The air in the side hall of Gong'an was thick with a mixture of reverence and simmering rage.
On the Light Screen, the narrative continued to pulse with the heartbeat of a distant, future China.
[Lightscreen]
["The Giant Panda lived peacefully in the Sichuan Basin for eight million years, only to face total annihilation at the hands of poachers! And get this: in 2009, some British scholar actually had the nerve to claim that the Giant Panda had reached an 'evolutionary dead end' and that we should just let them 'die with dignity.'"
"I, Wen Mang, am just an uneducated guy, so I can only say to him: I'll curse your Anglo-Saxon ancestors for eighteen generations! Do they not know how the wild panda population was decimated in the first place? The sheer audacity, the absolute gall!"]
The gathered heroes of the Three Kingdoms did not fully grasp terms like evolution or Anglo-Saxon, but they understood the sting of contempt well enough.
Arrogant scholars looking down on the weak was a language every age understood.
Jian Yong shook his head, his voice dripping with irony.
"Truly, their tongues are smoother than flutes, yet their skin is thicker than city walls. Utterly shameless."
"Why didn't they just fight back?" Zhang Fei roared, temper flaring like a torch in dry grass.
"Didn't this youngster mention something called mobile territory earlier? If you have the strength, why waste words? You trade blows!"
Kongming, whose memory missed little, spoke calmly.
"The descendant used the word also when describing that power. That suggests other nations possessed such strength before his era."
He paused, eyes deep with thought.
"Just as during the reign of Emperor Wu, our armies pursued the Xiongnu to the ends of the earth and carved our glory into the mountains, yet the later histories speak of the Jin and Wei failing to maintain our martial spirit, leading to the chaos of the Five Barbarians. The cycles of heaven spare no one."
Pang Tong nodded solemnly.
"The rise and fall of dynasties lead to periods of national weakness. A nation in decline is like a wounded stag surrounded by a pack of wolves. The shame of those centuries was likely the result of such a cycle."
[Lightscreen]
["Fortunately, we've established sixty-seven nature reserves. Today, the wild panda population has reached over eighteen hundred, finally shedding the 'endangered' label."
"Scientifically, the Giant Panda is a treasure trove for studying evolution. First, their genome is ancient. Second, they are that rarest of anomalies: a member of the Order Carnivora that chose a vegetarian lifestyle."
"In terms of wildlife conservation, the panda is a flagship species. By protecting the panda's habitat, we inadvertently save thousands of other species under its umbrella."]
"That white bear actually eats grass?"
Zhang Fei's jaw nearly hit the floor.
He had been rather pleased with himself for wrestling what he assumed was some mountain beast into a crate. To learn that the creature was, in truth, a dedicated herbivore made the whole ordeal feel faintly absurd.
Huang Yueying, ever the intellectual, carefully inscribed the word "Evolution" onto her parchment.
Kongming smiled and added a few notes next to it: Why did the dinosaurs perish? Why did the white bear endure?
The Light Screen shifted.
The viewpoint trembled slightly as Wen Mang entered a structure that could only be described as a palace of glass and steel.
It was vast.
Spotless.
Cool.
Controlled.
Then realization struck everyone in the room.
This entire architectural marvel had been built solely for panda cubs.
"Unbelievable!" Zhang Fei blurted.
"Compared to this bear's den, the places we live in are practically dog kennels."
Every official in the room immediately turned to glare at him.
Zhang Fei coughed awkwardly and lowered his gaze to his boots.
Only then did he realize he had just insulted his lord's current residence.
A panda cub appeared on screen.
Beside its enclosure hung a sleek wooden plaque bearing two bold characters:
[XUANDE]
[Lightscreen]
["Come here, Xuande! Say hello to all the uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters! From now on, you're the official mascot of this channel!"]
Liu Bei suddenly felt something heavy sink in his chest.
[Server Chat Log]
[@Bamboo_Sword_Saint: OMG, Xuande is so cute! My heart is melting!
@Brotherhood_Of_The_Grove: Ten-year 'Big Brother' fan of Xuande here! Eat your bamboo and grow big!
@Irony_Sovereign_99: LOL, who would've thought that a thousand years later, the name 'Xuande' would be famous again because of a panda?
@Shadow_Intelligence_Net: Seriously, when I saw the leak online I didn't believe it. The creator actually picked up a wild cub!
@Peach_Garden_Collector: Keep going, Mang! You need to find two more. We need a Yunchang and a Yide to complete the set!
@Hermit_Of_The_Hidden_Peak: The Prime Minister: "Thank God I escaped this fate. I'm safe!"]
The entire hall turned in perfect unison to look at their lord.
Liu Bei, master of composure as ever, kept his expression serene.
Only the faintest twitch at the corner of one eye betrayed him.
"To have one's name remembered after a thousand years is no common blessing," Liu Bei said in a calm, melodious voice.
"Should we not be pleased that the people of the future speak the name with such… affection?"
Zhang Fei hesitated, hand halfway raised.
"Well, Big Brother… since the future folk treasure the white bear so much…"
"Maybe I should head back into the mountains?"
"I could probably track down Xuande's mother and bring her in too."
Liu Bei's face froze into a mask of pure, silent dread.
---
Meanwhile, in the Ganlu Hall of Chang'an several centuries later, the atmosphere was far more severe.
The July heat outside was like molten fire, yet the air within the palace felt colder than frost.
Fang Xuanling carefully transcribed the final words from the Light Screen:
[Next video in three months]
He exchanged a tense glance with Du Ruhui.
Who exactly was going to calm His Majesty down?
Zhangsun Wuji, ever the loyal brother-in-law, stepped forward with practiced ease.
"Your Majesty, why such anger?"
"Last month Prince Zhi was born, and now this miraculous screen speaks of a Great Tang stretching ten thousand li."
"These are omens of supreme fortune."
At the mention of the Empress, whose grace had already given him three sons, Li Shimin's expression softened.
But only slightly.
"What use is a ten-thousand-li empire if my descendants are cowards?"
His voice ground like stone.
"They fled Chang'an for Jiannan. They allowed the An-Shi Rebellion to tear the heart from the realm. And then this woman of the Wu clan dares usurp the throne?"
He paced slowly, shadow long and predatory.
"And those islanders. Those Wa people who cast aside the title granted by Emperor Guangwu of Han.They now call themselves Japan?"
"The Land of the Rising Sun?"
"They dare invade our Nine Provinces alongside those ghastly foreign states?"
A cold laugh escaped him.
"Based on that name alone, I have enough cause to execute them for treason against the heavens!"
"Your Majesty," Fang Xuanling urged, closing his ledger.
"Calamities are not resolved in a single day." We must plan with patience and act with precision. Our immediate priority remains the remnants of the Yuwen faction and the purge of the disloyal."
Li Shimin's anger withdrew, replaced by the terrifying clarity of a conqueror. He began listing names like a death register.
"Niu Fangyu, Xue Shiliang, Tang Fengyi, Gao Yuanli. Strip their titles. Seize their lands. Exile them to the malarial borders of Lingnan."
Du Ruhui wrote swiftly.
"There is also Lu Zushang." He still refuses the imperial posting in Jiaozhou."
Li Shimin's gaze turned glacial. "What is the sentence?"
"For defying an imperial decree and violating ministerial etiquette: death by strangulation."
"For failing to report to post: ten lashes per day, capped at one year of penal labor."
"The law requires the heavier sentence."
"He should be strangled."
Li Shimin's patience had worn thin.
"Send his brother-in-law, Zhou Fan, to speak with him once more. If he still refuses, execute him."
The old matters were settled.
Now came the new order.
"Promote Li Jing to Minister of War and Acting Chancellor."
"Du Ruhui shall oversee the Ministry of Justice."
"Wei Zheng, that loud-mouthed critic, appoint him Director of the Palace Library and let him attend court sessions."
"I wish to hear his spit for myself."
He paused, eyes burning.
"Order Zhang Gongjin, Governor of Daizhou, to conduct a secret and exhaustive investigation into every movement of the Turks."
"Every horse."
"Every tent."
"Every internal dispute."
The names mentioned by the Light Screen were few.
Yet every one of them had been carved into Li Shimin's mind.
"The construction of the Martial Temple begins immediately."
"And the general who washes away my shame at the Weishui River shall be the first enshrined within it."
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui bowed in unison, brushes flying. As the dust settled, Zhangsun Wuji finally voiced the question weighing on them all.
"Why did the Light Screen split into two parts today? That segment concerning the white bear felt… out of place."
Li Shimin shook his head.
"In the past, once the main vision ended, these images and texts would appear shortly after."
"It is as though the descendant is speaking directly to us."
"Are there records of these texts?" Wuji asked quickly.
"There are." Li Shimin produced a large sheet of paper.
The three ministers leaned in expectantly. What greeted them was a crooked sketch of a crossbow and several lines of almost illegible handwriting.
Li Shimin coughed into his sleeve, looking faintly embarrassed.
"I originally believed I was merely watching celestial dancers, i did not realize I was meant to be taking notes for the future of the empire."
Zhangsun Wuji immediately knelt.
"Your Majesty, should the Light Screen appear again, I beg to be summoned at once. We shall be your eyes and ears."
I will," Li Shimin promised, his voice rising with a terrifying new ambition. "We will decipher these celestial secrets. We will pacify the Western Regions to wash away our shame. We will conquer the Korean peninsula.
And then... we will knock on the doors of those 'Wa' islanders with the full weight of the Tang navy!"
He slammed his fist against the table. "I will crush every 'ghost and goblin' nation that dares to threaten our future. This ten-thousand-mile Tang... I will carve it out with my own two hands!"
"Your servant Wuji is willing to die for this cause!" Zhangsun Wuji prostrated himself.