Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

golden city.

It was already late at night, but the palace hall was still brightly lit.

Debauched music echoed through the luxurious hall.

A dozen or so dancers, dressed in thin gauze and completely naked, swayed their waists in the center of the hall, their white skin appearing and disappearing in the shadows.

This prompted the Silla ministers on both sides to make inhuman noises.

King Kim Baekjeong of Silla sat on his throne, his face flushed from drinking, his eyes somewhat glazed.

"Your Majesty."

Jin Chunqiu stood up unsteadily, holding his wine glass, and said...

"Your Majesty, I offer you a toast. Within three days, the Tang army on Luoying Mountain will surely be reduced to a pile of starving corpses."

That callow youth of the Tang Dynasty's crown prince is probably scared out of his wits by now.

Upon hearing this, a burst of laughter erupted in the hall.

A civil official who looked like a monkey chimed in:

"What Lord Jin said is absolutely right. The Tang Dynasty had already exhausted its strength by conquering Goguryeo after a long and arduous expedition."

By deploying all our elite troops at Luoying Mountain, we have effectively blocked their advance.

That Tang Dynasty crown prince is barely out of his teens; how could he have ever seen such an ambush from all sides? He's probably crying and writing a letter to his father right now.

After Jin Chunqiu finished his drink with his head tilted back, he continued shouting:

"Your Majesty, once we have utterly destroyed the dignity of the Tang Dynasty, we can send someone to deliver a message, asking the Tang Dynasty to cede the cities of Goguryeo to us, and to pay us 100,000 taels of gold and a million bolts of silk. Then we will show mercy and let their defeated army roll back to Chang'an."

The King of Silla was overjoyed upon hearing this:

"Excellent! Your plan is exactly what I wanted. The Tang Dynasty prides itself on being the Celestial Empire and usually acts arrogantly towards us, but when it comes to our Silla territory, even dragons have to coil up and tigers have to lie down."

The kingdom that those fools in Goguryeo couldn't defend, we, Silla, will defend.

After we've squeezed every last drop of profit out of the Tang Dynasty, we'll turn our attention back to Baekje.

Within ten years, this peninsula will be the domain of our Silla family.

"At that time, I too will become that Khan."

"Your Majesty is wise! Long live Silla!"

The courtiers raised their cups in unison, and a chorus of flattery followed.

The King of Silla laughed heartily:

"Send the order! Tonight, a grand victory banquet will be held at the royal palace to reward all the officials. Bring out all the fine wines from the cellar. We, the king and his subjects, will not leave until we are drunk, celebrating in advance the expansion of Silla's territory for thousands of years to come."

The atmosphere inside the hall instantly reached its peak.

The dancers' soft moans began to echo throughout the hall.

However, just as the city was indulging in a life of debauchery...

Less than fifty miles from Jincheng, an army is advancing rapidly across the wilderness.

Forty thousand Tang cavalrymen did not light a single torch.

Under the cover of night, all the warhorses had their hooves wrapped in cotton cloth, and wooden pegs were tightly held in their mouths.

Li Jing followed beside Li Chengqian, his heart filled with shock as he watched Li Chengqian's back.

The Crown Prince's arrangements were even more comprehensive than those of the Tang Dynasty's military genius.

After entering Silla territory, this army transformed into ghosts.

They did not let the Silla people discover their movements at all.

Of course, any Silla people they occasionally encountered were instantly riddled with arrows.

"Uncle Li, what are you thinking about?"

Li Chengqian turned around and looked at Li Jing, asking in confusion.

"I think if I had such an army under my command back then, the Turks wouldn't have even had a chance to escape."

Li Chengqian chuckled softly:

"This is just the beginning. After this battle, I will make all the armies of the Tang Dynasty look like this."

The blades of the Tang Dynasty will sweep across the land.

Fifty li.

Thirty li.

Twenty li.

When they were only ten miles away from Jincheng, Li Jing raised his right hand and clenched it in mid-air.

The messenger immediately began relaying the message.

The 40,000-strong army went from extreme motion to extreme stillness in less than ten breaths.

The entire army remained stationary, without the slightest sign of panic.

"The entire army shall rest on the spot for half an hour. Replenish our strength and inspect our weapons."

The soldiers dismounted, took out fried noodles from their waists, and began to eat them with cold water.

Fang Yi'ai leaned closer to Changsun Chong and asked:

"Brother Chong, what do you think we're going to do later? Are we going to use gunpowder to bombard the enemy again?"

Changsun Chong said in an annoyed tone:

"His Highness said that Jincheng is now just an empty shell that can be easily breached. What's the point of us washing it? We should just blow open the city gates, rush in, and kill them all."

"Hehe, that makes sense. I wonder if there are any good things in the Silla palace. Last time we raided a house in Pyongyang, all the good stuff was taken by Qin Huaidao and Du He. This time I'll have to be quick."

Changsun Chong looked at Fang Yi'ai speechlessly.

He was such an honest young man when he left Chang'an.

How did you become such a money-grubber?

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

On the city wall of Jincheng.

An old soldier muttered to the young man dozing off beside him:

"Alright, wake up, it's almost dawn."

Stand up straight, or you'll get another beating if the patrolling officials see you.

The young man curled his lip indifferently:

"What are you afraid of? The adults are all eating and drinking in the palace right now. Who has time to care about our lives? Besides, if he dares to hit me, I'll go to his house and hit his wife instead."

The veteran said speechlessly:

"You'd better avoid his house. I don't think any of his three sons look like him. Be careful, or he'll skin you alive if things get out."

But I should still be careful today. My eyelids have been twitching since midnight, and I have a feeling something terrible is going to happen.

"What big thing could happen? Can the people of the Tang Dynasty grow wings and fly over here? Old man, I think you're just worrying for nothing."

The young man chuckled and closed his eyes again, preparing to catch up on his sleep.

The time before dawn is the darkest part of the day, and also the time when people are most tired.

Li Chengqian mounted his horse and drew the sword from his waist.

"kill."

The next moment, the four great Tang cavalrymen simultaneously ripped off the cotton cloth wrapped around their horses' hooves and spat out the wooden pegs from their mouths.

The black torrent rushed toward Jincheng.

"An earthquake?"

The young soldier on the city wall suddenly opened his eyes and asked in a panic.

The veteran next to him complained:

"What's all this commotion about so early in the morning? Could it be that the mountain god is angry...?"

Before he could finish speaking, the veteran's voice abruptly stopped.

As dawn broke on the horizon, a dark, surging torrent was rapidly advancing towards them from the distant horizon.

Clang!

The veteran's spear fell to the ground, and his crotch instantly became soaked.

"Tang...Tang army! It's the Tang army attacking!"

"Are you crazy, old man? The Tang army is in Pyongyang right now, how could they possibly be attacking?"

The young man, skeptical, looked out of the city.

With just one glance, he collapsed to the ground.

"My God! It's a ghost! The Tang army is attacking!"

Chaos erupted instantly on the city wall.

At this moment, the general in charge of defending the city was fast asleep, embracing someone's wife.

Upon hearing the wailing and howling outside, he angrily kicked open the door, without even putting on any clothes.

"What are you wailing about? Shut the hell up, all of you."

The general walked to the battlements, cursing and swearing, and glanced out casually.

With just that one glance, he almost scared his little brother so much that he shrank back into his belly.

"Quickly! Close the city gates! Go and report to the King!"

......

Silla Royal Palace.

At this moment, all the civil and military officials of Silla were lying naked in the palace.

"Report!!!"

A notification sounded outside the hall.

This startled everyone in the main hall awake.

"Insolence! I am holding a victory banquet, what are you shouting for? Guards, drag him out and behead him!"

The King of Silla was furious.

"Your Majesty, spare us! The Tang army! The Tang army has reached the outskirts of the city. They have surrounded Jincheng on all sides."

Everyone in the hall was dumbfounded.

The King of Silla was like a statue.

"impossible."

Jin Chunqiu roared,

"The main force of the Tang Dynasty is clearly in Pyongyang. How could they possibly cross the border defenses and come to Jincheng without making a sound? You dare to lie about military intelligence? I'll kill you."

The messenger soldier hurriedly said:

"Lord Jin, it's absolutely true. The area outside the city is filled with the iron cavalry of the Tang Dynasty, numbering at least tens of thousands."

The King of Silla finally came to his senses and shouted in a panic:

"Quickly! Order all the city's garrison to defend against the enemy. Prepare the carriage... prepare the carriage at the city wall. I want to go and see for myself."