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

Li Shimin undressed and was about to get into bed.

Just then, the maid He Lian rushed in from outside and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, the commander of the Imperial Guards, Chang He, has sent someone to report an important matter."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin was furious, thinking that Chang He's timing was truly terrible.

But there's nothing I can do.

Li Shimin got off the bed, dressed neatly, and said to Xu Hui, "My beloved concubine, wait for me here. I will be right back."

Xu Hui blushed deeply: "Your Majesty should prioritize state affairs and not be so sentimental."

……

Li Shimin returned to the Zichen Palace, where he found Chang He already waiting for him.

Li Shimin glared at him and asked, "What's the rush? Can't we talk about it tomorrow? Isn't it too late?"

Seeing that Li Shimin's expression was very unpleasant, Chang He felt somewhat nervous.

He knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, this matter is extremely urgent and cannot wait until tomorrow."

"What is it? Speak quickly!"

"Yakushi Eri led an army of over 100,000 to set up camp and head west."

"What? They left so soon?" Li Shimin paced back and forth in the hall, hands behind his back. "How dare Ashina Simo mobilize the army without my decree? That's a capital offense!"

"Your Majesty, over 100,000 troops—that's no joke."

If I'm not mistaken, he must have led his troops to search for Li Chenggan.

Putting everything else aside, if Li Chenggan could obtain Ashina Simo's army, plus Ashina She'er's 1 cavalry, he could dominate the world.

What should we do?

Because the incident happened so suddenly, Li Shimin was also very troubled.

He summoned a guard and said to him, "Quickly, go and invite Fang Xuanling here."

"Yes, sir!" the guard replied, turning and leaving.

Before long, Fang Xuanling arrived at the Zichen Palace.

After the greetings were exchanged, Li Shimin helped Fang Xuanling up with both hands, and then offered him a seat and tea.

Chang He stood up and stood respectfully to the side with his hands at his sides.

Chang He then recounted the story of Ashina Simo leading his army westward.

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and said, "Your Majesty, I'm not saying this out of politeness, but when Ashina Simo surrendered to our Great Tang, he said he wanted to maintain the independence of the army. This is a condition that cannot be agreed to."

We should disperse his army to various places and reorganize it. In this way, it will not be so easy for Ashina Simo to gather those Turkic troops together again.

However, what's done is done, and there's no point in saying anything now.

Li Shimin was very anxious and said, "As you know, Goguryeo and Baekje have joined forces to attack Silla. This is clearly a blatant provocation against our Great Tang Dynasty."

Therefore, I appoint Li Tai as the commander-in-chief and Li Ji as his deputy, leading an army of 15 to meet the enemy.

However, the current situation is that Li Tai has been tricked by Su Wan into giving up 3 troops, including 1 cavalry, 1 infantry, and 1 naval troops.

"Your Majesty, is that so? If the army is in Su Wan's hands, isn't that the same as it being in Li Chengqian's hands? What's the difference?"

How could Li Tai do such a foolish thing?

"Yes, Su Wan said she was going to lead those armies to fight against the Western Regions forces such as Yanqi and Gaochang."

"Oh, Your Majesty, that's just an excuse."

Li Chengan is in the Western Regions. Su Wan led those troops to find Li Chengan, so wouldn't they be under Li Chengan's command?

Those are minor matters; the most important thing is Ashina Simo's 10-strong army.

If these 10 troops fall into Li Chengqian's hands, wouldn't that be terrible?

What if Li Chenggan leads those troops back to Chang'an?

"Yes, you should quickly devise a plan for me."