Yaoying and Tanmo Luojia's carriages mixed in with the team and drove towards the gate of Star City that was open to civilians.

The Star City was heavily guarded, and all the young men who walked alone were stopped and detained. In contrast, the pilgrims who prostrated and worshipped in the direction of the Holy City did not attract the attention of the knights.

Yao Ying and her companions passed through Star City safely.

Tanmo Luojia signaled Yaoying to wait in the city for one night, "We'll go to the Holy City tomorrow."

Yaoying was a little puzzled. They were so close, the holy city was right in front of them, why did they have to delay for another day?

Tanmarajiva closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, without any intention of explaining anything.

Yao Ying waved her hand in front of his eyes to make sure his eyes were closed, then she wrinkled her nose at him quietly.

They rested in the city for one night and continued their journey early the next morning in the cold wind.

Rivers more than ten feet wide froze into ice, deep valleys and rugged mountain paths were covered with a thin layer of snow, and at a glance, the earth was covered in white.

The pilgrims walked on the deserted snowfield. Men, women, young and old, all moved in unison, and the procession stretched as far as the eye could see. They came from different tribes, wore different clothes, and had different eye and hair colors. The only thing they had in common was that everyone had a very pious expression on their face.

Everyone was already familiar with the path around the holy city, and they could avoid the snow-covered ravines without being reminded, so as not to fall and get bruised.

The inspection in the holy city was obviously more stringent. Along the avenue outside the city, there was a team of four-army knights guarding every two miles. A pair of gray-brown eyes scanned the crowd. From time to time, the knights rushed into the crowd and pulled out a tall man.

Yao Ying remembered that when she first came to the holy city, she took another route. It took her a long time to climb up the earth cliff. Now that shortcut must be guarded by someone. In order not to alert the guards, they must enter the city from the main gate this time.

In the distance, the city gate straddles the river bank. It is extremely high and majestic, with long stone steps winding up. Solid sentry towers and arrow towers are hidden between the cliffs. The armor of the guards shines silver, and even with the white snow, it still cannot conceal the vague murderous aura.

It was still early, and the city gate was bustling with people waiting to enter the city. Seeing this, the pilgrims stopped to rest, sitting in groups of three or four on the side of the road, eating dry food and drinking salty milk tea to keep off the cold.

Yao Ying also stopped, frowned slightly, and looked at the holy city in the distance.

Under the clear blue sky, the unique huge black earth cliffs of the holy city stand tall and majestic, like a tightly stretched arrow, pointing straight into the sky. More than a thousand monasteries are scattered beside the highest rocks at the northernmost end. The relief stone pillars shine with golden brilliance, and the pagodas scattered among them reveal their tall spires, solemn and majestic.

The people who came to worship ate and drank while they talked about Tanmarajiva's deeds and sang praises of his merits in benefiting the area over the years. Their laughter turned into a surging tide, one after another, which reached Yao Ying's ears.

Suddenly, a middle-aged red-haired barbarian mentioned the princesses who had come from far away in the holy city and asked, "Do Buddhists really need to break their vows and marry?"

Everyone looked unhappy and talked a lot.

"How could a Buddhist disciple who is so noble and virtuous return to secular life and marry?"

"Yes, the Buddha will definitely drive those princesses away!"

Listening to their noise, Yao Ying felt like a thorn in her side.

It seems that the news of the princesses gathering in the Holy City has spread widely. Although the rulers of various countries are afraid of Tanmaragha and dare not openly raise the banner of requesting marriage, the merchants of the royal court travel to various countries and are well-informed. They have already announced the purpose of the diplomatic missions of various countries. The name of the Buddha's son is known to everyone. Now it is estimated that even a three-year-old child knows that there is a group of beautiful princesses waiting for him to come out of seclusion.

She had to get things ready quickly.

Yao Ying was calculating silently in her heart.

The avenue was full of people, and the sound of people laughing and talking was endless. Tanmaraka, who was sitting quietly, suddenly opened his eyes, stretched out his hand to open the curtain, looked up at the blue sky, and said, "It's still early, I'll go into the city in the afternoon."

"afternoon?"

Yaoying murmured something and nodded in agreement.

The people who came to worship had been traveling all the way, covered in dust and in tattered clothes. Many of them would stop to tidy up their appearance before entering the city, and it would not be a big deal to wait a few more hours.

Yaoying poured herself a cup of hot tea and took a nap leaning against the wall of the car. Suddenly, she was awakened by a sharp noise. Horses neighed and screamed on the road.

She quickly opened the curtain and looked out, only to hear ghostly howlings not far away. Passersby on the road were all running away, screaming. Several lightly armored guards were riding horses from north to south, and they lashed at a group of worshippers with long whips without mercy.

The people who were hit fell to the ground, their hands and feet twitching and bleeding profusely - it turned out that the whips were inlaid with thin iron plates, and once they were hit, their flesh and blood would be a mess!

The soldiers whipped the civilians along the way, and soon turned around, as if they were not satisfied enough. They split up and dived into the fleeing crowd, driving the civilians to a place and whipping them. The civilians had nowhere to hide, and their screams echoed over the snowy plain, mournful and desolate.

The worshipping team walked together and had become friends over the past few days. One of the Hu merchants could not stand it and tried to stop them, but the soldiers did not stop and said angrily: "They are the bastards of the Wuliang tribe and have no right to enter the city to worship the Buddha!"

Hu Shang was at a loss and was extremely anxious.

As the royal guards, why would they do such cruel things to ordinary people?

Yao Ying clenched her fists, and her heart skipped a beat when she felt the aura of the person next to her suddenly rise.

Tanmaraka was also awakened. She looked over her shoulder at the ferocious guards with deep green eyes.

Yao Ying was afraid that he would reveal his identity, so she whispered, "General, I have a way to scare them off."

She signaled with her eyes for Tanmaragha to put on her headscarf, then quickly took out her blue brocade bag with animal patterns, rummaged through it, found a piece of folded cloth, handed it to a slave in the caravan, and gave him a few instructions.

The servant ran quickly with the cloth to the righteous Hu merchant. When Hu merchant saw the cloth, his eyes lit up.

After a while, a white flag with a golden pattern of curling grass unfurled in the wind, making a hunting sound.

In the chaotic times, the people were displaced and suffered from hardship, and their futures were in danger. When they were in despair, the Buddha descended from the sky and saved them. At that time, everyone saw a huge snow-white flag fluttering in the wind, so an idea was deeply rooted in everyone's heart: as long as they saw the Buddha's flag, they would be saved.

At this moment, seeing the familiar flag again, the people's eyes became hot, and some people knelt down excitedly.

Hu Shang pointed at the flag and said loudly: "Buddhists often say that all beings are equal. No matter what their origins are, as long as they submit to the king's court, they are all the king's people! We are all believers who come to pay homage to Buddha. You beat and scold devout believers for no reason. Be careful of retribution in the future! When Buddha comes out, he will definitely uphold justice for us!"

The believers nearby helped to cheer and shout.

Those soldiers were of low rank, and when they saw the flags, they looked at each other in bewilderment. In the end, they did not dare to cause any trouble. They sneered a few times, withdrew their whips, and walked away.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward to support the believers who had been beaten.

Hu Shang stood where he was, watching the soldiers disappear completely. He let out a long sigh, turned around to thank the person who had given him the flag, and asked the people around him, but they knew nothing.

I don't know who sent the flag.

Hu Shang guessed that the kind-hearted person who made the move might not want to offend the Imperial Guards, so he smiled and put away his flag.

At the other end of the avenue, he watched the Hu merchants put away their flags through the gaps in the curtains, his eyes revealing a hint of reluctance.

If she didn't want to attract attention, she would really ask for the flag back.

Tanmaraka looked at the people kneeling on both sides of the avenue and asked softly, "Where did you find this flag, princess?"

Yaoying smiled, put down the curtain, and whispered: "I asked for this flag from Yuanjue the night we went up the mountain, and I have been carrying it with me ever since. The reputation of the Buddhist disciples spread far and wide, and if we encounter a critical moment, this flag may come in handy..."

The results really came in handy.

As she was talking, she noticed that Tanmaraka's eyes were fixed on her face. She couldn't help but feel uneasy, so she put away her smile and asked, "General, should I not do this?"

There are almost all royal caravans with banners like this, so it is not a taboo.

She raised her eyelids and looked up at Tanmaragha with her dark and bright eyes, reflecting his ferocious face.

He remained silent.

Although Yaoying was wearing a veil, one could still see a faint red and swollen mark on her forehead. In order to blend in with the worshippers these days, she also performed the same worship ceremony to the holy city as they did, and the mark was swollen.

She said nothing about it, and if he hadn't noticed the scrapes on her forehead and palms when he was sober, he might never have noticed.

"The princess did nothing wrong."

He said, his voice was soft but his tone was firm.

Yaoying exhaled slowly, curved her eyebrows slightly, and smiled at him.

The disturbance was over, but the people who came to pay their respects were still a little nervous and did not dare to delay any longer. They packed up their belongings and went into the city together.

More and more people left and it was getting dark.

When only a few pedestrians were left on the road, Yao Ying was worried that if she stayed too long, she would be questioned by the imperial guards, so she couldn't help asking Tanmo Luojia, "General, when will we enter the city?"

Tanmaraka said calmly: "Wait a little longer."

After waiting for another two hours, the sunset glowed fiercely in the sky and the snow on the cliffs was dyed a bright rouge color, but Tanmaragha still showed no intention of entering the city.

As the setting sun gave off its last rays of light, a sudden and torrential sound of horse hooves came from the south side of the avenue.

Yao Ying narrowed her eyes, lifted the curtain and looked in the direction of the sound.

Two swift horses came galloping over, like a strong wind, and rushed straight towards the holy city.

The guards along the way heard the horse's hooves and came forward to greet them. The scout on the fast horse shouted a few words loudly. Everyone was dumbfounded and stood there. After a while, they came to their senses, looked at each other, jumped on their horses, followed the scout closely, and galloped towards the city.

Wherever the scouts went, people and horses were thrown to the ground.

Yaoying turned around and looked at Tanmarajiva in confusion.

He said, "Wait another half an hour, then you can enter the city."

The loud neighing of horses could be heard outside the car window.

Half an hour later, the two of them rushed into the carriage and joined the team entering the city.

No one knew what had happened. The cavalry of the four armies along the way seemed to have retreated, and all the soldiers who were checking were nowhere to be seen. The atmosphere was heavy and strange. They entered the city effortlessly. The speeches and several bags of silver coins that Yaoying had prepared to bribe the guards were completely useless.

What happened?

Yao Ying was confused and wondering, when in the twilight, several rumbling bells suddenly rang from the direction of the city wall. She was startled and subconsciously leaned towards Tanmarajiva.

The pedestrians on the road were also frightened like her and looked around.

The sound of the bell echoed through the streets and alleys for a long time. The scouts who reported the news stood on the city wall and shouted in fear to the people below who were swarming in after hearing the bell: "The Regent is dead!"

Someone immediately repeated the news of Regent Sultan's death.

One stone can cause a thousand ripples.

Soldiers quickly entered the streets and alleys, and their deliberately trembling shouts spread throughout every house: "The Regent was killed by bandits!"

Yao Yinghun's body stiffened, and he subconsciously thought that something had happened to Ashina Bisha, and his eyes met Tanmaraj's.

Amid the roars of "The Regent is dead", he remained calm, without a trace of shock or worry on his face.

Yao Ying was stunned for a moment, thinking about his calmness these days, and suddenly she realized something, a bright light flashed through her mind: Bisa was not dead, all this was their plan, letting the Regent "die" at the hands of the assassin so as to better paralyze the enemy and lure out the real mastermind.

The reason why he insisted on entering the city today was because he knew when the news of the Regent's death would be sent back. Once those with ulterior motives were sure that the Regent was dead, they would surely relax their vigilance and withdraw their men, and they could then enter the city with abandon.

Yao Ying stared at the man beside her in a daze.

It turned out that even though he was seriously injured and left alone in the snow, even though his martial arts might backfire at any time and he was unconscious and weak, he was still planning and arranging for the royal court and never relaxed for a moment.

Although he has no personal guards, he is able to grasp all the information in time, command Biso's next move, arrange for Yuanjue to convey orders, control the overall situation, and even calculate the time clearly... The eagle will fly back to his side every night, which must be to convey orders for him.

Now, he also expected that the Guards would deliberately publicize the sad news of the Regent's death.

She has been taking care of him these days and advising him to take good care of his injuries, but has he not listened to a word she said?

Yao Ying fell silent.

…

The news of Sultan's death spread quickly, causing chaos in the city and panic among the people.

The carriage drove to an inconspicuous corner. Tanmo Luojia took Yaoying out of the carriage, turned around and led her into a secluded courtyard to take a look at her.

She hasn't spoken since a while ago.

Tanmaraka lit the candles in the room and said, "Princess, you cannot go back to the temple. You should wait here. Bisha will return to the city tonight. He will come to take you to his house to stay temporarily."

Yaoying came back to her senses and hummed.

Tanmaraka said nothing, his eyes passing over her face.

Yao Ying smiled at him and said, "I understand. The general must hurry back to the Wang Temple without anyone noticing and report the important matter to the Buddhist disciple. He cannot take me with him. The general does not need to worry about me. There is no need to wait for General Ashina to come back. I can go to the general's mansion and wait for him now."

The regent was "dead", so he couldn't reveal his identity. She was Akbaryan now, and could go to Bisa's house by herself.

Tanmarajiva shook her head and said, "Princess, please wait here."

Yao Ying nodded and didn't argue with him: "I've got it. I'll listen to the general. I won't go anywhere. I'll just wait for General Ashina here."

Tanmaraka hummed, turned and left.

Yao Ying was worried about his injury and subconsciously wanted to stop him, wanting to persuade him to use less energy, but just as she raised her hand, she retracted it.

He won't listen. She has been advising him all these days. He must have grown cords in his ears.

Yao Ying applied medicine every day, and the scar on the back of her hand had turned from purple to pink. She waved it timidly in front of him, and when she took it back, she seemed a little aggrieved.

Tanmarajika covered her headscarf, walked out of the yard without hesitation and closed the gate.

After walking a distance, a scream suddenly came from the quiet dark alley.

Tanmarajiva stopped and turned around.

It was dark, and there were sounds of cursing in the alley. Several merchants came out with a woman. The bells and drums that had just sounded the alarm rang, and the donkey the woman was riding was startled and got angry. It raised one hoof high and the woman fell off. The scream came from her.

This is the place where he and Bisha agreed to meet. It is very close to Bisha's house. Bisha will be here soon and she is safe.

Tanmaraka turned around and continued walking forward.

…

Yaoying watched Tanmarajiva leave, packed up the golden bag, and waited for a while. Then, footsteps were heard outside the door.

Bishuo is here.

Yao Ying's eyes rolled, she picked up the golden bag and hid in the corner, then she looked out through the crack in the door and saw a tall figure stepping onto the stone steps and walking towards her.

He opened the door and looked directly at where Yao Ying was hiding with his emerald eyes.

Yaoying looked at him and her eyes widened in surprise.

"General Su?"

In the night, Tanmarajiva, who had returned, stood in front of the door, his brows and eyes were calm. The moonlight poured down, and his figure seemed particularly tall. He nodded slightly at her and said lightly: "Princess, follow me to the royal temple."

Yao Ying was stunned, "What about General Ashina?"

Tanmaraka swept his sleeves, extinguished the candle, turned around and walked out, "He knows what to do."

Yao Ying was a little surprised. She was stunned for a moment, then followed him holding the gold bag.

After walking a few steps, Tanmaragha stopped.

Yaoying also stopped.

Tanmarajiva lowered her eyes.

Yao Ying raised her eyes to look at him and their eyes met.

He said, "On the way to the royal temple, I will have to inconvenience the princess a little."

Yao Ying was startled, then smiled and said, "The guest should follow the host's wishes."

He raised his hand and brushed his fingers across Yaoying's cheek.

A black cloth was covered over Yaoying's eyes, wrapped around her hair, tied behind her head and lightly tied into a knot. Her eyes were suddenly plunged into darkness.

Yaoying couldn't see anything, but she knew he was standing beside her, so she didn't panic. She slowly reached out her hand and called him softly, "General?"

Her face was covered with a black cloth, but the corners of her mouth were still slightly raised, showing complete trust.

Tanmaraka leaned forward.

A familiar breath suddenly approached, and Yao Ying felt herself being picked up. She groped for her arms around his neck with both hands, but she couldn't see anything. It took her a while to find the right place.

Then, the sound of wind whistling in his ears, he took her up into the air, flew over the rooftops, and the crisp sound of his feet stepping on the tiles echoed in the night.

Yao Ying's eyes were completely dark. She didn't know how much time had passed. She felt that he was slowing down. His body was moving, as if rising and falling on uneven ground. The sound of the wind was mixed with the sound of gurgling water. In such cold weather, where was the river that hadn't frozen yet? Could it be the sound of the ice melting?

She thought absentmindedly.

After a cup of tea, Tanmarajya put Yaoying down, without removing the black cloth from her eyes, and stuffed something into her palm, saying, "Follow me."

They seemed to be in a very empty space. He spoke in a low voice, but there was still a faint echo.

Yao Ying nodded and scratched with her fingers, and found that what he stuffed into her palm was a piece of soft fabric. She tried to pull it, and the figure next to her shook.

Confusedly, she reached up and touched his strong arm.

It turned out that what he stuffed into her was his sleeve.

Yao Ying's lips curled slightly, listening to Tanmarajiva's voice, holding his sleeve in her hand, and followed him closely. After walking on a flat road, there was a gentle staircase. He walked in front of her, and from time to time quietly reminded her to pay attention to the turns ahead or the stone steps to climb.

The secret passage was narrow, and the two breathing sounds gradually entangled with each other.

…

Wang Temple.

Under the northernmost cliff, there is a row of caves of various sizes. Only the innermost cave has an oil lamp lit. The dim light flickers, and the Buddha statues carved on the walls on all four sides have plump faces and look solemn and dignified.

In the silence, the wooden shelf filled with books against the wall suddenly creaked.

The guard who was sitting cross-legged in the cave stood up immediately, jumped three feet high, and waited respectfully in front of the bookshelf. After the Buddhist left the holy city, he had been staying in the cave pretending to be a Buddhist, and almost forgot what day it was.

After a while, the bookshelf was pushed open from inside, and two figures walked out slowly. One was tall and straight, dressed in black, and the other was graceful and elegant. It was a woman with a black cloth covering her eyes. She followed closely behind the man and walked into the cave carefully.

Konoe was speechless, his eyes widened.

A Buddhist disciple went to Gaochang and actually brought a young girl back to the temple through a secret passage!