Tang Dynasty

Li Shimin lay on his back on the bed, looking at the square tent above his head.He was bare-chested, with a snow-white bandage slanting around his upper body, and bloodstains were faintly visible underneath.

He turned his head, his eyes fixed on the outside of the door, where a low voice could be heard faintly.

"I see, you just step back." After a while, Li Jiancheng finished listening to the number of prisoners and the number of injuries, and after giving many other instructions, he dressed in white and pushed the door open.

At this time, the more than [-] people after Li Yuan's war were all in Huoyi City.

Yesterday in front of the city, Li Shimin just exited the word "good risk", and fell to the ground, unconscious.Li Jiancheng ordered someone to take him down for treatment, and without any hesitation, he ordered the army to attack the city immediately!

This order can be said to be a bit sudden, so that it was beyond the expectation of Li Yuan in the rear.However, he quickly mobilized the Chinese army to respond, and immediately after Li Jiancheng's men and horses, he launched offensives wave after wave.

At this time, Huo Yicheng's main general is dead, and nine out of ten of his men and horses were lost, and the resistance he made was nothing more than lingering.Therefore, after a battle, there was a huge difference in strength between the two sides, and it didn't take long to see the difference.

At dusk, the city of Huoyi was broken, and Li Yuan relieved his confidant's serious trouble, and led his army into the city.

He adopted Li Jiancheng's opinion, and not only did he not harass the people in the city by strictly ordering the three armies, but after he entered the city, he opened the granary in Huoyi City and paid more for the people.

Huoyi City was originally one of the important towns in the Sui Dynasty, with abundant food, grass and weapons.Li Yuan only said that Li Shimin was seriously injured, so he ordered the army to stay in the city for a few days to recuperate and replenish before making plans.He himself came to Li Shimin's room frequently to check the injuries himself.

The sword that Li Shimin blocked for Li Jiancheng hit the left chest, but fortunately it was three inches away from the heart, and his life was not in danger.In addition, he himself is a martial arts practitioner, so he woke up after being in a coma for a day.

When he woke up, the sky outside the window was already dark, not just when.Dimly, Li Shimin only saw a person sitting at a table not far away, propping his forehead with his hand.Taking a closer look, the man was dressed in plain white clothes, his eyes were slightly closed, and his expression was somewhat tired.

yes, Sir.But I don't know how long he stayed here.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin felt a warm feeling in his heart.I don't know why, but I just feel in my heart that if I can exchange for this moment, it is worthwhile to suffer a few more swords for him.

He has been like this, silently looking at his elder brother.Seeing him awakened by his subordinates begging for advice, watching him get up and go out with the man whispering, but when he opened the door again and entered, Li Shimin closed his eyes and remained in a coma.

Vaguely, he heard that Li Jiancheng walked gently to the side of the bed, stopped walking, but slowly relaxed.

In fact, he has long felt that as they grow older, they seem to no longer be as close as they were when they were young in Luoyang.Li Jiancheng's estrangement is vague and unfathomable, but for himself, there are also reasons that he can't talk about.

So it would be better to close your eyes and be calm instead.

Li Jiancheng lay silently on the head of the bed, but he saw Li Shimin lying quietly on his back, his bandaged chest rising and falling slowly as he breathed.After the serious injury, his complexion was obviously paler than usual.

He watched intently, but the scene at the top of the city once again appeared in his mind.

The long sword flew towards him with a silver light, and he couldn't avoid it.At that time, Li Jiancheng was fixed in the same place, but another scene flashed in his mind.

Even though it's been a lifetime, it's such a similar scene.It was also the scene that he recalled from time to time, but he was least willing to recall.

At that moment, he seemed to have foreseen the scene where he fell off the horse under heavy injuries.The heartbreaking pain, the blood-red city gate... everything seems so similar.

The images of the past and the past are just overlapping in one place, but he never imagined that the one who fell off the horse would be Li Shimin - the person who shot him through the heart with an arrow in his previous life.

When he stood up from the ground and said "Fortunately, brother is fine" with a silly smile, Li Jiancheng felt his whole body tremble suddenly.

This kind of tremor, even now a day later, there is still a faint residual wave in my heart.

Li Jiancheng stood motionless, unable to tell what kind of feeling he was feeling at the moment.Shocked, dazed, incredible, or unbelievable?Maybe there are, but none of them are enough to shake his mind.

Sighing softly, Li Jiancheng smiled self-deprecatingly, and said in a low voice, "Shimin, let alone me, even if it's you, at this moment... I'm afraid you can't predict it..."

After finishing speaking, he shook his head, turned around and blew out the candle, opened the door and left.

The door was gently closed, Li Shimin opened his eyes in the darkness, and looked blankly at the ceiling.Li Jiancheng's words just now fell into his ears, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand the reason behind it.

----

The next day, Li Jiancheng took the surplus grain in Huoyi City and returned to the nearby villages in person, and returned it with an additional three-cent profit according to the amount borrowed that day.The common people were flattered, and kowtowed straightly that Tang Guogong is really a teacher of benevolence and righteousness.

When Li Jiancheng was comforting the people, he suddenly saw a small school coming from afar, and hurriedly said: "The Duke urgently summons His Royal Highness to go back!"

"What's the matter?" Li Jiancheng turned around and asked.

"I don't know the details," said the little principal, "I only heard that Master Liu Wenjing is back."

Li Jiancheng raised his eyebrows when he heard the words, and hurriedly said: "Let's leave quickly!" After saying that, he got on his horse and followed the school back to Huoyi City.

After changing his clothes, Li Jiancheng hurried to the main hall, saluted with Li Yuan and Liu Wenjing, looked up, but saw that there was still one person sitting in the guest seat.

With a smile in his well-defined brows and eyes, the man nodded slightly to himself.

Li Jiancheng was startled, and just as he was about to speak, Li Yuan stood up and said, "Jiancheng, this is Zhuguo Kang Xueli of the Turks, today he brought five hundred soldiers and two thousand horses, and accompanied Mr. Liu to this city. Help me wait."

Hearing the name "Kang Jiaoli", Li Jiancheng recovered his expression at this time, walked up to the man in a few steps and bowed respectfully, saying: "Thanks to Zhu Guo for such help, Jiancheng is very grateful."

The man laughed a few times and said, "His Royal Highness is too polite."

With the arrival of Turkic reinforcements in this way, the original rumors that they colluded with Liu Wuzhou to capture Taiyuan have been self-defeating.Li Yuan's worries for many days were swept away, and he became very excited.And Na Kang Siaoli is proficient in Chinese, and the two exchanged pleasantries.

Li Jiancheng stood aside, looking at the Turkic Pillar Kingdom with a smile.After a long while, Zhu Guo seemed to sense something, looked at him, and smiled.

Kang Jiaoli said: "When Xiayuan was in the north, I heard that Tang Guogong has two sons under his knees, both of whom are rare right-hand men of the Duke." After a short pause, he looked around and said, "Why don't you see the second son today?"

Li Yuan's face froze for a moment, then he smiled and said: "I never expected Zhu Guohui to come like this, but today Shimin was sent by the old man to handle important matters. I'm afraid he won't be able to come back for a while. When he returns At that time, I will teach him how to come to meet Zhu Guo."

Hearing this, Li Jiancheng immediately looked at Kang Jiaoli vigilantly.In order to prevent Qu Tutong from east of the river from taking advantage of the situation to sneak attack, Li Shimin's serious injury has been kept secret from top to bottom in the army.Now, although the Turkic sent people here, although it is called an alliance, in fact it is nothing more than an acquaintance of interests.This is something that cannot be said frankly.

But Kang Jiaoli didn't seem to care, just smiled boldly and said: "It's okay, the future will be long, and when Second Young Master Li comes back, it's not too late to see you again!"

However, as soon as he finished his words, he heard a person outside the door say: "Zhu Kingdom has come from a long way, even if the people of the world are thousands of miles away, there is no reason not to rush back to meet them!"

Li Jiancheng was startled, and followed the prestige, but saw that Li Shimin had strode across the threshold, walked up to Kang Jiaoli and clasped his fists.Although there was some indistinct sickness in his complexion, his movements were clean and neat, and it was hard to tell that he was a person recovering from a serious injury.

When Kang Jiaoli saw Li Shimin, he looked him up and down, then he went forward and said, "As expected of the second son of Tang Guogong, he is really a talent!"

Li Shimin exchanged some polite words with him, and after all the people in the same hall saluted, he turned to Li Yuan and said casually: "Father, Shimin has finished his affairs, so he came back early." The words were quite natural, He brought this matter up in one sentence.

Li Yuan nodded, seeing that his expression was calm and his complexion was not bad, so he immediately gathered his servants to worship and open the banquet, pulled Kang Jiaoli and said directly that he wanted to clean up the dust for Zhu Kingdom.

Everyone in the hall followed the two of them and stepped out one by one. Liu Wenjing walked to Li Shimin's side and said, "Second Young Master...is it alright?"

Li Shimin was just trying to be too strong, and at this moment he couldn't help but feel a dull pain in his chest.He smiled, pressed his chest, and said in a low voice: "It's okay, I can handle it."

Liu Wenjing quietly stretched out her hand to support him from one side, but he didn't refuse, just said: "I'm sorry to bother you." After saying that, he raised his eyes to look for Li Jiancheng's back.

Li Jiancheng walked in front with his hands behind his back, but he was staring at the Turkic Pillar Kingdom groaningly, thinking a lot in his heart.At this time, when they reached the dining hall, Li Yuan and Kang Jiaoli stopped, and they refused each other to enter the room.

Between the words, Kang Jiaoli raised his eyes to look this way, happened to meet Li Jiancheng's gaze, and grinned unconsciously.Although Li Jiancheng met his eyes, he was full of satisfaction but only pondered. When he realized the gaze, he raised his head, and the other party had already entered the room with Li Yuan.

However, Kang Jiaoli's gaze was fully seen by Li Shimin behind him.I don't know why, but I just feel that look makes people very uncomfortable.

----

At the banquet that day, Li Yuan was almost capable of hospitality and toasted frequently.And Kang Jiaoli was a man of pride, and he raised his glass to drink freely, as if he would never get drunk after a thousand cups.

As for the rest of the people at the table, in comparison, it can be said that they have their own concerns.

Liu Wenjing occasionally apologized, but she was always concerned about Li Shimin's injury; Li Shimin couldn't drink after being seriously injured, and after a few drinks as a gesture, he stopped drinking and just turned his attention to Li Jiancheng from time to time; In a state of contemplation, he looked at Kang Siaoli from time to time, but at this moment, he raised the wine glass slowly in front of him, stood up, and walked up to Kang Siaoli to toast.

Kang Jiaoli was taken aback for a moment, then laughed heartily, and immediately had three drinks with Li Jiancheng.

Li Shimin looked at it coldly, only feeling that his chest was stuffy.Looking down to see the wine glass in front of him, he picked it up and wanted to drink it down.

His wrist was lightly pressed, Liu Wenjing stared at him, and said in a low voice: "Second Young Master, no."

Li Shimin pressed the wine glass on the table and sighed heavily.

After the meeting was over, Li Shimin left angrily without stopping.Together with him, Liu Wenjing also said goodbye.

Li Yuan chatted with Kang Jiaoli for a few words, went out of the courtyard, and ordered Li Jiancheng to send him to the residence, and he said that he would send him to the residence himself.

Kang Jiaoli was about to resign, but he heard Li Jiancheng say: "Father is old, why not let Jiancheng do it for me."

Kang Jiaoli raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at Li Jiancheng, at this moment he heard Li Yuan laughing and said: "Then let Jiancheng do it for me." After saying goodbye, he left with his servants.

"Please, Zhu Guo." Li Jiancheng signaled to him, with a faint smile on his face.

Kang Jiaoli nodded and followed him.

It was already the time when the moon was in the middle of the sky, and there were many shadows of trees in the courtyard, only the hanging red lights glowed with a slightly coquettish light, slightly lighting up the darkness of the night.

The two walked side by side in the corridor, but no one spoke for a long time.

When he arrived at his residence, Li Jiancheng saluted him and said respectfully, "Guozhu should rest earlier." After that, he turned and left without waiting for his answer.

But I heard a hurried call behind me: "Complete!"

Li Jiancheng turned around with a calm but polite smile on his face.He smiled slowly: "Does Zhu Guo have any important orders?"

Kang Siaoli looked at him firmly, his eyes were like a torch.After a pause, he smiled and said, "Jiangcheng, why do you pretend you don't know me at this moment?"

Li Jiancheng smiled when he heard the words, and then said: "It turns out that big brother doesn't intend to keep performing this play forever."

It turned out that the person who came here was not Zhu Guokang Jiaoli himself, but the Turkic prince - Duo Bi.Duo Bi laughed loudly when he heard the words, and said: "Jiang Jian, last time you concealed your identity and went to my account to lobby, this time I came to help you in the name of someone else, and I come and go, can it be considered even?"

"Presumably the Turks did not form an alliance with Liu Wuzhou this time, and there must be elder brother's contribution." Li Jiancheng said with his usual expression, "Jiangcheng owes elder brother favors, how dare he say even again?"

"Speaking of this matter, Jian Jiancheng's concerns in your letter are true. When Liu Wenjing went north and handed the letter into my hands, Khan had indeed moved to form an alliance with Liu Wuzhou. It's just that when he was hesitating, he heard that you were waiting to defeat the Sui Dynasty. Song Laosheng, a famous general in the court, has taken Huoyi City, so he gave up his idea." In the letter Li Jiancheng asked Liu Wenjing to bring, he said a lot of greetings from left to right, but at the end he talked about his worries and mentioned that his family members were all present. In Taiyuan, there is fear of accidents, and we can take care of them.Looking at it now, he can already see clearly the meaning behind the words.

However, what he said just now was clearly only halfway through, so he stopped like that.Seeing this, Li Jiancheng only made a joke and said, "Just read the letter, but why did the elder brother come in person?"

He laughed aggressively: "Jiancheng entrusted someone to bring me a letter, but I came to answer it in person. Is that sincere?"

Li Jiancheng just laughed when he heard the words, but didn't ask why he was sincere.

Paused for a moment, he said again: "The original faction is indeed Zhu Guokang's scabbard, but before he left, he suddenly had an emergency, so I recommended myself to come here for him." After a pause, he said, "After a long goodbye, I just came here to see how it was built.”

Li Jiancheng knew very well that as the prince's relative, it is the best policy to conceal his identity here, so he just said: "Don't worry, brother, Jiancheng will guard this matter for him, and don't let a third person know."

In fact, he knew in his heart that coming here was not just to replace Kang Jiaoli on the spot, or simply to visit himself.Most of them are Khan's eyeliner, to detect Li's movements.

However, he can't point out this matter, after all, to him, this aggressive person can be said to be both an enemy and a friend, both true and false.Even though I still can't be sure of his reality at this moment, if he wants to deal with the Turks, this person is an irreplaceable figure.

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Note: Zhu Guo is a military officer position.