If Li Jue had any other choice, he would never have chosen to leave the Tang Dynasty for the barbaric and uncivilized Western Turkic Khaganate.

However, his current status is too awkward. In principle, he is a wanted criminal of the imperial court, and he is a wanted criminal who has secretly run back from the place of exile.

Given his prominent performance today, he will surely become known to many people, and may even be investigated.

His identity cannot withstand investigation; even Old Li couldn't protect him.

Therefore, he had no choice but to flee to the Western Turkic Khaganate, where he sought to use their power to do something in the Western Regions.

For example, when Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian ruled as regents, with one calling himself Emperor and the other Empress, he could secretly protect the descendants of the Li Tang royal family from dying at their hands.

For example, when Wu Zetian usurped the Tang throne and established the Zhou dynasty, he could have used the name of the Li Tang imperial family to launch a military campaign against her, leaving a spark of hope for the Tang imperial family.

As for the An Lushan Rebellion that followed, he couldn't control it and could only place his hopes on Heaven, hoping that Heaven would have mercy on the disaster-stricken Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin suppressed his excitement and perfunctorily reviewed the array-like procession of all the Zhechong Prefectures. It was already afternoon.

Although today's inspection is complete, the actual military skills competition has not yet begun and will be conducted in several sessions over the next few days.

This serves two purposes: firstly, to give the Guanzhong military a chance to demonstrate their abilities, and secondly, to reflect Li Shimin's emphasis on the military and military preparedness.

However, just as Li Shimin finished the first day of military exercises and was about to order his eldest grandson to be brought up and recognized in front of all the civil and military officials, he suddenly received a shocking message.

"Your Majesty, the Hundred Cavalry Command just reported that your eldest grandson rode back to Xianyang on horseback after the military exercises..."

"What?"

"How dare he leave the team without permission!"

"Your Majesty, please don't dwell on this trivial matter. This old servant suspects that the eldest grandson is trying to run away!"

"run?"

"Where do you want to run?"

"The Western Turks!"

Has His Majesty forgotten the Western Turkic envoy?

"ah?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately abandoned his officials, snatched a horse from a guard, and gave chase.

Li Shimin's actions completely terrified the civil and military officials, who wondered what was wrong with His Majesty and why he had suddenly run away!

Only Li Jing and Yuchi Jingde guessed something, but the two didn't have time to explain to the others. Seeing the guards standing there dumbfounded, they snatched the horses from their hands and gave a command.

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and chase after them to protect His Majesty!"

"promise!"

Qujiang Pool.

Si Zi wasn't interested in the military exercise, so after watching his nephew's performance, he took Li Er Ya to Qujiang Pool for a visit.

"Jinyang, is that really your nephew?"

"certainly!"

"Your nephew is so clever! When we first came here, I was wondering why there were these little pavilions at every intersection. It turns out they were reserved in advance specifically for vendors selling cold drinks and hot tea!"

"And those lanterns over there, I really don't know how he designed them, how they can make the light shine out from under the bridge arch and directly onto the bridge!"

Si Zi was very pleased to hear Li Er Ya praise his nephew so highly, and felt a great sense of honor.

"That's right!"

"Don't you even know whose grandson this is?"

"How could the descendants of our Li Tang imperial family be anything less than perfect!"

"Jinyang, since he is His Majesty's own grandson, why did His Majesty keep him among the common people and only give him a minor position as a captain?"

"this……"

"Father certainly has his own considerations, which is beyond my ability to inquire further. But one thing I can tell you is that Father adores this child, hehehe..."

Just as Sizi was chatting with Li Erya, a chubby boss ran over.

"May I ask if you are Lady Li?"

"ah?"

"yes……"

"This is something the young lord gave you, saying he wanted me to give it to you when I saw you!"

"Something my nephew gave me?"

"right!"

"Please take a look, young lady!"

The fat boss handed the things to Sizi and left. His restaurant was doing booming business, making thousands of strings of cash every day. He didn't have time to waste with the young lady here.

Sizi took the wooden box and led Li Erya to a pavilion. When they opened it, they saw a thick stack of land deeds, house deeds, and shareholding documents on top. After taking these out of the wooden box, they found an envelope lying prominently at the bottom.

Sizi had a bad feeling as soon as she saw the envelope, and when she opened it and saw the contents of the letter, her guess was confirmed.

"Dear Aunt, I'm leaving now. I'm afraid I'll never return to the Tang Dynasty in this lifetime..."

"I'll leave you the house deed, land deed, and share certificates; consider them your money for cosmetics."

"I have no relatives in the Tang Dynasty, only an older brother. If it is convenient for you, Aunt, please help me take care of him."

“My elder brother’s name is Li Xiang, and he is the son of the former Crown Prince Li Chengqian…”

"Finally, thank you for your company these past few days, Auntie. I'll miss you..."

After reading the letter, Si Zi burst into tears on the spot. He no longer cared about hierarchy and sat in the pavilion, launching a scathing attack on his father.

"It's all his fault!"

"If he hadn't been so hesitant, my nephew wouldn't be so disappointed, preferring to go to that barbaric land of the Western Turks rather than stay in the Tang Dynasty!"

"What exactly happened in Jinyang?"

"My nephew ran away, waaaaah..."

On the other side, when Li Shimin arrived at Sanglin Village on a fast horse, Li Jue was nowhere to be seen. He only saw an old man named Hu with tears in his eyes and a hint of resentment in his eyes.

"Greetings to the distinguished guest!"

Where is your lord?

"My lord... my lord... sob sob sob..."

Upon hearing this, Hu Delu dropped the wooden box he was holding onto the ground.

"My lord is here..."

"ah?"

Li Shimin was terrified when he heard this. He thought to himself that he was only a few hours late, and his grandson had already been burned to ashes and put into a box.

Just as Li Shimin was feeling unsettled, Li Jing and Yuchi Jingde arrived, snatched the wooden box, and took out the letters inside.

"Old Li, here's a letter for you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin came to his senses and quickly opened the letter.

"Dear Mr. Li, by the time you read this letter, I will have already embarked on my journey to the Western Turks..."

"Thank you for taking care of me during this time, thank you for teaching me horseback riding and archery, thank you for granting me a title and allowing me to establish the Zhechong Prefecture..."

"Although you have been very kind to me, I still have to leave."

"Because I am a fugitive, the son of the late Crown Prince Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty, once my identity is exposed, it will inevitably implicate you..."

"Please forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will secretly come back to repay you."

"Oh, by the way, if you have the chance, please pass on a message to Li Shimin for me..."

"Li Ke was a brilliant man, while Li Zhi was a worthless man. No one knows a son better than his father, yet in the end he listened to the words of Changsun Wuji. He was wise for a lifetime, but foolish for a moment."