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

What is he saying?!

The position of Crown Prince? A voluntary relinquishment?!

This is the supreme position that so many people fight to the death for, and it is the foundation that Li Chengqian has painstakingly built over many years!

Now, he actually said it himself – no more?

Li Shimin's chest heaved violently, his knuckles turned white, and he almost crushed the jade pen in his hand.

"Was it Han Ye who taught you that?!" he said through gritted teeth, enunciating each word clearly.

Li Chengqian remained silent, as still as a mountain.

"Get out!" Li Shimin roared, his anger barely contained. "Get out of here!"

Li Chengqian wanted to say something more, but Li Junxian, who rushed over from the doorway, grabbed him and forcibly dragged him out.

The door closed, and the room fell silent once more.

Li Shimin, panting heavily, finally spoke coldly after a long pause: "Li Junxian."

"Your subject is here!"

"Investigate that Han Ye! Dig up every detail of his background! From Youzhou to Chang'an, report his whereabouts every day, and every person he contacted!"

"Yes, sir!"

Li Junxian accepted the order and left. Not long after, a thick stack of secret reports was presented to the emperor.

Li Shimin turned the pages one by one, his gaze gradually hardening.

Born in Youzhou, with a respectable family background; his journey to the capital was flawless; he was cautious in his interactions and his words and actions were always appropriate...

Everything seemed flawless.

But just as he was about to close the book, his fingertips suddenly paused.

Only—that night, the timing of his appearance outside the Taiji Hall was too precise.

It's as if... everything was planned out in advance.

The road from Youzhou to Chang'an was as if it had been sliced ​​off by a knife, clean and without a trace.

Han Ye said he escaped back—but did he really "escape" back?

The Ghost-Faced General, and his Ghost-Faced Army, clad in bronze masks and exuding murderous intent...

They appeared out of nowhere in Youzhou, fought a bloody battle all the way to Dingzhou, and were ultimately wiped out, leaving no trace of their bodies!

Immediately afterwards, Han Ye inexplicably appeared in Chang'an City, completely unharmed, as if he had fallen from the sky.

"What a coincidence!"

Li Shimin took a sharp breath, his voice so low it was almost a whisper, yet it carried the tremor of impending thunder.

This is no coincidence! It's clearly a pre-planned scheme!

"Yes, what a coincidence..."

Li Junxian stood in the hall, his tone heavy as if weighed down by a thousand pounds of iron.

He continued, "Your Majesty, are you aware that when the battle broke out on the banks of the Wei River, Han Ye should have been staying at the Duke of Wei's residence?"

"I have investigated and asked all the servants in the manor—for those two weeks, Han Ye seemed to have vanished into thin air; no one has seen him."

"They only said that Han Ye had been staying indoors, recuperating in his own courtyard... without stepping out."

After he finished speaking, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Li Shimin snorted coldly, his eyes sharp as knives: "Ridiculous! A living person can stay cooped up in the courtyard for half a month without seeing the light of day? I don't believe it!"

"I don't believe it either!" Li Junxian gritted his teeth, his eyes suddenly lighting up like a cheetah locking onto its prey. "Your Majesty, although we don't currently have conclusive evidence to prove that Han Ye and the Ghost-Faced General are the same person..."

"But I dare say—this person must be hiding a shocking secret!"

"Moreover, he is definitely not unrelated to the Ghost-Faced General!"

He spoke each word deliberately and resolutely, his tone conveying absolute certainty, but he lacked evidence for that final blow.

I cannot say for sure, nor dare I make any definitive judgment.

But who is Li Shimin? The supreme ruler, he can see through the unspoken words of his subjects at a glance.

He squinted, about to speak—

Li Junxian hesitated for a moment, then continued in a low voice, "In addition... when I returned to the capital, I heard about a strange thing."

"It is unbelievable, Your Majesty, please listen carefully."

Li Shimin raised an eyebrow: "Speak!"

Li Junxian bowed, lowering his voice even further: "It is His Highness the Crown Prince... His temperament has changed drastically since his deep conversation with Han Ye."

"He took the initiative to show goodwill to Imperial Censor Xiao, and inquired about the two younger princes, revealing his intention to ease tensions in every way."

Even stranger... the Crown Prince has recently been smiling frequently, as if... he has been relieved of a tremendous burden.

He finished speaking in one breath, then lowered his head and said no more.

Li Shimin was stunned.

He was completely unaware of these changes.

After a moment, a slow smile crept onto his lips, a bitter smile tinged with complexity: "Happy now? Ha... Just what kind of person does Han Ye intend to mold my son into?"

He suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

He then issued a stern order: "Not a single word spoken today is to be leaked!"

"Send more informants to keep a close watch on Han Ye. Report back immediately if there are any unusual movements!"

"Yes, sir!" Li Junxian clasped his hands and withdrew.

The palace doors closed, and all was quiet.

Li Shimin stood alone by the window, his gaze passing through the layers of palace walls and landing at the end of the streets and alleys of Chang'an in the distance.

"Han Ye... Ghost-Faced General..."

He murmured softly, his eyes swirling with indescribable emotions.

If you really are him...

Why did you hide here? Why won't you acknowledge me?

He almost wanted to summon Han Ye immediately and tear through the layers of mystery in person!

But as soon as he raised his hand, he slowly lowered it again.

If Han Ye is truly the Ghost-Faced General, why has he remained anonymous and refused to show his face for so many years—

If he were to suddenly show himself now, wouldn't that be forcing him into a dangerous situation?

Even kings have their fears, let alone when facing a legend who once single-handedly turned the tide of battle but chose death over revealing his true face!

Time slips away quietly.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

As the borders of the Tang Dynasty gradually stabilized, Chang'an City returned to its bustling state, people returned to their fields, and all industries revived.

The only thing that kept Li Shimin awake at night was the flood of refugees that came after the war.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are crammed into the wilderness outside the city, crying for food.

The resettlement was a complex and multifaceted matter, and even with the court's tireless efforts day and night, it was still far from sufficient.

And beyond all this chaos—

Han Ye remained quietly in his small courtyard.

He is recovering from his injury and waiting.

After he summoned Gongsun Zan and the others from the underworld, he no longer kept them trapped in the system.

Instead, they were secretly housed in a secluded mountain villa outside Chang'an City.

The wind there is not strong, and the forest is not deep, but it is enough to house a group of souls who have been resurrected.

As for Crown Prince Li Chengqian, he still frequently came to visit him.

They always arrive quietly at night when no one is watching.

The two sat facing each other, drinking tea and discussing the past and present. Sometimes they would remain silent for a long time, which was more effective than a thousand words.

Han Ye taught him not only political strategies and tactics, but also how to stand tall and be a decent person.

Li Chengqian's transformation was like the melting of spring snow—silent, yet real.

Much of the knowledge he heard made his scalp tingle, and he exclaimed that it was absurd and bizarre!

Sure enough, Crown Prince Li Chengqian arrived silently again. Before he even got there, his voice broke into Han Ye's courtyard.

"Han Ye! Is what you said before true? That Alabao Empire is several times larger than our Great Tang Dynasty, and it's still expanding its territory like crazy?" He practically rushed in, his tone full of shock and disbelief.

At this moment, Han Ye was squatting in the yard, his fingertips lightly brushing against a lush green rice seedling—the genetically modified rice he had cultivated himself.

The seeds planted half a month ago have now grown wildly like wildfire, with upright stems and newly formed ears of grain that gleam with an almost metallic luster in the sunlight.

Without even looking up, he said calmly, "Not just several times, but more than ten times."

Moreover, their iron hooves have not stopped, advancing eastward and sweeping across the kingdoms of the Western Regions.

Li Chengqian's pupils contracted, and he stared intently at him: "Across Tibet and over snow-capped mountains, such a distant place... How do you, someone who has never left Chang'an, know all this so clearly?"

Han Ye slowly straightened up, his fingertips calculating, a mysterious smile playing on his lips: "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. I can know them simply by calculating with my fingers."

"Bullshit!" Li Chengqian almost jumped up.

Xiao Tuan rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "If you don't believe me, then don't ask. You always sneak over to eavesdrop, and you still pretend to be a proper prince."

Li Chengqian blushed, chuckled twice, but did not refute.

It's indeed a bit embarrassing for the Crown Prince to have his behavior exposed to his face by a mere maid.

But as time went on, he grew tired of putting on airs—in this small courtyard, he wasn't a prince, just a student eager for knowledge.

He lowered his voice and pressed, "So, how much stronger is this Alabao compared to the Turks?"

Han Ye scoffed, as if he had heard a joke: "Turks? To them, destroying the Turks is like crushing a bug; they don't even need to wipe the soles of their shoes."

"Hiss—" Li Chengqian gasped, his face turning deathly pale. "So strong?! Will they... attack our Great Tang? Can we withstand it?"

Han Ye glanced at him, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable certainty: "In terms of national strength, the Tang Dynasty is indeed inferior."

But don't panic—to the west of Tibet, the mountains are like dragons, and the snow-capped peaks are endless. Even if they had a million soldiers, they couldn't cross that desolate land of death.

Even if they fought to the death to cross the river, after a thousand-mile trek, exhausted men and horses, how much fighting strength would they have left?

Li Chengqian finally breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest, and was still shaken.

Immediately, an undisguised look of admiration appeared on his face.

These days, following Han Ye, it's like he's opened the door to a whole new world.

He meticulously recorded all the unheard-of geography, military strategy, astronomy, and agricultural policies in the notebook he carried with him, studying them repeatedly at night.

In his mind, Han Ye was a hundred times better than those old pedantic scholars in the palace who only knew how to spout nonsense! Even the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers combined couldn't understand him as clearly as he did!

"Han Ye! Han Ye!"

Suddenly, a clear female voice, tinged with urgency, came from outside the courtyard.

Li Chengqian's expression changed drastically. He sprang up like a startled cat, frantically stuffing the notebook into his sleeve, and whispered, "Quick, I have to get out of here!"

Xiao Tuan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Why do you always act like a thief? Can't you just come in openly? Why do you have to climb over the wall to eavesdrop?"

"What do you know!" Li Chengqian glared at her fiercely, turned around and leaped onto the stone bench. With a push, he soared into the air, swung over the courtyard wall, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Tuan pouted and muttered, "What a nutcase..."

Han Ye shook his head and chuckled: "Let him be."

He didn't want to reveal his identity, which I understand—don't I myself harbor even deeper secrets?

The name of the Ghost-Faced General still hangs on the walls of Chang'an, but no one knows his true appearance.

And Han Ye, who is standing here at this moment, is the legendary war god who once shed blood on the yellow sand and guarded the border alone.

But if he doesn't say anything, no one will know.

Some people live on, yet have become legends; some people are gone, yet are still revered by millions.