Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 83 Tribute to the Legendary Hero Li Yuanji of Xuanwu Gate
Jiucheng Palace, Liren Hall.

Li Shimin's companion had already gotten up early and ordered the eunuchs and palace maids to sweep the roads and tidy up the corridors.

Just then, the sound of uniform footsteps was heard outside the dark palace.

Otomo had also experienced many storms and waves, so he was immediately shocked.

Based on past experience, there should be no one patrolling near Liren Hall at this time.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and the person arrived in front of the hall.

Under the flickering firelight, the visor reflected a seductive glow.

Otomo realized that something was wrong, so he stepped back, opened the back door, and quietly returned to the hall.

A guard shouted from behind:
"Stop, who is it?"

Then came the sounds of hacking and shouting.

Otomo didn't dare to look back and could not help but quicken his pace.

…………

Li Shimin was sleeping soundly on his bed.

In a daze, I could vaguely hear the sounds of fighting on a distant battlefield, and I seemed to smell the choking smell of wolf smoke.

I am getting old, and I am beginning to feel nostalgic... He muttered in his sleep in a daze.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Otomo rushed in, his voice shrill.

"Who?!"

Li Shimin suddenly jumped up from the couch, and following the instinct developed from many years of military career, he jumped to the side and hid behind the decorated weapons rack.

There was a chaotic sound of arrows breaking through the air, and several arrows hit the mattress, penetrating an inch deep.

With this roll, he had the opportunity to glance out the screen window -

The flames were blazing and the smoke was billowing.

Jiucheng Palace has been engulfed in a sea of ​​fire!
What happened? Fire caused by lightning strike???
"Your Majesty, the imperial guards have rebelled..." Before Otomo could finish his words, his entire body was shaken.

Several arrows shot out of his chest and pierced his lungs, leaving him with only a futile hissing sound.

With a crisp sound, a flying knife came from behind and chopped off Otomo's head.

The head, which was not yet dead, rolled to Li Shimin's feet and spoke its last words to him with its lips.

Rebellion...

Li Shimin stared in a daze at the personal eunuch who had served him for many years.

There was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside the door, and the rebels wearing masks and holding torches high rushed in.

The leader pointed at Li Shimin, who was hiding behind the weapon rack, and shouted in Turkish:
"Kill him and we can go back to the grassland!"

Ashina Jieshe led the Turkic imperial guards, the damn Turkic imperial guards actually rebelled... Li Shimin's heart sank, and he instinctively drew the bow and arrow on the rack and fired several arrows.

The Tang Emperor's archery skills were first-rate. The first arrow passed through the gap between the visor and the neck guard and accurately pierced a soldier's throat.

But he was no longer young, and the accuracy and power of his later arrows were less than adequate, so he failed to take down more people.

The Turks, relying on the sturdy standard armor of the Tang army, rushed forward.

Just as they were about to surround and kill the Tang Emperor, the leading few rebels suddenly fell to the ground with armor-piercing crossbow arrows sticking out of their backs.

Damn it, how come the Hundred Riders reacted so quickly... Ashina Jiesheru cursed in his heart and urged the rest of the people:

"Kill Emperor Tang first!"

The rebel in the front roared and rushed towards Li Shimin with a sharp sword raised high.

Just then, a child's voice came from outside the window:

"Awe!"

The next second, a ball of flesh was thrown in with great force, breaking through the screen window and pounced directly on the soldier's face like a giant facehugger.

"Li Ming?!"

Li Shimin felt that everything before his eyes was unreal.

Why did these people appear where they shouldn't be, as if they were blown here by the strong wind before the rainstorm?
He didn't have time to think about it, and subconsciously wanted to help his son by holding down the soldier's legs.

But the next second, he was knocked to the ground by a heavy force.

Ashina Jieshe led the charge and rushed over.

Because he used his main weapon, a flying knife, to chop eunuchs to show off, he only had a boning dagger in his hand, and stabbed it at Li Shimin's neck.

Li Shimin fought hard and held on, but he couldn't catch his breath and soon began to run out of energy.

He had just recovered from a serious illness, and was pinned down by a sturdy man in full armor, nearly crushing all his bones.

"His Majesty!"

Wei Daijia climbed in through the broken window, but was soon entangled by another rebel and could not get away.

The hundred personal guards had already received the news from Li Ming and rushed towards Liren Hall from all directions.

However, both sides were elite troops, and the rebels had already guarded the key roads in the palace in advance, making the battle extremely difficult.

There were only a handful of soldiers who were able to break into the emperor's bedroom to protect him, and they were all stopped by the personal guards led by the association.

The two sides fought against each other in a brutal hand-to-hand combat, and it was difficult to determine the winner for a while.

"Fuck, get out of here!"

Li Ming rode on the Turk's neck in anger. He pulled out the small sword given to him by Wei Daijia, imitated him, aimed it at the hole under the visor, and thrust it downwards with force.

It felt like cutting lamb ribs, and a stream of warm liquid spurted out and splashed all over his face.

The Turks fell to the ground with a thud.

It was his first time killing someone. Li Ming had no time to sigh. He swung his sword and stabbed Ashina Jieshelu who was pressing on the emperor.

Ding!
It's completely different from the TV show, the weak sword can't penetrate the armor at all.

Li Ming's hands were as numb as the snow on an old TV, and the small sword was thrown into a dark corner.

"Li Ming! It's you again!"

Ashina Jieshe was furious. He pressed Li Shimin's neck with his left hand, picked up the dagger with his right hand and slashed back.

The tip of the blade touched Li Ming's forehead and cut off a strand of hair.

If he had come a little closer, he would have been ripped open from bottom to top.

"You're an untamed wolf! Don't touch my son!"

Li Shimin's eyes were bloodshot, his hand touched the paperweight, and without thinking, he smashed it on Jieshelu's helmet.

The expensive jade paperweight shattered instantly.

The leader's helmet also made a loud bang, making his head buzz.

"Bow, use the bow!" Li Shimin shouted to remind Li Ming.

Li Ming felt a little numb when he saw the bow thrown aside.

Not to mention whether he could pull this heavy bow which weighed one or two stones, even if he could, all the arrows had been shot by Li Er!

"Use the bowstring to strangle him!" Li Shimin was strangled by the society leader again and shouted hoarsely.

Li Ming made up his mind and immediately put the whole bow around Jieshelu's neck and pulled it back with force.

The thin and tough bowstring slid across the smooth visor and just fell into Ashina Jieshelu's neck and throat.

"Uh……!"

Jiesheliu breathed hard, his head being pulled back a little by a bowstring. Through the eye holes of the mask, Li Ming seemed to be able to see the other party's flaming eyes.

"Li...Ming! It's you again!

"I'll kill you!"

The rage of the association overwhelmed reason.

He let go of Li Shimin, put his hands back, and tried to strangle Li Ming's neck.

He wanted to break the bastard's neck with his own hands!

But Li Shimin held Jieshelu's hand tightly and spat out six words from between his bloody teeth:
"Don't move, my son!"

"Ahhhhh!"

Li Ming used all the strength he had when he was doing crazy heart compressions. He clamped the two ends of the bow with his elbows, leaned back, and put the weight of his entire body on the thin bowstring.

"..."

Ashina Jieshelu's trachea was completely strangled. He could not make any sound but a faint hissing sound.

After an unknown amount of time, the Turkic man's strength suddenly ran out, and his whole body began to twitch unconsciously.

Then he stopped moving, his crotch became wet and emitted a foul odor.

Ashina led the society and was killed.

Killed by Li Ming himself.

…………

The large force of a hundred cavalrymen finally broke through the rebels' layers of obstruction, rushed into the bedroom, and captured all the followers led by Ashina Jieshe.

"Capture him alive!" Li Shimin ordered quickly.

But it was too late. Seeing that there was no hope of regicide, the loyal members of the society all committed suicide.

At the same time, fierce battles were being fought between the Tang army and the remaining bandits in various places in Liren Hall and Jiucheng Palace.

It is still dangerous to leave Liren Hall rashly now.

Li Shimin chose to continue staying in the bedroom which had been confirmed to be safe and remotely command the battle of the imperial guards.

This is to avoid being ambushed by some rebel remnants hiding in the corner during the transfer.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being late in escorting you! The imperial guards are heading to each palace to ensure the safety of you all!" Wei Daijia knelt on one knee and bowed deeply.

"The rebels' main target is Your Majesty. The other people's bedrooms are behind the Liren Hall, so they have not been affected for the time being. Please rest assured, Your Majesty!"

He took advantage of the night to avoid the rebels' arrows and, using his experience as a "gatekeeper general", ran all the way to the Hundred Cavalry Barracks, where he managed to get hold of the person.

Li Ming, on the other hand, successfully gathered all the night patrol teams by relying on his reputation. The two sides met at Liren Hall and attacked at once, thus saving the emperor's life at the critical moment.

Hearing that his legitimate sons were all fine, Li Shimin felt relieved. He was amused by this hypocritical boy again and kicked him in the butt affectionately:
"What are you forgiving? Just wait for your reward."

Perhaps because of Li Ming, Li Shimin found it difficult to be serious with other members of the "Fourteen Parties".

"Excuse me for being late in escorting you!" Hundreds of riders knelt down and bowed in unison.

Li Shimin looked at these elite warriors who had fought many battles, the corpses scattered all over the ground, and the head of Otomo whose mouth was still half open trying to convey a message, and he couldn't help feeling a little dazed.

"I have entrusted my trust to the wrong person, which has led to this..."

…………

While the palace servants were cleaning up the mess, Li Shimin also devoted himself to commanding the battlefield.

In between giving orders, he noticed that a normally noisy guy seemed to be very quiet.

Li Ming was sitting on the ground in a daze, his right hand shaking unconsciously.

So much happened in this short day.

It seems that I am still not used to killing someone for the first time.

Need to practice more.

Li Shimin sat cross-legged beside him, making his tone seem relaxed:

"You saved me again."

Li Ming held his trembling right hand with his left hand and tried to put on a relaxed smile:

"You are my father, if I don't save you, who will?"

Li Shimin felt a sudden pain in his heart as he listened to the voice so hoarse that he could hardly recognize it.

"I owe you so much..."

"Yes." Li Ming said shamelessly.

If it were in the past, Li Shimin might have touched the feather duster.

But now, he just stroked Li Ming's head kindly.

"yes……"

The father and son were silent for a long time.

When Li Ming finally stopped shaking, Li Shimin asked in a low voice:

"How did you come to Jiucheng Palace?"

Although Wei Daijia was also an uninvited guest, Li Shimin knew very well that this Hu Lai idea must have come from Li Ming, the king of ideas.

"After you left, I found out that Ashina Jieshelu, who was with you, was the traitor." Li Ming said briefly:
“He took advantage of the fact that realgar wine becomes toxic when heated to kill Li Xiaogong first, and then conspired to poison you and Li Chengqian.

"After the poisoning attempt failed, he followed the emperor to Jiucheng Palace.

"Jiucheng Palace is poorly defended. I guess he might use this opportunity to plot an assassination. Under the full protection of Li Dao Zong and Wei Daijia, we risked our lives to get here."

Li Shimin listened to Li Ming's story in amazement.

Just a few words contain a lot of information.

This time, I was attacked, and it was actually connected to the Li Xiaogong case...

You know, the Li Xiaogong case alone held back the Tang Dynasty elites for several months!
Li Ming not only found out the whole story within just one day, but also followed the clues to find the real culprit behind the scenes, and rushed all the way from Chang'an to Qizhou to save himself...

He didn't know how to describe his feelings at the moment.

Touched? Admired? Proud?

"You...did a good job, very well done." Li Shimin patted Li Ming's shoulder gently.

"You're not bad either." Li Ming said casually:
"How did you come up with the idea of ​​strangling someone with a bowstring?"

"Oh, this little trick." Li Shimin looked up and recalled a past event.

He had experienced this trick himself.

During the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin was almost strangled to death by his fourth brother Li Yuanji with a bowstring.

If Yuchi Jingde hadn't arrived in time and shot Li Yuanji to death with one arrow, he would have ended up like Ashina Jieshu...

Well, speaking of which, Li Ming's biological mother, Yang, seems to have a connection with Li Yuanji...

"Where did you learn this from?" Li Ming blinked his curious eyes.

Li Shimin gave him a light slap.

"It's too bloody and violent. Children should not learn bad lessons from it."

At this time, there was a burning smell coming from outside the bedroom, as if something was burning.

An eunuch rushed in in a panic, shouting:
"There's a fire! Your Majesty and Your Highness, please leave the palace!"

(End of this chapter)