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

Once Li Shimin's order was issued, the truth could no longer be concealed.

The news of the King of Han's death swept through the court like a storm first, and then spread, causing a tremendous shock!

Some were delighted, while others laughed hysterically.

Some people sighed with regret, while others burst into tears.

The Eastern Palace Pavilion.

A beautiful woman in palace attire gazed northwards, her expression indescribably complex.

"He...he's dead?"

"No trace of the remains?"

"Your Highness, she has passed away. His Majesty has already ordered her to be posthumously granted the title of Prince of Han. Earlier, the court officials set out to announce her death."

"His Majesty was overcome with grief and ordered the suspension of court affairs for seven days, with the entire nation observing a period of silence in memory of the King of Han."

Su Qing's expression was extremely complex, an indescribable feeling welled up in her heart, and she finally sighed softly.

"Heroes rarely grow old, heroes rarely grow old."

"Send some funeral gifts to Liangzhou for me, as if I'm seeing him off on his journey."

The wind ruffled Su Qing's hair; the departure of her old friend had made her even thinner.

"yes!"

"..."

In early November, the weather turned cold.

With the imperial edict issued, Liangzhou and the southern frontier were basically informed.

Li Chongzhen and Tang Meng came to Liangzhou with the imperial entourage and brought the sword that Li Yuanchang had sent back from the front lines to the Prince of Han's residence.

When the person dressed in mourning clothes walked in, he didn't even say a word.

Situ Lan and the others who came out to greet them were struck dumb!

Situ Lanyu's legs went weak, and she fell to the ground.

"Your Highness, Your Highness!!"

Her tears flowed uncontrollably; she was heartbroken.

She recognized the knife!

"Your Highness, please accept my condolences." Li Chongzhen and Tang Meng also shed tears and stepped forward to help her up.

A simple "please accept my condolences" shattered almost all hope of survival for everyone in the Prince of Han's mansion.

"No!"

"No!!"

Qin Keyu and Cui Wanqing had just given birth and hadn't even finished their postpartum confinement period when they heard the devastating news, and they fainted on the spot.

Immediately, the Prince of Han's mansion was filled with weeping, and chaos reigned throughout.

"Shichiro, Shichiro!!"

Situ Lan could no longer maintain her composure as a princess. Sobbing, she cried out and staggered over, "Where is Qi Lang? Where is my Qi Lang?"

"Your Highness..." The eunuch hesitated, his face grim.

"Please accept my condolences, Your Highness. The King of Han has died in battle, and his remains... cannot be found."

Situ Lan was struck by lightning again, her face turning deathly pale.

The ancients believed that burial was the best way to ensure peace, and the complete loss of one's remains was considered an extreme misfortune in the context of that era.

"Shichiro, Shichiro!"

Situ Lan wept bitterly, her heart breaking. Ignoring those around her who were trying to help her, she clutched the sword tightly, as if it still held the warmth of Li Yuanchang's body.

She thought about it day and night, but she never expected to receive such terrible news.

If she had known that their parting a year ago would be their last, she would never have let Li Yuanchang leave.

Her cries shook the entire Han Prince's mansion; she was so grief-stricken that she finally fainted in the front yard.

The news then spread.

The entire Han Prince's Mansion and the entire city of Liangzhou were quickly shrouded in shadow and grief.

If Chang'an was just a routine matter, then this was pure sincerity.

Officials wept, the people wept!

Li Yuanchang's prestige here almost surpassed that of Li Shimin. Many people spontaneously burned paper money for him, and some wealthy families even organized the construction of stone carvings.

The news of Li Yuanchang's death became the most important event in the fifteenth year of the Zhenguan era!

The scale of the entire funeral was comparable to that of a state funeral.

……

at the same time.

A vast expanse of land where the Yinshan Mountains meet the Houtao Plain, far from the hustle and bustle.

The wind blows across the grassland, and herds of cattle and sheep graze.

Large nomadic groups live here, maintaining their primitive lifestyle of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

Inside a uniquely shaped white tent.

"Cough cough cough!!"

The violent coughing quickly alerted the Hu people inside and outside the tent, who communicated in a few languages.

"That person is awake! That person is awake!"

boom!

A wooden basin fell to the ground, and a woman with freckles on her face rushed into the tent, revealing a clear smile typical of ethnic minorities.

"You're awake?"

She rolled up her sleeves and immediately poured herself a glass of water.

Li Yuanchang slowly opened his eyes. The scene before him was unfamiliar, as if he had been transported to another world. He instinctively tried to move, but his internal organs were wracked with excruciating pain.

Not to mention it, even the slightest movement is accompanied by excruciating pain, like bones being shattered.

"Hey, don't move."

"You have many broken bones; you can't move."

As she spoke, the woman stepped forward to comfort him, and then fed him water little by little into his dry, chapped mouth.

Driven by his survival instinct, Li Yuanchang kept swallowing, as if his mouth was the only part of his body that could move.

After drinking the water, he felt a great sense of relief and his mind became clearer. He was certain that he was alive!

It was as if he had been having a very long dream.

"Where is this?"

"Who are you?"

"How did I get here?" His voice was hoarse.

"This is my home, the Qimeng tribe, and my name is Qisenluge," the woman replied.

He further explained, "I saw you while I was washing clothes in the river, and I pulled you out of the water, along with another man."

Li Yuanchang vaguely remembered that Guo Chao and he fell off a waterfall cliff together.

Where is he?

"Don't get agitated, he's not dead, but he lost an arm," Qisenluge said patiently.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that he was alive.

It's already quite an achievement to survive such severe injuries, especially after falling into a hundred-foot waterfall and drifting in a bottomless river!

"Thank you very much, young lady," he said with immense gratitude.

Qi Senluge smiled slightly, the numerous freckles on his face giving him a sophisticated look and showcasing the unique charm of an ethnic minority.

She shook her head and said, "It's alright. You lost so much blood but didn't die. You were unconscious for more than half a month. It was the great grassland spirit that protected you and guided me to save you."

Li Yuanchang frowned upon hearing this. More than half a month?

"Wait, what did you say, the grasslands?"

"Is this the southern part of the desert?"

Qisenluge shook his head: "This is the Houtao Plain, which we call the Gena Grassland."

"Which direction is this from Yinshan?" Li Yuanchang asked, enduring the excruciating pain. He had been unconscious for more than half a month, and he guessed that the Tang Dynasty was in an uproar.

He remembered that the Tang reinforcements arrived at the last moment, but upon learning that he had fallen into a hundred-foot waterfall, he must have thought he was doomed.

After so much time, news of his death must have spread by now.

When this news reached Liangzhou, how could Situ Lan and the others bear the blow?

"Yinshan?" Qisen Luge asked blankly, turning to look at his companion.

His companion rattled off something, and Qisenluge realized, "You mean Mount Genna, right?"

"The Han people seem to call it Yinshan, but we don't call it that."

"Yes, that's the same thing."

"This is in the northwest of Yinshan, but it's quite far away," said Qisenluge.

Li Yuanchang frowned. Everything was in chaos. How did they end up here?

How long have I been floating in the river?

Although he didn't know what the Genna Grassland was, if it was in the northwest direction of Yinshan, then it was completely off the border between the Tang Dynasty and Xueyantuo.