Standing in the center of the hall, Xiong Kaishan was red-faced and at a loss what to do!
If the Turks on the grassland knew that the demon god who caused their livers and gallbladders to split apart could actually look like this, their eyes would probably have crackled to the ground!
But when Li Shimin saw Xiong Kaishan's appearance, he only had a happy smile in his eyes.
Compared with Li Jing, Li Daozong and other wise and Confucian generals.
In fact, Li Shimin's favorite is Liu Hongji and Cheng Yaojin, who are such stubborn generals!
This can be seen from Li Shimin's attitude towards his famous generals in history.
Cheng Yaojin, who was known as the devil in the world, lived a life of prosperity and wealth, and lived a carefree life of 77 years!
Although Li Jing, who was unparalleled in wit, bravery and determination, lived to be 78 years old, he basically spent the rest of his life being impeached by numerous officials.
Even in the end, Li Jing was forced to open the middle door and dismantle the screen wall, almost tearing down the bedroom to prove his innocence!
Of course, this cannot be said to be that Li Shimin was trying to kill the donkey, but that this is how things are in the world!
Any king needs to maintain the greatest vigilance against an existence that may threaten the throne!
Only beings like Cheng Yaojin and Liu Hongji who pose no threat to the throne can gain the king's complete trust!
"Where's the stuff?"
Seeing the helpless Xiong Kaishan, Li Shimin raised his hand and pressed it down slightly, and the laughter around him suddenly became quieter.
"Oh, here it is!"
Xiong Kaishan untied the baggage from his back in a daze, and then opened it layer by layer. After more than ten layers, he took out the innermost box.
"Your Majesty, here's the thing!" Carefully patting the non-existent dust on the box, Xiong Kaishan grinned and trotted forward with it in hand, wanting to hand it directly to Li Shimin!
"Don't!"
When the servant who was knocked down saw Xiong Kaishan's action, fear was written all over his face like a bitter gourd! Just as he was about to jump up and shout, he heard the sound of a sharp blade being unsheathed from behind the curtain!
"It's over!" The waiter closed his eyes in despair, as if he had seen Xiong Kaishan's head flying up!
Here, no one knows better than him what kind of existence those people hiding in the darkness are!
Not to mention that Xiong Kaishan is just a small soldier, even General Yuchi, who is famous for his bravery, is no match for these proficient killing skills!
"Zheng..."
The swords are ringing, the curtains are stirring!
Seeing that Xiong Kaishan was about to fall to the ground in the next second, Li Shimin shook his head slightly at this moment.
And with this subtle movement of his, the swaying continued, as if the curtain containing a peerless ferocious beast instantly returned to calm!
All this happened so fast that many people didn’t even react!
Xiong Kaishan, who had never met the emperor before, had no idea that he had just walked around the gate of hell!
Still holding the box, he walked straight in front of Li Shimin amid looks of shock or surprise. Then he scratched his head and then remembered to kneel down on one knee and raise the wooden box above his head.
"Your Majesty, this is what the Marquis wants me to give you!"
The people who came were Xiao Han's men. Li Shimin had just learned this from the servant, so he wasn't too surprised when he heard Xiong Kaishan's words.
Nodding, Li Shimin did not use the prosthetic hand of the chamberlain who came around, but opened the wooden box himself and took out the jade seal that was glowing with light!
It is four inches square and three inches high, with five dragons intertwining and gold supplementary corners! At the bottom, there are several simple large vermilion characters "Ordered by Heaven, and you will live forever", which are clearly carved on it!
"Is this the imperial seal?"
Holding this big seal in front of his eyes, Li Shimin's eyes gradually narrowed!
Once upon a time, he had dreamed of obtaining this seal, which symbolized orthodoxy and divine will!
But it wasn't until he actually held it that Li Shimin realized that there weren't many fluctuations and surprises in his heart!
It should belong to me by nature! No matter who owns it, they must give it back to me! Because I! I am the person chosen by God and the real son of destiny!
"Pass the national seal!"
"Like! Like the jade seal passed down from the country!"
"Gold inlaid with jade! Besides the pre-Qin piece, what else is there? It is said that the golden corner was knocked off by Wang Mang!"
Looking at the jade seal in Li Shimin's hand, the ministers below suddenly felt as if they were in a panic. Countless people crowded forward, wanting to see this legendary jade seal passed down to the country!
"Bring the paper!" Li Shimin, who was awakened by the commotion, glanced at the civil and military officials and strode back to the desk.
And there, the waiters had already quickly removed the food and wine and replaced them with white paper and ink pads!
Grabbing the jade seal and lightly dipping it in the ink pad, Li Shimin held it tightly with both hands and pressed it heavily on the white paper! When he lifted it up again, the eight bright red characters of "I was ordered to live by heaven" and "longevity and longevity" were firmly printed on it.
On paper!
I blew lightly on the mark on the white paper, and then compared it with the seal of the previous dynasty sent by the palace. Except for the difference in color, the rest of the two were exactly the same!
"Congratulations to Your Majesty! Your destiny has been fulfilled! Long live Your Majesty!"
"Plop"
Duan Zhixuan, who had just been transferred back to Chang'an from Luoyang, fell to his knees and shouted long live! His shameless look was very much like Xiao Han when he first met Li Yuan...
"Bah! Shameless!"
Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others glared at Duan Zhixuan with cold eyes. This girl has become more and more shameless since colluding with Xiao Han!
However, as scolding goes, no stupid young man jumped out to find trouble for himself at this time! So the whole hall was soon filled with the words "Long Live!"
"Hahahaha, all my dear friends, no courtesy!"
Li Shimin laughed loudly and grabbed the jade seal, turning it over and over carefully like a child who had just gotten a new toy.
There are blood stains on the jade seal!
I just discovered this! Although most of the blood stains have been covered by ink pad, Li Shimin, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, can still recognize at a glance that those dark red marks are left by blood!
"Who discovered this?"
Stroking the delicate jade seal, Li Shimin suddenly raised his head and asked Xiong Kaishan.
Xiong Kaishan was still in a state of sleepwalking. When he heard this, he replied without thinking: "I found it with Princess Yicheng at Princess Yicheng's place!"
"Huh? Princess Yicheng?" Li Shimin's heart jumped when he heard the name, and he immediately asked: "Where is she?"
"Dead..." Xiong Kaishan replied honestly.
"How did you die?!"
"I burned myself to death! The Marquis and I went to collect her body later, and found a silver box. When we opened it, it contained it. The Marquis also said at the beginning that the silver box was reserved for me..."
Thinking back to the original silver box, Xiong Kaishan's body ached for a while. With such a big box, he didn't know what kind of beast it was at this time!
"She's still dead!"
Li Shimin's voice was a little vague, and he couldn't tell whether he was happy or sad.
Perhaps as Xiao Han once complained, he hated this woman with all his heart three years ago!
But today, the name Princess Yicheng has long been unknowingly far away from Li Shimin's world.
Under Li Jing's wave after wave of attacks, the once extremely powerful Turks were on the verge of extinction! And the once arrogant Jie Li became a lost dog!
At this time, a mere Princess Yicheng, let alone dead, so what if she is still alive? Can she really avenge her brother Yang Guang?
"Hey, she is dead. Ashes to dust, dust to dust! Let her ashes be brought back and buried in Chang'an."
Sighing, Li Shimin stared deeply towards the north for a moment, as if bidding farewell to his former rival.
When Xiong Kaishan heard Li Shimin's words, his expression suddenly became a little weird: "Huh? Your Majesty, how did you know that I also brought her back to Chang'an?"
"Did you really bring her back?" Now, it was Li Shimin's turn to be surprised.
However, he soon felt relieved, because behind this idiot, there seemed to be a monkey-like Xiao Han. With him here, the matter of sending Princess Yicheng back to her roots would be explained!
After thinking about this clearly, Li Shimin shook his head with a wry smile, and then said to the honest-looking Xiong Kaishan in front of him: "That's all, I'm so happy today, let's not talk about this! You traveled thousands of miles to send the jade seal to me! Tell me, what do you want?
What shall I reward you with?"
"Reward?" Xiong Kaishan, who was still bleeding for the silver box just now, heard these two words, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then he said joyfully without thinking, "I want money!"
"All you want is money?" Hearing this rather unexpected answer, Li Shimin suddenly felt like he was laughing.
He thought that Xiao Han specially asked this guy to come to Chang'an because he wanted to find an official position for him, but he didn't expect that this stupid guy only wanted money?!
"Then how much do you want? Just tell me the number and I'll satisfy you!" Li Shimin asked again, suppressing a smile.
"How much does it cost?"
Xiong Kaishan was a little dumbfounded this time. He only remembered asking for money, but he really didn't think about how much money he needed!
"Well, let me think about it... buy a house in Chang'an, bring my mother over, marry a wife, feed my sister, and buy some sheep..."
"etc……"
Seeing Xiong Kaishan sitting directly on the ground and counting with his fingers, Li Shimin suddenly felt a headache!
Marry a wife, raise a sister? And buy a sheep? This fool doesn’t want to raise him for the rest of his life, does he?
"Where are you originally from?" Li Shimin asked weakly, holding his forehead.
"Shuofang!" Xiong Kaishan answered honestly this time.
"Then why don't you live in Shuofang and move to Chang'an?"
Li Shimin just asked casually, but he didn't expect that this question hit the most vulnerable part of Xiong Kaishan's heart!
Lowering his head, Xiong Kaishan's usually honest and honest face suddenly showed a strong air of violence!
"I want to go to a place where no one knows my sister!" Xiong Kaishan clenched his fists and said in a hoarse voice!
Li Shimin was keenly aware of Xiong Kaishan's changes, but instead of being surprised, he became even more interested in this silly big man.
After stroking his chin and pondering for a moment, Li Shimin was about to continue questioning when he saw Xiong Kaishan fumble out another crumpled letter from his arms.
"What is this?" Li Shimin asked slightly curiously.
Xiong Kaishan's eyes were a little red and he whispered: "This is the letter that the Marquis asked me to bring to you before leaving!"
"Oh? Then why didn't you take it out just now?"
"Because the Marquis said: If your Majesty asks about me, I will give you the letter again!"
"Oh, Xiao Han, what kind of tricks are you playing?"
After listening to Xiong Kaishan's words, Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and muttered before taking the crumpled letter from Xiong Kaishan's hand.
The envelope, which was slightly yellowed with sweat, had no paint on it and no seal, which made Li Shimin, who always paid attention to confidentiality, frown slightly.
"Have you read this letter?" Holding the letter, Li Shimin was not anxious to read the contents, but looked at Xiong Kaishan calmly and asked.
"No." Xiong Kaishan shook his head, and then added with a wry smile: "I don't know much about literacy. Besides, the Marquis only asked me to hand the letter to His Majesty, but didn't let me read it."
"You are honest!" Perhaps it was because Xiong Kaishan's face was easy to trust. Li Shimin's frown gradually slowed down. He hummed noncommittally, then took out the letter and read it bit by bit.
The letter was very long and was written in pencil. Looking at the handwriting of the dog, it would be difficult for anyone else to imitate it except Xiao Han, so Li Shimin knew that this was indeed Xiao Han's handwriting without even having to distinguish it!
"How is your Majesty doing well recently? I am fine in the north now, don't worry about it... This messenger is from Shuofang, and he has a mother and a sister at home... When Shuofang City was destroyed, his family members disappeared!
The later ministers and this man accidentally discovered that the missing person had been kidnapped and made into a slave by the Turks... This man fought many bloody battles on the grassland and killed countless Turks. He also assisted the Duke of Tang in escaping difficulties at a favorable place. He has made great contributions!"
The letter was very long, and the tone of the writer was very plain, but in Li Shimin's eyes, this letter weighed no less than a thousand catties!
In the palace, the sound of silk and bamboo still reaches my ears, and the aroma of wine and meat enters my nose. The civil and military officials of the court are singing and dancing, and it is all in my eyes!
But for some reason, when Li Shimin looked at all this, a strong sense of disgust suddenly arose in his originally joyful heart!
The soldiers outside the Great Wall are still climbing on the ice and sleeping in the snow!
The people at the border are still separated from each other!
The ghosts of injustice still linger on the grassland.
Isn't it a great irony that people like myself are singing and dancing here to celebrate their upgrade in advance?
"Huh..." Li Shimin raised his head and let out a long breath. He glanced at Xiong Kaishan and said with a complicated expression: "Xiao Hou has already mentioned your matter in the letter, and I promise you that I will give you what you want."
Life!"
After saying these words, Li Shimin turned around and no longer looked at the bustling hall, but walked out of the hall step by step. His lonely back looked particularly lonely in the brightly lit hall.
Li Shimin left quietly.
But except for a few ministers who discovered this, most people were still silent and unable to extricate themselves from the news of the victory!
The Turks are gone, and the biggest threat to the entire empire is gone!
This means that they, the ministers of the country, no longer have to worry about threats that may come at any time! From now on, they can cling to the towering tree of the Tang Dynasty and enjoy all the blessings!
This chapter has been completed!