It was the hottest time of the year, the sun was blazing outside, and the yellow sand was scorching.
Li Zhongqian wore a brown narrow-sleeved brocade gown with a double-sparrow ribbon pattern and a cross collar. His long messy hair was tied up and his head was wrapped in a turban. He sat in the cool cave house and read the battle report.
The city of Shacheng has severe winters and hot summers, with strong winds. When building houses, local people would dig holes to live in, which not only keeps them warm and cool in winter, but also protects them from sandstorms.
He watched from morning to afternoon, his brows furrowed, and only ate a few pieces of dry naan during that time.
The servant brought him a plate of crystal clear ice cream that was frozen into the shape of snowy peaks and said attentively: "Alang, this is a good product to relieve the summer heat. It is sour, sweet and cold. It is called Princess Drunk. Please have a taste."
Hearing the words "Princess is drunk", Li Zhongqian's eyelids twitched. He glanced at the mountains on the plate that were glowing with white, bright red, and green, put down the battle report, and tapped the desk with his fingers.
"What's the point?"
The servant put down the tray and said with a smile, "I heard that the Princess Drunkenness came from the palace. It is said that during the hot summer, the Buddhist had no appetite and could not eat well. After preaching for half a month, he fell ill and could not eat anything. When Princess Wen Zhao saw this, she felt distressed and anxious. She searched for fruits and vegetables in the market and tried her best to make this soft, sweet, and cool ice cream. After the Buddhist ate it, his appetite improved a lot. Later, whenever the nobles in the Holy City held a banquet, they would make a large plate of ice cream. Because the ice cream looked like a drunk beauty with a reddish white color, they called it Princess Drunkenness."
Li Zhongqian's face darkened.
Could it be that anyone in Wang Ting had seen Li Yaoying drunk?
The servant brought out a plate of colorful, fragrant pilaf with each grain of rice gleaming with golden oil. "Princess Wen Zhao imitated the vegetarian pilaf made by Indian monks. The gravy is rich, sour, spicy and sweet. It also contains a kind of grapes that are only available in the estate of Lao Qi. It tastes refreshing and tender when the weather is hot. Have some, Alang."
The corners of Li Zhongqian's mouth twitched.
He had heard a lot of such legends along the way: women's gorgeous makeup and exquisite silks, the fine wine that men coveted, the scripture paper that monks, painters and writers praised endlessly, a kind of soft and warm cotton robe that quickly became popular among the people, the novel agricultural irrigation tools... behind each of them there was a story of "Princess Wen Zhao of the Han Dynasty trying her best to please and seduce the Buddhist."
Many of these stories were just fabrications and gimmicks by the foreign merchants, but the common people spoke of them with such conviction that it seemed as if they had seen them with their own eyes. After hearing them so many times, Li Zhongqian sometimes couldn't help but doubt whether they were true.
He asked Yao Ying, she always reported good news but not sorrow, so she only picked out some small things to tell him. All the soldiers listened to her and would not tell him the whole truth.
Li Zhongqian glanced at the servants. The servants were members of the caravan, traveling with Lao Qi and his men between the royal court and Gaochang. Their special duties were to run errands, deliver messages, and do rough work.
He took out a few silver coins and casually patted the long sword next to the desk. His arm muscles were tense and his eyes were gloomy.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions. Please answer them honestly and don't hide anything."
The servant said hurriedly, "I would never dare to deceive you, Mr. Meng."
Li Zhongqian raised his eyes, which were sharper than the scorching sun outside, and asked, "How do the people in the royal court view the princess?"
The servant was sweating profusely.
…
Half an hour later, the servant came out sweating profusely, holding a mouthful of untouched ice cream.
Li Zhongqian closed his eyes as he looked at the pile of battle reports.
In the royal court, Buddhist disciples are respected by all people, but the people here regard Yao Ying as a complete joke.
There were footsteps on the stairs. Yaoying came down from the cave house to sort out the letters. She saw a dry naan that had only been eaten a few bites by the desk and said, "Brother, eat something before you read."
Li Zhongqian frowned and waved his hand to indicate that everything was fine.
Last night, Yaoying talked to him in detail about the formation of the Western Army and the disputes between the local noble families. This morning, he began to read the battle reports sent by various parties here. After reading more than half of them, he finally understood what the big circle she drew on the sand yesterday represented.
Gaochang was just a small stronghold. The noble families in Shazhou and Guazhou also began to revolt while the Northern Rong were in chaos. Li Xuanzhen's Liangzhou Army cooperated with the Western Army, and the royal court pursued the Khan of the Northern Rong. This huge network stretched from east to west, from south to north, spanning thousands of miles and involving countless oases of all sizes.
If the war goes smoothly, they can join forces with the royal court to attack Beirong and completely wipe out this powerful enemy.
By then, the people in the Helong area will be able to return to their homeland, the displaced refugees will fulfill their long-cherished wish of returning to the east, and the Western Regions, which have lost contact with the Central Plains dynasty for decades, will end the chaotic and divided situation of war and chaos for many years and be reunited and peaceful.
The Wei Kingdom in the Central Plains once again gained vast horse farms and a stable source of excellent military horses, thus resolving the hidden dangers in the north. Why should it worry about not being able to unify the world?
After a few more years, the Central Plains became stable and prosperous, several roads to the Western Regions were open, and the ancient post roads in the desert regained their prosperity, with guest houses lined up, camel bells ringing, and caravans coming and going.
All the people, regardless of whether they are Han or Hu, can stay away from the war and live a stable life.
Li Zhongqian sat in the cool cave house, holding the battle report, and could not calm down for a long time.
He could see the long-term intentions behind the alliance between Yao Ying, Li Xuanzhen and Wang Tingfuzi, and knew what great changes this alliance would bring.
Because of this, he hopes Yao Ying can withdraw as soon as possible.
The Northern Rong tribes will surely fight back in the future, the complicated intrigues among the Western Regions families, the hatred of the Han people in the royal court, and the ruthless Li De in the Wei Kingdom...all of these are troublesome things.
The Xie family served the country and the people, but by the time of my uncle Xie Wuliang's generation, they were almost wiped out.
The world praised Xie endlessly and sighed when talking about the Xie family. However, facing the anger of Li De and Li Xuanzhen, the world did not care about the life and death of the mother and sons.
This is the way the world is.
Li Zhongqian had long since understood the fickleness of the world. He only had Li Yaoying as his sister, and he did not want her to shoulder these responsibilities and walk the same path that Xie Wuliang had walked.
But Yaoying had already made up her mind and he couldn't persuade her.
We can only take it step by step.
Li Zhongqian put down the battle report and looked up at Yao Ying who was sitting beside him writing a letter.
"Before going to the Holy City, I want to write a letter to the Buddha."
Yao Ying raised her head: "I was writing a letter to the Buddhist..."
Li Zhongqian shook his head, walked to her side, took the paper from her pen, and crumpled it into a ball. "This letter must be written by me personally to show my sincerity. Can a Buddhist read Chinese?"
Yao Ying exclaimed, "He speaks Chinese very well."
Li Zhongqian picked up his pen and spread out his paper, saying, "I have heard a lot about you."
Yao Ying said hurriedly: "Brother, those legends are all rumors. It is because of me that the reputation of the Buddhist disciples has been affected."
"I understand. I will apologize to the Buddhist disciples on your behalf." Li Zhongqian wrote a few words, "Has the one-year deadline arrived?"
Yao Ying thought about it and nodded.
She once tried to talk to Tanmarajika about this, but he looked nonchalant. It seemed that he didn't care about such trivial matters, so he didn't urge her.
Li Zhongqian asked: "What are your plans?"
Yao Ying looked solemn, and after pondering for a while, she said softly, "I don't want to cause any more trouble for the Buddhist disciples."
Li Zhongqian nodded: "Don't worry about it, I'll leave this matter to my brother."
He wrote a letter and asked for the Knight-Sergeant Bailly to come.
"Please pass it on to the Buddha."
Baiji immediately returned to the holy city with the letter.
Not long after he left, a few eagle cries were heard in the cave house, and General Black Eagle Gold returned with military intelligence and battle reports.
Yao Ying couldn't wait any longer, she ran out of the cave house holding up the hem of her skirt, took the copper tube handed to her by her personal soldier, read the letter, and let out a long breath.
"Brother, you asked me yesterday where Qing went..."
She handed the letter to Li Zhongqian who came with her.
"She helps me hold down the White City."
Li Zhongqian unfolded the parchment scroll, on which was a row of large characters in a style of flying dragons and dancing phoenixes: Qing has repelled the enemy and fortunately has fulfilled his mission.
…
A few days ago.
Thousands of miles away, White City.
The clouds are rolling and the sun is scorching.
In the desert, cliffs that have been eroded by wind and sand over the years stand in the scorching sun, lined up one after another, like dragons and tigers crouching.
Large beams of fiery light poured down from the clouds, with light and shadows intertwined. The shadows under the strange-shaped hills slowly floated up and down, as if they were living things.
A strong wind blew, and strange howling sounds filled the air.
In the drifting fierce shadows, a huge team consisting of several thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantrymen galloped on the rugged and winding road under the hill, like a rushing black torrent.
Each of them carried two bows, a curved sword, a lasso, and a leather bag. They were fierce, calm, murderous, and brave.
This is an elite team forged in blood. Every soldier is brave. The leading general has a pair of light yellow eagle eyes. When he glances around, golden light flashes and brilliance shines everywhere. He is none other than Haidu Aling, the prince of Beirong who escaped from the royal court not long ago.
The Northern Rong were divided into pieces, and Haidu Aling could not find food supplies, so he burned and looted along the way, fighting to support the war, and gathered the remnants of the tribes. He assembled a team of 20,000 people and headed towards Gaochang.
He had previously sent spies to Gaochang to gather military intelligence, and everything in Gaochang was normal, with Lady Yina still being the king's wife. He promised King Weichi to help him kill Lady Yina, and King Weichi immediately sent him a batch of war horses and weapons.
Haidu Aling sneered. He wanted to kill Lady Yina and Gaochang as well.
The wolf will not let go of the fat sheep, even if the fat sheep is loyal and obedient.
He first carefully wiped out several tribes, encountering no strong resistance along the way. During this period, the fleeing Wakhan Khan issued an order to all tribes, requiring them to lead their troops eastward to help him escape the pursuit of the royal court, so that he could lead the remaining troops back to the grassland. He also promoted Haidu Aling to be the commander-in-chief.
After weighing the pros and cons, Haidu Aling decided that although the remnant soldiers he had gathered totaled 20,000 men, distant water could not quench immediate thirst. Leading these people on a long journey to rescue Wakhan Khan would most likely end up isolated and helpless. It would be better to occupy Gaochang first, then summon nearby tribes to form a coalition force to attack the royal court and relieve the pressure on Wakhan Khan.
Before that, White City must be captured first.
They appeared in another oasis not long ago and besieged a city with such force that people thought he was going to take that city. His intention was to make a feint to the east and attack in the west, and his target was the White City.
Dust flew up ahead, and several scouts came running over. "General, the defense of Baicheng is lax. There are no crossbow carts in the city. Their bows and arrows are probably only enough to shoot seven or eight rounds!"
Haidu Aling stopped his horse and ordered all the soldiers to stop to rest, drink water in big gulps, and prepare wooden shields that could be put together.
The weather is hot and humid, and they are about to start a big battle, so they must replenish their water now.
After the soldiers had drunk their fill of water, Haidu Aling drew his sword and said, "No one can stop us!"
The soldiers cheered up and responded loudly, with roars echoing through the sky.
The team continued to advance, and soon, a fortress city surrounded by earthen walls several meters high appeared in front of everyone at the foot of the mountain.
The sky was azure and cloudless, the hills were majestic and undulating, Haidu Aling rushed up the hillside on his horse, waving his arms, and the rumbling sound of war drums rang out, like overwhelming waves and thunder.
When the defenders of White City saw the black torrent rolling over the hillside, they panicked, and the defenders of the outer city who had no time to retreat soon fell down in large numbers.
The blood stained the soldiers' sabers red.
The archers of White City rushed up to the city walls and hastily put arrows on them.
Before the Beirong soldiers could get close, the first round of arrows had already fallen.
Haidu Aling sneered. They had not yet reached the shooting range of the defenders, but the defenders had already started shooting arrows. The defenders were indeed completely unprepared, the vanguard was in disarray, and the morale of the entire team was in chaos.
The army continued to advance, and the rapid and mournful sounds of horns and drums were heard in the White City. Several men who looked like generals climbed up the city walls, waving flags. The archers gradually calmed down, and waited for the general's flag to fall before they shot their arrows together.
Thousands of arrows were fired at once.
The Northern Rong soldiers were not in a hurry. They raised their wooden shields and advanced in neat steps. Gradually, some of them were hit by arrows that penetrated through the gaps in their shields, but more people were already approaching the White City.
Haidu Aling waited patiently for a while. The shields in the soldiers' hands were densely pierced with arrows. The sound of arrows became sparse from dense rain, and the archers on the city wall roared anxiously.
"They are running out of arrows."
"Charge!"
War drums rumbled, and the Northern Rong soldiers shouted and ran, like a sharp knife, tearing through the air and stabbing straight towards the White City, wanting to tear the fortress to pieces.
Dust flew all over the sky, the earth shook, and Baicheng trembled under the unstoppable attack of the Northern Rong soldiers.
Suddenly, there were loud noises, mountains collapsed, the earth shook, and the rapidly charging cavalry fell into the big pit one after another. Rubble splashed, mud flew, and covered the sky and the sun.
A huge change occurred suddenly, half of the mountain collapsed, and the rumbling sound shook the sky. Before countless Beirong soldiers could react, they were swept into the torrent of rocks and rocks that covered the sky and the earth, along with their horses.
The Beirong soldiers in the rear were howling like ghosts, and the soldiers attacking the city in the front had no idea what was going on and looked around in confusion.
The battlefield seemed to stop for a moment.
Haidu A Linghun's blood boiled and he was furious. He rode his horse forward and watched helplessly as his rear guard was swallowed by the collapsed boulders.
How could a mountain suddenly collapse?
The explosions continued, the earth shook, the war horses were frightened, neighing and running away, throwing the riders off their backs.
At the same time, with a series of strange noises, a huge fireball fell from the sky and landed in the Beirong battle formation.
Screams rang out and the battle formation collapsed immediately.
"Heavenly thunder! Heavenly thunder!"
The soldiers screamed in fear.
Haidu Aling's hair stood on end and he clenched his fists. A gust of wind blew past him, and he broke out in a cold sweat and suddenly came back to his senses from the shock.
Morale is lost. They won't be able to capture White City today.
"Everyone retreat! Gather your troops!"
The guards blew the horn, and the Northern Rong soldiers screamed and retreated. When they passed the collapsed rubble, everyone was terrified and ran away with their heads in their hands.
The subordinates abandoned their weapons and armor and fled back to Haidu Aling, urging him to leave quickly.
Haidu Aling gritted his teeth, his pupils dilated, and stared coldly at the walls of Baicheng.
He had heard of the weapons that the White City defenders had just used.
When Princess Wen Zhao Li Yaoying fled from the Yelu tribe, "thunder struck from the sky", bringing punishment from heaven, which allowed her to escape in the chaos.
He never believed in any punishment from heaven. He thought that Li Yaoying must have used some weapon that only Han people knew. The people in the grassland tribes had never seen it before and mistakenly thought it was a punishment from heaven.
There was a roar of flying rocks and a violent gust of wind, with sand and rocks flying everywhere.
On the walls of the White City in the distance, several military flags stood between the yellow sand and gravel and the vast blue sky, flying in the wind.
Haidu Aling narrowed his eyes and looked at the unfamiliar military flags.
Which small tribe dares to stand in his way?
On the city wall, a tall general bent his bow, put an arrow on it, pulled the bow with all his strength, and shot an arrow.
There was a sudden sharp sound, and then a military flag in the Northern Rong battle formation was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground.
The Beirong soldiers cried out in shock.
The general drew his bow again and shot another arrow. With great momentum, the arrow flew through the air and hit the flagpole of the Northern Rong army's flag, making a clanging sound.
The soldier was terrified and took the letter tied to the arrow and delivered it to Haidu A Ling.
Haidu Aling unfolded the letter, his eyes wide open with anger.
Gaochang has already submitted to the Wei Dynasty, and all the states in the Western Regions have been recovered. Not an inch of the mountains, rivers or territory will be surrendered.
From today on, he was not facing resistance from small tribes, but the entire Western Army, the Wei State in the Central Plains.
Haidu Aling stared at the signature at the end, his anger boiling, his blood boiling, and his knuckles numb from the exertion.
It was the Western Army that stopped him.
During this period, the Western Army had already recaptured Gaochang! King Wei Chi tolerated Lady Yina and sent him soldiers and weapons. He encountered no resistance along the way. It was Li Yaoying who was confusing him!
good!
What a great Li Yaoying!
The subordinates, covered in blood, rushed to Haidu Aling and shouted, "General, where should we retreat to?"
Haidu Aling's face twitched a few times and he looked ferocious.
The states in the Western Regions have always been shrewd. They would join the most powerful country. The local noble families have always been dissatisfied with the heavy taxes. Even if what was said in the letter was not true, it was almost true. The royal court and the Han princess joined forces to stop him outside Baicheng. The eastern route of Wakhan Khan's escape to the grassland must have been cut off. The old Khan was now a turtle in a jar, and fell into the final trap step by step under the attack of the royal court and the Western Army.
When the Western Army and the Royal Court Army close in at the same time, the old Khan will surely be dead.
Most of his men were killed or wounded, and he was powerless to turn the tide. Moreover, the Northern Rong nobles hated him and would not obey his orders.
Haidu Aling pulled the reins and decisively turned the horse around.
"Repair the troops, gather strength, and wait for the right time."
"The Khan is on the run, the nobles are acting on their own, the enemy is well prepared, and we don't know how many traps they have hidden. We are the Khan's only support, and we cannot act rashly. Once we gather more troops, we will immediately march east to defend the king!"
The morale that had just been weakened was boosted again, and the soldiers surrounded Haidu Aling and quickly withdrew from the battlefield.
On the walls of Baicheng, the generals watched Haidu Aling retreat and all breathed a sigh of relief. They ordered the soldiers to clean up the battlefield and treat the wounded. They looked at each other, unable to suppress their excitement and burst into laughter.
Only the young general who had just drawn his bow and arrow had a stern face without a trace of smile.
Yang Nianxiang took off his helmet and looked at the stern-faced general beside him: "Xie Qing, those two arrows you just shot were very powerful. How long have you been practicing?"
Xie Qing said expressionlessly: "Twelve years."
Yang Nianxiang sighed in admiration, and the soldiers rushed up to report the military situation. Everyone ignored the idle chatter and got busy.
When the royal army and the main force of the Northern Rong were facing each other in Sam Valley, Yang Nianxiang and several others rushed back to Gaochang with Li Yaoying's secret letter, and joined forces with Yang Qian to help King Wei Chi to sideline Lady Yina and resolve the issue of the Northern Rong army stationed in Gaochang City.
The ruler of Gaochang immediately wrote a letter to Wei, asking Wei to formally enfeoff Li Yaoying and the Western Army and to provide military support to the Western Army.
At the same time, Yang Nianxiang and Xie Qing rushed to Baicheng to gather troops, install equipment, and prepare for battle.
Li Yaoying and they analyzed that Haidu Aling would definitely attack the tribes near Gaochang first after accumulating strength, and then capture Gaochang. They waited in Baicheng for a long time, buried weapons secretly transported by the caravan throughout the mountain, and kept releasing false news to lure Beirong scouts, waiting for Haidu Aling to take the bait.
Today was only the first confrontation. They temporarily scared off Haidu Aling and weakened his troops, but they could not let their guard down. Their mission was to defend the western defense line and prevent Haidu Aling from advancing eastward.
During this period, the Western Army will unite with various places to launch uprisings and gradually recover the states in the Western Regions.
Xie Qing, holding a longbow, led a team of personal soldiers out of the city for inspection.
The princess had repeatedly reminded her not to be careless on the battlefield and to guard against arrogance and impatience.
Her current strength is not enough to kill Haidu Aling on the battlefield, so she cannot be anxious. She can defend Baicheng for the princess and prevent Haidu Aling from taking any further steps eastward.
Xie Qing put away his longbow.
She had been practicing archery for twelve years, and she had known the princess for almost twelve years.
Long wind hunting.
Xie Qing was dressed in armor, standing on his horse with his sword in hand, looking down at the devastated battlefield beneath his horse's hooves.
A gentleman will die for his friend.
The princess is the leader of the Western Army, and she must become the bravest general under the princess.
…
Sand city.
After reading the densely detailed battle report on the paper, Yao Ying confirmed that Xie Qing and his men had defeated Haidu Aling, and explained all the previous plans one by one.
She was in the royal court, so she had no troops with her. The main force of the Western Army was fighting bravely on the battlefield to recover lost territory. She and the caravan were in the rear, distributing food and weapons, and guiding them on their route, so that they could avoid the Northern Rong rebellion and reduce casualties.
During the time she was with the royal court, she spent her days handling rear-line military affairs and sorting out intelligence, and now she is very skilled at doing these things.
Li Zhongqian looked at Yao Ying with mixed feelings.
All his aspirations and ambitions vanished after Xie Wuliang's death. Now he would rather let the world down than be let down by the world.
Yaoying is different from him.
In the past in the Central Plains, she did not dare to get involved in these things because of the suppression of Li De and Li Xuanzhen.
In the past three years, he was not by her side and she went through a lot of hardships. In front of him, she was still a well-behaved sister, but in the eyes of others, she was no longer the same person she used to be.
Li Zhongqian's face looked gloomy.
Yao Ying knew what was bothering him, so she shook his arm and said coquettishly, "Brother, you are the bravest among all the soldiers, and your personal soldiers and generals all admire you. I'll ask them to ask you for advice in the future. Can you teach them how to deploy troops?"
He still wants to take her back, so she has to let him take over these things slowly first.
Li Zhongqian collected his thoughts and nodded: "They have been with you for the past few years. They are all loyal and brave men, and they are also good seedlings. Just ask whatever you want to ask."
Yaoying smiled and nodded.
After talking for a while, Li Zhongqian supervised Yao Ying to go back to the room to take medicine.
That night, the two packed their bags and prepared to set off for the holy city the next day.
The next morning, Yao Ying and Li Zhongqian rode out of the post house, and the refugees waiting outside the post house immediately surrounded them.
"Brave man! Take us in!"
"Chief, you can't abandon us!"
Li Zhongqian adjusted the reins and looked coldly at the refugees who were rushing up. His eyes were full of anger and he said, "Get lost."
The refugees retreated in fear.
Yao Ying and Li Zhongqian rode side by side and glanced at the refugees behind them.
"Don't pay attention to them." Li Zhongqian said, "What does their life or death have to do with me?"
Yao Ying thought for a moment and said, "Brother, we are in urgent need of people now. We might as well find out the identities of these people. If they are herdsmen and have not done anything bad, we might as well take them in temporarily. The people of these tribes have all grown up on horseback and are skilled in archery and horse riding."
Li Zhongqian frowned, but he couldn't persuade Yao Ying after all, "Never mind, I'll listen to you."
…
While the brother and sister were still on the road, Baili had already rushed back to the holy city.
Soon, Li Zhongqian's handwritten letter arrived at Wangsi.
Tanmarajava has just finished a lecture.
After the war, he held a half-month Dharma Assembly in the temple as usual. The swelling of his legs recurred, and he had to use hot springs every night to relieve the pain. The leopard was locked up, and more personnel were sent to various crossroads.
This time, no one will break into the secret passage.
The letter was delivered directly to his meditation room. He was wearing a bare-shoulder robe, his body was covered in sweat, and he held Buddhist beads in his hand. With the support of Prajna, he slowly sat down and opened the letter sent back from Sand City.
Bishuo, who was standing by the door, couldn't help but turn around and stared nervously at the letter in his hand.
After reading the letter, Tamalaka put it aside and gently twisted the beads with his fingers. There was no expression on his face and his brows were cold.
Green smoke curls from the gilded incense burner, and the fragrance wafts in the air.
After a while, Prajna asked curiously, "King, what did Princess Wen Zhao say in the letter?"
Tanmaraka said calmly: "The letter said that Modanga girl has figured it out."
One year has passed and it’s time to officially end it.
Prajna clapped her hands and chuckled, chanting Buddha's name: "That's good. The princess has found her brother, and the one-year period is over. Everyone is happy."
Tanmarajiva lowered his eyes and opened a Buddhist scripture.
Yes, everyone is happy.
She must be very happy.
The wind was blowing loudly, the jujube flowers in full bloom in the courtyard were swaying in the wind, and the petals were scattered on the ground in front of the steps.
Light and shadows float in front of the corridor.
He sat in the dark meditation room, saying nothing.
Bi Suo sighed secretly.