Chapter 116 Chapter 116 Seeing Kunmi...
Seeing Kunmi wavering, Jiang Wan quickly continued, "Your country sent troops, ostensibly to help the wronged Third Prince of Da Zhou return to Lin'an. Do you know what crime led to Zhu Yongding's exile?"
Kunmi looked at her in confusion.
"It's treason. He knew that his bloodline was different, so he secretly trained 30,000 private soldiers. If it weren't for Your Majesty's consideration of the old friendship, he should have been executed." Jiang Wan said.
"Thirty thousand private soldiers?" Kunmi's eyes widened again. "Training so many soldiers secretly would be extremely costly. Where would he get his supplies and horses?"
As soon as he said this, he suddenly looked at Modun Khan.
Zhu Yongding was exiled to the Western Regions. Who rescued him? Even if he wanted to escape, a Central Plains prince could have escaped to the west, where Loulan, friendly with the Central Plains people, and to the north, where Yan, with its similar customs, held similarities. Why did he choose to flee to the Xiongnu?
Unless he had been cooperating with the Xiongnu from the very beginning. The Xiongnu provided him with supplies and horses for training his troops, and when he ascended the throne in the future, he would offer the entire Great Zhou as tribute and worship the Xiongnu as his master.
It is no wonder that everyone in the Zhou Dynasty, from the emperor to the soldiers, fought desperately against such a traitor.
But since they had already cooperated with the Xiongnu, what about the other Western Region states? What about the Wusun? Could Modun Khan's promise to rule the Central Plains and divide its artifacts equally among the nations really be fulfilled?
"Kunmi worked hard today to help Zhu Yongding ascend the throne, but in the future, the only masters in his heart will be the Huns." The sarcasm on Jiang Wan's face was half-removed, and her sweet girlish voice had a kind of almost innocent cruelty.
She leaned forward slightly, as if what was lying across her neck was not a deadly blade, but a lotus freshly picked in midsummer.
Modun Khan took a deep breath, finally putting away his previous arrogance. "Kunmi, I didn't tell you these things because I was afraid the news would leak out. Wusun is a brother of the Xiongnu. After Zhu Yongding surrenders, I will definitely give you priority in distributing the Central Plains' goods. In fact, even without Wusun's participation, our Xiongnu's military strength can still win. The reason I formed an alliance with Kunmi is simply to demonstrate the friendship between our two countries and to make it easier to distribute the Central Plains' gold and silver to Wusun in the future."
"You're so arrogant!" Jiang Wan sneered. "You treated Wusun as a brother, yet you ignored Kunmi's authority and barged into Kunmi's meeting room with a knife. You treated Wusun as a brother, yet you used a bet on the grassland as a pretext to commit murder. You treated Wusun as a brother, yet you forced your army to pass through Wusun, using Wusun as a battlefield and sending Wusun soldiers ahead of the Xiongnu."
Her tone suddenly became more serious: "How come the people of Wusun are not people, the soldiers are not soldiers, and the harm caused by war to Wusun is not harm?"
Hearing her yell, Modun Khan subconsciously tightened the knife in his hand and cut her skin: "If you dare to say nonsense again, I will chop off your head with a knife!"
Blood trickled down the long sword, dripping onto the ground with a gurgling sound. The blood trickled down Jiang Wan's fair skin, staining her plain robes in a breathtaking display of heroism.
Jiang Wan laughed heartily, "Khan, are you going to execute the envoys from Wusun in the royal court? Then come! Since I've dared to come to Chigu City, I've already put my life at risk. But after you kill me, do you still expect Kunmi to continue the alliance without any grudges? Or do you intend to force Kunmi to send troops at knifepoint?"
A crack appeared on Modun Khan's angry face.
Jiang Wan's fingers hidden under her sleeves turned white from being pinched by her. She pinched her fingertips suddenly and took half a step forward with the knife at her neck.
Modun Khan hastily withdrew his knife and looked at her as if she were a madman.
Jiang Wan leaned slightly to the side, licked his lips lightly, and gave Modun Khan a provocative smile in the blind spot of Wusun Kunmi's sight.
The latter was about to attack, but his hand was empty. Turning around, he saw that it was Kunmi's attendant who took the knife from his hand.
Modun Khan was startled, then heard Kunmi say in a deep voice, "Khan, it is against the rules to bring a knife into the meeting room. Your knife is stained with blood, so let the servants wash it."
Seeing that something was not right, Madam Zuo softened her voice and called out "Kunmi".
Kunmi glanced at her calmly and said, "The harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs. Madam Zuo, please go back and rest. I will come to see you when I have time."
Madam Zuo was horrified and was about to say something when a maid came up and pushed her wooden chair out of the conference room.
In the missing meeting room, Modun Khan's face darkened. "What does Kunmi mean? Do you really want to form an alliance with those defeated soldiers from the Central Plains? Aren't you afraid that we Xiongnu men will fight against the Wusun as well?"
Kunmi froze for a moment. After feeling proud just now, panic returned to his heart. He subconsciously denied it: "No..."
"What do you mean by remnants of defeated troops? You Xiongnu claim to have a 300,000-strong Western Region coalition, but in reality, Loulan hasn't yet formed an alliance with you. You're still short of 30,000 troops, right? If the 50,000 Wusun soldiers also join the Great Zhou camp, the Xiongnu will only have 220,000 troops, while we have 180,000." Jiang Wan interrupted him. "Among the Western Region nations, besides the Xiongnu, the Wusun and Loulan are the largest. Now that these two countries have joined the Central Plains camp, it shouldn't be difficult for me to convince the other smaller nations to join the Great Zhou, right?"
Jiang Wan wasn't exaggerating. As long as they could conquer the Wusun territories today, lobbying the other smaller nations in the Western Regions would be much easier. Even if a few remained unconvinced, it wouldn't be a big deal.
"If the Western Regions coalition forces cannot pass through Wusun or Loulan, they will have to travel a long distance. By then, they will be exhausted both physically and mentally. How confident can the Khan be?" Jiang Wan raised his hand to wipe the blood from his neck, leaving a bright red mark on his right wrist.
She smiled nonchalantly, "The Khan personally came to Wusun and ordered King Zuo Guli to station his troops on the Loulan Ancient Road to put pressure on Crown Prince Aigu. Is that why?"
Modun Khan finally showed a look of fear, took a half step back, and hurriedly shook the hand of Wusun Kunmi: "No, it's not like that, don't listen to the nonsense of this witch..."
Kunmi avoided his hand and said indifferently: "Miss Jiang is a distinguished guest from the Central Plains and also my benefactor, not the witch you are talking about."
After that, he turned to Jiang Wan and said, "Thank you for your advice today, young lady. Wusun will send troops to join the Great Zhou in resisting the Xiongnu. I will discuss the specific matters with the ministers and then draft a letter to your emperor. Miss Jiang, you have an injury, go get it bandaged first."
Jiang Wan: "My two adjutants..."
"I will let them out to meet the girl." Kunmi said.
Jiang Wan bowed calmly, "Thank you very much, Kunmi."
After leaving the meeting room, Fan Shixing and Bai Yanyun were already waiting outside. Seeing blood oozing from Jiang Wan's neck, Bai Yanyun was startled and hurried over to support him. Fan Shixing narrowed his eyes, a fierce look in his eyes.
Jiang Wan took a few steps, and the composure he had been trying so hard to maintain finally collapsed. His face turned pale as paper, and he staggered, grabbing Fan Shixing's arm with his right hand trembling.
This appearance frightened both Fan and Bai. Fan Shixing quickly used his internal energy to regulate Jiang Wan's internal breath and asked, "Are you okay?"
Jiang Wan's face turned pale as he shook his head. He let out a long breath and whispered, "I was scared to death."
Because Wusun hadn't prepared an inn for her when she arrived, Jiang Wan temporarily rested in an empty bedroom. Having been on edge in the meeting room and having lost a considerable amount of blood, she was now exhausted. She briefly recounted what had happened, waited for the witch doctor to bandage her wounds, and then fell into a deep sleep.
When they woke up, it was almost dusk. Fang and Qi had both been released. They had been imprisoned in a dark cell for a month. When they were rescued, they couldn't help but cry loudly and vowed to always follow Jiang Wan's orders.
After conferring with his ministers, Kunmi unanimously decided to join the Great Zhou camp. Of the 200,000 Xiongnu troops, 50,000 remained in the area, 50,000 were stationed outside Loulan to exert pressure, and the remaining 100,000 were stationed in Chigu City. To prevent a Xiongnu uprising, Kunmi detained Modun Khan and his wife, Lady Zuo, at the royal court.
Jiang Wan was unconscious, so Bai Yanyun and the others took care of the follow-up matters. It was agreed that 100,000 soldiers from the Great Zhou would immediately march to Chigu City. While the Xiongnu army was still assembled, they would join forces with the Wusun to eliminate the Xiongnu troops in Chigu City.
After the discussion, Fang and Bai immediately headed south to lobby other small countries in the Western Regions.
"Lord Bai said that the rest of the matters should be left to him and asked you to take good care of your injuries." Qi Qi brought a glass of warm water and handed it to Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan took two sips, held the teacup in his palm, and asked, "How's the situation over there, General Wen? When can we get to Chigu City?"
"General Wen received a letter via carrier pigeon on the evening of August 19th and led his army on the march that night. An hour ago, we received news that the army was still fifty miles away from Chigu City." Qi Qi said, "General Tuke is currently mobilizing the Wusun army and is waiting for General Wen's arrival to attack the Xiongnu from both sides.
The Great Zhou and Wusun had a total of 150,000 soldiers and horses. With Wen Shen's ability, it would not be difficult to deal with 100,000 Huns.
She would be able to see him when this battle was over.
Jiang Wan felt a secret anticipation rising in her heart. She picked up the battle report and flipped through the pages.
Upon hearing the news of the Wusun rebellion, King Zuoguli, who was outside Loulan, quickly evacuated with 50,000 troops and headed for Chigu City. Loulan and Chigu City were not far apart, and it was estimated that they would reach Chigu City in a day or two.
With the Xiongnu gone, Aigu's pressure was greatly relieved. He quickly dealt with the Loulan officials and was now gathering troops to reinforce Wusun.
At the same time, King Youguli, who was stationed in the Xiongnu homeland, was leading 50,000 local troops on a journey overnight - but these troops were mainly heavy armored soldiers, and by the time they arrived, the Battle of Chigu City should have been over.
Communication was difficult during wartime, and Jiang Wan only received these few battle reports. She put down her teacup, stood up, opened the window, and looked out.
Dark clouds covered the city, yellow sand was flying everywhere, Wusun soldiers were standing in neat rows under the city, and the sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly from the horizon.
None of the great battles she had read about in the history books of her previous life had made her more terrified than this one, and she even had a strange premonition of danger.
Her premonitions have always been incredibly accurate, but this time, she couldn't guess where this premonition was pointing to.
When people were in panic, smoke of war rose and the sound of killing shook the sky.
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