At dawn, there were sudden bursts of mournful trumpet sounds in the camp, flags fluttering, and the sound of horses' hooves thundering.

Yao Ying woke up suddenly. The light in the tent was dim. A figure stood motionless beside the long desk. He was dressed neatly and was concentrating on identifying the sound of a horn coming from afar.

After a moment, he lowered his eyes to look at her.

"Today I will lead a central army to break camp. Bisha and Mobito will stay behind to take care of the food and supplies and escort the baggage. Princess will stay in the camp. Yuanjue will come to find you. If there is anything, please discuss it with him."

The tone is serious.

Yao Ying responded, but before she got up, he picked up the long knife beside the blanket and walked out.

"The general is still injured. Don't forget to change the bandages. Be careful."

Yaoying was wrapped in a felt blanket, whispering instructions. She had just woken up from her sleep, and her voice was soft and hoarse.

Tanmarajiva stopped in his tracks, turned his back to her, hummed softly, lifted the felt curtain and went out.

But outside the tent one could hear voices, footsteps, horses neighing, and the dull sound of armor and swords clashing one after another. It sounded busy but not chaotic, and the wind was howling.

Yao Ying calmed herself down, quickly put on her clothes and stood up. Yuan Jue came hurriedly and took her to another camp.

The long road at the foot of the hill was covered in darkness, with the sky filled with morning glow. Soldiers were marching northward with the morning glow on their shoulders. They were too far away to make out the figure of the leading general.

Yaoying ate some naan and dealt with the paperwork recording the allocation of war horses when Bisha's personal soldiers came over.

"The commander accidentally captured a small tribe of stragglers. They wanted to attack the Kak tribe and were surrounded by the Kak tribe for several days and nights. The commander captured them alive. Among them, two or three hundred were Han Chinese. The general does not know how to deal with them. Can Prince Bayan go and take over? The others do not understand Chinese."

Yao Ying agreed immediately.

The royal court marched with great force. In order to prevent the main force of the army from being revealed, the prisoners were strictly guarded. The situation was tense. Prisoners, refugees, and tribal cavalry were mixed together and detained in one place. It was easy for conflicts to break out, and they must be handled properly. She had helped to deal with several disputes in the past few days.

Yao Ying led her personal soldiers to the camp where the prisoners were held. The deputy general was busy, and when he saw her coming, he didn't even raise his eyelids and pointed two soldiers to her.

"They are just a bunch of Han slaves. Why would General Ashina bother with them? In my opinion, it would be easier to just kill them."

The face of the personal soldier beside Yaoying changed. She shook her head at him, said nothing, and followed the soldier to the cowshed.

"Remember, this is the royal court. We have no say in how the royal court deploys troops and makes decisions. The Han captives now in custody fought for the Northern Rong. In the eyes of the royal court's generals, they are enemies."

After leaving the tent, Yao Ying whispered a reminder to her personal soldiers.

The bodyguards were startled and responded respectfully.

When they arrived at the cowshed, they could smell the foul and rancid smell of blood, dirt and feces from a long distance away. The cowshed was low in terrain and the prisoners were kept there. They had to look up to see the soldiers guarding it.

The soldier stood in front of the cowshed and shouted a few times, asking the soldiers to pull out a few Han people for interrogation. The soldiers pointed to a few people at random. Yao Ying stepped forward, stopped the soldiers, and signaled to his personal soldiers with his eyes.

The guard looked down at the crowd and asked loudly: "Why are you attacking the Kak tribe? Why are you fighting for the Northern Rong people?"

He spoke in pure and fluent Chinese, and the Han captives were stunned and silent for a moment.

Yao Ying stood aside and observed their reactions. She noticed that the Han captives looked towards the corner subconsciously after being shocked. She pointed at the men in the corner and said, "Bring them up."

The soldier picked out three prisoners, pressed their shoulders and forced them to kneel down.

Yao Ying waved her hands and asked the soldier to release them. "Where are you from? Why are you fighting for the Northern Rong people?"

The three captives glanced around and saw a group of tall and strong personal guards standing behind her. There were both Han and Hu people among the personal guards. They should have a high status in the royal army. They exchanged glances.

There were a few claps. The soldier got impatient and whipped him with his whip, then shouted, "Don't answer me!"

Yao Ying frowned slightly, but did not stop him, saying: "As long as you tell the truth and stop working for the Beirong people, I can ask the general to spare all of your lives."

The oldest man among the captives sneered: "How can you guarantee that? We are Han Chinese. We are the lowest class of people in the Northern Rong. Once we come to the royal court, we are no different from the Northern Rong."

Yao Ying said calmly, "It's different. The king of the royal court is a Buddhist. You were defeated and became his captives. He never killed the captives indiscriminately. He would forgive and pardon you. No one dared to question his decision. In the royal court, no matter which tribe people are, they are all Buddhists' subjects. Buddhists treat everyone equally."

Her gentle and calm gaze lingered on each face for a moment.

"If you refuse to surrender, you will become the spoils of the royal court, and will be given as slaves to nobles and meritorious generals, and you will never be able to redeem yourself in your lifetime."

The man and the other two looked at each other with doubt: "If we surrender, will the Buddha really forgive us?"

Yao Ying said: "Have you never heard of the Wujili tribe? Their tribe used to make a living by robbing the royal caravans, but later they submitted to the Buddha and the tribe was saved."

"I am a Han Chinese. I can make a promise and I am absolutely sure of it."

She paused, her tone slightly heavy.

"The premise is that you are willing to surrender."

The man narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and said, "We can surrender and tell you what the Beirong people asked us to do - but we have a request! As long as we meet this request, we are willing to serve the king's court!"

Yao Ying said, "Just say it."

The man stared at her closely. "We ask the Buddha to give us to Princess Wen Zhao! The royal nobles and the northern Rong nobles are all the same. Only Princess Wen Zhao will treat us well."

Yao Ying: …

Yuan Jue, who was standing by, was able to understand some simple Chinese gradually. When he heard the words "Fuzi" and "Princess Wen Zhao", his eyes immediately lit up and he gave her a questioning look.

Yaoying explained to him in a low voice.

Yuanjue thought for a moment and said, "Princess, you can agree to this. The king is merciful and strictly prohibits the killing of prisoners in the army. As long as the princess pays the ransom for these heads according to custom, the king will definitely give these people to the princess. The ministers in the court and the generals in the army will definitely agree."

Wherever Yao Ying's caravan went, they would try their best to rescue the local descendants of the Central Plains dynasty who had been enslaved. After saving more and more people, in order to avoid attracting hatred from the local royal court, she used rare treasures to buy two oasis cities from the lords of the two small city-states, and moved all the people out of the royal court. She let those people learn farming and business from Lao Qi, who was the first to be rescued. She also let them build up their armed forces step by step, and all men and women who could carry a sword had to be trained.

She did all this openly without hiding anything. Her caravan had close contacts with the Hu merchants, and she often used some strange and fresh toys to entice dignitaries. The ransom money paid by her fed the nobles of various countries, and the rescued people were sent out of the royal court one after another. The royal nobles were happy to see this and hoped that she could save more survivors.

Yao Ying smiled and said, "No wonder Bi Suo asked me to hand over these Han captives. He already knew what these Han people wanted."

"Yuanjue, go and inform the deputy general."

Yuanjue thought it was unnecessary, but seeing Yaoying's insistence, he had no choice but to agree. He found the deputy general to explain the situation and took out his seal. He was Tanmaraka's close guard, so the deputy general did not dare to object and agreed without hesitation.

After getting the deputy general's promise, Yao Ying told the Han man: "As long as you surrender, Princess Wen Zhao will do her best to find a way to redeem you."

The man was delighted, his eyes became sharp: "Do you know Princess Wen Zhao?"

Yao Ying nodded and said word by word: "Yes, my guarantee is Princess Wen Zhao's guarantee."

The three men looked at her, their expressions shocked and joy flashed across their faces.

"We believe in Princess Wen Zhao!"

The leading man looked back at the tribesmen in the cowshed, made up his mind, and answered Yao Ying's question with a fist: "Our ancestors are from Hexi, and we were born in Yizhou. Our fathers were all captured in Yizhou. We intermarried with the locals and worked like cattle and horses for the Beirong people. We also had to pay heavy taxes. We had to give them whatever they wanted, such as cattle, sheep, cloth, animal skins, and women. Not long ago, there was a civil strife in the Beirong tribe, and our tribe was conscripted. All the young and strong men in the tribe were forced to go to the battlefield. We originally escorted food and grass for the Beirong people. This month, the commander suddenly asked us to disperse and follow a few cavalry to attack all small tribes. If we did not obey the order, we would be killed."

Yao Ying frowned.

The Northern Rong people were indeed forcing their vassal tribes to attack the tribes that had submitted to the royal court.

The Han man took a breath and continued, "I can also tell you a piece of news - Prince Haidu Aling has invited reinforcements for the Beirong people!"

Yao Ying's pupils shrank, and in an instant, countless guesses flashed through her mind.

"What reinforcements?"

she asked calmly.

The Han man shook his head and said, "No one knows who the reinforcements will come from. We happened to be transporting grain for Prince Haidu Aling. The prince took his personal guards to the north. His personal guards got drunk and boasted that the prince would bring tens of thousands of reinforcements to the Northern Rong. When the time comes, divine soldiers will descend from the sky. Even if the Buddha is blessed by gods and Buddhas, he will not be able to win the battle. But no one believes this."

Yao Ying remained silent for a long while, slowly calmed down, left a personal soldier to handle the rest of the matters, instructed the soldier to treat the Han captives well, and turned to leave.

The royal court was originally short of troops, so it had to concentrate its forces to fight against the Northern Rong. If the Northern Rong really invited a strong reinforcement, the royal court would have to face a coalition force with several times their number of troops.

She was afraid that the Han man was a spy sent by the Northern Rong to disrupt the morale of the royal court. Although she was nervous in her heart, she kept a calm face. As she walked, she recalled the sand table she had seen in her mind. If what the man said was true, where would Haidu Aling go to find reinforcements?

Just after she took a few steps, the Han man remembered something and called her out, "Sir, if you can see Princess Wen Zhao, please tell her something!"

Yaoying stopped.

The Han man stepped forward, looked around, and whispered, "Please tell Princess Wen Zhao that there are Han people from the Central Plains who are asking about her."

Yao Ying was still thinking about the reinforcements and was a little absent-minded. She didn't react for a long time. When she realized what the man said, there was a buzzing sound in her head, her whole body froze, and her heart started beating wildly.

She moved her lips and wanted to ask a question, but she couldn't utter a complete word for a long time. The blood in her body seemed to flow backwards, and she could even hear the sound of it flowing through her veins.

In this chaotic world of war, who would not be afraid of the risk and travel thousands of miles to a foreign land to inquire about her news...

It could only be Li Zhongqian.

My brother is here.

He came to take her home.

Her hunch was correct. The Han Chinese that Wakhan Khan sent troops to hunt down was most likely Li Zhongqian.

How did he go to Beirong?

Is he out of danger now?

He was anxious to save her, and he lost his temper. If he was caught by the Beirong people...

A cool breeze wrapped in smoky air blew in Yao Ying's face. Her eyes were moist and her nose was sore. She finally heard her own trembling voice: "Who is that Han man?"

The Han man shook his head and said, "I don't know who they are... I only heard that they are Han people from the Central Plains, and they are inquiring about Princess Wen Zhao in the Northern Rong."

Yaoying closed her eyes.

It must be Li Zhongqian.

On the way back to the camp, Yaoying remained silent, her heart in turmoil, feeling both happy and worried.

She recalled the dream she had the night before, in which Li Zhongqian, dressed as a herdsman, rode towards her on a horse and was stabbed through the body by a long knife.

Yaoying shuddered.

…

After returning to the camp, Yao Ying sorted out the information obtained from the Han men and sent it to Bi Suo's tent.

After reading it, Bi Su frowned and asked, "Princess, can those Han people be trusted?"

Yao Ying shook her head and said, "I can't be sure. This information is just their one-sided story. Maybe Haidu Aling deliberately arranged them to confuse me and interfere with the Regent Prince's military operations."

Bisha pondered for a moment and said, "It's possible, but if what they said is true, we have to adjust our plans as soon as possible. Wakhan Khan is hiding his tracks, maybe he is waiting for reinforcements."

Before Tanmarajaga returned to the camp, he wrote a few letters and asked his trusted messengers to deliver them immediately on fast horses.

Yao Ying returned to her own tent.

The guards came over and asked in a low voice, "Princess, is your husband here?"

Yao Ying said softly: "Maybe..."

The guards looked at each other, surprised and happy.

Except for a few Hu people recruited by Yao Ying later, most of the personal soldiers who escorted her to the marriage were guards selected for her by Li Zhongqian himself. When they heard that Li Zhongqian had come to them, they were naturally excited.

Yaoying's hands were still trembling in her sleeves. She drank a bowl of cold mare's milk, forced herself to calm down, and sat down at her desk to write a letter.

Before she finished writing the letter, her personal guard brought her a parchment scroll: "Princess, General Jin just sent it to her."

Yaoying unfolded the parchment scroll, took a deep breath, smiled, and hurried to Bisa's tent.

"I don't know whether the reinforcements from Haidu A Ling are real or fake, but the reinforcements I requested for the royal court have arrived."

Biso remembered this and raised his eyebrows: "Are they really here?"

Before leaving the Holy City, Yao Ying asked Tanmo Luojia for advice. Although her troops were few, she was willing to help the royal court. If things went well with Wei Chi Damo, she could also send troops to help. Of course, Bisha and the others would not refuse such a good thing.

Yao Ying nodded: "It's the Ale tribe that has come. They have already arrived at Baiquan."

Bisa clapped her hands and chuckled, then frowned as she thought of something.

Yao Ying smiled and said, "General, don't worry. The deployment of the royal army is a secret. After all, the Ale tribe is an outsider. They don't know where the army is and will be stationed in Baiquan."

Bi Suo heaved a sigh of relief: "That's the best. Thank you for your understanding, Princess. I can send a team to guide them."

Yao Ying hummed and said, "Ale is a suspicious person. He will only let down his guard if I come in person. When will the general's troops set out?"

Bisha checked the sand table. There were scout stations of the royal court between Baiquan and the camp. This area was dotted with large, flat and wide plains and low hills, but no deep forests or valleys. The main force of the Northern Rong army would never hide here.

"We can set off in half an hour. I will ask Mobito to escort the princess."

Half an hour later, Mobidu led a team to escort Yaoying to Baiquan.

With a few swish sounds, the strong wind blew the flags, and the personal guards raised the flagpoles and followed the team on both sides.

Mobhido looked back at the hunting flags flying in the clear sky.

This is not the flag of the royal court.

It belonged to Princess Wen Zhao.

He looked at Li Yaoying.

Yao Ying was wearing a narrow-sleeved robe and was lying on the horse's back. Her posture was becoming more and more skilled.

Mo Biduo smiled, turned back and concentrated on driving the horse.

…

The name Baiquan came from a spring in the desert. After sending the letter, A'er led his tribe to set up camp beside the spring. Just as they planned the camp, dust flew up from the north and dozens of riders came galloping.

The scouts in the camp had already given the warning. Ale rode up the hill, squinted his eyes and looked for a while. He recognized the flag fluttering in the wind and said, "It's Princess Wen Zhao."

The cavalry still did not let down their guard, they drew their bows and drew their arrows, ready to shoot thousands of arrows at any time.

Yao Ying drove to the vicinity of the camp and stopped.

After a while, Ale rode out of the camp on horseback and bowed to her: "Princess, I'm here."

Yao Ying returned the salute with a smile and gestured to the personal guards behind her.

The personal soldiers dismounted from their horses, carried several large boxes forward, opened the lids, and suddenly a golden glow appeared.

Ah Le's eyes lit up, and he ordered his men to carry the box away, laughing: "The princess is really straightforward."

After the greetings, he took out a letter from his arms.

"Yang Qian sent a letter to the princess. He was afraid that the eagle carrying the letter would be intercepted and killed by the Northern Rong people, so he asked me to deliver it to you."

Yao Ying thanked him, took the letter, rode to the side, and lowered her head to read the letter.