Chapter 2324 Message
The two soldiers jumped off their horses and immediately ran to General Li to report: "The general manager will divide the troops into two groups. One group will go to cut off the Western Turkic route, and the other group will return to the Kucha royal city. They will arrive early tomorrow morning..."
Keke relayed this to Manbao.
Manbao breathed a sigh of relief and ran to find Baishan.
Bai Shan was standing at the window, looking at the street below. When he heard the noise, he turned around to look at her. He smiled slightly and asked, "Any news?"
Manbao nodded vigorously and smiled at him with squinted eyes.
Bai Shan knew it, and he smiled slightly. Without asking for specific information, he stretched out his hand to her.
Manbao put his hand on his, and the two of them looked at the street below the post station side by side.
Although they had just experienced a war, the streets were now bustling again, and there were many small stalls selling various foods under the post station.
It’s a pity that they can’t go out, otherwise it would be nice to go and taste it.
There may be another war here tomorrow.
The next morning, officials from Kucha brought several medicinal herb merchants to see Zhou Man. They brought some medicinal herbs, including those listed on Manbao's list and other herbs.
As soon as he came in, the official glanced calmly at the servants serving in the post station. When he saw him shake his head slightly, he knew that Bai Shan and the others were quite honest last night and did not do anything unnecessary.
The official smiled and introduced the medicinal herb merchant to Zhou Man, then stood aside and watched them identify the medicinal herbs and bargain.
Manbao wanted good medicines for replenishing blood and qi. Basically, she bought all the herbs of this type brought by the medicine merchants and bargained over the price. As for other medicines, Manbao thought about the situation of the herbs in the camp and picked out some to buy. At the same time, she also asked to see some other herbs.
After some selection and bargaining, the group stayed until noon.
Koko said, "The army is setting up an ambush at the other city gate, and General Meng is leading the troops in your tent towards this city gate."
This is about to be a pincer attack. Manbao lowered his eyes and picked out two herbs from the pile. He placed them on the table, one on the west and the other on the north. He smiled and asked Bai Shan, "These are white ginseng and cranesbill for stopping bleeding. I remember our army has cranesbill, but not much. Do you think I should buy more cranesbill or some white ginseng?"
Bai Shan lowered his eyes to look at the position of the two herbs on the table, and after a pause, he said, "Greed agrimony is good, but since we have it in the army, let's buy some Bletilla striata."
Manbao nodded, turned around and said to the medicinal herb merchant who could provide Bletilla striata: "Give us a load."
Bai Shan took out his purse, poured out a gold ingot from it, and asked the merchants to cut it in half and divide the money, and then give him the remaining change.
When the merchants saw this gold ingot, they wanted to recommend some other medicines. Most of the money had been spent, so why not just spend it all? What's the point of asking for change?
Bai Shan, however, smiled and said to the officials, "Your medicinal herbs are too expensive now. When the general enters the city, please show mercy and allow the soldiers in the army to buy some cheaper herbs. Many of our soldiers were injured in the last battle."
The last battle at the city gate had seen them recapture the royal city. This was a triumph for Kucha, so the official was very proud. He smiled and said, "When General Guo comes in, the king will certainly treat him well."
Bai Shan glanced at Man Bao and smiled, "In that case, even for the sake of the soldiers, we should go back quickly and complete this matter."
Bai Shan took the opportunity to say goodbye to the officials and asked to leave through the west gate.
He explained, "As you know, many of the soldiers in the army are recruits from the Central Plains, and they all want to return home. So General Guo has only discussed this move with several lieutenant generals in the army. To avoid confusion in the army, it's not appropriate to publicize this matter when you send troops to officially take over."
"The day we came here, General Guo replaced the personnel at the checkpoint and found another excuse to leave the camp. Now it's not appropriate to leave through the north gate. Otherwise, if the soldiers guarding the checkpoint see us, it will be difficult to explain."
The official frowned slightly. "But we still need to go back to the camp with you to meet General Guo. Do we have to do this secretly?"
Bai Shan quickly said, "Not really. All we need to do is for the envoys to change into Han Chinese clothing. Then, you can follow us directly into the camp to meet General Guo. Once we've discussed the terms of surrender, we'll find an opportunity to collect the soldiers' weapons and bring them back. Your Majesty's army will then be able to take over directly, and even those who disobey orders can be quickly captured." Seeing Bai Shan's thoughtfulness and reasonableness, the other party thought for a moment and nodded, "It's a bit far to leave the city from the west gate and walk back to the north city."
Bai Shan smiled and said, "Although it's far, if we leave the city now and speed up on the road, we can still arrive before sunset. Besides, the army will be having dinner at that time, and it will be dark soon, so fewer people will notice us."
The official couldn't help but smile and said, "Master Bai is really thoughtful. He even thought of this."
I suspect they had planned this route and reason long ago.
Bai Shan smiled at him sheepishly, "It's a secret matter, so it's always better to be careful."
The official had no objection, but still reported the matter to the king.
The soldier quickly reported back and the King of Kucha agreed.
As Bai Shan and his group were escorting a carriage towards the west city gate, General Bali watched them from a distance on horseback. He sneered and turned to his confidant, "The King of Kucha is a heartless man. He's been besieged by Guo Xiao for so many days, and he actually accepted his surrender the moment he surrendered."
"General, shall we go back?"
"No," he said. "Kucha hasn't given us the food, fodder, and gold and silver they promised us yet. Since they don't want us to send troops anymore, we should give them the promised food, fodder, and gold and silver before we leave."
“What if they never give it to me?”
Bali sneered, "If he doesn't give it to us, we can take it ourselves."
As he spoke, his eyes swept over the stalls on the street and the shops behind them. Manbao rode beside Bai Shan, and Koko said, "Your camp has raised the flag you mentioned."
Manbao looked at Baishan and said, "I want to eat the big pancake in the tent."
Erge, who was riding a horse not far away, couldn't help but look up at her. This was agreed upon before leaving the camp. Once Zhou Man said this, the army would return to attack the city in two quarters of an hour.
He couldn't help but look around, but he didn't find anything unusual, yet it seemed that there was something unusual everywhere.
So where did Zhou Man get the information?
No matter where they came from, everyone who heard this would stiffen their backs, sit up slightly, and seem to continue walking forward without any abnormalities, but their hands would touch the knife handle from time to time to confirm that their knife was hanging on their waist.
Only Bai Shan smiled and replied to her, "Eat it when you get home."
The two stopped talking, but as they looked at the West City Gate in the distance, they slowed down their speed, invisibly slowing down the convoy. Manbao pointed at the cakes on a stall and said, "Even though we can eat them back home, I still want to try the meat cakes from Kucha."
When the Kucha official who came to see them off and was also going to the camp with them saw them, he generously bought two for them to try.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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