Chapter 26: Battlefield
"Xianzhu, ah Xianzhu, you should come and discuss this with me..."
Mingjiu got up early and waited for Qiandeng to come to him to discuss the conditions he proposed to her.
No matter how he thought about it, he felt that she had nowhere to go in Kucha, and in the end she had no choice but to ask for help from him, the Uighur prince.
As long as she comes over, won't she be able to be manipulated by him?
The marriage between the princess of Uighur and Kucha, isn't that a deal?
The more he thought about it, the prouder he felt. He looked in the mirror and even felt that his curly and unruly hair looked more handsome than usual.
After waiting for a while, as the sun was getting high in the sky, he even went to look outside the camp where the Uighurs were stationed, but still did not see anyone.
Just as he was getting anxious, he saw a soldier rushing in, presumably to report something. Overjoyed, he immediately said, "Go tell the Princess of Lingling County that I'm busy with a multitude of state affairs and can't keep myself busy. Tell her to wait half an hour before speaking!"
The soldier was puzzled and took out a letter and handed it to him: "I haven't seen the Princess of Lingling. This is the military report I just received. Please take a look, Prince."
He immediately lost his temper and waved his hand weakly to signal him to leave, muttering to himself: "This shouldn't be the case..."
By this time, the news of Yuchi Yiyao's defeat of the Kucha army must have reached Xianzhu.
The situation in Kucha was so difficult that she couldn't remain indifferent and stand idly by.
"Who else can save her except my Huihe prince, who has many soldiers and generals?"
On second thought, he felt that it made sense. After all, marriage was a big deal, and it was normal for Xianzhu to be nervous. She would always hesitate. If the situation continued to develop, she would naturally come to him in a hurry to beg him. Wouldn't he be able to set any conditions at that time?
Thinking happily, he opened the military newspaper in his hand, took a look, and immediately jumped up.
"What the hell? Aren't the Shuofang Army in Beiting? How could a spy chasing the Xifan Army end up here, just happen to save the Lingling County Princess, and then instantly hit it off with her? One to save the Kucha Army, the other for military merit, and they rushed into the Xifan Army's camp overnight, saving General Yuchi and the Kucha Army from near death?"
No wonder she didn't come to see him, it turned out that she didn't need him anymore.
Mingjiu's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He slammed the military newspaper on the table. When he glanced at the last line, he became even angrier.
Well, even Ji Linyou knew about it, and he had urgently summoned the old subordinates of King Changhua who could be contacted nearby, and rushed to meet Xianzhu overnight. Only he received the news!
Although this is in the territory of Kucha and the Tang Dynasty, it is inappropriate for the Uighurs to react too quickly, but they only delivered the message now. Could these people have done it on purpose?
Mingjiu was furious. While cursing the Shuofang army and Ji Linyou, he rushed out of the camp and ordered the troops to be reorganized. After learning that the battle had just ended and they were still cleaning up the battlefield, he hurriedly led his men to the place where the incident happened last night.
After all, if they wait any longer, not only will the Huihe people not be able to get the county princess as a marriage partner, they may not even be able to participate in this battle.
The rising sun shone on the wasteland after the battle. The smell of blood was everywhere. Flies and vultures had already smelled the scent and gathered on the corpses.
Although it wasn't the first time he had smelled it, Ji Linyou couldn't help but frown at this situation. He turned around and looked in the direction of Qian Deng. Seeing that she wasn't too close, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked the veteran beside him: "Uncle Liang, have all the bodies been counted? How many casualties have our brothers suffered?"
Uncle Liang stabbed the corpse on the ground with his knife, not even caring about the blood on his clothes. "We don't have many old buddies here who heard the news and rushed over. The Shuofang Army killed the enemy like they were willing to die. How can we pick up many loopholes? We can only clean up the mess. They have taken most of the credit. I heard that Lao Liu and Lao Zhang were injured. We will see if they are serious later... Ouch!"
He poked the corpses on the ground to check whether there were any Western soldiers pretending to be dead, but unexpectedly he almost poked a soldier wearing Kucha costume.
The soldier moved a little. The wound on his back was still bleeding, but he looked like he was still breathing.
Ji Linyou turned around and shouted, "Military doctor, come here quickly, there's a survivor over here!"
Qiandeng turned around and saw that it was a Kucha soldier. He immediately signaled the military doctor to come over and followed him.
After taking two steps, she felt something strange under her feet. She looked down and saw that the dirt in the wilderness was soaked with blood, sticking to the soles of her shoes, sticky and heavy.
She was stunned for a moment, then looked up at the wasteland littered with corpses.
The soldiers worked in groups of three, searching the bodies. They stabbed the enemy soldiers in the vitals to confirm their death, and carried the bodies of their comrades aside to wait for cleaning.
Everyone was calm, almost numb. Occasionally, someone would turn over a twisted body and say, "Isn't this Wang Si? His wife gave birth to a baby last year."
"The pension for elderly mothers and young children has been increased, so since he has an extra child, he can get an extra portion, so it's not a loss."
A chill seemed to slowly fill her mind. She turned around and saw Li Yingshang behind her. She felt a tightness in her heart: "I'm sorry..."
He raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't know what she meant.
"If I hadn't borrowed troops from you, if it weren't for helping Kucha, your brothers wouldn't have suffered any casualties..."
"Why are they worrying about this? This is a rare opportunity for them. Otherwise, why would soldiers be so brave and rush to join the battle?" He said calmly, "Since they have chosen this path, if they don't go into battle and kill the enemy, how will they support their families? Where will they find a future in military service?"
Qian Deng stared at him intently and subconsciously asked, "Are you also... like this?"
He casually pointed to his back and said, "Didn't you see the scars on my body?"
Of course she had seen it. Under the clothes that she had torn, there were numerous scars, new and old, just like the footprints he had left along the way, deep and shallow, and eternal until his death.
It turns out that this is the life of her grandfather, her father, and Li Yingshang.
She stood in this unprecedented scene, breathing in the bloody smell, and looked back to see the military doctor directing the Kucha soldiers to carry the seriously injured soldier to the flat ground.
As he passed by her, the soldier struggled to open and close his withered lips, trying his best to squeeze out a few words to her: "Princess of the Tang Dynasty...you came to save us...you are not the murderer..."
The Kucha soldiers who were carrying him also subconsciously stopped and several of them bowed their heads to thank her, but they didn't know what to say for a moment.
There were heavy footsteps behind him. It was Yuchi Yiyao who had bandaged his wound and was limping over with the help of soldiers.
The general, who had always held a huge prejudice against her, stared at her, as if he had finally made up his mind. He shook off the soldiers who were supporting him and led everyone in bowing: "Princess of the Tang Dynasty, thank you for coming to help us at this critical moment. All the men in this battle of Kucha are relying on you to save their lives!"
Qian Deng didn't expect him to kneel down in the bloody mud without a word. He quickly bent down to help him up. "I am a descendant of the King of Changhua. Like you, I have the blood of Kucha flowing through my veins. Fighting foreign enemies and defending Kucha is our duty. General, there is no need to be so reserved."
General Yuchi was helped to his feet by her and the soldiers behind him, a look of shame still on his face. "We all misunderstood the county lady before. Please join me in this triumphant return to the city. I want to prove to the king, the Kucha court, and everyone in the royal city that we shouldn't have fallen for the Xifan people's treacherous schemes. The Tang Dynasty county lady is definitely not the murderer who murdered the Kucha royal family!"
"That's right! I was so worried when I saw you wrongly accusing the county lady!" Ji Linyou breathed a sigh of relief nearby. "Don't you think about the fact that the county lady came all the way back just to harm Kucha? She was escorting the spirits of Prince Changhua and the Crown Prince back to their homeland!"
General Yuchi was speechless with shame when he suddenly heard a strangely accented Chinese voice behind him: "Yes, our Xianzhu is the most shining (kind) fairy. You can't understand the blood (heart) she has devoted to Qiuci!"
The man who had hurried out was naturally Mingjiu. He paid no heed to the mud and blood on the ground, his boots clacking as he stepped over the corpses and made his way to Qiandeng's side. He glanced at the battlefield being cleaned up, seeing that most of the soldiers were dressed in Western Fan uniforms. He was immediately disheartened. What should he do? Xianzhu had won this battle so beautifully, but his bargaining power had shrunk dramatically!
Of course, he still appeared arrogant on the surface and asked, "Xianzhu, aren't you being really ungrateful? I agreed to help you, but you didn't stay (with me) and came here instead?"
Thinking of how he had raised the price yesterday, Qian Deng could only say, "You are asking for an exorbitant price. I cannot afford to negotiate, so I can only ask the brothers from the Shuofang Army for help."
"The Shuofang Army is passing through, but this isn't their territory. What will you do after they leave? We, the Huihe Army, will have to come!"
As if he couldn't stand his noise, Li Yingshang next to him couldn't stand it anymore and coughed softly.
Mingjiu, who was running over in a hurry, with his mind and eyes full of thousands of lights, turned around and was immediately shocked to find the existence of this big devil.
"You... you you you, are you wondering why you are here?"
"I received a tip-off that the Western tribes were making unusual moves in Kucha. I was worried they might harm His Royal Highness, so I rushed here to investigate. It just so happened that the outpost soldiers rescued the county princess, so I came to take a look."
I don't believe you at all. When you were staying in Changhua Palace under the pseudonym Ling Tianshui, you said you were recuperating from an illness!
Mingjiu complained in his heart, but he couldn't say anything, so he could only turn his face away in frustration.
Li Yingshang had already signaled to him, "Let's go, you and the county lady can have a good discussion. Let us all see what price the Huihe are prepared to offer."
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