Chapter 18

Just as the entire territory of Tibet was plunged into a purgatory of war, the Tang Dynasty's Changancheng remained as peaceful and prosperous as ever.

The Imperial Palace, Lizheng Hall.

This was the Empress's bedchamber.

Zhangsun Wuji was standing at the entrance of the main hall, pacing back and forth nervously.

He had come here today because there was a matter he wished to ask his younger sister about—the current Empress of the Great Tang, Zhangsun Wugou.

And this matter was of great importance; if Zhangsun Wuji did not get to the bottom of it, he would truly find it hard to eat or sleep.

Before long.

A figure full of charm walked slowly out from within.

"Elder brother, what made you think to come visit your sister today? Come in and sit."

Zhangsun Wugou said with a smile.

After all, it was family from her maiden home coming to see her, and her own brother at that; Zhangsun Wugou was naturally overjoyed.

"Hahaha, sister, haven't I not seen you for a long time? After discussing state affairs with His Majesty at the Ganlu Hall today, I saw the time was still early, so I specifically came over to visit you." After Zhangsun Wuji exchanged pleasantries, the siblings walked into Lizheng Hall together.

"Where is Qian'er?"

After entering the hall, Zhangsun Wuji looked around and asked, pretending to be casual.

The "Qian'er" in his mouth was the legitimate eldest son of Zhangsun Wugou and Li Er, the current Crown Prince, Li Chengqian!

Speaking of this Li Chengqian, it was truly a long story.

He was born short, thick, and fat, inheriting none of Zhangsun Wugou's peerless beauty, nor did he inherit Li Er's heroic and strategic nature; he was timid, disliked reading, and also liked...

taking petty advantages.

Yet even so.

Li Er and Zhangsun Wugou still treated him as the apple of their eye.

Even after the Xuanwu Sect Incident, Li Er directly named Li Chengqian as the Crown Prince of the dynasty!

This shows the deep love the couple had for this legitimate eldest son.

Besides this.

Zhangsun Wuji was also fully supporting Li Chengqian.

His purpose was naturally not so pure.

What he valued was Li Chengqian's cowardice and incompetence.

In this way, after Li Er passed away, he could easily control this new generation's Son of Heaven, allowing the Zhangsun family to remain in an invincible position forever.

"Sigh! This child does not attend to his proper duties all day long, and I don't know where he has run off to play again."

Zhangsun Wugou sighed and said helplessly.

"Is that so..."

Zhangsun Wuji nodded, not at all surprised.

After all, this was Li Chengqian's daily routine.

"By the way, sister, I remember that when you gave birth to Qian'er back then, our Great Tang had not yet unified the world, right?"

Zhangsun Wuji glanced at Zhangsun Wugou without changing his expression.

Beneath his seemingly casual words lay another layer of mystery.

Zhangsun Wugou was pure of heart and naturally did not notice anything; she just smiled and said, "How has elder brother become so muddled? When Qian'er was born, our Great Tang had only been established for a year; how could we have unified the world?"

"Right, right, I remember now."

"I remember that year His Majesty followed the Retired Emperor's order to launch a western expedition to Wuwei, and for two full years he did not return to the court; it was during that time that you gave birth to Qian'er."

Zhangsun Wuji pretended to have a sudden realization and continued to guide the topic.

More than a decade ago.

The Great Tang had just been established for a year, and strong enemies surrounded it on all sides.

At that time, the Great Tang's strength was still quite weak, and they only had one trump card in their hands: the Black Armored Cavalry led by Li Er, who was then the Prince of Qin!

Wuwei City, northwest of Changancheng, refused to obey orders, so the Retired Emperor Li Yuan ordered the Prince of Qin, Li Er, to lead an expedition to suppress them.

At that time, Zhangsun Wugou was Li Er's virtuous helpmate, and she would not rest easy letting Li Er go on the expedition alone, insisting on sharing life and death with him.

Li Er had no choice but to take Zhangsun Wugou with him to the northwest.

And at that time, Zhangsun Wugou had just become pregnant, but she herself did not know it.

It was only after arriving at Wuwei that Zhangsun Wugou began to have pregnancy symptoms.

Li Er wanted to send Zhangsun Wugou back to Changancheng, but the world was in chaos at that time, with fighting on all sides.

To ensure Zhangsun Wugou's safety, Li Er had no choice but to leave her in Wuzhangyuan City, a hundred miles east of Wuwei, and sent personal guards to protect her.

Wuzhangyuan was within the Great Tang's sphere of influence, and the military camp was quite inconvenient, so letting Zhangsun Wugou wait for childbirth there was the best choice.

But who would have thought.

Wuwei could not be taken for a long time, and the Black Armored Cavalry led by Li Er suffered heavy casualties.

Not only that.

Warlords like Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong took advantage of Changancheng's emptiness to lead troops to attack.

In this way, the grain supply line from Changancheng was completely cut off!

Li Er had no choice but to lead his troops in retreat.

But the rebel army in Wuwei City took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, causing Li Er to suffer a crushing defeat, and even Wuzhangyuan City was lost.

And it was at this time that Zhangsun Wugou was about to go into labor.

Amidst the chaos of war, the personal guards fought to the death to break out of Wuzhangyuan City.

And the personal maids by Zhangsun Wugou's side, all pampered and spoiled, soon became a burden during the escape.

To protect Zhangsun Wugou, they all chose to leave.

Protecting one woman was always much easier than protecting a group of women.

Just like that.

The guards protected Zhangsun Wugou and arrived at a farmhouse to take refuge.

Coincidentally, the daughter-in-law of this farming family was also about to go into labor.

On a night of torrential rain.

Zhangsun Wugou and the farmer's wife went into labor at the same time.