Chapter 140: Prelude to the Exercise!

After a round of discussion, everyone had basically settled on the rules for the military exercise. The remaining questions were who would serve as the grand general of the exercise and where it would take place!

"That's simple. I will personally act as the grand general, and as for the location—it shall be my Inner Imperial Palace!" Li Er waved his hand and said with an air of dominance.

However, his proposal was met with universal opposition.

Fang Xuanling: "Your Majesty, this must not be! If you serve as the grand general, who would ever dare to strike at you?"

Li Er: "I can give my prior promise that no one will be held accountable for this!"

Wei Zheng: "Your Majesty, it is not a matter of whether you hold anyone accountable. If you act as the grand general, the exercise itself would constitute a grave act of disrespect toward the throne!"

Li Er glared, his eyes wide: "How is that disrespectful? Oh! During wartime, you don't let me lead the campaigns in person, and I let that pass. But now this is merely a military exercise, and you still object! Exactly who is the emperor here, you or me?"

Everyone hastily dropped to their knees, crying out that they dared not. It was clear that Li Er was truly anxious this time. He was an emperor who had won his realm on horseback, but ever since ascending the throne, he had no longer fought in wars. Now that such a rare opportunity had finally presented itself, he truly did not want to miss it! Yet, the civil officials could not possibly agree, and Li Li was even more opposed to the idea. Letting the Wolf Squad carry out a decapitation strike already crossed a major taboo; had he not been driven to this point by circumstances, and had he not devised a countermeasure, Li Li would never have taken such a risk. Yet, if the Wolf Squad were to actually take Li Er's head, Li Li firmly believed that he and the Wolf Squad would be killed so thoroughly not even their bones would remain!

Seeing Li Er taking the matter so seriously, Li Li felt a burning anxiety in his heart. He was beginning to regret making that bet in the first place! Huh? Wait—a bet? Exactly!

Li Li raised his head abruptly and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, your subject has something to say!" Right now, Li Er was in the middle of a fit of anger; Li Li certainly didn't dare casually address him as "Uncle Li"!

Li Er asked in an irritated tone: "Speak!" But he still refused to let Li Li and the ministers rise from their knees!

Li Li had no choice but to stay kneeling, straighten his upper body, and reply: "Your Majesty, you truly cannot serve as this grand general!" As soon as Li Li uttered those words, Li Er shot him a glare filled with "killing intent," sending a chill straight through Li Li's heart!

Li Li forced out a dry smile, swallowed hard, and said: "Uncle Li, please don't be upset; listen to me first. Uncle Li, this military exercise isn't going to be a one-time event. After this, you can entirely hold military exercises across the entire armed forces. That way, you can test the combat effectiveness of various troops—it's killing two birds with one stone. Moreover, that kind of exercise will allow your true skills to shine, which is far better than this decapitation raid. Although this decapitation raid is also an exercise, the grand general is restricted to defense and forbidden from attacking. How frustrating would that be? It wouldn't showcase your abilities at all. Therefore, there is completely no need for you to participate in this particular exercise. You can observe as an onlooker to thoroughly grasp the essence of the exercises, and in the future, you can design the exercise rules yourself and participate so you can truly enjoy it. Besides, don't forget—this exercise involves a wager, and you need to act as our referee!"

Li Li rattled this off in a single breath, then anxiously looked up at Li Er, unsure whether the emperor's anger had subsided.

After listening, Li Er frowned and pondered for a moment before slowly sitting back down. Then, with a smile, he said: "Rise, my esteemed ministers! I simply won't act as the grand general, then!"

Hearing this, the ministers finally let out sighs of relief and slowly got back to their feet. Once standing, they couldn't help casting admiring glances at Li Li; this brat actually possessed some quick wit! But right after looking at him, they remembered that the entire debacle had been caused by this very same brat—why on earth were they feeling grateful to him? They immediately glared fiercely at him instead. The ministers' erratic reactions left Li Li completely baffled. What was wrong with everyone? Acting all jumpy and dramatic, had kneeling made them all lose their minds?

Once everyone was back on their feet, Li Er slowly said: "Since I am not acting as the grand general, which of you esteemed ministers is willing to take it on?"

Before Li Li's voice had even faded from the hall, Cheng Yaojin, Li Ji, Yuchi Jingde, Duan Zhixuan, and another military officer whom Li Li did not recognize hastily stepped out of the ranks.

"Your subject is willing!"

Other military officials, seeing those four step forward, checked their steps. Lijing was actually interested as well, but to avoid suspicion, he had no choice but to hold back. Meanwhile, fierce generals like Li Daozong and Li Xiaogong were not present; they did not normally attend morning court audiences, and anyone else remaining lacked the qualifications to participate in this matter!

Li Er cast his gaze over them and saw four major generals, none of whom were willing to yield to the others. Instantly, he felt a headache coming on!

"Brat Li, what do you think? This time your side only has ten men; I will give you the chance to select your own opponents!"

As soon as Li Er spoke, all four major generals fixed hungry gazes upon Li Li, giving him goosebumps all over his body!

"Uncle Li, where will the exercise take place?"

After a brief moment of thought, Li Er replied: "According to your suggestion, right here in Chang'an City. As for the grand general's command tent, let us set it up in the Lingyun Pavilion within the Inner Imperial Palace! That is the tallest building within the palace, and I can watch your exercise from up there."

Li Li nodded indifferently. Where the location was made no difference to him; could special operations be seen just by standing high up?

Li Li might not have cared, but the ministers certainly did. What kind of place was the imperial palace? Was that a place where weapons and troops could be unleashed?

Just as Li Er finished speaking, the officials moved to object, but Li Er did not afford them the opportunity. "That's enough. I am also taking this opportunity to test the palace's internal defenses; the matter is thus settled!"

Seeing this, no one tried to dissuade him further. They had already opposed him once just now; if they objected again, Li Er would truly lose his temper. In any case, the imperial palace belonged to Li Er—he could toss it about however he pleased! Realizing this, the censors retreated and fell silent.

Seeing that the matter was finalized, Li Li spoke up: "Your Majesty, since it is so, the rules of the exercise are that the Wolf Squad must find a way to infiltrate Chang'an City first, then enter the palace, and finally carry out the decapitation raid. In other words, the entire city of Chang'an is the battlefield. Since that is the case, why not have the four generals each guard a different location, and the Wolf Squad's mission will be to take the heads of all four generals? How does that sound?"

When Li Li finished, the four generals refused to accept it. Wasn't this looking down on them? With only ten men, it still required all four of them to take the field together?

Yuchi Jingde's fiery temper flared up first. "You brat! You go too far with your contempt!"

Cheng Yaojin also began shouting and hollering. "Even old Cheng here can't bear to listen to this!"

The other two men also wore faces full of indignation.

Seeing that he had provoked public outrage, Li Li could only explain: "My esteemed uncles, it's not that your junior looks down upon you, but rather that you do not understand special operations. Once you understand what special operations are, you will know that numbers are simply not an issue for special operators! The only thing that can defend against special operators is special combat."

Li Er's interest was piqued. "Brat, you're always talking about special operations and special operators. I must see this for myself! Four ministers, make your choice: either go up together, or pick one among yourselves to stand guard!"

With grim expressions on their faces, the four men declared: "Your Majesty, we shall go together. I want to see just how formidable this brat's so-called special operations really are!"

"Hahahaha! Very well! My lords, hear my decree!"

Everyone hastily straightened up and stood at attention to receive the imperial decree!

"Morning court shall be suspended for tomorrow and the day after to conduct the military exercise decapitation raid! Li Ji is commanded to act as the primary general, leading the Thousand-Bull Guards to garrison the inner precincts of the imperial palace! Cheng Yaojin is commanded to act as the deputy general, leading the Gate-Monitoring Guards to garrison the main gate of the imperial palace! Hou Junji and Yuchi Jingde are commanded as deputy generals, leading the Northern衙 (Yamen) Imperial Guards to garrison the eastern and western cities of Chang'an respectively, with Zhuque Street as the dividing boundary! The Wolf Squad is tasked with the offensive. The exercise shall run from tomorrow morning at the Hour of Chen until the Hour of Chen the following day! The remaining ministers shall accompany me to the Lingyun Pavilion to observe the battle!"

"We obey the imperial decree!"

As Li Li looked at the man furthest to the right among the four generals, hearing Li Er's decree informed him that this person was the Minister of War, Hou Junji—a grand general known for seeking glory and harboring a narrow mind. Li Li remembered historical records noting that this man had once sought to learn military strategy from the veteran general Li Jing; because the veteran general had not taught him everything, he had falsely accused Li Jing of plotting rebellion, which spoke volumes about the man's character. In the end, this fellow seemed to have rebelled alongside Li Chengqian and was executed by Li Er! In short, he was no good bird, and Li Li's heart instantly raised its guard against him!

After the court was dismissed, everyone went off to handle their respective duties. The four major generals, in particular, needed to temporarily instruct the soldiers under their command in the basic rules of the exercise. Because time was tight and everyone was using real weapons and live steel, the generals had to drill into their men the rules—such as drawing blood counting as being killed in action!

Li Li walked home alongside his grandfather. On the way:

Veteran General Li Jing: "Li'er, have you thought this through? In the event that you succeed, how will you deal with His Majesty's suspicion?"

Li Li: "Mn! I have a general idea. If this matter succeeds, then Your grandfather's return to active command won't be far off!"

Veteran General: "What return to command? Are you brat actually being serious? Although your grandfather holds an idle title nowadays, if a war truly breaks out, I can still lead troops into battle. Therefore, there's no such thing as returning from retirement or not!"

"Oh, come off it, Grandfather! In this era of peace and prosperity, although there are quite a few hidden enemies surrounding the Great Tang, how many are worth you personally taking the field? How many more campaigns can you lead? Spare me these empty words with your own grandson!"

Li Jing pondered for a moment and nodded helplessly: "It really is just as you say, brat. But you mustn't take reckless risks. Your grandfather is old; whether I return to command or not makes no difference. But you are different—our Li family still needs you. You are already in a dangerous position; you must not take risks anymore!"

Li Li nodded in agreement. In truth, he desperately wanted to consult Li Jing for advice, but the Li family already made Li Er wary. Whenever Li Li had matters to handle, he tried his best to plan them out himself, avoiding involving his grandfather whenever possible so that Li Er would not suspect the two of them of plotting something together. Even though doing this might not guarantee Li Er's trust, Li Li still had to tread carefully.

Upon returning to the Li estate, Li Li rested only briefly before hurrying over to the Jiang estate. Arriving there, Li Li issued the mission to the Wolf Squad, explained the rules to them once more, and delivered a final pep talk!

"Brothers, this is your battle to forge your legend. Whether you succeed depends entirely on yourselves. I've said everything that needs to be said. Tomorrow, I will be waiting for you at the Lingyun Pavilion. I hope that by then, every single one of you can stand before me without a single man missing. Wolf Squad!"

"Kill!"