Chapter 616: Chapter 83: Li Longji Returns to the Capital, Words That Strike the Heart

The royal carriage exclusive to the imperial family came leisurely.

Li Longji, from afar, could already faintly feel those gazes; in the past, he might have been ashamed among the masses, but now, having fallen into utter disrepair, he had become numb.

He only wanted to ask the Gu Clan why they chose to support Li Heng.

Why they decided to abandon the hundred-year-old prestige of the Gu Clan.

To him, this seemed like rebellion.

A gentle breeze blew by.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the carriage finally reached the city gates, and Li Heng immediately rushed forward, kneeling on the ground with red eyes: "Your son greets Father Emperor!"

The ministers all bowed deeply.

Amidst their calls, Li Longji drew back the curtain of the carriage, casting a complicated glance at Li Heng at the front, then looked at the ministers behind him.

Ignoring the hateful stares of the commoners, he focused his gaze on Gu Xuan and the other members of the Gu Clan.

He slowly stood up and stepped down from the carriage.

Li Heng wanted to offer a hand to support him, but Li Longji didn’t even glance at him, walking straight to Gu Xuan.

"Gu Clan, why... rebel?"

He stared hard at Gu Xuan, as if trying to extract the answer from his calm face:

"I do not employ the Gu Clan because their members act with disloyalty."

"I am the Emperor—

"How can I be compelled by my subjects in every matter?"

"Since I ascended the throne, when has the worship of Marquis Zhongxiang ever ceased for even a day?"

"Even... his divine tablets are still enshrined in my palace chamber to this day!"

His voice suddenly rose, carrying a sense of betrayal and questioning: "Gu Clan!—Why, indeed, rebel?!"

The gentle breeze continued to blow.

Li Longji’s voice was not loud, but given the attention he commanded, nearly all the ministers heard his questioning.

Nearly all involuntarily bowed their heads, expressions undeniably complex.

After all, he was an Emperor of several decades.

Though Li Longji had lost everything, his long-standing habits still stirred complex feelings.

Even among the Gu Clan descendants, many felt similarly.

But Gu Xuan’s expression was very calm, looking at Li Longji with serene composure, and after pausing, he asked earnestly: "Then..."

"Why, Your Majesty, did you abandon the kingdom and leave?"

Boom—!

Those words, light as a feather, but in Li Longji’s ears, they were like thunder from the ninth heaven!

The sorrow and questioning on his face instantly froze, his color drained, as if struck by an invisible hammer.

Gu Yi didn’t give him a chance to catch his breath, his gaze like electricity, pressing on step by step, orchestrating Gu Xuan to speak again: "Abandon the kingdom and left? Is it only Luoyang that was abandoned?"

"What was abandoned was the foundation of the Great Tang’s state, the lands earned through the labors of our Grand Ancestor and Taizong!"

"Does Your Majesty remember the dragon flag waving atop Luoyang city?"

"Does Your Majesty recall the scenes of ministers’ cheers in Hanyuan Hall?"

Gu Xuan’s voice grew louder.

"Back then, before Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he entered Julu."

"My ancestor, Lord Yu, once said that the hardest thing for a ruler is to guard one’s true intent amidst the chaos of war, not leaving the people amidst the most perilous conditions, and remembering the original intentions through times of prosperity."

"Taizong deeply agreed!"

"In his later years, he often imparted this to Emperor Gaozong, and specially left his testament with our Gu Clan, worrying about future generations forgetting their original intentions."

"I! Today, dare to ask Your Majesty—"

"You claim to worship the spirit of Marquis Zhongxiang every day, claiming constant remembrance..."

"Then! Do you still remember—"

"The time when you first entered Luoyang, full of vigour, declared the change to ’Kaiyuan’ at Zetian Gate, determined to rebuild the grand and splendid era for your ancestors, where was that filled—’original intent’?!!"

Li Longji, as if struck by lightning, shuddered violently, his face drained of color.

The word "original intent" unleashed a flood of memories for him, the contrast between the lofty ambitions at the beginning of Kaiyuan and the current hasty retreat was like hell, almost making him unsteady.

Gu Xuan maintained his demeanor, deeply bowing formally towards that lost and defeated figure.

This bow was filled with ultimate mockery and resolve:

"Your Majesty!"

"You abandoned Luoyang as worn shoes, left the city’s fathers and elders under rebel’s blade, allowing ancestral temples to crumble, the divine artifact to gather dust!"

"Such actions—"

Gu Xuan’s voice suddenly turned severe, like a final verdict:

"Compared to the so-called ’disloyal’ Gu Clan members you speak of, who truly has betrayed the blood and sweat foundation laid by the Great Tang’s ancestors?!"

"Who more—betrayed the countless people looking up to the Emperor for protection?!"

"If so—"

The last sentence, his voice turned light again, yet more devastating than any roar, clearly reverberating in everyone’s ears:

"From where does today’s act of my Gu Clan—derive the name of ’rebellion’?!"

The words ended, the lingering sound carried on, seeming to drain all vitality from the surrounding tens of feet.

Dead silence.

An absolute, suffocating dead silence.

Centered on Gu Xuan’s upright figure like a pine, the air seemed to freeze into solid ice.

The ministers hung their heads, holding their breath, not daring to make a sound.....

.....

(Ps: It’s the end of the month, I’m kneeling for monthly tickets, begging for more support from my brothers, I will pay attention to my writing style, and stop habitually emphasizing repetitive content.)