Tang Dynasty: Starting with 3,000 elite cavalry, a bloody battle to retake the city.

She could only wait.

Waiting for devastating news that could tear her world apart.

At this moment, Li Jing stared intently at Li Yingge, his voice low as if carrying a dark cloud: "Yingge, you just said... Han Ye is connected to that Ghost-Faced General, is that true?"

Li Yingge was taken aback, her eyes narrowing slightly.

After a moment, she slowly shook her head, her lips parting slightly like a falling snowflake: "No evidence... just intuition."

"Heh." Li Jing frowned, and let out a soft sigh that sounded like a blade slicing through the cold night. "It's best to avoid any involvement."

In my opinion, this time—General Ghostface and his men…”

He paused, his voice as cold as rust:

"It looks like things are likely going badly!"

boom!

The moment the words exploded, Li Yingge's heart clenched, as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

His face instantly drained of all color, turning as pale as paper.

She herself was unaware that her fingertips were trembling.

Why?

She should be worried about Han Ye... but what's making her feel suffocated is that masked general she's never met before?!

She couldn't tell the difference.

I don't even dare to think about who this feeling of excitement is for!

But Li Jing's words were not unfounded.

He was a military genius of the Tang Dynasty, with numerous military exploits, and could see through the murderous intent thousands of miles away with a single glance.

He knew that the northern border had already become a battlefield!

Moreover, the celestial phenomena were bizarre; blood rain poured down, making the entire sky seem to be dripping blood.

This isn't rain.

It's clearly the heavens crying!

In this moment of deathly silence—

"Report!!"

A roar tore through the rain!

A member of the Imperial Guard came running, his armor stained with mud and his body soaked through, but he didn't stop and rushed straight into the mansion gate!

He was Li Junxian's personal guard, and the only Shadow Blade directly under the emperor's command, obeying only the emperor's orders!

At this moment, he knelt on one knee, his voice booming like thunder: "General Li! His Majesty urgently summons you! He orders you to enter the palace immediately to meet the Emperor—no hesitation is permitted, or you will be executed!"

Li Jing's pupils contracted.

"I'm leaving now!"

He stepped forward, quickly adjusted his cloak, and as he approached the imperial guard, lowered his voice and asked, "His Majesty's sudden summons... has something happened at the front?"

The imperial guards raised their heads, their eyes bloodshot as if burning with fire, and spoke slowly and deliberately, their teeth clenched:

"Urgent report from scouts—Khan Jieli personally led the Turkic cavalry and annihilated the Ghost-Faced Army!"

"Not a single one survived!!"

Boom! ...

This sentence struck me like a thunderbolt into the depths of my soul!

Li Jing and Li Yingge's bodies trembled violently at the same time, as if the ground beneath their feet had collapsed!

"Not a single one survived?!" Li Jing's eyes widened in fury, his voice trembling. "You're saying... not a single one survived?!"

"Absolutely true!" The Imperial Guard lowered his head, his throat choked with emotion. "Corpses lie everywhere, blood soaks the wasteland... According to the scouts, even the battle flags are stained blackish-red with blood..."

"Upon receiving the news, His Majesty vomited three liters of blood on the spot, his hair standing on end in fury! He vowed to flatten the grasslands and slaughter the Turks—to offer a blood sacrifice to avenge the Ghost-Faced Warriors!!"

"General! Let's go quickly! Don't delay any longer!"

Li Jing clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and his eyes were bloodshot.

died?

Really...they're all dead?!

Not one escaped?!

That once-defeated army of three thousand remnants held off an enemy force of one hundred thousand, how could it have met such an end?!

……

"Almost everyone was killed or wounded; not a single survivor!"

When the guards repeated the words, their teeth were practically ground to powder.

His eyes burned with grief and indignation.

Because for them—this is not a battle report.

This is excruciating pain!

The Ghost-Faced General, with his remaining troops, ventured deep into the abyss, risking his life to buy time!

They shielded the entire Tang Dynasty from a fatal blow!

Today, the people eagerly await the return of their hero, burning incense in anticipation...

But what awaited them was the devastating news of total annihilation!

How could anyone possibly accept that?!

Even a single Iron-Blooded Imperial Guard couldn't help but shed tears, let alone—

On the walls of Chang'an, stands the man who holds the reins of power over the land?!

Li Jing's eyes burned, and his throat tightened.

"They're all...gone..."

He muttered to himself, feeling as if a piece of flesh had been ripped from his heart.

Does the rabbit grieve for the fox's death? No.

That is the pain of losing comrades!

The Ghost-Faced General was one of the few people he respected throughout his life!

That fighting spirit, so determined to fight to the death, actually fell in this yellow sand...

How cruel fate is!

"Let's go." Li Jing closed his eyes, then opened them again, his gaze sharp as a knife. "To see His Majesty!"

He turned and strode into the wind and rain.

They traveled swiftly, arriving deep within the palace.

The imperial study was brightly lit, yet it felt as oppressive as a tomb.

The moment the door opened, Li Jing's pupils constricted—

Li Shimin, kneel down!

That's right!

The mighty emperor, the supreme ruler, was now kneeling on the ground, his head bound with a plain cloth, his dragon robe dull and lifeless, and his eyes bloodshot!

A thunderous roar exploded in Li Jing's mind!

"His Majesty--!!!"

He staggered forward, almost unable to believe his eyes!

How can an emperor kneel?!

This is intolerable to Heaven and Earth, and to the laws of propriety!

But Li Shimin simply raised his head slowly, his expression desolate, as if he had exhausted all his strength.

He looked at Li Jing, his voice hoarse as if grinding sand:

"They're here."

He paused, then asked:

"You heard the news too?"

Li Shimin's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the blood-stained sky on the horizon. His voice was hoarse and almost incoherent, as if it had been ground from sand.

"They're all dead... Ghost-faced General, and all of them, are dead."

Of my subjects stationed on the border, less than one in ten survived…

"Oh……"

He chuckled softly, a cruel smile curving his lips, as if he were about to vomit blood and tears at any moment.

Slowly bending his knees, he knelt down heavily, his spine ramrod straight, each word etched into the earth like a knife:

"This kneeling—is a kneeling to the Ghost-Faced General and his soldiers, a kneeling to all the Han sons who died on our frontier! It is also... an apology to them!"

Li Jing was deeply shocked and abruptly looked up: "Your Majesty is innocent!"

"Guilty!" Li Shimin abruptly raised his eyes, his gaze burning with fury. "My failure to protect them is a heinous crime! A crime that can never be atoned!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, as cold as the frost of the North:

"Three days later, the army will set off to conquer the Turks in the north! I will personally lead the imperial army on this expedition! We will reclaim our lost territories, flatten the grasslands, and pay for their blood debts!"

He paused slightly, then slowly rose, his voice falling like an ice blade slicing through the air:

"If we cannot annihilate the enemy and behead Jieli—"

"Then I will be buried on the frontier, never to return to the capital!"

"Listen carefully—"

He surveyed his generals, his words sharp and penetrating, each one like a nail striking their hearts:

"There is no need to bring back my body! As long as Jieli is not executed, you are not allowed to return to Chang'an! Anyone who dares to disobey this order will be punished as a traitor!"

boom!

Upon hearing this, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence, which was then suddenly shattered like thunder!

Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin, and Changsun Wuji all knelt down in unison, their foreheads touching the ground, their voices trembling and deafening:

"His Majesty!!"

But Li Shimin no longer even glanced at them.

A ruler's word is his bond; once the emperor's mind is made up, even heaven and earth cannot change it!

At this moment, a raging fire, devoid of reason, had already ignited within him; his eyes were bloodshot like a beast's, and his hatred surged like a tidal wave.

He gazed north, a whisper rising from his throat, like a promise to the departed souls:

"General Ghost Face... wait a little longer."

"When I slaughter my way across the grasslands and crush the royal court—"

"I'll take you, and everyone else... home."

Home!

Even if all that's left is a handful of ashes, he will personally bring them back!

That was a vow he once made, a promise made by an emperor, and even more so, a blood oath!

The wind swept away the remaining clouds, and the blood-red sunlight reflected on his face. That smile was as bitter as if he had drunk the sorrow of a thousand years.

……

At the same time, in Li Jing's residence.

Li Yingge suddenly stood up from the table, her heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, and she gasped for breath:

"They're all dead?!"

"Impossible! How could the Ghost-Faced General have died in battle?!"

"No...impossible!"

Her fingertips trembled, and that name suddenly flashed through her mind—

Han Ye...

In an instant, my mind went blank and my vision went black.

She could no longer sit still. She turned around and rushed back to her room, slamming the door shut. Leaning against the door, her chest heaving violently.

But I couldn't calm down.

A single tear suddenly slid down her cheek, and then, like a dam bursting, it gushed forth.

She didn't know why she was crying, nor did she know for whom she should weep.

But she knew—

If General Ghost Face has already perished, then Han Ye... is likely in grave danger as well.

She and Han Ye had not seen each other for many years, and there was no romantic relationship between them, nor any prior agreement.

But she always believed that there must be a connection between Han Ye and the Ghost-Faced General.

In her heart, the Ghost-Faced General had long been a banner, an unshakable faith!

Now, the flag has fallen and the people are dead; the mountains and rivers weep in sorrow!

Li Yingge's face was streaked with tears, her lips trembled slightly, and she murmured:

"If only the Flying General of Longcheng were here, the barbarian horses would never dare to cross the Yin Mountains..."

The voice grew softer and softer, finally turning into a sob:

"This poem... has become a timeless masterpiece..."

Sorrow, like mist, quietly permeated the air.

She wasn't the only one who wept bitterly.

The news of the Ghost-Faced General's complete annihilation swept through Chang'an like a whirlwind.

In an instant, ten thousand people fell silent, and all the neighborhoods were quiet.

The blood-red rain from the sky finally has an answer—

That was the heavens weeping, and the whole world grieving!

The Ghost-Faced General has fallen on the battlefield!

Khagan Jieli personally led 300,000 iron cavalry, pressing in like dark clouds, and besieged the entire Ghost Face Army in a desperate border region.

Swords flashed and blood stained the ground; war drums thundered. That night, the earth cracked and the mountains and rivers wept. The soldiers formed walls with their bones and swore oaths with their blood, fighting to the death without retreating.

When the news reached Chang'an, it was like a thunderclap that shattered the sky.

Ten days ago, the people were still discussing it on the streets and alleys—the Ghost-Faced General lured the enemy deep into our territory with his lone army, protecting the peace of our Great Tang's borders.

Everyone revered them, and every household burned incense and prayed, hoping for their triumphant return.

Who would have thought that instead of waving banners, what awaited them was the devastating news of the complete annihilation of the army?

"What?! The Ghost-Faced Army... all gone?"

"Impossible! How could Han Ye have died in battle? He was the sharpest blade of our Great Tang!"

"But His Majesty clearly said... he would personally welcome them back to the city..."

"Waaaaah... A true national hero! A truly unparalleled national hero!"

"Blood rain fell from the sky for three days straight; it's the heavens weeping!"

"Hahaha... What a glorious Tang Dynasty! They actually have to rely on a bunch of young people risking their lives to defend the border?!"

"A disgrace! This is a national disgrace!"

The city of Chang'an instantly erupted in excitement.

Teahouses and restaurants were deserted, and only mournful cries echoed through the streets and alleys.

Some beat their chests and stamped their feet, some knelt on the ground and wept bitterly, and some even took up a pen and splashed ink, writing the four characters "The loyal soul will never perish" on the wall before hitting a pillar and fainting.

An elderly scholar, trembling, picked up the half-finished poem, his voice hoarse: "If only the Flying General of Longcheng were here, the barbarian horses would never dare to cross the Yin Mountains... Young Master Han, your poem is too ruthless..."

He gave a bitter laugh and threw the paper into the brazier: "Now, no one can continue the second half of the sentence."

This poem should have been completed by him personally.