Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

"What's wrong with the Grand Tutor?"

Empress Zhangsun looked at Li Gang anxiously.

"Speak freely, but what went wrong at the front? Is Gao Ming injured?"

Li Gang did not answer, but stood up and knelt in front of Empress Zhangsun.

"Even if it costs me my life, I will still speak out for His Highness the Crown Prince to seek justice."

Li Gang said, his voice trembling with tears.

Empress Zhangsun panicked instantly and hurriedly waved to Qiuyue:

"Qiuyue, what are you standing there for? Quickly help the Grand Tutor up."

Qiu Yue quickly went forward to help him up, but Li Gang lay on the ground and refused to get up no matter what.

"Your Majesty, please don't help me up. Let this old minister kneel and speak."

Li Gang looked up, his eyes brimming with tears.

"His Highness the Crown Prince fought for his future in the icy and snowy lands of Liaodong, and conquered the world for the Tang Dynasty."

But in Chang'an, someone is actually trying to kill His Highness by shooting an arrow in the back.

Empress Zhangsun's expression changed drastically, and she clenched the handkerchief in her hand tightly.

"Grand Tutor, explain yourself clearly: who stabbed you in the back?"

"The one who shot this sneak attack is both far away and right before our eyes..."

Li Gang gritted his teeth.

"It is Your Majesty's own elder brother, the current Imperial Uncle, Lord Changsun Wuji."

Upon hearing this, Empress Zhangsun's mind went blank.

She thought she had misheard.

"Grand Tutor, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

How could my elder brother, Gao Ming's own uncle, possibly harm him?

Li Gang gave a bitter laugh:

"Your Majesty, even if this old minister had ten lives, he would not dare to tease you with such a thing."

Just half an hour earlier, at the morning court session, Lord Changsun, along with Wang Gui and other aristocratic officials, prepared more than thirty memorials, jointly impeaching His Highness the Crown Prince.

Empress Zhangsun looked at Li Gang in shock.

More than thirty memorials?

This isn't impeachment; this is trying to destroy his own son.

"What's so clever about their impeachment?"

"They impeached His Highness the Crown Prince for killing surrendered soldiers and massacring cities in Liaodong, saying that His Highness the Crown Prince was tyrannical and cruel, and a tyrant like Jie and Zhou."

Li Gang became more and more excited as he spoke.

"In the Taiji Hall, in front of all the civil and military officials, Lord Changsun pressed him relentlessly, his words piercing to the heart."

He not only pinned the blame for the massacre on the crown prince, but also openly instigated the court officials to pressure His Majesty to depose the crown prince.

Empress Zhangsun felt a sudden dizziness and almost lost her balance.

Waste storage?

His own brother actually led a coup in the imperial court, trying to depose his own son.

Changsun Wugou had no idea that she had already warned Changsun Wuji.

But how dare he lay a hand on his own son?

"How dare he..."

Empress Zhangsun was so angry that her teeth started to itch.

Li Gang took out the rubbing that Wei Zheng had given him from his sleeve.

"Your Highness, His Highness's massacre of the city in Liaodong was not a case of tyranny or cruelty at all."

"Your Highness has taken the blame for our Great Tang Dynasty, for the hundreds of thousands of innocent souls of the Chinese people."

Li Gang held the rubbing above his head with trembling hands.

Qiuyue quickly took it and carefully placed it in front of Changsun Wugou.

Empress Zhangsun began to read it sentence by sentence.

"This was attached to a secret letter sent back by Lord Wei Zheng's Hundred Cavalry Division with an urgent dispatch of eight hundred li."

Li Gang explained.

"His Highness the Crown Prince led his army to discover a site of white bones in Liaodong. It was filled with the remains of hundreds of thousands of soldiers who died in the Sui Dynasty's expedition against Goguryeo. The Goguryeo people built a mound of bones around these soldiers' remains and erected a stone tablet next to it."

Empress Zhangsun looked at the translation on the rubbing.

"The two-legged sheep of the Central Plains are worse than pigs and dogs, at the mercy of others..."

"The Goguryeo people treated us Central Plains people like beasts, wantonly killing and insulting us. When His Highness the Crown Prince saw that mountain of white bones and that stone tablet, he was so angry that he vomited blood on the spot."

Even as Li Gang cried out, he didn't forget to elevate Li Chengqian's image once again.

"His Highness issued the order to massacre the city in order to avenge the hundreds of thousands of innocent souls and to wash away the shame."

Empress Zhangsun's hands were trembling so much that she couldn't even hold the imperial edict.

"Your Highness understands that massacring a city will bring him eternal infamy, and that the upright officials in the court will impeach him."

But His Highness the Crown Prince said that as long as it could break Goguryeo's backbone, and as long as it could prevent the people of Tang from being bullied by barbarians in the future, he would bear the infamy.

Li Gang kowtowed heavily at this point.

"Your Majesty! His Highness the Crown Prince is bleeding and sweating outside, taking all the blame upon himself."

But what about Changsun Wuji? As the emperor's brother-in-law, instead of helping His Highness, he colluded with outsiders to exploit His Highness's noble sentiments, making a scene in the Taiji Hall to try and kill him.

Empress Zhangsun looked at the rubbing in her hand, her eyes red, and tears slowly streamed down her face.

She could imagine how much pain her own brilliance must have felt when facing the mountain of bones.

His own son was risking his life for the greater good of the country.

My good older brother is sabotaging me from behind.

"If it weren't for Lord Kong Yingda arguing his case in court today, and even hitting that old scoundrel Wang Gui, it wouldn't have been for him."

If I hadn't threatened the entire court with my life, His Highness the Crown Prince would probably already be condemned for the ten most heinous crimes.

Li Gang raised his head, his face resolute, and said...

"At that time, even His Highness the King of Yue will be implicated and suffer an irreparable fate."

Empress Zhangsun's face, which had been beaming with joy upon hearing of her son's progress, instantly turned as cold as the depths of winter.

Her two sons were her life.

Now someone actually wants to cut off the livelihood of his two sons?

What's the difference between this and kicking yourself out of the harem?

Empress Changsun stood up and overturned the table in front of her.

She wanted to rush to the Duke of Qi's mansion right now and confront Changsun Wuji.

But she held back.

She was the Empress, the mother of the Tang Dynasty.

She could not lose her composure in front of foreign officials.

Empress Zhangsun closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

This finally calmed down my emotions.

When she opened her eyes again, all that remained was frost.

"Qiuyue, help the Grand Tutor up and offer him a seat."

Qiu Yue quickly helped Li Gang up and sat him down.

Empress Zhangsun walked up to Li Gang, clasped her hands in front of her, and performed a proper salute.

Li Gang was so frightened that he was about to kneel down again.

"Grand Tutor, please accept this bow from me."

Empress Zhangsun pressed down on Li Gang's shoulder.

"If it weren't for the Grand Tutor and Grand Preceptor's desperate protection today, my two sons would probably have become victims of the court's factional struggles. I will forever remember the Grand Tutor's kindness in saving my sons."

Li Gang waved his hands repeatedly:

"Your Majesty is too kind. This old minister is the Crown Prince's teacher and the Prince of Yue's teacher. Protecting the two princes is this old minister's duty. It's just that, as for Lord Changsun..."

"Rest assured, Grand Tutor."

Empress Zhangsun interrupted Li Gang.

"Gao Ming and Qing Que are both flesh and blood of mine. Anyone who dares to touch them, I will chop off their hand, not even my own brother."

Empress Zhangsun turned around and walked back to the soft couch to sit down.

"I am already aware of what happened today. Grand Tutor, you must be frightened. Go back and rest early."

"I will handle the rest myself."

Seeing that he had exceeded his mission, Li Gang hurriedly stood up, bowed, and left the Lizheng Hall.