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

Li Yuanchang shook his head again.

"Your Majesty, you have already seen it, and once the coffin is closed, it cannot be reopened; that would be a grave disrespect to the princess!"

Songtsen Gampo's eyes darkened, his suspicion growing stronger.

Suddenly, a religious member rushed out from the Tibetan crowd, unexpectedly approaching the coffin and trying to push it aside.

Such a solemn altar—no one expected that the usually easy-going Tibetans would suddenly make such a choice.

Li Yuanchang's eyes suddenly darkened.

We've come this far!

He knew very well that the other party had become suspicious, and was even willing to forcibly move the coffin in front of him. If he backed down, the other party would only test him further.

Without hesitation, he drew his sword, and with a loud bang...

Songtsen Gampo and everyone else were startled, none of them expecting Li Yuanchang to be so audacious: "You!"

"don't want!"

puff! !

With a single stroke, Li Yuanchang severed the religious member's hand, leaving blood staining his mind.

"ah!!"

A piercing scream erupted as the Bon practitioners pressed down hard on the severed hand, writhing on the ground in agony.

In an instant, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Woo hoo hoo!!

Inside the mourning hall, the Tibetans were furious, and all of them drew their swords.

The Tang army also quickly drew their swords, creating a tense standoff.

"King Han, what do you want to do?!"

Li Yuanchang coldly declared, "Your tribe's disrespect for the Tang Dynasty and the princess has come at a price!"

"Do you know what the consequences of your actions will be?" Songtsen Gampo gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing with fury, displaying his royal authority.

Hearing the commotion inside, both armies were also affected by the slightest disturbance. Their armor rumbled, they mounted their horses, and formed ranks, their killing intent reaching the heavens.

Dark clouds quickly filled the sky above Gaoling.

Just a tiny spark was all it took for a war to break out with nearly ten thousand elite troops.

"Whatever the consequences, I will bear them all, but the princess's coffin must not be desecrated by anyone!"

Li Yuanchang was extremely stubborn, holding the knife tightly and refusing to back down an inch.

The elite troops of the Prince of Han's mansion were all ready for battle. As for the Left and Right Guards, although they were also afraid of disrupting the alliance, they could not stand idly by at this critical juncture.

After all, Li Yuanchang was the leader of the three armies, and before Li Shimin issued an edict, everything had to be done according to Li Yuanchang's orders.

Songtsen Gampo was furious, and looking at his subordinate with the severed hand, he almost couldn't help but turn on him.

He clenched his fists, looked around, and finally gritted his teeth.

"Good, very good!"

"Your Highness, you said those words!"

"You will bear the consequences alone!"

"In my opinion, this alliance meeting is unnecessary!"

Having said that, he flicked his sleeve and shouted angrily, "Go!!"

The Tibetan envoys and generals all looked at Li Yuanchang with hatred and hostility, as if they were saying something that was never-ending, before turning around and leaving.

Li Yuanchang breathed a sigh of relief.

He made the right bet.

Tibet does not dare to start a full-scale war at this stage; deep down, they still want to form an alliance with the Tang Dynasty to gain benefits.

Otherwise, if the two sides really fought on this high hill, many people would die, and Li Yuanchang would really be unable to handle the situation.

Luckily, the gamble paid off.

Seeing that the alliance meeting ended in a near collapse, Songtsen Gampo led his men away in anger.

Several generals from the Left and Right Guards couldn't help but step forward: "King of Han, why is this?"

"You shouldn't have attacked the Tibetan king's people!"

"Do you realize how much responsibility that is for the alliance to break down?"

Their faces looked very grim.

Li Yuanchang took a deep breath. He had no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils.

"This matter was caused by me, and I will take full responsibility. Rest assured, it will not implicate you all; you are merely acting under orders."

"To prevent retaliation from the Tibetan army, we should break camp immediately and retreat back to Tuyuhun territory before handling the funeral arrangements for the Duke."

As he spoke, he glanced at the coffin.

The body inside had already been switched; it wasn't Li Su at all, but a female corpse that had been replaced. If the other party were to open it, wouldn't that be a cataclysmic event?

Before he even had a chance to explain, Li Shimin was about to arrest him.

At least Li Yuanchang had something to say about this conflict.

"Ugh."

Many of the generals on the left and right sighed, none of them expecting that a peaceful marriage would turn out like this.

But since things had already come to this, they didn't know what to say and could only follow orders.

But clearly, a shadow fell over everyone's face. When the news reached Chang'an, it was unknown what kind of wrath and accountability the emperor would be met with.

Half an hour later, the entire army broke camp and began to withdraw from Liemohai under Li Yuanchang's orders.

Besides the massive 4,000-strong marriage procession, a small team secretly left the group and disappeared without a trace.

The real Li Su was inside, and her escorts were the core members of the Black Ice Guard.

Thus, the Baihai Alliance and Princess Wencheng's marriage to the Tibetan king were completely abandoned.

……

Two months later, in late July.

Li Yuanchang led his troops back to Shanzhou via Tuyuhun.

Li Yuanchang, citing the hot weather and the decomposition of the body, formally buried Princess Wencheng on the spot.

This incident caused a huge uproar in the local area. Everyone knew that Princess Wencheng had gone to marry a foreign ruler, so why did she return by the same route and get buried?

However, due to the long distance and the lag in information, Chang'an was still unaware of what had happened in Liemohai by late July.

It wasn't until early August, with urgent news delivered over thousands of miles, that Chang'an received the message.

The news shocked Chang'an and the entire court!

Princess Wencheng has passed away!

No one expected that the marriage alliance would lead to such a huge change.

Following this, more news reached Chang'an, including secret envoys sent by the Tibetan king.

Upon entering Chang'an, the secret envoy carried a letter personally written by the Tibetan king, accusing Li Yuanchang of serious crimes such as disrupting the marriage alliance, killing Tibetan ministers, and allowing troops to confront each other.

Songtsen Gampo even bluntly demanded an explanation from Li Shimin.

The Liangyi Hall was shaken once again, and Li Shimin was furious. He issued three imperial edicts in quick succession, urgently summoning Li Yuanchang back to Chang'an.

September 1st.

Li Yuanchang, who was still guarding the imperial tomb, received an imperial edict.

"Your Highness, His Majesty urgently summons you back to the palace."

Several generals from the Left and Right Guards came to the door, and the Imperial Guards that came were not few, at least several hundred.

Guo Chao and the others sensed something was wrong and quickly moved closer.

Li Yuanchang waved his hand, signaling all his trusted guards to leave.

"Did His Majesty also issue a secret edict to you?"

The two guards exchanged a glance, their expressions complex, and then nodded.

"Please, Your Majesty, do not make things difficult for us."

Li Yuanchang nodded: "I understand."

"Should we lock it?"

He offered his hands.

"Your Highness, we dare not. His Majesty only instructed us to escort Your Highness back to Chang'an immediately; he did not say that you were to be taken into custody."

"Your Highness only needs to set off with us immediately. The Prefect of Shanzhou will be responsible for guarding Princess Wencheng's mausoleum."

Li Yuanchang nodded and withdrew his hand; he roughly understood the situation.

The fact that he wasn't being escorted away means that although Li Shimin was furious, he was definitely waiting for an answer from him and wouldn't kill him based on the Tibetans' one-sided story.

"Guo Chao, order everyone to prepare immediately and return to Chang'an to meet the Emperor."

"Yes!" Guo Chao and the others clasped their hands in greeting, but their eyes clearly showed worry about this trip.