That day, Tanmaragha had two more attacks. Although the pain was not as severe as before on the mountain and he was conscious, his body was noticeably weaker.

Yaoying was afraid that something might happen to him, so she didn't dare to leave for too long. Except for a few times when she went downstairs, she stayed by his side all the time. This time she didn't dare to fall asleep again. She sat opposite Tanmaraka all night, thinking about how to get back to the Holy City as quickly and smoothly as possible, and planning what to do after returning to the Holy City. Seeing that his brows were red, she immediately woke him up softly.

Tanmaraka opened his eyes and looked at her with cold eyes.

Yaoying rushed forward and fed him the pill.

She was worried that he had survived all these years and would continue to do so in the future.

Tanmarajiva turned his back calmly, wiped the blood from the corner of his lips, looked indifferent, glanced at the sunlight falling in front of the tent, and made a gesture to stand up.

Yao Ying quickly grabbed his arm and said, "When we were in Gaochang, the general told me to recover from my illness first and then think about the alliance. Why did you lose the big picture when it came to your turn? Business is more important, and you can't neglect your health either."

Tanmaraka said calmly: "Nothing."

The worst night is over.

Yao Ying frowned slightly: "The general is obviously in trouble. Even though I don't know martial arts, I can still see this."

Tanmarajyan frowned slightly and looked at her face. She had been guarding him day and night for the past few days, and the dark circles under her eyes never faded.

Yao Ying stared at Luo Jia, showing no intention of backing down: "I know the general must hurry back to the Holy City, but you can't completely ignore your own body. The general is a patient now, and patients must be obedient and not stubborn."

After saying this, he pressed Tanmaragha to sit down.

She was not very strong, and Tanmarajiva only needed to lightly swing his arm to shake her off. He just straightened his arm, met her concerned gaze, and then put it down again.

He said nothing and sat back down.

"I learned something from the caravan yesterday and came up with a way to sneak into the Holy City. I was just about to discuss it with the general."

Yaoying held out a black lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlaid treasure box and opened the lid. Suddenly the room was filled with golden light and precious aura.

Inside the box is a gilded bronze statue of densely packed vajra lotuses, which is divided into four layers. Each layer is a blooming lotus. Eight Buddha statues hold □□ and vajra pestles in their hands and sit cross-legged on a lotus platform. Each layer is intricately carved and extremely exquisite.

"This is a birthday gift for the Buddha. I bought it from an Indian merchant."

Yaoying said softly.

Tanmarajiva lowered her eyes, glanced at the gilded bronze statue of lotus in the box, and was stunned.

Yao Ying didn't notice his momentary surprise, and continued, "Now more and more people are rushing to the Holy City from all directions to worship Buddha. We can sneak in and go into the city with them. I have inquired about it. There are so many of them, and they go to worship Buddha in groups. The annual inspection of them is the most relaxed."

She was not idle yesterday. She used the excuse that she admired Buddha and wanted to buy some treasures as tribute to chat with caravans from different places.

The merchants told her that the checkpoints in the city were still strict, and the closer the town was to the holy city, the stricter it was.

The Regent is still seriously injured, and she doesn't want him to take the risk. After thinking it over, she thinks it would be better for him to sneak into the city with the worship team. This way, he can not only avoid investigation, but also get close to the royal temple in a logical way.

"What do you think of my idea, General?"

Yao Ying opened her eyes wide and earnestly asked for Tanmarajiva's opinion.

Tanmaraka was looking down at her.

Their eyes met, and he looked at her with a bit of scrutiny.

Yao Ying didn't understand what was going on, and blinked at Tanmaragha, her dark eyes shining brightly.

She looked at him with eyes that were bright and clear, like morning dew, without the slightest hint of probing.

"General?" Yao Ying called softly.

Tanmaraka looked away and said, "This bronze statue is not suitable."

Yao Ying was stunned, and took up the gilded bronze statue to examine it carefully: "Is there anything wrong with this Vajra statue?"

This Vajra statue is not only gorgeous and exquisite, but also unique. It is said that only Indian craftsmen can carve this style. When the Indian merchant took out this bronze statue yesterday, the merchants in the hall were amazed and rushed to bid for it. If she hadn't learned a few broken Sanskrit words from Prajna and had not negotiated with the Indian merchant first, it would have been snatched away by others.

She thought that this bronze statue was very precious. Looking at its glittering gold and exquisite craftsmanship, didn’t it look very similar to the Buddha statue on the altar during the Wangting Festival?

Tanmo Luojia paused for a moment and said, "One volume of scriptures is enough, no need to be extravagant."

Yao Ying realized that she might have done something wrong, but because the person she was facing was the Regent, she did not feel embarrassed and smiled: "Thank you, General. I have learned a lesson."

After saying that, she immediately stood up holding the box, covered her face with a veil, and ran out, disappearing at the door. After a while, the footsteps returned, and she stood by the door, lowered her head to put on her boots, and leaned half of her body into the room.

"I'll be back soon, General, have a good rest."

Half an hour later, Yao Ying came back with several golden scriptures. The scriptures were made of parchment with pictures on them, and were exquisite and bright.

"I sold the bronze statue." She sat cross-legged and patted the scriptures. "Is it appropriate to give these scriptures to the Buddhist disciples?"

Tanmarajiva nodded slightly.

It seems she just didn't mean it.

…

Downstairs, the merchant who had just bought the bronze statue from Yao Ying was overjoyed and returned to his room holding the statue.

His companion asked in surprise, "This bronze statue is well-made and beautifully designed, but unfortunately it was bought by a carpet merchant from Yangma City first. How did it end up in your hands?"

The merchant twirled his beard and said with a beaming expression: "The Tianzhu merchant who sold the bronze statue didn't know the goods, and the girl who bought the bronze statue didn't know the goods either. She thought it was just an ordinary bronze statue. I just added an extra fifty silver coins, and she happily sold it to me!"

His companions were full of envy: "What luck! This bronze statue is a rare item in India. If you sell it to the princes and nobles in the royal court, you will definitely make a fortune!"

The businessman laughed: "Is it so easy to make a fortune?"

Having said this, he paused deliberately.

His companion knew that he was keeping it a secret, so he asked with a smile: "What is the benefit of this bronze statue? Tell me quickly."

"There are so many wonderful things!" The businessman lowered his voice, put down the bronze statue, fumbled with his fingers for a while, found the mechanism, and twisted it gently.

With a click, a gilded lotus at the top of the bronze statue suddenly opened, and the petals opened one by one, just like a blooming lotus, shimmering with golden light, magnificent and beautiful.

My companions praised it highly.

The next moment, he was stunned.

A seated statue of Vajra wearing a crown slowly emerged from the opening lotus. The Vajra was naked, had several faces, six pairs of long arms, a necklace on his waist, and held a magical instrument in his hand. His main arm was embracing a gilded goddess, who was also naked. She hugged the Vajra's neck tightly, with her legs wrapped around his waist, as if they were hugging each other tightly.

My companion blushed.

The merchant laughed out loud. "This is a double-body statue that came from India. I heard that there is a sect of monks in India who practiced double-body cultivation with men and women, and were able to enter a state of great bliss. I have seen this kind of double-body statue in India before. You are right. This is a rare item. The noble lord of the holy city will definitely be willing to exchange it for more silver coins."

He got lucky!

…

Yao Ying knew nothing about the conversation downstairs.

The next day, she continued to gather information, while watching Tanmaragha and not allowing him to practice.

At night, the eagle brought back a reply letter.

After reading the letter, Tanmarajya pondered in silence. The eagle became impatient and pecked his arm gently. He raised his hand and stroked the eagle, signaling it to leave immediately.

The next day, the two men mixed into the worship team, left the city, and headed towards the holy city.

As soon as they left the city gate, a soldier with a long sword on his waist rode towards them. The soldier was swearing and reading the notice loudly while sitting on his horse. Then, whenever he saw a young man walking alone on the road, he would immediately pull him aside and question him.

Soon, sounds of beating and scolding came from behind, and the men who were alone were taken away.

Yao Ying was still frightened. She let down the curtain and glanced at Tanmaragha, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and regulating his breathing. His injuries showed signs of worsening. Today they were riding in a carriage.

After the carriage had gone a few miles, there was the sound of horse hooves from behind, snow splashed everywhere, and a team composed of several Northern Rong soldiers came slowly towards them. Among them was a large carriage tightly covered with felt cloth. Judging from the several Hu maids sitting in front of the carriage, the person in the carriage must be a woman.

The horses neighed and the pedestrians on the road shouted and cursed as they tried to get out of the way. The team just went away.

There were complaints on both sides of the avenue.

"The lady sitting in the carriage is the Princess of Beirong. She is so arrogant."

"The Northern Rong people are just barbaric and vulgar."

…

Yao Ying watched through the gap in the curtain as the carriage carrying Zhu Luyun went away.

After calming herself down, she no longer tried to avoid Zhu Luyun, but instead tried to inquire about her movements in order to guess what had happened in the Northern Rong and why Wakhan Khan had thought of sending Zhu Luyun to the royal court.

Since Zhu Luyun came to the royal court, she has frequently been in and out of the market, seemingly looking for treasures to bribe the royal nobles. She has not made any other unusual moves, and the Northern Rong delegation is still disrespectful and arrogant.

Yao Ying was puzzled: while Haidu Aling and several sons of Wakhan Khan were fighting each other to the death, brothers were at odds with each other, and conflicts were constant, the Northern Rong were still peaceful.

She calculated that when Zhu Luyun set out from Beirong Yating, Haidu Aling and the little prince Jinbo should not have had any trouble yet. But now Jinbo has sent people to inform Wakhan Khan of Haidu Aling's conspiracy, so why hasn't Beirong made any move yet?

Yao Ying pursed her lips.

Yang Qian was a talented general who was capable of training and commanding the rebel army, but he was not good at arranging spies and training scouts.

The Regent King told her that the Northern Rong had an omnipresent scout team. The Northern Rong territory was vast, from the Yating to the various small tribes, it would take several months to walk slowly. Without well-trained scouts, it might take half a year for an order to be issued and delivered. With a strong scout team, they could quickly grasp the intelligence of various countries, and then make plans and launch surprise attacks.

Yao Ying also needs such a team.

This way she wouldn't have to wait for news from Gaochang every day.

Lao Qi and his caravan were good candidates for scouts. Before they were stranded in the royal court, they had lived in the Western Regions for many years and often dealt with various tribes. They could travel around as merchants without arousing suspicion.

But after all, they are just untrained civilians who don't know how to distinguish between useful and useless information from trivial information.

Yao Ying thought about her worries for a while, then heard Tanmaraka's breathing become heavier. She came to her senses, poured a cup of hot medicine and handed it to him.

Tanmaraka was about to take it when she retracted her hand and picked up a hard naan as a fan, gently fanning the steaming porcelain bowl.

"Wait, it's just cooked, it's still hot."

No matter how thick or bitter the medicine was, Tanmaraka seemed to have no sense of taste. He picked up the medicine cup and drank it all in one gulp without frowning. Yaoying was afraid that he would get burned if he drank it all in one gulp.

She fanned it several times, and when she felt it was almost done, she handed over the porcelain cup.

Tanmaraka took the porcelain bowl without saying a word.

Yaoying threw away her naan and asked, "General, is there any news from the Northern Rong these days?"

Tanmaraka finished drinking the medicine, looked at her and shook his head.

He had been keeping his troops on hold, waiting for news from the Northern Rong. He knew that she was afraid of Haidu Aling, so he never mentioned it to her.

Yao Ying sighed, suspecting that Haidu Aling might have killed Wakhan Khan and his son as described in the book, and also controlled the situation, which was why the Northern Rong did not make any move.

She has to prepare in advance.

Yaoying leaned against the wall of the car, thinking silently.

After Tanmarajiva drank the medicine, he began to feel a pain in his body and a dull ache in the seams of his bones. He closed his eyes and sat quietly, waiting for this round of pain to pass before he opened his heavy eyelids.

A handkerchief was handed to him, and Yaoying looked at him, her dark eyes full of concern.

These days, as long as Tanmarajiva opens his eyes, he can see her.

Sometimes she sat there lost in thought, looking serious, as if she was thinking about something important. Sometimes she stared at him without blinking, and was overjoyed when she saw that he looked better, and frowned when she found that his injury was getting worse. Sometimes she rested her chin on her hand, nodding her head, and dozed off. When she heard the noise, she immediately sat up straight, rubbed her face, opened her eyes wide, and tried to look energetic.

Without her care, he could go back to the Holy City.

But if that were the case, he could collapse at any time in a deserted corner, silently enduring the pain alone. It would not be like now, with someone taking good care of him along the way.

Tanmaraka took the handkerchief, and warmth quickly spread from his cold fingertips.

The towel had been kept warm on the charcoal stove.

He felt a little uncomfortable, so he waited for the handkerchief to cool down and then used it to wipe away the cold sweat.

…

As they continued to march westward, the procession of worshippers became larger and larger. In addition to the wealthy families who were surrounded by powerful slaves and servants and camel and horse teams, the majority were ordinary people. On the avenue, believers covered in dust and carrying felt blankets on their backs could be seen everywhere.

These believers were not wealthy, and many of them could not even afford a decent gift. However, they were very pious and recited scriptures sincerely along the way, praying for Tanmaragha.

Yao Ying accompanied them and listened to them recount over and over again the kindness that Tanmarajya had bestowed on them. She once again deeply felt the people's love and respect for him, and she also understood why there were so many conflicts between Tanmarajya and the princes and ministers of the royal court.

Tanmaraka protected all the people, regardless of their status, while the princes and ministers regarded the people in their territories as their private property. He had a long-term vision and saw how to make the royal court long-term and strong enough to prosper without relying on him. Such pursuit was not only incomprehensible to the princes and ministers, but also to the people who benefited from it.

As the businessman said, the closer you get to the holy city, the stricter the inspections on the road become, and the atmosphere becomes heavy and depressing.

In addition to the decoctions that had to be cooked every day, Yao Ying would spend a lot of money to buy some medicinal materials every time she arrived at a market. She would boil several pots of medicine every day. The carriage was filled with the sour and bitter smell of the medicine, and even the curtains were soaked with a lingering pungent odor.

When asked by her companions, Yao Ying said that her husband was seriously ill and she came to the holy city to pray for the Buddha to save her husband. People saw that Tanmarajiva never got off the carriage, had to take medicine every day, and the food and drink were all delivered to the carriage by her. They believed it to be true and felt both sympathy and admiration for her.

An old Hu woman saw Yaoying's eyes turning blue from exhaustion every day, and she sighed, "Your husband is useless, yet you still cling to him. The Buddha will surely bless you two!"

Yaoying's eyelids twitched. She never said that the Regent was useless.

When she was checked by soldiers again, Yaoying hadn't even opened the curtain when the people around her explained for her that the soldiers were only wary of young men who were alone, and when they saw that Yaoying had all the documents and heard from other people that she was a weak woman who had come thousands of miles to seek medical treatment with her seriously ill husband, they did not make things difficult for her.

The journey was safe and sound, and when they arrived at a star city not far from the Holy City, the soldiers guarding along the way were replaced by cavalry from the four armies of princes and nobles, looking like a storm was about to come.