Chapter Forty-Six: Using the Mischievous Demon as a Pawn

"Hmm?!"

"Who?!" The officials were startled, turning their heads in unison to follow the sound.

In the front ranks of the military officials, Cheng Yaojin, the Duke of Lu, whose build was as massive and sturdy as an iron tower, was seen tightly covering his mouth with his huge fan-like hand, a look of profound awkwardness on his face as he forced a naive, honest smile toward the imperial throne.

"This troublemaking demon king..." muttered quite a few people inwardly.

Though Cheng Yaojin possessed a rugged and bold appearance and often acted rashly and unrestrainedly, he was actually as astute and crystal-clear within as a sophisticated master of playing the pig to catch the tiger.

His sudden burst of laughter just now was by no means a fit of madness, but rather a sharp perception of the true attitude of Li Shimin—deeply concealed beneath his calm countenance upon the throne.

His Majesty had no intention whatsoever of thoroughly investigating or severely punishing the Crown Prince for forcing his way into the palace last night!

King Wei Li Tai and his pack of death-defying censors had been jumping around and staging tear-jerking dramas of "ridding the nation of traitors" under this pretext. Their exaggerated and utterly affected ugliness had simply made the rough-hewn Cheng Yaojin unable to hold back his amusement.

However, the instant the laughter escaped his lips, he realized things were going poorly and hurriedly clamped his mouth shut, but alas, it was already too late.

What Cheng Yaojin least expected was that his laughter seemed to trigger some sort of mechanism. Among the ranks of military officials, those few notoriously arrogant and fearless old cronies first gave their shoulders a suspicious twitch, and then, as if a pressure point of laughter had been struck, lowered their heads to desperately suppress themselves. Yet the amplitude of their shrugging shoulders grew wider and wider, instantly enveloping the entire military camp in a bizarre atmosphere where they wanted to laugh but dared not, enduring the agony with extreme difficulty.

In a flash, the atmosphere of tragic accusation—created by King Wei Li Tai's perfection of acting that could be called "true feelings exposed"—was blown away into thin air!

Even the Duke of Weiguo, Li Jing—who had always been like a pillar calming the seas in the imperial court, taciturn, rarely revealing emotions, and only making a routine appearance today—saw the corners of his usually unruffled mouth twitch upward in an extremely rare and subtle manner.

That was Li Jing, the Military God of the Great Tang!

A man who would not change his expression even if Mount Tai collapsed before him!

Even he had almost broken his composure and laughed aloud... This showed just how comical, ridiculous, and utterly unwatchable the "splendid" theatrical performance of King Wei Li Tai and his faction appeared in the eyes of these founding generals who had truly crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

Yet, right on the verge of this delicate, almost uncontrollable outbreak of giggles—

"Hmm?!"

A very light voice, yet laden with supreme majesty, emanated from atop the imperial throne!

Swish!!!

Inside the grand hall, it instantly became so silent that the dropping of a needle could be heard!

Whether it was the repressed snickers, the low murmurs, or even the grieving and indignant gasps of Chu Suiliang and the others, everything came to an abrupt halt at that moment!

An invisible, suffocating imperial pressure permeated the air like a tangible tide, weighing heavily upon everyone's heart.

Everyone's gaze instinctively turned toward the supreme imperial throne.

Li Shimin's face still bore no expression, calm as water, save for a pair of eyes as deep as cold pools, slowly scanning the officials below the steps through the gaps of the beaded curtains of his crown.

His gaze first landed on Chu Suiliang, who was kneeling on the ground with the air of a courtier willing to die to persuade the emperor.

Then, it shifted to King Wei Li Tai beside him, who had stopped crying, though the traces of "sorrow, indignation," and "grievance" still lingered on his face.

Lingering for just a moment on Li泰's meticulously groomed face, the gaze swept past the solemn and complex expression of Imperial Brother-in-law Changsun Wuji, and past the deeply frowning, worried senior ministers like Fang Xuanling and Gao Shilian...

Finally, it steadily locked onto the very person who had just poked a hornet's nest and was currently wearing a sheepish expression—Cheng Yaojin!

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

As for Cheng Yaojin, he felt a jolt of chill race straight from the soles of his feet up to his crown!

No matter how unruly he was, and no matter how loudly his moniker of "Troublemaking Demon King" resounded across the court, under Li Shimin's calm gaze at this moment, his scalp instantly went numb, and the hairs on the back of his neck even stood on end!

"We're done for... we're so done for!" Cheng Yaojin trembled inwardly, thinking, "Could His Majesty be planning to make an example of old Cheng, killing the chicken to scare the monkey, and venting his anger on me?"

Though he knew His Majesty was broad-minded and would never truly do anything to him over such a minor offense as unseemly conduct before the throne, looking at today's stance—with King Wei's faction acting aggressively, His Majesty remaining silent for so long, and the atmosphere stretched to the absolute breaking point...

His little laugh was simply like pouring cold water into a wok of boiling oil!

A solid round of court flogging this time around was probably inescapable!

With this thought, Cheng Yaojin's rugged, bold face instantly grew somewhat hot, and a phantom-like, itchy pain reflexively flared up around his buttocks, as if the heavy wooden boards had already landed upon them.

Sure enough, Li Shimin's gaze never looked at anyone else again. He turned a deaf ear to Chu Suiliang's impeachment below the steps, to Li Tai's "grievances," and to the silent pleas or watchful waiting of the senior ministers. He simply locked onto Cheng Yaojin with that heart-stoppingly calm gaze.

The entire Taiji Hall was so quiet that the sound of each other's heartbeats could be heard.

Everyone held their breath, awaiting the emperor's thunderous wrath.

Even Crown Prince Li Chenqian—who was at the very eye of the storm today yet remained as steady as Mount Tai as if it had nothing to do with him—couldn't help casting a cautious side glance to observe the upper seat.

"Duke of Lu."

Li Shimin finally spoke.

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

Cheng Yaojin gave a start, instinctively straightening his posture, and responded in a muffled voice: "Your... Your Majesty, this subject is here..."

Li Shimin asked slowly, "What were you laughing at just now?"

"Uh..." Cheng Yaojin was stunned by the question, but in his mind, a myriad of thoughts flashed with the speed of lightning.

Although he appeared reckless and comical, he had his own extraordinary qualities to be able to stand firm in the imperial court; thus, almost instantly, he came to his senses!

Was His Majesty calling him to account here? This was clearly seizing upon the incident to make a fuss!

He wanted to use his unbridled spear to pierce through the aggressive momentum of King Wei's faction, who were trying to push the Crown Prince to his death!

"Well now!"

At this, Cheng Yaojin's mind suddenly cleared up, and he even felt a little bit smug.

"His Majesty must think Wei Wang and his gang have been jumping around too wildly and are about to swallow the Crown Prince alive, and since it's inconvenient for him to step down and openly take sides, he was just waiting for old Cheng's 'timely rain'!"

"Otherwise, why wouldn't it erupt sooner or later, only to have His Majesty speak up the exact second I laughed!"

"This is clearly making me play the role of the troublemaker... bah!"

".....It's being the vanguard of fire-fighting!" Having figured out this connection, the trepidation in Cheng Yaojin's heart instantly vanished by more than half, replaced by a trace of helplessness and an even greater eagerness to try!

"Oh well, whatever!"

"Anyway, being used as a spear by His Majesty isn't the first time!"

Besides, opportunities to throw a tantrum and make a scene in this imperial court didn't come often!

Not to mention that today His Majesty had handed him a ladder so rare!

So I must cherish this well and put on a splendid performance!

Cheng Yaojin calculated rapidly in his mind, the sheepish look on his face rapidly receding, replaced instantly by his signature naive and honest smile. With a touch of embarrassment, he scratched his massive head and replied in a muffled tone, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this old subject... this old subject deserves death!"

"I just couldn't help myself for a moment... because I suddenly thought of a particularly happy matter."

"And so I simply couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud!"

"This old subject has startled the imperial chariot and behaved unseemly before the throne; I beg Your Majesty for a heavy punishment!" Though he spoke of punishment, his demeanor and actions unmistakably cast him as nothing less than a rascal who had caused trouble and was trying to muddle through!

Portraying an old court scoundrel relying on his seniority to the absolute perfection...