Gaochang is located in the middle of the Silk Road, with convenient access to all directions. To the west, you can reach Yanqi, Guizi, Shule and other places. To the east, you can reach Yizhou, and after crossing the 800-li desolate Mogayan Desert, you will reach Yumen Pass. Further east, you will reach Guazhou and Shazhou.

At present, the Hexi area is completely controlled by the Northern Rong, and the trade routes are blocked. Gaochang's trade has also declined. In the past, there were inns and post houses built along the oasis, merchants from various countries crowded together, and singing girls and musicians who were good at singing and dancing. Nowadays, it is rare to see camel caravans traveling between the Central Plains and the Western Regions on the trade route. Most caravans depart from Gaochang, Yizhou and other places and go directly west.

The weather is getting cooler, and it's the perfect time for caravans to travel.

In order to avoid the eyes and ears of the Northern Rong, Yao Ying and his party disguised themselves as a caravan selling silk, with several large carts filled with goods. These goods could not only be used to conceal their identities, but also to sell the goods directly after arriving in Gaochang, and the gold and silver earned were just right for managing the nobles of Gaochang.

Lao Qi traveled with Yao Ying. He had been living abroad for many years, could speak several foreign languages, and was well-informed.

Along the way, Yao Ying asked him about the prices of Gaochang silk fabrics, jewelry, jade and other items. He had been a manager before, so he knew a little about everything and answered her questions very clearly.

The Sultan Gu who was traveling with them was taciturn and moved in a secretive manner. It seemed that he was only responsible for keeping watch, while Yuanjue took care of all other matters.

Yaoying felt that Bisu was right. Sultan Gu did have a strange temper. He almost never talked to anyone and never took off the mask on his face.

The guards did not dare to disturb him. When they had something to report, they would tell Yuan Jue directly, and Yuan Jue would then pass it on.

The sturdy eagle followed them all the time, its huge wings occasionally passing over their heads, casting a dark shadow.

From Wangting to Gaochang, the terrain was high in the northwest and low in the southeast. They first crossed a large area of ​​undulating hills with rugged roads. The terrain gradually became flat. After walking along the foothills for several days, an endless plain appeared in front of them. There were Gobi and deserts crisscrossing, and large and small oases scattered among them like stars.

Just as the royal servant said, the weather had just turned cooler for a few days and soon there were signs of snowfall. The wind was raging, the weather was gloomy, and lead clouds were shrouding the sky. Walking in the vast wilderness, the only sound in our ears was the howling of ghosts and wolves. The world was desolate and bleak. Only when we were about to reach the oasis could we occasionally see traces of other camel caravans.

Yao Ying was glad that she had prepared thick fur jackets in advance, and her personal soldiers also brought winter clothes as she instructed. They came from the Central Plains and could not stand the severe cold, so they wrapped themselves in layers of fur jackets like dumplings every day.

Within a few days, the temperature dropped sharply, and strong winds mixed with snow particles blew in our faces. Everyone wore wind and snowproof masks and struggled to move forward in the wind and snow.

When an inn that provided accommodation and meals for merchants appeared in the vast Gobi Desert, everyone could not help but cheer and gallop.

Yao Ying looked back and saw that Sultan Gu was at the end of the team, alone on his horse, a lonely figure.

During the journey, he either blazed the trail alone or followed silently at the end of the team. After more than ten days of traveling together, Yao Ying still hadn't spoken to him.

There were a few clear cries in the wind, and an eagle swooped down and circled around the Sultan.

Sultan raised his arm and the eagle immediately landed on his left arm.

Yao Ying frowned slightly. She had seen the eagle landing on Sultan's arm several times in the past few days.

The inn was built in Shazhou, very simple, just a few adobe houses, but it was very clean. The innkeeper was a brown-haired and brown-eyed Hu man, who had come out to greet them attentively when he heard the sound of horse hooves. Seeing that the horses Yaoying and her group rode were all good horses, he became even more enthusiastic and personally served them hot water and hot soup.

There was a stove in the shop, and the furnace was red hot. Everyone sent the shop owner away, took off their masks, and sat around the stove to keep warm. Two guards stood guard at the door.

Yaoying drank a bowl of hot soup, her hands and feet felt warmer, and she looked around.

No one knows where Sultan has gone.

Except for Yuan Jue, everyone else was afraid of him. As long as he was around, even Xie Chong, the most active and lively one, did not dare to speak loudly.

He probably knew that people were afraid of him, so he always kept to himself.

Yaoying asked Yuanjue: "I saw a hawk these days. Is it Buddha's hawk? Why is it following us?"

Yuan Jue was startled for a moment, then replied with a smile: "The king is in seclusion, and this eagle is following us. If the regent has important matters to report to the king, it can pass on the message. As long as it is well trained, the eagle can also serve as a scout."

Yao Ying nodded and then asked, "Was the eagle trained by a Buddhist?"

Abu of Haidu Aling was the one he captured and raised personally when he was a teenager. In the Northern Rong, it was a remarkable thing for a teenager to be able to tame an eagle. He was very conceited and always said that Abu was one in a thousand and was a divine eagle.

Yuanjue said: "When the king was young, he lived in seclusion in a Buddhist temple. This eagle was injured and fell off a cliff. The king happened to save it. The king asked someone to send it back to the eagle's nest... Not only did those people not send it back, they almost crushed the eagle to death. The king kept it by his side and took care of it, saving food to feed it, and later it became the king's eagle."

Yao Ying sighed after hearing this.

On the day when Tanmarajya was born, a strange phenomenon appeared in the holy city, and the sky was filled with sunset clouds. He was the posthumous son of the previous king of the royal court, and became the new king at birth. The birth of each king of the royal court was accompanied by various legends. At that time, someone happened to offer the Udumbara flower, which was said to represent the birth of Buddha, to the royal court. Combined with the prophecy of the master, the saying that he was the reincarnation of Ananda became popular.

At that time, the royal family controlled the government and did not want Tanmarajiva to be loved by the people, so they sent him to a Buddhist temple and imprisoned him as soon as he was born.

He could hardly take care of himself in confinement, but he actually saved his own food to feed an eagle. He was truly kind-hearted.

Yuan Jue was somewhat emotional when he talked about the past. He pointed at the guards beside him and said with a smile, "Prajna, I and them were all orphans without any support. We were sold to the nobles as slaves. When we were serving the nobles, we accidentally made mistakes. The nobles got angry and dragged us to the square to be whipped in public. They wanted to beat us to death. It was the king who saved us and gave us civilian identities. Our names were all given by the king! Most of the guards in the central army were from noble families like General Ashina. Only we came from the common people."

His face was full of smiles, and his tone was filled with undisguised pride and admiration.

Several guards nearby also grinned, and talked excitedly, one after another, about how Tanmarajiva had saved the people.

Xie Chong, Xie Peng and others could understand some of the nonsense and listened with great interest, asking questions non-stop.

After traveling together for more than ten days, the group gradually became familiar with each other. When they talked about Tanmaragha, the atmosphere became more harmonious, with everyone chatting and laughing, and it was very lively.

Yao Ying's heart skipped a beat when she heard this.

The biggest conflict between Tanmarajiva and his ministers was that he had no distinction between nobles and commoners and regarded every commoner as his own. However, the royal court was not like the Central Plains. There was no Confucian education and no deep-rooted concept of loyalty between the monarch and his subjects. The nobles could buy and sell slaves, and each great noble owned the land and all the people on the land, similar to a lord. In the eyes of the nobles, the common people were their slaves.

So when the Northern Rong came, the nobles were most worried about whether they could keep their family's wealth rather than the lives of the people. Just like when the Central Plains was in turmoil, some noble families did not hesitate to incite war and collude with foreign enemies for the sake of their family's interests.

Ten years ago, when the Beirong army was approaching, the princes and nobles decisively abandoned the city and fled. Without Tanmarajiva, the four armies would never turn back to defend the holy city.

This is probably why Tanmarajiva is bedridden. Not only does he have to scare off powerful enemies, but he also has to guard against the villains in the court.

In the end, all the energy is exhausted and the candle is burned to ashes.

Yaoying was absent-minded for a while, covered her face with a veil, scooped a bowl of soup, picked up a few soft baked cakes, walked out of the hall, looked around, and sure enough, she saw the tall figure in the corridor on the second floor.

Along the way, whenever they stopped to rest, Sultan Gu would always be on guard in a place with a wide view.

He had killed countless people, was full of rage and had a fierce aura. No one dared to approach him, but Yao Ying felt very safe traveling with him.

She went upstairs carrying the bowl of soup.

When she turned the corner, there was a sudden sharp cry from the front, and an eagle leaped down from a high altitude and swooped down towards her. Its huge wings, wrapped in the fishy wind, swept straight towards her face.

Yao Ying hurriedly stepped back, protecting the bowl of soup. She stumbled and fell backwards.

A dark figure flashed by, and a hand reached out, holding her shoulders to help her steady her body. The arm that was pressed against her was strong and powerful through the thick leather jacket, and the embrace was cold, without a trace of warmth.

Yao Ying held the bowl of soup in one hand and fell backwards into Sultan Gu's arms. She looked back at the stairs below her feet, her heart still pounding, and she let out a sigh of relief.

If she fell from the second floor and broke her arms and legs, how would she go to Gaochang?

Thinking she was standing firm, Sultan Ku quickly let go of her hand.

Yaoying looked at the stairs below her feet. Before she could come to her senses, she suddenly lost her support. Her body swayed by inertia and she couldn't help but let out a low cry.

Sultan Gu paused for a moment and stretched out his arm again.

Yao Ying was afraid of dropping the bowl of soup, so she fell back into his arms. Feeling his body tense, she felt a little embarrassed, so she turned around and stood quickly facing him. This time she stood very steadily, still holding the bowl of soup in her hand.

She held the bowl, raised her head, and blinked at Sultan Gu, her thick eyelashes flickering, and said with a smile: "General Su, would you like to eat something?"

Sultan Gu withdrew his arm, and his green eyes beneath the mask glanced at the soup in her hand.

Yaoying had been protecting the bowl with her sleeves. The soup was still boiling, with steam lingering around. Some torn pieces of bread floated in the snow-white soup. The bread was soaked in the soup and became crystal white.

Sultan Kumbh said nothing and made no move to take the bowl of soup.

Yao Ying held out her hands and said, "This soup warms the stomach and drives away the cold. General, please take a little. If we continue walking, we don't know when we will see the guesthouse."

Sultan's gaze fell on her fingers. She was afraid that the mutton soup would get cold, so she brought it to her while it was still hot. Her delicate fingers and palms were burned red.

He took the bowl in silence.

Yaoying took out a few round cakes and handed them to him. She asked Xie Qing to bring these cakes. After they were toasted for a while, the crust was crispy and crunchy, and the inside was tender and soft. They all said they were delicious just now.

Sultan took the bowl of soup and the bread, turned around and walked away.

Yao Ying couldn't help laughing and looked towards the high platform beside her. An eagle was standing in the wind with its wings drooping, staring at her coldly with its sharp eyes.

She was really scared just now!

She asked Sultan Ku softly, "General Sultan, can I feed it some dried meat?"

She had seen Yuanjue, Sultan Kumar and other personal soldiers feeding the eagle. Although the eagle was arrogant, it would not hurt anyone casually.

Sultan Gu turned around and looked at her, not knowing what expression she had under the mask.

Yaoying had already taken out a small piece of dried meat from her sleeve and stood in front of Cangying, with an eager expression on her face and her eyes dark and shiny.

It was as if it wasn't this eagle that had frightened her just now.

Sultan Gudao: "It almost made the princess fall down."

Yao Ying smiled and said, "It was on guard for the general. I came here uninvited. It wanted to warn the general, so it would scare me."

Sultan looked at her for a while and nodded.

Yaoying smiled brightly, took a few steps forward, opened her palms towards Cangying, and asked softly, "Do you like this?"

He glanced at her with disdain.

Yao Ying patiently coaxed it with soft words: "I haven't thanked you yet. You are much more powerful than Abu from Haidu Aling."

The eagle seemed to understand what she said. It fluttered its wings arrogantly and pecked her outstretched fingers twice with its sharp beak, which caused some pain.

Yaoying didn't dodge and kept her palms open.

The eagle snatched the dried meat from her hand.

Yao Ying looked at the hawk and thought to herself: Beirong and the royal court have both tamed carrier hawks. Here, the eagle is the overlord of the sky. If a carrier pigeon meets a carrier hawk, it will definitely be hunted by the latter. It would be great if she also had a carrier hawk.

I wonder if the powerful Hu merchant can help her buy a few falcons.

She leaned against the platform, thinking about her own things while playing with the eagle. The eagle was unruly and ignored her. Only after eating the dried meat in her palm did he impatiently hook her sleeve and urge her to take out more dried meat.

Yaoying didn't dare to feed it more, and waved her hands towards it to indicate that there was no more food.

The eagle raised its claws and walked away.

Yao Ying laughed and turned to look at Sultan Gu.

He drank the soup with his back to her, without making any sound. He drank the soup that the personal guards praised so highly of, in a bland manner, as if he were drinking water.

Yao Ying stared at his back for a long time, and suddenly the sound of horse hooves like raindrops came from the distance.

She looked in the direction of the sound and saw dust flying in the east, the sound of hooves, and a dozen horses galloping towards the inn. The riders were all wearing thick leather jackets and had masks on their faces, so it was impossible to tell who they were.

Sultan Kumbh was very alert. He immediately put down the bowl and stood in front of the platform, looking out for a while.

"They are from Beirong."

Yao Ying's eyelids jumped: "How does the general know that they are from the Northern Rong?"

Sultan Gu said in a hoarse and deep voice, "The horses they ride are from Beirong Horse Farm."

Yaoying felt a little depressed.

The Northern Rong occupied a large area of ​​lush grasslands, several of which were originally the largest horse farms in the Northern Desert. The domesticated horses were fat and strong, providing war horses for the Northern Rong cavalry. Sultan Gu was so sure, he should not be wrong.

The guards on duty downstairs of the Sultan's ancient building made a gesture, and the guards understood and quickly ran into the hall, reminding everyone to cover their faces with veils and get ready to set off.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they quickly got up, packed their bags, and left the inn.

The Beirong people were very fast and arrived at the guesthouse in the blink of an eye.

The leading man took off his mask and spat out the dust in his mouth. He was strong and sturdy like a bull, with curly hair and light brown eyes. He was wearing a fur coat and leather boots. He rolled off his horse while cursing and complaining about the weather.

The post station had no back door. Yao Ying and Sudan Gu and the others lowered their heads to pack their bags. The Beirong people thought they were ordinary merchants. They looked at them briefly and walked past them. One of them urged the store owner impatiently: "Do you have anything to eat? As long as it's hot, send it up quickly!"

The shopkeepers all agreed.

Yao Ying mounted the horse and her eyes fell on the burly man. Her face changed and she immediately looked away.

She remained calm, rode to Sultan Gu's side, and whispered, "General Su, that man is the little prince of Beirong."

Sultan looked at her.

Yao Ying lowered her voice and said, "He is the most beloved youngest son of Wakhan Khan. He always stays in the Yating. The general may not have seen him. I can confirm that he has not recognized the wrong person."

Sultan Kumar hummed.

They left the inn without making a sound, their figures blending into the vast snow and wind.

Yaoying felt heavy-hearted.

Why did the little prince appear here? Is there any connection between all this and Haidu Aling?

…

When Yao Ying and Sultan Gu set out from Shacheng to Gaochang, thousands of miles away, in the vast Gobi Desert, another team was heading towards Yizhou.

The carriage was traveling on a rugged mountain road. The woman in the carriage could not stand the bumps and could not help but lift the curtain and asked the guard who followed her: "How many days will it take to get to Yizhou?"

The guard clasped his fists and said, "Princess, please be patient for a few more days. We will soon reach Yizhou and you will be able to meet Princess Yiqing soon."

The woman showed some anticipation on her face, lowered the curtain and retreated into the carriage.

She will be able to see her aunt soon.

The guard slowed down and deliberately fell a few steps behind.

A guard behind him rode his horse forward and kept pace with him.

The guard whispered in dialect: "Find a chance to send a message back. Princess Fukang is about to arrive in Yizhou. We have already gained Princess Fukang's trust. Once we arrive in Yizhou, we will find a way to find out the whereabouts of Princess Wen Zhao."

Another guard was troubled: "Everywhere is blocked now, and several checkpoints are guarded like iron barrels. How can we send the news that Princess Wen Zhao might still be alive back to Chang'an?"

The guard sneered: "You are such a fool! How did the Beirong people communicate with Princess Fukang secretly? We can use their people to pass the message!"

The other guard suddenly understood and nodded in agreement.

The author has something to say: I would like to humbly collect the advance payment.

The Female Official of the Tang Dynasty

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, a young girl from the Cui family entered the palace as a female historian and met a concubine in an awkward position, her name was Wu Mei.

Later, Cui Yufu witnessed Wu Mei's rise from Zhaoyi to Empress to the co-existence of two saints, until Wu Zhou replaced Tang.

In the turmoil, Cui Yufu also climbed up step by step, from female historian to female official in charge, supervisory historian, female imperial messenger, and female prime minister.

The harem was in turmoil, the court was in chaos, but she remained unmoved.

…

Brother, Please Give Me Money

As the daughter of the local wealthy Li family, Li Zhizhi is pampered and arrogant.

It was not until she was thirteen that Li Zhizhi found out that her mother had cheated on her father.

The real phoenix became a fake daughter, and the mother and daughter were kicked out

The brother who watched Zhizhi grow up held her hand tightly and said: Zhizhi, don't be afraid. No matter what happens, I will always be your brother.

Zhizhi was very moved but refused: I want to follow my mother

Five years since we last met

When they met again, Zhizhi was in dire straits, and his brother had become the heir to the Li family, worth over 100 million yuan.

Zhizhi trembled and hugged her brother's thigh: Brother, I'll give you my card number, please give me money!