Chapter 52: Heavenly Questions (IV)

“It’s iron thistles!”
Linghu Chao’s mind exploded with shock upon hearing this.
How could he have missed such a simple setup by the Tang army? He had been too eager for quick success! Now, one-third of his remaining thousand cavalry were injured, leaving less than seven hundred soldiers capable of fighting on horseback. If those thousand Tang soldiers mounted their horses to confront him, he wouldn’t even have the means or confidence to win.
“General Linghu, it’s bad! Those men with halberds are mounting their horses and chasing after us!”
While Linghu Chao was deep in thought, a personal soldier rushed forward on horseback to report the latest military situation.
Linghu Chao frowned and looked in the direction the soldier indicated.
Sure enough! Those halberd wielders, with bare chests, threw down their deadly weapons, mounted their horses, and charged at him with their swords.
“Sigh!”
Glancing at his soldiers still struggling and crying out in the iron thistle array, Linghu Chao let out a long sigh and ordered, “Pass my command: break through eastward along the Cang River!”
The most important thing now was to survive. As long as one had a living force, there would always be a chance for revenge.
“General Linghu orders the entire army to form a formation and break through! General Linghu orders the entire army to form a formation and break through!”
The soldiers repeated his orders impatiently, ensuring every soldier heard them。……
Linghu Chao led six or seven hundred remaining cavalry along the south bank of the Cang River, hoping to shake off those Tang cavalry who had appeared out of nowhere.
But those guys clung to him like glue, refusing to loosen their grip.
“Faster, faster! Damn it, what’s gotten into these Tang people? Why do they insist on tormenting me like this?”
Linghu Chao whipped his horse’s tail fiercely, shouting at his soldiers behind him while cursing those Tang soldiers in his heart.
He merely wanted to cross that suspension bridge, yet they resisted fiercely. That was understandable, after all, they were on opposite sides. But why were they so unrelenting, determined to drive him to extinction?
“Speed up! If you don’t want your heads cut off by the Tang, hurry up!”
Linghu Chao glanced back at the Tang cavalry about sixty or seventy steps away. His heart tightened, and he spurred his horse forward even harder.
“Ah!”
“Thwack! Thwack!”
A series of arrows piercing flesh filled the air. Linghu Chao shuddered inexplicably but dared not look back.
“Thwack! Thwack!”
“Ah! Oh no, ah……”

One after another, cries of pain reached his ears. After another rebel soldier was struck by an arrow and tumbled off his horse, he was immediately trampled into pulp by the pursuing warhorses.
“Thwack! Thwack!”
Linghu Chao had no idea how many of his soldiers had been killed or wounded. All he could think about now was escaping! As long as he could get away from these demons, everything else didn’t matter! He didn’t want that official position anymore, nor did he want to pursue fame and glory—all he wanted was his own life!
“Go! Go!”…
Li Kuo clamped his legs tightly around the horse’s belly, took the black bow from his bodyguard, and nocked an arrow with an engraved feather on the string.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Li Kuo held his breath, focusing on the changes around him.
He could clearly hear the sound of Qingfeng’s hooves on the dirt road, the beat of his own heart, and even the faint breaths of those about to die.
When one’s mind is calm, the sounds of the world become so clear. Li Kuo took a deep breath and aimed the arrow tightly at the man in silver armor dozens of steps away.
It was this man who had fought against Xiao Zhang outside Yongqiu, it was this man who had besieged nearly ten thousand soldiers in Suiyang, and it was this man who had unhesitatingly betrayed the Tang Dynasty and joined the rebels.
Such a man deserved to die!
Draw, tension the string, gather strength, release!
Li Kuo swiftly shot the arrow toward Linghu Chao’s chest with tremendous force.
“Ah!”
Still galloping, Linghu Chao felt a sharp pain in his chest. He struggled to look back and saw a Tang general in black helmet and armor holding a black bow, staring at him with a fierce gaze.
“Thwack!”
Overcome by panic, Linghu Chao spat out a mouthful of blood and fell heavily from his horse…
Late autumn, Shu region.
Li Longji stood by the imperial bed in his bedroom, staring at the jade statue of the concubine presented by Wei Shidi, the governor of Jiannan Circuit, in silence for a long time.
Since obtaining this jade statue from Wei Shidi, Li Longji treated it as a precious treasure. He locked himself in the palace day after day, spending time with the statue, often murmuring the concubine’s name.
Recently, this behavior had become even more extreme. Even the delicacies served by the palace chefs could not tempt him to eat. Li Longji would sit there for days without touching food or drink. How could even a strong young man endure such a situation, let alone an elderly man in his eighties?
“Your Majesty, it’s time for you to eat!”
Gao Lishi entered the bedroom tremblingly and bowed slightly to Li Longji on the imperial bed.

“Oh, it’s Yuan Yi. Put it down. I’m not hungry; I want to spend time with the Imperial Concubine,” Li Longji said softly, gently stroking Yang Yuhuan’s cheeks.

Seeing Li Longji in such a state, Gao Lishi was heartbroken, but he couldn’t show any emotion. He merely said, “This old servant has come today to bring you good news.”

“What good news? Is it Yuhuan? Have you found her? I knew she wasn’t dead! Where did you hide her, you old fool? Tell me quickly!”

Li Longji became agitated and kept pressing Gao Lishi with questions.

“Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine… she really left…”

Tears streamed down Gao Lishi’s cheeks, falling onto the carpet presented as a tribute from Persia. After a pause, he wiped away the tears and murmured, “This old servant has come to tell you that Chang’an has been recaptured!” (Note 1)

Note 1: The Battle for the Recapture of Chang’an: Briefly, on September 12th, the Tang army launched a full-scale attack on Chang’an. General Li Chu, the Commander-in-Chief, and Deputy Commander Guo Ziyi led 150,000 troops, with additional 4,000 troops from the Uyghurs, to attack Chang’an again. On the 27th, the Tang forces reached the west of Chang’an, positioning themselves north of Xiangji Temple (south of present-day Chang’an, Shaanxi) and east of the Feng River, where they engaged in fierce battles with 100,000 troops from the An army stationed north of the Tang forces. Under the dual assault, the An army was utterly defeated—over 60,000 of their soldiers were killed—and they fled eastward from Chang’an that very night. The Tang army did not pursue them further and recaptured Chang’an on the 28th.