"What? What did you say?"
"Minister Tang, tell Us again—carefully, word for word!"
"What do you mean, a page set aside in the history books? What do you mean, a name becoming a monument?"
Tang Jian came to the palace and, within the Hall of Establishing Governance where Li Shimin usually handled state affairs, told him what he had just experienced at the Imperial Preceptor's Residence!
"Your Majesty! The Imperial Preceptor just said...!"
Hearing Li Shimin's question, Tang Jian assumed he had not heard clearly and recounted the matter again, clearly and without missing a single word!
"Ah!"
"The Imperial Preceptor really is something else. How could he keep such a momentous matter from Us?!"
"We know he dotes on Chengqian, but Chengqian is still young after all!"
"It is not that We are unwilling to pass the throne to Chengqian now. It is simply that the Tang Dynasty's foundations are not yet deep enough. We want to accumulate more for him, so that he may more easily realize the ambitions in his heart in the future!"
"Chengqian is so young, and this matter is so enormous. He may not be able to get a firm grasp on it!"
"No, no! This matter is of utmost importance. Only We can drive it forward and bear the main karmic consequences!"
Having already learned the full sequence of events, Li Shimin instantly rose from the dragon throne and strode quickly into the hall below!
With his hands clasped behind his back, he paced back and forth through the Hall of Establishing Governance without pause!
Tang Jian, standing before Li Shimin, nodded in wholehearted agreement after hearing that long string of "self-affirmation"!
Only Qing Mo was not here to hear Li Shimin's grand declaration!
Otherwise, he definitely would not have been able to