In the imperial study room of Daming Palace, Li Shimin sat alone behind a wide rosewood table, holding a teacup in his hand, and looking leisurely tasting tea with his head down.

However, although he seems to be extremely idle on the surface, if you look closely, you can still see the faint uneasiness hidden in his heart.

Today is the day when the Western Turkic merchant group visited Chang'an, and it was precisely because of the great general Xue Yantuo. The sudden appearance of the heavenly general, the memories of years ago suddenly became clear, and every image made him throb, even if he tried to calm down, it was to no avail.

And at this moment, he is silently waiting for the other party's arrival, and the heart-to-heart conversation that has been delayed for too long.

"Your Majesty, the Western Turkic General Xue Yantuo. Heaven will ask for a meeting. Suddenly, a Jin Wuwei guarding the door hurriedly came in to report, "He is already waiting at the door at the moment. ”

When Li Shimin heard this, a look of joy suddenly appeared on his face. He laid the teacup on his desk, got up and came to the soldier, and commanded:

"General Heaven, please come in."

"Yes." Jin Wuwei clasped his fists in salute, turned around and quickly retreated.

Under Li Shimin's smiling gaze, for a moment, Xue Yantuo, who was dressed in a black cloth coat and still had long hair and a shawl. The celestial general strode in.

"The Western Turkic General Xue Yantuo. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty will meet the Emperor. ”

As soon as he saw Li Shimin looking at him, he hurriedly put his right hand on his left shoulder and greeted the other party in accordance with the highest national etiquette of the Western Turks.

Li Shimin slowly came to Xue Yantuo. In front of the general, he smiled and took his hand:

"General Tianjiang has been running all the way, and it is very hard. There are no outsiders here, only you and my brother, so you don't want to see me again. ”

Xue Yantuo. When the day saw Li Shimin's behavior, his heart was also warm, and his eyes were a little red.

Yao remembered that when the two met for the first time, Li Shimin, who was still the king of Qin at the time, specially sent his righteous disciple Shu Jiangyuan to ride a fast horse to chase after him, and invited himself to the trestle pavilion on the side of the road, where he personally cooked tea and poured wine to entertain him, and his warm words were also extremely cordial.

It's just that with the passage of time, there have been so many sudden changes, and these scenes have become a little blurred.

Now that old friends see each other, the past can't help but be vivid, and it is inevitable that there will be a lot of emotion for a while.

It's just that as the saying goes, a companion is like a tiger. Moreover, since Li Shimin ascended the throne, so many years have passed, and as the ** team has been fighting everywhere, the war has continued, and the people of all tribes in the Western Regions are living in dire straits. However, because people are soft-spoken, they can only dare to be angry but dare not speak. As for the Chanji sister, the other party didn't look for it at all.

Thinking of this, Xue Yantuo, who was originally frank and upright. The heavenly general unconsciously gave birth to another resentment in his heart.

After some short thought, he decided to come to Chang'an this time, or keep a certain distance from Li Shimin, so as not to set himself on fire and cause unnecessary trouble to Xue Yantuo's department.

Li Shimin saw Xue Yantuo. The Heavenly General's expression became a little strange, and he said with a smile:

"General Tianjiang, you and my brother, if you have something to say, sit down and say."

Xue Yantuo. The heavenly general thanked Li Shimin for clasping his fists and thanking him, and then the guests and hosts sat at the rosewood Eight Immortals table opposite the desk at the same time, and each picked up the tea cup that had already been brewed on the table, and chatted while talking.

"General Tianjiang, you and I haven't seen each other for a long time, I don't know if the Western Turkic tribes are okay?" Li Shimin asked with concern.

Xue Yantuo. Tianjiang took a sip of tea, and replied in a slightly stiff tone: "Thank you Emperor Tang for your concern, I, Xue Yantuo, have abundant grass and strong horses, and everything is fine." Nowadays, the Silk Road has been governed differently than before, and there are no longer so many displaced people, and merchants can safely pass through and trade everywhere. ”

Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction, whether it was for the merchants of the Tang Dynasty or other tribes, the Silk Road located in the Western Regions was extremely important. It is like a lifeline of the human body, providing a steady stream of life power for people of all ethnic groups.

At the beginning, in order to better maintain the stability of the Silk Road and ethnic minority areas, as the king of Qin, he was ordered by his father to open a capital in Wuwei. And during that time, it happened that Xue Yantuo. The Celestial Generals also came to the Silk Road to assist in the management of the Silk Road according to the orders of the Khan. Because of this, the two of them have a very close relationship and have become close friends.

"That's good."

Li Shimin's eyes unconsciously showed a hint of amazement, if Brother Jiang Yuanxian was still alive at the moment, the three of his brothers could drink tea together, how good it would be. After an unconscious sigh, he tried to hide his complicated emotions again, and pretended to be calm and said:

"I haven't been to your tribe, but I've heard about it lately. Xue Yantuo Khan was originally an extremely intelligent and benevolent master, and you are so loyal and have the means to kill. I believe that as long as the two of you join forces, you will inevitably govern Xue Yantuo's department very well. ”

Xue Yantuo. The heavenly general observed the words and knew that Li Shimin was just enduring it at the moment. But since the other party refuses to say what he really thinks, then he won't ask. So he pretended to be unaware and said with a smile:

"Thank you for the emperor's praise, the heavenly general is a person from Xue Yantuo's department, but he is just doing his best."

Li Shimin stared sideways for a moment, but the emotions in his heart were like waves. Eventually, when the of the heart was completely broken, he finally said:

"I don't know the general of heaven, can there be the whereabouts of the lord of Goryeo County, Chan Ji? To tell you the truth, over the years, I have sent people to inquire in many ways, but nothing has been found except that it may live in Putuo. ”

Xue Yantuo. The heavenly general's heart suddenly moved, and his body was originally leaning on the back of the chair, but at this moment he stood up unconsciously. His eyes were fixed on the person in front of him, his eyes full of scrutiny.

Li Shimin saw Xue Yantuo. The heavenly general behaved like this, so he smiled bitterly.

"Could it be that the general really regarded me as a heinous person?"

As he spoke, he got up and walked slowly to the window, his eyes looking out of the window. I saw a colorful butterfly-shaped paper kite floating in the blue sky, flying up and down lightly with the breeze. After a moment of silence, he turned his back to Xue Yantuo. Tian will continue to say:

"Actually, for so many years, I have been unable to sleep. At the beginning, for the sake of the stability of the Tang Dynasty, Jiang Yuanxian's brother did not hesitate to use his own life as the price to seize the country for me and die on the battlefield. However, I didn't even know the whereabouts of the Lord Chanji, and one of his weak women was left alone. If in the future, if I ride the dragon for nine days and meet a virtuous brother, how should I say it? ”

In the end, Li Shimin's breathing became more and more rapid, and his breath became very unstable. Sighing heavily, he simply stopped talking.

There was silence in the study, Xue Yantuo. The heavenly general quietly watched Li Shimin's back, and his heart was also mixed.

As the so-called political situation is like a chess game, he originally thought that in Li Shimin's heart, Jiang Yuanxian's brother was just a chess piece, and after some killing, he could be discarded casually. But I didn't expect that I would be wrong and blame the other party.

Thinking of this, Xue Yantuo. The general's expression softened a little. He got up and came behind Li Shimin, pretending to be calm and said:

"Your Majesty, although the heavenly general has always been in the Western Regions grassland, he has also been secretly inquiring about the whereabouts of his sister-in-law. However, strange to say, since she left Chang'an back then, it was as if the world had evaporated, and there was no more news. It's just that someone in the middle told me that she seems to have been to Putuo, the country of Buddha. ”

Li Shimin turned around suddenly and looked at Xue Yantuo excitedly. Heavenly generals. He originally had some doubts, after all, Chang'an was far away from Putuo Tiangao Road, and it was surrounded by the sea on three sides, so it was where the ocean was. Mo said that she is a weak woman, even if it is a man, if you want to go there, there are many difficulties. But now Xue Yantuo. The words of the Heavenly General just confirm the previous statement, which adds a lot of hope. In that case, he should send someone to find him.

"That being the case, then I ordered people to set off to Putuo to find the county lord of Chanji."

Li Shimin walked quickly to the door as he spoke, and was about to order Jin Wuwei to summon the guards to come. But listen to Xue Yantuo behind him. The heavenly general suddenly said:

"Wait."

Li Shimin turned around suspiciously when he heard this, only to see the other party walking quickly in front of him, and proposed in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, now that the Tang Dynasty has been built at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there are many eyes and ears in the palace, if you send someone to look for it like this, I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to the county lord of Chanji. If, according to the heavenly generals, it would not be more appropriate if someone had secretly visited him? ”

Li Shimin pondered for a moment, and asked in a condensed voice: "What General Tianjiang said is indeed reasonable, but I was not thoughtful before. Who, then, do you think you should go? ”

"Back to the Tang Emperor, Shan Zhuokun, the Imperial Heavenly Supervisor, should be the best candidate."

Xue Yantuo. The heavenly general clenched his fists and said with burning eyes.

Li Shimin looked at the other party with some surprise, but he didn't expect that in just this short period of time, he had already appreciated Shan Zhuokun so much. It seems that Shan Zhuokun is indeed a genius, and I should use it well in the future.

"Okay, since there is a recommendation from the general, then this matter will be decided like this."

A faint smile appeared on Li Shimin's lips, and he agreed.