Transmigrated into Li Chengqian, he effortlessly ascended the throne and became emperor.

With the Emperor of Tang's golden words, the mobilization of Li Chengqian's isolated army became legitimate and without any further hindrance.

The wind and snow concealed their whereabouts, but also brought extreme bitter cold.

Along the way, Li Chengqian would occasionally cough lightly, his thin back seeming as if it might break at any moment in a strong wind.

Xue Rengui, the general of the Xuanjia Army who was accompanying them, followed closely behind, his eyes full of worry.

Before the expedition, His Majesty secretly summoned him to his tent and gave him a death order: if they encountered a desperate situation, even if all five thousand Xuanjia soldiers were to perish, a way out must be paved for the Crown Prince.

Everyone was secretly on tenterhooks, fearing that this pampered prince, who needed medicine to stay alive, would collapse during this perilous long march.

However, they were wrong.

For three days and three nights, traveling day and night, Li Chengqian never complained or ordered a break.

What terrified Xue Rengui and other veteran generals even more was that Li Chengqian seemed to have foreseen the future.

In this completely unfamiliar Goguryeo heartland, where even guides would get lost, His Highness the Crown Prince always managed to accurately avoid all enemy sentries and beacon towers, and even find hidden canyons and abandoned walkways that ordinary people could not detect during blizzards.

Late on the fourth night, five thousand Xuanjia soldiers descended like divine warriors, hiding in a secluded mountain valley less than twenty miles from Pyongyang.

Standing at the edge of the dense forest on high ground, one can already see the torches on the walls of Pyongyang, which look like a long dragon.

"Your Highness! The enemy is completely unprepared. Please order an immediate attack on the city!" Several captains, their blood boiling, knelt on one knee to volunteer for the battle.

Five thousand men raiding the capital of a country—such an incredible feat is right before our eyes!

"What's the rush?" Li Chengqian took a sip from his water pouch, suppressing the itch in his throat. "Pyongyang may be empty, but its walls are strong. Sending five thousand light cavalry to attack a fortified city with no weaknesses is suicide."

"Send spies into the city to spread the word, and we'll set up camp here and wait."

"Wait?" Xue Rengui asked, puzzled.

"Wait for my father, the emperor, to bring the show to its climax over there."

The following two days were like a nightmare for Pyongyang.

The news that Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty personally led 80,000 troops to approach Wugu City spread like wildfire throughout the Goguryeo court and countryside.

The spies vividly described the terrifying scene of the Tang Dynasty's dragon banners covering the sky and cannons roaring like thunder.

Panic gripped Pyongyang, and Yeon Gaesomun could no longer remain seated.

He knew that Li Shimin was a brilliant strategist, and if Wugu City fell, most of Goguryeo's territory would be completely lost.

On the evening of the third day, spies in the city risked their lives to send out a secret report: Yeon Gaesomun had mobilized the last elite imperial guards in Pyongyang, totaling more than 30,000 men, led by his trusted general, and set off overnight to reinforce Uggu City, intending to ambush the Tang emperor on the way.

"Your Highness's strategy is brilliant!" In the dense forest, the generals of the Xuanjia Army were filled with fervor. "The enemy's main force has been dispatched, leaving Pyongyang vulnerable. Tonight is the perfect opportunity to seize the city!"

In the eyes of the soldiers, the Crown Prince's courage and strategy already resembled those of Prince Qin, Li Shimin, and even added a touch of unfathomable depth.

However, Li Chengqian's next words instantly froze everyone's blood.

"Take the city? Forget it."

Li Chengqian casually tossed the secret report into the fire. "Pyongyang is a large city; street fighting is time-consuming and prone to unforeseen changes. I don't want this ruined city; I only want Yeon Gaesomun's head."

"Xue Rengui, take one hundred of your most elite assassins and accompany me into the city for a night raid on the Da Mo Lizhi residence."

"One hundred men?!" Xue Rengui was horrified. "Your Highness! Absolutely not! Yeon Gaesomun's residence is heavily guarded. Even with the troops mobilized, there are still no fewer than a thousand personal guards! How can you, a person of your noble birth, venture into the lion's den..."

The soldiers had assumed that the crown prince was at most as adventurous as the emperor in his youth, but only now did they realize with horror that the crown prince was even more mad than Li Shimin was back then.

"Military orders are absolute." Li Chengqian's smile faded, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Those who dare not go, step back now, and I will spare their lives. Those who dare to go, after tonight, I will grant them a place in history."

Li Chengqian truly possessed a charisma that made people believe in him unconditionally, even if the future was uncertain.

Midnight is the time when Pyongyang's defenses are at their most relaxed.

Using the system's perfect stealth route and night vision capabilities, Li Chengqian led a hundred men over the blind spots of the city wall's defenses and silently infiltrated Pyongyang.

The Da Mo Li Zhi Mansion was still brightly lit.

Every three steps there's a guard post, every five steps a sentry post; heavily armored soldiers patrol back and forth in the wind and snow.

Li Chengqian hid in the shadow of the high wall outside the mansion, flicked his finger, and several wax pellets the size of fingernails quietly shattered in mid-air. The invisible powder was quickly blown by the biting north wind throughout the entire mansion.

"thump--"

"Clang—"

In just a short while, the heavily guarded outer perimeter of the mansion, with its sentries and patrolling guards standing straight, collapsed to the ground one after another as if their bones had been removed, without even uttering a groan.

Xue Rengui and the others hid in the shadows, watching this extremely bizarre scene, their scalps tingling with unease.

They glanced in fear at the spotless white figure walking at the front, their awe reaching its peak.

Your Highness's methods... are simply divine!

"Leave fifty men here to keep watch and slit the throats of all those who have fallen. The rest of you, follow me into the inner courtyard."

Li Chengqian stepped over the bodies lying scattered on the ground, not even glancing at them, and pushed open the heavy vermilion door.

Inside the main hall, the charcoal fire was burning brightly.

Yeon Gaeso, with a full beard and wearing a tiger-skin cloak, was hunched over his desk, anxiously reading military reports from the front lines.

Suddenly, the tightly closed carved wooden door was kicked open with tremendous force, and the fierce wind and snow made the candlelight flicker wildly.

Yeon Gaesomun suddenly looked up, his hand instantly pressing down on the hilt of his sword.

When Yeon Gaesomun saw who it was, his mind went blank for a moment.

"Li Chengqian?!"

"I've long admired you, Da Molizhi."

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded, as composed as a young nobleman visiting relatives and friends.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Yeon Gaesomun exclaimed as if he had seen a ghost. "Li Shimin has only just begun to besiege Wugu City! The two places are hundreds of miles apart, and the mountains are blocked by heavy snow. How could you appear in Pyongyang like a ghost?! How did you get past the defenses?!"

"The dead don't need to know too much."

Li Chengqian was too lazy to waste words with him.

He then coughed lightly, his toes tapping the blue bricks sharply, and his whole body transformed into a white afterimage.

The horizontal blade in his hand tore through the air, carrying an unstoppable and fierce killing intent, aiming straight for Yeon Gaesomun's throat.