Chapter 188: The Capital

Chang'an city was shrouded in a sheet of pure white, fine snow like cotton, silently covering the vermilion eaves and azure tiles.

The pedestrians on the main street were wrapped in thick cloaks, and the white breath they exhaled vanished instantly in the cold wind.

The vendors' cries seemed frozen, dropping a few tones, and each stall had raised wind‑blocking cloth curtains.

Although it was the Wude era and the realm had just been pacified, the imperial capital already exuded its former grandeur amid the winter's stillness.

The Imperial Palace rose majestically within the city, its vermilion walls and golden tiles capped with a thin layer of snow, reflecting a restrained brilliance in the pale afternoon sun.

Inside the Eastern Palace, the furnace blaze was strong.

Crown Prince Li Jiancheng sat upright on a rosewood chair, dressed in a dark fox‑fur robe, his nose high and straight, lips thin and pale, now gently pursed, appearing especially composed.

His eyes were deep as a cold pool, the outer corners slightly upturned; as his gaze shifted, it bore both a scholar's elegance and the Crown Prince's sharpness.

He held a booklet in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed, as if pondering something.

Suddenly, he looked up and addressed the attendant beside him:

"Is Li Yuan still kneeling outside?"

The attendant immediately stepped forward, bowing, and said:

"Your Highness, he is still kneeling. It has been two hours."

Li Jiancheng set the booklet down and said, "Enough, let him come in."

"Yes." The attendant stepped out of the hall.

A moment later, a gaunt‑faced Li Yuan entered.

Upon seeing Li Jiancheng, Li Yuan immediately fell to his knees, his voice hoarse: "Your Highness, please arbitrate for me! My eldest son and my younger son…"

Li Jiancheng turned, his expression calm, and said lightly:

"Silence."

The moment those words were spoken, the words Li Yuan had intended to weep out froze in his throat.

He looked up into the Crown Prince's black eyes, deep as a cold pool, shivered, his lips trembling, unsure what to say.

Li Jiancheng lifted a booklet from the desk and read softly: "Li Feng of the Zhongyun Li clan, riding a horse to injure people, tyrannical and unreasonable… later sought his elder brother Li Lin… both were slain by the Qi cultivator Yu Lin."

With each sentence he read, Li Yuan's complexion grew paler.

It was as if he were present on the scene, absorbing every detail with his eyes!

"Right or wrong?" Li Jiancheng closed the booklet, his gaze blazing.

Li Yuan collapsed on the ground, cold sweat streaming: "Your Highness sees clearly… but they ultimately are…"

"Ultimately what?" Li Jiancheng's voice remained calm.

Li Yuan swallowed, gritted his teeth, and said, "They… are ultimately of the Li family bloodline!"

"Being slain by others is a disgrace to the face of my Li family!"

"I still ask Your Highness to arbitrate for them!"

Regarding his words.

Li Jiancheng merely let out a light laugh: "Ha."

"I actually think the ones who have shamed my Li family are your two domineering sons."

"Now that the realm is newly settled, my Father Emperor works diligently, aiming to restore a bright world; if the world were filled with people like your two prodigal sons…"

"It would likely repeat the disaster after the Sui!"

The moment those words were spoken, Li Yuan felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. Though it was a bitter winter month, cold sweat poured, his lips trembled, opening and closing, and he could not speak for a long while.

Until Li Jiancheng rose and said, "Enough. Though you were at fault first, it is not for others to overstep the laws of our Great Tang."

He crossed his arms and paced to the window, his voice steady: "You need not concern yourself with this; I will handle it personally."

He suddenly turned, his gaze like lightning: "If in the future your descendants encounter such problems… then you need not serve as county magistrate."

"Leave."

Li Yuan, as if granted a pardon, hurriedly kowtowed: "Thank you, Your Highness, for your great grace!" and then staggered out.

After he left, Li Jiancheng pondered briefly, then summoned an attendant: "Prepare a carriage, go to the Daoist temple."

The Daoist temple he mentioned was the Louguan Tai branch in the capital, overseen by Xuan Yun, a junior disciple of Qi Pingding, thus also called Xuan Yun Guan.

The main hall of Louguan Tai lies within Zhongnan Mountain; it originally began in the Zhou dynasty when Hangu Pass Minister Yin Xi wove reeds into a tower to observe stars and qi, hence the name 'Louguan.'

In the Louguan, Laozi was received, and there he lectured the five thousand verses of the Tao Te Ching.

Li Zhi once personally visited Laozi's shrine and conferred upon Laozi the title 'Supreme Mysterious Primordial Emperor.'

The main practice of Louguan Tai is 'Chong Xuan,' meaning the eradication of all attachments, focusing on the cultivation of the mind, believing that through wisdom's insight and spiritual purification one attains the state of 'unity with the Dao,' entirely different from the earlier pursuit of bodily ascension and alchemical pills.

Thus they are physically frail, yet their Souls are immensely powerful; generally no Qi cultivator can surpass them in the realm of the Soul.

Not long after,

an unassuming carriage rolled out from the Eastern Palace's Side Door, passed through the bustling streets, and arrived at Xuan Yun Guan outside Chang'an.

As Li Jiancheng stepped off, a Daoist in blue robes approached, bowing and greeting:

"Your Highness, the head of the temple is waiting in the Quiet Chamber."

It seemed as if they had known from early morning that Li Jiancheng would come.

He gave a slight nod, followed the Daoist through several courtyards, arriving at a secluded side room.

He pushed open the door and saw an elderly white‑haired Daoist seated in meditation on a straw mat.

Li Jiancheng first bowed and said, "I have the honor of meeting Master Xuan Yun."

The white‑haired Daoist slowly opened his eyes, gave Li Jiancheng a faint smile, and raised his hand in a gesturing salute:

"Your Highness, no need for formalities, please sit."

"Yes." Li Jiancheng sat on the opposite straw mat, pondered briefly, then asked, "In Zhongnan Mountain's Zhongyun County there is a Qi cultivator named Yu Lin; is he a member of Louguan Tai?"

Master Xuan Yun gently shook his head, his snow‑white long beard quivering slightly: "He is not of our Louguan Tai."

He paused, his tone full of meaning: "My Louguan Tai... cannot accommodate a person like this."

Li Jiancheng raised an eyebrow at the words: "Oh? Immortal, what do you mean? Have you ever calculated his background?"

Mysterious Cloud Immortal shook his head again, a smile tinged with deeper meaning:

"It is precisely because his origins cannot be calculated that my Louguan Tai cannot accept him."

"Your Highness," the Immortal said solemnly, "this person's background is extraordinary, not a mere creature of the pond."

"The old Daoist can only say... it's best not to make enemies with him."

Seeing his prudence.

Li Jiancheng originally intended to seize Yu Lin directly, but that thought was dispelled, replaced by a strong curiosity.

He thought.

He needed to go see this person.

Is the Immortal truly as formidable as he says?