As long as I don't let him fall asleep, he can't possibly go and kill the Jinghe Dragon King while he's awake, right?

Everything is going so smoothly...

But it went too smoothly!

For some reason, Zuan felt a strange sense of crisis, as if he were on the verge of a life-or-death decision.

Why do I feel this way?

Zuan couldn't understand it either. He hadn't shown the slightest flaw in front of the court officials just now, which should have been the first test.

Now, getting entangled with Wei Zheng and rescuing the Dragon King of the Jing River should be the second assessment point.

Everything seems to be going perfectly so far. All I need to do is stall Wei Zheng and prevent him from sleeping, so he doesn't miss the appointed time for today and complete what I promised the Dragon King. After that, his life or death will be none of my concern.

But why do I still have this strong feeling that something is wrong, and even the hairs on the back of my head are standing on end?

Zuan knew that this was the spiritual sense he had developed over the years while constantly walking on the edge of life and death. This world could temporarily seal off his various abilities, but it could not take away this spiritual sense.

Just then, Wei Zheng yawned, naturally lay down on the table, and began snoring loudly.

Zuan was about to reach out to wake him, but his hand remained in mid-air and ultimately did not fall.

He finally figured out where the problem lay.

Because the previous challenge was the Jinghe Dragon King, I subconsciously put myself in the Dragon King's shoes and thought about how to help him get through this challenge safely.

His ingrained thought patterns made him instinctively want to stop Wei Zheng from rescuing him when he heard the Dragon King's cry for help.

But in this challenge, he is Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin!

His interests are not aligned with those of the Dragon King.

According to the original plot, Li Shimin failed to save him, and the Jinghe Dragon King, after his death, complained to Yama, the King of Hell, which led to Li Shimin having a day trip to the underworld.

There is a hidden detail: Li Shimin was nearing the end of his lifespan, but because the judge in the underworld had a good relationship with Li Shimin and Wei Zheng, he secretly added another twenty years to his lifespan in the Book of Life and Death!

Therefore, if he had stopped Wei Zheng from killing the Dragon King, there would have been no subsequent journey to the underworld, and naturally no extra lifespan. In that case, the next few days would have been the day he died of old age, and he would have truly died once he entered the underworld.

No wonder he had a strange sense of life and death crisis just now!

This trial is really tricky. The previous level's substitution of the Jinghe Dragon King completely misled the choices in this level. What seems like a simple situation can easily lead to a dead end.

Thus, Zu pretended to know nothing and let Wei Zheng sleep for a while, while his primordial spirit went to kill the Jing River Dragon King.

Not long after, Wei Zheng awoke and prostrated himself on the ground, saying, "I deserve to die ten thousand times! I deserve to die ten thousand times! I was just unconscious and didn't know what to do. I beg Your Majesty to forgive my crime of disrespecting the emperor!"

Zu An smiled slightly: "What offense have you committed? Please rise, clear away the remaining chess pieces, and let's play another game together."

Wei Zheng thanked the emperor for his kindness, but before he could even pick up his writing brush, he heard loud shouts coming from outside the door.

Not long after, Qin Shubao and Xu Maogong came in carrying a bloody dragon head, clicking their tongues in amazement. It turned out that the object had just fallen from the clouds, so the two came in to report it.

As Zu'an watched the ferocious dragon head of the Jinghe River stare at him, seemingly filled with endless resentment, his heart raced and he felt uneasy.

He couldn't help but frown. Although Li Shimin had fought his way to the top through countless trials and tribulations, his experience was still relatively small compared to the storms faced by cultivators. He was actually frightened by such a dragon head.

Zu An looked at Wei Zheng, who immediately bowed and apologized, stating that he had just killed someone in his dream.

So he took this opportunity to ask Wei Zheng why he had such divine power.

Wei Zheng hesitated for a moment before explaining, "I dare not hide it from Your Majesty. Because of my upright and unyielding nature, I have been selected by the Heavenly Court to serve in the Department of Rewards and Good Deeds in the Underworld, where I record all the good deeds of the deceased in the mortal world. I will take up my post when my lifespan ends."

"Such a strange thing!" Zu'an exclaimed from the bottom of his heart. He had heard the Black and White Impermanence mention the two departments of rewarding good and punishing evil in the Underworld before, but he never expected that the person in charge of the Department of Rewarding Good was actually Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng seemed worried that he was too interested in these matters, so he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and you are blessed with the destiny of the human emperor. As long as you are diligent in governing and love your people, you do not need to pay too much attention to matters of ghosts and gods. Heaven and earth will protect you."

Zu An laughed loudly: "With a good teacher and helpful friend like you, my great Tang dynasty has nothing to worry about in terms of stability."

It's clear that although Wei Zheng spoke sternly to me, he meant well. I should cling to this powerful figure.

During their conversation, he casually asked, "Have you ever heard of a fortune teller named Yuan Shoucheng on West Street in Chang'an? He is said to be incredibly accurate, and every divination he makes is correct?"