated it all.

However, when the scene actually unfolded before his eyes, Li Er felt somewhat dejected, because he couldn't help but think of his father, the emperor.

Perhaps my father felt the same way when he was forced by his retainers to rebel!

"Get up!" he waved his hand.

"Please make a decision soon, Your Highness!" The crowd continued to kowtow.

Snapped! !

Li Er slammed his hand on the armrest of the chair and shouted sternly, "I told you to get up!"

His shout startled everyone, and they all scrambled to their feet.

"Your Highness..."

Du Ruhui wanted to say something more, but Li Er interrupted him, saying, "If what you say is true, then if we take action tomorrow, it will be fratricide. How can I bear such infamy for all eternity?"

Having voiced his concerns, Li Er waited quietly for Du Ruhui's reply.

Old Du stammered for a long time but couldn't say anything.

At this moment, Li Yu really wanted to interject. In fact, even a thousand years later, everyone's evaluation of Li Er's fratricide would only be that he had flaws in private morality, but his public virtue was great.

After all, with his achievements overshadowing his scandals, hardly anyone cared about his family's dirty laundry.

However, since he was also a member of the Li family, he absolutely could not utter such words as urging his own uncles to kill each other.

Just as the situation became awkward, Princess Consort Changsun of Qin appeared from behind, followed by Li Chengqian and Li Tai, who were bowing their heads.

Upon hearing Li Er's angry shout, she led her two sons to the center of the hall and knelt down, saying, "Your Highness! I believe Kemin is right. The lives of everyone in the Prince of Qin's mansion are now in your hands. You should indeed make a decision as soon as possible."

"Guanyinbi, are you also going to force me?!" Li Er glared at Changsun kneeling below, his eyes bloodshot, and questioned her.

Upon hearing Li Er's questioning, Changsun raised her head, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Second Brother! My life, as well as the lives of Qian'er and Qingque'er, are all in your hands!"

"Sigh!" Li Er sighed again, resting his elbow on the armrest of the chair, his palm lightly pressed against his forehead, and fell silent for a moment...

.........

Li Yu was dumbfounded by what he saw.

He discovered that Li Er and his wife were truly a pair of master actors. Although he didn't know how the eldest grandson had managed to time his appearance so perfectly, seeing Li Chengqian and Li Tai trying so hard to shed tears, he knew that this must have been pre-arranged by the couple.

Moreover, based on his understanding of Changsun these past few days, if Li Er were to commit murder, she would definitely be the one keeping watch, so this woman would never pressure her husband like this.

Sure enough, after a moment of silence, Li Er raised his head again and looked at everyone.

"Tell me, how should we arrange these eight hundred people?"

Hearing Li Er begin to soften his stance, Changsun Wuji, his brother-in-law, stepped forward and said, "The army must pass through Xuanwu Gate to enter and exit. The garrison commander, Chang He, will arrive soon. We can take advantage of the dark night and bring the people in through Xuanwu Gate!"

Upon hearing this, everyone expressed their agreement.

Among them, the bearded Yuchi Gong jumped out and said, "Your Highness! Hesitation will only lead to trouble!"

"This humble general has followed Your Highness in countless battles, facing life and death along the way. What has it all been for? Were it not for wealth, honor, and titles? Now, the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi intend to seize my military power, kill my soldiers, and exterminate my entire family. Are we to sit idly by and await our doom?"

At this point, Yuchi Gong grew increasingly agitated, finally uttering his line: "So what if they have two thousand men? We have eight hundred, that's fine. Eight hundred men can strike first!"

"Even with only these eight hundred men, with Your Highness wielding your bow and me, Yuchi Jingde, wielding my spear, we can slaughter them all without leaving a single one alive!"

.........