The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

To be honest, Li Shimin had considered all sorts of reasons why the two had disappeared. He thought they might have run away because they were worried about being punished by him. He also thought about what other important things the two were going to do. He even thought about the possibility that they might have been kidnapped by the Crown Prince's former subordinates.

The only unexpected reason why these two escaped from the prison was so... simple and unpretentious.

Hungry?

Li Shimin was speechless, but he didn't care about such a small matter. He waved his hand to order people to guard the surroundings and then sat down by himself.

"There's something I'm really curious about."

"Could you two... please answer my question?"

"What does Your Highness want to know?" Chen Huai'an was not surprised at all by Li Shimin's words, and even continued to gnaw on his chicken leg.

Of course, Li Shimin didn't care about Chen Huai'an's actions and said bluntly, "Before the evening of the third day of the sixth month, I had not actually decided whether to launch a coup."

"The decision wasn't finalized until that very evening."

"And before this, the two of you even went to the prison yourselves, saying that it was better to go in voluntarily than to be imprisoned passively, so as to avoid suffering and humiliation?"

Why must this location be the imperial prison?

"You guessed what I was going to do! You also guessed that I would go and organize the prisoners and guards in the imperial prison because I was short-handed!"

Why didn't you tell Li Jiancheng the news?

Chen Huai'an paused for a moment, then looked up and met Li Shimin's gaze.

The latter seemed to have said a lot and asked a lot of questions, but in reality, the most crucial question was only the last one.

For example, when Chen Huai'an guessed that he was going to launch a coup, Li Shimin's tone was not questioning, but affirmative.

What puzzled him was why Chen Huai'an and Wei Zheng hadn't told Li Jiancheng the news.

Chen Huai'an's expression was strange: "Your Highness, haven't you interrogated the Crown Prince's confidants yet?"

"For example, Wei Ting, Wang Gui, and others?"

Li Shimin was taken aback, then shook his head: "No, I don't have time to do that right now."

Chen Huai'an smiled: "Then your subject and Wei Zheng are honored to have Your Highness take time out of your busy schedule to visit us."

Li Shimin didn't reply, he just stared at him.

Chen Huai'an's smile faded slightly, and he said seriously, "Your Highness, if you have already interrogated Wei Ting, Wang Gui, and the others, you should know that Wei Gong and I did inform His Highness that you were planning to ambush him on his way to the palace."

"Wei Gong and I repeatedly tried to dissuade the Crown Prince. On the night of the third day, I even had a big argument with him, but unfortunately..."

As he spoke, Chen Huai'an shook his head, somewhat sighing, "He didn't listen to me at all, saying I was talking nonsense, confident that he had built the palace and its surroundings into an impregnable fortress, and bluntly stating that your ambush at Xuanwu Gate was a pipe dream."

"They even kicked me out."

"If he listens to me and feigns illness to delay for a while, even if he might be accused of having illicit relations with the harem and pay some price, it's all bearable compared to facing your do-or-die battle."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Li Shimin and the other two changed, and Wei Zheng even sneered, "If the Crown Prince had listened to us, this wouldn't have happened today."

The implication was that if Li Jiancheng had listened to their advice, Li Shimin would never have succeeded.

Even Li Shimin and the other two had to admit this.

If Li Jiancheng listens to these two and drags things out, who knows how the situation will develop.

However, it is foreseeable that the longer the situation drags on, the more unfavorable it will become for Li Shimin.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin and the others couldn't help but feel a chill of fear, and Changsun Wuji and Du Ruhui looked at the two of them with increasingly hostile gazes.

That was close.

Because of these two people, their great cause almost collapsed before it even began. At that time, their fate was predictable.

"Do you know your mistake?" Li Shimin was still afraid, but there are no "what ifs" in this world.

He is the victor now.

"You two, one of you repeatedly instigated the Crown Prince to kill me, and the other you foresaw every step of my plan and informed the Crown Prince of it all."

"Between us, there's no such thing as a blood feud or irreconcilable enmity, but there is definitely hatred between us."

"You know perfectly well that the Crown Prince doesn't trust you, therefore my chances of winning are probably greater, so why don't you escape?"

Chen Huai'an countered, "Why should we run away?"

Wei Zheng understood and said frankly, "We are eating the emperor's food and doing our duty to the emperor. We have only done what we should do as subjects. We do not think we have done anything wrong, much less should we run away."

In fact, both of them felt they had nowhere to escape.

"No mistake?" Changsun Wuji sneered, "But now, the one before you is the true His Highness, the true Son of Heaven!"

"You have repeatedly instigated others to assassinate the Chosen One, and even revealed His Highness's plans to the enemy. How dare you say you are innocent?"

Li Shimin remained silent.

Chen Huai'an calmly said, "Why say so much? The victor is king, the loser is villain; we accept it!"

"Now you are the victors, and your words are naturally reasonable, but I still believe we are not wrong, much less guilty!"

"If being loyal to the ruler while receiving his bounty is a sin, then I share the same sin as you all!"

"..."

"Haha, not bad, we two are guilty along with you all!" Wei Zheng laughed heartily, taking over the conversation with a calm expression, and said in a clear voice:

"In the past, Bi Gan of the Shang Dynasty, seeing that King Zhou was tyrannical, remonstrated with him for three consecutive days, which angered King Zhou. He was killed by having his heart cut out, and he is still remembered by later generations."

"Qu Yuan, a minister of the State of Chu, advocated an alliance with Qi against Qin. He was exiled due to the exclusion of nobles. After the Qin army captured the capital of Chu, he threw himself into the Miluo River with a stone in his arms and died for his country. He is admired by all later generations."

"Duke Zhou of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Xiao He, Huo Guang, Su Wu of the Western Han Dynasty... and then Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Three Kingdoms! They devoted themselves to the cause until their dying breath, and their names will be remembered for eternity."

"Throughout history, countless loyal ministers have earned their good reputations and are praised by later generations. Why are we the only two who are guilty because of this?"

"There is no such logic in the world."

Changsun Wuji's face turned ashen. Pointing at Wei Zheng, he shouted, "Wei Xuancheng! Do you know what you're saying? The Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, whom you serve, is dead! Dead at Xuanwu Gate! Not from His Highness, but from arrogance!"

"You risked your lives for him, you plotted for him, but what was the result? Did he listen to a single word you said?"

"I didn't listen," Wei Zheng admitted readily. "It was precisely because he didn't listen that he died."

"You—" Changsun Wuji was speechless for a moment.

Du Ruhui coughed lightly and stepped forward slowly, his tone much gentler than Changsun Wuji's: "Lord Wei, Mr. Chen, I have no grudge against you two, and I even admired your talents in the past."

"But today I must say, isn't your loyalty a bit too narrow-minded?"

Chen Huai'an looked up at him: "Oh? How so?"

Du Ruhui said, "The saying 'one who eats the emperor's food should be loyal to the emperor's duties' is not wrong in itself."

"But the problem is... which emperor are you loyal to? Crown Prince Li Jiancheng is merely the heir apparent; His Majesty is the true emperor!"

"The world belongs to the Li Tang dynasty. The Crown Prince and the Prince of Qin are both princes of the Li Tang. You are loyal to the Crown Prince but want to kill the Prince of Qin, instigating internal strife within the royal family. Isn't this loyalty biased?"

"Is this something a subject should do?"

"..."