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

The royal palace of King Shuming.

King Shuming sat before his desk, looking much better than he had a few days ago.

Soga no Emishi stood to one side.

King Shuming looked up at Soga no Ezo: "Speaking of which, I have to thank you. Without your strong support, I would not be able to sit on this throne."

Soga no Emishi straightened his clothes and said, "This is the blessing of Heaven, the wise and mighty King, and the mandate of Heaven. I have only done my best in accordance with the will of the people."

Upon hearing this, King Shuming laughed heartily: "You're right! I never imagined that after I was pushed off the second floor by King Shanbei and fell unconscious, it would be Li Chenggan who saved me. It's truly unbelievable!"

"Your Majesty, you are right."

"Speaking of which, we both owe the Crown Prince of Tang a favor."

King Shuming, holding the document, said, "I have also heard about what happened between you and Little Chili."

Inuue Mitaku was indeed going a bit too far.

You've been incredibly kind and considerate to him, yet he tries to steal your woman.

Has that matter been resolved?

Soga no Emishi blushed upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, it has been resolved. With Li Chengqian's help, Little Chili has returned to my side."

King Shuming smiled slightly: "That's good. You two lovers can finally be together."

but,

But I feel that the Queen is drifting further and further away from me.

"Your Majesty need not worry, you may be overthinking it."

In my opinion, the Queen still loves you very much.

King Shuming waved his hand: "You don't need to comfort me anymore. I can feel it in my heart."

To be frank, even when we slept on the couch at night, she and I always lay back to back.

Hearing what King Shuming said, Soga no Emishi felt a pang of heartache, because he understood that once a woman's heart has changed, not even ten oxen could pull her back.

"Your Majesty, women may be a little temperamental, but they'll be fine after a while."

"I hope so."

There's something I want to ask you.

"What is it? Tell me."

"Li Chengan risked his life to retrieve the snow lingzhi from the summit of Liujia Mountain."

Then, I put the leaves of the snow lingzhi in water, boiled them into a soup, and fed it to you, which revived you.

That time, Yamashiro Daigo pushed you off the second floor.

You once said in public that this matter was over and would not be pursued further.

but,

But I heard that you sent my unfilial son, Soga no Ruka, to hunt down and kill King Yamabe. What is going on?

Upon hearing this, King Shuming's expression changed slightly: "Although I am the king of the Wa (Japanese) Kingdom..."

However, there are many times when we feel helpless.

You know what happened that day.

With King Deokman, Songtsen Gampo, and Li Chenggan all present, what can I possibly say?

That's all I can say.

later,

Soga no Iruka came to see me and volunteered to pursue and kill King Yamashiro no Ōe.

Originally, I didn't want to agree to this either.

Soga no Iruka, however, said, "If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they'll grow back in the spring breeze; releasing a tiger back into the mountains will bring endless trouble."

King Yamashiro Ōe was the heir to the throne designated by Empress Suiko's will.

He had many supporters in the court.

His foundation is very deep.

and,

I have heard that he has hired many craftsmen to forge weapons day and night, and has already stockpiled a large number of excellent weapons.

However, as of now, I have not been able to find out where his armory is located.

You said,

If he didn't want to rebel, why would he need to manufacture so many weapons?

Is it to fight against foreign enemies?

Where are our external enemies?

Upon hearing this, Soga no Emishi cursed inwardly that Soga no Iruka was truly despicable; he hadn't even asked for his consent before speaking directly to King Shuming about such a significant matter.

It seems Soga Irishanagi has grown too powerful now.

He tends to act on his own initiative when doing things.

Little did they know that doing so would only further deepen the conflict between the Soga family and King Yamashiro.

"Your Majesty, whoever is king, the first rule for gaining the trust of the people is to be trustworthy."

A person's integrity is priceless. You already said in front of Li Chenggan, Songtsen Gampo, and Queen Seondeok that you would not pursue the responsibility of King Sanbei.

However, he then sent Soga no Iruka to hunt down Yamashiro no Ōe. Isn't that a contradiction?

This is no small matter.

"Your Majesty's actions are probably inappropriate!"

King Shuming, however, disagreed: "What's done is done, and it's no use regretting it now."

Just then, four people walked in from outside.

Soga no Emishi looked up and saw that the four people who walked in were none other than the woman Lan Porasha, Yeon Gaesomun, Buyeo Ryong, and the monk Dotong.

The four men paid their respects to King Shuming, who treated them with courtesy.

Then, he had the four of them sit down one by one on the right.

They then recounted their encounter with Li Chengqian, especially Yeon Gaesomun, who exaggerated the story.

He rested his hands on his knees, pursing his lips: "Your Majesty, I never imagined that there was collusion between King Shanbei and Li Chengqian."

They actually held a secret meeting in an armory at the foot of Mount Rokko.

I don't know what agreement they reached.

Everyone who heard this sighed in dismay.

King Shuming was taken aback and asked, "General, are you telling the truth?"

"Every word is true; there is not a single lie!"

"I have also heard that King Yamabe has an armory."

but,

I never knew where the armory was located; I never imagined it would be at the foot of Mount Rokko.

"Your Majesty, the weapons there are piled up like mountains. You must act quickly and seize all the weapons there. If you are too late, the weapons in the cave will definitely be moved away."

"I understand."

Upon hearing this, Soga no Emishi thought to himself, "I will go to Li Chengqian's guesthouse myself."

Ask if the elder brother Wang of Shanbei is in Li Chengqian's guesthouse.

Li Chengan said he wasn't there.

But how could Li Chenggan be with the eldest brother of the mountain?

What exactly happened?

The blue Rakshasa woman sighed: "Li Chengqian is truly a scourge."

I finally obtained the Giant Scorpion, but in an instant, he killed all the Giant Scorpions I had carefully raised.

Do you know how much money and effort I spent to get those giant scorpions?

He ruined everything, it's truly despicable.

Originally, anyone bitten by my giant scorpion would die.

however,

Unexpectedly, Li Chengan actually saved Qu Zhili.

He risked his life to suck drugs for Qu Zhili, and then, by chance, obtained a snow lingzhi mushroom.

This poison can only be cured by snow lingzhi mushroom; Qu Zhili is truly lucky to be alive!

King Shuming waved his hand: "Old man, it's good that Qu Zhili is alright."

Qu Zhili was no ordinary person; she was Princess Gaochang.

If something happens to her in our Wa-nu Kingdom, we won't be able to explain it to the King of Gaochang.

We must unite now and avoid making too many enemies.

"You're right. Let her live a few more days. I'll settle this score with her sooner or later." The Blue Rakshasa woman's eyes were filled with resentment.

King Shuming paced back and forth in the hall, hands behind his back: "If Li Chenggan and King Shanbei reach some kind of agreement, it would pose a significant threat to us!"

When King Sumyeong mentioned the agreement, Yeon Gaesomun asked, "Your Majesty, how could you unilaterally change the warship agreement that we agreed upon beforehand?"

Yeon Gaesomun was just that aggressive.

"This—." As the king of a country, King Shuming's words no longer hold true, which is difficult to explain.

He looked at Soga no Ezo.

at this time,

Soga no Emishi added from the side, "General, you don't need to overthink it. The King didn't mean anything by doing this."

Our navy also needs warships, but building large warships is very time-consuming and cannot be done in a day or two.

A hundred ships are far too many for you.

Therefore, we can only sell you twenty ships for now. We'll discuss it further later if we have extra warships.

Yeon Gaesomun huffed angrily: "How can that be? How can we easily change what we agreed on?"

Are you afraid that we in Goguryeo won't pay you?

Upon hearing this, the Blue Bharadvaja also said, "Yes, we agreed beforehand that your Wa-nu Kingdom would purchase 10 jars of wine from our Yanqi."

Now, however, the quantity has suddenly dropped to 20,000 jars, a reduction of 80% from 100%.

How am I supposed to explain this to the King of Yanqi when I return?

"Well--."

King Shuming was speechless again.

"Ahem, ahem," Soga no Ezo coughed twice, explaining, "Old man, it's not that we don't want to buy your wine,..."

Firstly, we are not wealthy right now and cannot come up with that much money at once. As for buying on credit, you are not willing to do so.

Secondly, it's said that wine tends to turn sour if stored for too long.

If there's too much stock, even if you can't finish it, the wine will turn sour over time, and then how can you drink it?

We can order 20,000 jars first, and then buy more when we have more money after we finish drinking them. Isn't that the same thing?

In short, we won't buy wine from anywhere else.

The blue Rakshasa woman sneered: "How can they be the same?"

Our king is waiting for this money to recruit soldiers and expand his army.

If you wait until you finish drinking these 20,000 jars of wine before you buy more, when will that be?

You can't please everyone. What if someone says the wine doesn't taste good and doesn't want to buy it?

King Shuming sighed: "I am also helpless. What Soga no Emishi just said is the truth."

We are indeed facing difficulties and cannot come up with that much money urgently.

Yeon Gaesomun, hands on his hips, said, "If you insist on changing the order, fine, then just kill Lee Seung-gan."

I took his head back to our king and reported it.

Upon hearing this, Soga no Emishi waved his hands, saying, "Absolutely not! Li Chengqian is the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, and his father is Li Shimin!"

If we kill Li Chenggan, won't the Tang Dynasty retaliate against us?

In that case,

Our country is probably not far from its demise.

Yeon Gaesomun, upon hearing this, disagreed: "Don't boost the morale of others while diminishing the prestige of our own people."

In my opinion,

The Tang dynasty wasn't that scary.

Let me do the math for you, and you'll understand.

At its peak, the Sui Dynasty had a population of over 900 million, an army of over 100 million, and so much money in the national treasury that it was impossible to count it all. The grain in the granaries was so plentiful that it was piled up outside the granaries.

Emperor Yang of Sui led a million-strong army to attack Goguryeo with great momentum. What was the result?

We routed them, and they fled in disarray.

Ultimately, Emperor Yang of Sui was killed in Jiangdu by his general Yuwen Huaji, and the Sui Dynasty ended after only two generations.

Today, after numerous wars, the population of the Li Tang dynasty has dwindled to just over 3 million, only about one-third of its original size.

and,

Due to years of war, their national treasury was empty; they simply had no money.

It is said that

Li Chengan, residing in the Eastern Palace, wanted to build two rooms, but couldn't afford the money.

The monthly wages for the palace maids and eunuchs under his command have been several months overdue.

What does this tell us?

This clearly demonstrates that they have become extremely poor.

They have a total population of only over 300 million, so how many soldiers could they possibly have?

At most, it'll be around 300,000.

I still overcharged them.

During the Sui Dynasty, our Goguryeo Kingdom had an army of 60.

In the battle against the Sui army, our troops achieved great success, acquiring numerous warships, provisions, weapons, utensils, gold, silver, and other valuables.

The Sui army has been defeated by us, so they have to listen to us.

They must do as we tell them to do.

They also compensated us for a lot of our losses;

Let me calculate it for you again.

last year,

Wasn't Li Jing going to attack the Eastern Turks?

Although they destroyed the Eastern Turks

However, while they killed a thousand enemies, they also suffered heavy losses themselves.

Next,

They then clashed with the Dangxiang and Tuyuhun tribes.

and also,

recent,

They then went to war with the Yanqi army.

Then,

They also fought against the allied forces of Li Yuanli and Zhang Zhongjian.

Therefore,

The Tang army is now exhausted.

therefore,

The Tang army is not that scary; they are just paper tigers now.

"Simply send a general with 10 troops to attack Chang'an, and we can take it."

After listening to Yeon Gaesomun's analysis, everyone felt that what he said seemed to make some sense.

King Shuming was skeptical: "Is the Tang army really as incompetent as you say?"

"Your Majesty, you can rest assured!"

Furthermore, we understand that Li Chenggan and his father, the emperor, did not have a close relationship.

Last time,

Li Chengan led his troops back and lifted the siege of Chang'an.

Logically speaking, Li Chenggan should have been richly rewarded for such a great achievement.

but,

Unexpectedly,

Fang Xuanling actually petitioned Li Shimin to execute Li Chenggan.

Everyone was surprised to hear this.

"Why is that?"

"Because Li Chengqian privately recruited soldiers on the border of Gaochang,"

Ashina She'er's army was recruited by him without his consent.

The imperial court was unaware of this.

Therefore, Li Shimin was furious and wanted to kill Li Chenggan.

Only after the pleas of civil and military officials was he imprisoned in the Dali Temple jail.

but,

so far,

If we kill Li Chenggan,

Perhaps Li Shimin will even thank us.

After hearing Yeon Gaesomun's words, King Sumyeong's eyes lit up: "You mean to say..."

Even if we kill Li Chenggan, the Tang army won't retaliate against us.

"Your Majesty, you can rest assured."

The Tang Dynasty is currently preoccupied with its own internal affairs.

Li Shimin's younger brother, Li Yuanli, rebelled, intending to force him to step down.

Although the Buyeo army had withdrawn from Chang'an,

However, their strength remains, and they could make a comeback at any time.

Adding to the turmoil, Yanqi in the west was also stirring up trouble, leaving Li Shimin in a state of utter chaos.

He certainly wouldn't dare make too many enemies to attack us.

but,

If we don't take this opportunity to get rid of Li Chengqian, he will surely become our mortal enemy in the future.

Don't think that Li Chenggan is young and easy to deal with.

That would be a huge mistake.

He is our strongest opponent.

As long as Li Chenggan dies

Then we'll have no worries.

Like Li Tai, who would desert once he went to the battlefield.

How could he possibly be my match?

therefore,

I suggest Your Majesty send someone to invite Li Chengqian here so we can deal with him together.”

"This—," King Shuming hesitated, "but, on what grounds should we invite him here?"

Didn't Li Chenggan heal your injuries?

You should thank him.

Therefore, a banquet was held to entertain him.

Send another person whom Li Chengqian trusts to invite him.

but,

You can't tell the truth to the person who went to invite Li Chengqian.

King Shuming remained hesitant.

The Blue Rakshasa woman chuckled strangely and asked, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you? This isn't like you at all."

A man who is ruthless and vicious is not a true man.

Releasing a tiger back into the mountains will lead to endless troubles. Today...

With Li Chengan here, we can do whatever we want with him.

When he returned to Chang'an,

If you want to deal with him again, that will be difficult.

"I hope Your Majesty will not hesitate and will make a decisive decision."

Soga no Emishi looked at those people, each one harboring ill intentions.

He quickly tried to dissuade them: "Everyone, you're wrong."

You absolutely must not do that.

Li Chengan just saved our king.

We should be grateful to him; how can we repay kindness with enmity?

Moreover,

This time,

He came here to mediate relations between our Wa (Japanese) Kingdom, Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla.

His intentions were good.

If Li Chengan gets into trouble here,

The Heavenly Khan will come to settle accounts with us sooner or later.

After much deliberation, King Shuming finally gritted his teeth and shouted towards the door, "Someone come here!"

at this time,

Two armored warriors entered from outside and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, what are your orders?"

King Shuming pointed at Soga no Emishi with his right hand: "Take him away and lock him in the dungeon to await his fate!"

Those two armored warriors obeyed only King Shuming's orders; they didn't care about anything else.

They did whatever King Shuming told them to do.

They stepped forward, grabbed Soga no Ezo's arm, and pushed him out.

Soga no Emishi shouted, "Your Majesty, you can't do this! You'll regret it!"

at this time,

King Shuming, no longer wanting to listen to his rambling, waved his hand and said, "Drag him away, drag him away now!"

And so, Soga no Emishi was taken away.

King Shuming entered the inner chamber and met Princess Tianyan. He expressed his gratitude to Li Chengan and asked her to invite him to a banquet.

Princess Tianyan believed it to be true, dressed up and happily went to invite Li Chengan.

but,

King Shuming repeatedly instructed that only Li Chenggan could be invited.

King Shuming ordered Soga no Iruka to lead 200 elite warriors to ambush under the outer corridor. They were to break in and chop Li Chenggan into mincemeat as soon as they heard him smash a wine cup.

Soga no Iruka was not the same as his father, Soga no Emishi.

He disliked Li Chenggan very much and felt that Li Chenggan's arrival here was definitely not a good thing.

He felt that Li Chengqian would only side with the Tang Dynasty and Silla.

How could they possibly side with their Japanese slave country?

Soga Irika even thought that his father was being too polite to Li Chengqian and that it was completely unnecessary.

Princess Tianyan went to invite Li Chengan to a banquet, but everyone tried to stop her.

Li Chengan defied the objections of others and came alone.

Halfway there,

Princess Tianyan flitted around Li Chengqian like a happy bird.

"Your Highness, there is something I would like to ask you."

"What is it?" Li Chengan didn't have a very good impression of her and was a little impatient.

Last time,

What have you thought about what I told you at your inn?

"Which thing did you mention?"

Li Chengan couldn't recall what Princess Tianyan had said to him.

"You really have a bad memory, what I mean is..."

If you're leaving, take me with you to Chang'an.

future,

"I've dissolved my engagement with King Shuming, and I'll become your concubine. What do you say?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengan looked embarrassed, thinking to himself that this woman was really shameless to say such things.

He quickly waved his hand: "Your Highness, please don't mention things like this again in the future."

Why not?

Back then, Bo Ji first married Wei Bao.

Later, she married Liu Bang.

She and Liu Bang only spent one night together, yet she gave birth to Prince Liu Heng, who later became Emperor Wen of Han.

"It seems like there is such a thing."

"Wang Zhi first married a commoner named Jin Wangsun, and gave birth to a daughter named Jin Su for him."

Wang Zhi's mother, Zang Er, invited a fortune teller to tell her fortune.

After examining Wang Zhi, the fortune teller was astonished and said that Wang Zhi was destined for great wealth and honor in the future.

Therefore, Zang'er took Wang Zhi back from the Jin family and dissolved the engagement.

Then, through connections, Wang Zhi was sent to Liu Qi's palace.

At that time, Liu Qi was only the crown prince. After Liu Qi ascended the throne,

Ultimately, Wang Zhi was made empress.

Why can they do it, but I can't?

Do you think I'm not as good-looking as them?

Li Chengan was speechless after hearing this.

Princess Tianyan continued, "As someone who's been through it all, I know what kind of woman you men like best."

Damn,

Let me tell you this.

I can make you feel carefree and happy, to the point of ecstasy.

That level of achievement is probably beyond Su Wan's reach.

Currently,

She's just a novice, she knows nothing, she has no experience whatsoever, she probably can't do it.

Li Chengan understood that Princess Tianyan meant that she was more skilled in romance, which was a skill that not every woman possessed.

Li Chengan didn't want to hear any more of her words and interrupted her.

Li Chenggan understood that Wang Zhi's entry into Liu Qi's palace and her favor with him were indeed largely due to her beauty.

Because of this,

Emperor Jing of Han and Empress Wang Zhi had three princesses and one prince, Liu Che.

Emperor Jing of Han had so many women in his harem.

If Wang Zhi hadn't been exceptional, she and Emperor Jing of Han wouldn't have had so many children.

Empress Bo had no children back then.

This shows that Emperor Jing of Han was very indifferent to Empress Bo, but very fond of Wang Zhi.

A woman's skill in bed is a special talent.

but,

Li Chengan didn't want to hear her say that and waved his hand to interrupt her: "Your Highness, besides me, is there anyone else invited to the banquet?"

"No, there was only one Soga Ezo."

at this time,

Princess Tanigami was unaware that Soga no Emishi had already been taken away.

When Li Chengan heard that Soga no Emishi was present, he felt relieved.

Because he knew that Soga no Emishi wouldn't go so far as to frame him.

"I heard that Su Wan has come here."

"Yes, she came to pick snow lingzhi. After picking the snow lingzhi, she rushed back to Chang'an to treat my mother and left."

"I see. In that case, your Crown Princess is quite filial."