In the city of Chang'an, there were constant cries of mourning, and remnant soldiers who had escaped could be seen everywhere on the streets.
They recalled the tragic defeat the night before and the death of their comrades with great sadness, and could not help crying and expressing regret.
Both groups of troops returned in defeat. Most of the troops in the city were lost, and the morale they had just raised fell to the bottom again.
Inside the handsome manor.
Li Jue sat in the middle of the hall, his eyes gloomy, his heart filled with endless sadness and resentment.
Li Ying stood silently next to him, staring at his brother with distressed eyes.
Li Huan, who was beside him, was covered in blood and mud, and he hadn't had time to clean it up.
Li Jue's tears fell silently.
Li Shi, his son, was once his pride, but now he has left him forever.
His heart was filled with guilt and grief, and he blamed himself for not taking good care of his son and not protecting him from harm.
Li Jue's eyes fell on Li Huan. He entrusted his son to Li Huan, but he came back on his own, and a rage began to burn in Li Huan's heart.
Li Jue jumped up suddenly, rushed to Li Huan, grabbed his collar, and yelled angrily: "You said you would take good care of Shi'er, but why did he die in the battle? How did you take care of him?"
Li Jue's voice was full of sadness and anger, and his eyes were full of resentment.
Li Huan stared at Li Jue with cold eyes, and his deliberate silence made the atmosphere even more tense.
Li Huan didn't want to give any explanation at this time. From the beginning, he tried his best to persuade Li Jue and his son not to leave the city, but they just didn't listen.
When he arrived at Cao Zhang's camp, he was even more careful not to let Li Shi rush in with his troops and reminded him everywhere.
Even when he finally broke through, he opened the way ahead and let Li Shi follow behind.
As an uncle, he thought that he had done everything he could to be benevolent and righteous, but he couldn't resist Li Shi and wanted to die on his own. He had to turn around and fight Cao Zhang. How could he be blamed for this? !
But Li Huan's silence not only did not calm Li Jue's anger, but intensified it. He shook Li Huan crazily and continued to roar: "Why don't you talk anymore? Don't you usually talk a lot? You said, give me back. son!"
Li Huan was completely furious when faced with Li Jue's unreasonable troubles. He threw away Li Jue's hand and responded angrily: "Li Jue! Don't put all the blame on me. Your son's death is with me." It doesn’t matter at all!”
"I have reminded you from the beginning that Cao Zhang is full of tricks and that Dong Cheng's messengers should not be trusted easily. As long as we stick to Chang'an, we will be fine. But will you, father and son, listen?"
"You and your son are just smart enough to insist on going out of the city to attack Cao Zhang's camp. No matter how long I tried to persuade him, it was in vain! Even outside the city, I tried my best to protect Shi'er, but he knew clearly that he was no match for Cao Zhang, so he still You have to rush forward and fight for your life, you blame me for this!? This is really unreasonable!" Li Huan angrily replied to Li Jue.
Li Jue's anger increased. He stood up angrily, pushed Li Huan away, and roared: "You coward! How dare you contradict me now? Are you going to rebel!?"
Li Huan sneered and said sarcastically: "Rebellion? I'm just telling the truth. Is this also called rebellion?!"
Li Jue suddenly pulled out the sword from his waist: "Do you believe I killed you?!"
Not to be outdone, Li Huan also drew his sword: "Come on, I want to see if you have this ability?!"
Li Jue raised his sword and was about to pounce on Li Huan. Li Ying, who had been watching the two quarreling, took action. He used his sword to deflect Li Jue's sword and stood between the two.
Li Ying said sadly: "Two brothers, do you really want to fight in the same room now, kill each other, and do things that make relatives hate and enemies enjoy!?"
Li Jue and Li Huan calmed down a little after being yelled at by Li Ying. They both held their swords and stopped in place, but the anger on their faces did not subside, and they still glared at each other.
"Brothers, now that things have happened and Shi'er is dead, it will not help if you continue to argue. But now Cao Zhang's army is still outside the city. Shouldn't we unite as one and deal with Cao Zhang first and try to kill him as his replacement? Will our dead son take revenge?!" Li Ying continued to persuade the two of them.
At this point, he looked at Li Jue sadly and whispered: "Brother, don't forget, you are not the only one who lost your son! We should focus on the overall situation now!"
"The overall situation, the overall situation..." Li Jue was moved by Li Ying's words and murmured in a low voice, but the grief in his heart still could not be eliminated, and tears rolled in his eyes.
Li Huan had calmed down a little. He took the lead to put down the sword in his hand and snorted coldly: "Yes, if you have the strength to lose your temper with your own people and use swords and guns, you should think carefully about how to deal with Cao Zhang." Bar!"
Li Jue finally calmed down, slowly put down the sword in his hand, and sighed: "In the battle last night, we lost more than half of our army. Now besides holding on to Chang'an, what else can we do?"
"Then stop blaming each other. Let's lead everyone to withstand Cao Zhang's attack first!" Although Li Huan didn't say anything more, his words clearly contained dissatisfaction with Li Jue. He turned around and walked out of the hall of the handsome manor. .
At this time, Li Huan knew very well that there was no point in continuing to quarrel with Li Jue, but he also remembered the other party's complaints deeply in his heart, and he was already full of resentment towards Li Jue.
Li Jue looked at Li Huan leaving and recalled the whole incident. He had to admit that Li Huan was right. The root cause of the failure was the blind self-confidence of himself and his son Li Shi. It was really weird. Not to Li Huan.
Li Ying walked up to Li Jue and persuaded him in a low voice: "Brother, our sons are dead. Now we are the only three closest relatives. I sincerely hope that you will stop arguing. We still have to find a solution together." The only thing is to defeat Cao Zhang."
Li Ying's tone was full of deep worry and uneasiness.
Li Jue looked at Li Ying and nodded lightly, and responded helplessly: "I know, I will control my temper. Go and rest after a hard night."
Li Ying saw that Li Jue's mood was not right, so he didn't say anything more. He bowed to Li Jue and then left. Li Jue was the only one left in the hall.
Li Jue sat quietly, tears flowing down uncontrollably again.
He understood that he could not undo the past, nor could he make up for the pain of losing his son. At this time, he fell into deep self-blame.
"Son, you have a spirit in heaven, and you will definitely protect daddy from winning in the next battle. Dad will definitely kill Cao Zhang with his own hands and avenge you!" Li Jue silently made an oath in his heart, and his eyes regained their luster. His eyes were full of hatred and anger...
