It was getting late. Yaoying moved a long table and placed it between the blanket and the felt blanket she was sleeping on as a partition, then lay down on her side.

There was no movement next to her for a long time. She poked her head out from under the blanket, leaned over the table and looked out, sleepy-eyed: "General, why aren't you asleep yet?"

The candlelight flickered, her long, thick, dark hair fell over her shoulders, her cheeks were hazy, and her eyes seemed to be filled with water.

Tanmarajiva subconsciously touched the Buddhist beads, but his fingers only touched the rough string. Then he remembered that he was not wearing the Buddhist beads, so he raised his hand and waved it lightly, creating a breeze that extinguished the candle flame.

The tent was plunged into darkness, but there was a faint light from the torch shining into the tent. The light was vaguely floating, and the girl's delicate face was still clearly visible.

Tanmaraka looked away, lifted the blanket and slowly lay down.

Hearing him lie down, Yao Ying also lay down.

After a while, her breathing became slow and long.

When she fell asleep, Tanmarajiva sat up, got up, walked around the desk in the middle, and gently lifted the felt blanket on Yaoying's body with his fingers.

Yao Ying closed her eyes tightly, and did not move at all, looking cute and naive while sleeping.

He lowered his eyes, rolled up her sleeves, took out a brocade handkerchief to cover the exposed part of her wrist, and placed two fingers on it.

I don't know what she talked about with Princess Manda that day. I heard from Yuanjue that Princess Manda looked radiant when she left, and there was no resentment in her words. The medical officer was very grateful for this and gave her a lot of tonic medicine.

When he was in Asangbu, he went to see her in the evening to ask her about her medication. Unfortunately, Mobido was also there, and he stayed in her room for a long time, talking and laughing, and there was no sign of him leaving for a while. He didn't want to attract Mobido's attention, so he left.

Her pulse was gentle and slightly weak.

Tanmaraka withdrew his fingers and the handkerchief gently without touching her skin.

She hummed softly in her sleep, and suddenly moved. With a snap, her arm swung away the blanket, and her sleeves slipped off, revealing her arms. In the darkness, her skin was whiter than snow.

Tanmarajiva looked away and caught a glimpse of warm light out of the corner of his eye.

His eyes moved back again.

Yaoying held the string of Buddhist beads he gave her on her arm. The grayish-white beads were moist and cool, like a handful of full moonlight, and each bead was tightly attached to her snow-white skin.

She wore a narrow-sleeved robe during the day, so you couldn't tell that she was wearing Buddhist beads. It turned out that she was wearing them tightly like an armlet so that they wouldn't slip off and be seen by others.

Tanmarajiva lowered her eyes, pulled up the felt blanket to wrap around Yaoying, stuffed her arms back under the blanket, and pressed them gently.

He walked around the desk and lay down with his back to Yao Ying.

…

Maybe it was because there was someone by her side, but Yaoying didn’t have the same nightmare as yesterday.

The next morning, she was awakened by a slight slapping sound. She turned over and sat up, tied up her long hair, and looked around.

The light in the tent was bright, and the blanket on the other side of the desk was folded neatly, not looking like anyone had slept there.

He has already gotten up and gone out.

When Yao Ying left the tent, the Jin general swooped down, landed on her arm and called out to her a few times.

She touched Black Eagle's head, took down the parchment scroll, and went to the big tent to find Bisha.

The letter was sent by Yuchi Damo. Wakhan Khan was really afraid of Tanmarajya, so he acted very cautiously this time and did not recruit soldiers from Gaochang. However, Lady Ina had recently sent her personal soldiers to gather intelligence, and he suspected that Lady Ina would lead troops to assist Wakhan Khan.

The big tent was made of several layers of animal skins. It was tough and sturdy, and it was difficult for ordinary arrows to penetrate it. It was several times larger than ordinary tents. The generals were discussing matters. Dozens of people were sitting around in the tent and talking. The atmosphere was heavy.

Yesterday, the Central Army continuously sent out scouts and found that it was not only the Asang tribe that was attacked. All the tribes were in distress. Many of these tribes also submitted to several major forces around them. Therefore, the generals had different opinions and believed that they did not need to care about these tribes.

When Yao Ying rushed to the big tent, the generals and staff were still discussing fiercely. Bi Su looked at Tanmaragha, who was wearing a windproof mask.

There were quarrels in the tent, but Tanmarajya pretended not to hear them. He practiced on the sand table and finally said, "Try to notify as many tribes as possible. Saving one more person means one less enemy. Let the Asang tribe come forward and don't let the news leak out."

Although the tribal strength cannot be compared with the Northern Rong elite, all the tribes formed into a coalition force is also a force that cannot be underestimated and may very well change the situation of the war.

"If we only care about ourselves, we will eventually be surrounded by the Northern Rong. We must unite all the forces we can and ensure that the neutral tribes remain neutral."

Bishuo replied in a low voice.

Yao Ying lowered his head and walked into the big tent. He stood in the corner and talked in a low voice with the staff he knew in the tent. He handed over a sheepskin scroll, glanced at the generals sitting around, and his eyes paused on Tanmaragha beside Bisa.

He lowered his head in deep thought, still wearing the blue shirt and white robe, with the leather belt tightly tied around his waist, outlining his clear lines, tall and capable.

Yao Ying stepped out.

She heard footsteps behind her, and Yuanjue caught up with her. He stared at her for a long while with a struggled look on his face.

"Princess, did you meet the Regent last night?"

Yao Ying nodded.

Yuan Jue was surprised and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Princess, the Regent King was suddenly interrupted when he was practicing last time. I don't know if it will cause any harm. I will give you the Regent King's medicine. If you find that he looks unwell, be sure to remind him to take the medicine."

He took out a porcelain bottle.

Yao Ying agreed, took the porcelain bottle, and carefully put it away. Biso had mentioned to her that he arranged for her to join the army because he was worried about Sultan Gu, so he took her with him just in case.

"Who interrupted the Regent's exercise?" she asked.

Yuan Jue looked away and said vaguely, "It was a small accident."

Seeing that he didn't want to elaborate, Yaoying didn't ask any further questions. When she asked about the contraindications of taking the medicine, Yuanjue answered them one by one.

As he was talking, a messenger came running over and asked Yao Ying to go to the stable: "General Ashina captured a group of war horses not long ago. I wonder if they are from the Haidu Aling tribe. Please ask Master Bayan to go and take a look."

Yaoying immediately perked up.

Yuan Jue said: "I will lead the way for the princess."

The stable was on another hillside. The two walked a long way and left the camp where the central army was stationed.

The entire camp is more like a town, with thousands of tents densely scattered on the sunny hillside, flags and banners fluttering in the wind, and soldiers in different uniforms walking among them. Although there are tens of thousands of people stationed here, everything is orderly and well-organized.

The tents were carefully planned and the roads seemed straight and connected in all directions. However, after walking for a while, Yao Ying found that all the roads were not straight, but winding. It was easy to get lost if there was no one to guide you and you couldn't understand the flags.

Yuan Jue led Yao Ying through the maze-like paths and explained to her, "The camp is arranged like this for a reason. The Northern Rong people are good at surprise attacks. If the roads are all straight, their horses can easily drive straight in. Before we set up camp, the regent ordered that more turns be built, and checkpoints and secret codes be set up between the camps. Even if the enemy attacks, they cannot launch a charge, which can buy more time for the people in the camp to counterattack."

They passed through several camps, and as expected, there were soldiers asking for the passcode. The two answered and came to the stable. The horse slave took Yaoying for a long circle, and she finally understood why Bi Suo asked her to come to the stable.

In order to distinguish their own property, each tribe would usually brand a mark on the center of the left hip bone of all horses as an identification mark, and different tribes had different marks.

In the Central Plains, every horse farm would also be branded with a horse mark, which would specify the horse's age, breed, and the farm it came from, to facilitate recruitment, identification, and breeding of horse breeds.

The horse slave said, "We have never seen the horse prints of these war horses before."

Yao Ying looked at the horse print and shook her head: "I haven't seen it either. It may be from other nomadic tribes."

Ma Nu took note of it and asked someone to inform Bishuo.

The two men rode back to the camp. In the distance, they heard bursts of dull horn sounds. The royal army set up a post station every few dozen miles. The closer to the camp, the denser the posts were. Whenever enemy movements were discovered in one place, an alarm would be sounded immediately, the horn would be blown, and military intelligence would be conveyed to reduce the number of scouts and soldiers running back and forth.

After the horn sounded, the camp was not in a panic, and there was no movement on the left and right wings. A moment later, only the sound of horses' hooves was heard, and a group of people rushed out from the central army camp. Dozens of people carried longbows on their shoulders, long swords on their waists, and bulging quivers were hung beside their saddles. They rushed towards the direction where the horn sounded, like a dark cloud sweeping across the earth.

Yao Ying recognized the leader as Sultan Ku, so she stopped her horse and watched him go away.

Yuan Jue whispered, "We don't know where Wakhan Khan's main force is hiding. Several generals are getting more and more impatient. The Regent said that the more times like this, the less impatient we should be. The day before yesterday, the Regent punished several commanders, and the generals calmed down. Now, even if horns sound from all directions, the people in the camp will not panic."

Yao Ying thought that the details might determine success or failure, so she really couldn't be impatient now.

At dusk that day, the horn sounded again, this time the sound was steady and long. Sultan Gu led his team back. They found a small group of light cavalry. The central army did not show up. The scouts warned the nearby tribes and asked the tribes to stop the light cavalry.

"If you encounter a large army, you must not be exposed and must return immediately to report. If you encounter scouts, you must capture them if you can and must not let them go. If you encounter a small group of troops, the tribe must intercept them."

"From Malaysia's perspective, the Northern Rong gathered tribes from farther away. If we encounter a strange tribe, we cannot approach them rashly."

The order was passed down, and over the next few days, the soldiers gradually got used to this method of small groups taking turns patrolling and continued to explore the location of the Beirong army.

Every day, Bisha led people to gather the attacked tribes nearby and took them to another camp for resettlement.

…

Every night, Yao Ying sat at her desk writing letters to Wei Chi Damo, Yang Qian, Xie Qing and others, and then sorted out documents, handled documents for Bisa, and recorded soldiers' rewards and punishments and other trivial matters.

Other staff members were eager to offer advice and were tired of dealing with these trivial matters. She followed the army under the name of Bayan, and usually stayed in the account to sort out paperwork as much as possible. She worked hard and never complained, and never competed for credit. The other staff members were very happy and gradually handed over some small matters that did not involve military secrets to her.

She had some hesitations at first, but after getting used to it, she was able to manage things in an orderly manner. She had handled military logistics for Li Zhongqian before, so these were not difficult for her.

Tanmarajiva would come back late every night, and Yaoying would also be busy until late at night.

Every night, he opened the felt curtains, and the candlelight flickered in the tent. Yaoying sat cross-legged at the desk writing. She raised her head and smiled at him, waiting for him to brush away her turban and then looked at his facial expression.

"The general is back."

It's like this every night.

Sometimes, even though she had already finished her military duties for the day, she would still sit at her desk with files in her hands, waiting for him. Only after he came back would she tidy up the desk, make sure he was not feeling unwell, and lie down to sleep.

Early in the morning of that day, before daybreak, a loud horn sounded in the camp. Someone discovered the trace of a son of Wakhan Khan. Bisa and Tanmaraka led several thousand people out of the camp. War horses neighed and the atmosphere in the camp was solemn.

Until the red sun sank into the sky, thousands of people still hadn't returned to the camp. Yao Ying felt a little uneasy. After taking care of a few chores, she stood in front of the tent and looked out at the endless wasteland in the distance.

As night fell, the temperature dropped sharply and the wind blew violently. She was shivering with cold and returned to the tent, spread out a blanket, and stuffed a few heated stones inside.

In the deep night, a team returned to the camp in the moonlight, with felt tied to the hooves of the horses, and they moved silently.

Tanmarajiva dismounted and returned to the camp covered in blood. He looked gloomy and fierce, like a fierce ghost. Those who did not know his identity were too frightened to approach him. The soldiers who were helping to pull the horses were trembling with fear.

He saw the soldier's trembling legs, stopped in his tracks, and turned away.

Next to the camp was a river winding down from the mountain. It was where the army got water. The water was freezing cold. He took off his clothes and walked directly into the river, washed off the sticky blood stains, soaked in the icy river water, and recited scriptures.

When the war is over, the world will be at peace, and all tribes will be able to live in peace. All the sins he has committed will be on him alone.

Yuanjue came over and brought him a clean robe. He saw a shallow knife wound on his waist and hurriedly found medicine.

Tanmarajika applied medicine, changed his clothes, returned to the camp, stood in front of the tent, and did not go in.

The lights in the tents stayed on.

He turned around to inspect the armory, walked a long circle, and when he returned to the tent, the lights were off. He waited for a while and lifted the felt curtain to look inside.

There was a slight rustling sound, and in the darkness, Yao Ying sat up gracefully: "General, you're back!"

Tanmaraka walked in, moved to the edge of the blanket in the dark, turned his back to her, and took off his boots.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

He asked softly, his tone as calm and cold as always.

Yao Ying heaved a sigh of relief when she heard his calm voice, and lay down again, propping her head with her hands, and turned to face him, saying, "If the general doesn't come back overnight, I will wait for him overnight... Are you not injured?"

Tanmarajiva shook his head, rolled up the blanket and lay down. The blanket was warm, and his cold body could feel the temperature, causing a dull pain in the wound.

Soldiers would use this method to keep warm at night. After she learned this, she remembered to stuff a few hot stones into her blanket every night before going to bed.

He was wrapped in a blanket, still smelling a strong smell of blood, and glanced at her.

A long table between the blanket and felt separated the two people, but there was space under the table, so the two people could see each other when they were lying down.

Yao Ying was also looking at him. She seemed to smell something, frowned slightly, and lay down to sleep without saying a word.

Normally she would talk to him for a few words, asking him if he had had a midnight snack, asking him about marching, fighting, and defeating the enemy, but today she asked nothing.

…

Tanmarajiva had a dream in which the scenes of the Avici Hell in the Ksitigarbha Sutra flashed by one after another, with black smoke, ghosts howling, and blood and flesh flying everywhere.

As he walked, he held Buddhist beads in his hand and walked slowly but calmly.

In his dream, a skeleton was swinging caltrops towards him. He raised his hand to block it and grabbed the other's wrist.

The skeleton suddenly transformed into a beautiful woman, and fell into his arms. She raised her arms and hugged his neck, with a smile on her face and charming eyes. She called softly, "Master."

Soft in the palm of your hand.

Tanmarajiva opened his eyes and met a pair of bright eyes. His palms felt delicate and smooth.

He came to his senses and found himself holding Yaoying's wrist.

Yao Ying lay face down on his chest, trying to break free from his hands.

The blanket on him was lifted, and she was directly pressed into his arms. Even through several layers of clothes, she could still feel...

Tanmarajiva was stunned for a moment.

Yao Ying knew he was awake, and called him softly, "General, hold my hand..."

Tanmaraka came to his senses and let go of his hand.

Yao Ying tried to get up with her hands, but after a long effort, she fell on Tanmaragha's chest with a thud, her posture stiff.

Tanmaraka looked at her with cold eyes.

The two looked at each other for a while, and Yao Ying smiled awkwardly, "I think I'm stuck..."

She moved, and the books on the long table vibrated slightly.

Tanmarajika glanced at the desk. The desk separated the two of them. Perhaps because she was afraid of the cold, she wanted to reach out from under the desk to look at him, but she got stuck somehow and couldn't move. She could only lie on top of him.

Like the divine turtle in the book.

Tanmarajya remained silent for a long time, but Yaoying did not feel embarrassed. She quietly rested on him for a while and whispered, "General, don't move. I'll crawl out from here."

They had just experienced a battle during the day, and would have to face several big battles in the future... But at this moment, Tanmarajiva seemed to have forgotten all those things, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"Don't move, I'll get up."

He spoke softly, raised his hands to hold Yaoying's shoulders, and slowly sat up. She was originally lying on his chest, but now she was lying in his arms. He held her and pulled out the felt and blanket that were squeezed together and stuck under the table. Her legs were entangled, so she was in a dilemma.

Feeling the pressure on her legs lighten, Yaoying quickly crawled out from under the desk and grabbed the blanket to wrap herself up. She was afraid that if she stood up forcefully, she would overturn the desk, so she tried to untie the blanket, exposing her upper body and feeling cold.

Tanmarajiva moved the desk back to its original place and looked up at Yaoying.

Yao Ying lay down wrapped in a felt blanket and explained her actions in a low voice: "The general is injured. I just heard you shivering in your dream. I was worried that something happened to you, so I wanted to see your injuries..."

She lifted his blanket to see if he was sweaty, but he grabbed her wrist. When she struggled, her legs were entangled in the blanket and stuck under the table. He exerted force on his hands, and she lay on his chest.

Now she knew that he was dry and not sweaty, but his whole body was cold, with only his chest feeling a little warm.

Tanmaraka lay back down on the blanket.

"How did the princess know I was injured?"

Yao Ying said, "When you came back just now, I smelled the smell of medicine. You are injured and need to rest more. I shouldn't have woken you up. General, go back to sleep."

Tanmaraka hummed.

She didn't talk to him because she didn't want to disturb him from resting and recuperating.