Li Jiancheng looked at her with a complex expression: “Second Mother, you… truly don’t blame me?”

Wan Shi said hoarsely: “To say I don’t blame you at all would be lying, but matters have come to this point. What use is blame? If I must blame someone, I can only blame Zhiyun’s thin fate and myself as his mother for not taking good care of him. If Zhiyun could return safely, I would willingly give up ten or even twenty years of my life, but I don’t know if Heaven would grant me this opportunity.”

“He will. Zhiyun will definitely return.” Saying this, Li Jiancheng was about to head out when Li Yuan called to him: “What are you going to do?”

Li Jiancheng gritted his teeth: “To rescue fifth brother. Your son refuses to believe we cannot defeat those Sui forces!”

Before Li Yuan could speak, Wan Shi said: “You cannot! You heard the General’s words just now. Chang’an is like a dragon’s pool and tiger’s den for us right now. If something happens to you, how will I face your sister in the future!”

Wan Shi’s words greatly comforted Li Yuan: “What your Second Mother says is absolutely right. We all want to save Zhiyun, but unfortunately our reach simply cannot extend that far. I believe Zhiyun would also understand our difficulties. If he lives, so be it. If he dies, I will personally kill those people!”

Li Jiancheng cupped his hands: “When we attack Chang’an in the future, please father, you must let your son serve as the vanguard to avenge fifth brother!”

After Li Yuan nodded, Wan Shi said: “General, your concubine is very tired. Your concubine will return to rest first.”

Li Yuan nodded: “Good. Go back and rest well. Don’t think too much.”

After walking some distance, Li Jiancheng’s voice came from behind. Wan Shi stopped and said: “Does First Young Master have other matters?”

Li Jiancheng was silent for a moment, then said: “Second Mother, do you truly not blame me?”

Wan Shi concealed the hatred in her heart well and sighed: “Ji Rong has already told me about that day’s events. You did your best and didn’t disappoint Zhiyun’s kindness in saving you that year. On the contrary, some people repay kindness with enmity!”

Li Jiancheng was startled and said in surprise: “She actually told Second Mother about that matter too?”

Wan Shi glanced at him: “What, was First Young Master planning to hide it from me?”

Li Jiancheng hurriedly said: “That’s not what I meant, but the matter concerning Consort Zhangsun is only speculation between Ji Rong and me. It may not be true, and for now we can’t think of a reason why Consort Zhangsun would want to harm Zhiyun.”

“Is that so?” Wan Shi said coolly: “All these years, because Zhiyun was born to me, he has suffered no little exclusion from you brothers.”

Li Jiancheng sighed: “I won’t hide it from Second Mother – there was indeed some of that before, but after Zhiyun saved my life, I no longer had such thoughts. Shimin and Yuanji are the same.”

Wan Shi narrowed her eyes and said coldly: “I fear some people say one thing but mean another, still unwilling to see Zhiyun alive.”

Li Jiancheng said urgently: “That won’t be so. Second brother is not that kind of person. This matter…”

“Enough.” Wan Shi raised her hand to interrupt his words: “Who is right and who is wrong, I know in my heart. Zhiyun is the son of the General and me. No matter who dares to harm him, they must pay the price!” Saying this, she took Zhaixing’s hand and left. As they turned, cold smiles appeared at the corners of both their mouths.

When one person is scheming against others, aren’t others also scheming against him!

The weather in early June was already extremely hot. The trees were full of cicadas continuously calling “zhiliao,” “zhiliao.” Everyone in Jinyang Palace had very grave expressions. Li Yuan had already written a letter to the Turks and was considering who should deliver it.

Going as an envoy to the Turks was an extremely dangerous matter. If things went wrong, one’s life might be lost there, so no one dared easily accept this task.

Just as Li Yuan was in difficulty, Liu Wenjing suddenly stood up: “General, when I served as an official in Jinyang, I had dealings with the Turks. Let me deliver this letter to the Turks.”

His words greatly delighted Li Yuan, who stared intently at the unremarkable Liu Wenjing: “Are you confident?”

Liu Wenjing said solemnly: “If this matter fails, Liu will bring his head to see the General!”

Seeing him speak with such certainty, Li Yuan was overjoyed. He stood and grasped Liu Wenjing’s hands tightly: “Then I entrust the lives of all our officers and soldiers to your hands, Zhaoren.”

While Liu Wenjing was serving as envoy to the Turks, news of Li Yuan’s rebellion and the killing of Wang Wei and Gao Junya finally reached Jiangdu. On this day, Yang Guang threw a great tantrum in Chengxiang Hall, and no one dared enter to risk touching this deadly bad luck.

Li Mi’s rebellion, Du Tuwei’s revolt, the Turks eyeing them covetously, and now even Li Yuan had rebelled – was Heaven truly going to destroy him? All these years, he had always trusted Li Yuan greatly. Even when Li Yuan suffered defeat at the beginning of the year, he had ultimately spared his life, yet now he repaid kindness with enmity and raised troops against him? He truly deserved death!

Had he known this would happen, when Li Shimin defied the imperial decree and refused the marriage arrangement in Luoyang, he should have had father and son executed. Thinking of it now, he truly regretted his past decisions!

Thinking of his hatred, Yang Guang grabbed his favorite yellow crystal paperweight and smashed it hard on the ground. Zheng Ying, standing to one side, shrank his neck and dared not make a sound, lest he bring disaster upon himself.

Smashing one paperweight didn’t satisfy Yang Guang’s anger. He didn’t stop until he had smashed everything that could be smashed, even overturning the desk. After Yang Guang caught his breath, he said: “Issue an edict: order the Luoyang army to proceed to Taiyuan to suppress the rebellion. Capture Li Yuan and his sons alive and bring them to Jiangdu. I will personally deal with them.”

Zheng Ying said carefully: “Your Majesty, have you forgotten about Li Mi of Wagang Stockade? He commands several hundred thousand men and eyes Luoyang covetously. If we deploy troops now, I fear Luoyang and Chang’an will be in danger!” Before he finished speaking, Yang Guang was already glaring at him. Zheng Ying quickly closed his mouth and dared not say more.

Though Yang Guang was displeased, he knew Zheng Ying spoke the truth and didn’t blame him. After a moment of silence, he said: “Since we can’t move troops from Luoyang, we’ll deploy them from here. I must exterminate Li Yuan!”

“Your Majesty…” Zheng Ying had just said two words when Yang Guang said coldly: “What, is there another Li Mi here as well?”

Zheng Ying said with a bitter face: “Though there’s no Li Mi here, there is Du Fuwei. If Your Majesty sends the main army to suppress Li Yuan, I fear… Du Fuwei will take advantage to cause trouble, which would be disadvantageous to Your Majesty!”

Yang Guang shouted angrily: “This won’t work, that won’t work – do you want me to just watch Li Yuan commit evil acts with my own eyes?”

Zheng Ying quickly knelt: “Li Yuan’s betrayal of Your Majesty shows his disloyalty and unrighteousness. Such a petty man, even if Your Majesty doesn’t send troops to exterminate him, I believe he won’t live much longer. Your Majesty truly needn’t worry about him.”

“Needn’t worry?” Yang Guang laughed in extreme anger: “I know Li Yuan’s capabilities better than anyone. If he were truly just an embroidered pillow, I wouldn’t have sent him to Hedong and Taiyuan to quell rebellions!” Saying this, he added hatefully: “It’s all because Wang Wei and the other were incompetent. I told them to keep a close watch on Li Yuan, but not only did they fail to discover Li Yuan’s rebellious intentions, they even lost their lives!”