Zeluo, a senior official of Baisunizhi, King of Kucha, surrendered to the Tibetans after he was killed by an arrow during the siege of Nali and Hubiaoli by Guo Xiaoke of the Tang Dynasty.
Ze Luo stayed in the city and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty at the cost of betraying Baisunizhi, thus winning the trust of the Tang Dynasty.
But as for the whereabouts of Bai Sunizhi and others, Ze Luo has always said that they were kidnapped out of the city by Nali and Hu Biaoli, and their current whereabouts are probably in Tubo.
Taking advantage of Princess Wencheng's relationship, after Tubo conquered Tuyuhun, Li Hong once asked indirectly. The messenger told him that he had never seen the King of Kucha, Baisuniji, at all, and that the only ones who had surrendered to them were Nali and Hu Biaoli, and the 10,000 soldiers they led.
"Has Ze Luo been appointed by the court?" Li Hong suddenly remembered that Pei Xingjian had mentioned it to him when he suppressed Shule, but he didn't take it seriously.
The Japanese wanted to visit the wealthy families in Qiuci City, but were delayed by Ashina Duzhi's siege on the city, so Li Hong never went to look for these people again.
"Master, Ze Luo was granted the title of General Dingyuan, a fifth-rank military official, by His Majesty." Hua Meng recalled behind him.
"No wonder he is so arrogant, he is an official appointed by the imperial court." Li Hong said with a smile, his tone full of ridicule.
"Normally he can only have one hundred family generals, but in view of his high prestige in Qiuci, he was specially approved to have two hundred family generals." Hua Meng continued to explain to Li Hong behind him.
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Li Hong continued to walk forward, thinking about whether he had done something to Bai Sunizhi in history. But after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out, and he didn't know whether this Luo had anything to do with Bai Sunizhi's current whereabouts.
Fine grape wine in the luminescent cup. Although we are talking about the fine wine of Lanling, in Qiuci, the grape wine here is no less than the fine wine of the Central Plains, and is also a fine wine favored by traveling merchants.
Now that the New Year's Day is approaching, merchants who are preparing to go home to celebrate the New Year will exchange some Tang Dynasty goods for grape wine after returning to Qiuci from the Tang Dynasty, and then take it back to their homes to taste.
I found a restaurant, and as I stood at the door, I was immediately hit by a strong mutton smell that made my head hurt.
"Let's go to another store. The mutton may not have been marinated, so it smells so strong." Li Hong frowned and looked at a store not far away. There was a sign written in Chinese characters but no Kucha script. He thought it was opened by merchants from the Tang Dynasty, so he walked towards that store.
At the same time, the idea of mutton skewers unconsciously popped up in Li Hong's mind, and he had already started thinking about organizing a big bonfire party in the barracks on New Year's Day to have fun with the people.
When the time comes, let Pei Xingjian find some Hu girls, and play the pride of Kucha: Kucha music, and then it will be a great fun.
As expected, this restaurant was indeed opened by Tang people in Qiuci. The waiter at the door of the restaurant looked at Li Hong and his friends dressed in Tang costumes, and his smile became brighter. "Please come in, sir. If you want to eat authentic Tang food in Qiuci, you have to come to our restaurant. Since you are here today, we have launched a new dish that you can try."
Li Hong ignored the waiter and stood at the door to look inside. It was clean and tidy, and there were quite a few customers, most of whom were Tang people, and there were also some foreign merchants from other countries having dinner.
Xia Zhi coaxed the little wolf in his arms and said to the waiter without raising his head, "First, bring two pounds of beef. I want to feed the dog."
Li Hong, who was walking in front, was so angry that he almost fainted. It would be fine for him to secretly eat some beef at home, but here he came and still dared to clamor for beef. Didn't he know that according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, slaughtering working oxen privately is a serious crime.
Xia Zhi looked at Li Hong's body and paused. He hurriedly took two steps forward and explained, "Master, the cattle here are not the oxen we use for farming. They are a kind of Fengniu with a lump of meat on their necks. They are very strong. It is said that if you feed them to dogs, they will grow bigger."
Li Hong was too lazy to pay attention to her. With nothing to do these few days, the four of them had already toured the city of Kucha, so they naturally knew more than he did.
After sitting down in a secluded corner, Xia Zhi came over again mysteriously, ignoring the sidelong glances of the other people in the restaurant because of the sudden appearance of four beautiful women, and whispered to Li Hong again: "Master, don't you notice that everything here is familiar? It's very similar to the layout of the restaurant in Chang'an City where Princess Yi Yang and Princess Gao An live?"
Li Hong watched Banmei ordering food, glanced around casually, and said calmly, "Let Fang Zhan find out about Ze Luo's background and see if this guy has any other support besides being General Dingyuan. Otherwise, why would even Pei Xingjian allow him to run rampant in Qiuci City?"
"Oh, I see." Xia Zhi pouts after listening to Li Hong's words, then hands the little wolf in her hand to Xiaoxue and walks towards the counter.
Not long after Xia Zhi left, Zhe Luo appeared at the door with several retainers. Without him saying anything, the retainers behind him began to yell, "Boss, come out quickly. Lord Zhe Luo is here. Please vacate Lord Zhe Luo's seat."
Li Hong was stunned, a bad premonition rising in his heart. When he came in just now, the waiter greeted him and his group at the door, and then started to greet other customers. He did not point out seats for him and his group. It was he and his group who found the seats. Could it be such a coincidence?
Sometimes things in the world are just so coincidental. After that family finished shouting, they began to turn their attention to their own table.
At this time, Zhe Luo was also looking at... Xiaoxue, Banmei and Xunlan, his eyes full of surprise and joy.
In addition, most of the guests in the restaurant were looking at him. No matter how stupid Li Hong was, he knew that these guests were not looking at him sideways because of the beauty of Xiaoxue and the other three girls, but because he had accidentally occupied Zhe Luo's exclusive seat.
At Yumen Pass, others were fighting for my seat. Now that I entered the restaurant again, I took someone else's seat without realizing it. I am really unlucky.
At this time, whispers were heard in the restaurant: "It's over, these beautiful girls, it seems that they can't escape their doom."
"How could this young man go out on a business trip and bring a beautiful lady with him? I really don't know how he got back to Qiuci from another place."
"Well, it's good to suffer a little, but it's a pity..."
"It's good that I can save my life. This is the territory of the Tang Dynasty. I don't think they will do anything reckless."
While listening to the whispers in the restaurant, Li Hong decided not to alarm Zhe Luo for the time being. He asked Fang Zhan to secretly investigate his intentions and signaled Hua Meng and others to stand up and give their seats to others.
But before Li Hong could say anything, Ze Luo had already strode over and said, "Sir, since you are already sitting here, there is no need to stand up. How about I dine with you here?"
After saying this, without waiting for Li Hong's consent, he moved and prepared to sit between Xiaoxue and Banmei.
At this time, several family generals behind Zhe Luo also came over and stood behind Zhe Luo, looking at Li Hong with cold eyes, as if warning him not to move.
"Get out." Xiaoxue looked at Ze Luo who was about to sit down, frowned and scolded him coldly.
Ze Luo was not angry, nor did he seem embarrassed by Xiao Xue's rebuke. He remained calm and said calmly, "The young lady has a bad temper, and her hot temper suits my temper very well."
Li Hong was ignored by Ze Luo at this time, as if he was like air and did not exist at this table at all.
Banmei and Xunlan glanced at Li Hong, whose expression did not change at all, and then turned to look at the several family generals behind Zhe Luo. They began to wonder how to deal with these family generals if Xiaoxue got angry.
"I'll give you three seconds to get out of this restaurant immediately." Xiaoxue's pretty face was full of frost as she warned again coldly.
Among Li Hong's four palace maids, Xiaoxue was originally the most introverted and shy. But after the death of Bailu and Xiaohan, Xiaoxue became more and more cold, and basically seldom spoke to anyone except Li Hong.
"Interesting, it seems that you are not planning to return to the Tang Dynasty to celebrate the New Year. In that case, I will help you and leave you ladies in this Qiuci City. It is much better to follow me, a local emperor, than to follow this young man, living in the open air and traveling all over the country." As Ze Luo spoke, he reached out to touch Xiaoxue's shoulder.
Xiaoxue was already prepared. Just when the hand was about to reach her shoulder, Xiaoxue suddenly put the little wolf on her shoulder. The small wolf was not polite. It opened its mouth, showing its little milk teeth, and bit the hand that Zhe Luo stretched out. At the same time, it made a warning sound with its mouth, showing its canine teeth and staring at Zhe Luo.
"You little dog are so brave. It seems my love for you is not in vain." Xiaoxue showed a gentle smile to the little wolf, which made Zhe Luo a little infatuated.
Ze Luo looked at the two small teeth marks on his hand, but he still didn't get angry. Not only did his eyes flash with murderous intent, but his tone also became a little cold: "You don't know how to be polite! How dare you be so arrogant in Qiuci City..."
"Sir Ze, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. Gentlemen, you didn't know this was your seat. How about this: we will apologize to you and change the table for you?" The shop owner hurried over, followed by Xia Zhi who was walking leisurely, looking at this place with a smile on his face.
"What did you say? I didn't hear it clearly." Ze Luo glanced at Li Hong, who had a smile on his face and was teasing the little wolf, then turned around and looked at the shopkeeper.
"Don't be upset, sir. What happened today is all our fault for our poor arrangements. We apologize to you and this young master. How about you move aside and have your meal here?" The shopkeeper looked at Zhe Luo with a flattering smile on his face.
But Ze Luo felt that when the shopkeeper was speaking, his eyes involuntarily glanced at the young man, as if he cared about the young man very much.
"Is he the owner of your store?" Ze Luo looked at the owner and pointed at Li Hong.
Hua Meng and Mang Zhong saw Ze Luo pointing his finger at them and were about to stand up when Li Hong held them down in mid-air.
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