Gaochang is located in the middle of the Silk Road, extending in all directions and connecting all directions. To the west, you can reach Yanqi, Qiuci, Shule and other places, and to the east to Yizhou, through the 800-mile barren Moheyan moraine, which is Yumenguan, and then to To the east is Guazhou and Shazhou.
At present, the land of Hexi is under the control of Beirong, and the trade routes are blocked, and the trade of Gaochang also declines. In the past, there were row upon row of inns and post houses built along the oasis, there were merchants from all over the world, and there were Kagura musicians who could sing and dance, and sing and beat. Nowadays, it is difficult to see camel caravans traveling to and from the Central Plains and Western Regions on the commercial roads. Most of the caravans set off from Gaochang, Izhou and other places and headed westward directly.
The weather is getting cooler, it is the season for caravans to travel.
In order to avoid Bei Rong's eyes and ears, Yaoying and his party disguised as a silk caravan, and several carts were full of goods. These goods can not only be used to disguise their identities, but after arriving in Gaochang, the goods are sold directly locally, and the gold and silver in exchange are just used to manage the princes and nobles of Gaochang.
Lao Qi travels with Yao Ying. He has lived abroad for many years. He speaks several kinds of nonsense and is well-informed.
Along the way, Yaoying asked him about the prices of Gaochang silk fabrics, jewelry and jade.
Sultan Gu, who was with him, was taciturn and secretive. It seemed that he was only responsible for vigilance, and other things were taken care of by karma.
Yaoying felt that Bi Su was right, that Sultan had a weird temper. He almost never talked to anyone, and never took off the mask on his face.
The guard didn't dare to disturb him. When there was something to report, he would tell Yuanjue directly, and then Yuanjue would tell him.
The sturdy goshawk followed them all the time, and from time to time its huge wings passed over their heads, casting shadows.
From Wangting to Gaochang, the northwest is high and the southeast is low. They first crossed a large undulating hill with rugged and difficult roads. The terrain gradually flattened. After walking along the foothills for a few days, an endless plain, Gobi, desert, etc. appeared in front of them. Vertical and horizontal, large and small oasis scattered like stars.
As the waiter of the royal court said, it has just turned cold for a few days, and soon there are signs of snowfall. The wind is raging, the weather is gloomy, and the weather is gloomy. It was a desolate and desolate place, and only when we got to the oasis could we occasionally see traces of other camel teams.
Yaoying was fortunate that she had prepared a thick leather jacket in advance, and her personal soldiers also carried winter clothes according to her instructions. They came from the Central Plains and could not stand the severe cold. Every day, they were wrapped in layers of leather jackets like zongzi.
A few days later, the temperature dropped sharply, and the strong wind mixed with snow particles hit the face. Everyone put on wind and snow masks and struggled to move forward in the wind and snow.
When a guest house specially provided for businessmen with accommodation and meals appeared in the vast Gobi, everyone couldn't help cheering and scurrying.
Yaoying looked back and saw that Sultan Gu was at the back of the team, riding alone, with a lonely figure.
Along the way, he was either exploring the way in front of him alone, or he silently followed at the back of the team. After walking together for more than ten days, Yaoying hadn't spoken to him yet.
With a few chirps in the wind, a goshawk swooped down and circled around Sultan Gu.
Sultan raised his arm, and the goshawk immediately landed on his left arm.
Yaoying frowned, she had seen the goshawk landing on Sultan Gu's arm several times these days.
The guest house was built in Shazhou. It was very simple, but it was just a few earthen houses. Fortunately, it was cleaned very cleanly. The owner of the guest house was a brown-haired, brown-eyed Hu man. Hearing the sound of a horse's hoofs, he greeted him eagerly. Seeing that the horses that Yaoying and his party rode were all good horses, they became more and more enthusiastic and brought hot water in person. hot soup.
The stove was set on fire in the store, and the hearth was red. Everyone sent the store away, took off their masks, and sat around the stove to keep warm. Two guards stood guard by the door.
Yaoying drank a bowl of hot soup, warmed her hands and feet, and looked around.
Sultan didn't know where to go.
Except for Yuanjue, everyone else was very afraid of him. As long as he was present, the most lively and active Xie Chong would not dare to speak loudly.
He probably knew that people were afraid of him and he was always alone.
Yaoying asked Yuanjue: "I have seen a goshawk these days. Is that the eagle of the Buddha? Why does it follow us?"
Yuanjue was startled and replied with a smile: "The king is in retreat, this goshawk is following us. If the regent has something important to report to the king, it can pass the message. As long as the training is good, the eagle can also be a scout."
Yaoying nodded, and then asked, "Is the eagle trained by the Buddha?"
Abu of Aling, Haidu, was captured and raised by himself when he was young. In Beirong, it was a great thing for a teenage boy to tame an eagle. eagle.
Yuanjue said: "When Wang was a child, he lived in a Buddhist temple. The eagle was injured and fell off the cliff. It happened to be rescued by Wang. Wang asked someone to send it back to the eagle's nest... Not only did those people not send it, they almost crushed the eagle to death. , the king kept it by his side to take care of it, saving food to feed it, and later it became the king's eagle."
Yaoying was sighed.
On the day Tanmaraka was born, a vision appeared in the holy city, and the sky filled with sunset. He is the posthumous son of the previous generation of royal court monarchs, and he became a new monarch as soon as he was born. The birth of each generation of royal court monarchs is accompanied by various legends. The Master's prophecy caused a lot of speculation that he was the reincarnation of Ananda.
At that time, the princes and nobles dominated the government and did not want Tanmaraka to be loved and respected by the people, so they sent the newly born him to a Buddhist temple and detained him.
He was unable to protect himself in confinement, and he actually saved his own food to feed an eagle, and he was indeed compassionate.
When Yuanjue talked about the past, he also felt a little emotional, pointed to the guards next to him, and said with a smile: "I, Prajna and them were originally helpless orphans, they were sold to nobles as slaves, and when they served nobles Accidentally made a mistake, the noble lost his temper, dragged us to the square and flogged us in public, and beat us to death. It was the king who saved us and gave us the identity of civilians. Our names were taken by the king! Most of the guards are the sons of noble nobles like General Ashina, and only we are from the common people."
He was all smiles, and there was unabashed pride and admiration in his tone.
A few guards next to him also grinned. You said a sentence to me, and they were beaming with excitement, talking about the matter of Tanmaraga's rescue of the people.
Xie Chong and Xie Peng could understand some nonsense, they listened with relish and kept asking questions.
Everyone has been together for more than ten days, and gradually became familiar with each other. When it comes to Tanmaraga, the atmosphere is more harmonious, talking and laughing, and it is very lively.
Yao Ying's heart skipped a beat.
The biggest contradiction between Tamaroka and his ministers is that he has no distinction between noble and lowly in his heart, and regards every commoner as his subjects. But the royal court is not like the Central Plains. There is no Confucian education here, and there is no deep-rooted concept of monarch-subject loyalty. Nobles can buy and sell slaves. Each great aristocrat owns land and all the population on the land. Similar to the lord, in the eyes of the nobles, the common people are their slaves. .
Therefore, when Bei Rong came violently, what the princes and nobles were most worried about was not the life and death of the common people, but whether they could keep the family's wealth. Just like when the Central Plains were in turmoil, some aristocratic families did not hesitate to instigate war and collude with foreign enemies for the sake of their families.
Ten years ago, the Beirong army was crushing the border, and the princes and nobles resolutely abandoned the city and fled. Without Tanmaraga sitting in town, the four-way army would never turn back to guard the holy city.
This is probably the reason why Tamara is lingering on the sickbed. Not only does he have to deter powerful enemies, but he also has to guard against small children in the middle of the night.
In the end, the hard work is dried up, and the wax torch turns into ashes.
Yaoying went out for a while, covered her veil, scooped up a bowl of soup, picked up some soft baked noodles, and walked out of the hall. figure.
Along the way, as long as they stopped and rested, Sultan Gu would definitely be vigilant in a place with a wide field of vision.
He was murderous, full of rage, fierce, and no one dared to approach, but Yao Ying felt a sense of peace of mind walking with him.
She went up to the second floor with a soup bowl.
When turning the corner, there was a sudden screeching sound in front of him, and the goshawk jumped down from a height and swooped towards her, its huge wings wrapped in a fishy wind and swept straight towards her face.
Yaoying hurriedly protected the soup bowl and backed away, staggered under her feet, and fell backwards.
A black figure flashed by, and a hand stretched out, grabbed her shoulders, and helped her stabilize her figure. Across the thick leather jacket, her arms were strong and strong, and her arms were cold and not warm. .
Holding the soup bowl in one hand, Yaoying fell back into Sultan Gu's arms, looked back at the stairs under her feet, and let out a sigh of relief with lingering fears.
If she fell from the second floor and broke her arm and leg, how could she go to Gaochang
Thinking she was standing still, Sultan quickly released her hand.
Yaoying looked at the stairs under her feet, and before she regained her senses, she suddenly lost her servant.
Sultan Gu paused for a moment, then stretched out his arm again.
Yaoying was afraid of falling off the soup bowl, so she threw it back into his arms, feeling that his body was tense, a little embarrassed, turned around, and stood up quickly facing him, this time standing firmly, holding hands There was still a bowl of soup inside.
Holding the bowl, she raised her head, blinked at Sultan Gu, her thick long eyelashes flickered, and said with a smile, "General Su, would you like something to eat?"
Sultan retracted his arm, and the blue eyes under the mask glanced at the soup in her hand.
Yaoying has been protecting the bowl with her sleeve, the soup is still scalding hot, the heat is lingering, the snow-white soup, some shredded noodles are floating, soaked in the soup, the noodles are white and crystal clear.
Sultan didn't say anything, and didn't mean to pick up the soup bowl.
Yaoying handed it forward with both hands: "This soup warms the stomach and wards off the cold, the general should use it a little bit, and then go forward, I don't know when I will see the guest house."
Sultan Gu's eyes fell on her fingers. She was afraid that the mutton soup would be cold, so when she served it hot, her delicate fingers and palms were burned red.
He took the bowl silently.
Yaoying took out a few more round dough cakes and handed them to him. She asked Xie Qing to bring these dough cakes. They baked them with fire for a while. good to eat.
Sultan Gu took the soup bowl and noodles, turned around and walked away.
Yaoying couldn't help laughing, looking at the high platform on the side, the goshawk stood at the wind with its wings drooping, staring at her coldly with sharp eyes.
It scared her a lot just now!
She asked Sultangu softly, "General Su, can I feed him some jerky?"
She has seen Yuanjue, Sultangu and other soldiers feed the goshawk. Although this eagle is arrogant, it will not scratch anyone casually.
Sultan Gu looked back at her, wondering what expression was under the mask.
Yao Ying had already taken out a small piece of jerky from her sleeve and stood in front of the goshawk with an eager expression on her face, her eyes black and shining.
As if it wasn't the eagle who frightened her just now.
Sultan Gu said: "It almost made the princess fall down just now."
Yaoying smiled: "It is warning the general, I came uninvited, it will scare me only if it warns the general."
Sultan looked at her for a while, then nodded.
Yaoying smiled brightly, took a few steps forward, spread out her palm towards the goshawk, and asked softly, "Do you like to eat this?"
The goshawk gave her a look of disdain.
Yaoying coaxed it patiently and softly: "I haven't thanked you yet. You are much more powerful than Abu in Haidu's Aling."
The goshawk seemed to understand her words, and fluttered its wings arrogantly, its sharp beak lightly pecked at her spread fingers twice, a little tingling.
Yao Ying didn't dodge, and kept her palms open.
The goshawk took the jerky from her palm.
Yaoying looked at the goshawk and pondered in her heart: Beirong and Wang Ting both domesticated letter eagles. Here, the eagle is the overlord in the sky. When a pigeon meets a letter eagle, it will definitely be hunted by the latter. If she also has one Letter Eagle is fine.
I wonder if Hu Shang, who is so powerful, can help her buy a few letter eagles.
Leaning in front of the earthen platform, she was thinking about her thoughts while playing with the goshawk. Goshawk was arrogant and ignored her. Only after eating the jerky in her palm did he impatiently hook up her sleeve, urging her to get some jerky.
Yaoying didn't dare to feed it more, so she spread her hands towards it, indicating that it was gone.
The goshawk raised its claws and walked away.
Yaoying laughed and looked back at Sultan Gu.
He drank the soup with his back to her, and there was no sound at all. He drank the soup that was praised by the soldiers and guards, just like he was drinking water.
Yaoying stared at his back for a long time, and suddenly there was the sound of horse hooves like raindrops in the distance.
She followed the sound and saw dust flying from the east, hooves clattering, and a dozen fast horses galloping towards the guest house. who.
Sultan was very alert, and immediately put down the bowl and stood in front of the earthen platform and watched for a while.
"It's from Beirong."
Yaoying's eyelids jumped: "How does the general know that they are from Beirong?"
Sultan Gu's voice was hoarse and dark, and said: "The horses they ride are horses from Beirong Racecourse."
Yaoying's heart sank slightly.
Beirong occupied a large area of grassland with lush water and grass, and several of them were originally the largest horse farms in Bei desert. Sultan Gu was so certain that he should not admit his mistake.
Sultan Guchao made a gesture to the guards guarding downstairs. The guards understood and rushed into the hall, reminding everyone to put on their scarves and prepare to leave.
After everyone had eaten and drank enough, they neatly got up to pack their bags and left the guest house.
The Beirong people were very fast, and in a blink of an eye, they had already rushed to the guest house.
The man at the head took off his mask and spat out the dust in his mouth. He was as strong as a cow, with curly hair and shawls, light brown eyes, a fur coat, and leather boots.
There was no back door to the inn, so Yaoying and Sultan Guji bowed their heads to pack their bags. The Beirong people thought they were ordinary businessmen and walked past them after looking at them. One of them impatiently urged the store owner: "Is there anything to eat? Yes? As long as it's hot, bring it up quickly!"
The shopkeeper agreed.
Yaoying stepped on the saddle and got on the horse, her eyes fell on the burly man, her face changed, and she immediately retracted her gaze.
She calmly drove her horse to Sultan Gu's side and whispered, "General Su, that person is the little prince of Beirong."
Sultan Gu glanced at her.
Yaoying lowered her voice: "He is Wakhan Khan's favorite youngest son. He always stays in Yating. The general may not have seen him. I can confirm that he is not the wrong person."
Sultan hummed.
The crowd remained silent and left the guest house, their figures blending into the vast wind and snow.
Yaoying's heart is heavy.
Why is the little prince here? Does all this have anything to do with Haidu Aling
…
When Yaoying and Sultan Gu set off from Shacheng to Gaochang, thousands of miles away, in the boundless Gobi, another team was heading for Izhou.
The carriage was walking on the rugged mountain road. The woman in the car couldn't bear the bumps. She couldn't help but lift the curtain and said to the guards who followed, "How many days can we get to Izhou?"
The guard clasped his fists and said, "Princess, just wait a few more days and you will be in Izhou soon. You will be able to see Princess Yiqing soon."
With a look of anticipation on the woman's face, she lowered the curtain and retracted the carriage.
She will see her aunt soon.
The guards slowed down, deliberately trailing a few steps behind.
A guard behind him drove his horse forward and ran alongside him.
The guard whispered in dialect: "You find an opportunity to send a letter back. Princess Fukang is about to arrive in Izhou. We have already won the trust of Princess Fukang. When we arrive in Izhou, we will find a way to find out the whereabouts of Princess Wenzhao."
Another guard looked embarrassed: "Everywhere is blocked now, and several checkpoints are guarded like iron barrels. How can we send the news that Princess Wenzhao may still be alive back to Chang'an?"
The guard sneered: "You are really a wooden head! How did the Beirong people secretly communicate with Princess Fukang? We will use their people to pass the news!"
The other guard suddenly realized and nodded yes.
The author has something to say: Come and humbly save the advance
"The Tang Dynasty Lady"
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, a young girl from the Cui family entered the palace as a female historian and met an embarrassed concubine named Wu Mei.
Later, Cui Yufu witnessed Wu Mei from Zhaoyi to the empress to the two saints side by side, until the final Wu Zhou Dynasty and Tang Dynasty
In the turbulent situation, Cui Yufu is also climbing up step by step, female historian, female official in charge, supervising censor, female imperial envoy, female prime minister
The harem fights, the court fights, she stands still
…
"Brother, beg for money"
As the daughter of the rich local Li family, Li Zhizhi is pampered and squeamish.
It was not until the age of thirteen that Li Zhizhi knew that his mother had put a green hat on his father.
The real phoenix became a fake daughter, and the mother and daughter were swept out of the house
The brother who watched Zhizhi grow up took her hand and didn't let go: Zhizhi, don't be afraid, no matter what happens, I will always be your brother
Zhizhi refused: I want to follow my mother
Five years apart
When we said goodbye, the branches were in despair, and my brother became the heir to the Li family with a net worth of over 100 million.
Zhizhi hugged his brother's thigh tremblingly: "Brother, I'll give you the card number, and ask for money!"