Hai Du Aling left one final message: If the Buddha’s Son doesn’t hand over Princess Wenzhao after the Northern Rong allied army breaks through the city, they will torture every person in the royal court, then bathe the holy city in blood, sparing not even chickens or dogs.

A deathly silence fell over the city walls.

Yaoying looked at Hai Du Aling’s letter, pondering for a moment before saying, “Half of Hai Du Aling’s Northern Rong allied forces are borrowed from the suzerain state. They’re not truly unified. He’s becoming impatient. If I pretend to surrender, we might be able to deceive those chieftains…”

Before she could finish speaking, a hand reached over, took the letter from her hands and threw it into the fire basin.

“Don’t even think about it,” Tanmoluojia said flatly, his tone brooking no argument.

The others exchanged glances, not daring to make a sound.

…

The Northern Rong allied army retreated to their main camp. In the great tent, the chieftains discussed whether the Buddha’s Son would trade Princess Wenzhao for the lives of the city’s people.

A chieftain who frequently dealt with royal court merchants said, “The Buddha’s Son was nearly killed by the Imperial Guard because noble families plotted against him due to his Han mother. Even so, when the holy city was besieged, he still led troops back to defend it. The Buddha’s Son is a monk – I think he will agree.”

Hearing this, Hai Du Aling’s face darkened.

He had never expected Tanmoluojia would return to the holy city. If Tanmoluojia hadn’t come back, he would have already conquered the holy city and controlled the entire royal court. The royal court’s lands were fertile and prosperous. After occupying it, he could rapidly expand his forces, command various tribes, and in one stroke reclaim the provinces recovered by the Western Army, completing his great endeavor of restoring the nation. He could even launch an eastern campaign against the Wei Dynasty…

Hai Du Aling’s plan was so perfect – just one step away from changing the world’s situation and stirring up the winds of change. Even with only five thousand followers, he could still rise from adversity, lead his people to trample the royal court and Western Regions, and establish a Northern Rong empire stronger than during Wahan Khan’s time. Wherever his whip pointed, all would submit beneath his feet.

But Tanmoluojia hadn’t died and had rushed back to the holy city in its moment of crisis.

The already demoralized garrison and civilians were like they’d taken miraculous medicine after seeing him, their fighting spirit soaring. Seeing their fervent combat stance, they all seemed willing to perish with him defending the city.

Hai Du Aling clutched the sheepskin map tightly.

Prayer beads in one hand, steel blade in the other – one Tanmoluojia had caused his schemes to die in the womb.

Each time he thought of this point, Hai Du Aling felt both furious and confused: What sustained the abandoned Tanmoluojia to return and defend the holy city to death? Could a monk’s faith be so powerful?

If the Wahan Khan were still alive and knew Tanmoluojia and Sudan Gu were the same people, who know what he would think?

Now, Tanmoluojia had once again become a god in the people’s hearts. Only by eliminating Tanmoluojia could the Allied forces turn the situation around.

This monk was without desire or seeking, and even when the people exiled him, he resolutely returned to the holy city. He had only one weakness – Princess Wenzhao Li Yaoying.

In the great tent, while others were still discussing, one of Hai Du Aling’s subordinates said, “This siege of the holy city shows the prince’s brilliant strategy – he provoked conflict between the royal court and Western Army. Sure enough, the Western Army has delayed sending troops, blocked by us outside Sandy City. Princess Wenzhao is infatuated with the Buddha’s Son. For his sake, she brought only a few hundred troops to attempt rescue. Perhaps to save the Buddha’s Son, she’ll voluntarily leave the city!”

“If the Buddha’s Son lets the princess leave the city, she’ll certainly agree!”

Hai Du Aling’s lips curled into a cold smile as he interrupted his subordinate: “The Buddha’s Son won’t let Princess Wenzhao leave the city. We have spies inside who report that the Buddha’s Son was greatly affected – since returning to the city, his whole person has become cold and unfeeling, except when he’s with Princess Wenzhao. He shows an intimacy with Princess Wenzhao in front of the entire city. Do you think he would send Princess Wenzhao out of the city because of my provocation?”

Everyone was stunned: “Then why did the prince make such a demand?”

Golden light flickered coldly in Hai Du Aling’s eyes: “The royal court just experienced upheaval. People’s hearts are unstable. The civilians resent the Han people. The Imperial Guard drove away the Buddha’s Son. Although they’re united in defending the city now, there’s still a rift.”

“They’ve held out for so many days and are completely out of arrows and support. I’ve seen them trying to break out repeatedly these past days, charging forcefully and losing many elite troops. They must be unable to hold on any longer to attempt such desperate breakouts.”

“Princess Wenzhao is Han and the Buddha’s Son’s woman. The Buddha’s Son will certainly protect her, but what about the others? In their desperation, are they truly willing to die gloriously? Among the city’s people, there must be some who fear death. As long as some harbor different thoughts, we can break them from within.”

“The more the Buddha’s Son cherishes Princess Wenzhao, the more advantageous it is for us.”

“Spread the news, let the Western Army mistakenly believe the royal court people sacrificed Princess Wenzhao. Let’s see if Li Zhongqian goes mad! If Li Zhongqian is defeated, Princess Wenzhao will have to come out whether she wants to or not.”

Hai Du Aling clapped his hands and said, “Moreover, I have another very important person in my hands.”

The tent flap shook as soldiers escorted in a woman with bound hands.

Seeing the woman, everyone’s faces lit up with joy.

In the following days, the Northern Rong allied army came to make noise outside the holy city daily, demanding Tanmoluojia hand over Yaoying.

Tanmoluojia ignored them.

The city’s food was gone, and even horse meat was exhausted. The people were gaunt with hunger. In the deep of night, when the wind blew, desperate crying could occasionally be heard from dark corners.

Due to long-term hunger, the soldiers defending the city were weak with hunger, often collapsing without warning.

The Northern Rong allied army knew their food was gone. During the day, they deliberately cooked outside the city, stewing beef and mutton. The rich meat fragrance was carried by the cold wind to the city walls. The hungry soldiers’ stomachs growled, their intestines cramping and twisting. Some couldn’t resist the temptation and fell from the city walls.

“Just hand over Princess Wenzhao, and you can eat your fill immediately!”

The allied army shouted outside the city.

The city walls were quiet for a while, then there was a commotion.

The next day, Northern Rong scouts discovered the Han retainers who had worn headwraps on the city walls were gone.

Tanmoluojia had Yaoying stay in the council hall as much as possible, not going out alone. His gaze lingered on her face for a long time – she had grown much thinner.

He took out a package and pressed it into her palm.

Yaoying opened it to see clumped honey, and paused for a moment, feeling sweetness in her heart: “Have you eaten?”

Tanmoluojia nodded, rubbed the top of her head, and was about to leave when his sleeve was caught.

Yaoying held him back, stood on tiptoe, picked up a clump of honey with her fingers, and brought it to his lips.

She knew he hadn’t eaten much. Afraid she would go hungry, these days he saved his food for her to eat every day.

Tanmoluojia looked straight at Yaoying as she smiled with expectation in her clear autumn-water eyes.

She was trapped with him in this dangerous city, unable to eat or sleep well, constantly on edge, while still having to guard against schemes.

Tanmoluojia bent down and ate the honey from her fingers.

Yaoying smiled with satisfaction and was about to withdraw her hand when he gripped her wrist, not letting her retreat, lowering his head to kiss her fingers.

Warm kisses fell on her fingertips, one by one.

He wore his kasaya, standing against the light, his expression solemn and tranquil, like performing a Buddhist ceremony in the temple.

Yaoying trembled.

Tanmoluojia’s expression remained calm as he hugged her briefly before turning to leave.

The Northern Rong allied army scouts observed. After not seeing the Han retainers on the city walls for three consecutive days, they returned to camp to report.

The generals were overjoyed.

The scout said: “Yesterday when the royal court people tried to break out, we captured a soldier. The soldier said that because of Princess Wenzhao, the Han people and the royal court people in the city have developed resentment. To protect the princess, the Buddha’s Son assigns personal guards to watch the council hall daily, preventing civilians from approaching, to guard against someone harming the princess. The city has no food left, even the commanders are going hungry. But Princess Wenzhao and her retainers can still get food every day.”

Hai Du Aling’s eyes flickered.

This matched the spy’s intelligence exactly. It seemed Tanmoluojia truly had extraordinary feelings for Princess Wenzhao. There must be people in the city who dared feel anger but not express it.

The next day, when the bandaged Bisuo attempted to break out toward the east again, he was surrounded by Northern Rong cavalry.

The enemy seemed determined to capture him, staying tight on the tail of his forces, pursuing relentlessly. He rode hard with head down, cutting down several Northern Rong cavalrymen in succession, breaking out of the encirclement and leading his remaining soldiers in retreat when suddenly the enemy stopped, leaving open a path.

Two Northern Rong soldiers brought forward a woman, lifting her face.

Seeing Bisuo leading troops in battle, the woman trembled with excitement, hot tears rolling down her face as she struggled to call out to him. A soldier slapped her face, immediately drawing blood from her mouth, her cry of pain drowned in the sounds of battle.

Bisuo’s sword-wielding motion faltered, his eyes reddening as he charged forward swinging his blade.

The Northern Rong soldiers laughed loudly, throwing the woman onto horseback and turning to gallop back to the Northern Rong main camp.

Bisuo roared and gave chase.

His attendants were shocked and hurried to stop him: “General, we don’t have many men left, we must return to the city immediately!”

Bisuo ignored them and continued charging forward. His attendants frantically grabbed him, forcibly dragging him back.

They hastily fled back to the city. Before they could catch their breath, shouts of alarm came from the city walls as a soldier ran over with a terrified expression: “General Ashina, the Northern Rong have captured Princess Chima!”

Bisuo’s temple veins bulged as he rushed to the city walls.

In the distance, the Northern Rong soldiers who had deliberately provoked Bisuo brought forward the bound woman. Their long whips lashed down viciously as the woman rolled in the snow, crying out in agony: “Bisuo, save me! Save me!”

Bisuo’s fingers gripped the mud bricks tightly, his eyes blood-red.

Those on the city walls remained silent.

The Northern Rong continued whipping Princess Chima. Princess Chima cried and screamed, her pleas echoing one after another, shrill and agonized, lingering long over the battlefield.

“General Ashina! Princess Chima is your sister!”

A Northern Rong commander shouted toward the city walls, “The Tanmo family was harmed by the Zhang family. Princess Chima has only you as her brother now!”

Princess Chima lay in the snow, covered in wounds, crawling toward the holy city while sobbing heavily: “Bisuo, save me, save me!”

The Northern Rong commander laughed heartily: “General Ashina, our prince knows you from before. For the sake of past friendship, he can spare Princess Chima. However, in exchange, you must hand over Princess Wenzhao. Our prince keeps his word – one princess traded for another princess. What do you say?”

Bisuo stared at the blood-covered Princess Chima, tears glinting in his eyes, his face dark as water, saying nothing.

The Northern Rong commander smiled and rode behind Princess Chima, leisurely drawing his sword: “General Ashina, Princess Chima is right before you now. Her life or death rests on your single thought.”

With those words, he raised his sword to strike down at Princess Chima.

“Stop!”

A furious roar came from the city walls as Bisuo’s face contorted in rage: “If you dare harm her, I will kill your entire tribe in the future, men, women, old and young, not sparing a single one!”

The Northern Rong commander laughed heartily: “General Ashina, you and Princess Chima depend on each other. Our prince doesn’t want to harm Princess Chima either. As long as you trade Princess Wenzhao, the prince will release Princess Chima immediately.”

He narrowed his eyes and let his blade fall, lightly grazing Princess Chima’s neck. Blood spurted forth.

Princess Chima trembled all over, wailing Bisuo’s name: “I don’t want to die! Bisuo, I don’t want to die!”

Bisuo closed his eyes briefly, then turned to look at Tanmoluojia.

Tanmoluojia stood facing the wind, watching the Northern Rong commander torture Princess Chima with an expressionless face.

“Luojia! Save Chima! For my sake, please save her…”

Bisuo shouted, breaking into tears as he fell to his knees and crawled toward him, his forehead striking the ground with several sharp cracks until it was bright red.

Without a word, Tanmoluojia took a curved bow and shot an arrow that whistled as it flew straight at Princess Chima.

Princess Chima screamed and dodged backward.

The arrow flew with rainbow-like force, whooshing deeply into the snow where she had just been lying, buried to its fletching.

Everyone was stunned, and the battlefield fell silent for quite a while.

The Northern Rong commander snorted coldly: “It seems for the sake of the Han princess, the Buddha’s Son is ruthless enough to personally kill his sister. General Ashina, how pitiful that you serve the Buddha’s Son loyally when you should be the king of the royal court!”

After making this commotion, they left with the terrified Princess Chima.

On the city walls, everyone looked at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

Colleagues who were close to Bisuo helped him up, quietly trying to comfort him. His teeth ground audibly as he pushed everyone away and left in anger.

The next day, the Northern Rong repeated their tactics, again dragging out Princess Chima to torture her before their ranks.

Bisuo was burning with rage, cursing loudly, trying to charge out of the city with troops to rescue Princess Chima despite attempts to stop him. His subordinates desperately held him back – charging out like this would surely mean death!

On the third day, the Northern Rong appeared outside the holy city with a disheveled Princess Chima in custody.

This time, Bisuo was nowhere to be seen on the city walls, and no matter how the Northern Rong threatened, Tanmoluojia remained unmoved.

On the fourth day, Northern Rong cavalry galloped to the city gates, drew their longbows, and released thousands of arrows at once. The iron arrows flew toward the holy city with unstoppable force, pinning sheepskin papers covered in writing to the roof tiles and walls.

At the same time, Northern Rong spies who had secretly infiltrated the city and had been gathering intelligence delivered a letter to Bisuo’s room where he was under house arrest.

Soon, a rumor spread through the city: To save his sister, Bisuo planned to kidnap Princess Wenzhao and take her out of the city.

For Yaoying’s safety, she stayed in the council hall all day, no longer going out. Her retainers surrounded the hall, questioning anyone who approached.

The retainers warned Yaoying to prepare early, but Yaoying shook her head: “It’s nothing to worry about.”

That night, while Yaoying was sound asleep, someone suddenly pounded thunderously on her door. Retainers rushed into the room, shouting urgently outside the curtain.

She hurriedly got up, saw bright yellow light through the window, and thought it was dawn. When she went out, a wave of scorching heat hit her face, with crackling sounds of burning very close by.

The council hall had suddenly caught fire, and the rear tower where she lived was engulfed in flames.

That night, everyone in the city saw raging flames in the direction of the council hall as Han retainers escorted Princess Wenzhao, her clothes half-burned, to safety.

Tanmoluojia rushed back, his expression ice-cold.

“It was General Ashina!” Yaoying’s guard said angrily, pointing at Bisuo. “I saw it with my own eyes – General Ashina’s men tried to kidnap our princess!”

Yaoying’s eyes stopped the guard from saying more.

The next day, Tanmoluojia imprisoned Bisuo, stripped him of his military authority, and reassigned all his attendants.

The city was in an uproar.

The commanders felt this was inappropriate with a great enemy at their gates. They wanted to plead for Bisuo, so they dragged their weary feet together to seek an audience at the council hall.

The guards stopped them outside: “Princess Wenzhao was burned by the fire. The king is personally caring for her and has no time to see you. Come back tomorrow. If you’re here to plead for General Ashina, don’t bother coming – Princess Wenzhao was injured, half her hair burned off. She’s furious. Even if Yuanjue pleads for General Ashina, it won’t help.”

The commanders were deeply worried. Everyone was already starving, not knowing how long they could hold out, and now this happened. The king and Bisuo were both of Tanmo blood, their relationship already sensitive… what a tangled mess!

That night, darkness was thick, the wind howled angrily, and all around was pitch black with dim snow-light.

After Yaoying sent away several commanders who had come to plead with her, repeatedly promising she would persuade Tanmoluojia to release Bisuo, she returned to her room. Just as she was about to lie down, there came footsteps like urgent rain outside the curtain.

Behind the felt curtain, a pair of jade-green eyes watched her.

Yaoying was stunned for a moment: “Bisuo, you’re out?”

Bisuo turned his face away from her, making a gesture to his attendants behind him. The attendants rushed into the inner chamber, surrounding Yaoying.

On the city walls, everyone had held their position all day, hugging their long swords and resting back-to-back with eyes closed. Suddenly through the roaring wind came the sound of killing shouts. Everyone jerked awake, thinking the Northern Rong was launching a surprise attack. They hurriedly grabbed their swords and jumped up, rushing to look from the city walls.

Outside the city gates were only the traps they had dug.

While people were still confused, the killing shouts rang out again. Everyone looked at each other, realizing the shouts were coming from inside the city. They turned back in alarm to look.

Footsteps rang out, shadows moved, and flames appeared simultaneously from the east, west, and north sides of the long street.

Someone carrying a long sword ran toward the dungeon where Bisuo was imprisoned: “Princess Wenzhao is going to kill General Ashina! Quick, save the general!”

“General Ashina tried to assassinate the Buddha’s Son! He’s kidnapped Princess Wenzhao!”

“Hand over the princess quickly, or we’ll fight you to the death!”

“Give up the princess! Otherwise, we’ll open the city gates and let the Northern Rong in – we’ll all die together!”

Two groups of forces clashed in the long street, with curses, screams, questioning shouts, and the clash of long swords. People and horses fell, and everything was in chaos.

Tonight’s wind blew from the north, and the fires grew stronger. Soon the houses along the entire street were ablaze, collapsing like dead grass as the flames shot up, illuminating half the city.

In the red glow, people saw two forces fighting in the long street – one group was Bisuo’s guards, the other mostly Han people, and Western Region Hu people, naturally Princess Wenzhao’s retainers.

Everyone was terrified to the extreme, sweating anxiously, not knowing what to do.

In the long street, the two forces continued fighting with bloodshot eyes, bodies falling everywhere.

“Madness! You’ve all gone mad!” The defending commander stomped his feet in anger as he rushed down to stop them. “Do you all want to die?!”

The night was deep, and dense footsteps and burning flames surrounded the royal court’s Imperial Guard in the long street. No one would listen to his attempts to stop them – everyone only knew to swing their long swords and charge forward.

Suddenly, the ground trembled with a rumbling sound that reached everyone’s ears.

The defending commander’s eyes widened as he turned back in horror.

Flames burst forth from the direction of the city gates, shouts arose as soldiers fought with a group of people in black clothes. Several people climbed up scaffolding, working together to turn the winch – creaking sounds of heavy machinery rang out as the city gates were opened from inside!

An icy, bloody wind swept into the city. In the night, an undulating black flood surged toward the city gates.

The defending commander’s hair stood on end as he screamed: “Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

But it was already too late.

…

Outside the city gates, Hai Du Aling reined in his horse on the hillside, watching as cavalry from various tribes poured into the holy city like a flood, unstoppable. The royal court’s soldiers, dizzy with hunger, could not resist the iron cavalry and retreated in panic.

The Wahan Khan was right – breaking down the royal court from within would achieve twice the result with half the effort.

A commander rode beside him, excited and fawning: “Prince, your plan was truly flawless. The spies mixed into the city, assassinated Ashina, and framed the Buddha’s Son, then attempted to assassinate Princess Wenzhao and framed Ashina, while simultaneously spreading rumors to incite hatred against Princess Wenzhao among the royal court people, provoking internal strife so the spies could find a chance to open the city gates.”

Hai Du Aling snorted coldly.

He had besieged the city for so long that the psychological defenses of the city’s people had already been destroyed, allowing these tricks to be useful. After being betrayed by the Imperial Guard, Tanmoluojia lost trust in Bisuo, and Bisuo’s people could no longer revere him as before. These consequences were created by the royal court people themselves.

The commander watched other tribes successfully attack the holy city they had long coveted, and clasped his hands: “Prince, all these strategies were devised by you – we should be the vanguard! Please let this servant lead a force into the city. This servant will surely bring Princess Wenzhao to your tent!”

Hai Du Aling shook his head, his pale golden eyes reflecting the raging flames in the distance.

“It’s too smooth – I’m not at ease. Let these tribes be the vanguard and take the holy city first. I want to see how Li Yaoying will escape from my palm this time.”

The commander was filled with admiration and respectfully acknowledged the order.