The princes and ministers had already left, and the corridor was empty.

The monk soldier opened the felt tent and motioned Yao Ying to go in.

When Yaoying entered the hall, a wave of hot air hit her face. The tent was covered with carpet, which was soft and silent when she stepped on it.

Bi Sa was waiting for her under the felt curtain, rubbing his hands together, with a hint of excitement on his face.

Yao Ying asked in confusion: "What happened?"

Bi Suo laughed and said, "The Northern Rong are in chaos!"

Yaoying raised her head in surprise, her fingers trembling slightly, and her heart pounding.

Did Haidu Aling start a rebellion?

Bi Su led Yao Ying inside and whispered, "We received news this morning that the Khan of the Northern Rong has moved his headquarters to Orudo."

Yao Ying pursed her lips.

In Turkic, "Orudo" means palace tent. Previously, Wakhan Khan named a mud city as Orudo, which was just a place to raise cattle and horses, far inferior to Yizhou. Where the Khan's tent was, that was the Northern Rong Yating. Why did Wakhan Khan suddenly move his tent?

Bisha's eyes lit up, unable to contain his excitement: "It is said that Haidu Aling returned to Yizhou, severely injured Wakhan Khan, and replaced Wakhan Khan as the new Khan, so Wakhan Khan fled to Orudo!"

After Haidu Aling returned to Beirong, the royal family of Beirong would surely be in turmoil, with brothers killing each other and fighting against each other. In the best case, both sides would suffer losses, and in the worst case, the royal family would fall apart.

However, the Northern Rong had been unusually quiet during this period, with no news coming out. The royal court had repeatedly sent out scouts, but could not find out anything. Bisuo was impatient, and if Tanmarajiva had not forbidden him, he would have gone to the Northern Rong himself.

Now the news came back that Haidu Aling and the princes had fought each other, and it was unknown how many people were killed or injured. Wakhan Khan was seriously injured and had already fled to Orudo. The northern Rong nobles recommended Haidu Aling to become the new Khan.

Bi Suo took pleasure in misfortune: chaos broke out among the Northern Rong, and the royal court had its opportunity.

Yao Ying rolled her eyes and asked, "What did your ministers quarrel about just now?"

If it was really that simple, why did those ministers yell and curse at the top of their lungs?

Bisha's shoulders slumped, his smile froze on the corners of his mouth, his brows slightly wrinkled, and he said, "The king does not allow the minister to send troops to attack the Northern Rong."

When the news of the rebellion in the Northern Rong reached the royal court, the ministers ignored the "death" of the Sultan and took the initiative to ask for a fight, but Tanmarajya rejected it. The ministers were dissatisfied, clenched their fists and pulled up their sleeves, slammed the long table and drew their swords, demanding that troops be sent to attack the Northern Rong immediately. Tanmarajya firmly refused to allow it, and the ministers flew into a rage. After much arguing, Tanmarajya remained unmoved, and the ministers left in anger.

Yao Ying suddenly understood. No wonder she had just heard someone scolding Tanmaraka for being timid and cowardly.

Turning around the screen, green smoke was curling up in front of the incense burner, and a faint fragrance slowly spread out.

The hall was silent, with only the rustling sound of the pen rubbing against the parchment. Tanmarajava was writing with his head bowed. He was wearing a wide crimson cassock. The sunlight filtered into the felt tent, and a faint halo of light shone on the cassock, making his thin figure look like he had deep eyebrows and eyes, and he seemed to be surrounded by Buddha's light.

The quarreling and shouting among the ministers just now seemed to be just Yao Ying's illusion.

Hearing the footsteps, Tanmarajiva did not stop moving. After he finished reciting a whole sentence of scripture, he put down his pen and motioned Yaoying and Bisha to sit down.

Yao Ying walked closer, knelt in front of the long table, and handed over the confession of the Northern Rong delegation.

Tanmaraka took it.

Yao Ying's gaze fell on the string of Bodhi beads on his wrist. The beads looked ordinary in style and dull in color from a distance, as if they were old things. Only when you looked closely could you see that each Bodhi seed was a light grayish white, round and cold, like a full moon.

After reading the confession, Tanmaragha handed it to Bhisatta.

Bi Suo read through the letter quickly and sneered, "The Northern Rong delegation is acting suspiciously this time. They really have bad intentions. Let's detain them first and see how the Northern Rong side explains it."

Judging from the confession, Princess Yiqing asked Zhu Luyun to persuade her that Yaoying was just a cover, and the real purpose was to get close to Wangsi through Yaoying and find an opportunity to murder Tanmarajiva.

Bisa murmured a few curses in the tribal language, put down his confession, and looked up at Tanmaragha.

"King, since the Northern Rong are in chaos and are planning to send someone to assassinate you, why don't we take the opportunity to attack the Northern Rong?"

Tanmaraka did not answer him, but asked: "Have you detected any unusual movements in Sand City?"

Bi Suo shook his head and said, "The Northern Rong have not disturbed the defenders of Sand City recently. I thought it was because of the heavy snow and ice that made it difficult for the Northern Rong to collect food and grass, and the cavalry could not go deep into the Gobi Desert. Now it seems that it must be because the Northern Rong are in chaos, so their cavalry are so quiet!"

Tanmaraka remained silent and signaled the guards in the corner to bring the sandbox.

Yao Ying immediately stood up and was about to retreat when a gaze swept over her.

Tanmaraka looked at her and shook his head.

Yaoying looked at him, feeling puzzled. They were discussing the royal court's troop deployment. Shouldn't she avoid it?

Tanmaraka gestured for her to look at the sand table on the long table.

Yao Ying had no choice but to sit back down and recognized that the landforms on the sand table, which were roughly formed by the piles of quicksand and gravel, were roughly the north and south landforms of Congling and Tianshan Mountains. In the north, there was only a flat expanse of yellow sand without any markings, which might represent the royal court and the tribes subordinate to the royal court. The terrain in the south was clear and distinct, and from west to east they were Shule, Guizi, Yanqi, Gaochang, and Yizhou. Zhu Luyun came from Yizhou, which was the current location of the Beirong's headquarters.

The sandbox did not reveal any information about the royal court.

Yaoying felt relieved, and Tanmarajiva was considerate and would not put her in an embarrassing situation.

Bi Suo, who was standing by, was so anxious that he scratched his head and stared at the sand table for a long time, and asked, "What is the king worried about?"

Tanmo Luojia took out a few pieces of parchment without any hurry and said, "These were all intercepted from the Northern Rong scouts."

Bi Suo took the parchment, glanced at it, and a look of delight appeared on her face.

Yao Ying took the parchment from him and frowned after reading it.

These are letters of help sent from the Northern Rong. The letters were written by several Northern Rong princes. Judging from the addresses, the letters were sent to the Northern Rong princesses in Gaochang, Guizi and other places and the tribal chiefs in the Northern Desert. The princes requested them to send troops to rescue Wakhan Khan.

"The news is true, Haidu A Ling really rebelled!"

Bisa was overjoyed, but then he became puzzled: Since Luoga intercepted these letters for help and confirmed the scouts' intelligence, why didn't he dare to send troops?

Yaoying's reaction was completely different from his. She remained silent and seemed to be thinking about something.

Bi Suo gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, judging from these letters, there is no doubt that Haidu Aling assassinated Wakhan Khan. The Northern Rong would never move their camp in a hurry without any reason! They must be in chaos, and now is a good time to attack them! Please allow me to lead the troops to fight!"

Bisha's face was full of excitement to try.

Tanmaraka said calmly, "What if these letters are false?"

Bishomon's body trembled, his mouth opened wide, and his hands shook.

Tanmo Luojia tapped the sand table with his slender fingers: "Yizhou leads to the grassland. Wakhan Khan started from the northern desert and fled eastward. He can gather the retreating soldiers and grassland tribes and regain the Khanship."

"Look at which direction of Izhou Orudo is and where it is closest."

Bisha looked at the sand table carefully and murmured, "Orudo is in the northwest, close to the troops stationed in the east of the royal court..."

That's why the ministers were so eager to get involved. They were too close. They could just send troops to besiege the imperiled Wakhan Khan. Who could resist this temptation?

Tanmo Luojia turned to Yaoying and asked softly, "Princess, you know Haidu Aling. Who do you think is better between Wakhan Khan and Haidu Aling? Is it Wakhan Khan or Haidu Aling who is in charge of the Northern Rong at the moment?"

Yao Ying hesitated for a moment.

Tanmaraka said: "Princess, please feel free to speak up. Don't worry."

His tone was gentle, and his blue eyes looked at her quietly, like a Buddha.

Although there was no expression on his face, it made her feel at ease.

Yao Ying looked at him and slowly relaxed. After thinking for a while, she told him what she was thinking: "In my opinion, if the winner is Haidu Aling, he will attack the royal court immediately. Therefore, the person who is in charge of the Northern Rong now is most likely the Wakhan Khan."

Bisha frowned, then calmed down and asked, "Princess, why are you so sure?"

Yao Ying said slowly: "First, Haidu Aling is not of Northern Rong descent. If he really becomes the new Khan, his top priority is to gain military merit and divert conflicts. Otherwise, he will not be able to win the support of the people. Even if he is not well prepared, he must prepare to attack and harass the royal court to intimidate other competitors."

Haidu Aling believed that the best way to establish his authority was to defeat the old Khan's powerful enemies, so in the book he personally led his troops to attack the royal court after becoming the new Khan.

"Secondly, Haidu Aling is arrogant and ambitious. Once he succeeds in seizing the Khan's throne, he will definitely announce it to the world, mobilize his troops, hunt down the old Khan's descendants, and prepare for the conquest. It is impossible that there will be no movement at all."

"These are just my guesses," Yao Ying said. "The strangest thing is that the news of the Regent King's death should have spread to the Northern Rong. Why did Haidu Aling miss such a good opportunity?"

Bisa was stunned, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face. He knew that Sultan Gu was still "alive", so he almost forgot about it.

Wakhan Khan was a cautious man, and he was even more cautious when fighting with Tanmarajya. The nobles of the Northern Rong were full of complaints, complaining that Wakhan Khan was old and useless, and they were frightened by Tanmarajya.

If Wakhan Khan really died, the impatient northern Rong nobles would surely launch a massive attack on the royal court.

The situation in the Holy City is tense now. Troops stationed in various places are retreating to the Holy City. This is a good time to attack. If Haidu Aling was the new Khan, he would have led the Northern Rong nobles to attack us long ago. However, no battle reports have been sent back to the Holy City from Tiansha City in these days.

The Wakhan Khan did not lose power.

When Bisha came to her senses from her frenzy, she thought of the ministers' angry expressions just now, and her heart began to beat fast and cold sweat broke out.

If they really launched an attack rashly, how could they possibly be a match for Wakhan Khan?

Bi Suo rubbed his chin with his fingers, with a look of disbelief on his face: "Could it be that all this is a trap set by the Northern Rong? They deliberately exposed the flaws to lure the royal court to attack, and then catch the turtle in the jar?"

Yao Ying's eyelids twitched, and she whispered, "We must inform Lord Wei Chi as soon as possible. They don't know there is a fraud and may send troops."

Yuchi Damo hated the Wakhan Khan, who had led his troops to humiliate him, to the core.

Tanmaraka said calmly: "The letter has been sent."

The tone is calm and unhurried.

It seemed as if everything was within his expectations.

Yao Ying was stunned for a moment, and looked at Bi Suo. A flash of light flashed through both of their minds at the same time.

Tanmo Luojia's forbearance and concession in the past few days were not entirely for paralyzing the ministers. He was also testing the reaction of Beirong to guess whether there was any chaos in Beirong!

Bi Suo realized it belatedly and opened his mouth wide: "King, you asked me to send people to keep an eye on Sand City all the time, just to wait for news from Bei Rong? Did you know from the beginning that Bei Rong would not cause chaos?"

Tanmaraj nodded slightly: "Wakhan Khan should not be underestimated."

Yao Ying's heart was shaken.

The best military operation is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack his alliances, and the next best is to attack his soldiers. War is not just a fight on the battlefield.

Tanmarajiva had been dealing with Wakhan Khan since he was thirteen years old. To outsiders, it seemed that he and Wakhan Khan had only fought a few big battles to decide the winner. No one knew how much effort he put in behind each battle.

His confrontation with Wakhan Khan was not just a tit-for-tat confrontation on the battlefield, but also a persistent psychological game that lasted for more than ten years.

The reason why Wakhan Khan was afraid of Tanmarajya was not only because he lost to him on the battlefield when he first started fighting against him, but also because he had remained firm and calm over the years and resolved crises outside the battlefield, while the old Khan lost confidence in the defeat and became suspicious.

Not only are there swords and sabers on the battlefield, but Tanmarajiva also has to deal with the harassment from the noble families, balance the court, and ensure that the people under his rule have enough food and clothing... Every order is a decision he makes after careful consideration, and every small decision may affect the entire battle situation.

Just like this time, there was another invisible war between Wakhan Khan and him.

A decision made by two people means the life and death of thousands of people.

One can imagine how much pressure Tanmaraka was under.

He has been enduring this day after day for ten years, no wonder he is in poor health.

Yao Ying sighed silently.

Bi Suo's heart was beating wildly, but slowly calmed down.

He was only thinking about a quick victory, getting rid of those termites in the court, and defeating the Northern Rong who had always coveted the royal court. Luoga considered more and longer-term things than he did. In his view, the trip to Gaochang was to help Princess Wen Zhao, but for Luoga it was just a small part of the whole plan. Luoga had too many things to take care of.

Bisha let out a long breath, thought seriously for a moment, and said, "But this is not like the style of Wakhan Khan."

Tanmaraka said: "It doesn't matter whose style it is."

The important thing is that the royal court cannot be fooled.

Bi Suo's heart suddenly brightened and she nodded.

The king and his ministers reached a tacit understanding.

Bi Suo glanced at Yao Ying, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.

Yaoying smiled, stood up and left.

Bisha watched her disappear behind the felt curtain and asked, "King, why didn't you tell the ministers the truth?"

Tanmaraka looked at the scripture he had just written and said, "It is not the right time yet."

The complaints of those ministers were still ringing in his ears, and Bisa's face looked solemn. It seemed that Luojia planned to solve the internal problems first and then deal with the external threats.

This is different from before.

"Has the king really made up his mind?"

Bishuo asked softly.

The monk soldiers withdrew the sand table, and Tanmarajiva continued to copy the scriptures from memory. His writing movements were elegant and his handwriting was beautiful.

“Someone has to solve these problems.”

Biso was speechless for a long while.

Luo Jia knew what the consequence would be, but still chose to be the evil person destined to be hated, just to ensure long-term peace for the royal court.

Bisha closed her eyes.

"The eagle was given to Princess Wen Zhao by the king. Why did the king want Yuan Jue to say that it was given by me?"

After this question was asked, the hall fell silent for a moment.

Tanmarajya's writing movements were still smooth, his eyes slightly lowered, and he said, "Because there is no difference, the eagle was given to the princess by the royal court."

Bisha looked at his expression carefully and remained silent.

At this moment, a burst of exclamations came from outside the hall.

The guards shouted anxiously: "Princess Wen Zhao! Get out of the way!"

A woman's cry of pain was heard.

Bisa was startled, stood up suddenly, bowed hastily to Tanmaragha, and rushed out of the hall.

Figures swayed in the corridor. The guards and monks huddled together with long spears in hand and rushed towards the hawk stand in the corner. A sturdy black eagle spread its wings and swooped down continuously, pecking at another black eagle with its sharp beak.

The black eagle was not even half the size of the red eagle and did not make any move to fight back. Yao Ying stood between the two eagles, panicking. Seeing the black eagle screaming from being pecked, she scooped the black eagle into her arms, turned her back to the red eagle, and dodged carefully.

The guards around did not dare to hurt the eagle and shouted loudly to attract its attention.

The eagle's eyes were sharp, staring straight at the black eagle in Yao Ying's arms. With its wings spread, it swooped over again like a black cloud filled with thunder and lightning, its claws as sharp as hooks.

Yao Ying hugged Black Eagle tightly.

Bi Suo frowned, rushed forward, and in the blink of an eye he was in front of Yao Ying.

"Garuda!"

At the entrance of the palace, a cold rebuke was heard.

Tanmaraka stood under the felt curtain, his robes blown up by the wind.

The eagle's body froze.

The guard immediately stepped forward, threw his hands forward, grabbed the suddenly crazy eagle tightly, and carried it away.

Bi Suo turned around, took Yao Ying's hand, and rolled up her sleeves. "You're not scratched, are you?"

The claws of the red eagle can pierce the chest of its prey with one claw. She was scratched several times by the red eagle just now, so she must have been injured.

Yao Ying quickly withdrew her hand and smiled, "It's okay, I was wearing thick clothes, I didn't get caught."

Bissa paused.

Yaoying bent down to comfort the black eagle. The black eagle was pecked several times by the eagle and was quite frightened.

She checked carefully and found that the black eagle had no wounds on its body, only some feathers had fallen off. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It turns out that the Buddha's eagle is really called Kakula."

Bisa was suddenly at a loss whether to laugh or cry. She thought she would scold Cangying as soon as she opened her mouth, but she didn't expect her to say such words. Then, she had an idea and raised her head to look towards the door.

The felt curtain was lowered and Tanmarajiva had already turned around and gone in.

The author has something to say: The previous chapter has been revised and has new content. It is best for everyone to reread the previous chapter.