Chapter 14: Reversing the Seasons

Deep within the great hall, the sound of footsteps rose.

Li Shimin stepped out from behind the screen.

He held two rolls of parchment maps, just copied overnight by the court painters.

Slap!

The two rolls of parchment maps, whistling with the wind, slammed hard into the faces of the two men.

The parchment rolls unfurled, spreading out on the golden bricks.

"Raise your heads and look at what lies before you."

Li Chengqian trembled as he raised his head.

His gaze touched the mountains, rivers, and coastlines on the parchment roll.

It was a portion of the Complete Map of All Nations just displayed on the Sky Screen.

"For the position of Crown Prince of the Great Tang, you brothers have turned on each other, each harboring hidden agendas."

"I taught you archery and horsemanship, I taught you the Four Books and Five Classics, yet I have produced such short-sighted vision in you!"

The two lay prostrate on the ground, daring not to move.

"Do you not wish to be Emperor? Do you not feel unwilling to remain beneath another?"

Li Shimin suddenly raised his right foot, his military boot stomping heavily on the vast landmass marked as America on the map.

"I will grant your wish!"

Li Shimin's sudden roar made Li Chengqian and Li Tai freeze simultaneously.

They suspected they had heard wrongly.

"Crown Prince." Li Shimin turned his gaze to his eldest son, "I give you fifty thousand elite troops, allocate all the shipbuilding masters of the Ministry of Works, give you the Great Tang's most sturdy warships, and go conquer this territory for me!"

"Conquer it, and you shall be the Emperor there."

"The Great Tang and you shall forever be bound as brotherly states."

"You need no longer stare at my throne, nor need you guard against your brothers!"

Li Chengqian's eyes instantly turned red.

The extreme inferiority brought by his leg ailment for years, and the fear of being deposed at any moment, were torn apart in this instant by a violent, awe-inspiring force.

Li Shimin shifted his gaze, sweeping over to the chubby Li Tai.

His toe moved toward the independent continent at the southern end of the map.

"Qingque."

Li Tai shuddered all over and suddenly straightened his waist.

"This unclaimed land, I entrust to you."

Li Shimin pointed at the Australian plate, "You go too, take your garrison soldiers, take your retainers."

"Over there, build academies if you wish, build palaces if you wish."

"If you conquer it, you shall rule there as a sovereign."

"If you fail, die in the sea, and do not return to see me."

Ganludian fell into a deathly silence.

The thick fog ahead was torn open by their father, who had fought battles for half his life, in an extremely crude and domineering manner.

Revealing a new path filled with the unknown, yet shining with supreme glory.

The throne of the Great Tang was too crowded.

So crowded that kinship became distorted, and flesh and blood turned against each other.

But the map of the world was so vast it was hair-raising.

Vast enough to contain the burning ambitions of all the Li family princes.

Li Chengqian turned his head and glanced at Li Tai beside him.

The sinister malice that had long lurked in those eyes completely faded away.

Li Tai also met his elder brother's gaze.

He stopped trembling, and a trace of the ruthlessness belonging to imperial bloodline appeared on his chubby face.

In this moment, the two brothers reached a strange understanding that transcended life and death.

No need to fight for it anymore.

Outside, there were "convenience stores" everywhere.

The two turned around simultaneously, facing Li Shimin.

Their hands lay flat on the ground, their backs bent, their foreheads slamming heavily onto the golden bricks of Ganludian.

"Your son accepts the decree!"

Seven o'clock in the morning.

Lin Xuan sat up on the fabric sofa in the living room, scratching his messy hair.

The door to the master bedroom stood slightly ajar.

He shuffled over in his slippers and pushed the door open.

Xiao Sizi was already awake, lying on the windowsill.

Outside the Glass window, a sudden early summer morning rain had just stopped.

Water droplets hung on the leaves, and the sound of cicadas penetrated the Glass, coming into the room.

Hearing the footsteps, she turned her head, her small face flushed with the redness of just waking up.

"Lin Xuan, the rain has stopped."

"Mm, summer is like that, with many showers."

Lin Xuan walked over and touched her forehead.

Her temperature is normal, so she doesn't need to go to the hospital today.

Besides, the leave days he earned from working day and night and traveling for business can all be used now.

He can relax and accompany this Tang Dynasty little princess.

Come to think of it, this little ancient person is quite cute and fun.

"Go wash up, and come out to eat breakfast when you're done."

He tapped the grocery section in the food delivery app, "We stayed up half the night yesterday, so let's eat something light this morning and get some vitamins."

Xiao Sizi jumped off the chair and ran barefoot to the bathroom.

Lin Xuan looked down and swiped the screen.

His finger tapped the fruit section.

Hongyan strawberries, one box.

Chilean imported cherries, one box.

Qilin watermelon, half a melon...

Ten minutes later, Xiao Sizi finished washing her face and walked back to the living room, drying her hands with a towel.

Lin Xuan leaned back on the sofa and waved her over.

"I'll show you something fun."

Lin Xuan brought his Mobile Phone screen close to her eyes.

On the screen was a simplified electronic map of the city.

A green route wound from a red dot several kilometers away, extending to the blue dot representing Lin Xuan's apartment.

Above the red dot, a cartoon figure icon wearing a yellow VR Headset was moving quickly along the green route.

Below, a line of text read: Rider is 800 meters from you, estimated delivery in three minutes.

"What is this thing?" Xiao Sizi stared at the moving little figure.

"A delivery person. I paid for the goods, and he is bringing them over."

"This map shows his real-time location."

Three minutes later, the doorbell rang right on time.

Lin Xuan walked over and opened the door.

He took the two plastic bags from the delivery person's hands and said thanks.

He carried the bags into the kitchen.

He tore open the packaging, poured the strawberries and cherries into the sink, turned on the faucet, and rinsed them.

He cut the watermelon into small pieces and removed the seeds.

A short while later, Lin Xuan walked back to the living room carrying a huge Glass fruit bowl and placed it on the coffee table.

"Eat," Lin Xuan said, picking up a strawberry and biting off the stem.

Xiao Sizi knelt on the carpet, looking at the vibrant, dripping fruit in the bowl.

On the left were bright red strawberries, in the middle were dark purple-black cherries, and on the right were cut watermelon pieces.

She reached out, picked up a strawberry, and put it in her mouth.

Plump juice burst in her mouth, the sweet and sour flavor stimulating her taste buds.

She swallowed the flesh, then suddenly stopped moving.

She turned her gaze to look out the window.

The early summer morning light shone on the green leaves.

She turned her head back again, staring at the strawberries in the bowl.

"This is wrong; this is a winter fruit."

"I ate it at the Great Court Assembly on the Winter Solstice; outside is clearly early summer."

She pointed at the half watermelon again: "This is a midsummer thing."

"Winter fruit grows in summer, summer fruit bears in spring."

"Lin Xuan, didn't you say there are no immortals here?"

Xiao Sizi shrank her body back, "To reverse the four seasons and overturn the heavenly timing, how could a mortal do this without immortal magic?"

Lin Xuan pulled out a tissue and wiped his hands.

"Your mind turns quite fast."

"However, this really isn't magic."

He picked up the Remote Control from the coffee table, turned on the TV, and opened the video app.

He typed "Modern Agriculture Greenhouse and Cold Chain Logistics" into the search bar.

Energetic background Yinyue filled the living room.

On the screen, a vast, endless expanse of buildings appeared.

"Look clearly; that isn't a fairyland; that is called a Glass greenhouse."