The guards didn't know that the bronze statue was sold by Yao Ying, and they exclaimed: "No wonder those Persian merchants praised it so much. This Buddha statue is really exquisite. I have never seen anything like it before."

Yao Ying closed the treasure box and asked, "Are the tribal chiefs and princesses in the city now searching for treasures?"

The guard nodded and said, "The price of our satin shop has also gone up, but they are still scrambling to get it!"

He glanced at Yao Ying furtively and did not dare to say the rest. The reason why the price of silk in the shop was soaring was because there was a rumor in the city that Yao Ying danced for the Buddhist disciples in clothes made of fabrics brought from the Central Plains.

Yao Ying looked at the treasure box, her eyes turned, and she came up with a plan, saying, "Send the bronze Buddha back to Lao Qi, and tell him to give the statue to those Persians, and let them sell it to the highest bidder."

Since the Persian merchants said that this bronze Buddha was rare, it would be better to sell it at a high price while the princes, nobles, chiefs and princesses in the city all wanted it.

The guard looked regretful and replied respectfully, then asked, "What did the princess give to celebrate the Buddha's birthday?"

Yao Ying waved her hands and said, "Don't worry about this."

The personal soldier hesitated to speak.

Yao Ying glanced at him, frowned slightly, and asked, "What are you worried about?"

The guard hesitated for a moment and stammered, "Lao Qi and the others are afraid that other princesses' gifts are better..."

Yao Ying didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Why are we fighting over this?"

This isn't a birthday gift giving competition.

"Don't worry about this. The caravans to Samantabhadra, Jieshana, Northern India, and Tubo will be back soon. Be sure to pick them up."

The bodyguards scratched their heads and retreated awkwardly.

…

Wang Temple.

Bishuo Suiyuanjue hurried to the meditation room. When he was walking through the corridor, a young man wearing a brocade hat, a half-sleeved leopard skin brocade robe, and long boots strode towards him.

When they passed each other, Bi Sa found that the other person was as tall as herself, and glanced at him casually.

The man was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with sharp eyebrows, a straight nose, strong features, thick and sturdy arms, and a brocade robe tied tightly around his body. There was a long and fierce knife scar on his cheek, but this did not detract from his handsomeness at all, but made the young man look less childish and more stable like a mature man. He looked heroic, tall and strong, and it was obvious at first glance that he was a tribal warrior who grew up on horseback.

Although he was young, he was not afraid of Bi Sa's aura at all. His pair of brown eyes looked straight at Bi Sa, like a silver sword slashing from the air, revealing its sharp edge.

The two of them nodded to each other without saying a word.

When the man walked away, Bisha asked, "Who is he?"

Yuanjue replied in a low voice: "General, this is the young prince Mobito."

Bi Su suddenly realized, "It turned out to be him."

On that night when tens of thousands of private soldiers of the Wanshi family were stationed outside the Holy City, a tribal cavalry of ten thousand men descended from the sky and, together with the royal court's internal troops that had infiltrated the four armies, broke up the battle formations of the four armies and drove away the remnants of the army whose wills had collapsed, with an unstoppable force.

The young man who was in the lead charged forward fiercely, with a force like lightning and thunder, and commanded the tribe like a general on the battlefield. When he finished the battle and led the tribe to pay tribute to Tanmaragha at the foot of the city, and when he took off his helmet, everyone discovered that he was actually a young man and was greatly surprised.

Overnight, Mobhido's fame spread throughout the royal court.

The nomadic tribe to which Mobhido belonged was called Ujiri, and they once herded sheep and horses for the Persian Empire. After the fall of Persia, the Ujiri tribe fled to the Congling area, where they often robbed and killed passing caravans.

The royal court was rich, and nomadic tribes on the trade route repeatedly plundered the royal caravans. The regent Sultan led his troops to clear the trade route, and the army almost reached the city of Samarkand east of the Sea of ​​Khazar. Within three months, 28 tribes were surrounded and intercepted by the royal army, with no way to escape, and had to surrender, including the Ujiri tribe. After that, the trade route was unimpeded, and the royal caravans no longer had to worry about being plundered by small countries and tribes along the way.

After the Ujiri tribe surrendered, they thought they would be enslaved and killed, but they did not expect that Tanmarajya only punished the robbers and did not punish the civilians. He found a piece of territory for the others and allowed them to graze and farm. The men and women of the tribe, young and old, were so grateful that they shed tears. From then on, the Ujiri tribe changed their beliefs and believed in Buddhism.

A few days ago, after receiving the message from the eagle, the old chief immediately led his troops to the holy city overnight and joined forces with other tribes. Mobido followed his father to the battle and volunteered to be the vanguard, to which the old chief readily agreed.

During these two days of rewarding merits, the old chief made a request to Tanmaraka, hoping that his son Mobito could stay in the holy city so that he could broaden his horizons and listen to the teachings of the Buddha.

Tanmaraka agreed.

Bhisatta thought that Mobhido stayed in the holy city probably to become a close guard of Tanmarajya so that he could inherit the Ukriti tribe smoothly in the future.

In recent years, almost all the surrendered tribes have converted to Buddhism. If the successor chief can be recognized by Tanmaragha, he will be accepted by the tribe regardless of his background and his status will be stable.

The once unruly tribe, under the care of Tanmarajiva, became a force loyal to the royal family, defending the royal court with loyalty.

Is this what Luo Jia meant by combining kindness and severity, and being both firm and flexible?

Bi Su pondered secretly in his heart, entered the meditation room, clenched his fist and bowed.

The long table in the room was piled with scrolls and parchment. Tanmarajiva was writing at the table. When he heard him talking, he raised his chin slightly.

Bishuo understood, stepped forward, picked up the parchment on the corner of the long table and looked at it carefully.

Yuan Jue explained, "Your Majesty, General Ashina went out of the city with Princess Wen Zhao today and just returned to the royal temple, so he is late."

Bisa's eyelids twitched, and he immediately looked at Tanmaragha.

Tanmarajiva lowered his head and remained silent, but his writing movements did not slow down at all.

Yuan Jue retreated.

Bisa felt a little uneasy. She waited for a while and saw that Tanmaragha didn't say anything. She suppressed her thoughts and concentrated on reading the parchment. When she read the last few sentences, her face changed drastically.

The Northern Rong sent a letter, which started with a bunch of polite words and ended with saying that their eldest prince wanted to marry Princess Chima in order to establish friendly relations between the two countries.

Bi Suo said angrily: "What do the Northern Rong people mean? They know that Princess Chi Ma will never marry outside her family."

Princess Chima will only marry a royal noble.

"Wakhan Khan is testing me." Tanmo Luojia stopped writing and said, "The four armies have just returned and cannot go out to fight. Send a message to the soldiers stationed in various places in Sand City. If anyone comes to provoke, no matter whether the opponent is the Northern Rong army or a small tribe, the troops should stay put. Anyone who violates the military order will be punished by military law."

Bi Suo replied that the Northern Rong were blocking the news and they had to be cautious.

After discussing some other things, Bi Suo said goodbye and left.

When he retreated to the door, he suddenly stopped, raised his head, looked at Tanmarajiva, and said, "Your Majesty, Princess Wen Zhao invited me out of the city today to discuss serious matters."

Tanmaraka said nothing.

Bisa couldn't tell whether he cared about this or not, so she stood there for a while and then quietly walked out.

Incense curls up from before the brocade tent.

Tanmarajiva stopped writing, his eyelashes trembled slightly, he took off the beads from his wrist, gently turned the Buddhist beads with his fingers, and recited scriptures silently.

The wind blew into the meditation room through the open door, filling the room with darkness.

After a moment, he put the pearl cage back on his wrist, picked up the pen, and continued to review other memorials.

At this moment, there was the sound of deliberately light footsteps at the door, and the guard Prajna saluted outside the door, his face flushed and his expression anxious.

"Your Majesty, I accompanied the ceremonial officer to receive envoys from various countries and heard some rumors."

He entered the room, knelt on one knee, and there was a hint of anger in his voice.

"You have to take care of Princess Wen Zhao! You can't let her do whatever she wants!"

Tanmarajiva stopped writing and raised his eyelids.

Prajna immediately suppressed her anger and complained in a low voice: "King, the news that Princess Wen Zhao whipped Princess Bei Rong has spread throughout the Holy City."

Today, Prajna went to the post station to appease envoys from various countries. She was surrounded by servants of princesses from various countries and asked all kinds of questions. She was very annoyed and also heard a rumor.

On the day Yaoying met Zhu Luyun, she deliberately left spies behind. Those spies saw with their own eyes that she captured Zhu Luyun and her personal soldiers without even saying a word of courtesy, tortured them on the spot, and finally threatened Zhu Luyun. They were horrified and hurried back to report to their masters - their masters were the princesses of various countries.

Prajna said with a look of regret: "Now the rumor has spread everywhere. They say that Princess Wen Zhao is arrogant and ruthless. She is afraid that the princesses of other countries will take you away, so she took people to capture the Princess of Beirong and force her to return to Beirong. It happened that the Beirong delegation was about to leave, and the princesses of other countries believed it!"

As he spoke, his voice rose a little: "Those princesses asked me if Princess Wen Zhao was as the legend said, charming and obedient in front of you, but in fact she was as venomous as a snake and scorpion, with a vicious heart. They also said that whoever approached you would be poisoned and destroyed by Princess Wen Zhao. For you, she would do anything, even any vicious means..."

At the end, Prajna shook her head, "Princess, you are too arrogant. The rumors are getting more and more exaggerated. How will the people in the royal court look at you in the future? King, you have to control Princess Wen Zhao."

Tanmarajiva put down the memorial, called Yuanjue and asked him if he had heard the rumors.

Yuan Jue replied, "I heard that Princess Beirong wanted to leave right after she arrived at the Holy City. People said...that Princess Wen Zhao was jealous and forced her to leave."

Tanmarajiva frowned slightly.

…

The turmoil was resolved without bloodshed, and the situation in the court gradually stabilized. The birthday of the Buddhist son Tanmarajiva and the princesses from various countries who gathered in the holy city once again became the most frequently talked about topics among the people after dinner.

After martial law was lifted, the streets and alleys of the holy city were bustling with believers who came to worship.

In a peaceful atmosphere, Zhu Luyun and her group left the holy city in disgrace.

Zhu Luyun was forcibly sent to the royal court by her aunt, Princess Yiqing, and she was eager to leave as soon as possible.

Her personal soldiers did not want to go back just like that, but the royal court directly sent soldiers to send them back, leaving them no room for maneuver. They had no choice but to return empty-handed.

When they came to the royal court, they traveled during the day and rested at night. When they encountered snow and wind, they stayed in the posthouse for a few more days. When they returned, the royal court soldiers kept urging them, and they had no way to pass on the news or ask about the next plan. They had to abandon the carts, and everyone rode horses, traveling day and night, and soon arrived at the border.

After completing the paperwork, the Northern Rong garrison suddenly detained several people.

The guards said angrily, "We have been ordered to go to the royal court and now we have to hurry back to Yizhou to report. Here is the imperial edict, written by the judge himself. You are detaining people for no reason. Are you trying to commit a crime of subversion?"

The soldiers burst into laughter and did not explain. They checked everyone's whereabouts and only after confirming that everything was correct did they order them to pass. However, they did not let them go back to Illinois.

The guards were confused and asked the escorting soldiers where they were being taken, but the soldiers remained silent.

Three days later, the anxious group was sent to a fortress used for sentry duty. The personal guard happened to know the guard of the fortress, so he found the guard and asked him for help.

When the guards heard that they wanted to return to Yizhou, they said, "You don't know that the Yazhang is no longer in Yizhou! The judge and Princess Yiqing may have followed the Khan to Orudo. If you want to return to Yizhou to report, you will only come back empty-handed."

The guards were stunned: After Zhu Luyun arrived in Yizhou, Princess Yiqing's husband asked for a princess title for her, and then the princess sent guards to escort her niece to the royal court. When they left Yizhou, the Northern Rong was peaceful, and later they lost contact with the Northern Rong. At that time, they thought it was because of the long journey, and did not think deeply. It turned out that during their mission, the Northern Rong was turned upside down, and the Khan actually went to Orudo!

"What happened in Illinois?"

The guard's face changed slightly, and he lowered his voice and said, "I'm just a small soldier, and I don't know what happened... I heard that it seemed that several princes had a dispute with Prince Haidu Aling, and Haidu Aling assassinated the Khan, who was seriously injured. Later, I don't know what happened, so he moved his camp to Orudo. Now Yizhou is in chaos. The people who escorted you are the eldest prince's men, and they are going to send you to Orudo."

The personal soldiers were terrified and their clothes were soaked with sweat.

The judge and Princess Yiqing were Haidu Aling's teachers. When Haidu Aling assassinated Wakhan Khan, Princess Yiqing must have been involved. Maybe the judge and the princess had been killed by the Khan. They fell into the hands of the eldest prince, Haidu Aling's rival. Isn't it like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth?

The personal soldier became more and more anxious the more he thought about it, and went back to discuss with the others what to do.

When the people heard that Haidu Aling had assassinated the Khan, they were terrified and said, "This Han princess got her title at the request of the judge, who was Haidu Aling's teacher. If we escort the Han princess to Orudo, we will definitely be considered Haidu Aling's men, and the eldest prince will not let us go."

"We were ordered to protect Princess Fukang. Now that the princess has returned to Beirong unharmed, we have done our duty to the princess. We can no longer accompany the princess to die in Orodo."

"Yes! Haidu Aling's rebellion has nothing to do with us! We must make plans early!"

"Princess Fukang doesn't care about anything. If we follow her, we will be killed sooner or later!"

The captain of the guards pondered for a while, sighed, and said: "The princess asked us to protect Princess Fukang. No matter what, we can't abandon Princess Fukang. If we want to escape, we must take Princess Fukang with us."

The others looked at each other and said nothing.

The next morning, the captain of the personal guards found the tent empty - his men were afraid of the eldest prince and escaped last night when the guards were not strict.

The captain of the personal guard sighed, counted the remaining troops, and under the supervision of the soldiers, continued to march towards Orudo.

After several days, they finally arrived at Orodo.

The guard posts at Oruduo were tightly guarded, with scouts patrolling back and forth along the way. The cavalry came and went, and the sound of their hooves was like thunder. In the distance, under the rolling mountains, there were densely packed tents. A quick glance showed that there were about 20,000 people stationed there.

The personal soldier had no time to check the situation around him. His hands were tied and he was sent to a tent. He trembled in fear as he listened to the sharp sounds of swords and weapons hitting outside the tent.

Suddenly, a pair of white hands opened the curtain, and a beautiful woman with braided hair, wearing a sheepskin robe, stepped into the tent.

When the guard saw the woman, he was stunned for a moment, then he became so excited that he spoke incoherently and knelt down and said, "Princess! I thought something happened to you!"

The eldest princess frowned and asked, "Why are there only a few of you left?"

The guard's face flushed, and he explained the whole story, saying, "They thought the princess and the judge had lost power, so they took advantage of the chaos and ran away."

The eldest princess sneered.

The guard said guiltily: "Princess, I failed to complete the task. Please punish me."

The princess waved her hands, looking tired, and asked someone to untie the guards. She said, "The reason why I asked Yunniang to go to the royal court this time was to avoid disaster, and secondly to test Princess Wen Zhao. Yunniang is useless. You did a good job. You don't need to apologize."

The guard hurriedly said, "Princess, the rumors are true. The Buddhist prince of the royal court really looks at Princess Wen Zhao differently! Also, Princess Wen Zhao is not just a weak woman as Princess Fukang said."

The princess raised her eyebrows, hummed, and said, "It seems that Haidu A Ling hid something from me..."

She paused.

"You've come back just in time. There's someone you need to identify."

The guard asked, "Who is he?"

The princess smiled sarcastically and said, "You have been to Wei State to gather intelligence and stayed in Chang'an. Have you ever met their crown prince Li Xuanzhen?"

The guard nodded: "I have seen it from a distance a few times."

The princess clapped her hands and said, "Very good, go to the dungeon and see if that person is Li Xuanzhen."