After walking for a while, Li Shimin said: “These past few days I’ve been troubled by the Luoyang matter and forgot to tell you—news came from the Turkic side that Empress Dowager Xiao is already on her way back. She should arrive in about half a month!”
Tears welled up in Yunyi’s eyes as she said chokingly: “Thank you for everything Your Majesty has done for this concubine. This concubine…”
Li Shimin covered her lips with his hand, saying gently: “Wait until Empress Dowager Xiao enters Chang’an and you mother and daughter are reunited, then it won’t be too late to thank me.” After a pause, he continued: “At that time, I’m afraid I’ll still be in Luoyang and not yet returned. I’ll entrust the matter of receiving Empress Dowager Xiao to the Empress, having her treat her with proper courtesy. You can rest assured!”
Yunyi nodded and grasped Li Shimin’s hand: “Li Jiancheng is full of schemes. Your Majesty must be careful on this journey. This concubine and Her Majesty the Empress will wait in Chang’an for Your Majesty’s triumphant return!”
Five days later, one hundred thousand troops assembled. Li Shimin personally led the imperial expedition, taking his army toward Luoyang. Zhangsun Shi and Yunyi saw him off from atop the city walls, hoping for his early victorious return!
Just as Li Shimin set out, Li Jiancheng in Ziwei Palace received the news. After waving his hand to signal the palace attendants to withdraw, he said coldly: “Finally, he comes!”
Li Yuanji rubbed his fists together eagerly: “Previously he forced us into a corner with nowhere to go, nearly costing us our lives. This time, we must ensure he never returns!”
Li Jiancheng gripped tightly the armrest carved with a soaring dragon, saying coldly: “Naturally!” Li Shimin had stolen his position as Crown Prince and killed Jirong and the child. This vengeance was irreconcilable—between him and Li Shimin, only one could live!
“Big brother, I received news that this time Li Shimin is leading three hundred thousand troops. This cannot be taken lightly. Should I recall all the generals and soldiers campaigning outside?”
“Three hundred thousand?” Li Jiancheng laughed coldly: “Just because he says three hundred thousand, does that make it truly three hundred thousand? Previously the Turks had two hundred thousand troops but claimed a million. By my estimation, Li Shimin’s forces this time should be between one hundred thousand and one hundred fifty thousand.”
“Even if it’s only about one hundred thousand, since Li Shimin dares to campaign personally, those he leads certainly won’t be weak soldiers. We cannot be careless!”
Seeing the rare grave expression on Li Yuanji’s face, Li Jiancheng said with a half-smile: “What, are you afraid?”
Hearing this, Li Yuanji reacted as if someone had stepped on his tail, immediately saying: “How could I be afraid of him? It’s just that Luoyang is our last line of defense—we cannot retreat again!”
Though he had always refused to admit it, in his heart he understood that compared to Li Shimin who held the entire Tang empire, their strength was far too disparate. If Li Shimin lost, as long as his life was intact, he could easily regroup and attack again. They were different—if they lost, they would have nothing left, including their lives. So this battle must be won, defeat was not permitted!
Li Jiancheng naturally knew this principle. He closed his eyes and tapped the armrest with his finger, over and over. After an unknown amount of time, he slowly opened his eyes and said coldly: “Pass my order: gather the ten thousand troops outside the city, but don’t have them return to the city. Have them camp in place and await orders!”
Li Yuanji was startled and asked in confusion: “Gathering the troops but not letting them return to the city—what’s this for?”
Li Jiancheng narrowed his eyes slightly and said slowly: “As a defending general, when you know a great army is coming to attack, what’s the first thing you should do?”
Li Yuanji answered without hesitation: “Of course, seal the city gates tightly, then gather all generals and soldiers to defend the city!”
“You would think this way, and Li Shimin would think this way too, so he absolutely wouldn’t expect that I would do the opposite.” Hearing Li Jiancheng’s words, Li Yuanji suddenly understood, slapping his thigh forcefully: “I understand! Big brother wants to ambush them on the road, making them lose soldiers and generals before the battle even begins, destroying their fighting spirit for attacking the city!”
After receiving Li Jiancheng’s nod, he patted his chest and volunteered: “If that’s the case, let me lead the troops. Even if I can’t kill Li Shimin, I’ll burn their provisions so they have nothing to eat!”
Li Jiancheng shook his head: “That’s useless. Chang’an is very close to Luoyang—if you burn their provisions, they can transport more very quickly. It won’t hurt their foundation at all. Moreover, given Li Shimin’s cautious and careful nature, how could he not assign heavy troops to guard them? I’m afraid you’d be discovered before you even got close.”
“Then…” Before Li Yuanji could continue, Li Jiancheng had already raised his hand: “Enough. I already have a plan for this matter. You don’t need to interfere. What you need to do is guard Luoyang city!”
Li Yuanji immediately said: “Big brother, rest assured. As long as I live, Li Shimin won’t be able to step one foot into Luoyang!”
After Li Yuanji left, Li Jiancheng took out a green bottle from his robes and slowly caressed it, his face showing a nostalgic and mournful expression. After a long while, he called over a palace attendant: “Summon Jiang Yuan to see me!”
“Yes.” The palace attendant responded in a quiet voice. After about half an hour, Jiang Yuan appeared in the great hall. After Wang Zhengfeng’s death, he had successfully taken over the latter’s position and was quite prominent.
Jiang Yuan knelt on one knee, cupping his hands: “This subordinate pays respects to Your Highness!”
After signaling Jiang Yuan to rise, Li Jiancheng said: “Have you heard about the Chang’an matter?”
Jiang Yuan lowered his eyes: “Please be assured, Your Highness. This subordinate will certainly defend Luoyang city to the death!”
Li Jiancheng patted his shoulder: “I know of your loyalty, so there’s something I need to entrust you to do!”
Jiang Yuan immediately said: “Please give your orders, Your Highness.”
After hearing Li Jiancheng’s whispered words in his ear, Jiang Yuan’s expression immediately changed. Staring at the bottle in the former’s hand, he said in shock: “Your Highness, this… this probably isn’t very good. There are quite a few common people living outside the city. I’m afraid this would harm the innocent and have wide implications.”
“Don’t worry, this thing won’t take their lives. At most they’ll just have stomach pain for a few days.” Seeing Jiang Yuan still had a hesitant expression, Li Jiancheng’s eyes darkened and he said coldly: “What, unwilling?”
The icy voice falling on Jiang Yuan’s ears made his whole body shiver, and he quickly said: “This subordinate is not unwilling, it’s just…”
Li Jiancheng interrupted him: “Just that even without doing this, we can still hold Luoyang, right?”
Though Jiang Yuan was somewhat afraid, he still steeled himself to say: “Luoyang city is easy to defend and hard to attack. Previously when Wang Shichong defended it, it took the Prince of Qin several years to barely capture it. This subordinate believes that even without doing this, Luoyang won’t fall. Your Highness really has no need to…” He secretly swallowed and said quietly: “Take such a risky action!”
Li Jiancheng wasn’t angry, but said with hands behind his back: “This time we defend Luoyang, but what about next time? And the time after that?”
Jiang Yuan lowered his head to think for a moment, then said: “As long as we get through this crisis, we’ll have time to expand our strength and contend with the Prince of Qin!”
“Contend?” Li Jiancheng sneered: “You’re thinking too simply. Once the siege fails, Li Shimin will immediately gather troops again to attack anew. He absolutely won’t give us a chance to grow stronger. So we must take this opportunity to eliminate him. Only when he dies will the army and even the Tang be without a leader, and only then will we have a chance to counterattack. Do you understand?”