Li Shimin quickly calmed down and realized that he had issued a chaotic order in his anger.
"That guy..."
"Reissue the decree, saying that my previous oral order is cancelled, and that the soldiers in the rear need not rush to continue their journey!"
"promise!"
Seeing that Li Shimin had calmed down, Li Jing stepped forward to offer some words of comfort.
"Your Majesty, there's no point in overthinking. Let's proceed cautiously and minimize the impact as much as possible!"
Li Shimin snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"Since the founding of our Great Tang Dynasty, we have never suffered such a humiliating disgrace!"
"That unfilial son, why doesn't he just die!"
"If he dies on the city wall, I will still praise him as a hero!"
"He was actually captured..."
"He has completely disgraced me!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jing sighed inwardly, thinking that Li Zhi had truly acted unwisely this time. It was bad enough that he had indulged the grassland merchants, but now they had even been kidnapped.
It's not a big deal that he was arrested, the real problem is that he's brought shame to the Tang Dynasty!
It seems that Li Zhi's time as crown prince is over. Even if he doesn't die at the hands of Xueyantuo, he will be deposed when he returns to the Tang Dynasty.
But that brat Li Jue...
Thinking of this, Li Jing couldn't help but smile bitterly. But to Li Shimin, his smile seemed more like a silent mockery.
"Lord Wei, am I not ashamed to have given birth to such a useless son?"
Li Jing was stunned upon hearing this, but quickly realized that His Majesty had misunderstood.
"Your Majesty, you are overthinking it. I was not laughing at you, but at that little scoundrel Li Jue!"
"Him!"
Upon hearing the name Li Jue, Li Shimin's mood improved considerably.
"This bastard thinks he doesn't know what's going on. He just wants to be like Huo Qubing and raid the Xueyantuo's stronghold directly, huh!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jing quickly offered a compliment.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
"That's exactly what the eldest grandson thinks!"
"However, the eldest grandson of the legitimate wife seized the opportunity very well. At this time, the Xueyantuo were unable to attend to both ends."
"Now Xueyantuo only has two paths before him: one is to abandon Shuozhou City and immediately return to reinforce their stronghold. The other is to abandon their stronghold and defend Shuozhou to the death."
Li Shimin frowned slightly upon hearing this.
"But I suspect he will return to defend his stronghold!"
Li Jing echoed this sentiment.
"Your Majesty's opinion is the same; that brat Bazhuo will definitely run away!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin chuckled mischievously.
What should we do?
Li Jing smiled slyly.
"Of course, we'll stall him and make sure he can't go back, hehehe..."
The two had already decided on their plan, and it was quickly put into the form of a military order and passed on.
"Order Xue Rengui to lead three thousand light cavalry at full speed and make sure to hold off the Xueyantuo army under the walls of Shuozhou!"
Xue Rengui distinguished himself on the battlefield in Goryeo. Although he was assigned to Li Jue, he rarely had the opportunity to fight tough or arduous battles. However, Li Jue captured the city very quickly, and Xue Rengui earned two "first to scale the walls" merits under Li Jue's command. Then, Li Shimin, who was envious of him, took him away.
In fact, Li Jue also knew that Xue Rengui was not someone he could control, at least not someone he could control in his current state.
Xue Rengui is a typical person who is "terrified of poverty". What he lacks most now is wealth and honor.
However, looking at the entire Tang Dynasty, only Li Shimin had a large supply of this kind of energy.
Therefore, upon receiving Li Shimin's request for Xue Rengui, Li Jue returned him without hesitation.
Upon receiving the order, Xue Rengui immediately mustered three thousand cavalrymen and set off without hesitation.
However, this meant that Li Er's personal guards were gone.
In the desolate wilderness, only Li Jing, Yuchi Jingde, and Yuchi Fan, along with a few elderly members of the Hundred Cavalry Division, remained.
"Your Majesty, shall we wait for the troops from the rear?"
Li Shimin snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"Need not!"
"With my bow in hand and Yuchi Jingde with his spear, who in the world can stand against us?"
Upon hearing this, Yuchi Jingde became as excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood, and immediately began to swing the horse spear in his hand.
"Your Majesty is right. With your humble servant protecting you, even a thousand troops would not be able to get close to Your Majesty!"
Li Jing watched the two men boasting and thought to himself that in this situation, there was no need for a large army; a few hundred bandits would be enough to wipe them out.
However, His Majesty did not like to wait for the main force, so he could only accompany His Majesty on the journey.
Xue Rengui's advance was swift; he arrived at Shuozhou City in less than two days and engaged in a skirmish with the main force of the Xueyantuo.
However, the Xueyantuo army had neither the will nor the capacity to defend the city. They had only one thought: to quickly bring the looted grain, iron pots, and other valuables back to their homeland!
As for the cavalry in front of them, let whoever wants to fight them fight; they have no intention of fighting anyway.
Ba Zhuo saw all of this and kept it in mind.
If the Tang army catches up, all twenty or thirty thousand of them will perish here.
Left with no other choice, he had to bring Li Zhi out.
"Listen up, Tang soldiers! If you dare to attack again, I will kill your crown prince!"
Upon hearing this, Xue Rengui was completely stunned and looked towards the Xueyantuo army in great confusion.
How could our Tang Dynasty's crown prince be with the Xueyantuo?
While Xue Rengui was stunned, his elite Hundred Cavalrymen were even more dumbfounded.
The Crown Prince and the others are so familiar with each other that they practically see each other every day.
However, why didn't His Majesty tell them that the Crown Prince was missing?
"Commander, what should we do now?"
Upon hearing this, Xue Rengui sighed inwardly.
"What else can we do? Of course..."
"never mind!"
"No matter what, he is our Crown Prince. If the Xueyantuo really hurt him, we won't be able to explain it to His Majesty!"
"Please make way for me..."
"promise!"
Li Shimin soon learned of the news from the front lines, but he flew into a rage upon hearing it.
"Is Xue Rengui a fool?"
"How can the Crown Prince of our Great Tang be captured?"
"This must be fake!"
"Order him to shoot him dead with an arrow!"
"promise!"
After Li Shimin sent out a messenger, Li Jing smiled faintly.
"Your Majesty, it may be too late to inform General Xue now..."
Li Shimin sighed upon hearing this.
"well!"
"I know it's too late, but it's better than doing nothing, isn't it?"
Li Shimin's order came too late. By the time Xue Rengui received the "kill without mercy" order, the main force of the Xueyantuo had already vanished.
"well!"
"How could I be so stupid? I let the main force of the Xueyantuo escape. His Majesty will surely reprimand me..."
While Xue Rengui was wallowing in self-pity, Ba Zhuo, who had escaped, was not having an easy time either.
Because every few dozen miles he traveled, he would receive bad news from his old lair.
"Khan, something terrible has happened! The Xiazhou army has captured our old camp, taking 30,000 men and women prisoner, and countless cattle and sheep..."
"Khan, the entire army we sent to intercept them has been wiped out!"
"Khan, your wives, concubines, and children have all been captured by the Xiazhou army..."
"Khan...we're finished..."
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