The personal soldiers were waiting for Yaoying outside the Wang Temple. Seeing her pale and in a trance, she said worriedly, "Princess is unwell, do you want to rest for two days before leaving?"
Yaoying held the reins in her hands, glanced at the sky, and shook her head: "It's okay, I'll take medicine on the way... Brother A is taking the Wuquan business road. I'm not worried, so I'll go to Shacheng and wait for him."
She sent personal soldiers to respond to all the routes Li Zhongqian might take, and the business road leading to Wuquan was also guarded by personal soldiers. Originally, this route was not dangerous, but now the situation is serious, Wuquan does not belong to Wangting, nor does it belong to Gaochang, there is no Wangting army stationed, and no one knows whether the Northern Rong rebels will pass through Wuquan.
Part of the royal court's army is now chasing Wakhan Khan under the leadership of Moviduo, and the rest are distributed in various garrison to prevent the Beirong people from sneaking attack and intercepting the Beirong deserters.
The main force of the Chinese army returned to the holy city with Sultan. No matter what happened, the guards of the Chinese army could not leave the holy city for too long, otherwise they would be taken advantage of by the enemy. In the battle of Sam Valley, Tammaroga sent almost all the guards. The elite actually took a lot of risk. If the nobles of the noble family found out, or the Wakhan Khan dragged all the guards, the DPRK and China were likely to change.
If it weren't for the fact that Thamaraga was a son of the Buddha, he had defeated Wakhan Khan several times, and various folklore legends were rampant, and his decision would not have been so easily supported by the generals in the army.
Therefore, after the war, he must withdraw the army as soon as possible, go out of the customs to stabilize people's hearts, and deal with the government.
At such a critical juncture, Yaoying was inconvenient to borrow troops from Wang Ting. In the future, the affairs of the Western Army would be handled by her, and she should have left long ago.
He came back because he was worried about Haidu Aling breaking the holy city, and because he wanted to confirm with his own eyes that he was safe.
The Holy City was safe, and he was safe.
Yaoying raised the reins, "Let's go."
The personal soldiers no longer persuaded each other, and surrounded Yaoying and went straight to Shacheng.
He went out of the city without stopping, and drove for several hours. Seeing that it was dark and dark, a few people were resting in the post house, fetching water by the well, when the hooves of horses stomped outside the door, and a fast horse chased after him without waiting for the horse. Stopping, the horseman rolled off the saddle, hurried forward, and knelt at Yaoying's feet.
"Finally catch up with the princess!"
Yaoying recognized that the knight was one of the guards of the king's temple, named Bai, and suddenly got up and asked in surprise, "But what happened to the Buddha?"
Bayi shook his head, clasped his fists and said, "Wang Ming will come to deliver medicine for the princess and escort the princess to Shacheng. When the princess left, she left a message, but she didn't say which way to go. The last general asked the soldiers guarding the city to find out. Take this post road to the princess."
Yaoying was startled.
Bayi took out the prescription and a porcelain bottle from his sleeve, and said, "The king said that while the princess is taking the doctor's pills, other medicines will be counteracting, so you have to be careful with cold and fever. Injury to the body. The prescription is prescribed by the king himself, and the medicine is prepared by the monk doctor in the temple, please remember to take it, the princess, don’t take it lightly.”
Yaoying took the prescription and looked at it carefully, and it was indeed Tan Moraga's handwriting, probably because she was afraid that she was going to pick up the medicine in the towns she passed by on the road.
The night wind blows, the sky is full of stars, the courtyard is full of lush vines, and the soldiers sit around the fire to bake naan, and the dark night is filled with wisps of fragrance.
Holding the porcelain vase, Yaoying remembered how Tamara was wiping her wet hair. She was solemn, pious and compassionate. It was not like she was wringing her hair, but more like performing a serious ceremony.
So that the little doubt that had just popped up in her mind disappeared in an instant.
He has always been so meticulous and caring for her, and has no other thoughts.
The personal soldier walked to Yaoying with a bowl of hot sheep soup, "Princess, you said yesterday that you would go back to the city and ask the Buddha, did you ask?"
Yaoying regained her senses, took the sheep soup, put away the porcelain bottle, and smiled, "I've already asked..."
She didn't want to ask, but felt it was unnecessary. After she left the city, she hesitated and decided to go back to the temple to ask him face-to-face. Just as Prajna asked her to go back, she went back.
Tanmaraga's veto was very straightforward, his tone was cold, and there was no strangeness.
She thinks too much.
Yaoying sipped the fresh and mellow sheep soup one by one, shook her head, and pressed the chaotic thoughts in her mind into the deepest part.
Now is not the time to think about that.
The next day, the group continued on their way.
Yaoying was still ill, and the guards wanted to slow down. She was anxious to see Li Zhongqian, but she still insisted on hurrying after taking the medicine. The guards knew that persuasion was useless, so she had to stop.
After such a starry night, Yaoying finally arrived at Shacheng after a few days. Yaoying dismounted and went straight to the post house in the city.
The inn was crowded with messengers from various countries. She turned around and found the place where the messenger of Gaochang lived, "Where's Duke Wei?"
Gaochang's messenger replied blankly: "Princess, Duke Wei is not here. We were ordered to meet him here. We have never seen Duke Wei, and Duke Wei may still be on his way."
Yaoying couldn't help but feel tight, "Not here yet?"
Li Zhongqian's letter was written in a hurry when he set off. The letter said that he would come to pick her up, and told her to wait in the royal court and never go anywhere else.
She received the letter and set off from the Holy City to Shacheng. According to the distance, he should have arrived at Shacheng by this time!
Yaoying found Maps, frowned and watched for a while, and asked the envoy to take out documents, symbols and other items to find the location of the garrison in Shacheng.
The soldiers took Yaoying to the military hall.
Yaoying looked around, frowning lightly, the atmosphere in the camp was depressed, the wind was shaking, the soldiers were in a hurry, all the bows and ballistas were pushed up on the city wall, majestic, with a scene of fierce troops and horses, the defenders seemed to be ready to fight at any time.
The Royal Court's army is chasing the remnants of the Northern Rong. Who dares to attack the Royal Court now
The guard "knows" Bi Su's staff, Young Master Bayan, but doesn't know Yaoying, who doesn't know women's clothing. Seeing her take out the talisman, he knows that she is the legendary Chinese princess who haunts the Buddha. It was polite: "The princess came at a wrong time. Recently, more and more refugees have fled outside the sand city. Martial law may be imposed in the city. I can't send troops to help the princess find someone."
Yaoying said: "I don't dare to bother the general to help me find someone. I have something puzzled, and I would like to ask the general to clarify my doubts."
"What's the matter?"
"Which country's army is the general guarding against?"
The guard hesitated for a moment, and Bai Yi, who was behind Yaoying, took a step forward and was about to say something. She shook her head at Bai Yi, and Bai Yi understood and returned to his original position.
The Gaochang messenger who accompanied him said: "Princess Wenzhao is the governor of the Western Army. Our Western Army and your country are allies. When the princess came to Shacheng, the general must have received the order from the Holy City. Right now, the Western Army is resisting the North with the Royal Court's army. Rong, please also ask the general to tell the truth."
The defender shrugged and said: "We are guarding against the Northern Rong army, the Khanate coalition and the rebel army. The Northern Rong is in great chaos. Each tribe took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. The Khanate also sent troops to annex small tribes. Countless refugees fled to the royal court. Those chasing soldiers They also chased after them, although they were just harassing and did not dare to attack the city, we can’t take it lightly, all border cities strengthen their defenses, and the border troops return to defense.”
The Khanate Coalition is a coalition composed of troops from different small countries. They are vassals of a powerful dynasty further west. Most of the coalitions are Persians and Turks, and various small tribes in the area west of the royal court have been oppressed and enslaved by them for a long time. Their appetites are hard to satisfy, and they want to annex the territory in the northwest of Beirong.
The guard finally said: "It is not safe outside the city. All the caravans and embassies have withdrawn. It is best for the princess to stay in the city and not to walk around."
Yaoying thanked the guard and left the lobby.
Bai caught up with her and asked, "Why didn't the princess let the Admiral speak just now?"
Yaoying looked solemn: "You are the guard of the Buddha's son, others will take every word you say as an edict of the Buddha's son, I just talked to the guard as the leader of the Western Army, not a guest of the Buddha's son. , it's better to be cautious, don't cause trouble to the Buddha."
She is useless even as a son of Bayan, she just doesn't want to cause unnecessary disputes.
Bayi suddenly realized, nodded yes.
Back at the inn, Yaoying was so anxious, she sat in front of the lamp to study the map, and even poured a few bowls of tea to calm herself down.
The situation was more dire than she had imagined.
Will Li Zhongqian meet the rebels on the road
In the vast desert, she didn't know which way Li Zhongqian took before, so she couldn't go to him, she could only wait for him to come over in the royal court. Now that she knew that he was going to Wuquan, maybe she could go to Wuquan to meet him
But she was afraid that he would temporarily change the route on the way, and she would miss him and herself.
The more this is the case, the less anxious you are. Yaoying called her own soldiers and ordered them to go out of the city to Wuquan immediately, looking for the trace of Li Zhongqian along the way.
The personal soldiers responded and went out of the city in waves. In the end, there were only seven or eight personal soldiers left by Yaoying's side.
She also wanted to send someone out of the city, but her own soldiers stopped her and said, "Princess, Shacheng is a border city, and it's not very peaceful. You must keep a few people by your side."
That's it for Yaoying, she found a group of merchants in Shacheng, and asked them to help inquire among the refugees to see if anyone had seen or heard of Li Zhongqian.
Several days passed and still no news came back.
Yaoying tossed and turned every night, having nightmares as soon as she closed her eyes.
She was desperately soaked in the bloody corpse mountain. The young Li Zhongqian knelt in front of the corpse mountain, dug up the corpses one by one, and held her hand tightly, "Mingyue slave, brother is here to pick you up."
Yaoying raised her head in surprise, the young man in front of him suddenly turned into a grown-up Li Zhongqian, his hair was disheveled, his body was covered with iron arrows, he vomited blood, fell to the ground, and crawled towards her little by little, she reached out to reach him , grabbing his hand, he looked at her, the corners of his mouth twitched.
"Don't be afraid, brother is here."
Yaoying woke up from her dream, covered in cold sweat, and sat for a while, her heart pounding.
The dream is not necessarily true. The last time she had a dream, the person she saw was Li Xuanzhen.
This time the dream will certainly not come true.
Yaoying was in a panic for a while, so she had to turn on the lamp and read the military intelligence report sent by Gaochang, so as not to think about it.
Seeing the second half of the night, she was drowsy. In the quiet night, there was a sudden and shrill sound of a horn, crossbows and arrows were fired on the city wall, the roof tiles shook, and people called horses neighing.
Yaoying was startled, got up in her clothes, and asked people to go to the city gate to inquire about the news.
After a while, the personal soldiers turned back on horseback: "There are chaotic troops attacking the city in the dark!"
"Northern Rong people?"
"Looking at their armor, they should be from Beirong."
Shacheng had already strengthened its defense, and the defenders were fully prepared. Before the enemy approached the city gate, the defenders blew their horns, and the defender shot one of the other generals with one arrow. The chaotic army scattered and fled. The sound went from a tsunami like a mountain to a sparse one, and gradually stopped.
Yaoying rushed to the city gate and asked the refugees who had just entered the city if they knew the news about Wuquan.
After asking a lot of questions, they found nothing. The guard sent someone to invite her and tell her the bad news: "According to the prisoners, Wuquan was occupied by a group of horse thieves a few days ago, so the road is blocked."
Yaoying's heart skipped a beat, and she was drenched in cold sweat.
The guard said: "Princess, my duty is to be stationed in Shacheng, and I cannot send troops to Wuquan."
Yaoying returned to the house, restless, gritted her teeth, summoned Qi's own soldiers, and called the messenger of Gaochang: "Gather all the caravans in the city, and pay a high price, and I will borrow their guards. How many of our people are in the nearby city? Send a letter. The eagle delivers the letter and calls them all over!"
The caravan lived near the post house, and they were familiar with Yaoying's subordinates. They heard that there were generous rewards, so they sent their guards one after another.
Yaoying gathered a team of four or five hundred people, gave them half of the payment, and asked them to escort her to Wuquan.
A group of people disguised as civilians walked out of the city and walked for dozens of miles. Suddenly, there was a thunderous sound of horse hooves on the hills ahead. Figures dressed in leather jackets and face scarves poured out from all directions, waving all kinds of machetes. , pounced towards them with open teeth and claws.
The soldiers immediately drew their swords alertly and surrounded Yaoying tightly.
"Raise the flag!"
The cavalry raised several Western flags in response.
Bayi's eyes were sharp, he glanced around, and said, "Princess, don't panic, looking at the bows and arrows and sabres of these people, unlike the army, they should be horse thieves."
As he said that, he bent his bow and shot an arrow, and shot a rumbling dysprosium. With a screeching sound, the rumbling dysprosium went straight into the sky.
The guards drew their knives in unison, drove their horses galloping, calmly opened up to meet the enemy, raised their knives and fell, sturdy and chilling, and the first wave of the horse thief's charge was immediately dispersed. It was only then that the other party realized that they were not ordinary people and had the intention of retreating.
Bayi and his personal soldiers escorted Yaoying away, and quickly left the horse thieves behind. The sound of breaking the air and the voice of the guards shouting and scolding were heard in the distance.
Yaoying turned back on the horse's back, the dust was flying behind, and several horse thieves who were alone galloped down the hill and chased them.
The guards fired several arrows at the horse thief, the horse thief first waved the knife to block, dodged the arrows, and looked straight at Yaoying, who was guarded in the middle by the personal soldiers.
Several knife-wielding guards on the left and right wings stepped forward to stop him, and the knife light flashed.
As if he hadn't seen it, he drove his horse and ran wildly. When he came close, he raised his arms, threw off his only weapon, rolled off the saddle, and rushed forward without fear.
The guards looked at each other.
Behind him, the guard driving the thieves raised his longbow, aimed it at his back, and shot all arrows.
Yaoying looked at the unarmed leader of the horse thieves who was running all the way in the yellow sand, she seemed to feel something, her throat choked for a while, and she said in a trembling voice, "Don't let the arrows go!"
The personal soldiers immediately waved the flag, and the sound of the bowstring suddenly stopped.
Hundreds of people stopped their horses and stopped in front of the hill, watching the tall figure rush up against the long knife and arrows like a forest.
The guard only needs to lift the long knife, and he can easily chop him into meat sauce.
He ran very fast, chasing the wind and electricity, and when he was approaching, he didn't know if he stepped on a cave in the quicksand, and suddenly fell to the ground.
The guards were stunned by the fierce aura of God blocking and killing God, and Buddha coming to kill Buddha, exuding from his body.
The wind blew the flag, and the wind howled.
Yaoying froze on the horse's back, unable to move for a long time, the wind was blowing in the sky, the sand was blown up by the wind, and hit her face, and she was in pain. She hurriedly kicked the stirrups, loosened the reins, turned off the horse's back, and pushed The personal soldiers who drove over and wanted to help her ran down the hillside.
Her heartbeat suddenly became very slow, and all the sounds around her faded. The wilderness plain, the horse thief who guarded her, all disappeared, leaving only the figure running towards her in the sky and the earth.
At this moment, all suffering becomes insignificant.
As long as brother is alive.
She ran towards the horse thief's head.
When he saw her, he ran faster, almost in the blink of an eye, and it seemed like a long time later, the sound of running was getting closer, and then, a pair of solid arms hugged her tightly, hugged her tightly, Big enough to crush her.
"Brother..."
three years.
It has been three years since his expedition.
Yaoying clutched Li Zhongqian's robe, and found that she had already burst into tears, unable to cry.
She imagined many scenarios of reuniting with Li Zhongqian. She once thought that she would see him in the next moment. The surprises and disappointments were not as real as the current moment. She couldn't say anything, just held her tightly. He was afraid that it was all just a dream.
Fingers with thin calluses gently lifted Yaoying's wet face.
She raised her head and looked at the man in front of her.
His face is weathered, his hair is tangled, and he is in a state of embarrassment. He is described as haggard, with thin cheeks and a gloomy complexion, like a snow peak that has been frozen for thousands of years. Ice and snow, a pair of blood-red narrow and long phoenix eyes, shimmering with shadows.
Yaoying barely recognized him.
In the next moment, Li Zhongqian's mouth slowly twitched, staring at her for a long time, the coldness in Feng's eyes dissipated, "Don't cry, brother is here."
Yaoying burst into tears, raised her hand to wipe the dust and sand from his face, his thin cheeks were slowly exposed, and there was a hideous scar on his eyebrows.
He must have suffered a lot.
"Brother."
Yaoying couldn't say anything else, so she called out again.
Li Zhongqian responded in a low voice, "Brother is here."
Yaoying hugged him, raised her face, tears were still flashing, but she couldn't help but smile and looked at him happily.
"Brother is thin."
Li Zhongqian smiled and touched the top of her hair, "Mingyue slave has grown taller."
In the year of parting, he was victorious, wearing a majestic armor, and she gestured in front of him with her feet on her feet, only reaching his breastplate at that time.
Pampered since childhood, a person like crystal glass was sent to the barbaric Yelu Department...
How much has she suffered in the past three years
Every time he thought about it, a sharp blade was churning in his heart.
Li Zhongqian hugged Yaoying with tears in his eyes. He suddenly tightened his arms and slowly closed his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes, "Brother is here, let's go home."
He was answered by a few vague murmurs, his chest burning hot.
Li Zhongqian was shocked and released his hand. Yaoying's eyes were closed, and she had lost consciousness. Her hands were still clutching his robe tightly, her knuckles turning white.
"Mingyue slave!"
He was so anxious that his voice changed.
The personal soldiers had already gathered around, and when they saw this, they hurriedly said: "Alang, the princess was ill a few days ago, and she was tired from running around. , When I saw A Lang at first glance, I was so happy that I couldn't stand it anymore."
"Alang, go back to Shacheng first."
Li Zhongqian took the cloak handed over by the personal soldiers, wrapped Yaoying tightly from head to toe, and carried her onto the horse's back.
"Go to Sand City."