Without needing his orders, those Turkic soldiers voluntarily abandoned the siege. The flames of war that had spread throughout the morning came to a silent stop at this moment!

On the city tower, Li Shimin and the others also saw the timely arrival of reinforcements. Everyone’s spirits lifted, and they breathed a long sigh of relief – Chang’an was finally safe.

They believed that as long as Jieli Khan hadn’t lost his mind completely, he wouldn’t risk attacking the city under the danger of being caught between front and rear forces.

Soon, after the cavalry, infantry also caught up, their formations neat and solemn. The mounted general at the front shouted loudly: “You foreign tribes, surrender immediately or face certain death!”

Since ascending to the throne, when had Jieli Khan ever been scolded like this? His face alternated between pale and flushed as he spurred his horse forward, saying coldly: “Such arrogance! Do you think with just these people, you can defend Chang’an?”

The general glanced at the Turkic soldiers lying scattered beneath the city walls and sneered: “Before we arrived, wasn’t Chang’an already defended? I might as well inform the Khan that this general’s force is just one unit – several other units will arrive successively to protect the capital and guard His Majesty. You cannot escape.”

“Preposterous boasting!” Though Jieli Khan’s expression was cold and stern, a trace of panic flickered in his eyes. What the man said was correct – once other armies arrived, he truly couldn’t leave. So the only plan now was to break through and depart quickly before all their forces assembled. But… he was truly unwilling to accept this. This time’s plan had been thorough and should have captured Chang’an, yet unexpectedly, mishaps occurred one after another, leaving him not only empty-handed but also with heavy losses – truly hateful!

Just as both sides were in standoff, the Chang’an city gates that Jieli Khan had tried every means to breach but failed to open now opened voluntarily. But what emerged was definitely not a welcoming procession, but ranks of fully armored soldiers, their sharp spear points glinting coldly in the sunlight. Riding at the very front was Li Shimin!

Jieli Khan stared at him with cold eyes. After this encounter, he had come to regard Li Shimin as his greatest threat. This person not only possessed genius-level military talent but also had first-rate abilities in both strategic thinking and commanding subordinates. If this man were allowed to remain emperor, the Turks would sooner or later perish at his hands!

He must find a way to kill this person – he must!

“Great Khan, you have lost!” This was the first sentence Li Shimin spoke.

Jieli Khan stared at him for a long while, then suddenly laughed: “Li Shimin, do you think that with these few shrimp soldiers and crab generals, you can defeat this Khan? I remember you Han people have a saying called ‘wishful thinking.'”

Facing his provocation, Li Shimin wasn’t angry either, saying calmly: “Whether it’s wishful thinking or not, we’ll know after fighting. I only fear that when the time comes, blades and swords have no eyes and might harm the Khan!”

“Absurd!” Zhishisili stepped forward and shouted: “My Khan commands a million troops. Not to mention just these few tens of thousands of reinforcements – even if all of your Great Tang’s reinforcements came, they couldn’t win, let alone harm the Khan!” He brazenly exaggerated their troop numbers by a full five times.

“A million troops?” Li Shimin surveyed the Turkic soldiers whose morale was low and who even showed signs of fear, saying coldly: “Then I shall see just how formidable your million troops are!”

What kind of person was he? Throughout his life, he had experienced countless battles and had long developed keen insight on the battlefield. A million troops… hah, Zhishisili’s deception skills were far from adequate.

Seeing Li Shimin make a gesture as if to attack, Zhishisili quickly said: “Actually, this war was entirely instigated by Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji. My Khan was deceived by them, which led to this misunderstanding with the Tang Emperor. Since the Tang Emperor has suffered no losses, why not let this matter rest?”

“No losses?” Li Shimin sneered: “You attacked the city for two days, thousands of my soldiers died and were wounded, Master Liu was injured in multiple places and nearly lost his life to your gunpowder siege – and you call this no losses?”

Jieli Khan was so angry he couldn’t speak. It was merely thousands of casualties – his side had lost over ten thousand, with countless more wounded. If anyone should speak of casualties, it should be him.

“As the saying goes, ‘enemies should resolve rather than deepen their hatred.’ If we cease fighting now, our Turks…” He glanced at Jieli Khan, and after the latter nodded, continued: “are willing to establish eternal friendship with the Great Tang!” Without waiting for Li Shimin to speak, he added: “This would be a great benefit for the Great Tang!”

Yuchi Jingde despised such false words most, scoffing: “Fine words about resolving rather than deepening hatred. If at this moment you Turks had the upper hand, would you say such things?”

Yuchi Jingde’s merciless words made Zhishisili somewhat embarrassed, but his skin was quite thick, and he soon acted as if nothing had happened: “Regardless, ceasefire is the best outcome for the Great Tang. Otherwise, if my Khan flies into a rage and commands a million iron cavalry to attack together, even if Chang’an city were truly walls of copper and iron, it would be razed to the ground. At that time, the Tang Emperor would find it difficult to stand here and speak so comfortably.”

At these words, not only Yuchi Jingde but even Du Ruhui and others’ expressions darkened. Despite being caught between front and rear forces, his tone remained insufferably arrogant – truly detestable.

“A million troops…” Li Shimin murmured, repeating the phrase with a chilling smile: “Since Chief Zhishisili has said so, I truly want to see this million-strong army you speak of. But before that… I’ll kill you first!” With these words, Li Shimin took the bow and arrow from his attendant’s hands. The next moment, he had already nocked an arrow to the bowstring, aiming at Zhishisili. The latter’s face changed dramatically, and he instinctively wanted to dodge. Remembering that Jieli Khan was watching from behind him, he barely suppressed his urge to flee, saying in a trembling voice: “Tang Emperor, what… what is this?”

Du Ruhui spoke for him: “You, as a Turkic chieftain, show disrespect to our Great Tang’s Majesty – shouldn’t you die?”

“I… I…” The usually eloquent Zhishisili was now so panicked he couldn’t speak, secretly blaming himself for speaking too harshly earlier and thus incurring Li Shimin’s hostility. Unfortunately, words spoken were like water poured out – impossible to take back. He could only cast a pleading look toward Jieli Khan.

Though Jieli Khan was somewhat displeased with him, he was still his trusted confidant and couldn’t simply ignore this. He coughed lightly and said: “Our two sides are negotiating, yet the Tang Emperor aims his bow at this Khan’s subordinate – is this appropriate?”

Li Shimin said expressionlessly: “I see no intent to negotiate from Jieli Khan – rather, every sentence carries threatening overtones!”

Jieli Khan glared resentfully at the cold-sweating Zhishisili, suppressing his anger as he said: “If Chief Zhishisili has offended the Tang Emperor in any way, this Khan apologizes on his behalf. Please, Tang Emperor, be magnanimous and don’t hold it against him!”