Li Jiancheng stared at him for a moment, then said slowly: “Jiang Yuan, what if I now ask you to repay the life-saving grace from back then—would you be willing?”

Jiang Yuan hadn’t expected him to suddenly make such a request. For a moment, he was somewhat stunned. Seeing his reaction, Li Yuanji said with an unfriendly expression: “What? Don’t want to repay it?”

“Fourth brother, do not be rude!” As Li Jiancheng rebuked him, Jiang Yuan also came back to his senses. “Prince Qi misunderstands. This life of mine was given by His Highness the Crown Prince. No matter how many years pass, I will never forget this life-saving grace. With just one word from His Highness, even if there were mountains of knives and seas of fire ahead, I would not furrow my brow even once.” As he spoke, he cupped his hands toward Li Jiancheng: “Please give your orders, Your Highness!”

Li Jiancheng said in a heavy voice: “I don’t need you to climb mountains of knives or seas of fire. I only need you to help me seize one thing.”

Seeing it was such a request, Jiang Yuan’s expression relaxed as he inquired: “What is it?”

“Luoyang City!” Upon hearing these three words, Jiang Yuan’s brows, which had just relaxed, immediately furrowed again, even tighter than before. He never would have imagined that what Li Jiancheng wanted was Luoyang City, ten li away.

Jiang Yuan didn’t ask Li Jiancheng why he wanted “Luoyang City.” For Li Jiancheng as he was now, what Luoyang City meant was crystal clear to him. The key was only whether he would agree to this request.

Once he agreed, he would be a treasonous rebel minister, intolerable to His Majesty the Emperor in Chang’an. But if he didn’t agree, he would be ungrateful and faithless. How should he choose?

Li Jiancheng also knew this choice wasn’t easy to make, so he didn’t press him. He waited quietly at the side. A full incense stick’s worth of time passed before Jiang Yuan finally said with a dry voice: “Even at this point, Your Highness still won’t give up?”

Li Jiancheng said coldly: “You just said yourself that I am the Crown Prince of Great Tang. Li Shimin usurped my throne and drove me from Chang’an. This revenge, I must have!”

“But…” Jiang Yuan said with difficulty: “Even if I help Your Highness seize Luoyang, it’s only one city with fifty thousand soldiers. His Majesty controls dozens of cities and hundreds of thousands of troops. How can we contend with him?”

Before Li Jiancheng could speak, Li Yuanji already said coldly: “Speaking like this, you don’t want to repay elder brother’s kindness? You should think—if not for elder brother back then, how would you still have your life to stand here!”

“I have never forgotten His Highness’s kindness, but this matter is of great importance, truly…” Before he could finish, Li Jiancheng already said: “I understand your concerns. True, right now we only have one city’s territory, but that doesn’t mean we will lose. Didn’t Wang Shichong also hold just Luoyang and defend it for several years? Now that Li Shimin has just ascended the throne, many in court and country are dissatisfied with him. If we use this well, I believe we’ll soon have more than just Luoyang.”

“You once served under me. I know your abilities better than anyone—superior to that Wang Zhengfeng, yet now you must serve under him. Jiang Yuan, are you content with this?”

This statement hit Jiang Yuan right in the heart. He considered his abilities no worse than Wang Zhengfeng’s, yet could only serve as deputy general under his command. Wang Zhengfeng was rigid and fault-finding, and over the past year, he had endured many of his rebukes. Every time he thought of it, it left him deeply depressed.

Li Yuanji egged him on from the side: “If you help elder brother seize Luoyang, you’d be the top contributor. Being enfeoffed as marquis and appointed as minister would be no problem—much better than now.”

Li Jiancheng walked over and patted his shoulder: “Jiang Yuan, you should understand that you’re not Li Shimin’s direct subordinate. No matter how capable you are, you won’t be given important positions. Even… Deputy General of Luoyang City might be the highest office you can achieve in this lifetime.”

At this moment, Jiang Yuan’s heart was engaged in fierce internal struggle. Should he ignore loyalty and duty and keep to his position, or repay Li Jiancheng’s kindness and take a gamble for himself?

Seeing time tick by bit by bit, Li Yuanji couldn’t help but urge: “Have you decided yet?”

The moment he spoke, Jiang Yuan finally made his decision. He knelt on one knee: “From now on, I am willing to serve at Your Highness the Crown Prince’s command and swear to serve Your Highness unto death!”

Li Jiancheng’s heart rejoiced. He understood that Jiang Yuan’s action signified submission to him. By controlling Jiang Yuan, he had essentially controlled all of Luoyang City. Not only would he no longer need to flee, but he would once again have the ability to fight Li Shimin. Excellent! Truly excellent!

He personally helped Jiang Yuan to his feet and said solemnly: “From this day forward, you and I share hardships and prosperity!”

Just as Jiang Yuan agreed, the sound of branches being stepped on and breaking came from the dark forest behind them, made gloomy by dusk. Though very faint, it caused Li Jiancheng and the others’ faces to change dramatically. Li Yuanji reacted fastest, pushing off with both feet like a leopard toward where the sound came from. Immediately after, sounds of fighting came from that direction.

“Let’s go see.” Following Li Jiancheng’s words, the two men also rushed over. When they arrived, by the faint twilight, they could see Li Yuanji fighting with someone. That person tried to escape several times but was intercepted by Li Yuanji each time.

After a bout of fighting, the person was struck down by Li Yuanji’s “black tiger stealing heart” move. Before he could get up, Li Yuanji had already knelt on him, making him unable to move.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan finally saw the person’s appearance clearly and exclaimed: “Deputy General Fang!”

Li Yuanji looked down and examined him: “I recognize him—the one who was following behind you earlier. I didn’t expect him to follow us here. Fortunately he was discovered, otherwise if he had returned to Luoyang first, we would all be finished.”

“Prince Qi is right.” Jiang Yuan also broke out in a cold sweat. Just as Li Yuanji said, they had just taken a turn at the gates of hell.

“General, Li Jiancheng is a criminal wanted by the court. He committed heinous crimes in Chang’an. How can you disregard the safety of Great Tang for personal feelings and even help him seize Luoyang?” After Deputy General Fang returned and found Jiang Yuan missing, he searched everywhere and discovered Jiang Yuan secretly meeting with Li Jiancheng in this small grove. If he hadn’t heard it with his own ears, he would never have believed that Jiang Yuan had actually agreed to help Li Jiancheng seize Luoyang. Madness! It was pure madness!

He knew this matter was of great importance and needed to rush back to Luoyang immediately to report. Who knew that when leaving, he accidentally stepped on a branch, thus exposing his whereabouts.

Veins bulged on Jiang Yuan’s forehead as he gritted his teeth: “You shouldn’t have come here!”

Deputy General Fang said painfully: “General, there’s still time to turn back now. I can pretend I heard nothing. Otherwise, once you take that step, it will be eternal damnation…”

“Shut up!” Li Yuanji struck Deputy General Fang hard on the head and said to Li Jiancheng: “Elder brother, how should we deal with this person?”