Chapter 82

They were of one mind, intermarried, and their influence was deeply intertwined, forming an extremely powerful force in the local regions.

Even in the imperial court of the capital, eight or nine out of ten officials came from noble clans.

This was an irrefutable fact!

To say nothing else, just look at their own Zhangsun family—how many of their descendants were filled with glory?

Even a lowly servant in the residence of Zhangsun Wuji had a great chance of entering the court as an official.

And this opportunity was something ordinary people could never reach in a lifetime.

Seeing Empress Zhangsun's reaction, Princess Changle felt like a deflated ball, her entire person wilting.

So, not everything was as beautiful as she had imagined.

In an instant.

The young girl seemed to have grown up.

Just as Qin Mu was "touring" Yunzhou with Empress Zhangsun and Princess Changle, Changancheng and the entire Great Tang were experiencing an unprecedented upheaval!

The flames of war were ignited!

Ever since Li Er announced the declaration of war against Tibet, the entire Great Tang had been set aboil.

Every circuit, prefecture, and county became tense.

Orders from the imperial court arrived one after another like snowflakes!

Mobilizing generals, raising military funds, and transporting grain and fodder.

At this moment, the Great Tang was already like a war machine, beginning to operate at high speed.

On the official roads across the land, warhorses galloped and dust rose everywhere!

Soldiers clad in armor rushed from all directions toward the same place.

Jiannan Circuit!

The pass closest to Tibet!

For a time.

The winds and clouds changed color, and people's hearts were filled with panic!

People did not know why the imperial court had suddenly issued an order to declare war on Tibet.

It had clearly already been announced that they would marry and form an alliance.

According to normal circumstances.

This should have been the "honeymoon period" for the two countries!

Not only that.

The sensation and fanfare of the Tibetan special envoy mission leaving Changancheng had long since spread to every corner of the Great Tang.

Everyone in their hearts was hoping for peace, hoping that there would be no more flames of war between the two countries.

But who could have imagined.

The reversal would come so suddenly, so rapidly!

Many people had not even reacted yet.

The vast majority of people still did not know what had happened to cause the imperial court to be so shaken and the Emperor to be so furious.

This, of course, was Li Er's "masterpiece"!

As the dignified Emperor of the Central Plains, he had been played in the palm of the hand by a rebel leader in his teens, who viewed the entire Great Tang as a plaything!

Kidnapping the Empress, tricking him into marrying off a Princess, and then leaving Changancheng in a grand manner, even receiving a send-off from the Great Tang's hundred officials and nobles.

Such an unheard-of, humiliating disgrace—how could Li Er let such a thing spread to the world?

He had long since ordered everyone who knew the truth to keep the matter strictly confidential.

Otherwise, they would be executed without mercy!

Changancheng, Zhao Duke Prefecture.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Inside the main hall, countless precious porcelains were smashed to pieces.

Any single one of these precious porcelains was worth at least ten million in silver!

These porcelain shards covering the floor were worth at least ten thousand taels of silver!

Zhangsun Wuji's eyes were red with rage; he looked extremely disheveled, still smashing the porcelains in the room while roaring and screaming.

"Ah, ah, ah!"

"This old man is so angry!"

After the morning court session.

He had been severely scolded by Li Er.

He was the one who had advocated for the grand send-off of the Tibetan envoy mission.

What could have been a matter to claim credit for had become Zhangsun Wuji's greatest failure!

Coupled with being repeatedly toyed with by Qin Mu, he was now even seen as the world's number one incompetent Prime Minister.