My father, Li Shimin, requests Your Majesty to become the Retired Emperor.

Li Chenggan's original intention in coming to the Wa Kingdom was only to rescue Buyeo Pungjang and, incidentally, to mediate relations between the Wa Kingdom and Baekje and Silla.

Li Chenggan did not want to go to war with anyone.

However, the tree may wish to remain still, but the wind will not cease. Unexpectedly, Princess Wada's dance led to her death.

Pharmacist Huizi, worried about Li Chengqian's safety, came to persuade him to leave immediately.

Li Chengan, however, disagreed: "A true man comes and goes with reason. How can I leave in such a muddled way?"

"What time is it? Why are you still so stubborn?"

Just then, Li Chengan felt a dark shadow flash past his eyes.

Then,

A masked man dressed in black appeared before him.

Li Chengan couldn't see his face clearly, only that the man was tall.

He had a Japanese sword slung at his waist, and his eyes gleamed with a fierce light.

Pharmacist Keiko couldn't help but take two steps back, her expression changing.

She quickly shielded Li Chenggan behind her: "Your Highness, step back, I'll deal with him."

"Can you do it?" Li Chenggan asked with some doubt.

"I think it should be about the same!"

Yakushi Keiko pulled a short flute from her waist and began to play it.

The sound of the flute was melodious, its lingering notes echoing around the beams.

In an instant, dozens of large snakes appeared in the room, surrounding the masked man in black.

The large snakes had their mouths open and were flicking their tongues, looking quite frightening.

Yakushi Keiko played the short flute while making the gestures.

The ten large snakes on the inside leaped forward and bit at the throat of the man in black.

The man in black stared intently at the dozen or so large snakes.

He swiftly drew his katana, drawing a beautiful arc in the air.

In an instant,

The ten large snakes were then cut in half at the waist.

Li Chengan was also taken aback when he saw it, thinking to himself how fast the man in black had acted.

Keiko Yakushi steadied herself and continued to direct the remaining snakes to attack the man in black.

The man in black swung his long Japanese sword and sliced ​​through the snakes in a short time.

Immediately, the man in black launched a counterattack.

He then plunged a knife into Yakushi Keiko's throat.

Although Yakushi Keiko was quite skilled at training wild animals.

However, when it comes to real fighting, they are somewhat inferior.

The knife was about to stab the herbalist Huizi.

The pharmacist, Keiko, was so frightened that she didn't know how to dodge.

Li Chengan kicked out, aiming for the right wrist of the man in black.

Seeing that Li Chengqian's kick came too fast, the man in black had no choice but to withdraw his long Japanese sword.

Li Chengqian stared intently at the man in black and asked, "Who exactly are you? Why do you want to kill me?"

The man in black sneered: "You must be Li Chengqian, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty?"

"Since you already know, why ask?" Li Chenggan said sternly.

"To tell you the truth, I have come to kill you on the orders of King Shuming."

Even if you die, don't blame me. Blame yourself for seducing Princess Tianyan.

"Besides, you like to meddle." As the man in black said this, he held the knife in both hands in front of his chest.

"What's your name?"

"Then you don't need to worry about it."

The man in black crouched slightly, and Li Chengan felt the Japanese sword gleaming and exuding a chilling aura.

The man in black raised his long Japanese sword and slashed at Li Chengqian's head.

The pharmacist Keiko, who was watching from the side, was startled and quickly cried out, "Your Highness, be careful!"

Li Chengan quickly dodged to the left, and his sword strike missed its mark.

Even though Li Chengan dodged his knife, his heart was still pounding.

He thought to himself, "That was close!"

Li Chengan raised his right leg and kicked the man in black.

However, to Li Chengan's surprise, just as he was about to kick him, the person suddenly disappeared.

Huh?

Li Chenggan was quite surprised.

He had also heard of a type of person called a ninja, whose figure was like a ghost.

You feel like he's right in front of you, but when you try to grab him, he disappears in the blink of an eye.

Just as Li Chengan was looking around, searching for the man in black,

Just then, Yakushi Keiko shouted, "Your Highness, he's behind you! Be careful!"

The man in black stabbed Li Chengqian in the back.

Li Chengan dared not look back and quickly leaped forward more than ten feet.

The man in black missed again with his knife.

Li Chengan then fought with the man in black in the room.

In the blink of an eye, ten or so rounds had passed, and the outcome remained undecided.

Just then, someone was alerted.

The man roared, "You audacious assassin! How dare you attempt to assassinate the Crown Prince! You're asking for trouble! Do you even recognize me, Qin Ying?"

It turned out that Qin Ying had heard the sounds of fighting over here and was also very startled.

Qin Ying lived in the next room and was unaware of what had happened to Li Chengan.

He rushed over.

He found the man in black to be extremely fierce, so he jumped over and stood between the man in black and Li Chengqian.

Qin Ying said to Li Chenggan, "Your Highness, please step back and hand him over to me."

"Then be careful."

"The materials are fine too!"

Li Chengan had considerable trust in Qin Ying's martial arts skills.

After the man in black engaged Qin Ying in combat, he immediately sensed that Qin Ying was not easy to deal with.

On the surface, Qin Ying seems simple-minded and foolish.

Actually,

He's not stupid at all; he's quite shrewd.

He was an expert, especially in martial arts.

After fighting for a while, the man in black, seeing that he could not win, threw his long knife at Li Chenggan, who was standing next to him, aiming straight for Li Chenggan's face.

Li Chengqian stared intently at the man in black.

At that moment, seeing the long Japanese sword coming straight for his face, he quickly turned his head to the right.

The long Japanese sword flew past his nose and landed squarely on the wall.

Because the black man used too much force, the long Japanese sword pierced more than half a foot deep.

The knife handle was still shaking outside.

"Damn it, you dared to let go of the knife! Stop right there!" Qin Ying chased after him.

Li Chengan shouted, "Don't pursue a desperate enemy; let him go."

Qin Ying then returned.

The fight just now was truly thrilling.

Qin Ying pulled out the long Japanese sword from the wall and handed it to Li Chengan.

Li Chengan examined it carefully by the light of the lamp.

The hilt of the knife was inlaid with two characters, "Qinhe," in small seal script.

Li Chengan asked the pharmacist Huizi, "Who is Qin He?"

Yakushi Keiko took the knife in her hand, examined it carefully, and her expression changed slightly: "In our Wa-nu Kingdom, there is an organization that is somewhat similar to the Bad People of your Great Tang Dynasty."

Qin He is the leader of this organization and reports directly to King Shuming.

In our Wa (Japanese) kingdom, all the civil and military officials turn pale at the mere mention of Qin He's name.

"Yeah?"

After listening, Li Chengan nodded: "It seems that this time, King Shuming is determined to kill me."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ying flew into a rage and began to curse: "King Shuming is a complete scoundrel!"

When he sent his envoys, Inugami Mitsuhira and Yakushi Ebisu, to Chang'an,

Our Great Tang Dynasty treated their envoys with great courtesy.

They imparted to them the systems, agricultural techniques, and Buddhist scriptures of the Central Plains without reservation.

"I never expected him to treat you like this, Your Highness! Please allow me to go and twist King Shuming's head off right now and use it as a football!"

After saying this, Qin Ying strode out.

"return!"

Li Chengan quickly called out to him.

Qin Ying turned back: "Your Highness, why not?"

"Don't act rashly. You must understand that we are now on someone else's small piece of land."

No matter how skilled you are, can you withstand an army of thousands?

Hearing this, Qin Ying could only suppress her anger: "Are we just going to let them do whatever they want?"

Li Chenggan rested his chin on his hand: "Tomorrow, I will meet with King Shuming and have a discussion with him."

"Oh dear, what do you want to see King Shuming for?"

Last time, when Inugami Oden Kuchiki tried to assassinate you, didn't you report it to him?

On the surface, he wanted to kill and fight, but in the end, it all came to nothing.

They're all in cahoots; they'd help each other out, why would they help us?

at this time,

Songtsen Gampo, Buyeo Phongchang, Buyeo Phongmei, and Queen Seondeok all arrived.

Buyeo Pungmi was truly terrified: "Your Highness, what on earth is going on?"

Li Chengan then recounted the events that had transpired.

Fu Yu Feng Mei blushed with anger: "I never expected that King Shu Ming would be such a person."

In my opinion, it's clearly Princess Tianyan who's seducing you, yet King Shuming is turning the tables and accusing you of being his rival. Isn't that ridiculous?

Songtsen Gampo shook his head: "King Shuming's actions are unbecoming of a ruler."

Queen Seondeok looked at Li Chenggan with concern in her beautiful eyes: "Songtsen Gampo is right. At first, King Shuming invited me here just to attend a banquet. I didn't expect him to trick me into coming and then force me to surrender to them."

If I had known it would be like this, I probably wouldn't have come.

Fu Yu Feng Zhang was also filled with emotion: "Back then, before I came here as a hostage, King Shu Ming made a very good promise that he would treat me with courtesy."

However, when I finally arrived at Naniwazu, I was imprisoned not long afterward.

"You, Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, have also been in that prison, and you know how terrible the conditions were."

After listening to what they said, Li Chengan also felt that King Shuming appeared righteous on the surface, but in reality, he said one thing and did another.

Li Chengan looked at everyone and said, "From now on, we must all be careful and it's best not to scatter."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Li Chenggan, holding the document, sat upright: "Last time, I suggested to King Shuming that he retract the letter he wrote to Uija of Baekje Buyeo and stop making things difficult for Queen Seondeok."

At the time, King Shuming did not express his opinion, so I had to find a way to force him to sign the agreement.

Only then can you leave.

Upon hearing this, Pharmacist Keiko looked worried: "If that's the case, I don't know how long we'll have to wait."

Since he intends to harm you, he probably won't easily agree to sign the agreement. It's best to leave as soon as possible.

Li Chengan shook his head: "This time, I have come with a mission."

On the one hand, it was to rescue Buyeo Pungjang, and on the other hand, it was to protect the interests of Silla from harm.

To the east of the Tang Dynasty were several kingdoms, including Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje, and Wa (Japan), among which Goguryeo was the most restless.

Emperor Yang of Sui led a million-strong army on three expeditions against Goguryeo, but failed to conquer it.

Yeon Gaesomun is extremely arrogant.

At the urging of Yeon Gaesomun, Baekje's crown prince Buyeo Yung planned to join forces to attack Silla.

Their plot was discovered by Gu, but thanks to Fuyu Fengmei's timely arrival and tip-off, they were able to uncover it.

That time, when I was in Baekje, they surrounded our place and burned it!

"I and Buyeo Pungmi almost burned to death!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Fengzhang punched the table, exclaiming, "Fuyu Long has gone mad! How could he treat his younger sister like this?"

Buyeo Pungmi gently stroked her temples: "It's clear that my elder brother, Buyeo Longyi, is afraid of Yeon Gaesomun."

Yeon Gaesomun carries five swords; he's very powerful.

It is said that when Goguryeo's civil and military officials saw him, they would prostrate themselves on the ground and kowtow, not daring to even raise their heads.

Even Gao Jianwu was wary of him.

Actually,

Now, Yeon Gaesomun is in charge of Goguryeo.

Prince Rongliu, Gao Jianwu, has been sidelined.

To use an imperfect analogy, King Yeongnyu, Go Geonmu, was equivalent to Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, while Yeon Gaesomun was equivalent to Cao Cao.

Queen Seondeok of Silla said calmly, "Yeon Gaesomun has always looked down on us women."

He thought I was easy to bully since I had just taken the throne.

Therefore, he wanted to take advantage of the fact that I was not yet firmly established and launch an attack on our Silla.

If we were fighting alone, our strength might not even be as great as Goguryeo's.

but,

With the support of the Tang Dynasty, what are we afraid of?

Even if Goguryeo were to attack us, or even if they joined forces with the Japanese, I would not be afraid.

After listening to Queen Seondeok's words, Lee Seung-gan secretly admired her, thinking that this Queen Seondeok was not only young and beautiful, but also very responsible.

He foresaw that under Queen Seondeok's leadership, Silla would surely prosper in the future.

At this moment, Songtsen Gampo, holding onto the table, said: "Your Highness, gentlemen, our Tibet is in a different location than yours. We are to the west of the Tang Dynasty, and you are to the east of the Tang Dynasty."

As an outsider, let me say something objective.

In this day and age, it's best to live in peace.

Because once a war breaks out, no one can guarantee victory.

In the end, it is the ordinary people who suffer.

For the sake of all the people, it's best to avoid war.

The Queen of Silla nodded in agreement: "I think so too."

My principle is: I will not offend others unless they offend me; but if they do offend me, then we Silla people are not to be trifled with.

Fuyu Fengzhang felt somewhat ashamed after hearing what they said: "Your Highness, Prince of Tang, Songtsen Gampo, and Queen Seondeok, I was in Wa (Japan) during this time and did not know what had happened in our country."

However, after I heard the news that Buyeo Yong was going to join forces with Yeon Gaesomun to attack Silla,

I felt really bad.

Buyeo Yong is trying to lead Baekje into an abyss of no return.

If they truly intend to do so, once I return to Sabi Castle, I will do my utmost to persuade my father to abandon this idea, to submit to the Tang Dynasty, and to live in peace with Silla.