At least on the surface, Bai Sunizhi didn't show much shock. As for what was going on inside, Li Hong didn't bother to guess.
"Haha, I didn't expect that it was my least beloved daughter who saved me. I would like to thank Your Highness the Crown Prince." Bai Suni looked up to the sky and sighed, but no matter what, going to Chang'an to end this life is not as good as here. Being a slave is much better in this life.
He watched Li Hong's men helping others tie up and treat the bloody wounds on their wrists and ankles, but no one in front of him helped.
He shook his head helplessly and smiled. It seemed that Bai Chun had a very important position in the heart of His Highness. He helped others bandage their wounds but turned a blind eye to the wounds on his own wrists and ankles. He must have punished himself for Bai Chun.
After the wound of an old woman was tied up, she carefully and timidly moved Bai Suni to her side. After looking at the faint smile on Li Hong's face, she didn't feel angry because of her arrival, so she shouted loudly. I dared to bring over some trauma medicine and started to help Bai Sunizhi clean and bandage the wounds.
"What do you plan to do with him? Or leave it to me?" Li Hong glanced at Zeluo and asked Bai Sunizhi.
Bai Suni raised his old and turbid eyes, glanced at Zeluo, with a hint of helplessness on his face, and said: "No matter what, he is from Qiuci Kingdom, although he betrayed his king in the end, I want to come to the prince Your Highness will not let him continue to live, so why bother this old man who has subjugated his country."
"It's not necessarily a country, it's not even a state. It's just a tribe. It's just a tribe of our Tang Dynasty. Qiuci is not qualified to be a country or a state, because every inch of land here belongs to the Tang Dynasty, so... you don't have to Sigh, don't even think about being able to dominate this land one day. You don't have to thank me for saving you. For Bai Chun's sake, let's see if God gives Ze Luo a chance. Come on. Wutian, put it on." After finishing speaking, Li Hong stood up and walked out.
After hearing Li Hong's words, Wu Tian looked at the hand and foot shackles in the hands of the soldiers, and waved to them to take them over.
Zeluo opened his eyes wide in disbelief, looking at so many shackles on his hands and feet with some horror. He knew that if his prediction was correct, these would all be on him.
Sure enough, before he could resist, several soldiers rushed forward and put handcuffs and shackles on his feet, making him unable to resist.
The next step was to put it on layer by layer. If it couldn't be put on anymore, it was hung on the neck and shoulders respectively.
Forty pairs of hand and foot shackles suddenly hung heavily on Zeluo's body, and Zeluo was already suppressed to the point where he couldn't stand upright or lift his arms. Even if he tried to lift his legs, he would be unable to do so. Very difficult.
The blood vessels in Zeluo's neck were clearly visible, and his forehead was also exposed. He used all his strength to shout: "Your Highness, you can't do this to me. I am a meritorious official of the Tang Dynasty and a member of the fifth rank of the Tang Dynasty." General Dingyuan.”
Li Hong had already walked outside the fence gate, turned his head and looked at Zeluo's body that was trying his best to stand up, and said coldly: "I'm just warning you, my family members, no one can disrespect them, Bai Bai Chun has served me for ten years, so as his master, I should help my people solve their troubles. Life and death are determined by fate and wealth. Whether you can return to Kucha alive depends on your luck. "
As soon as Li Hong finished speaking, a soldier came out with a large wooden basin of cold water. Without saying a word, he poured it all over Zeluo. Zeluo screamed again and again, and the water droplets on his hands and feet suddenly condensed. Cheng Bing hung on Zeluo's body so coldly that Zeluo couldn't even think about it.
The group returned along the original road. Going south from the main intersection in front, they could bypass the Tankara Makan Desert and lead to Khotan and other places. There were two roads to the north, one leading to Kucha and then heading west. The Western Regions, another Silk Road that also leads from the Western Regions to the west.
As a choke point and an important military town, Yumen Pass guarded all the routes on the three Silk Roads going east to west, and became the only important way into the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty.
Before that, the ancient city of Loulan had always served as the fortress into the Central Plains. However, since the Loulan people often served as lookout posts for the Huns and other countries, the Tang Dynasty never trusted Loulan very much.
The sun has set in the west, stretching the shadows of the trees on both sides of the road. As the only river flowing through Loulan, the Kongque River has not changed its course. Loulan has also been dredging and transforming the river through artificial means, hoping that the river will We won’t get further and further away from Loulan.
After choosing the camp site, Bai Sunizhi and others could not help but marvel. Under the command of the two generals named Lawless and Wutian, the one thousand people led by Li Hong moved in an orderly, fast and neat manner. All kinds of camping work is going on.
The moonlight gradually climbed up into the night sky, and the nine-thousand-year-old Populus euphratica forest, which is known as: "live for three thousand years and survive, die for three thousand years and survive, and die for three thousand years and remain immortal", stands erect in the cold wind. The wind blows, and the leaves have not fallen off in winter. Slowly floating down from the branches, together with other plants such as tamarisk, Haloxylon ammodendron, Elaeagnus angustifolia, etc., they cover the mysterious night.
Zeluo had long lost his human form when he came down the road. His hands and feet were shackled with cold hands and feet, stained with blood and ice slag. His face was pale and weak due to exhaustion, and his eyes were dull and dull.
"Let me go, Your Highness, please, let me go. I am a hero of the Tang Dynasty." Zeluo, who was still at Li Hong's feet, begged softly.
Li Hong looked at the place not far from the Kongque River, about twenty miles away, at the ancient city of Loulan, which was full of mystery in his previous life.
"The snow-capped mountains are dark with long clouds in Qinghai, and the lonely city looks at Yumen Pass in the distance. The yellow sand wears golden armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will never be returned until it is broken." Li Hong ignored Zeluo's plea, looking at the invisible ancient city of Loulan in the distance in the night, and slowly recited A poet who was not yet born in the Tang Dynasty: a few poems from Wang Changling's military journey.
He originally thought that Loulan had disappeared long ago, but he did not expect that Loulan still existed during this period, and was still very powerful. At the same time, he was secretly colluding with Tubo.
Just like when he attached himself to the Xiongnu for a while, and then surrendered to the Han Dynasty for a while, this guy who is like a grassroots can still live until now.
Today's Loulan is still practicing the traditions left by its ancestors. On the surface, she is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but secretly colludes with Tubo. She has become Tubo's spy in the Tang Dynasty and monitors every soldier of the Tang Dynasty.
If the river hadn't changed its course, I'm afraid Loulan would still be standing here, and the Taklimakan Desert in the previous life would not have been much larger than the desert today.
The massive felling of trees and changes in the terrain caused the desert to expand under the power of the wind, eventually submerging Loulan City and becoming part of the sand sea.
Zeluo was removed from the shackles of his hands and feet, and then he was devouring a bowl of leftover rice.
Bai Sunizhi's eyes flickered under the light of the fire. Sometimes he looked at Zero squatting on the ground eating, and sometimes he looked at Li Hong sitting at the door of the tent, wearing a big fur coat and drinking grape wine.
"How is Bai Chun doing now?" Bai Sunizhi asked, looking at the bandage on his wrist.
"She's very good, but don't worry, she won't hold a grudge against you." Li Hong walked to the fire, sat on the chair Xiaoxue brought out, stretched out his hands to warm the fire and replied.
"Yes, he should hate me. Her mother passed away not long after giving birth to her. From that time on, some people thought that she was an unlucky girl. She killed her mother, and I also felt sad because of it. Her mother has always been very cold towards her. Within a few years, under the pressure of the tribe and the oppression of all forces, I had no choice but to send her to the Tang Dynasty, hoping to exchange her for the power of the Tang Dynasty. The cavalry rushed to the rescue. Things are unpredictable. I didn't expect that before I could make my next plan, the craftsmen we smuggled from the Tang Dynasty were discovered by you. From then on, Bai Chun lost his freedom and became your slave. "Bai Chun. Suni's gray hair was particularly conspicuous under the firelight, and her old and red cheeks were full of memories.
"Does she know the real purpose of sending her to the Tang Dynasty?" Li Hong picked up a dead branch, flicked the small flame in front of him, and asked lightly.
"She didn't know. She only knew that she was an ominous person in the Kingdom of Kucha. It was because of her that the Kingdom of Kucha was besieged by other countries. She sent her away without a single complaint. She even continued to plot the Tang Dynasty for Kucha. Craftsmen, hoping to solve the dilemma of Qiuci." After Bai Sunizhi finished speaking, he looked at Li Hong, with fire dancing in his amber eyes.
"Oh... Then what do you need me to bring her?" Li Hong looked at Bai Sunizhi. Such a superior person, even if he is already a prisoner, still has to retain the dignity he deserves, and he must save face and suffer.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is really amazingly talented and quick-thinking. The poem he just wrote has already made me fall in admiration. Without even a few words of conversation, His Highness has already understood my thoughts. I am ashamed of myself." Bai Suni Zhi smiled bitterly, this young man is simply too smart, and too smart. If he can successfully inherit the throne of the Tang Dynasty in the future, the Tang Dynasty will probably be even more powerful than it is now! I'm afraid that at that time, it will be the beginning of the Tang Dynasty reaching its peak.
Li Hong ignored Bai Sunizhi's compliments, smiled arrogantly, looked at Zero who was listening with his ears pricked up, and said: "Tonight, you can keep watch for me. If you don't freeze to death tomorrow, I will let him go." Pass you."
As soon as Zeluo heard Li Hong's words, he immediately put down the dishes and chopsticks that he had licked clean and said hurriedly: "Your Highness, don't worry. I will promise to guard the door for you and not let you be disturbed at all."
Li Hong smiled and watched Bai Sunizhi and Zeluo look at each other. The enemies were extremely jealous when they met, but he couldn't guess what the old Bai Sunizhi was thinking in his mind at this moment.
(End of chapter)