Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"Hahaha, Ninth Brother, I knew I hadn't misjudged you... You kid, you just need to be given a nudge every now and then~"

In the garden behind the Shougong Hall.

The fragrance of pear blossoms, mingled with the slightly chilly spring breeze, seeped through the palace walls and into this vibrant, hazy garden.

The laughter of Crown Prince Li Chengqian seemed to imbue the red walls of Yangcheng Palace with a vibrant sense of life.

Li Zhi scratched his head somewhat awkwardly as he listened to his elder brother's praise.

"I'm glad that Your Majesty doesn't think I'm causing trouble. I was just saying it casually, I never expected that Your Majesty would actually take it to heart."

Li Chengqian shook his head. This kid has learned to play dumb.

He rolled his eyes slightly: "I've been having headaches over the Tuyuhun Gobi for a long time, but I didn't expect that old man Murong Fuyun would pass away so quickly, which has disrupted some of my plans."

"However, the next step is to see if Songtsen Gampo is willing to buy such a barren piece of land..."

Just as Li Chengqian and Li Zhi were discussing some follow-up matters, Wang De arrived quickly.

"Your Highness, Princess Samaga of Tibet is requesting an audience."

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow.

Li Zhi sneered, "I'm afraid Songtsen Gampo sent some message to his sister. Why did she have to come at this time of year..."

Li Chengqian didn't take it seriously, nodded slightly, and let Wang De bring the person in.

However, when Li Chengqian saw Samaga's attire today, his eyes flickered slightly.

Perhaps he spent half a year recuperating in the Tang Dynasty.

With the care of palace staff and the help of various skincare ointments, she was also well taken care of.

Although some traces of the high-altitude redness still remain on Samaga's face, the remaining blush adds a touch of wild beauty to her overall demeanor.

This was complemented by her mink fur coat that slightly revealed her collarbone.

Li Zhi couldn't help but curl his lip in disdain.

Is this a test for the Crown Prince of my Great Tang Dynasty, and a test for my elder brother?

Which prince couldn't withstand such a test?

He turned his head slightly and saw that his elder brother's eyes were as calm as ever, even more rational and indifferent than before.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects. May Your Highness be well..."

When greeting someone, Samaga speaks Tang language more fluently now, without the stumbling and awkwardness that Li Chengqian used to dislike.

However, as soon as she finished speaking...

Li Zhi, who was quite displeased with the barbarian princess, sneered.

"Your Majesty, how dare you refer to yourself as 'your concubine' in front of my elder brother?! What? Should I have my brother appoint you as the Crown Princess right now?!"

"what!?"

"You are nothing more than a hostage sent to my Great Tang by your elder brother. My royal brother has neither said he would marry you nor accepted your marriage proposal from Tibet. Who gave you the audacity to act as my royal brother's concubine in every way?!"

Li Zhi was young, but the fierceness in his voice was considerable.

"You barbarian maidservant, that's a lame excuse because you don't understand the rules of the Central Plains. You might let it go once or twice, but do you really think my Great Tang is so easily fooled?!"

Li Chengqian remained silent, allowing Li Zhi to publicly reprimand him.

however.

Everyone present could clearly hear that Li Zhi was referring to Samaga's elder brother, the current Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo.

Samaga's expression changed, and he looked at Li Chengqian for help.

But then he saw that the latter's eyes were equally cold, and his prepared words were instantly rendered useless.

Kneeling on the ground with a plop.

"Your Highness, I...I have been wronged! I will never dare to do it again..."

Li Chengqian's expression remained unchanged.

The woman before me was no helpless, pitiful lamb. The women of the Tibetan Plateau were no less formidable than the women of the Turkic Khaganate.

Not to mention, the other party was Songtsen Gampo's own sister.

"What brings you to see me?"

Upon hearing Li Chengqian's question, Samaga quickly reached out and took a thick account book from the hands of the maid behind him.

He nervously offered it with both hands.

"Your Majesty, I have come to report on the spice trade. The first caravan that purchased spices from the Harsha Dynasty has returned and made a considerable profit."

Li Chengqian really disliked the halting and awkward Tang dialect.

He frowned in displeasure and asked Wang De to bring the account books.

After looking at it, his expression improved slightly.

"Following Your Highness's orders, I assembled a caravan of merchants from the Western Regions. With the assistance of Tibetan cavalry, we entered the Harsha Kingdom and purchased large quantities of spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and fennel."

"According to the valuation from the Ministry of Commerce, the total price should be around 1.3 million guan..."

Li Chengqian glanced at her indifferently.

You've already said it was with the "assistance" of the Tibetan cavalry, so what are you talking about regarding the "acquisition"?

However, even Li Chengqian had to admit at this moment that the spice trade and the slave trade were really damn profitable!

However, the latter was where Tibetan middlemen made money, while the Tang Dynasty gained a large amount of cheap labor in return.

The former, however, was a genuine way for the Tang Dynasty to make money.

But unfortunately... Tibet still needs to be dealt with!

He casually put the ledger aside, looked at Samaga kneeling on the ground, and spoke softly.

"Do you know that your royal brother, under my name, is acting arrogantly and domineeringly on the plateau? He has also launched large-scale attacks and annexed other countries?"

"What do you mean by 'reclaiming my dignity'... Hahahaha!"

"Bang! This is utterly ridiculous!!!"

Li Chengqian suddenly stood up, slammed his hand on the table beside him, and roared like an angry dragon, causing everyone present to tremble involuntarily.

Princess Samaga of Tibet was so frightened that her face turned pale.

"So, in the eyes of you Tibetans, my dignity is so utterly worthless!"

"Do I need a mere Tibetan like you meddling in my affairs like dogs chasing mice?!"

"Do you think the soldiers of my Great Tang Dynasty are no longer capable of wielding swords, or... do you Tibetans, standing on the plateau, have become so arrogant that you've forgotten who you are?!"

Sweat immediately beaded on Samaga's forehead.

"Your Highness, I dare not. Please calm your anger. My brother is also angry that the King of Xiangxiong has humiliated you like this..."

Li Zhi sneered.

“Your brother Songtsen Gampo is very clever. He must have sent a messenger to deliver a message to you before he took action, but you probably never expected this.”

"The prince of Nepal, who set off later, abandoned his troops and traveled lightly, arriving a day earlier than your people."

“We know perfectly well what King Li Mixia of Xiangxiong said, and how your Tubo (Tibetan) acted by taking advantage of the situation… What?”

"Still trying to argue!"

Samaga was instantly stunned, kneeling on the spot in a daze, feeling as if his mind had gone completely blank.

At that moment, she had already thought of a thousand ways to kill that slow-moving Tibetan messenger.

The delay this guy caused on the road has put her in a passive position now.

It has become even more difficult to resolve.

Forget about telling the Tang Dynasty's Crown Prince to calm down; she now needs to figure out how to prevent Tibet from playing with fire and getting burned.

Li Zhi sneered, "What? Speechless now?"

He shook his head dismissively, then suddenly stood up and gave his elder brother a solemn bow.

"Your Majesty, the Tibetans are two-faced, harbor treacherous intentions, and remain unrepentant. I request that Your Majesty order the abolition of all aid to Tibet, the severing of trade, and the immediate deployment of troops, with General Xue Wanche, who is closest to Tibet, leading a large army to attack the plateau!"

"Exterminate Tibet!"

"what?!"

Songtsen Gampo was greatly alarmed.

Inside the large tent, the Tibetan generals, who had been celebrating their imminent capture of Qionglong Silver City, the capital of the Zhangzhung Kingdom, now seemed to have their throats choked.

Staring wide-eyed in astonishment and shock at the man kneeling on the ground, panting heavily.

He looked like he was half-dead.

"What did you say! Say it again!!!" Songtsen Gampo angrily smashed the wine cup on the ground.

The messenger, whose inner thighs were rubbed raw and bloody, swallowed hard.

"Princess Samagazam has been placed under house arrest by the Tang Dynasty!"

"Furthermore, the Tang Dynasty has terminated all future trade with Tibet regarding slaves captured by the Japanese. From now on, the Tang Dynasty will no longer accept any slaves we capture..."

Those present, including Songtsen Gampo's capable ministers and generals such as Galdontsen and Thonmi Sambhota, all stared at each other in stunned silence.

Galdonzan stood up in shock: "Why? We did this for the sake of the Tang Dynasty's Crown Prince's reputation, he..."

The messenger, panting, shook his head, his face pale.

"The Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty said that not just anyone can so rudely borrow the power of the Tang Dynasty; Tibet is playing with fire and will get burned. Our messenger was delayed on his way to the Tang Dynasty and was overtaken by Prince Nalingdeva of Nepal, who informed the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty about the situation in Zhangzhung..."

“Samagazam went to the palace to see the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty. After he came out, the Crown Prince ordered the Imperial Guards to place him under house arrest in his residence.”

Songtsen Gampo: "..."

He staggered and fell back into his seat with a thud.

The Qionglong Silver City of Xiangxiong is right before his eyes. In three days at most, he will be able to completely conquer it, and then send the Xiangxiong king Li Mixia to the Tang Dynasty, while he himself will take over the land of Xiangxiong.

He had thought that even if it might incur the displeasure of some people in the Tang Dynasty.

By then, the die was cast, and everything was beyond repair. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty still needed the Tibetans to capture slaves.

now......

"Zanpu! Zanpu! If the Tang Dynasty really cuts off trade with us, then our Tibet will be in danger! Those tribes that we subdued and gathered together because of the profits from slave hunting will soon fall apart."

"Tibet is completely finished!"

Gar Tongtsen rushed anxiously to Songtsen Gampo and said urgently.

Minister Thonmi Sambhota, who is currently studying Tibetan script and wants to create a systematic script for Tibet similar to Chinese characters, holds a string of prayer beads in his hand.

The knuckles of his fingers were slightly white from exerting too much force.

"Your Majesty, we must stop now. If we continue to wage war against Xiangxiong... we will likely face the mighty army of the Tang Dynasty and a collective attack from all the kingdoms of the plateau."

Songtsen Gampo shook his head, his eyes filled with resentment and anger.

"Three days! Three days at most! We're about to take over Xiangxiong..." He gritted his teeth, glaring angrily at the messenger kneeling on the ground, his body limp.

"Why the delay! I sent your men out two days before launching the attack, so why is it that even so, the opportunity was still missed!"

"Ahhhh!"

Songtsen Gampo was so angry that he almost lost his mind and was about to draw his sword to kill the unfortunate messenger in front of him.

suddenly.

“Wuwuwu——!”

The sound of a horn was heavy and powerful, with a certain timbre.

Suddenly, it came from outside the tent.

Before Songtsen Gampo and his entourage could figure out what was going on, a Tibetan general rushed in in a panic.

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened!"

"The kingdoms of Niva, Yangtong, and Supi have sent men to surround us!"

"what?!"

Songtsen Gampo's pupils suddenly contracted, and he pushed aside the people around him and rushed out of the tent.

What came into view at this moment was a large number of troops with different attire and whose formation could only be described as loose, located on the foothills more than ten miles away from them.

They had now formed a three-way pincer movement, along with the Qionglong Silver City, the royal capital of the Xiangxiong Kingdom, which stood before them.

Surround their entire army from all sides!

A huge banner, fluttering in the wind under the scorching sun of the plateau, was being led by Prince Nalingdeva of Nepal.

They walked at the very front of the Mud Woman Kingdom's army.

"Don!"