Chapter 61: Edict of Self-Blame

"Ruined..." Chu Suiliang murmured, "A unique masterpiece lost to eternity... the root is severed..."

This faint sigh of grief, falling into Li Shimin's ears, stung more than a slap to his face.

Li Shimin's soul underwent an unprecedented interrogation.

He spent his life fighting north and south, pacifying a chaotic world, and founding the Zhenguan Reign.

He constantly proclaimed himself an Eternal Emperor.

He accepted remonstrance with humility, taking the burden of all people under heaven upon himself. This book premieres on ttks. tw, your worry-free source for error-free chapters and perfectly ordered reading.

He cherished his reputation intensely, caring deeply about his evaluation in history books.

But regarding the matter of the Lanting Preface.

The Sky Screen cruelly tore away his disguise as a wise ruler.

It exposed the most true and narrow feudal emperor's selfish desires buried deep within his bones.

For the sake of enjoying it alone in his grave.

He personally severed the lineage of Huaxia's highest artistic achievement.

This selfishness, contrasted against the noble actions of modern people striving to protect relics and pass on civilization.

Appears extremely despicable and hideous.

The Sky Screen shifted, and anger spanning time and space erupted across all dynasties.

In the Song Dynasty timeline, Bianjing.

Inside Fan Lou, hundreds of Song literati and elegant scholars gathered.

Mi Fei stood on a wine table, his hair disheveled.

He held a white porcelain wine cup in his hand and smashed it fiercely onto the ground.

Porcelain shards scattered everywhere.

Mi Fei pounded his chest, acting as if mad: "Absurd! Detestable!"

"Emperor Taizong boasts of his wisdom, yet commits such an act of wanton destruction!"

"Wang Youjun's calligraphy is a treasure that steals the creation of heaven and earth."

"How can a monarch of a single nation claim it as private property!?"

"Burying it in the yellow earth, letting insects and rats gnaw it, and moisture erode it."

"This is gouging out the hearts of all scholars under heaven!"

Countless Song literati followed suit, pounding their chests and stamping their feet.

The sounds of wailing merged into a single roar.

In the Ming Dynasty timeline, Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat behind the imperial desk, flipping through a Memorial.

He glanced up at the Sky Screen and let out a long, cold sneer.

"Hiss~"

Zhu Yuanzhang tossed the Memorial onto the desk and paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back.

"What a Heavenly Khan, what an Eternal Emperor."

Zhu Yuanzhang made no effort to hide the mockery in his eyes. "Claiming again and again that water can carry the boat but also capsize it, putting on an act of having the world in his heart."

"In the end, he couldn't even let go of a single scroll of calligraphy."

He turned to look at the Crown Prince Zhu Biao beside him.

"Biao-er, you must remember this."

"The Ming Dynasty conquered this land; the treasures in the vault are left for our descendants to guard the house."

"Like him, Li Shimin, stuffing national treasures into the cracks of a coffin as burial goods."

"That is the foolish act of someone with no heirs!"

"Deceiving the world and stealing a name, possessing only a hollow reputation!"

The Great Tang.

Taiji Palace.

The curses and mockery spanning time and space, following the Sky Screen, poured entirely into Li Shimin's ears.

The disappointment of future generations.

The angry scolding of Song literati.

The sneering laughter of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor.

An extremely intense sense of shame rose from the soles of his feet.

Instantly transforming into a raging fire that crazily burned Li Shimin's internal organs.

He felt his face burning hot and his breathing constricted.

He had been proud his entire life.

Always believing that in the long river of history, he was a flawless model of a wise ruler.

But now, this monument built upon his brilliant military achievements and the Zhenguan Reign.

Amidst a few questions from Lin Xuan, and amidst the disappointed sighs of countless descendants in later generations.

Crashed down with a boom, shattering into pieces on the ground.

The candlelight in the great hall stretched his shadow extremely long.

Making him appear lonely and wretched.

A long moment passed.

Li Shimin opened his eyes.

The struggle and hesitation in his gaze vanished, replaced by a terrifying resolve.

"Bring me a brush."

Hearing this, Wang De bowed and hurried forward, presenting the imperial brush and a scroll of bright yellow silk.

Li Shimin did not take it; he stood up and looked down upon the ministers. "The Secretariat shall draft the edict."

Zhangsun Wuji stepped forward, holding his tablet, and said, "Please, Your Majesty, give your orders."

"Draft an edict of self-reproach."

At these words,

a collective gasp of shock rose from the court.

When an Emperor issues an edict of self-reproach, it is usually amidst natural disasters, human calamities, or even the brink of national ruin.

The Great Tang is now prosperous and the people at peace; where is the basis for self-reproach?

Wei Zheng suddenly raised his head, staring at the sovereign above.

Li Shimin swept his wide sleeve and pointed at the Sky Screen outside the hall.

"I have regarded the world's treasures as private property for one family and one surname."

"Driven by my own greed, I attempted to drag the legacy of our culture into the Yellow Springs."

"This is great greed, great evil."

"I have failed the scholars of the world, and I have failed the descendants of future generations."

Zhangsun Wuji's legs went weak, and he fell to his knees with a thud.

"Your Majesty! Absolutely not!"

"The system of burial with the dead has existed since ancient times."

"If Your Majesty issues this edict, you will diminish the heavenly majesty of the imperial house!"

"Bullshit heavenly majesty!"

Li Shimin cursed loudly, descended the jade steps, and pointed at Zhangsun Wuji's nose.

"One thousand four hundred years later, my daughter in another world will be pointed at and scolded, her father called a thief! A criminal who destroyed the cultural lineage of Huaxia!"

"In the eyes of future generations, I have become an extremely selfish tyrant!"

Li Shimin's eyes turned red, his chest heaving with grief, indignation, and realization.

"What use is this false heavenly majesty to me!"

He turned around, facing the officials responsible for drafting the edict, and issued an extremely cold and hard iron law.

"Write it into the edict. Proclaim it to the world."

"From this day forward, all unique copies, rare artifacts, and national treasures in the Great Tang's Imperial Treasury."

"Shall be cataloged and properly sealed within the Hongwen Guan."

"To be viewed and studied by scholars and men of letters from across the land!"

Wei Zheng gripped his tablet tightly, his hands trembling slightly.

He understood the weight of these words.

The private property of the imperial house would henceforth become a public instrument for the world.

"No ruler of the Great Tang in future generations shall violate this law."

"If anyone, driven by greed for treasures, dares to bring paintings, calligraphy, or heavy artifacts into their tomb for burial, they shall be deemed unfilial and unrighteous!"

"Immediately strip them of ancestral worship in the Taimiao! Drive their spirit tablets out of the Taimiao!"

The court fell deathly silent.

The ministers prostrated themselves on the ground, bowing their heads.

They knew clearly that the Emperor was in earnest.

Gambling with ancestral worship after death was the heaviest sanction a feudal emperor could issue.

The Great Song, Bianjing.

Mi Fei, who had just smashed a wine cup in Fan Lou, stood frozen in place.

He watched the Great Tang Emperor in the Sky Screen, who had cut through the case with a decisive stroke.

He watched him, before the eyes of the world, lay bare his own selfish desires and establish rules to protect the cultural lineage.

Mi Fei adjusted his robes and hat, faced the Sky Screen, and bowed deeply in a kneeling position.

"Emperor Taizong, your breadth of mind is like the sea."

"Knowing your mistakes and correcting them, you truly deserve the title of Eternal Emperor!"

Countless scholars and refined gentlemen followed suit, kneeling and bowing.

The resentment from before was completely subdued at this moment by this Emperor's immense resolve.

The Ming Dynasty, Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang withdrew his cold sneer, sat back on the Dragon Throne, and flashed a look of appreciation.

"To issue an edict of self-reproach for a single curse from the future, to swear a deadly oath with one's spirit tablet."

"Li Er Lao is a ruthless character; no wonder he could achieve great things."

Inside a modern rental apartment.

Lin Xuan looked at Xiao Sizi, who sat dazed, and reached out to rub the top of her head.

"Go to sleep. History has passed for over a thousand years; no one can change it."

"Adult matters are none of a child's concern."

He lifted the little girl from the chair, carried her to the secondary bedroom, and tucked her in.

Night deepened.

Lin Xuan washed up and lay down on the bed.

The heavy weight of the severed cultural lineage spun repeatedly in his mind, keeping him awake for a long time.

It was not until the latter half of the night that he finally drifted into a drowsy sleep.