A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Dou Jiande was afraid that watching it would be too sour.

Li Shimin's expression was somewhat strange.

He felt that Dou Jiande's impression of his father was a little bit off, and his expectations were a little bit too high.

However, Li Shimin decided to grant Dou Jiande's last request before his death.

Li Shimin left some people behind to clean up the battlefield, while he led Qin Qiong and others to another battlefield to support Li Yuan.

Although Li Mi lost the support of Qin Qiong and others, he expanded his army extensively during this period, and his army still numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Even though he suffered considerable losses due to the siege, it was still not an easy task for Li Yuan to eliminate Li Mi.

If we are not careful, Li Mi will escape.

After fighting Li Yuan for several days, Li Mi looked at the losses of his troops with heartache. He did not want to continue fighting. Li Yuan did not have the Imperial Seal of the State. Continuing to fight would only result in heavy losses and no benefit.

He decided to withdraw.

Li Yuan was preoccupied with his Imperial Seal and had no intention of fighting Li Mi to the death. Li Mi keenly sensed this mindset on the battlefield and immediately chose to cut his losses and escape.

So he left his trusted general to cover the rear and personally led the army back to his main camp, Kimyong City.

Li Yuan sent men to pursue them, while he himself led an elite force to another battlefield under the cover of night.

He met his son Li Shimin on the road.

"Shimin, where is the Imperial Seal of the State?"

Upon meeting Li Shimin, Li Yuan's first question was about the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal of the State.

A barely perceptible glint appeared in Li Shimin's eyes as he took the Imperial Seal of the State from his chest and handed it to Li Yuan.

"Please forgive me, Father."

Li Shimin recounted the events that had occurred on the battlefield to Li Yuan in detail, which made Li Yuan raise an eyebrow.

"Shimin, what can I say about you?"

"What does the life and death of ordinary people matter? How can they be compared to the Imperial Seal of the State?"

"Fortunately, you retrieved the Imperial Seal of the State intact; otherwise, you would not only have gained nothing, but you would have also incurred a penalty."

Li Yuan carefully wiped the Imperial Seal of the State in his hand, examining every nook and cranny meticulously, fearing that the seal might have been damaged in the slightest by Wang Shichong.

Dou Jiande stepped forward and looked at the scene before him, where his idealized view of Li Yuan shattered completely.

This is Li Yuan, the formidable enemy he acknowledges?!

Why doesn't it feel like it's the way he imagined?

Could such a person really easily abandon the Imperial Seal of the State?

Dou Jiande had a question mark in his mind.

"Father, how is Li Mi doing?"

Li Shimin watched as Li Yuan admired the Imperial Seal of the State for a while before asking a question.

How could his father be here? And with only an elite force by his side.

Shouldn't we be on the battlefield now?

Could it be that Li Mi has already been defeated by Li Yuan, leaving behind some troops to clean up the battlefield and leading his elite forces to help him?

Is his father really that powerful?

"Li Mi has already fled back to Jinyong City. I have dispatched Pei Ji to lead troops to pursue and kill him. Fearing that the Imperial Seal of the State might be lost, I have hurriedly led an elite force to come and retrieve the seal day and night."

Li Yuan carefully placed the imperial seal in his bosom, patted it, and felt the bulging sensation in his chest, as if he had reached a climax.

Dou Jiande: "..."

He shrank back into the group, ready to find out what was going on.

"How's it going on your end? Where's Dou Jiande?"

Li Yuan asked casually.

Li Shimin looked at Dou Jiande and said, "He said he wants to see you, Father."

"Oh? You want to see me?"

Li Yuan slowly turned around and looked at Dou Jiande.

Dou Jiande sized up Li Yuan. "Using the Imperial Seal as bait to scheme against me, Wang Shichong, and Li Mi was your plan?"

Why does he seem a little skeptical about the current situation?!

Upon hearing Dou Jiande's words, Li Yuan blushed slightly.

"Ahem, that's right, it was my plan."

The plan was proposed and executed by Li Shimin, who was his son. Rounding up, it's clear he was the one who proposed and executed the plan; there's nothing wrong with that.

Having been a regional warlord for so many years, Dou Jiande could easily discern whether a single statement was true or false.

It is obvious that Li Yuan was lying.

He was not the one who proposed and executed this plan; someone else was.

Dou Jiande then slowly looked at Li Shimin. Judging from Li Shimin's behavior, it was very likely that it was him.

However, with Li Yuan in the picture, Li Shimin would never admit it, and he planned to ask him privately.

"Father, let's go back quickly and quell Li Mi's rebellion as soon as possible, and unify the north."

"At that time, Father can also establish a nation and rule by virtue of the Imperial Seal!"

Li Shimin never expected that despite his repeated pleas to Li Yuan to prioritize the greater good, Li Yuan would still abandon the greater good and choose to see the Imperial Seal of the State sooner rather than later.

It'll be yours sooner or later, so why the rush?

Li Shimin felt somewhat depressed.

"That's right, that's right."

Upon hearing the words "establishing a state and ruling the country with the Imperial Seal of the State," Li Yuan was even more excited and quickly nodded in agreement with Li Shimin's suggestion.

When they returned to the battlefield together, Li Mi had already safely retreated to his base camp, Jinyong City.

As Li Mi's stronghold, Jinyong City was built with high and thick walls, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

We failed to eliminate him before, and now we don't know how many losses we'll suffer in this siege.

Li Shimin was somewhat frustrated. If Li Yuan could have stopped him on the battlefield and then attacked him from both sides after he arrived, he could have easily defeated Li Mi and pacified the Central Plains.

Now look what's happened; we've left ourselves with a tough nut to crack.

Even more unfortunately, their attack on Jinyong City here will greatly hinder their efforts to recapture other areas.

However, if we do not attack Jinyong City to eliminate Li Mi, Li Mi will expand his army at all costs, which will also have a great impact on us.

One step at a time, one step at a time.

Their pace of recovering the entire Central Plains and the north slowed down, giving the southern lords the opportunity to move north.

They wouldn't just stand by and watch Li Yuan annex the entire north.

That will cause a lot of trouble.

Li Shimin felt a headache coming on, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the Imperial Seal of the State in Li Yuan's hand.

Having twice used the Imperial Seal of the State as bait and reaped great rewards, he found it hard to contain his excitement.

Li Yuan sensed a burning gaze fixed on the Imperial Seal of the State in his arms and looked over sharply.

Seeing Li Shimin's gaze, Li Yuan's face darkened.

This was the same look in Li Shimin's eyes when he suggested using the Imperial Seal of the State as bait.

"No, with the founding of the nation imminent, the Imperial Seal of the State cannot be lost."

Li Yuan said to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin sighed and reluctantly looked away. If he could use the Imperial Seal of the State as bait again, he might be able to lure Li Mi out to fight in the field, which would be much easier than a siege.

This arduous siege lasted for more than a month. Li Shimin paid a heavy price to break into the city, and Li Mi set himself on fire.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Yuan and Li Shimin divided their forces into two routes and recovered the entire Central Plains.

When they reunited in Luoyang and prepared to head north, bad news arrived.

Liu Wuzhou of Hebei has absorbed the remaining forces of Dou Jiande and is about to head south.

Du Fuwei of Jianghuai and Lin Shihong of Jiangdong also sent troops north to compete for the Central Plains.

Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng's plan failed at the last minute!