Less than 10,000 Tang cavalrymen, escorting nearly 20,000 Western Turkic captives, walked on the open grassland, just like a huge pack of wolves surrounding a group of sheep.
The setting sun was sharpening its head and drilling below the horizon. The remaining golden color stained the withered yellow grassland, giving the nature a sacred atmosphere. The cold wind blew, and the bleak and lonely emptiness made people inexplicably sad.
After returning from Wenlu, Li Hong's face has not been very good. War is cruel, he knew it a long time ago. But every time he saw the unarmed civilians being killed, he always felt inexplicably sad and angry.
"Grand Protector, what should we do with these 20,000 people?" Quan Yi's face turned pale. He felt ashamed to let Ashina Duzhi escape deep into the grassland.
“Escort them to Menyuan and tell Ming Chongyan to use them at will. There will be plenty of labor in the future.” Li Hong said lightly as he watched the Western Turkic captives slowly entering Qiuci.
Quan Yi responded, then bowed behind Li Hong and left to arrange accommodation for the captives tonight and their itinerary for tomorrow.
"Hua Meng, write a letter to Bai Chun, asking them to ship all the cement stored in the warehouse to Qiuci after the spring." After Li Hong finished speaking, he watched the last group of prisoners enter the city, and then slowly walked down from the city wall.
"Wufawu and Wutian, find a few people who look like generals to interrogate him overnight and find out where Ashina Duzhi will camp. Fang Zhan, contact your people on the grassland and get moving. Even if it snows tomorrow, you all need to move immediately. I want the exact location of Ashina Duzhi." After walking down the stairs, he looked at the escorted Wufawu and Wutian and said anxiously.
The winter in the Western Regions is very long. When the New Year's Day is approaching, the land of the Central Plains has already shown signs of recovery from the severe cold. Even the scent of spring can be clearly smelled.
...
...
But the Western Regions were still in the midst of a cold winter of ice and snow, with the knife-like north wind raging across the vast land. The entire Western Regions seemed like a huge uninhabited area.
Li Hong plunged into the tent. For half a month, he and Quan Yi each led 7,000 people. They almost lost their way on the grassland and stumbled around on the grassland.
Ashina Duzhi seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, and no trace of him could be found no matter what. However, the wolves on the grassland were frightened and they quickly returned to their dens when they heard the sound of horse hooves.
Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue looked at Li Hong who rushed in, and hurriedly helped Li Hong take off the armor which was covered with ice on the outside. The armor was as hard as an iron plate, and it took a lot of pulling to get it off Li Hong's body. The cotton coat inside was already wet in a large area.
"Don't move." Li Hong hugged his hands and placed them carefully in front of his chest.
"What's wrong, Master?" Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue hurriedly and carefully took off their armor, and then they saw Li Hong holding a puppy in his arms?
"Huh? Is this a puppy, grandpa?" Xiaoxue looked at the little wolf in Li Hong's hands, whose eyes had not yet opened. It was sleeping soundly and comfortably in Li Hong's hands.
"Look at you, how can there be a dog in this place? Such a small dog would have frozen to death long ago. This is a little wolf. It's probably less than a month old." Li Hong didn't know how old the wolf was, but it was certain that it would not be more than two months old.
Banmei and Xunlan ran in screaming. They had never encountered this kind of weather, which the locals called white hair wind, in their lives.
At this hour, if it was a sunny day outside, the sun should be high in the sky. But now it was pitch black outside. The thick snow scattered on the grassland was blown by the biting cold wind and suddenly filled the entire sky and earth, making it impossible to open one's eyes. Xue Mozi seemed to have eyes and drilled into the body towards the collar.
The two girls shrank their hands and feet, their pink cheeks were red from the cold, they shook off the snow and wind on their bodies at the door, and then slowly walked in.
As soon as I came in, I saw three people playing with a puppy that had just woken up: "Wow... what a cute cat..."
Banmei looked greedily at the little wolf who was struggling and staggering on the thick carpet, trying to get up and walk, and called out in a tender voice.
Li Hong's forehead was full of black lines. These people must have gone stupid after staying in the palace. How could they be treated like cats?
"Banmei, are you stupid? Have you never seen the difference between a cat and a dog, no, a cat and a wolf in your life?"
"Ah? Master, do you think this is a wolf?"
"Nonsense, of course it's a wolf. I don't know if we alarmed the wolves or if the wolves were targeted by some natural enemies. Anyway, there was no wolves in the den. There was only this little guy who was like a cat, howling at the cold wind at the entrance of the cave, and I brought him back." Li Hong took the warm goat milk that Xia Zhi brought, put the bowl in front of the little wolf, and pressed his head to let him drink.
The little wolf was also very obedient, and gave Li Hong face in front of the four girls. He sniffed the goat milk a little, and immediately began to drink it with his little tongue.
Li Hong was feeding the wolves on the grassland, while in the Daming Palace in Chang'an City, Li Zhi wished he could feed Li Hong to the wolves.
"Yan Liben, are you stupid? He has been telling you about this for years, but have you seen it? You haven't seen it, so why do you still believe his lies?" Li Zhi looked at Yan Liben with disappointment and scolded him.
"Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness, but I believe that Your Highness will not lie to me." Yan Liben's beard became more gray, but he still stood firmly on the side of the prince.
"You officials from the Ministry of Works and the craftsmen in charge of the works were released just like that. There were so many people, why didn't you ask what other people thought?" Li Zhi asked with his neck stiff.
This confused old man Yan Liben has been led by the nose by Li Hong in recent years. Whenever that little idiot Li Hong brings up the joke of Preface to the Lanting Poems, Yan Liben seems to become confused all of a sudden. Li Hong gives him whatever he wants and does whatever Li Hong wants him to do.
But so many years have passed, and Yan Liben has never seen even the shadow of the Preface to the Lanting Poems. However, the old confused man still believes that Li Hong has the Preface to the Lanting Poems.
This time, Li Hong's letter to him used the Preface to the Lanting Poems as bait, asking him to send the craftsmen officials of the Ministry of Works and the craftsmen of the General Administration of Works to the Western Regions after the spring.
This confused old man once again chose to believe Li Hong, so without saying anything, he issued a document, ordering the Ministry of Works and the craftsmen of the General Administration of Works to set off for the Western Regions after New Year's Day.
Li Zhi looked at the old fool who was stubborn and seemed to be under a spell from Li Hong, and said sincerely: "Yan Liben, think about it, what is the Preface to the Lanting Poems? It was the favorite of the late emperor, my father. Do you think he would give it to the little idiot? Also, was the little idiot born at that time? It was left to me, and I gave it to him on his eighth birthday! How could you, Yan Liben, believe such nonsense?"
Yan Liben thought about Li Zhi seriously, and the expression on his face changed from gloomy to bright. After a long while, Yan Liben looked at Li Zhi with his cloudy eyes, and said something that almost made Li Zhi dizzy with anger.
“Your Majesty, I think you don’t want the world to know that the Preface to the Lanting Poems is in the hands of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so you have been keeping it secret for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and warned His Royal Highness the Crown Prince not to show it to me easily.” Looking at Li Zhi’s angry expression, Yan Liben became more convinced of his words.
"You old fool, you old fool, is there any truth in that little idiot's mouth? My words are golden and my words are as good as gold. When have I ever lied to my subjects? And what about him, that little idiot, when has he not deceived you?"
"Then I also choose to believe His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, because I think the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion must be in His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's hands." At this time, Yan Liben had the demeanor of Wei Zheng who was not afraid of death.
"Okay, okay, you old fool, sooner or later he will trick you into the grave. Yangwu, kick this old fool out, I don't want to talk to him anymore." Li Zhi waved his hand. It was not worth it to get sick because of the old fool in the middle of winter, not to mention that it was close to New Year's Day, he couldn't get sick at this time.
Yan Liben did not wait for Yang Wu to invite him. As a subject, he looked at Li Zhi's back as he left in anger, performed the salute respectfully, and then walked out of the Xuanzheng Hall with his head held high.
Li Zhi was groaning all the way. He was really angry with the confused old man Yan Liben. When he was halfway to Penglai Palace, he suddenly remembered that he was so busy being angry that he had forgotten the important business of Yan Liben to send craftsmen to the Western Regions.
It was very strange for Li Zhi that Xincheng, Chengyang and Lanling came to Penglai Palace together. The last time they came was when Li Hong went on an expedition. It had been several months. Why did they suddenly come together again?
Li Zhi slowly walked into the Penglai Palace, only to see four women with unfriendly expressions. Each of their beautiful faces seemed to have a hint of anger.
"What's wrong? Did that little idiot feel guilty and reply to the letter?" Li Zhi looked at them and asked calmly.
"Yes, Hua Ji, whom you sent, has come back. Hearing that you had important business in Xuanzheng Hall, Yangwu asked him to come here first." Wu Mei rubbed her temple and said helplessly.
Li Zhi looked at Hua Ji standing beside him, and did not take the letter first. Instead, he asked, "What did that little idiot say? Did you read the decree I gave him in front of you?"
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..." Hua Ji nodded hesitantly, looked at Wu Mei, then at Li Zhi, feeling embarrassed and not knowing what to say.
"What are you talking about, you little idiot? You learned it from me word for word, and you dare to change it at will. I will never forgive you." Li Zhi's expression, which had originally relaxed, became gloomy again.
"Yes, Your Majesty. When I arrived there, I was about to announce the decree, but then the Crown Prince snatched me away, and then... then..."
"What happened next? How can you be so hesitant?" Li Zhi was very angry. The little idiot must have embarrassed Hua Ji again.
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