Chapter Twenty-Two: Mess

Zetian and Yizhi find Li Shimin collapsed, feverish, and hallucinating, mistaking Yizhi for his deceased partner Wende. Yizhi diagnoses severe alcohol withdrawal and summons Sima Yi and doctors. Zetian’s body and emotions react against her will as she stays by Li Shimin’s side, revealing her conflicted resentment and concern.

In the medical bay, Sima Yi condemns Sui-Tang’s neglect and admits Li Shimin’s fragile mental state after Wende. Doctors report Li Shimin’s primordial qi and liver are critically damaged; detox cannot be halted without risking death. Yizhi reveals prison authorities harvested half of Li Shimin’s liver and one kidney, explaining his shortened lifespan; replacement surgery would sideline him for months, which the army will not permit before retaking Zhou.

As Yizhi tenderly tends to Li Shimin—who bleeds after retching—Zetian contemplates the tactical benefit of his death but decides he must survive, partly for Yizhi’s sake. Alarms blare: the White Tiger deploys, transforms swiftly into Heroic Form, and fights efficiently, prompting Sima Yi to contrast its pilots’ trust with Zetian and Li Shimin’s internal conflict.

While the trio watches the livestream, a surge of boots interrupts them. Chief Strategist An Lushan bursts in and, despite Li Shimin’s condition, brusquely orders him into battle immediately, thrusting the weakened pilot and his unstable pairing with Zetian toward imminent combat.