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

boom--!

These words caused an uproar throughout the camp!

Li Jing's expression changed drastically, and he roared, "No! Your Majesty! Our army has been engaged in numerous battles and is already exhausted! To venture deep into enemy territory now would be tantamount to suicide!"

"The Turkic army has already occupied the border city, a strategically important and easily defensible location! We must not act rashly!"

He turned and glared at Li Yingge, his hair and beard standing on end: "Yingge! Get out of my way! This is a military order!"

however.

Li Yingge remained unmoved.

Her scarlet battle robes fluttered in the wind as she looked up at the person on the dragon throne, her gaze burning as if a ball of fire were burning within her.

She didn't want to wait any longer.

I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night again, listening to the howling north wind, wondering if he's still alive.

She would rather personally set foot on that blood-stained wasteland and personally lift the curtain of fate—

Even if it's just to retrieve his remains!

Inside the large tent, deathly silence descended once more.

Li Shimin remained silent for a long time, his gaze lingering on her face. Finally, he slowly raised his hand.

"Granted."

Two words, as light as a falling leaf, yet as heavy as a thousand pounds!

Li Jing's pupils constricted sharply, and he rushed forward, exclaiming, "Your Majesty! You mustn't!"

But Li Shimin simply raised his hand slightly, his gaze cold and uncompromising: "Shut up."

The audience was silent.

Li Shimin looked down at Li Yingge, his voice steady yet exuding an unyielding authority: "I command you to lead five thousand light cavalry at full speed to find out the whereabouts of the Ghost-Faced General."

Find him and bring him back immediately!

He paused, then his tone suddenly turned stern:

"Remember! Do not engage the main Turkic force! If you encounter the enemy, retreat immediately! I need people, not a new war! Do you understand?!"

Li Yingge suddenly looked up, a glint of light in her eyes, and nodded emphatically: "As you command!"

She stood up abruptly, turned and left, her movements swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

Just as she was about to lift the curtain and step out, a soft sigh came from behind her.

"Li Yingge".

She paused in her steps.

Li Shimin watched her retreating figure, his voice suddenly lowering, carrying a hint of almost imperceptible heaviness:

"If... General Ghost Face really... doesn't come back... you must come back alive."

"I have already lost a Ghost-Faced General."

"I don't want to lose another mighty female general."

The wind stopped.

The curtains were drawn low.

Li Yingge had her back to everyone, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

She nodded slightly, and with a flash, disappeared into the night.

Inside the main tent, Li Jing was so anxious he almost jumped up on the spot: "Your Majesty! That's my daughter! How could you send her to her death!"

Li Shimin didn't look at him, but stared at the dark night sky outside the tent, chuckled twice, his eyes red: "Pharmacist, don't worry."

I will not let her risk her life in vain.

He paused, a meaningful smile playing at the corners of his lips:

"I just want her to bring that masked general back."

"Besides..."

His voice softened, as if he were talking to himself, or perhaps intentionally making sure everyone could hear:

"That kid, judging from his voice, is not very old, but he is quite capable."

If I really come back alive... I'd be worthy of your Yingge, wouldn't I?"

boom--!

Upon hearing this, Li Jing froze on the spot, his mind went blank, and he almost lost his balance!

What?!

What does Your Majesty mean by that?!

He was actually... matchmaking?!

In that instant, Li Jing felt a tightness in his chest, wanting to both curse and laugh. In the end, he could only look up at the sky, his face full of complex emotions.

The war isn't even over yet, and His Majesty... is already worrying about marriage?

For some reason, when these words reached Li Jing's ears, instead of feeling any joy, he felt as if he had been doused with cold water from head to toe—an indescribable sense of unease surged up his body!

Because just recently...

Li Yingge lowered her voice and told him solemnly that she suspected that the elusive Ghost-Faced General was Han Ye!

And Han Ye?

That's Li Jing's future son-in-law!

But things are different now—

Li Shimin had another idea: to pair up the Ghost-Faced General and Li Yingge?!

Absurd! Chaotic! Comical to the point of being ironic!

Li Jing was stunned, his mind buzzing, as if he had been hit hard with a club.

But the occasion was solemn, and he could not afford to lose his composure in front of the emperor. He could only suppress his emotions and mechanically nod in agreement with whatever Li Shimin said.

But at that moment, Li Shimin had already envisioned a perfect future—

He genuinely wanted to make this marriage happen.

After all, Li Yingge was personally appointed by him as the "Divine Might Female General," with an imposing aura, decisive in killing, and capable of taking on a thousand men on the battlefield, her red robe fluttering like flames burning the sky.

Such a woman is hard to find anywhere else in the world.

As for the Ghost-Faced General...

It was someone he revered like a god.

Although his true appearance and name are unknown, his courage to fight a thousand miles and cover the rear alone, and his momentum to break through the enemy with a single spear and make ten thousand troops retreat, have long been engraved in Li Shimin's bones.

to be honest--

He couldn't bear to part with this person!

Even if he didn't know who he was, even if his origins were a mystery, Li Shimin still wanted to keep him in the Tang Dynasty and by his side!

not to mention……

One is invincible and unparalleled, the other is dashing and heroic; one is covered in black armor, the other in a crimson cloak.

What a stunning scene it would be if the two stood side by side.

Thinking of this, a smile unconsciously crept onto Li Shimin's lips: "If we truly become a couple... on our wedding night, I'd like to see if you'll take off that mask or not."

Before he could finish speaking, he burst out laughing.

But as he laughed, a sudden stinging sensation welled up in his eyes, and the smile gradually froze, turning into a heavy sigh.

He slowly closed his eyes, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper were rubbing against metal: "But... before that..."

"Ghost-Faced General, you must come back alive..."

After a while.

The wind and sand swirl around the border, and the banners flutter in the wind.

Li Yingge was dressed in a scarlet battle robe, with a long sword hanging at her waist, and in her hand she tightly gripped Han Ye's Azure Dragon Spear.

The tip of the spear gleamed coldly, as if it still carried the scent of its master.

She stood atop her tall warhorse, with five thousand light cavalry lined up, their iron hooves pounding the ground, causing it to tremble slightly.

Li Shimin glanced at it from afar, waved his hand, and said in a voice so soft it was almost carried away by the wind: "Go."

"Set off!"

Li Yingge pursed her red lips, bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth, and suddenly shouted sharply!

In an instant, the iron torrent surged forth, the sound of hooves like thunder! Five thousand iron cavalry, like a black flood, tore through the silence and vanished into the end of the yellow sand in a flash.

"Ghost-faced General... wait for me, I'll take you home..."

She silently recited the command in her heart, her fingertips gripping the gun barrel tightly until her knuckles turned white.

With each passing moment of delay, her heart sank a little lower.

She was afraid... afraid that the person had already fallen in some unknown wasteland, and would never hear her calls again.

That's why she risked her life to volunteer and personally lead a large army in pursuit! All to seize a glimmer of hope before fate sealed her fate!

Horse hooves flew, raising clouds of dust.

She sped off in the direction Han Ye's white horse cavalry had gone, almost at their maximum speed.

Behind him, Li Shimin stood for a long time, watching the army depart into the distance, his eyes quietly reddening.

"Come back alive..."

He murmured softly, like a prayer, or a vow.

Then, accompanied silently by Changsun Wuji and others, he turned around and walked step by step toward the dark and heavy imperial coffin.

That was what he had prepared for himself—he originally thought that if he were defeated by Jieli Khan in this battle, he would carry his coffin into battle and die to prove his loyalty!

But now, it's not him lying inside.

Rather, it was his most loyal and courageous old brother throughout his life...

The one who swore to follow him to the death and protect him when he was still the King of Qin—Qin Shubao!

This battle ultimately took him away.

At this moment, the old general lay quietly in the imperial coffin, his armor still on, as if he might rise at any moment to fight again.

Li Shimin gripped the coffin with both hands, his knuckles white from the force, his eyes bloodshot, as he forced out each word through clenched teeth:

"Old brother, open your eyes and see..."

"Give me three years..."

"I will surely crush the Turks and burn their royal court!"

"Slaughter the grasslands, wash the northern frontier in blood, to avenge you!"

After shouting the last sentence, he tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and his Adam's apple bobbed violently, as if he wanted to swallow his grief and indignation into his internal organs.

Immediately, he turned around abruptly and roared the order:

"Order the entire army! Wait—wait until the Divine Might General brings back the Ghost-Faced General, then immediately break camp and return to the capital!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

The ministers responded in unison, their voices resounding through the heavens.

But after the commotion subsided, the gazes that met could not hide their deep worries.

Will the Ghost-Faced General really be able to come back alive?

No one dared to answer.

Nobody knows.

At this moment, all anyone can do is wait.

Meanwhile, on a desolate plain thousands of miles away, Li Yingge was galloping wildly on horseback, his five thousand iron cavalrymen shooting like arrows from a bow, tearing through the vast land.

"Giddy up! Giddy up! Giddy up!"

The whip cracked through the air, and the hoofbeats were like drums.

No matter how hard she chased, there was no one in front of her, as if the dark figure had been swallowed up by heaven and earth.

Just as the scouts had reported—

After General Ghostface split his forces into two groups, they disappeared without a trace!

It's been five days.

For five whole days, she led her army across the border, traversing the Gobi Desert and crossing sand dunes, searching every possible battlefield, but she couldn't find even a trace of blood.

until this moment-

"stop!"

Li Yingge suddenly pulled on the reins, and the warhorse reared up, neighing loudly!

Her gaze turned icy, fixed intently on the ground—

There, a dark fragment lay quietly.

Sharp edges, bizarre patterns, and a remnant of dark gold totem—

It was a fragment of the mask worn by the Ghost-Faced Warrior!

Her heart stopped beating, and her breathing almost stopped.

found it……

But the shattered mask felt like an icicle, piercing her chest.

What exactly did he go through?

He suddenly opened his beautiful eyes wide, surveyed the surroundings, and ordered in a stern voice: "The entire army, scatter! Search! Turn this area within a hundred miles upside down! Find them alive or dead—the Ghost-Faced Warriors could not have vanished into thin air!"

"yes!"

"Giddy up! Giddy up! Giddy up!"

Five thousand iron cavalrymen pressed in like a dark cloud, scattering and charging in all directions in an instant, their hooves flying and dust billowing into the sky.

The glint of swords in the sunlight, the fluttering banners, and the entire wasteland trembled.

After searching for half an hour, they found nothing.

The wind and sand swirled, the world was vast and desolate, as if even traces had been erased by the yellow sand.

Until Li Yingge rode alone and slowly climbed a solitary ridge.

boom--!

In an instant, a chill ran from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head! Her pupils contracted sharply, and her eyes instantly turned bloodshot!

The guards behind him roared almost simultaneously: "Assemble!! Everyone—assemble immediately!!"

Splash!

The roar of armor and the neighing of horses filled the air as five thousand cavalrymen galloped back to reinforce the area, forming ranks on the hillside.

But when they looked down the mountain, everyone's breath caught in their throats, and their hearts shattered!