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

Li Yuanchang sat in his chair and put down his robe.

He said calmly, "In the fourth year of the Zhenguan era, Su Dingfang led two hundred Tang cavalrymen in a surprise attack on the camp of the Eastern Turkic Khan, Jili, and defeated a 50,000-strong Eastern Turkic army."

"It was hailed by the Tang army as the Battle of Iron Mountain, and was worshipped by all the troops. It was a military miracle that the enemy leader was captured alive by a small force deep into enemy territory."

"And you!"

"Wan Jun is one of those two hundred cavalrymen."

"What achievements you had back then, what invincibility you were in the past, how have you become like this today?"

His tone was not accusatory or reproachful, but rather filled with doubt.

When Wan Jun heard the past being brought up again, his anxious and ingratiating face suddenly froze, and then a bitter expression appeared on his face.

"Your Highness, I..."

"That was all from when I was young."

Li Yuanchang said calmly, "You are only thirty-five years old now, in the prime of your life, so why are you so decadent, spending your days with wine and meat?"

"You're doing a disservice to your peak performance by doing this."

Wan Jun was stunned, his dazed eyes momentarily filled with astonishment, and he silently thought to himself, "I've let myself down so much at my peak..."

He then gave a bitter smile: "The past is gone, and I have not wielded any weapons for many years now."

"Today I drank alcohol and fell asleep in court. My crime is heinous, and I beg Your Highness to punish me."

"This humble servant is willing to bear all the blame."

Li Yuanchang's gaze was calm, showing no intention of punishment whatsoever; this matter was actually not a big deal.

He was just disappointed.

It's a pity to lose such a talented person.

Because of the expansion of the Imperial Household Department, he urgently needed a real cavalry general, but such a person was hard to find among the common people. In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, almost all the capable people had gone to Li Shimin, so there was no way to intercept him.

So, when he came here on a whim, he still wanted to give it a try.

Su Dingfang's background as a personal guard and a warrior in the Battle of Tieshan speaks volumes about his merit.

"I can see the resentment and shame in your eyes."

"From a spirited general to a walking corpse who indulges in wine and meat, something must have happened."

"Tell me, and perhaps I can help you."

Wan Jun lowered his head and remained silent.

Li Yuanchang asked, "Is it due to unfairness in officialdom, or suppression from superiors?"

Wan Jun remained silent.

"So that's what feelings are?" Li Yuanchang blurted out.

Wan Jun's brows furrowed.

Li Yuanchang knew he had guessed correctly.

Throughout history, besides the injustice of the world, only women can make a hero dejected and lose his youthful spirit.

Romantic love may seem like a trivial matter, but countless heroes have fallen because of it.

Historically, weren't the two emperors ruling during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Sangui's "raging for a woman" incident during the Qing Dynasty both caused by women?

"You all step back and close the door," Li Yuanchang shouted to the outside.

"yes!"

Guo Chao and the others stepped back and closed the door, blocking out most of the light, and the government office immediately became quiet again.

"Get up, shall we have a chat?" Li Yuanchang raised an eyebrow, without putting on any airs.

Wan Jun was somewhat flattered, after all, it was obvious to everyone how many people the King of Han had killed in Liangzhou, so this sudden kindness from him inevitably created a sense of unexpected goodwill.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

He stood up.

Li Yuanchang then asked him to sit down, and then shook the table, revealing a jar of wine that had not yet been finished.

Wan Jun understood and immediately brought over a bowl.

The liquor poured into the bowl with a splash, but its actual alcohol content was probably lower than that of beer in later generations.

"You're not married yet, are you?" Li Yuanchang once again demonstrated his exceptional emotional intelligence, asking indirectly instead of directly.

"Yes." Wan Jun grinned, perhaps embarrassed.

At thirty-five years old, his face was covered in a thick beard and oily skin, and he had a roll of fat around his belly, indicating that he had already gained weight.

But the scar on his forehead is a medal he once wore.

"Have you been married before?" Li Yuanchang asked again.

Wan Jun's smile froze.

After a moment of silence, he shook his head: "I've never been married, but... I almost was."

In just four words, sorrow has already been formed.

Li Yuanchang smiled helplessly: "Where is that woman?"

"No news at all." Wan Jun's voice was low and weathered, his increasingly plump face filled with loneliness.

"Why did you separate?" Li Yuanchang asked as if he were a friend.

Perhaps sensing his superior's goodwill, Wan Jun was willing to speak up. He first tilted his head back and downed a large bowl of wine, the wine sliding down his beard and into his official robe.

"When I followed General Su Dingfang, I was only in my early twenties. She was my fellow townsman and we were childhood sweethearts."

"In the fourth year of Zhenguan, when we were fighting against the Eastern Turks, she waited for me for three years. We agreed to get married when I returned. She once told me that she didn't want too many people when she proposed, just a few, preferably in a place with mountains and water."

"I did not die in the Eastern Turkic Khaganate; on the contrary, I made great contributions. I thought that the good days of promotion, wealth, marriage and children would come soon."

"But..." he said, his voice hoarse, as if filled with endless regret.

"Having achieved fame at a young age, received honors for military merit, and even had the county magistrate personally curry favor with me, these things corrupted my heart, and I began to become arrogant, rude, and domineering."

"This hurt her in a way that was invisible to her."

"She refused to see me. I went to explain, offering all the money and brocade I had received when I was granted the title, but she kept the bamboo door tightly shut and only said, 'There is no medicine for regret in this world.'"

Li Yuanchang frowned. It was yet another story of realizing the importance of something only after it's lost, a story that has truly permeated thousands of years of Han Chinese history.

"Then you must have said a lot of nasty things?"

Wan Jun nodded regretfully, then revealed an expression even more painful than crying: "When I angrily questioned her, I even smashed her water tank."

Li Yuanchang almost burst out laughing, but this was yet another sad story.

"Then you still love her?"

"like."

"When other women see me, they just think that I am a military advisor in Liangzhou, from a good family, and that I can live a good life and become an official's wife."

"Only she is different!"

Li Yuanchang nodded.

"What is her name? I will help you find her."

Wan Jun's lips moved, then he shook his head, his face full of bitterness.

"She can't be found; she may have married someone else."

"Or perhaps, they went to the capital region during the migration in the sixth year of the Zhenguan era."

"Later, she sent me a letter through someone in Liangzhou, telling me not to look for her anymore. She said, 'Don't dwell on the past, turn back from the sea of ​​suffering, and realize the cause of your love soon.'"

Li Yuanchang nodded: "She must be a very special woman."

Wan Jun, an elite border officer who had fought his way out of piles of corpses, covered his face with his hands and immediately burst into tears upon hearing these words.

"If I could do it all over again, even if it meant being hacked to pieces, having my heart ripped out by a thousand demons, I would accept it!"

"But she's not coming back!"

"I joined the army at a young age to earn military merits, buy land, settle down in Liangzhou, and give her a good life. But... but what's the point now!"

"..."

He kept muttering to himself, filled with self-blame and regret, as well as despair and indignation, to the point that the veins on his forehead were bulging!

Li Yuanchang remained silent, waiting quietly for him to calm down.

Even Qin Shi Huang couldn't achieve immortality, so how could a person be without regrets?

After a long while, for quite some time.

Wan Jun finally recovered somewhat, wiped away his tears, revealed a set of yellow teeth, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Your Highness, I'm sorry you had to see this."

"How could that be?" Li Yuanchang smiled.

"It's better to say it."

"But you must know that what you deliberately seek out and strive for is often what you cannot find. Everything in the world has its own time for coming and going."

"If you don't worry, she might come back someday."

Everything trembled.

His eyes gleamed, as if a drowning person had grasped at a last straw, and he leaned forward: "Your Highness, do you really think so?!"

"Yes, even if she doesn't come back, at least you want your fellow villagers to know that she didn't make a mistake in choosing him."

"When you want to see her again, will you be a great general revered by thousands, or a rotten, lazy, and fat corrupt official in Liangzhou?" Li Yuanchang asked with a smile.