We bear people have power

When Yuchi Jingde's report of victory arrived, the entire Tang Dynasty celebrated. Chang'an was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers to commemorate this long-awaited victory.

In the hearts of the Tang people, winning a battle against a foreign tribe was a very exciting thing.

But the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, who should have been happiest, looked worried and even had a clear expression of anger on his face.

Finally, he threw a few incense burners in the imperial study, pounded the golden nanmu desk hard, and broke a few writing brushes, which allowed him to vent his frustration a little.

"Someone, tidy this place up, and then go and fetch Du Ruhui," the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty ordered.

The trembling eunuchs then opened the door to the imperial study and hunched over as they went to clean up the mess. None of them dared to look Li Shimin in the eye, fearing that the angry emperor would take his anger out on them.

However, Li Shimin was ultimately a wise ruler and would not do such a cruel thing. He simply wore a gloomy face but did not reprimand the innocent eunuchs.

In no time, the efficient eunuchs had tidied up the imperial study. When Du Ruhui arrived, there was no trace of Li Shimin's earlier outburst of anger.

The Tang emperor sat solemnly atop the throne. Du Ruhui had received a warning from the eunuch before entering the palace, knowing that Li Shimin was in a very bad mood.

However, the wise and resourceful Prime Minister Du couldn't understand the reason. Yuchi Jingde's victory report had just arrived, and the long-desired cement formula was finally in hand; the emperor should have been the happiest person, so why was he so furious?

"Your subject Du Ruhui kowtows to Your Majesty, may you live ten thousand years!" Du Ruhui dared not be as casual as usual and first performed the full set of kowtows to Li Shimin.

In the past, Li Shimin would have said, "My dear minister, there's no need for such formalities. Please rise." Then Du Ruhui would have enjoyed the privilege of being given a seat in the imperial study.

However, today Li Shimin simply threw a thick envelope in front of Du Ruhui and said, "This is Yuchi Jingde's secret letter. Read it yourself."

Du Ruhui was startled. Yuchi Jingde had actually written a secret letter to the emperor, which meant that there must be something fishy about the war between the Great Zhou and the Western Zhou.

Forget about etiquette at that moment, and picked up the thick letter to read it.

The letter was very thick, not because Yuchi Jingde made many spelling mistakes, but because it contained a great deal of information.

After reading the entire letter, Du Ruhui was drenched in sweat, as if he had just taken a bath. It was cold sweat from reading the letter, soaking his clothes, a testament to the profound shock he had experienced.

It took Du Ruhui a long time to recover from the shock, and then he kowtowed to Li Shimin without hesitation, saying, "Your subject deserves to die ten thousand times!"

He would kowtow once for every word he spoke, until his head was bleeding.

Seeing Du Ruhui's disheveled appearance, Li Shimin's previous anger dissipated.

"My dear minister, there's no need for this. No one could have predicted this. Who could have known that there truly was a country protected by immortals?" Li Shimin said helplessly.

Indeed, throughout the Tang Dynasty, from civil and military officials to the wise and powerful emperor himself, everyone subconsciously regarded the so-called divine protection as mere folklore. They even conjured up various seemingly reasonable explanations for things that didn't make sense.

It wasn't until Yuchi Jingde led his troops on an expedition that he saw that celestial city on earth with his own eyes, and he wrote down what he saw and heard and sent it to Li Shimin.

When Li Shimin first read the letter, he was skeptical, thinking that even a veteran general like Yuchi Jingde could be misled by such legends. But when he saw the Flame Insects, the Night-Shining Pearl, and the Spirit Spring and Heavenly River Fish that Helan Chushi had brought back from Sickle Hammer City, he was intrigued.

Only after they corroborated each other did Li Shimin believe in the divine miracles of the Great Zhou Kingdom.

Especially the spiritual spring and the celestial river fish. Drinking the spring water makes you feel refreshed all over, and the celestial river fish, which looks no bigger than an arm, actually needs to be transported in a thick iron box. Ordinary wooden barrels are shattered into pieces when the fish's tail is slapped.

Moreover, its translucent white scales are virtually impervious to blades and spears, harder than iron armor. Such a fish could not possibly exist in the mortal realm.

With so much physical evidence present, plus Yuchi Jingde's handwritten letter, Li Shimin had no choice but to believe it.

Du Ruhui wiped the blood and sweat from his face and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, since the Great Zhou Kingdom is so powerful, why is it still trying to befriend us? And how did Helan Chushi obtain these thousand pearls, the cement formula, and the alien insects?"

Knowing that Li Shimin did not truly blame him, Du Ruhui regained some composure. Unlike the roughnecks and young men like Yuchi Jingde and Helan Chushi, Du Ruhui astutely realized that these things were intentionally "gifted" to the Tang Dynasty by the Great Zhou Kingdom.

But why would a powerful nation that is invincible show goodwill to the Tang Dynasty, a country thousands of miles away? Is it following the strategy of Qin Shi Huang, who befriended distant states while attacking nearby ones?

Even so, sending money would be more than enough; how could they possibly send out such valuable items as cement formula and alien insects, which could significantly impact a nation's strength?

"I am also completely baffled, but it would be hard to believe that the Great Zhou Kingdom is plotting something. A kingdom of immortals, why would it need to engage in any conspiracies? As long as that panda immortal descends upon Chang'an, I will kowtow to him," Li Shimin said self-deprecatingly.

This is the tragedy of mortals; they have absolutely no power to resist immortals.

"Your Majesty, I am but a mortal, and dare not presume to know the thoughts of an immortal. But Your Majesty, the issue now is not whether the Great Zhou has some conspiracy, but rather how our Great Tang should conduct itself. Should we truly reward our troops, claiming we have defeated the Great Zhou and returned in triumph? What if we anger the Great Zhou…"

Du Ruhui did not continue speaking. No one knew how magnanimous an immortal was. If someone petty and thought it was an offense, then the Tang Dynasty would be in trouble.

Li Shimin also felt a tightness in his chest, a feeling of oppression that he couldn't shake off.

If it were a foolish ruler, he would simply ignore things he couldn't understand, since the Great Zhou hadn't attacked, and he could continue his life of eating, drinking, and merrymaking. But Li Shimin could be considered a diligent and wise ruler. It is precisely this kind of person who, when faced with major issues concerning the nation's welfare and the people's livelihood, would truly be troubled to death if he couldn't figure them out.

However, such matters could not be publicly announced, much less discussed in the imperial court with all civil and military officials. Doing so would throw the Tang Dynasty into chaos even before the Zhou Dynasty attacked.

As the emperor and his minister were both troubled, a sudden gust of wind arose from the corner of the palace. A large green snake suddenly flew down from the beam. Li Shimin was startled and quickly dodged, only to see the green snake coiled on the chair.

The eunuchs rushed to the rescue, and Du Ruhui helped Li Shimin to flee.

Just as the eunuchs were about to kill the snake, a burst of black smoke erupted, and in an instant, the green snake disappeared.

At the time, Li Shimin thought it was just a false alarm. Little did he know that it was a sign of impending change in the heavens and earth.