The sky was slightly white, and the morning breeze was blowing lightly.
Bi Su crossed the corridor and hurried down the stairs.
At the foot of the long steps, a graceful figure stood in the cold light, with jet-black hair, eyes in autumn water, a light yellow ruffled skirt, with a horse whip in his hand, and the tail of the whip slammed on the stone steps, with a thoughtful expression on his face. .
"I want to see the mage, but I don't know if the mage is inconvenient to see me?"
When she saw Bi Su, she put away her whip, took off her veil, and said directly.
Bi Suo hesitated for a moment: "The king got better yesterday, so it is inconvenient to see the princess."
"Why is it inconvenient?"
"The king is going to retreat again. The king said that it should be too late to see the princess off. The king has prepared a gift for the princess."
After Bi Su finished speaking, the front of the stairs was quiet.
Yaoying was silent for a while, smiled, and said, "That means that the Master has not retreated yet, I just want to have a few words with him, it won't take too long. Please tell the Master for me, I will wait here. "
"Or, I can only see the mage at night? Then I will come at night."
Her voice was still soft, with a smile between her brows, but Bi Su's scalp felt numb when she heard it, and she immediately turned around and entered the hall.
The doctor had just finished administering acupuncture to Tanmaraga, his face was pale, his exposed shoulders were dripping with sweat, and his back was glistening with oil.
Bi Suo said: "Wang, the princess is waiting for me to answer... The princess also said that it is not convenient for you to see her at this time, so she will come at night."
Yaoying has always been considerate and understands that she is an outsider, so she doesn't ask many questions, but when she insists on what to do, Bi Suo has no way to fool her.
Tamara wiped off the sweat from his body, stood up, put on his cassock, "Please come in, princess."
When Yaoying entered the hall, Tan Moraga was sitting in front of the writing desk, holding the scriptures in her hands, her back straight, her expression as usual, and her dignified aura.
"Princess Lao took care of me last night. The princess is the governor of the Western Army. She is busy with everything and is in a hurry to go to Gaochang. Bi Su shouldn't have bothered the princess to take care of me, and delayed the princess's trip."
He raised his eyes, looked at Yaoying, and said slowly.
"In the future, Bi Su will not trouble the princess with these trivial matters. I have approved the documents sent by Gao Chang, and I have seen Duke Wei. The princess is no longer a modern girl, and can leave immediately."
Yaoying looked around.
His book case was empty, and the small case she used to use was gone.
She remembered that the small case was made of black gilt and painted with lotus flowers, treasure ponds, scrolls of grass, and a small seated Buddha. She used to read and write letters in front of a small case, while Tamara was sitting by the side and flipping through the scriptures. When she encountered doubts, she turned to him and asked him, and he explained it for her. over the back of her hand.
He was too gentle to her, staying by his side, she was very at ease, without the slightest defense, over time, she unknowingly trusted and got close to him, and sometimes teased him, and felt in her heart that he would not be angry, even if he was angry, he would be Be nice to her, and won't be angry for long.
The case is gone.
Yaoying sat down a little far away from Tan Mo Luojia and said, "It's not a trivial matter about the body of the mage."
Tan Moraga said indifferently: "The princess is not a doctor, and she does not understand medical principles. I have servants and attendants by my side, so I shouldn't bother the princess."
Yaoying lifted her eyes and stared at him for a while.
"Master, Prince Mobido has proposed to me."
She said calmly.
The room suddenly fell silent, only the rustling sound of the crystal curtain swaying gently.
Bi Suo stood beside the door, her whole body stiffened, and she didn't dare to make a sound.
After a while, Tanmaraka put down the scriptures with a calm expression, and said, "I know that Mobido's request was approved by me."
"So, the Master approves of this marriage? If I agree to ask for a marriage, the covenant between the royal court and the Western Army can be more stable."
Tan Mo Luojia clenched the Buddha beads with her fingers and looked at Yao Ying, her blue eyes were unhappy.
"The princess's marriage should be up to the princess herself and has nothing to do with others."
In other words, it has nothing to do with him.
Yaoying stared at him for a long while, and the corners of her mouth curled lightly: "I was reckless, the Master is an eminent monk, and the Master and I mentioned the mundane things of marriage, please don't blame the Master."
Tamara was silent.
Yaoying smiled and stood up: "Don't disturb the mage... The mage is right, there are close medical practitioners around the mage, I don't know anything about it..."
She exited, and when she came to the door, she turned around, her eyebrows slightly curved.
"I live outside the realm, and I am very happy to meet a person like the mage and get to know the mage."
"The mage saved me, and I am very grateful to the mage."
"The mage is not in good health, so he must take good care of himself. No matter how busy the court is, he must also pay attention to his health."
"These days have caused a lot of trouble for the mage... mage, take care."
After she finished speaking, her eyes fixed on Tan Moraka, and after looking at him for a long time, she turned and went out.
The gold-clothed flower cage skirt swept across the threshold, and her figure disappeared in the floating bright light.
Bi Suo watched her walk away without looking back, her heart skipping a beat.
The parting was so peaceful this time, it seemed like it was just an ordinary farewell, but he had a bad premonition in his heart: After Princess Wenzhao left, she would never come to the Holy City again!
He was so anxious, he turned around and walked into the hall, "King..."
Before he could say the words of reminder, his face changed greatly, he hurried forward, and helped up Tamara, who was lying in front of the desk.
Tamaroka put one hand on the desk, sat firmly, waved his hand, signaled that nothing was wrong, clenched his teeth, and dense beads of sweat appeared on his forehead in pain.
Bi Su hurriedly said: "King! I'll go get Princess Wenzhao back..."
"Do not."
Tamaroka raised her pale face.
"I am the king of the holy city, and the Buddha's son of the royal court."
"If you don't enter the world, how can you keep her?"
His voice was hoarse, and he was sweating coldly, soaking the cassock he had just put on.
Bi Suo sighed secretly, helped him stand up, and escorted him back to the inner room.
He sat cross-legged on the couch, as usual, when the pain passed, his body shuddered, fluctuating cold and hot, groping for beads with both hands, accidentally bumped into a bag, opened his eyes.
He touched the veil, and the amber-colored thorn honey spilled out.
She knew that he liked thorn honey and bought it for him.
Tanmaraga lowered her eyes, wrapped the handkerchief, put it back on the pillow, found the bead, held it tightly, and closed her eyes to sit quietly.
The breeze is gentle, and the cigarettes are thin.
…
Yaoying rode away from the Wang Temple, the hoofs in front of her were thunderous, and a fast horse galloped over and stopped beside her.
"What are you doing at the Wang Temple? The Buddha summoned you?"
Li Zhongqian frowned and asked.
Yaoying shook her head, her face turned pale, and said softly: "It wasn't the Buddha who called me, it was me who came to ask to see the Buddha..."
"What did you say?"
"It's nothing..." Yaoying clenched the reins, her eyes blank, "Brother, we should go."
A strange color flashed in Li Zhongqian's eyes, and he nodded.
"it is good."
The two brothers and sisters returned to the silk and satin shop, and their luggage had already been packed. Yaoying came to the holy city to bring Li Zhongqian to see Tanmaraga, and by the way, to handle some official duties in cooperation with the royal court, and Tanmaraga approved overnight. All the official documents related to Gao Chang, and the issue of redeeming the captured slaves were also resolved, as if urging her to go, the rest can be left to the caravan to take care of, and she does not need to stay any longer.
Li Zhongqian asked: "The envoys of the Ujiri are waiting for your reply. How do you think they will be dispatched?"
Yaoying was in a trance.
Li Zhongqian frowned and asked again.
"Mobido's proposal, how do you plan to reply?"
Yaoying came back to her senses, raised her hand and brushed her hair and temples, feeling the coolness on her arm.
She wears the bead that Tamara gave her.
This morning, Prajna told her that every year in the dharma assembly, believers would ask for the blessing of the Buddha, and the Tamaraga ordered the king temple to provide the people with food, clothing, money, silk, or scriptures, but he never gave away his personal belongings.
Yaoying stood in front of the railing, looked in the direction of Wang Temple, and smiled.
"I will write a letter to the messenger, and when Morbido returns from the battlefield, he will know my answer."
"Don't think about it anymore? Moviduo is not in a hurry for you to respond, he can wait."
Yaoying shook her head, "I've decided."
She wrote the letter and had her personal soldiers send it out.
The two brothers and sisters left the caravan and set off immediately.
Before leaving, Yaoying instructed her personal soldiers to send the medicinal materials she had collected during this period to Bi Su's house.
"Princess, do you want to leave a message?"
Yaoying said lightly, "No, General Ashina knows who these medicines are for."
"Do you want to leave a post?"
"No, it's said that it was sent by a caravan."
Yaoying looked back at the pagodas standing quietly in the sunlight, lifted the reins, and turned the horse around.
The monks do not lie.
She never thought that Tamara would lie to her.
…
The two traveled day and night, and the tribal towns they passed along the way received news in advance that they had prepared horse food for them.
Every time Yaoying went to a post house, someone would send a letter to the holy city, telling her where she was, and at the same time blocking the road, not allowing idle people to pass through.
After Li Zhongqian found out, he asked the people in the post house why they were so aggressive.
The man replied embarrassedly: "This place is not comparable to the Holy City. Many people are ignorant and will be provoked by a few words."
Li Zhongqian understood, and Tanmoraga sent people to inform all the towns in advance to prevent the civilians from besieging Li Yaoying again.
A few days later, several people arrived in Shacheng safely.
The horse thieves of the Wuquan tribe were still waiting for Li Zhongqian in Shacheng. Knowing that he was back, they hurriedly searched for him.
The personal soldiers came over with the roster to report: "Princess, we have checked them all out. We confiscated those who were extremely vicious, and we took in a group of refugees."
Before Yaoying left, she had her own soldiers register and make a register, accept those who took the initiative to serve, and find out their identities. They have been busy with these things these days.
Just as he was talking, there was a rush of footsteps from under the stairs, and a tall figure rushed into the room.
"Princess, great victory in Shazhou!"
Yaoying raised her head, recognized the person, and was overjoyed: "General Yang!"
The young man standing in front of her, dressed in a round-neck robe and a long sword around his waist, was Yang Qian who had been away for a long time.
Yang Qian clasped his fist towards Yaoying: "Your Highness the Princess."
He lost weight, tanned a lot, and had a few scars on his face, but he was in high spirits, and the out of place arrogance was gone, and he was full of heroism and vigor.
"Shazhou won?"
Yang Qian grinned and said, "Take it! The Northern Rong is in chaos. His Royal Highness's Liangzhou army is guarding the main road in the east and intercepting the Bei Rong rescuers. Zhang Jiu takes the opportunity to unite with the local aristocratic family to retake Shazhou. The Rong army has driven away! The messenger has arrived in Gaochang, and Bodhidharma sent me to take the princess back to Gaochang."
Yaoying swept away the depression of the past few days and was very excited.
Only when everything goes well in Shazhou and Guazhou can we truly open up Helong and regain all lost ground.
She called Li Zhongqian and said, "Brother, Shazhou has won a great victory, and Gaochang has also recovered. Next, we have to take Izhou, unite with the Liangzhou army, and open up the northern provinces of Gan, Su, Gua, Sha, and Yi... From Hexi Going to the Western Regions and regaining lost territory is just around the corner!"
Li Zhongqian looked at his younger sister with bright eyes, and said with a secret sigh of relief, "The Western Army is too weak, we have to prevent the Beirong people from making a comeback."
Yaoying frowned lightly. She was also worried about this problem before. The Western Army is now concentrating its forces to retake the important town. The force is not enough, so it must stick to the city. It is impossible to divide troops to pursue the Beirong army. .
"Now we have to expand the Western Army, hoard more food, grass and armaments, and find a way to open up the Central Plains Post Road..."
Yaoying glanced at Li Zhongqian and swallowed the rest of her words.
Also, in contact with Li Xuanzhen of the Liangzhou Army, the Western Army must cooperate closely with the Liangzhou Army in order to maintain the current results.
Yang Qian was impatient, and said, "The nobles in Gaochang are still sensible and know the righteousness. Bodhidharma imprisoned Mrs. Yina, and they immediately offered food and money, but Luntai, Jingcheng, Qianshucheng... and Kunlun's feet. Nanzhou refuses to join the Western Army, and their leader is the puppet of the Beirong people. Please rush to Gaochang as soon as possible, and together with the messenger, announce to the states and persuade all regions to join."
Yaoying nodded.
Several people said goodbye to the guards of Shacheng and went out of the city. Li Zhongqian put on his armor, took the horse thieves who were dead beggars and wanted to follow him, and ran straight to Wuquan.
Yang Qian also wanted to follow, and Li Zhongqian asked him to stay and protect Yaoying.
Yaoying then went south.
On the third day, Li Zhongqian led his troops to catch up with them. He led the refugees to attack the occupied Wuquan and helped them regain their homes. Now that Wuquan has changed hands, the refugees who wanted to live a stable life returned to their hometowns, and others still followed him.
Yaoying smiled and asked, "Brother is willing to be their leader?"
Li Zhongqian glanced at her: "No matter which clan, as long as they can be used by me, they can join the Western Army."
A warm current surged in Yaoying's heart. Li Zhongqian didn't want to worry about the chaotic situation in the Western Regions, but once he decided to join the Western Army, he would try his best to do his best.
While they were on their way, they gathered the rebels scattered all over the place, and the team grew stronger and stronger.
On the way, many of the towns and tribes they passed had just been burned, killed and looted by Beirong rebels, causing heavy casualties.
Yaoying appeases the people during the day, handles official documents at night, and discusses military affairs with Li Zhongqian and Yang Qian. Time flies quickly without realizing it.
Today, they passed through the endless Gobi, tired and hungry, and finally saw a small oasis in front of them surrounded by lush dense forests. They were pleasantly urged to come forward. He quickly stopped the horse, dispatched scouts, and rested on the spot.
After a while, the scouts turned back and reported that there were two troops fighting in front of them. One was from the Western Army, and the other should be from the Northern Rong.
Yang Qian immediately ordered troops, led a few hundred people around the dense forest, and suddenly rushed out from the rear of the battle formation. The Western Army thought it was reinforcements, and was greatly excited. He quickly threw away his armor and fled in all directions.
When the battle was over, Yang Qian brought a few young generals to see Yaoying, and said with a smile: "Princess, this place is not far from Gaochang. Recently, the remnants of Beirong and their vassal tribes intercepted the caravan and civilians. They When I received a call for help, I went out of the city to help, but I didn't expect that there were a lot of remnants of the Northern Army, but luckily they met us."
Several captains came forward to greet Yaoying with a somewhat cramped expression.
Yaoying only thought that they were not used to discussing military affairs with women, and did not think much about it. The group rectified, drank enough water, and escorted the caravan and civilians to Gaochang City.
The people in the city had already received the scout letter and led the people to welcome them out of the city.
Bodhidharma deliberately sent a team of personal soldiers to wait on the road surrounded by a canopy carriage. "Princess, please don't take the carriage? This treasure carriage was built by the city owner at a huge cost and hired skilled craftsmen. Madam Yina has never sat in it!"
Yaoying laughed, "No, I'm riding into the city."
When Yang Qian and the captain of the school appeared on the avenue with her surrounded, there was thunderous cheers, and the people swarmed up, singing and dancing, while throwing flowers at them.
Yaoying rode into the city on a godly horse, her head and body were covered with petals, her snow-skinned flower appearance, and her face was so dazzling that no one dared to look at her. The people were stunned and shouted her title. She rushed forward, and the flowers were like rain for a while, almost blocking her sight.
Li Zhongqian motioned for his soldiers to separate from the crowd, drove his horse forward, and protected Yaoying from the crowd.
Bodhidharma came forward and said with a smile: "The people are all looking forward to seeing the princess's graceful appearance. How can the princess go so fast?"
Yaoying took a breath, if she was slower, she would be buried by a pile of flowers.
"By the way, the envoys from the Wei Kingdom have also arrived. They said it was an old acquaintance of the princess."
"Oh? Which son is here?"
Yaoying looked towards the gatehouse.
Downstairs, a few men in brocade robes galloped up on their horses. They stopped their horses until they were only one horse away from her. They all looked at her, some with excited expressions, others without saying a word, their eyes wide open. quiet.
Yaoying was stunned.
Li Zhongqian, who was beside her, glanced at the men, and the corners of his mouth twitched: "Zheng Jing is here too?"
Zheng Jing looked at Yaoying with emotion.
"The Seventh Princess..."
He originally wanted to say that he would be fine, but when he thought of the hardships Li Yaoying had endured, he couldn't say it, a thousand words were stuck in his throat, and in the end there was only a long sigh.
The others didn't know what to say, they could only look at Yaoying and smirk.
Yaoying couldn't help crying.
Except for Zheng Jing, the men in front of them seemed to be the sons of aristocratic families who had chased after her.
"Why did Saburo come to Gaochang City?"
Yaoying asked Zheng Jing first, with a calm tone.
It was as if there were no mountains and rivers between them, she only occasionally met them in Chang'an's market, stopped her horse, and chatted and laughed with them.
Zheng Jing let out a long sigh in his heart.
No matter when and where, as long as he sees the Seventh Princess, he will be a little overwhelmed.
Zheng Jing covered his emotions and said, "The Holy Master is going to send an envoy. We want to personally come to find out the situation in the Western Regions. Just because we were worried about the princess and Duke Wei, we came."
He said, while Li Zhongqian was not paying attention, Zhao Yaoying blinked.
Yaoying understands and pokes the horse to walk away.
Zheng Jing whispered: "Princess, His Royal Highness is investigating Xie's family."
Yaoying's heart tensed: "what is he doing in the Xie family?"
Zheng Jing said: "I don't know about this either. The prince found the old man of the Xie family and was still checking the old servant beside Queen Xie."
"Thank you for reminding me."
Yaoying frowned slightly, does Li Xuanzhen still want to kill Li Zhongqian
The two of them had just whispered a few words in secret, but they were interrupted by others. A man dressed as a royal guard approached Yaoying and greeted Yaoying, "Princess Wenzhao!"
Yaoying was startled when she saw the person coming.
Yuanjue glanced at the son-in-law of the aristocratic family who was following Yaoying, and clasped her fist: "Princess, the little one came to Gaochang City to report the letter by the king's order, and has been staying in Gaochang since then. The little one received the letter a few days ago, and the king ordered me to Continue to stay in Gaochang."
Yaoying came back to her senses and hummed softly.
Tamara knew that she had arrived in Gaochang.
Yuanjue raised her chest and drove her horse closely beside her, scanning the left and right sides vigilantly.
I heard that these men once adored the princess, and one of them almost got engaged to the princess... He had to tell Bi Suo about it.