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

Outside Gaoling.

Both armies have lowered their flags and raised white and black flags across the board. People are dressed in mourning clothes, and large amounts of paper money are flying wildly in the wind, creating a funeral atmosphere.

"Your Majesty, this King Han is clearly problematic. Why should we let him get away with this?"

"That's right, the princess's death is too suspicious. In addition, information leaked from within the Tang Dynasty indicates that this person has been preventing the marriage alliance and even made outrageous statements about completely restricting and blockading our Tibetan Empire!"

"According to the Tang Dynasty's etiquette, the minor encoffining should take three days, yet the Prince of Han is to have his coffin closed immediately!"

Songtsen Gampo frowned, his gaze fixed on the camp surrounded by layers upon layers of Tang imperial guards.

"He is an envoy sent to marry a foreign ruler, a prince of great importance in the Tang Dynasty. The conflict we are having with him is tantamount to starting a war."

"This is not the result Benzanpu wanted to see."

"There are certainly suspicious points, but we absolutely cannot force it."

"The alliance between Tibet and the Tang Dynasty is imperative and cannot be disrupted by anyone."

"Your Majesty, are we just going to let the Tang Dynasty's King of Han do as he pleases?" Some people objected, even though failing to bring back Princess Wencheng would be a loss of face for Tibet.

Songtsen Gampo remained silent.

"Don't rush. The Tang Dynasty isn't ruled by him alone. There's still the Heavenly Khan above him."

"Since he is targeting Tibet, then he is an enemy."

"There are many ways to deal with him, but it must not be done by Ben Zanpu himself, as this would incur the displeasure of the Great Tang Heavenly Khan."

"Tibet still needs to develop; it cannot afford to offend a giant like the Tang Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, the Tibetan officials all gritted their teeth and remained silent.

The Battle of Songzhou was essentially an experiment, but the result was clear: the Tibetan Empire was simply incapable of militarily suppressing the Han Chinese.

In addition, many domestic forces also needed the political assistance of the Tang Dynasty, which led to Princess Wencheng's marriage to the Tibetans.

After years of effort, it was finally completed, but Li Yuanchang's sudden emergence greatly disrupted their plans, first by intercepting the craftsmen's techniques.

Now even Princess Wencheng has died mysteriously.

This brought their dissatisfaction with Li Yuanchang to its extreme.

"Are you sure that woman is Princess Wencheng?" Songtsen Gampo suddenly asked, his eyes deep and gleaming with a wisdom beyond his years.

He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, as if he were being divinely inspired.

The Tibetan officials were all taken aback!

"Zanpu, what do you mean?"

"Does the King of Han have that much guts?"

Princess Wencheng was a complete stranger to the entire Tibetan Empire. Even her portraits were very abstract, and nobody knew who she was.

"I don't know, but judging from the letter from Lunqin Fucha, there are many suspicious points in the entire escort process," Songtsen Gampo said quietly.

"Then we can't close the coffin yet!" someone exclaimed.

Songtsen Gampo remained silent, pondering for a moment, before finally saying, "It will be like this in a while..."

All the Tibetan officials rallied to his side.

"..."

On the high mound, Li Yuanchang was leading his troops to guard all the entrances and exits, and making arrangements for his funeral.

"Your Highness, those Tibetans seem to be gathered together and discussing something. Could something be about to happen?" Guo Chao whispered, cautiously glancing at the Tibetan camp.

Li Yuanchang, with his hands behind his back, knew what Guo Chao meant: "They don't have the guts."

"Unless Songtsen Gampo wants a full-scale war."

"However, this person is clever; he may have figured something out, but he didn't say it outright."

"In short, just don't leave any evidence against you."

"Tell them to hurry up and close the coffin within an hour and a half. Bring all the elite troops from the Prince of Han's residence here, and have the Left and Right Guards stand in formation outside. The coffin must not be lost!"

At this point, Li Yuanchang was completely going all out.

Either don't do it at all, or do it thoroughly and decisively!

As for Li Shimin's follow-up questions, he had already thought of how to answer them.

"yes!"

Time passed by, and soon a huge funeral platform was erected on the ridge. The Tibetans also prepared a large number of Tibetan monks, and the chanting of sutras continued, creating a grand and magnificent scene.

At this time, someone from the Tibetan side proposed human sacrifice, but Li Yuanchang sternly rejected it!

The cultural differences between the two sides have once again led to conflict and contradictions.

Soon, an hour and a half passed, and there was very little time left before the maximum time limit was reached.

To prevent any accidents, Li Yuanchang quickly ordered the coffin to be sealed.

This aroused the Tibetans' complete suspicion, and Songtsen Gampo suddenly led a large number of Tibetan envoys and personnel into Lingtai.

The moment they moved, the entire guards of the Prince of Han's residence quickly went into a state of high alert.

The sound of footsteps rang out immediately, and Li Yuanchang led his men to meet them.

Songtsen Gampo glanced at the vermilion coffin, which was already closed, without even a word of farewell. His eyes were deep and cold.

"Your Highness, the Prince of Han."

"Zanpu".

The two had met before.

"Your Highness, the princess's passing was sudden. I was completely disoriented until now."

"This emperor believes it is best to lay the body in state for now and await His Majesty the Heavenly Khan's orders."

The sudden change of heart caused Li Yuanchang to frown slightly.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that won't work. If the body is left here for too long, it will likely rot."

"It would take too long to travel from here to Chang'an to report the death, and we simply cannot afford to delay. As for the alliance meeting, I will petition the Heavenly Khan to choose another suitable opportunity."

Songtsen Gampo smiled and said, "Your Highness need not worry. There are Bon masters in my entourage who can perform the exhumation."

The term "dissection" refers to the ancient practice of embalming corpses, while Bon is currently the state religion of Tibet, which will eventually be completely replaced by Buddhism.

This was also a common practice of the Tibetan royal family; the preservation process meant that the body might not rot even after several months, let alone decades.

As he spoke, Bon practitioners immediately came out, carrying many boxes in their hands.

Li Yuanchang shook his head directly.

"No way!"

"The Han people value burial for peace and the preservation of the body intact. The body of the Tang princess must not be disturbed in any way; this concerns the dignity of the Tang imperial family!"

Songtsen Gampo had sharp eyes.

"But has Your Highness forgotten that the princess is also the queen of Tibet? In a sense, she is already a Tibetan."

"This emperor hopes to await a new edict from the Heavenly Khan."

Actually, what Songtsen Gampo said wasn't wrong, but if he did it that way, everything would be exposed.

"It still doesn't work!"

Li Yuanchang's attitude was firm, showing almost no leniency.

This displeased even the composed and dignified ruler of the plateau.

"Is Your Highness capable of making decisions for His Majesty?"

His remarks began to become aggressive.

"I am acting on the orders of the Emperor."

"Then Your Highness should wait where you are."

"As the envoy for the peace treaty, I have the authority to make decisions regarding anything here."

"But Your Highness, you are showing no respect to Tibet."

"Your Majesty, I was merely acting in accordance with the law."

The two men's attitudes changed abruptly, to the point that even their entourage members looked at them with hostility.

Seeing that Li Yuanchang was not intimidated, Songtsen Gampo changed his tune: "Alright then, let this king see the queen, is that alright?"