The guards were waiting for Yaoying outside the royal temple. Seeing that she looked pale and absent-minded, they asked worriedly, "Princess, you are not feeling well. Do you want to rest for two days before leaving?"

Yao Ying held the reins, glanced at the sky, and shook her head: "It's okay, I'll take the medicine on the way... My brother is taking the Wuquan trade route, I'm worried, so I'll go to Sand City and wait for him."

She sent her personal soldiers to support Li Zhongqian on all possible routes, and also guarded the trade route to Wuquan. Originally, this route was not dangerous, but now the situation was serious. Wuquan did not belong to the royal court or Gaochang. Without the royal court's troops stationed there, no one knew whether the rebellious soldiers from the northern barbarians would pass through Wuquan.

Part of the royal army is now under the leadership of Mobhido to pursue Wakhan Khan, while the rest are distributed in various garrisons to prevent sneak attacks by the Northern Rong people and to intercept Northern Rong deserters.

The main force of the central army returned to the holy city with the Sultan. No matter what happened, the central army guards could not leave the holy city for too long, otherwise the enemy would take advantage of the opportunity to sneak in. In the battle of Sam Valley, Tanmarajiva sent almost all the elite guards, which actually took a great risk. If the nobles found out, or Wakhan Khan tied up all the guards, changes would likely occur in the court.

If it weren't for the fact that Tanmarajya was a Buddhist and had defeated the Wakhan Khan several times, and if there were no various legends among the people, his decision would not have been so easily supported by the generals.

Therefore, after the war, he had to withdraw his troops as quickly as possible, go out of the country to stabilize people's hearts, and handle state affairs.

At this critical moment, it is inconvenient for Yao Ying to borrow troops from the royal court. She will have to handle the affairs of the Western Army herself in the future, so she should have left long ago.

He came back because he was worried that Haidu Aling would break into the holy city, and also because he wanted to confirm with his own eyes that he was safe.

The holy city was safe. He was secure.

Yao Ying pulled up the reins and said, "Let's go."

The personal soldiers stopped trying to persuade her, and surrounded Yao Ying as they headed straight for the Sand City.

They rode out of the city without stopping and traveled for several hours. As it was getting dark, a few people were resting in the inn. They were drawing water from the well when they heard the sound of horse hooves outside the door. A fast horse caught up with them. Without waiting for the horse to stop, the rider rolled off the saddle, walked quickly forward, and knelt on one knee at Yao Ying's feet.

"Finally caught up with the princess!"

Yao Ying recognized the rider as one of the royal temple guards named Baiyi. He stood up suddenly and asked in surprise, "But what happened to the Buddhist disciple?"

Baiyi shook his head and clasped his fists, saying, "The king ordered me to deliver medicine to the princess and escort her to Sand City. The princess left a message when she left, but she didn't say which way she was going. I asked the soldiers guarding the city and found out that the princess was taking this post road."

Yao Ying was stunned.

Baiyi took out a prescription and a porcelain bottle from his sleeve and said, "The king said that while the princess is taking the doctor's pills, taking other medicines will be counterproductive, so you must be careful when taking medicine for a cold or fever, and you can't take medicine as usual, otherwise it will harm your body. The prescription was written by the king himself, and the medicine was prepared by the monk doctor in the temple. Please remember to take it, princess, and don't neglect it."

Yaoying took the prescription and looked at it carefully. It was indeed written by Tanmarajiva. Perhaps in case she had to get medicine in a town she passed by on the way, there were several copies of the prescription, including ones in Sanskrit, Chinese, Sogdian and Persian.

The night wind blew, the sky was full of stars, the courtyard was full of lush grape vines, and the soldiers sat around the stove baking naan. The dark night was filled with wisps of fragrance.

Yaoying held the porcelain bottle in her hand and recalled the way Tanmarajiva wiped her wet hair. It was solemn, pious and compassionate. It did not seem like he was drying her hair but more like he was performing a solemn ceremony.

The slight doubt that had just popped up in her mind disappeared completely in an instant.

He has always been so considerate and caring towards her, without any other thoughts.

The guard walked up to Yao Ying with a bowl of hot mutton soup and said, "Princess, you said yesterday that you would go back to the city to ask the Buddhist a question. Have you asked him?"

Yao Ying came back to her senses, took the mutton soup, put away the porcelain bottle, and smiled, "I have asked..."

She didn't want to ask at first, thinking it unnecessary. After leaving the city, she hesitated for a long time and decided to go back to the temple to ask him in person. Just then, Prajna asked her to go back, so she went back.

Tanmarajiva rejected the proposal decisively, with a cold tone, without any abnormality.

She overthought it.

Yao Ying sipped the fresh mutton soup mouthful by mouthful, shook her head, and pushed all the chaotic thoughts in her mind into the deepest place.

Now is not the time to think about that.

The next day, the group continued on their journey.

Yaoying was still sick, and the guards wanted to slow down, but she was in a hurry to see Li Zhongqian, and even after taking medicine she still insisted on hurrying on. The guards knew it was useless to persuade her, so they had to give up.

After a few days of traveling through the night, they finally arrived at Shacheng. Yao Ying dismounted and headed straight for the posthouse in the city.

The posthouse was crowded with envoys from various countries. She looked around and found where the Gaochang envoys were staying. "Where is Duke Wei?"

The Gaochang envoy replied in bewilderment: "Princess, Duke Wei is not here. We were ordered to meet you here, but we haven't seen Duke Wei yet. He may still be on his way."

Yao Ying's heart tensed up, "Not here yet?"

Li Zhongqian's letter was hastily written when she set out. In the letter, he said that he would come to pick her up and told her to wait in the royal court and not to go anywhere else.

After she received the letter, she set out from the Holy City and came to the Sand City. According to the walking distance, he should have arrived in the Sand City by now!

Yao Ying found the map, frowned and looked at it for a while, then asked the messenger to take out documents, seals and other items to find the location of the garrison in Sand City.

The soldier took Yao Ying to the military lobby.

Yao Ying looked around with a frown on her face. The atmosphere in the camp was depressing, with the wind howling and cranes crying. The soldiers were in a hurry, and all the crossbow carts were pushed onto the city wall, looking majestic and awe-inspiring. It seemed as if the garrison was ready to go into battle at any time.

The royal army is pursuing the remnants of the Northern Rong. Who dares to attack the royal court now?

The garrison commander "knew" Bisha's aide, Prince Bayan, but he didn't know Yaoying in women's clothing. When he saw her take out the talisman, he knew she was the legendary Han princess who was entangled with Buddhists. He looked at her with contempt and spoke politely, "Princess, you are here at the wrong time. Recently, there are more and more refugees fleeing outside the city of Sand. The city may have to be under martial law. I can't send troops to help the princess find someone."

Yao Ying said, "I dare not trouble the general to help me find someone. I have a question that I don't understand, and I would like to ask the general to help me solve it."

"What is it?"

"Which army is the general on guard against?"

The guard hesitated for a moment. Baiyi, who was behind Yaoying, took a step forward. Just as she was about to say something, she shook her head at Baiyi, who understood and returned to his original position.

The Gaochang envoy who was accompanying them said, "Princess Wen Zhao is the commander-in-chief of the Western Army. Our Western Army and your country are allies. When the princess came to Sand City, I believe the general had already received the order from the Holy City. At present, the Western Army is fighting against the Northern Rong together with the Royal Court Army. Please tell the general the truth."

The general shrugged and said, "We are on guard against the Northern Rong army, the Khanate coalition forces and the rebel army. The Northern Rong is in chaos, and the tribes took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. The Khanate also sent troops to annex small tribes. Countless refugees fled to the royal court, and those pursuers also followed. Although they are just harassing and dare not really attack the city, we cannot take it lightly. All border cities should strengthen their defenses, and the border troops should return to defend."

The Khanate Alliance is a coalition of troops from different small countries. They are vassals of a powerful dynasty further west. Most of the coalition are Persians and Turks. The small tribes west of the royal court have long been oppressed and enslaved by them. They are greedy and want to annex the territory in the northwest of Beirong.

The commander finally said, "It's not safe outside the city. All the caravans and envoys have withdrawn. Princess, you'd better stay in the city and don't wander around."

Yao Ying thanked the guard and left the hall.

Baiyi caught up with her and asked, "Princess, why didn't you let me speak just now?"

Yao Ying said solemnly, "You are the Buddha's close guard. Others will regard every word you say as an order from the Buddha. I just talked to the garrison commander as the leader of the Western Army, not as a guest of the Buddha. You'd better be cautious and don't cause trouble for the Buddha."

She didn't even need the identity of Master Bayan because she didn't want to cause unnecessary disputes.

Baiyi suddenly understood and nodded in agreement.

Back at the inn, Yao Ying was extremely anxious. She sat in front of the lamp to study the map and even drank several bowls of tea to calm herself down.

The situation was more serious than she had imagined.

Will Li Zhongqian encounter rebel forces on the road?

The desert is vast, and she didn't know which way Li Zhongqian would take, so she couldn't go looking for him. She could only wait for him in the royal court. Now that she knew he was going to Wuquan, maybe she could go to Wuquan to pick him up?

But she was afraid that he would change his route temporarily and she would miss him.

The more times came, the more they could not be anxious. Yao Ying called his personal soldiers and ordered them to leave the city immediately to Wuquan and look for Li Zhongqian along the way. As long as there was any news, they should send a fast horse back to Shacheng to report.

The personal guards responded and went out of the city in waves. In the end, only seven or eight personal guards were left by Yao Ying's side.

She wanted to send more people out of the city, but her personal guard stopped her and said, "Princess, Sand City is a border town and it is not peaceful. You must leave a few people with you."

Yao Ying then stopped and found a group of merchants from Shacheng, asking them to help inquire among the refugees to see if anyone had seen or heard of Li Zhongqian.

A few days passed and still no news came back.

Yaoying tossed and turned every night and had nightmares as soon as she closed her eyes.

She was soaking in the bloody mountain of corpses in despair. The young man Li Zhongqian knelt in front of the mountain of corpses, dug up the corpses one by one, and held her hand tightly, "Mingyue Nu, my brother is here to pick you up."

Yao Ying raised her head in surprise, and the young man in front of her suddenly turned into a grown-up Li Zhongqian. His hair was disheveled, his body was full of iron arrows, and he was spitting blood. He fell to the ground and crawled towards her little by little. She reached out to reach him and grabbed his hand. He looked at her with a smile on his face.

"Don't be afraid, my brother is here."

Yaoying woke up from her dream, covered in cold sweat. She sat there for a while, her heart pounding.

Dreams are not necessarily true. The last time she had a dream, the person she saw was Li Xuanzhen.

This dream will definitely not come true.

Yao Ying was so confused that she had to light a lamp and read the military intelligence reports sent from Gaochang to stop herself from having wild thoughts.

In the second half of the night, she was drowsy. Suddenly, in the quiet night, there was a sudden and mournful sound of a horn, crossbows and arrows were fired from the city walls, the roof tiles shook, and people shouted and horses neighed.

Yao Ying was startled, put on her clothes, stood up, and asked someone to go to the city gate to inquire about the news.

After a while, the personal soldiers returned on horseback: "There are rebels attacking the city at night!"

"Northern Rong people?"

"Looking at their armor, they should be Northern Rong people."

The defenses of Sand City had been strengthened long ago, and the defenders were fully prepared. Before the enemy approached the city gate, the defenders blew the horn, and the defending general shot and killed an enemy general with an arrow. The rebel army fled in all directions, and at dawn, the sounds of fighting gradually died down from thunderous to sparse.

Yao Ying rushed to the city gate and asked the refugees who had just entered the city if they knew any news about Wuquan.

After asking around for a long time and getting nothing, the garrison commander sent someone to invite her and told her the bad news: "According to the captives, Wuquan was occupied by a group of horse thieves a few days ago, so the road is blocked."

Yaoying's heart began to beat wildly and she broke out in a cold sweat.

The garrison commander said, "Princess, my duty is to guard Sand City. I cannot send troops to Wuquan."

Yao Ying returned to the house, fidgeting. Gritting her teeth, she summoned her personal soldiers and called the Gaochang envoy: "Gather all the caravans in the city and offer a high price. I want to borrow their guards. How many of our people are there in the nearby cities? Send a message by hawk to call them all over!"

The caravan stayed near the post house and were familiar with Yao Ying's subordinates. When they heard that there was a generous reward, they sent their guards one after another.

Yao Ying assembled a team of four to five hundred people, gave them half of their wages, and asked them to escort him to Wuquan.

The group disguised themselves as civilians and left the city. After walking dozens of miles, they suddenly heard a thunderous sound of horse hooves from the hill ahead. Figures wearing leather jackets and masked scarves emerged from all directions, wielding all kinds of curved swords and rushing towards them with their fangs and claws bared.

The guards immediately drew their swords and surrounded Yao Ying tightly.

"Raise the flag!"

The cavalry responded by raising several Western Army flags.

Baiyi looked around with sharp eyes and said, "Princess, don't panic. Looking at the bows and swords of these people, they don't look like soldiers. They should be horse thieves."

As he spoke, he bent his bow, drew his arrow, and shot an arrow. With a sharp bang, the arrow went straight into the sky.

The guards drew their swords, rode their horses, and calmly formed a battle formation to meet the enemy. With their swords raised, they killed fiercely, and the first wave of horse thieves' charge was immediately dispersed. The enemy then realized that they were not ordinary people and had the intention to retreat.

Baiyi and his personal soldiers escorted Yao Ying away, and soon left those horse thieves behind. From behind them came the sound of breaking air and the loud shouts and scolding of the guards.

Yao Ying looked back on horseback, and saw dust flying behind him. A few lone horse thieves came running down the hill and chased after them. The leader of the horse thieves was tall, with disheveled hair, wearing an animal skin jacket, and looked fierce.

The guards fired several arrows at the horse thief, who raised his sword to block the arrows and dodged them. His eyes were fixed on Yao Ying, who was surrounded by the guards in the middle.

Several guards with knives on the left and right wings stepped forward to block him, their knives flashing.

He pretended not to see it and drove his horse at full speed. When he got close, he actually raised his arms, threw away his only weapon, rolled off the saddle, and rushed forward without fear.

The guards looked at each other.

Behind him, the guards who were driving away the horse thieves raised their longbows, aimed at his back, and fired thousands of arrows.

Yao Ying looked at the unarmed horse thief leader running wildly in the yellow sand, and seemed to realize something. Her throat was choked for a long time, and she trembled and said, "Don't shoot!"

The personal guards immediately waved flags to signal, and the sound of bowstrings stopped abruptly.

Hundreds of people stopped their horses in front of the hill and watched the tall figure rushing up towards them, facing the forest of long swords and dense arrows.

The guard only needed to raise his long knife to chop him into minced meat.

He ran very fast, chasing the wind and lightning. When he was almost there, he didn't know if he stepped on a hole in the quicksand, but he suddenly fell to the ground. In a moment, he rolled over and leaped up, flying forward.

The guards were stunned for a moment by the brutal aura emanating from him, which showed that he would kill any god who stood in his way and any Buddha who came his way.

The strong wind flapped the flags and the wind whistled.

Yaoying froze on the horse's back, unable to move for a long time. The sky was filled with the sound of howling wind, and sand was blown up by the wind and flew onto her face, causing her a sharp pain. She hurriedly kicked away the stirrups, loosened the reins, fell off the horse, pushed away the personal soldiers who came over to support her, and ran down the hillside.

Her heartbeat suddenly became very slow. All the sounds around her faded away. The wilderness, plains, and guarding horsemen all disappeared. The only thing left between heaven and earth was the figure running towards her.

At this moment, all the suffering becomes insignificant.

As long as my brother is alive.

She ran toward the horse thief.

He saw her and ran faster. In almost the blink of an eye, and yet it seemed like a very long time had passed, the sound of running was getting closer and closer. Then, a pair of strong arms suddenly hugged her and lifted her up tightly with such force that it seemed as if he wanted to crush her.

"Brother..."

Three years.

Three years have passed since he left for the expedition.

Yao Ying clutched Li Zhongqian's robe and found that her face was already covered with tears and she was sobbing uncontrollably.

She had imagined many scenes of reuniting with Li Zhongqian. She had thought that she would see him the next moment. The surprises and disappointments over and over again were not as real as this moment. She could not say anything, but just held him tightly, fearing that all this was just a dream.

The thinly woven fingers gently lifted Yaoying's wet face.

She raised her head and looked at the man in front of her.

His face was weather-beaten, with tangled hair, a dishevelled appearance, a gaunt figure, thin cheeks, and a gloomy and deep expression, like a snowy peak that had been frozen for tens of millions of years. Even the scorching sun of the Flaming Mountain could not melt the layers of frozen ice and snow. His pair of narrow, blood-red phoenix eyes flashed with a sinister dark light.

Yao Ying hardly recognized him.

The next moment, Li Zhongqian's lips curled up slowly, and he stared at her for a long time. The coldness in his eyes disappeared, "Don't cry, my brother is here."

Yao Ying burst into tears and raised her hand to wipe away the dust and sand on his face. His thin cheeks slowly appeared, with a hideous scar between his eyebrows.

He must have suffered a lot.

"Brother."

Yaoying couldn't say anything else and screamed again.

Li Zhongqian responded in a low voice, "Brother is here."

Yaoying hugged him and looked up, tears still welling up in her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile and looked at him happily.

"Brother has lost weight."

Li Zhongqian smiled and touched her head, "Ming Yue Nu has grown taller."

The year they parted, he returned victoriously, wearing a magnificent suit of armor. She tiptoed in front of him and gestured, her height only reaching the height of his breastplate.

A person who was raised as a child and as delicate as crystal glass was sent to the barbaric Yelu tribe...

How much suffering has she endured in these three years?

Every time he thought about it, he felt like a sharp knife was tumbling in his heart.

Li Zhongqian held Yaoying in his arms, tears welling up in his eyes. He suddenly tightened his arms and slowly closed his eyes. After a while, he said, "Brother is here, let's go home."

All he got in response were a few muffled murmurs and a burning sensation in his chest.

Li Zhongqian was shocked and loosened his hand. Yao Ying's eyes were closed and she had lost consciousness. Her hands were still tightly grasping his robe, and her knuckles were white.

"Ming Yue Nu!"

He was so anxious that his voice changed.

The guards had already gathered around, and seeing this, they hurriedly said, "Alang, the princess was ill and had to travel a few days ago. She has not recovered from the illness. These days, she has been worried about Alang's safety all day long. She has been so anxious that she has not slept for several nights. When she saw Alang, she was so happy that she couldn't bear it."

"Alang, let's go back to Sand City first."

Li Zhongqian took the cape handed over by his personal soldiers, wrapped Yaoying tightly from head to toe, and carried her onto the horse.

"To Sand City."