In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

"Something might have gone wrong," he said in a deep voice, his eyes unfathomable.

The numerous leaks, coupled with the delayed arrival of reinforcements, led him to suspect that someone was deliberately targeting him.

"A problem?" Murong Khan asked suspiciously.

Li Yuanchang didn't say it explicitly, since it was all speculation, and if it were true, it would involve too many things.

He was about to say something.

"Report!!"

"Khan, King of Han!"

"The Tang reinforcements have arrived; they are already ten miles outside the city!"

Upon hearing this, Murong Khan breathed a sigh of relief, completely relaxed, and smiled.

Although the rebellion was quelled, he was unable to subdue those tribes, and the crisis and hidden dangers remained. Only at this moment could he finally feel completely at ease.

In contrast, Li Yuanchang's face remained calm, showing no joy, and even a hint of dissatisfaction deep in his eyes.

Not long after.

North of Fuai City.

A cavalry force of about a thousand men galloped in at high speed. Their banners bore the character "鄯", representing Shanzhou Zhechong Prefecture.

Li Yuanchang and Murong Khan were already waiting there.

"Whoa!!"

"This humble servant has arrived late to rescue Your Majesty; please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

The leader dismounted and quickly bowed.

Meanwhile, the guards that Li Yuanchang had sent out to seek reinforcements quickly returned to their posts and whispered in Li Yuanchang's ear: "Your Highness, we ran three horses to death and arrived in Shanzhou in three days and four nights to seek reinforcements immediately, but it took us more than ten days to get here."

Li Yuanchang sneered, glanced at the reinforcements, and then stepped forward.

"Who are you from Shanzhou?"

"Your Highness, I am Mao Shu, Military Advisor of Shanzhou and concurrently Commandant of Zhechong Prefecture."

"So it's Military Advisor Mao. Why are you so late?" Li Yuanchang said.

Mao Shu looked ashamed: "Your Highness, the incident happened suddenly, and the news could not be delivered to the governor immediately. In addition, the army's provisions and supplies needed to be opened from the granaries before setting off, which forced us to spend a lot of time."

"Plus, the journey is long, and it's windy and rainy, so..."

"To be honest, Your Highness, there are still two thousand men behind us who don't have horses." He played the victim.

"Hmph!" Guo Chao snorted coldly.

"We were surrounded by 50,000 troops and didn't arrive for a long time. Now that His Highness has decisively defeated the rebels, you show up! You're not here to rescue us, you're here to steal the credit!!"

"That's right, it's an urgent matter at the border, and you guys are always either sending messages in the wind or rain. Go tell His Majesty!"

"We must appeal to His Majesty!"

The generals of the Prince of Han's mansion were all cursing and swearing, and they were all extremely emotional.

They arrived too late; if they didn't win, they would all die.

Mao Shu's face was grim: "Your Highness, it's really not our fault. We've done our best. After all, there's the Red Ridge separating us; it's not an easy march!"

"We received the order and came immediately!"

"I'm innocent!"

Immediately, a large number of people cried out that they were wronged.

Li Yuanchang, of course, did not believe such nonsense. He had walked this road before, and the reason he walked so slowly was largely because he was escorting the princess.

With a large amount of cargo being transported at full speed, and with the princess present, the entire army could not travel quickly and could only proceed at a leisurely pace.

In any case, eleven days for a one-way trip is too slow.

However, he had no interest in arguing with a mere military commander here. Putting aside everything else, the kind of person who could leak secrets was someone beyond the comprehension of someone of his rank.

He will definitely seek justice! But not now. Right now, he needs troops to clean up the mess and completely quell the Tuyuhun rebellion.

Get up.

"Since you're here, I won't say anything more. The crisis in Fuai City has been resolved."

"Next, we must eliminate the traitors!"

"Your tribe need not enter the city. Rest where you are. Four hours later, follow me on an attack to sweep through the ten tribes!"

Li Yuanchang's attitude can be summed up in the phrase "no need to enter the city".

The reinforcements from Shanzhou dared not say anything in response and repeatedly agreed.

Immediately afterwards, Li Yuanchang and Murong Khan led their men back into the city.

"My lord, what should we do? It seems we've been found out. The Prince of Han doesn't look too good. Will he report us to His Majesty?"

A captain whispered.

Mao Shu frowned, his face also looking unpleasant.

"Just deny it to the death. The King of Han asked for help, and we came too. The journey is long, and it's going to rain. Who can we blame?"

"Even if the sky falls, there will be someone above to hold it up."

"So, shall we still contribute?" the captain asked again.

"Isn't that obvious? If we don't contribute now that we're here, Chang'an will surely annihilate us!"

As he spoke, Mao Shu's face turned as if he had swallowed a dead fly.

"Fifty thousand, fifty thousand rebels! How could they be so useless? Not only did they fail to breach the city, but they were also wiped out by just over two hundred men from the Prince of Han!"

"What an incredible achievement!"

"If I had known, I would have come sooner instead of just standing by and watching. I could have at least been promoted three ranks!"

"Now we can't even get a hot meal, and the King of Han is holding a grudge against us!"

"I don't know what my uncle was thinking!"

"Trying to steal a chicken only resulted in losing the rice instead!"

"Alas," the captain sighed, filled with regret.

"..."

Fuai City.

The guards of the Prince of Han's palace have begun to assemble again. As of now, after deducting casualties, there are still two hundred guards who are capable of fighting.

"Brother King of Han."

"May I ask, is there some problem within your department?"

Murong Khan probably sensed something from the conversation just now and realized that the reinforcements were deliberately stalling for time.

Li Yuanchang said, "I will report this matter to His Majesty, Khan, you need not worry."

"This may involve some personal grudges."

Murong Khan nodded: "If Brother King of Han needs any help, please let me know at any time."

"This Khan may accompany Your Highness to Chang'an!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang was moved.

For a foreign king to enter Chang'an was almost impossible in ancient times; people were afraid he wouldn't be able to leave. For Murong Khan to say such a thing was tantamount to giving his full support.

Despite facing countless formidable enemies and both overt and covert attacks along the way, Li Yuanchang also encountered many beauties, brothers, subordinates, and friends.

He smiled and said, "Alright, thank you, Brother Murong!"

"After I have conquered the ten tribes and completely resolved the rebellion crisis, I will return to you a Tuyuhun without any threats, and then I will come to drink your wedding wine."

"Your people should prepare to take over their territory and people."

He appeared very ambitious and planned to provide a one-stop service.

Of course, he didn't do that. Given Li Shimin's style as a great emperor throughout the ages, the rebels would have been dealt with anyway. Rather than letting others do it, he decided to do it in advance.

He shouldered the crisis, so naturally he couldn't let the credit go to others in the Tang Dynasty, especially the people of Shanzhou.

"good!"

"I, the Khan, will remain in the capital and await the triumphant return of my brother, the Prince of Han!"

After what happened last time, he was completely convinced that Li Yuanchang could sweep through the ten tribes with just over a thousand men.

Li Yuanchang smiled, said nothing more, and mounted his horse to leave the city.

In about half an hour, he took over the Shanzhou reinforcements and marginalized the main generals, led by Mao Shu, directly assigning the Han Prince's personal guards to cross-command and supervise the battle.

Otherwise, he feared that these people would play tricks on him again, betray him during the campaign, and deliberately hinder him.

Although the probability is very small, we still have to be prepared.