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

"Now that things have come to this, there's no point in saying anything more. Our immediate priority should be minimizing the damage."

Zheng Yuanzhu felt that everyone around him was silently observing him, and he forced himself to say this.

His words only fueled Lu Yanqing's anger: "How dare you!"

"Everything that's happening now is because of your Zheng family. You must give us an explanation, or you'll see!"

"What do you mean 'because of our Zheng family'?" Zheng Yuanzhu was furious. "Who knew Chen Huai'an would be so tough? We were just visiting to discuss cooperation, and he flipped the table like that. Who could have imagined this?"

"As I've already said, nobody wanted things to turn out this way."

"Now that it's already happened, what's the point of us blaming each other? Shouldn't we be thinking about how to solve it?"

"Resolve it?" Lu Yanqing said angrily, "How did you resolve it? Just like before, acting like a coward in court, not saying a word?"

"I think your brains are full of shit. You cause trouble, then do nothing and expect us to clean up your mess?"

"Didn't I contribute?" Zheng Yuanzhu retorted. "If we hadn't contributed, the Cui family wouldn't have needed to betray us. You're no match for them at all. How dare you say we didn't contribute?"

He shouldn't have brought it up; once he did, even Cui Shanwei, who had initially tried to smooth things over, couldn't help but say, "How dare you bring this up?"

"Now look what's happened. Because of one vote, almost all the people we've cultivated have been exposed. They'll inevitably be suppressed afterwards. Do you know how much we've lost?"

Zheng Yuanzhu retorted angrily, "Are you the only ones who suffered losses? What about us?"

"Our losses are far greater than yours, how can I not feel bad?"

The three of them immediately started arguing, each saying their own thing, until their faces turned red and their necks were thick with anger, and none of them would give in.

Cui Dunli's lips twitched as he listened: "Gentlemen, if you don't want to have a proper conversation, then I'm leaving."

As soon as he spoke, the three of them quieted down, each letting out a cold snort, and their gazes all fell on Cui Dunli, the only member of the Boling Cui clan present.

After a moment of silence, Cui Shanwei said in a deep voice, "Lu Yanqing just said something very true: 'If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.' Don't you understand such a simple principle?"

"If we continue with internal strife, we'll only be defeated one by one!"

Cui Dunli said with a forced smile, "I really don't understand this principle. If that's all you want to say, then I'm leaving."

That's utter nonsense about "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold"—who are you trying to scare?

How could a family that has been passed down for so many years be so easily destroyed?

It's just a loss at most.

The strange and unorthodox figure Chen Huai'an, along with Emperor Li Shimin, a man with a belly big enough to hold a boat, and a host of capable ministers such as Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Changsun Wuji, all appeared in the same era.

Anyone who isn't a fool can sense that a huge change is about to occur.

In this situation, if one can take the initiative, one can certainly expand one's power, if not soar to great heights. However, if one passively follows the rules, one may easily decline.

The people of the Cui clan of Boling had become indifferent to these people; what was the point of fighting with them?

They want something, so we just have to cooperate.

I didn't see anyone from the Wang family. Is Wang Gui about to become prime minister?

Lu Yanqing took a deep breath and said seriously, "For the sake of our past relationship, can you tell me what Chen Huai'an gave you? What is his backup plan?"

Cui Dunli was silent for a moment, then said, "You should already be clear about the right to participate in the reform. For the new imperial examination, the Ministry of Revenue needs to send someone to be an examiner. Chen Huai'an promised us that this person will be Cui Renshi, the current Director of the Ministry of Revenue."

"The Cui family also participated in unifying the doctrines of the classics."

"..."

"That's it?" Cui Shanwei asked with some doubt.

"That's all," Cui Dunli said without changing his expression.

Do you think we believe that?

"I'm telling the truth. Whether you believe me or not is none of my business." Cui Dunli shook his head. "You can argue however you want, but I'm warning you, if you're going to do anything, do it as soon as possible."

"Of course, don't go too far, otherwise when the locust plague comes, Li Shimin and Chen Huai'an will definitely not be lenient and will really overturn the table to ensure that people's livelihood is not affected."

"What's Chen Huai'an's backup plan?" Zheng Yuanzhu pressed.

Cui Dunli said, "I don't know. Chen Huai'an didn't explain this to us in detail, but it's definitely not simple."

"Alright, I've said everything I needed to say. You'd better take care of yourselves."

After saying these words, Cui Dunli left calmly.

Watching his departing figure, Zheng Yuanzhu narrowed his eyes: "He probably didn't lie, but he definitely didn't finish."

"These two conditions alone shouldn't have made the Cui family turn against us so readily."

"Is that even a question?" Cui Shanwei said thoughtfully. "However, other conditions are no longer important. What is certain is that the Cui family was involved in unifying the classics and establishing the new imperial examination system."

"This is enough to ensure they are not affected, and even if they are, it will probably be harmless."

"If handled well, we might even gain quite a bit from this."

"Furthermore, even if they don't know what Chen Huai'an's backup plan is, they should at least know some inside information."

As he said this, he glanced at Zheng Yuanzhu again.

Zheng Yuanzhu's face darkened.

In any case, this kind of thing will definitely have the biggest impact on the Zheng family.

Even without considering Chen Huai'an's backup plans, just look at the Yan family.

Chen Huai'an's involvement with the Yan family is undoubtedly aimed at them.

"What should we do?" Lu Yanqing asked.

Cui Shanwei sighed, "There's nothing we can do. We've really lost everything today. We've gotten to this point, and we'll have to see how things develop next."

"You know, His Majesty... hasn't said much all day."

One sentence enlightened the other two.

Zheng Yuanzhu's eyes flickered, and it was unclear what he was thinking. Lu Yanqing thought for a moment, hesitated, and then a hint of hostility appeared on his face: "If you ask me, the one who started all of this is Chen Huai'an."

"Since everything started because of him, why not start with him?"

"He was indeed formidable, invincible. Even six assassins couldn't kill him. His family..."

"Shut up!!"

Before Lu Yanqing could finish speaking, Cui Shanwei's eyes widened, and he angrily retorted, "I think they're all right. Your brain is full of shit, you son of a bitch, you idiot!"

"Go home and find your father, stop embarrassing yourself here!"

"If all else fails, go find your mother to drink milk. How the hell did I end up with a thing like you?"

"What the hell is this bad luck!"

"..."