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

"Lu Ge, you may come with me."

"This is no longer a good place."

He reached out his hand, intending to take the person with him.

Lu Ge looked at the outstretched hand, his eyes instantly reddening, and then he shook his head.

"I cannot leave the sacred mountain; I am a child of the grassland."

"Your Highness, you may go now. Thank you for your companionship during this time. I will always remember you and pray for you."

"I hope you won't blame my father. He was doing it for the good of the tribe. Many people in our tribe died this winter."

He had his own reasons for his predicament.

As she spoke, a glistening tear fell onto the snow, whether from grievance or reluctance, it was hard to tell.

Li Yuanchang slowly lowered his outstretched hand, without forcing the issue.

No, it won't.

"I will always remember your kindness and the tribe's kindness."

Lu Ge's tears turned into laughter: "Your Highness, let's go quickly. Head east. You'll have to get through the snowstorm on your own. Be careful. Medicine, food, and water are all on horseback."

Li Yuanchang didn't know what to say to express his gratitude, but at the last moment, he jumped off his horse and hugged Lu Ge tightly.

He hugged the kind-hearted grassland girl.

"I will return."

"Take care of yourself until I return."

"Remind your father to be careful of Ada."

"Don't get too close to the Xueyantuo; they won't be able to cause trouble for long."

Lu Ge hugged Li Yuanchang tightly, nodding with a sob in his voice.

She was very reluctant to part with him. After spending so much time together, she even selfishly considered keeping Li Yuanchang in the tribe for the rest of his life. But she never expected it would cause him so much trouble.

The tribe wanted to trade him for food and winter clothes.

"Go quickly, head east, don't look back, don't let my efforts be in vain, you must survive!" She raised her head, she was much shorter than Li Yuanchang.

Li Yuanchang was surprised to find that Lu Ge was so beautiful and unique; the freckles on his face and his rosy cheeks were like a gift from the grasslands.

"Take good care of yourself!"

"Um!!"

Li Yuanchang mounted his horse and didn't delay any longer.

"drive!!"

His and Guo Chao's horses neighed, instantly cutting through the wind and disappearing into the swirling snow and darkness.

It's like a passerby, arriving suddenly and leaving just as suddenly.

Luge chased after him for three steps, watching him go. Suddenly, tears streamed down his face as he covered his face and wept in a choked voice, speaking in the accent of a minority group.

"Zato, tell me, is this what Mother meant by falling in love with someone?"

"If I don't send him off, he will die."

"If I see him off, I'm afraid I'll never see him again."

Zato pursed his chapped lips: "Luge, he said he'll come back, so don't be too sad."

"But he is the king of the Tang Dynasty, and my father must ask the Xueyantuo for help."

"Is it really possible for us to meet again?"

"I feel so sorry for him."

"Why does my heart feel so empty when he leaves? I've never seen such a handsome and refined man before," Lu Ge muttered to herself. In an era where a single trip could mean a lifetime of hardship, she felt as if her whole being had shattered.

"Ugh."

Zha Tuo sighed. It must be fate that the sons and daughters of the grasslands fell in love with the king of the Central Plains.

Two hours after Li Yuanchang left, dawn broke.

The truth eventually came out, and the news of Li Yuanchang's escape swept through the Mongol tribes like a tidal wave, causing a huge upheaval!

At the same time, the Xueyantuo army arrived.

The entire Qimeng tribe underwent a series of dramatic changes.

……

Meanwhile, in the icy snow, Li Yuanchang and Guo Chao were galloping wildly, eating on horseback when they were hungry and resting on their backs when they were tired.

Having escaped, they dared not stop or take the main road the entire time.

The cold weather left cracks all over Li Yuanchang's face.

The only good news was that the heavy snow continued, which perfectly concealed the two men's hoofprints. Even if the pursuers caught up, the vastness of the land would leave them completely unaware of which road Li Yuanchang had taken.

Thanks to the large amount of supplies prepared by Lu Ge, they managed to get through each day, albeit with great difficulty.

Li Yuanchang traversed grasslands, crossed frozen rivers, and climbed over mountain after mountain, returning to the Tang Dynasty like a rainbow piercing the sun.

On this long journey back, he did not encounter any people from the Black Ice Guard to meet him. He guessed that they had missed each other, and he also encountered a storm.

This makes the return process quite difficult.

He forgot the time, and forgot how long he had traveled.

All they knew was that supplies were exhausted, and they survived for several days by eating snow and chewing wild grass roots. Finally, at sunrise, they caught sight of a Tang Dynasty military flag flying high.

At that moment, Li Yuanchang used up all his strength.

He led a horse, carrying the starving and unconscious Guo Chao, and finally collapsed on the plain.

At this moment, he and Guo Chao looked even more like refugees than refugees themselves, with cracked lips, frostbite on their hands, and messy hair.

Unable to find supplies, they suffered from hunger for a long time, surviving entirely on grass roots.

Those with slightly weaker willpower and physical strength might die in the freezing cold.

When the two were discovered by the Tang army, no one knew Li Yuanchang's true identity at first. They all thought they were two refugees who had frozen to death and planned to bury them on the spot.

They even dug the pit.

Li Yuanchang groggily opened his eyes, looked at the raised shovel, and with the last bit of strength he had to break through the stubborn rock, grabbed it.

He said weakly, "I...I am Li Yuanchang!"

After saying that, Li Yuanchang completely fainted.

Dragging his still-recovering body, he traversed the frigid winter grasslands, crossed icy mountains and snow-capped lakes, enduring hunger and thirst; he was truly on the verge of his limit.

If it weren't for the promise to go home, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold on.

And his statement, "I am Li Yuanchang," completely baffled the patrolling Tang soldiers.

Who is Li Yuanchang?

"Isn't that the name of the King of Han?"

"Didn't the King of Han die in battle? He even had a state funeral."

"It's definitely someone with the same name!"

"What should we do? Bury it or not?"

"He's still breathing. Take him back. He's really tough to survive."

"..."

The ordeal is far from over.

The two men, Li Yuanchang and Li Yuanchang, who were brought back, were initially not taken seriously. They were even left in an inconspicuous wood camp, barely clinging to life, with no one to care for them.

It wasn't until a military doctor helped Li Yuanchang change his dressing that he accidentally found a purse on his person—an exquisite purse embroidered with Shu brocade.

The army doctor thought Li Yuanchang wouldn't survive, so he planned to keep the purse for himself and resell it in the army.

As a result, this reselling resulted in a huge financial hole!

The patterns on the purse are mountains, pheasants, fire, and ancestral vessels...

These patterns are not for ordinary people to use; they are exclusively for the royal family! Moreover, they must be direct descendants; even members of the royal family are not allowed to use them.

As the matter escalated, it grew increasingly serious, alarming high-ranking officials in the Tang army and prompting an investigation.

Most of the people in charge of the investigation came from the central government of Chang'an. When they found the dying Li Yuanchang, they were shocked when they parted his messy hair!