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

After Qin Qiong captured Hou Junji, he did not waste any time at Xuanwu Gate.

"Send five hundred men to clean up this place. The rest of you, come with me to Da'an Palace."

The Xuanwu Gate incident has subsided, but at the Da'an Palace, hundreds of officials are still being watched by hundreds of elite family assassins.

If they had arrived late, half of those civil officials would probably have been killed.

Cheng Yaojin picked up his Xuanhua axe from the ground and shouted along from the side:

"Second brother, wait for me. There are definitely still bandits over there. Let me, Old Cheng, go and steal a few more taels of gold."

Li Shimin kicked Cheng Yaojin in the buttocks:

"No backbone at all. Take these few traitors you caught and send them all to the mourning hall at Da'an Palace."

With a wave of his hand, Cheng Yaojin sent several soldiers of the Xuanjia Army dragging Cui Mingan and Hou Junji toward Da'an Palace.

At this time, the gates of the Da'an Palace were tightly closed.

Inside the palace gate, Pei Ji stood at the very front, holding a door bolt in his hand.

Several old eunuchs, each carrying a horse-washing stick they'd somehow acquired, followed closely behind, their hands trembling.

In the very center of the main hall, Wang Gui looked at Pei Ji with disdain and asked:

"Pei Ji, why are you doing this?"

"Things at Xuanwu Gate should be mostly finished by now. You think you can stop our ten-thousand-strong army by bringing a few eunuchs to block the gate?"

Pei Ji spat:

"You traitorous scoundrel, I'd rather die right here in front of this palace than let you defile the Emperor Emeritus's mourning hall."

Before he could finish speaking, the palace door was kicked open from the outside.

Qin Qiong walked in carrying his double maces.

The officials in the hall who had sided with the aristocratic families were completely dumbfounded.

Pei Ji looked at Qin Qiong who had entered in shock and asked:

"Qin Qiong? Aren't you dead?"

Qin Qiong didn't speak, but nodded to Pei Ji.

He raised his leg and kicked the several family guards who were blocking his way, sending them flying several feet away.

Li Shimin and Li Chengqian then walked in from outside.

The Xuanjia Army generals Cui Mingan and Hou Junji were thrown directly onto the open ground at the front of the mourning hall.

Wang Gui shouted, trembling all over:

"Brother Cui... Brother Cui? Hou Junji?"

Two thousand guards from the Eastern Palace surrounded the entire main hall of the Da'an Palace, and crossbows were mounted on both ends of the walls.

Those officials who had previously stood beside Wang Gui now all huddled behind Pei Ji.

"Is it all over?"

A voice came from behind the mourning hall.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

Li Yuan walked slowly out from behind the secret chamber, his hands behind his back.

Everyone in the entire hall had an expression of utter disbelief.

Wang Gui was so frightened that he fell to the ground, pointed at Li Yuan, and shouted:

"Ghost...the Supreme Emperor..."

Li Yuan walked to his coffin made of golden nanmu wood, patted the lid, and said:

"I hid behind a secret door for three whole days. What? You noble families and gentry all wore my mourning clothes. Now that you see me come out, you don't even feel a little embarrassed?"

Li Shimin immediately stepped forward and performed a grand salute.

Pei Ji fell to his knees at Li Yuan's feet.

"Your Majesty! You've finally come out from behind there."

"They almost tore my old bones apart."

Li Yuan grabbed Pei Ji by the back of his neck and pulled his old man up with one hand.

"Alright, stop wailing. I know you've had a tough time these past two days."

Standing at the back, Cheng Yaojin nudged Yuchi Jingde, who was standing close to him, with his elbow and said:

"This old man's acting as a dead person is more realistic than my wife's tantrums and shouting."

"The coffin lid wasn't closed properly, and those old dogs all fell in."

Yuchi Jingde quickly covered his mouth:

"Shut your stinking mouth."

Li Yuan looked at Li Chengqian and said:

"Gao Ming, did you see that? These guys from Qinghe, those who work in Taiyuan, are all spineless cowards. I shouldn't have kept them around back then."

Li Chengqian said with a grin:

"Grandpa, don't be angry. They're just a few lowly people. Just kill them."

Knowing he was doomed this time, Cui Mingan looked around and laughed loudly:

"Li Shimin! Li Chengqian! Do you think that by capturing me and Wang Gui and the others, you can destroy the foundation of our five clans?"

We have thousands of families and hundreds of households, and our people make up half of the official population in the Tang Dynasty.

"If you have the guts, slaughter all the members of our major clans and see if the sky falls down for the Li family."

Upon hearing Cui Minqian's words, the officials from prominent families in the palace corner, who had been trembling, suddenly stopped shaking.

If the officials of the five surnames in the court were killed, all the government offices of the Tang Dynasty would be forced to cease operations.

For this reason, Li Shimin never touched the people of the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families.

Li Chengqian walked up to Cui Minqian and kicked him to the ground:

"Old man, have you gotten too used to throwing your weight around at home? Do you really think the Tang Dynasty is your personal property?"

Cui Mingan clutched his chest, glaring at Li Chengqian and roaring:

"You little brat! What do you know about governing a country?"

Without us, who will collect the taxes of this land? Who will manage the local administration? Do you think your few mathematicians and craftsmen can hold up the Tang Dynasty?

Li Chengqian ignored him and glanced outside the hall.

"Judging by the time, it should be time."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Changsun Chong rushed in, covered in sweat.

Behind him followed two hundred elite cavalrymen, each carrying a thick stack of books, some even carrying large wooden crates.

"Your Highness! It's done."

Changsun Chong ran up to Li Chengqian, panting, and placed the stack of books he was carrying on the offering table.

"The family has fallen, and it's all here. You wouldn't believe how prolific these aristocratic families are; their family trees are thicker than bricks."

Li Yuan and Li Shimin curiously came over.

Li Shimin pointed to the pile of books and asked:

"Brilliant! What are all these things?"

Li Chengqian casually picked up a book, flipped through two pages, and then handed it to Li Shimin, saying:

"Father, these are the family genealogies of the five surnames and seven prominent families in Chang'an."

My cousin Chong just led a group of people to their house and specifically stole this thing.

Li Shimin took the genealogy book and looked down at it.

The book is filled with the names of all the members of the Cui family, from the oldest to the youngest, from the main line to the collateral branches.

Even which neighborhood they lived in and what official position they held were clearly written down.

Even details like who kept several mistresses, how many illegitimate children they had, and how many properties they owned were noted in small regular script.

Li Yuan glanced at it and laughed directly:

"You little brat! You're going to confiscate their property and wipe out their entire family!"

Li Chengqian spread his hands:

"Grandfather, Father. Didn't that old dog Cui complain that arresting people was too much trouble?"

The powerful families are numerous and deeply entrenched; if the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review were to investigate, they would not be able to find out the truth even by next year.

It would also easily alert the enemy, allowing them to transfer their assets and send their direct descendants out of the city in advance.

He pointed to the pile of family trees.

"With this, we can follow the clues."

It's clear at a glance who the mastermind is, who the accomplices are, and who the loyalists are.

The document even contains clues about where their illegitimate children and land deeds are hidden.

"It's much easier for us to raid homes by name."

When Cui Mingan and Wang Gui, who were kneeling on the ground, heard the words "family genealogy," they were so frightened that their souls almost flew out of their bodies.

For prominent families, the most important thing is inheritance; the family genealogy is their lifeblood.

Now that Li Chengqian has his lifeline in his hands, this means the family line will be wiped out.

Cui Mingan struggled to get up, but was stomped back down by the Xuanjia soldiers beside him.

"Li Chengqian! Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"

Li Chengqian said disdainfully:

"Divine retribution? I only know that if you don't cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back in the spring breeze."

You even dared to poison my imperial grandfather, and you expect me to preach benevolence and morality to you?

Wei Zheng slowly walked out from the crowd.

When the officials saw Wei Zheng step forward, they immediately felt reassured.

Wei the troll would definitely offer advice to preserve the dignity of scholars.

Cui Mingan shouted at Wei Zheng:

"Lord Wei! You are a model for all scholars in the land. You must persuade His Majesty. The Crown Prince's actions are contrary to the principles of Heaven and Heaven."

Wei Zheng walked to the offering table, picked up a genealogy book of the Wang family of Taiyuan, and flipped through two pages.

He let out a long sigh:

"So convenient, so incredibly convenient."

The entire audience was stunned.

Wei Zheng closed the genealogy book, turned to look at Li Shimin, and said:

"Your Majesty, when I investigate cases in the Censorate, the most troublesome thing is to investigate the networks of relationships among these powerful officials."

The investigation went through many twists and turns, all involving relatives. Every time they reached a crucial point, the trail went cold.

If we had this thing, why would I need to stay up all night every day flipping through case files?

Just arrest them according to the rules, and you'll catch them every time.

Li Shimin was amused by Wei Zheng's words.

"Does Minister Wei think this method is feasible?"

Wei Zheng put the genealogy book back on the table and turned to walk to Cui Minqian's noodle shop.

"Cui Mingan, you old scoundrel, how dare you talk about dignity?"

You five surnames and seven clans are full of benevolence and morality in public, but behind the scenes you are thieves and prostitutes.

You've seized fertile land, concealed population, and evaded taxes—what haven't you done?

Two years ago, the Yellow River breached its banks, and the imperial court allocated 100,000 strings of cash for disaster relief. However, only 30,000 strings of cash reached the local areas, and the rest went into the pockets of you aristocratic officials.

Now that things have been exposed, how dare they bring troops to force the emperor to abdicate?

You dare to threaten His Majesty with the fate of the Tang Dynasty? Who do you think you are?

Even without you, the Tang Dynasty will still enjoy favorable weather, abundant harvests, and peace.

Wei Zheng then pointed to the aristocratic officials huddled in the corner,

"You bunch of parasites draw salaries from the imperial court all day long, but all you know how to do is protect the interests of your families."

If we let you go today, where is the law of the Tang Dynasty? Where is justice?

Your Majesty, I implore you to punish him severely; there must be no leniency!

Li Shimin felt so relieved, as if all the pent-up anger he had been holding in for years was finally released.

"Issue my decree!"

The hall fell silent instantly.

"The five clans and seven noble families plotted a rebellion and poisoned the Emperor Emeritus; their crimes are unforgivable! The Hundred Cavalry and the Imperial Guards are hereby ordered to arrest them according to their clan genealogies! All direct descendants of the five clans and seven noble families, and those involved in this case, shall be executed without exception! They shall all be imprisoned and handed over to the Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate for joint trial!"

Li Shimin pointed at Cui Minqian and the others who were slumped on the ground.

"Immediately throw these ringleaders into death row and place them under strict guard! Confiscate all their property and deposit it into the national treasury!"

"As you command!"

Li Junxian waved his hand. The Hundred Cavalrymen dragged Cui Minqian and the others away.

In a corner of the main hall, the officials who were attached to powerful families knelt down and begged for mercy.

Li Shimin didn't even glance at them.

Li Yuan patted Li Chengqian on the shoulder.

"Brilliant! Those old dogs have been dealt with, but so many positions in the court are now vacant. How do you plan to fill them? We can't expect the entire court to work non-stop every day, can we?"

Li Chengqian said with a smile:

"Grandpa, rest assured, I have already made preparations."

The students at the Donggong Gewu Academy have already achieved considerable success in their studies.

They are far superior to these bookworms who can only recite poems and compose couplets.

Furthermore, with the imperial examination reform about to be implemented, there will be plenty of talented people in the country.

Without these parasitic aristocratic families, the Tang Dynasty will only function better.

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction.

This son has calculated every single step of the way.

Before they even started raiding this place, they'd already prepared a backup plan.