My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 412 The Dire Situation of King Li Tai of Wei

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

Before Li Shimin finished speaking, his robe sleeves had already rolled up to the edge of the sand table, causing the gilded candlesticks on the table to sway slightly, and the candlelight reflected a scorching sharpness in his eyes.

Changsun Wuji rushed forward and stood in front of the throne: "Your Majesty, you must not! The Xuanwu Gate is shrouded in arrows like locusts, and the sky is littered with oil. How can this be a place for a ruler to venture into danger? In the past, Your Majesty personally led an expedition against Dou Jiande and was besieged at Hulao Pass. Now, as the Son of Heaven, your safety is in the hands of the people. How can you lightly step into such a dangerous place?"

Fang Xuanling hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I agree with what Minister Changsun said! In the past, King Wen of Zhou did not personally engage in military affairs, and Emperor Guangwu of Han did not go to battle unless absolutely necessary, all because the weight of the emperor's life was as heavy as Mount Tai. Since the Crown Prince has such a treacherous plan, there must be a deadly ambush at the city gates right now. If Your Majesty were to make a mistake, the court would be shaken and the morale of the army would collapse. Wouldn't that be exactly what the Crown Prince wanted?"

The air inside the hall suddenly froze, with only the wisps of smoke from the burning sandalwood rising gently.

Li Shimin stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping across the deepening twilight outside the palace, the scars beneath the old Xuanjia Army robes seeming to ache faintly.

He suddenly chuckled and tapped the military tally on the table with his knuckles: "Does Minister Fang still remember that in the third year of Wude, when I led three thousand Xuanjia soldiers to cross the Yellow River at night to attack Liu Wuzhou, you also advised me to sit in the central army from the Baibi city tower?"

Fang Xuanling's body trembled, and the image of Li Shimin standing on horseback with a spear across his body in the snowstorm of yesteryear appeared before his eyes.

But His Majesty continued, "Back then, I said, 'The enemy has come from afar, and a swift battle is advantageous. If I do not personally witness their strengths and weaknesses, how can I devise a brilliant plan to defeat them?' The same applies today!"

"Chengqian's cannons can accurately destroy ballistae, so they must be hidden in a treacherous place; he dares to confront 50,000 imperial guards with only 20,000 remnants, so he must have some trump cards yet to be revealed. If I remain holed up in the palace, how can I see his weakness?"

"But Your Majesty!" Changsun Wuji's beard trembled with anxiety: "The Crown Prince has cannons that can fire for miles, and can also leap over Xuanwu Gate to strike directly at the rear of the city, and there are even unknown backup plans."

Li Shimin shook his head slightly: "It is precisely because I do not know their next move that I must go."

"Alright, there's no need to say any more. My mind is made up."

Li Shimin suddenly drew his sword, its cold light turning the faces of the court officials in the hall pale. The scabbard slammed heavily onto the sand table, causing the small flag representing Xuanwu Gate to tilt precariously.

Fang Xuanling looked up and saw the unwavering resolve in His Majesty's eyes. He suddenly recalled that rainy night twenty years ago, when it was those same eyes that made the decisive decision in the tent before the Xuanwu Gate Incident: "Strike first to gain the upper hand; those who strike later will be subdued!"

His throat bobbed, and he finally swallowed back the words "Your Majesty, please reconsider," instead kowtowing and saying, "Your subject obeys the decree. Please allow Your Majesty to personally lead a thousand cavalry as the vanguard to clear the obstacles on the imperial road."

Changsun Wuji watched as Li Shimin turned and took the black armor. The iron scales gleamed coldly in the candlelight. Suddenly, he remembered when the Crown Prince was young, he tugged at the Emperor's robe and asked, "Father, why do you always wear iron armor?"

At that moment, Li Shimin smiled and ruffled his hair, saying, "Because your father will protect this vast empire for you."

The land remains unchanged, yet father and son are now at war with each other.

He finally sighed and said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to grant me one request: if you see any signs of the Crown Prince's hidden plans, retreat to the capital immediately and do not linger in battle."

Li Shimin paused in fastening his breastplate, then turned back with a complex and unreadable gaze: "Wuji, do you know why I insist on going?"

He pointed to the dense cluster of military flags at Xuanwu Gate on the sand table: "If Chengqian truly possesses the power to overturn the world, he must be behind the city gate right now. If I could witness his power firsthand, perhaps..."

He stopped abruptly before he could finish speaking, and swiftly shoved his sword into its sheath. "Prepare the horse!"
-
Prince Wei's Mansion.

The last bit of camphor ash fell softly from the gilded beast-head incense burner, and the sound of it hitting the bottom of the celadon burner startled Li Tai, who was pacing back and forth.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to curse, a muffled rumble suddenly came from the direction of the imperial city.

The sound was unlike an ordinary thunderstorm; it was more like a massive boulder weighing thousands of pounds crashing into the depths of the earth at the same time, causing even the vermilion threshold of the Prince of Wei's mansion to tremble slightly.

"What's that sound?" Li Tai stopped abruptly, the hem of his brocade robe sweeping across the sand table on the desk. Several small wooden pagodas representing the city gates of the imperial city collapsed with a crash. The birds outside the window were startled and fluttered about, while the copper bells on the eaves jingled erratically in the sudden gust of wind.

Chai Lingwu suddenly leaned closer to the window frame and pushed open half of the carved window lattice. The northwest sky was illuminated by a strange orange-red halo, and thick smoke carrying sparks shot into the sky, which could be clearly seen even from several miles away.

"It's Xuanwu Gate, it's in the direction of Xuanwu Gate."

"These aren't cannons, they're Thunderbolts, tons of Thunderbolts!"

Chai Lingwu immediately guessed and said confidently.

He immediately realized that the Crown Prince had used a large number of Thunderbolts to directly blow up the Xuanwu Gate.

Such a loud noise means that Xuanwu Gate must be planning something big.

Li Tai staggered to the window, his obese body slamming against the windowpane with a loud clang. He stared at the billowing black smoke, his throat bobbing, unable to utter a word.

The siege scenario that had just been simulated on the sand table now transformed into real flames and roars, stinging his eyes.

"Quick! Where are the scouts?" Li Tai whirled around, knocking over the lacquered wooden shelf behind him, shattering the celadon jars. "Go find out about the situation at Xuanwu Gate! Check on the Crown Prince's movements!"

After a tense wait, news soon returned.

From the very beginning, Chai Lingwu arranged for people to investigate the situation at Xuanwu Gate.

That's why the news came quickly.

Hurried footsteps came from outside the door, and the captain of the personal guard, drenched in sweat, burst open the door.

"Xuanwu Gate has been blown up, and the Crown Prince's army is attacking the city."

"Half of the city gate tower has been destroyed, and Liaodong soldiers are rushing into the gate! There was a great commotion at the five gates of the imperial city just now, and cavalry are now being mobilized towards Xuanwu Gate!"

Chai Lingwu was somewhat excited; things were proceeding as he had anticipated.

"As expected, the troop strength of the imperial city will inevitably be redeployed during the battle at Xuanwu Gate."

"King Wei, this is our opportunity. Now is the time to send troops."

Li Tai's breathing suddenly became heavy, and his fat cheeks flushed red with excitement: "Alright, then let's send troops."

Which door to open?

Chai Lingwu replied, "Anfu Gate, then attack Anfu Gate."

After a pause, he continued his analysis: "Anfu Gate is the west gate of the imperial city. Hou Junji will definitely not leave at this moment. He will only mobilize troops to guard Zhuque Gate."

"When we attack Anfu Gate, Hou Junji needs to mobilize troops, which requires passing through Hanguang Gate and Shunyi Gate, giving us more time."

"Furthermore, if we control Anfu Gate, and something happens to His Majesty, we can go through Chengtian Gate and then through Anfu Gate, and we can go directly to Kaiyuan Gate."

"I heard that Li Ji is currently at Kaiyuan Gate. No matter how many variables there are, as long as His Majesty is still alive, the Crown Prince will not win."

“Once Li Jing leads his army into the city, the Crown Prince will undoubtedly lose. Even if the Crown Prince escapes, his position will be abolished. With this friendship, His Majesty will surely know that the Prince of Wei is the most filial person.”

"The position of Crown Prince belongs to none other than the Prince of Wei."

Chai Lingwu's words struck a chord with Li Tai.

Li Tai currently has two concerns.

One reason is the emperor's trust.

He needed to find a way to regain his father's favor and let his father know that he was the best candidate for crown prince after Li Chengqian, not that scoundrel Li Zhi.

Secondly, there was the war between the Emperor and the Crown Prince. If the Emperor lost and was imprisoned, the Crown Prince's position would be lost.

Chai Lingwu's solution could solve both problems.

He could both protect his father's safety and gain his father's trust.

How great.

"Let's go, gather our men, we're going to attack Anfumen now."

Li Tai was rather impatient.

Anfu Gate. When Li Tai and Chai Lingwu arrived with two thousand soldiers, they saw two thousand Imperial Guards lined up in formation at the city gate.

The leading general, clad in black helmet and armor, was none other than Zhang Huan, Hou Junji's deputy general.

"A mere deputy general dares to block the way?"

Chai Lingwu chuckled softly to himself.

"King Wei, although Zhang Huan is brave, he lacks Hou Junji's strategic acumen. Our army of two thousand men includes three hundred cavalry, who can charge straight at his left flank and break through his formation!"

He pointed to the left flank of the enemy formation, where the armored soldiers' formation appeared somewhat loose, seemingly a weak point in Zhang Huan's defenses.

Li Tai's fat cheeks flushed with excitement, and the excess flesh beneath his brocade robe jiggled slightly with the swaying of his warhorse: "Good! I'll charge with three hundred cavalry, and the infantry will follow to pursue and kill! Whoever takes Anfu Gate will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold!"

With the command flag raised, the three hundred armored cavalrymen suddenly accelerated, the red tassels on their lances fluttering in the wind, like a torrent rushing towards the enemy formation.

However, the cavalry had only charged fifty paces when Zhang Huan suddenly brandished his sword and roared, "Lower the barricades!"

Dozens of soldiers pushed out barricades with sharpened tips and quickly set up three obstacles in front of the battle line.

Li Tai's cavalry hurriedly reined in their horses, but several warhorses were unable to stop in time and crashed into the barricades, falling to the ground with pitiful cries, instantly disrupting the charging formation.

"Fire arrows!"

Zhang Huan's roar pierced the battlefield, and a thousand arrows shot out from the gaps in the shields, swarming towards the halted cavalry like locusts.

Although Li Tai's cavalry were protected by armor, many of them were hit by arrows and fell from their horses under the dense rain of arrows. Several frightened warhorses turned tail and ran wildly, which scattered the infantry formation that followed.

"Damn it!" Chai Lingwu shouted, "Zhang Huan was prepared! Infantrymen, advance and remove the barricades!"

Hundreds of swordsmen and shieldmen charged toward the barricades, only to be met by ten small catapults suddenly launched from Zhang Huan's ranks. The gray-brown pottery jars arced through the air and slammed into Li Tai's infantry.

"boom--"

Flames erupted from the shattered pottery jar, and oil splattered onto the soldiers' armor, setting them ablaze. Screams of agony echoed through the streets.

Li Tai watched from behind the lines with his heart pounding; he had never imagined that a deputy general could be so meticulous.

What terrified him even more was that the Mo Dao wielders in Zhang Huan's formation suddenly changed formation, advancing in a wedge shape in groups of fifty. With their long blades swung, they pushed forward like a wall, cleaving the infantrymen who tried to climb the barricades in two, shield and all.

Blood gushed forth like a spring, staining the yellow earthen road red.

"Retreat! Reorganize!"

Chai Lingwu roared as he tried to stop the fleeing soldiers, but Zhang Huan had already led a hundred-man Mo Dao squad out, their blades flashing a terrifyingly cold light in the setting sun.

Li Tai's two thousand soldiers were thrown into chaos. His infantry were routed by the Mo Dao soldiers, while his three hundred cavalry were unable to provide support due to the barricades and could only pace anxiously in front of the formation.

Chai Lingwu was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Growing up in Chang'an and being the son of the famous general Chai Shao, he had an extremely high vision.

Aside from renowned generals, he never paid any attention to other generals.

With both literary and military talents, Chai Lingwu admits that he is still some distance from being a top-notch general, but not just anyone can catch his eye.

This is his 'first battle'.

He's just a mere deputy general; isn't this a piece of cake?
However, the reality far exceeded his expectations.

Zhang Huan easily defeated the two thousand soldiers of the Prince of Wei's mansion.

You should know that these two thousand soldiers are all elite troops.

The soldiers supported by the five clans and seven noble families, while not necessarily veterans, were certainly fierce generals.

When it comes to military equipment, the wealthy King of Wei naturally wouldn't be stingy.

Even so, they not only gained nothing, but were instead thoroughly humiliated by a general.

This was something Chai Lingwu never imagined would happen.

Li Tai stared at the chaotic battlefield before him, veins bulging on his fat face, his lips twitching uncontrollably.

He suddenly drew his sword from his waist and slashed it fiercely at a small tree beside him; the trunk, as thick as a bowl, snapped in two.

"Impossible! Impossible! Two thousand elite troops and three hundred cavalry, how could they be defeated so badly by a mere lieutenant general!"

The blade was deeply embedded in the tree trunk, but he was completely unaware, only shaking the sword wildly. Wood chips flew everywhere, and his brocade robe was already soaked with sweat.

Chai Lingwu staggered, steadying his warhorse, his face ashen, his eyes filled with disbelief and resentment. He stared intently at Zhang Huan's banner fluttering in the wind, a beast-like growl escaping his throat: "Zhang Huan! He's nothing but a lackey of Hou Junji, how dare he... how dare he do this!"

His trembling hand reached for the quiver at his waist, drew out three arrows, gritted his teeth, nocked them, and pulled the string. But due to his turbulent emotions, the arrows drew a crooked trajectory in the air and landed just ten paces away from the enemy formation.

"Chai Lingwu! Didn't you say it was foolproof?"

Li Tai suddenly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Chai Lingwu, his voice filled with resentment and fear, "What do we do now? What do we do!"

His obese body crashed heavily into Chai Lingwu, and the two nearly fell to the ground.

Chai Lingwu was knocked back two steps, and after barely regaining his footing, he suddenly drew his sword and roared at the retreating soldiers, "Stop right there! Anyone who dares to retreat again will be executed on the spot!"

However, his roar sounded weak and powerless on the battlefield, and the defeated soldiers were only concerned with escaping for their lives, so no one paid any attention to him.

His arm hung limply at his sides, and his sword clattered to the ground.

"King Wei, we...we should retreat quickly! As long as we're alive, we can always rebuild!"

Now that things have come to this, Chai Lingwu has no choice but to face reality.

"Retreat? Where to retreat?"

Li Tai suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.

If he can't capture Anfu Gate, what does the showdown between his father and the crown prince have to do with him?

Even if the Emperor wins, he will only despise him, for he couldn't even take Anfu Gate, a mere subordinate general.

What's the point of talking about the crown prince position?

Chai Lingwu struggled to shout, "King Wei! Zhang Huan's reinforcements could arrive at any moment. If we don't retreat now, we'll all die here!"

His words finally brought Li Tai back to his senses: "Order a retreat."

But at that very moment, a rapid sound of horses' hooves thundered like the beating of war drums.

In the darkness of the distance, hundreds of cavalrymen charged forward.

The one leading them was Hou Junji.

Upon seeing this, Li Tai was terrified, his obese body nearly falling off his horse: "How is this possible? Isn't Hou Junji at the Vermilion Bird Gate?"

Chai Lingwu's face was ashen. He grabbed the reins and shouted, "Go! This is a trap! Hou Junji knew we would attack Anfu Gate!"

(End of this chapter)