Silver light exploded above their heads, illuminating the entire battlefield. Snowflakes floated lightly and the heavy sound of horse hooves rumbled across the earth.
Tanmarajiva hugged Yaoying tightly, and the tighter he hugged her, the more powerful his hug was, as if he wanted to rub her into his body.
The generals, soldiers, civilians, and monks stared blankly at their Buddhist disciple holding the Han princess in his arms. Their expressions were even more shocked than when they saw the strange celestial phenomenon that seemed like the wrath of gods and Buddhas.
thunder and lightning.
The night wind swept past with a chill, military flags fluttered in the air, and the sounds of breaking through the air rose and fell one after another.
Tanmarajiva came to his senses, let go of Yaoying, pressed her into his arms, and turned his horse around.
The two men's personal guards immediately followed. On the top of the city wall, Bi Suo ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows at the pursuing cavalry to prevent them from getting closer.
Hundreds of people quickly retreated into the city.
Yuanjue came over, his face slightly red, and hesitated for a long time, not knowing what to say.
Tanmarajika dismounted from his horse, turned around, and stretched out his arms towards Yaoying in full view of everyone.
The night wind blew, ruffling his robes.
Yao Ying was stunned.
There were gasps of surprise all around, and the people stood at a distance, whispering to each other.
Tanmarajiva remained calm. He put his arms around Yaoying's waist and carried her off the horse. He looked at her quietly with his emerald eyes, his gaze lingering on her lips for a few moments.
That passionate kiss just now was not a momentary slip of the tongue on his part.
Yao Ying's heart was pounding, but her legs were still weak. She leaned on his arm to stand steady. She saw the troops following her from the corner of her eye. She was startled, and then she came to her senses and said, "Haidu Aling has seen my people use gunpowder before. This little trick can't scare him. Other tribes will panic, but he won't. The iron cavalry chasing after him must be his subordinates. But it's dark now. As long as we build momentum on the top of the city and disrupt the morale of the army, he doesn't know how many reinforcements there are, and he won't risk attacking the city when the reinforcements just arrive."
"He's not afraid, his soldiers are!"
As she spoke, she waved her hand, signaling her troops to climb to the top of the city wall.
The bodyguards responded, carrying the improved weapons on their shoulders and climbing up to the top of the city wall. They worked in groups of seven or eight and began to assemble the equipment. They had been trained many times and were very agile and skilled.
Bisha came over and asked, "How many people are there in the princess's army?"
Yao Ying replied: "More than 500 people..."
As soon as she said this, she felt Tanmarajiva's eyes suddenly become stern.
He was like a Buddha, with a solemn and stern appearance. Even when he looked at people with a gentle expression, he would make people feel pressured for no reason. Being stared at by him with such eyes, Yao Ying felt guilty at first, but then she remembered the last time they parted. She became angry and raised her chin to look at him righteously.
She hasn't settled accounts with him yet!
He frowned slightly and said nothing.
"It's too risky!" Bi Suo followed Yao Ying closely, feeling scared and sweating. "What if the princess is caught by Haidu Aling?"
Yao Ying said: "Yizhou is guarded by the Western Army, and the old Beirong troops have been dispersed. Haidu Aling has no other helpers. The coalition he led this time is composed of different tribes. Those tribes are not united, and there are not many chieftains who are willing to listen to him. As long as their camp is in chaos, they will not be able to attack. I sent people to attack the camp at night just to blow up their camp."
Bi Suo said worriedly, "Will those who attacked the camp not be able to escape?"
Yao Ying shook her head: "It's okay, they are far away. When I enter the city during the chaos, they will leave immediately and will not be caught up by the Northern Rong coalition."
After saying this, without waiting for Tanmaragha to say anything, she climbed up to the top of the city wall.
Tanmaraka followed behind her.
The soldiers of the royal court were exhausted and had already made way for Yao Ying's troops. They quickly assembled simple guns in the light of torches, while others pulled the bows full and put arrows on them. They tied something like empty tubes to the arrows and focused their attention on the iron cavalry that was gradually approaching from the top of the city wall.
Xie Chong looked at the dark battlefield and waited patiently. When the iron cavalry approached, he raised a flag and waved it.
With a few whooshing sounds, a rain of arrows fell.
The royal soldiers cried out in surprise.
There were only a few loud bangs, and suddenly several sparks burst out where the arrows were shot, and thunderous explosions echoed in the air.
The Iron Knights' momentum stagnated.
The soldiers continued to draw their bows, and rounds of arrows rained down, with flames flickering.
Tanmaraka watched for a while, then took the double bow from a soldier and shot several arrows in rapid succession.
The arrows flew with great force, with echoing bangs. Where the arrows landed, flames suddenly appeared, and the burning lines of fire meandered like snakes, gathering into a ball of flame, which burned fiercely with the help of the wind.
The horses neighed loudly. The war horses were afraid of the night fire and raised their hooves and neighed.
The Northern Rong Iron Cavalry began to stir.
Haidu Aling looked up at the holy city standing tall in the night, his teeth full of the smell of blood.
If Tanmarajiva is the nemesis of Wakhan Khan, then Princess Wenzhao must be here to defeat him.
She formed an alliance with the royal court. When the Northern Rong were in turmoil and concentrated their forces to attack the royal court, she secretly colluded with local nobles and organized a righteous army. She recaptured more than a dozen important towns in one fell swoop, and then used coercion and inducement to make all states submit to her and pacify the Western Regions. Then she cooperated with Li Xuanzhen to cut off the communication between the eastern and western parts of the Northern Rong, causing the Langxi tribe in the east of the Northern Rong to flee back to the mountains. His 5,000 troops were blocked outside Baicheng and could not go east to recapture Yizhou. He had to flee westward, suffering a lot along the way, and finally found several Northern Rong tribes in Samar.
The tribes he had conquered secretly without the knowledge of Wakhan Khan, the horse farms he had painstakingly managed, the craftsmen he had recruited...all his efforts now fell into Li Yaoying's hands.
Before he could gain a firm foothold in Samar, Li Yaoying opened up the northern trade route. The tribes in the northern route were tempted by the benefits and were unwilling to help the northern Rong to restore their country. A few years later, Li Yaoying took control of the Western Regions, and the people supported him. The Western Army became stronger, and the restoration of the country was even more distant.
That was why he endured the humiliation and submitted to the suzerain state near Samakhtan, married a smelly princess, borrowed troops, and returned east to restore his country.
Unexpectedly, the royal court suddenly encountered internal turmoil, which was a godsend. He changed his route to attack the royal court. Fearing that the Western Army would come to rescue, he sent a team to disguise as the royal court army to attack the Western Army, burning, killing and looting in their territory to stir up hatred between the two countries. Judging from the reaction of the Western Army, they must have fallen into the trap.
Unexpectedly, when he was about to capture the holy city, Princess Wen Zhao actually came!
The only person who can bring down thunder and fire from the sky is Princess Wen Zhao!
Haidu Aling did not believe in the so-called heavenly punishment or divine punishment. He knew that it must be some new equipment developed by the craftsmen under Li Yaoying. However, this weapon was too evil. It was extremely powerful when used to attack the camp in the dark night. Even several chiefs would be afraid, not to mention those ignorant soldiers.
After the camp was blown up, there was no way to quickly restore morale.
No one knew where those deserted soldiers had gone. He had to gather them as quickly as possible and stabilize the morale of the troops.
Haidu Aling gritted his teeth and waved his hand to signal his subordinates.
After a while, the horn of retreat sounded, and the cavalry retreated in an orderly manner in the dark night.
The soldiers on the top of the city wall cheered quietly and asked the Xizhou soldiers with a smile: "What the hell is this? It's so powerful?!"
The Xizhou soldier smiled and replied, "These are thunder arrows and fire bombs."
Everyone was extremely curious and surrounded the Xizhou soldiers and their weapons, marveling at them.
Although they still had not lifted the siege, after besieging the city for several days, they finally saw reinforcements coming, which encouraged everyone and rekindled their fighting spirit.
At this moment, there is no distinction between the royal court and the Han people. They are comrades fighting side by side and friends sharing life and death.
Bi Suo smiled at the soldiers' jokes and looked towards the Beirong coalition camp surrounded by flames in the distance. She breathed a sigh of relief, but then she became worried again when she thought that Haidu Aling would definitely attack the city again after daybreak. The reinforcements only had a few hundred people and could not change the overall situation.
The enemy retreated temporarily. Everyone was exhausted and lay down to rest. One soldier fell asleep holding his long sword.
The wind howled and the water turned into ice.
Yao Ying stood in the wind, shivering slightly from the cold and shaking her body.
She hasn't slept for several days and nights.
Tanmaraka came over, lowered his head, put the cloak on her, and tied the straps tightly: "They will not attack the city again before dawn, go and rest."
Yao Ying looked at him, her brows showing fatigue: "What about you? Are you tired?"
Tanmarajiva raised his eyes and looked at her for a long while.
"tired."
He said softly.
very tired.
But he was unaware of it and didn't care at all about his physical fatigue and pain.
He didn't care about the betrayal of the Guards, the doubts of the people, or the accusations of the monks.
These were consequences he had anticipated.
Even if the whole world spit on him, it would not shake his determination.
But here she is.
She looked at him with concern and asked him if he was tired.
Then, in an instant, all the fatigue that was buried deep inside surged up. He felt very tired and wanted to stop and rest for a while, regain his energy, and then continue moving forward.
As I was trekking alone on the road, suddenly a brilliant light gently enveloped me, dispelling the endless darkness. It was bright, warm, and soft. It seemed to be far away and out of reach, and yet it seemed to be everywhere.
He developed a greedy desire to monopolize this beam of light. He gazed at her greedily for a long time, and finally reached out his hand and held the beam of light.
Tanmarajiva supported Yaoying and took her to rest.
In the flickering firelight, the two people walked away step by step, shoulder to shoulder, snuggling tightly together. The wind blew up his monk's robe and the silken threads of her hair. The firelight stretched the shadows of the two people very long, blending into one, inseparable.
The soldiers stood up one after another, made way for the two men, and watched them leave.
The long street was bustling with people, and people came out from their hiding places one after another, staring at the two people with different expressions, some were crying, some were dazed, and some were lonely and disappointed. The whole city was here, but no one could hear a word, only the footsteps of Tanmaraka and Yaoying.
Yaoying shuddered slightly.
Her hand suddenly felt warm, and a hand reached out and held her hand, rubbing the back of her hand with its warm palm.
She started and looked up.
Tanmarajika lowered his eyes, holding her hand in the silent gaze of the believers, and the strength in his bones radiated out, his eyes were calm, firm, and unquestionable. The corners of his lips twitched slightly, and a very light and shallow smile appeared, like the lotus in the Sansheng Pond swaying gently, reflecting the swaying light and shadow.
From today on, please walk with me along the road ahead.
Yaoying looked at him, and all the memories of their acquaintance flashed through her mind. He appeared on the sand dunes like a god and saved her from Haidu Aling. When he was dying, he was still planning for the long-term stability of the royal court. He endured the pain alone. He sat at his desk studying Buddhist scriptures, and she pulled his sleeve curiously. He rushed thousands of miles to save her, but left alone. He lay on his back on the ground, as if crazy, and asked her if she was leaving...
The last time they met, he spoke in a gentle tone and promised her that he would take good care of himself.
The worry, anger, resentment, and longing that had been accumulating in her heart since they parted disappeared at this moment. Her nose felt sore and her eyes were moist. She smiled at him and pinched his palm with her fingers a few times.
Tanmaraka's body suddenly stiffened and tensed, his eyes darkened, and he held her fingers tightly.
He walked into the meeting room, opened the door of a room inside, and pulled her in.
Yao Ying looked around. There was no tall and wide bed in the room. There were only a desk, a futon and a long couch. The desk was piled with maps and documents. It was clean and tidy, with a faint fragrance of agarwood. It was obviously where he lived.
He let her sit on the couch and turned to leave. After a while, the servants brought food. She ate some, took a bath, tied her long hair loosely with a hairband, changed into clean clothes, and lay down on the couch.
After riding at high speed for several days, she felt as if she had been run over. Her bones felt sore and her thighs ached terribly.
She was drowsy, half asleep and half awake, when she felt a figure sitting beside the couch and opening his eyes.
Tanmaraka sat on the edge of the couch, looking down at her, his eyes dark circles.
Yao Ying was drowsy. She turned sideways and moved inside, patting the couch: "Master, come up and sleep."
She had just taken a shower, her skin was whiter than snow, her cheeks were rosy, she was lying on her side on the couch, her thick black hair was loose, she was wearing only a close-fitting light-colored gown with exquisite undulating lines and loose collar, and you could vaguely see the soft undulating shadows inside. Her red lips were slightly parted, and her eyes were wet.
Like a branch of flowers covered with dew after the rain.
A sweet fragrance floats in the air, like the aroma of a flower.
Tanmarajiva leaned over, pulled up the quilt and wrapped Yaoying tightly, then lay down.
Outside the city stood a hundred thousand fierce and ferocious Northern Rong troops. All the food and weapons were gone. He didn't know how many days he could survive...
He had a lot to think about.
But she came, braving the flames of war to be by his side, and lay on his couch. At that moment, he didn't want to think about anything else, only her in his heart.
The author has something to say: Continue to vote for the monk~ The essay contest will end in 5 days~