Ganlu Hall was now, in the truest sense of the phrase, completely upside down.
Li Shiji no longer complained about the light screen being biased.
Su Lie no longer lamented his bad luck.
Even Li Jing's hand, which had been calmly stroking his beard, came to a halt.
Yuchi Jingde's expression barely changed, but his eyes widened as he scanned the hall behind him.
Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling exchanged a glance, then, in perfect tacit agreement, both lowered their eyes and began checking the previous records character by character, as though hunting for typos.
Qin Qiong also lowered his head, as if the old injury in his abdomen had begun acting up again.
Yan Lide's hand trembled once. He lowered his brows obediently, brush in hand, carefully tracing a few straight lines.
While doing so, he sneakily glanced at his younger brother—
—and saw Yan Liben wielding his brush like the wind, his face glowing with excitement.
Yan Lide was horrified.
But he couldn't exactly snap his brother's brush in half, so he could only steal a look toward the main seat.
Fortunately—
The two people most involved had no time to care about such things right now.
"Abolish Empress Wang? Install Wu Zetian? As Empress?! Not Empress Dowager?!"
Li Shimin shot to his feet, shouting in disbelief.
But the words and the voice from the light screen were clear, unmistakable, beyond all doubt.
In that instant, the Great Tang emperor known for accepting remonstrance with an open heart vanished.
In his place stood a young monarch roaring himself hoarse:
"How can this be allowed?!"
"How can this happen?!"
"How dare this happen?!"
Almost at once, Li Shimin recalled that joking line from later generations:
Li Zhi, who left nunneries feeling thoroughly satisfied.
Before this, Li Shimin had only thought his son was a bit out of line.
After all, later generations had already mocked him for casually altering posthumous titles, adding extra characters, and similar matters.
But now, turning back to look again—
How could this be described as a bit out of line?
This was outright outrageous!
"What nunneries?! This is clearly secret trysts with that Consort Wu!"
Fang Xuanling buried his agreement deep in his heart and pretended he hadn't heard a thing.
Du Ruhui genuinely wanted to offer some counsel—but had no idea where to even begin.
No one present was a fool.
A quick calculation made things painfully clear:
From the emperor's death to the abolition of Empress Wang and the elevation of Wu—it had only been five years.
Working backward from there…
When did these two start developing feelings for each other?
Li Shimin could calculate this just as well.
Almost instantly, he ground his teeth and barked:
"Transmit an edict—!"
Then he froze.
Because he didn't know what edict to issue.
At present, Prince Zhi was two years old.
The second daughter of the Wu family was six.
Crown Prince Chengqian was eleven.
Chengqian had been strictly educated in earlier years.
The classics and histories—he'd read a fair number.
Archery and swordplay—he already had some form.
Both civil and martial training were only at the beginner level, but it was more than enough to draw amazement from little Wu Erniang.
Guanyin Consort had said that over the past half year, Chengqian's interest in reading had surged to unprecedented levels.
The couple had been quite pleased.
As for Prince Zhi—
He'd only just learned how to run.
He still couldn't even wipe his own nose properly.
In that instant, Li Shimin felt utterly exhausted.
Thankfully, someone soon stepped in to rescue the situation.
Plump and round, Zhangsun Wuji wrapped himself around Li Shimin's lower leg and wailed:
"Your Majesty! I hold the Great Tang in my heart! Even if there were suspicions of secret manipulation delaying military affairs, it was all ultimately for the sake of state matters!"
Letting out a sigh, Li Shimin felt he could understand this trusted minister.
After all, Prince Zhi was Wuji's own nephew by blood.
When a nephew acts absurdly, it's only natural for an uncle to find ways to correct him.
The methods might be a bit underhanded—but perhaps they were measures taken in desperation.
So Li Shimin bent down and helped him up.
"Wujii's wholehearted loyalty to the state—I know it well…"
Before Li Shimin could finish his sentence, everyone present heard the calm, drifting voice of the descendant:
"659… accused Zhangsun Wuji of rebellion… exiled to Qianzhou… forced to hang himself."
It was early July in Chang'an, the height of summer.
Yet Zhangsun Wuji felt his hands and feet turn ice-cold.
Just days earlier, he'd used some pretext to enter the palace.
He had visited his sister, exchanged a few words with Chengqian, and taken a distant look at that "Empress Wu."
At the end, he had even held his little nephew Li Zhi—
and wiped Li Zhi's nose with the sleeve of his brocade robe.
And now—
Forced to hang himself?
Zhangsun Wuji immediately burst into tears and snot, even more copiously than when he'd wiped Li Zhi's nose a few days before.
"Your Majesty! How could this minister possibly rebel?!"
The officials silently nodded along.
Yes—what reason would the Zhangsun clan have to rebel?
Then—
Their gazes drifted sideways.
They landed on Hou Junji, whose face was gradually lighting up with animation and keen interest.
Well…
Rebellion might not be entirely impossible.
Now that he'd been pulled to his feet, Zhangsun Wuji refused to let go of Li Shimin.
Perhaps because of the contrast, Li Shimin's anger subsided somewhat.
Looking at the mucus now smeared on his sleeve, Li Shimin resolutely—but discreetly—tried to pull his arm away.
Hm. Didn't move.
Left with no choice, he said perfunctorily:
"Wuji is right. There must be hidden circumstances here."
His mouth agreed wholeheartedly.
But in his heart, he was already thinking—
The matter of reinstating Zhangsun Wuji would need careful reconsideration.
At the very least, he needed to figure out the precise grievances between this uncle and nephew before making a decision.
In any case, the court wasn't exactly short on capable people right now.
As for Wang Wenduo—
No one truly cared anymore.
After repeated personal reassurances from Li Shimin, Zhangsun Wuji finally released his sleeve—after rubbing a bit more mucus on it—looking fully satisfied as he returned to his place.
Meanwhile, under the edge of everyone's peripheral vision, Hou Junji silently shuffled closer to Zhangsun Wuji.
"The Duke of Qi plotting rebellion must be complete nonsense!"
Hou Junji spoke with heartfelt sincerity.
Zhangsun Wuji heard the word "rebellion," then looked at Hou Junji.
Vaguely, he could see—
Seven parts anticipation.
Three parts barely suppressed schadenfreude.
He snorted inwardly and shook his head.
If not for His Majesty's strict order to keep matters secret…
Zhangsun Wuji shifted away with a look of pure disgust.
…
Chengdu Prefectural Office.
Liu Ba personally found an excuse to slip into the kitchen and returned with half a jar of roasted, skinned ground beans—peanuts.
The group simply gathered together and sat down.
Peanuts on the table.
Hot tea brewing beside them.
Zhang Fei popped two peanuts into his mouth, chewed, and sighed in admiration.
"These things—are they really something we can hear without paying for it?"
Fa Zheng smiled and nodded.
"Indeed. Secrets of this caliber—if you heard them in a teahouse, you'd need at least five large bowls of tea."
Even Liu Bei's expression turned mischievous.
"So… this Wu Empress becoming emperor—did Li Zhi agree to it, or…"
Liu Bei slid a finger across his own throat.
Everyone understood the gesture.
Zhuge Liang also picked up a peanut.
He actually thought about it seriously, then shook his head.
"Judging by later generations' attitudes, Emperor Gaozong does not seem like a mediocre ruler."
He tossed the peanut into his mouth and crunched it thoughtfully.
The underlying meaning was clear.
Li Zhi might risk everything to depose an empress for the sake of the Wu clan.
But pushing her to become a female emperor?
That was a completely different matter.
That would be digging up the very roots of the Li Tang.
Even if he were willing to die for her, it likely wouldn't go that far.
Zhang Fei, however, shook his head vigorously.
"This Li Tang bunch reminds me of Cao the traitor's family."
Zhuge Liang disagreed.
"Cao Cao was lenient with himself and indecisive in major decisions."
"The Tang emperor bears the reputation of open-minded remonstrance, yet in deciding the Western Regions he could override all opposition. How are they alike?"
As for commanding ability—it wasn't even worth mentioning.
The gap was simply too large.
Zhang Fei hurriedly waved his hands.
"I'm thinking more of Cao Rui—the Heavenly Emperor."
"Later generations say Cao Rui longed for his mother to the point of illness—psychological illness."
"Doesn't this Li Zhi feel kind of similar?"
Zhuge Liang pondered silently.
It didn't seem impossible.
After all, counting the timeline—
Empress Zhangsun died early.
Later accounts often emphasized how Li Shimin was either scheming against the Western Regions or personally campaigning against Goguryeo.
In between were crown prince troubles, rebellions, and all sorts of chaos.
So—
Did Wu Zetian replace Empress Zhangsun's position?
Zhuge Liang tapped his own head.
He also remembered later generations saying Sun Quan suffered from psychological illness as well.
But this kind of mental affliction…
Zhuge Liang glanced at Divine Physician Zhang, who was busy studying peanuts.
He sighed helplessly.
They truly had too few medical sages to rely on.
It felt improper to burden Physician Zhang with the mysteries of the human mind.
Seeing the strategist tapping his head and sighing, Zhang Fei thought he'd said something wrong and cautiously added:
"I just meant that when it comes to raising children, even a thousand-year emperor isn't as good as Big Brother and the strategist."
Liu Bei's brow furrowed.
Why did that sentence sound so strange?
[Lightscreen]
[For Li Zhi, abolishing Wang and installing Wu was also a crucial dividing line in his life.
The reason was simple:
He formally broke free from Zhangsun Wuji's restraints and began flying solo.
After this event, Li Zhi changed the reign title, established Luoyang as the Eastern Capital, implemented the dual-capital system, and launched frequent major initiatives—formally taking sole control of state authority.
And of course, Li Zhi did not forget that ugly fake match against the Western Turks.
He decided to wrap it up properly.
In 657, fate smiled upon Su Dingfang for the first time.
During the fake match orchestrated by Cheng Zhijie and Wang Wenduo, Su Dingfang's performance had been utterly outstanding.
Thus, Li Zhi appointed him Grand Commander of the Yili Route.
The war of annihilation against the Western Turks officially began.
Tang forces advanced in two routes:
Su Dingfang led the Yanran Protectorate army, advancing west from the Altai Mountains to strike directly at the Western Turks' royal court.
Two distant cousins of Xiao Lu—Ashina Mishe and Ashina Buzhen—both Tang frontier generals, led the second army, advancing from Xizhou.
At fifty-seven years old, Su Dingfang made a firm decision:
He would put an end to fake matches and leave his name in history.
In Su Dingfang's hands, the Tang army unleashed combat power that astonished all observers.
After setting out, they first encountered the Western Turkic Mukkun tribe.
This battle left only two words in the historical records:
"Greatly defeated."
The results were recorded just as sparingly:
"Over ten thousand tents surrendered"—roughly forty to fifty thousand people.
Su Dingfang pacified the tribe and selected one thousand men from among them to participate in the final destruction of the Western Turks.
The army continued onward and finally encountered the Western Turkic main force at what is now the Irtysh River.
Xiao Lu placed great importance on Tang, assembling a force of one hundred thousand.
Su Dingfang responded calmly—and openly taunted him on the battlefield.
He faced them with only a little over ten thousand troops, including Uyghur cavalry auxiliaries.
As if that weren't enough, Su Dingfang deliberately divided his forces, forming separate infantry and cavalry formations.
Faced with such blatant disdain, the Central Asian hegemon—Shaboluo Khagan Xiao Lu—was instantly enraged.
Under the command of the "Foolish Pineapple Khagan," the Western Turkic cavalry charged straight at the infantry squares, intending to teach the Tang a lesson.
This was standard battlefield doctrine:
Gradually eliminate the enemy's smaller elements, then encircle them with superior numbers.
Victory would surely belong to the Foolish Pineapple Khagan!]