Xi Tong couldn’t deceive anyone. His little minions had been seen through by others, their heads cut off and thrown down from the city walls. Xi Tong cradled the severed heads in fury, pointing at the top of the city wall and declaring that once the city was breached, he would definitely kill all who dared to resist.

Carrying his horizontal saber on his back, he climbed the corners of the city wall, attempting to be the first to scale the fortifications. Rocks from atop the city rained down like hailstones. Xi Tong had no way to avoid them and could only flee back in a disheveled state. He also suffered the merciless ridicule of the Persians on top of the city walls.

Times had changed—changed in a way that made robbery difficult. Ever since the Turkic allied forces entered Lesser Bolu, the resistance of Shashana Kingdom had gradually become more resolute. In the past, as long as Xi Tong beheaded the leading general, the rest would obediently kneel on the ground and accept being plundered. Now it was completely different. He didn’t know what the Turks had actually done or said, but now breaking through city defenses was more than ten times more difficult than before.

Han Zhe’s situation was much better than his own. He carried out plundering under the banner of spreading religion. There were always people who harbored illusions, believing that as long as they devoutly believed in the religion, they could be spared. Often, such people died the fastest.

Mulu City was the city Xi Tong most wanted to conquer. As long as he captured this city, the three cities he occupied would form a triangular character formation, protecting the fertile plains within this triangular area. This was a foundation that could be passed down to his descendants!

Yun Ye was less than five hundred li behind him, but he was stationed at Suiye City and had not advanced a single step forward. If he sought aid from Yun Ye, he would certainly receive assistance. However, Jiu Niang was unwilling to let Xi Tong go find Yun Ye. She had suffered too many betrayals and always subconsciously harbored doubts about government troops, believing they were all self-interested creatures who only knew about matters of life, death, and advantage, and would not consider much human sentiment.

Xi Tong stood in the moonlit night carrying his horizontal saber, his broad shoulders like a mountain. Before his eyes was Mulu City. He had already reached beneath the city but had no way whatsoever of dealing with this fortress.

Wandering bandits were never meant to attack cities—they could only gallop swiftly through the countryside on swift horses, appearing without trace and disappearing without shadow. This way they could happily plunder for a lifetime. Unfortunately, human hearts would always grow weeds. Once wandering bandits began to systematically attack cities, it was often the beginning of these bandits’ decline.

Xi Tong considered himself a hero and naturally wanted to establish achievements and build a career in the chaotic Western Regions. Apart from killing, he had no weapon capable of conquering people’s hearts.

“I won’t beg! This old master was born to come and go alone. I don’t need to seek aid from anyone. If I can fight, I fight. If I can’t fight, I’ll just continue roaming. Sooner or later, the opportunity will fall into this old master’s hands.” Xi Tong spoke bitterly, returned to his command tent, and immediately ordered a withdrawal. He had learned one move from Liu Fang—it was called decisive action!

“The big rabbit got sick, the second rabbit looked. The third rabbit bought medicine, the fourth rabbit cooked. The fifth rabbit died, the sixth rabbit carried. The seventh rabbit dug a pit, the eighth rabbit buried.”

Xi Tong sang this song as he entered the desert. He was prepared to thoroughly rest and reorganize for a period of time, waiting until the situation changed before making a comeback. The ballad wasn’t pleasant to hear, but this gang of bandits sang it with great satisfaction.

Yun Ye also hummed this ballad while holding his little daughter. The singing was fine, but the child gave him no face whatsoever, still crying incessantly. He lifted the swaddling clothes to check beneath the child’s groin—it was very dry, no urine, no feces either—yet she just kept crying. Wu She sat beside him, sunning jade plaques, holding a book in his hands, completely ignoring the child’s crying.

Yun Ye had a deep tooth mark on his arm—this was bitten by Na Rimu. That woman had gone crazy wanting to give birth to a son. Who would have thought that after giving birth, the son turned into a daughter? This was as if she couldn’t go on living. Wu She had said it should have been a boy. She always suspected that someone had taken away her son and replaced him with a daughter.

Like a mad woman, she looked under the bed to see if he had fallen to the floor. Finding nothing under the bed, she began to cry loudly. Women in confinement must not cry—once they cried, both eyes would swell up like peaches.

Unreasonably, she believed that giving birth to a daughter was entirely Yun Ye’s fault, saying that Yun Ye simply wasn’t willing to give her a son. Otherwise, why had Xinyue given birth to two children who were both sons?

“The child is hungry. You’re a grown man without any breast milk to feed her. Even if you sing flowers into bloom, the child will still cry incessantly. What kind of appearance is it for a grand commander to hold his daughter and sing songs before two armies’ battle lines?”

Du Ruhui really couldn’t stand it anymore. He emerged from his wooden house and said helplessly to Yun Ye.

Na Rimu was still lying in bed angry. Yun Ye frowned, placed the child in her arms, and said: “The child is hungry. Quickly feed some milk to the child. What difference is there between a son and a daughter? They’re equally our children. As long as we let them grow up safely, that’s already a tremendous blessing.”

Seeing Yun Ye’s displeased expression, Huan Niang sighed and helped Na Rimu sit up. Seeing Na Rimu reluctantly begin nursing the child, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. The child ate very greedily—she was starving.

As Na Rimu held the child and nursed her, she gradually entered into the role of mother. After all, this was her own flesh and blood. Even if she couldn’t think straight for a while, she wouldn’t neglect the child.

“Na Rimu, you’re overthinking this. In the future, daughters will be more precious than sons. Especially my daughter, Yun Ye’s daughter—even more incomparably precious. Heaven has bestowed upon us two children, and we should accept this with complete satisfaction. We absolutely must not harbor resentment. Otherwise, you won’t even be able to keep your daughter! Look at what a beautiful child she is. She looks like you, though her head is like mine. All the Yun family people have big heads. Such children are intelligent. In the future, she will definitely grow to be devastatingly beautiful.”

Yun Ye watched his daughter nursing, nodded with satisfaction, and gently consoled Na Rimu.

“I kept thinking about giving you a son. After all, our Yun family’s progeny is still somewhat thin. Before this concubine came, Old Grandmother said that this concubine must strive to add another male heir to the family.” Na Rimu sobbed as she answered Yun Ye.

“Don’t worry about Grandmother’s side. I’ll explain it myself. Giving birth to a child is a joyful occasion. How can you get whatever you want? If that were the case, even Heaven wouldn’t be worth much.”

As for Old Grandmother’s habit, Yun Ye had no solution whatsoever. She wished that bald little boys were running all over the courtyard. Li Rong, Yun Shou, and Yun Huan were cherished to the tips of her heart, but she didn’t pay much attention to the several little girls. The reason was that there were too many women in the Yun family.

Hearing the military drums, Yun Ye hurriedly returned to the central command tent. The cavalry he had sent out should be returning. The empty Suiye City was truly disappointing.

Several cavalrymen hastily arrived at the military tent. When Yun Ye looked up, he discovered that standing before the tent was actually Gou Zi. This fellow was covered in grime all over his body and looked as though he had been running through the desert for a long time.

“Marquis, Mr. Liu wants me to tell you that you must advance into Shashana Kingdom and help Dan Ying and Xiao Miao draw the heavy forces of Shashana Kingdom from the west to the east. Otherwise, when they charge into the Abbasid lands, they will have no retreat whatsoever.”

Yun Ye and Du Ruhui had anticipated this point long ago. What they needed to do now was to enter Shashana Kingdom according to the original plan, follow the great river all the way toward the Abbasids, forcing the eastern governor of the Abbasids, Yusuf, to dispatch troops to guard against his sudden attack. This way, they could forcibly tear open a gap, creating a wide corridor for Xiao Miao and Dan Ying. This would thoroughly draw the Turks behind them westward.

Yun Ye’s battles in the Western Regions had not been in vain. The opposition forces in the Western Region petty kingdoms of Yiwu (Hami), Shanshan, Gaochang, Yanqi, Kucha, Kashgar, and Khotan had been uprooted by Yun Ye. The entire Western Regions had finally quieted down. Du Ruhui took the opportunity to establish a Western Regions governance system centered on the Four Anxi Garrisons—Kucha, Kashgar, Khotan, and Yanqi. He concentrated people from remote places into these four great cities for management. Due to the Emperor’s decree, he and Yun Ye had specifically emptied Suiye City, preparing to hand it over to the soon-to-arrive Li Yuanxiang. Since he had heroic ambitions, let him go govern the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu in the Western Regions.

At the same time, the Arabs in the Middle East were also rapidly rising. Since the Prophet Muhammad and the two great Orthodox Caliphs, Muslims had controlled vast territories that Assyrians, Persians, and Romans had never dared to imagine. From several tribes on the Arabian Peninsula, they had expanded into an unprecedented empire spanning three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa. Westward, they had occupied all of North Africa and Spain. Eastward, they were filled with vigorous ambition, intent on controlling the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu and the Transoxiana region. This time, the Far Eastern Governor Yusuf was full of confidence in his eastern expedition, preparing to swallow Shashana Kingdom in one stroke and expand his territory to the limits of what his power could reach.

Having a powerful nation as a neighbor was something no country wished for. Great powers should originally be separated by some small countries. Two great powers jointly exploiting these small countries—that was the principle. How could two behemoths be squeezed together on one piece of land? In such a case, war would be the only choice.

The Camel City once again began to move. This time, Yun Ye planned to pass directly through Shashana Kingdom, cutting this country horizontally in half. If possible, he was very willing to personally end the last remnants of the Persian Empire.

The elongated Shashana had already been nibbled away at by the Far Eastern Governor of the Abbasids, Yusuf. Since this country was destined to perish, why couldn’t he get a share of the spoils here?

Cross-border warfare should originally receive authorization from the Emperor. Unfortunately, Chang’an was too far from Suiye. Military situations changed three times daily. The Abbasid forces had already assembled Greater Bolu and were preparing to surround Xiao Miao’s Angel Army. The Turks had also forcibly blocked the army’s retreat. After consulting with Du Ruhui, Yun Ye sent envoys to inform the Emperor on one hand, while beginning to implement his own strategic deployment on the other.

Han Zhe advanced westward along Fragrant City all the way. Unfortunately, a single log couldn’t support the weight. The attack became incomparably difficult. Unable to contact Xi Tong no matter what, he could only temporarily suspend his own offensive and defend Fragrant City. Facing the Abbasid army, he had no choice but to proceed cautiously.

The moment the Camel City stepped into Shashana Kingdom, the wise and destined last emperor of the Sassanid Dynasty, Peroz, cleared a wide road, carving out the western part of his own country as a battlefield for two powerful dynasties to meet in armed conflict. He himself repeatedly declared neutrality, swearing before the sacred fire not to participate with either side.