In Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin, who was alone, was looking at the map of the Tang Dynasty on the wall with a gloomy face.
Just as he was looking at it, suddenly, a palace servant hurriedly ran in from outside the palace.
After seeing the emperor, the chamberlain immediately fell to the ground and shouted in a high-pitched voice: "Your Majesty, Duke Liu Hongji of Kui Kingdom and Xiao Han, Marquis of Sanyuan County, are asking for an audience!"
"Oh? You're back so soon?"
After hearing the report from the chamberlain, Li Shimin's originally gloomy expression finally softened a little. He turned back and said in a deep voice: "Xuan!"
"Here!"
After receiving the order, the young chamberlain immediately stood up and walked backwards out. He didn't dare to turn around and hurried out until he reached the door of the main hall.
"Xuan, Liu Hongji, Duke of Kui, and Xiaohan, the Marquis of Sanyuan County, come to see you!"
Soon, the eunuchs outside the palace gate shouted loudly.
Outside, Liu Hongji had already strode into the palace. After seeing Li Shimin, he immediately raised his hands and clasped his fists: "My lord, Liu Hongji has met your Majesty!"
This is a common etiquette for military commanders to pay their respects to the emperor. Without the flattery of "Long Live Long Live, Long Live Long Live" from the braided dynasty in later generations, it seems to be more real and not so false.
After all, these days, not even the tortoises can live long lives, let alone ten thousand lives. Even the dinosaurs don’t dare to live like this.
"No gift!"
Li Shimin always treated Liu Hongji and other veterans who had been following him for many years with leniency and did not pay attention to red tape. When he saw this, he waved his sleeves and squeezed out a smile on his face: "No need! You are on your way..."
He was just about to say, "You guys have worked hard all the way", but suddenly, he felt something was wrong, as if something was missing!
Looking again, I realized why there was someone missing in front of me? Where was Xiao Han who was with him? The chamberlain didn't report just now, but he also came back with him?
"Xiao Han? Where has he gone?" Looking at Liu Hongji in confusion, Li Shimin frowned and asked.
When Liu Hongji saw this, he scratched his head and said with a smile: "Oh, I forgot to tell His Majesty, he is behind, and he is being driven here by others!"
"Hold on?"
Hearing Liu Hongji's words, Li Shimin's expression immediately changed. He thought Xiao Han had been injured in some way, and immediately asked anxiously: "What's wrong with Xiao Han? Why are you still holding him..."
"Ahem, I, I'm fine!"
Before Liu Hongji had time to answer, Xiao Han's voice had already been heard from outside the hall.
Immediately afterwards, Xiao Lizi raised his head and looked outside following the sound?
Just when he saw a guy with disheveled hair, tattered clothes, and most importantly a pair of bow-legged legs, he was being helped into the palace by two young chamberlains.
To say it is mixed is actually not quite accurate.
Because Xiao Han's legs hardly exerted any force, and it was all thanks to the combined efforts of the two chamberlains on the left and right to carry him in.
After passing the high threshold, the two young eunuchs were so tired that they almost fell to the ground. There were beads of sweat as big as soybeans on their foreheads.
"Xiao...Xiao Han?"
Frowning and staring at this "beggar" squatting on the street corner, with passers-by throwing a few pennies at him, Li Shimin shouted in disbelief.
"Your Majesty, it's me!"
Xiao Han's eyes were filled with tears at this moment!
Of course, this was not because he was excited to see Li Shimin, but because he finally arrived at the place and he could finally rest!
God knows how he survived the past few days! It just feels like he hasn’t ridden as many horses in his life as he has in the past few days!
Now, he urgently needs to find a place to take a good rest. It would be best if he can take a bath and have a softer big bed...
"Xiao Han, you..."
I don't know what Xiao Han was thinking at this moment. Li Shimin was only sure that the person in front of him was really Xiao Han. He immediately stepped forward and personally supported him. He helped him into the seat in the palace and then asked with concern: " How did you end up like this? What happened to your legs?"
"fine!"
Liu Hongji, who came in earlier, saw this scene of deep brotherhood, and couldn't help but snorted sourly: "We've just been riding for a few days? What can happen? I also came back on horseback, so there's nothing wrong with me now." ?”
"Bah! Who can compare with an animal like you?" Xiao Han spat at Liu Hongji angrily, then turned to Li Shimin and grinned: "However, it is indeed nothing serious. I just hurried on after seeing His Majesty's letter. It’s enough, just keep it for a while and it’ll be fine!”
"Oh, it's okay! This journey has been really hard! It took so little time to get back."
After hearing that both of them said it was okay, Li Shimin felt relieved and said a few words of comfort.
However, what he said was not all polite. Counting the days, it was indeed hard work for the two of them to rush back to Chang'an so quickly!
"Right!"
After saying these polite words for meeting, Xiao Han immediately asked the questions he had been holding in his heart along the way:
"Your Majesty called us back in such a hurry. What happened?"
"Well! Something happened!"
Li Shimin saw them asking, but he did not hide anything. He just nodded and said in a deep voice: "Urgent report from the Western Regions, a month ago, Tuyuhun suddenly sent troops to capture Yumen Pass, Yang Pass, and Shazhou City! According to the latest report, they are now We are heading towards Yizhou and Dianhe City."
"What!"
"How is that possible!"
This time, before Li Shimin finished speaking, two low exclamations sounded in the Liangyi Hall at the same time!
As military generals, Liu Hongji and Xiao Han naturally knew about Tuyuhun.
But no matter who it is, they have never paid attention to this small country that has lived near Dafeichuan in the west for generations.
After all, to the east of Tuyuhun is the Tang Dynasty, to the south is the Tubo! To the north is the Turks!
Among these behemoths, Tuyuhun is undoubtedly a baby that has just been weaned. It can be said bluntly: the surrounding countries can crush it to the point where not even a scum is left by just stamping their feet!
The reason why he has been allowed to exist until now is not like Gao Changguo, who just found any reason to destroy him.
That was just to use it as a buffer zone between Tang Dynasty and Tubo to prevent direct contact between these two behemoths.
But for such a small country that no one likes, how could it dare to take the initiative and attack the Tang Dynasty, which is the youngest, broadest, and most powerful country today?
Isn't it afraid that Datang will grab its mouth and knock out its teeth one by one?
"Is this news true?"
With his eyes widened, Liu Hongji asked in disbelief.
Seeing this, Li Shimin took a deep breath, nodded and said: "The battle report has arrived in Chang'an! Guo Huai, the guard of Yumen Pass, died in the battle! Yang Wenguang, the guard of Yang Pass, committed suicide! Lu Fengyun, the magistrate of Shazhou County, burned the county government office!"
This news was rushed to Chang'an from 800 miles from the Western Region more than half a month ago.
However, because of the seriousness of the matter, it has not been made public until now.