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

"Your Majesty, the person has been captured and brought back."

After Du Ruhui personally led his men to arrest Lu Yanqing, he immediately came to the Eastern Palace to report.

Li Shimin sat quietly, uninterested in the ever-increasing pile of memorials, until Du Ruhui arrived.

He opened his eyes, his expression as calm as a still lake. However, the more people knew him, the more they understood just how terrifying he truly was.

"Where?"

"He's already been imprisoned in the Dali Temple Prison!"

"Let's proceed to the Dali Temple!" Li Shimin said coldly, his hands clenched tightly in his sleeves.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhang Anan dared not delay and quickly arranged for Li Shimin to go to the Dali Temple.

Du Ruhui followed without saying a word.

Soon, Li Shimin led them, along with the Imperial Guards, into the Dali Temple prison.

At this time, several ruthless men from the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple prison, led by Li Junxian, had tortured Lu Yanqing and Lu Xingjia to the point of being unrecognizable.

His fingernails were all turned upside down, his finger bones were bent to a horrifying degree, and his body was covered with whip marks and branding marks.

Their genitals... were too gruesome to look at; even the phrase "a bloody mess" wouldn't do them justice. It's hard to imagine the cruel torture they endured in such a short time.

Li Shimin walked in, stared at the two of them for a few moments, and then smiled.

It was that smile that made the fear in their eyes impossible to suppress any longer. Lu Yanqing trembled and said, "Your Majesty...Your Majesty, I confess, I confess everything, I...I plead guilty."

"Your Majesty, I beg you... to grant me a quick death."

"Oh?" Li Shimin smiled gently. "Why do you say that, Minister Lu?"

"What do you mean by 'I'll give you a quick death'? I don't understand."

"Just a few days ago, Minister Lu was full of vigor, discussing national affairs with many colleagues in the court. When he raised his arm to call out, a large number of officials responded."

"Thinking about it, it really is a cruel twist of fate."

Lu Yanqing, tears streaming down his face, pleaded, "Your Majesty, I was wrong. I beg Your Majesty to spare my life. Even if you can't, just give me a quick death."

"I was truly wrong."

"Wrong?!" Li Shimin roared, staring intently at him as if he wanted to devour him alive.

"Back then, your Lu family opposed me at every turn. When I wanted to implement the new system, you obstructed it in various ways and even incited other officials to do so!"

"I want to implement the new imperial examination system and unify the interpretation of the classics, but you all throw accusations at me and even try to force me to stop unifying the interpretation of the classics by using officials."

"You're admitting you're wrong now?"

"Too late!"

Just a few days ago, Chen Huai'an was drinking and laughing with him. Now that they are separated by death, Li Shimin almost couldn't help but chop Lu Yanqing into pieces and feed him to the dogs.

What's the use of saying something wrong?

"Your Majesty... I confess." Lu Xingjia truly couldn't take it anymore, his eyes lifeless. "Please, just give me a quick death."

He no longer wanted to think about anything else; all he wanted now was to die.

As for the three races... let them die if they want.

"Heh..." Li Shimin exuded a murderous aura and asked the question that concerned him most, "Was Huai'an poisoned?"

The two remained silent for a moment, unsure whether they should answer the question.

If I answer, will I suffer even more cruel torture?

Lu Xingjia was extremely weak, and said intermittently, "If... Your Majesty were to inform me... could you grant me... a quick death?"

"Very well!" Li Shimin's gaze was deep. "Tell me, who came up with the idea, who was involved in this matter, and I will give you a quick death right now!"

"No..." Lu Yanqing's heart was almost filled with fear. He wanted to stop Lu Xingjia, but a Ministry of Justice official covered his mouth!

"Waaaah... Waaah~"

Lu Xingjia ignored him, closed his eyes, and took a breath: "It was Lu Yanqing's idea, because His Majesty knows all the reasons, plus he is afraid that Chen Huai'an will become the next sage and that the aristocratic families will face a purge."

"So they joined forces with the Cui and Zheng families of Qinghe, figured out the Duke of Anguo's habits, set up several stalls on the street, and attracted the Duke of Anguo with novel delicacies."

"According to the news sent back from below, they witnessed Duke Anguo eating poisoned food, and because Duke Anguo had a large appetite and ate too much, he was bound to die."

"After that... Your Majesty should understand."

After Lu Xingjia finished speaking, he let out a long sigh of relief, and a tear slid down his cheek. No words could describe his feelings at that moment.

"Heh heh... Hahahaha!" Li Shimin seemed to have heard something hilarious, covering his face and bursting into wild laughter, his voice shrill and piercing. "You were afraid Huai'an would become the next sage, so you poisoned him?"

"Don't you all value the way of the sages the most?"

"Why are you so recklessly killing a new saint now that he is about to appear?"

"Just because he's in your way, just because he's on my side?"

"Yeah?"

Tell me!!!

Li Shimin roared out his last words; he never imagined that these people would be so crazy.

Because Chen Huai'an had the potential to become a new saint, these people went to great lengths to poison him.

How ridiculous!

Lu Xingjia didn't even open his eyes, but said in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty... please keep your promise."

Li Shimin's last glimmer of hope shattered at this moment, and he laughed like a demon: "Very well, I... will keep my promise!"

"Give him a quick death!"

"Then chop him into pieces for me, burn him to ashes, and bury half in front of the Taiji Hall and half in front of the Confucius Temple!"

"I will make him, for all eternity, be trampled over by officials and scholars throughout the land!!!"

"No!" Lu Xingjia opened his cloudy eyes, his voice trembling, "You can't do this, you can't do this!"

"Don't......"

The next moment, a flash of light appeared.

Blood splattered on the cold stone wall, and Lu Xingjia's head rolled to the ground, his eyes still open, but all light had been lost.

Lu Yanqing watched this scene unfold, his whole body trembling violently, his face covered in tears, snot, and saliva, looking utterly disheveled.

"I almost forgot about you!" Li Shimin's voice was soft as he walked step by step to him, looking down at him condescendingly. "Tell me, how should I deal with you, the mastermind?"

"The same treatment as Lu Xingjia?"

"Waaah... Waaah!" Lu Yanqing shook her head desperately, tears streaming down her face even more fiercely.

"You don't want it?" Li Shimin murmured. "Very well, after all, we've been ruler and subject, how could I treat you like this?"

"How about this?" Li Shimin seemed to have thought of something interesting and said softly, "Since it was you who suggested poisoning Huai'an, I will cast you into a bronze statue and have you kneel forever before Huai'an's tomb. What do you think?"

Lu Yanqing struggled desperately, but her mouth was covered so she couldn't make a sound, only letting out muffled moans, her eyes filled with pleading and despair.

Li Shimin said to himself, "Hmm... I suppose you'll be very happy? Aren't you the one who values ​​the way of the sages the most?"

"To now have the opportunity to kneel before the new saint is an immense honor for you."

"..."