Bombarding Chang'an

"You are An Lushan?"

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes, sizing up the obese man before him.

"And who might you be?"

Though bound, An Lushan remained defiant, curiously examining Li Shimin and the others. Then he exclaimed in surprise, "How bold! You dare to wear a dragon robe? Are you plotting rebellion?"

"Rebellion?"

Hearing this, everyone—including Li Shimin—was stunned. "You, a traitor, have the gall to accuse Us of rebellion?"

"I..."

An Lushan opened his mouth, then paused.

True.

Wasn't he the rebel here?

"Do you know who stands before you?" Li Yunlong suddenly spoke up.

An Lushan sneered dismissively. "Ha! I don't care who he is. Wearing a dragon robe only makes him a rebel like me."

"I am the Great Ancestor Emperor of the Tang Dynasty—Li Shimin!"

Li Shimin had intended to recite his full list of titles but decided against it.

"Great Ancestor? Li Shimin?"

An Lushan was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. "How amusing. A rebel calling himself the Great Ancestor. And since I'm your prisoner, what's the point of lying to me with these false identities?"

"You're right, you are nothing but a prisoner now. What benefit would we gain by deceiving you?" Li Shimin countered.

At this, An Lushan frowned, studying the man carefully. After a long pause, he ventured, "Are you... truly the Great Ancestor?"

"What else would I be?"

Li Shimin lifted his chin. "Think about how you were captured. Have you ever seen weapons like those before?"

Recalling those weapons filled An Lushan's face with terror. The memory was horrifying—his hundreds of thousands of troops, utterly helpless against a mere squad of a few hundred.

"In the first month of the fifteenth year of the Tianbao era, An Lushan proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang, establishing the state of Yan with the reign title Shengwu. He later captured Tong Pass and occupied Chang'an," Qin Ning suddenly interjected.

An Lushan looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? 'The fifteenth year of Tianbao when I proclaimed myself emperor'? We're still in the fourteenth year."

"This gentleman is from a later era and speaks of events that have already occurred in history," Li Shimin explained.

"Later era?"

An Lushan was astonished, then grew excited. "So, according to you, I truly conquer Chang'an next year?"

"Yes."

Qin Ning nodded and continued, "However, in the second year of Zhide—that is, the sixteenth year of Tianbao—An Lushan's second son, An Qingxu, conspired with advisor Zhuang Yan and the eunuch Li Zhu'er to seize power and killed An Lushan."

"What did you say?"

An Lushan flew into a rage. "How dare such a thing happen!"

"You are treacherous, cunning, and cruel. Zhuang Yan, your chief strategist, was often beaten by you. And as for Li Zhu'er, wasn't it you who had him castrated?" Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled bitterly.

"Let's go. Time for Chang'an," Qin Ning announced.

With that, they soon exited the camp. Li Jinglong's 100,000-strong army had yet to return, so Qin Ning decided to take Li Yunlong's squad straight to Chang'an.

Once the group assembled, Qin Ning waved his hand, and they vanished from the spot in an instant.

When they appeared again, the group had arrived at a forest outside the city of Chang'an.

"That is Chang'an," Qin Ning said, pointing in a certain direction.

Looking ahead, they could see many soldiers standing guard atop the city walls, fully prepared for battle.

"Old Li, what’s the plan? Do we fight our way in?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

Hearing this, Li Shimin shook his head speechlessly. "Since when does an emperor storm his own city gates?"

"Didn't Zhu Qizhen count as one?" Qin Shi Huang stirred the pot.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face instantly darkened at the remark, and he wished he could travel back to the Zhengtong era right then and there to whip Zhu Qizhen a few times.

"Let's go. Let's check it out first," Li Shimin said.

With that, the group of over three hundred men proceeded all the way to the foot of Chang'an's city walls.

Their appearance immediately put the garrison on high alert.

Geshu Han, the general currently defending Chang'an, appeared in no time. Looking down at the party of just over three hundred men, he frowned and demanded, "Who’s your commanding officer?"

No sooner had he spoken than Feng Changqing stepped to the front of the crowd and called up to the battlements, "General Geshu, it's me."

"Feng Changqing?"

Geshu Han recognized Feng Changqing at once, and his frown deepened. "Why aren't you guarding Tong Pass? What are you doing back in Chang'an so suddenly? And why are these soldiers you brought back dressed so strangely?"

"Tong Pass is under Gao Xianzhi’s command, and the rebellion has mostly been put down," Feng Changqing replied, then added, "Open the gates first."

Hearing this, Geshu Han shook his head. "You abandoned your post to bring troops back to Chang'an—that’s a capital offense. And do you really think I’ll believe the rebellion is already suppressed?"

Though Geshu Han had not yet reached Tong Pass, he had carefully studied the battle reports sent back from there and knew that suppressing the rebellion so quickly was impossible.

That meant Feng Changqing was up to something!

"I am Li Shimin, the Great Ancestor of the Tang Dynasty! Open the gates at once!"

At that moment, Li Shimin stepped out from the crowd.

The Great Ancestor? Li Shimin?

Geshu Han froze for a moment, then erupted in fury. "How dare you counterfeit the name of our Tang Great Ancestor! Fine, fine—you even put on an imperial robe! Feng Changqing, have you lost your mind? Are you plotting rebellion?"

"General Geshu, please open the gates. This man truly is the Great Ancestor. We'll explain everything once we're inside," Feng Changqing urged.

"Not only plotting rebellion, but you want to enter the city?" Geshu Han snorted coldly.

"If you refuse to open the gates, don’t blame us for breaking in ourselves. General Geshu, do you really think these gates can stop us?" Feng Changqing narrowed his eyes.

"Old Li, enough of the chatter. Dawdling—soon it’ll be dark," Zhu Yuanzhang said to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin fell silent for a moment, then turned to Li Yunlong beside him and said, "General Li, I leave this to you."

"Don’t worry, it’s a small matter."

Li Yunlong chuckled, then raised his hand. A soldier stepped forward carrying a rocket launcher.

"Last chance—open the gates, or don’t blame us for taking action!" Li Yunlong shouted up to Geshu Han on the wall.

Geshu Han sneered. "A mere three hundred men, and you think you can attack Chang'an? Do you really believe..."

"BOOM!"

But before he could finish his words, a thunderous roar rang out—like the bellow of an angry dragon. The next moment, a shell landed squarely on the city gates.

The gates were blown apart. Against the power of modern firearms, ancient fortifications stood no chance at all.

"This... this..."

Geshu Han was utterly astonished, never expecting such an outcome.

"What is that?"

He stared at the rocket launcher carried on the soldier's shoulder, his eyes filled with sheer terror.