During the night, while making camp to rest, Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and Zhishisili gathered together to discuss their next course of action. Li Yuanji was the first to speak: “This can’t continue. Even if we’re not caught by them, we’ll be exhausted to death. We need to quickly think of a solution.”

Zhishisili had lost his previous ease and said with a grave expression, “I underestimated the garrison commander here. He has considerable ability.”

Li Jiancheng stared at a simple map spread before him and said, “The Liangzhou garrison commander is called Yu Antai. Though not comparable to men like Li Jing, he’s quite capable. If I’m not mistaken, aside from pursuing us along the roads, he’s also arranged for soldiers to ambush us at the border crossing with Shanzhou.”

Li Yuanji was stunned, then urgently said, “We must pass through Shanzhou to return to Chang’an. If what elder brother says is true, then we can’t get through. What about Chang’an? Are we not going back?”

Li Jiancheng said gravely, “Of course we must return, but we can’t act according to our previous plan.”

Zhishisili looked at him and asked, “Has the Crown Prince thought of a solution?”

“We now have only eight hundred men, while they had about three thousand when we fought earlier. I don’t know if they’ve added more by now. Besides the shortage in numbers, food is also a problem.”

Zhishisili nodded heavily, “According to my previous estimate, we would certainly be able to leave Liangzhou within seven days, so they only brought seven days’ worth of dried rations.”

“Seven days…” Li Jiancheng repeated in a murmur, then shook his head. “With Yu Antai’s capabilities and methods, we won’t reach Shanzhou within seven days. The only solution is…” He pointed to a certain place on the map and said solemnly, “Change course to Lingzhou!”

Li Yuanji said in shock, “If we go through Lingzhou, it means we’d have to take a huge detour to reach Chang’an. Isn’t this too much of a waste of time?”

“Wasting time is better than losing our lives.” Li Jiancheng said coldly, then turned to look at Zhishisili. “What do you think?”

Zhishisili lowered his head and said, “Before I left, the Khan had already set out for Chang’an. According to the schedule, he should arrive at Chang’an in the next few days. If we go through Lingzhou, we’ll inevitably fall far behind them and might ruin the original plan.”

“But we can’t go to Shanzhou—you know this clearly. Unless there’s a way to leave the city without alerting Yu Antai, Lingzhou is our only choice.” Without waiting for Zhishisili to speak, Li Jiancheng added, “Arriving late is unavoidable, but I think Khan Jieli should be able to delay things for a while without much problem.”

Zhishisili knew Li Jiancheng was speaking the truth. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Very well, we’ll do as you say. Tomorrow morning, we take the route to Lingzhou!”

As Li Jiancheng had predicted, Yu Antai hadn’t expected them to change course to Lingzhou, so apart from pursuing troops, there were no other obstacles along this route. When Yu Antai discovered their intention and wanted to deploy more men to intercept them, it was already too late. After paying the price of over a hundred lives, Li Jiancheng’s group managed to completely disappear from under Yu Antai’s nose.

After losing their trail, Yu Antai was extremely frustrated. The only thing he could do was to ride at full speed and send urgent letters to Lingzhou, requesting the local authorities there to pursue Li Jiancheng’s group. However, he knew in his heart that since even he had been shaken off by them, the chances of the Lingzhou authorities finding them were minimal. The result was exactly as he had thought—either they couldn’t find any traces, or they were a step too slow. By the time the government troops arrived, the place was already empty.

Lingzhou, Qingzhou, Fuzhou—they galloped all the way. Though their physical strength was nearly at its limit, they had successfully reached the outskirts of Chang’an. Li Jiancheng stood on a mountaintop in Fuzhou, gazing at the imperial city visible in the distance, his expression unusually complex.

Even he himself hadn’t expected to return to Chang’an so quickly to reclaim the imperial throne that rightfully belonged to him.

“I’ve received word that the Khan and his forces are currently confronting Li Shimin outside Chang’an. I plan to rest for half a day before continuing our journey, and rendezvous with the Khan before nightfall.” With these words, Zhishisili came to Li Jiancheng’s side and joined him in gazing at Chang’an from afar.

Li Jiancheng glanced at him and said, “According to what you said earlier, Khan Jieli should have arrived several days ago. Has he engaged Li Shimin in battle?”

“The two armies have fought outside the city, and our forces held a slight advantage, but the current situation is not favorable to our army.”

Li Yuanji had also arrived and frowned, “You just said we held a slight advantage, but now you’re saying it’s unfavorable?”

“The Khan’s intention to attack Chang’an was discovered by Zhao Jin, who escaped back to Chang’an. This allowed Li Shimin to prepare defenses against our army and mobilize a hundred thousand troops in just a few days.”

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanji said dismissively, “It’s just a hundred thousand troops. You Türks have two hundred thousand soldiers—surely you’re not afraid?”

“If it were merely a hundred thousand, we naturally wouldn’t be afraid. But does Prince Qi think that the entire Tang Dynasty has only a hundred thousand usable troops?”

Li Jiancheng took over the conversation, “When the Tang first entered Chang’an, the army numbered over two hundred thousand. After successive victories against Xue Ju, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande, the Tang expanded its forces to six hundred thousand, stationed in various places. The current hundred thousand is just the vanguard. Other armies will come to reinforce successively. Not to mention six hundred thousand—even if only three hundred thousand come, it will be very difficult.”

Zhishisili nodded, “So we must attack Chang’an before the other major armies arrive to reinforce, and this…” He turned his gaze to Li Jiancheng, “depends on the Crown Prince.”

Li Jiancheng’s thin lips curved slightly, “I will naturally do my best. However, before that, I need you to contact someone first. Without this person’s help, even I would be powerless to open the gates of Chang’an.”

Zhishisili pondered briefly, then probed, “Is the person the Crown Prince speaks of the Great Emperor?”

“Exactly.” Li Jiancheng confirmed his guess and added, “I wonder if the Chief has any way to make contact?”

Zhishisili thought for a long while, then smiled bitterly, “Chang’an’s gates are surely tightly closed right now. I really have no immediate solution. This matter can only be discussed after we meet with the Khan tonight.”

Li Jiancheng also knew this matter wasn’t easy and said nothing more. After resting for half a day, the group of several hundred men proceeded at full speed toward Chang’an. When they were still several li away, they could already see a mass of black heads and the high-flying Türk banners.

With Zhishisili leading the way, they naturally had unobstructed passage through the Türk army. They soon met Khan Jieli in a tent—a robust, sturdy middle-aged man.

Zhishisili respectfully performed a bow and said, “Khan, these two are the Crown Prince and Prince Qi of the Tang Dynasty. When your subordinate was bringing them out of Liangzhou, we were intercepted by the Liangzhou garrison commander. Having no choice, we could only detour through Lingzhou, which is why we’re several days late. Please forgive us, Khan!”