Xiao Miao removed her helmet, revealing her full head of beautiful hair. The Iris sisters held wet towels to wipe down their master, not only wiping the dust and soot from her face but also the bloodstains on her armor plates. Xerxes rode his beloved horse over from afar and said to Xiao Miao: “Your Highness, Nieduocheng has been completely controlled by us. The city lord has surrendered. Now we can withdraw the brothers from Tanju Ridge. I’m very worried that if time drags on, there will be danger.”
“What danger could there be with Dan Ying there!” Xiao Miao muttered, but still sent someone to notify Dan Ying, who was in charge of intercepting enemy reinforcements, to return to the city. Mo’as was also there serving as Dan Ying’s deputy. Even in the chaos of battle, nothing would happen to Dan Ying. If he couldn’t win, he would flee. But Mo’as, this single-minded fellow, would definitely fight to his last breath.
Xiao Miao had spent so much time with these people that she couldn’t bear to send them to their deaths. If it were Abbas, Xiao Miao wouldn’t care. This was an extremely wretched fellow. Xiao Miao didn’t like this person at all. In front of herself and Liu Fang, he could put his chin to the ground, but when facing other people, he was extremely arrogant. Xiao Miao heard the Iris sisters secretly tell her that this fellow once interrogated a prisoner and actually bit off a piece of the prisoner’s flesh with his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it into his stomach.
She’d long wanted to drive this fellow away, but Grandpa Liu Fang was very fond of this guy, always entrusting him with important tasks. Her own war slaves didn’t like Abbas at all, because this fellow looked at people as if looking at lambs awaiting slaughter. Only tax collectors had such eyes—this was Mo’as’s verdict.
Today she herself had led the war slaves to charge up the city walls three times in succession before completely defeating the garrison and opening the city gates, allowing Xerxes to lead the cavalry to rush into the city. So why was it Abbas swaggering around in the city now dealing with the city lord and his people?
Seeing that fellow wave his hand once and many heads would fall to the ground, Xiao Miao’s disgust for this guy increased another layer. Although she knew this fellow was executing Grandpa Liu Fang’s orders, Xiao Miao still didn’t like those who killed children and women.
“We came to this land to spread hatred, so Xiao Miao, whatever Abbas wants to do, you cannot obstruct him. Only when this land is completely in chaos can we help the Marquis. This old man knows you like the Marquis. You’ve even liked the Marquis since childhood. Grandpa knows it all. Once this battle is finished, your master and I will betroth you to the Marquis as a concubine. Anyway, he only has one wife and two concubines. One more is completely no problem. He probably has no way to refuse my and your master’s face.”
Thinking of this, Xiao Miao’s face burned alarmingly. Recently she always dreamed that strange dream—the Marquis’s hand resting on Sister Na Rimu’s chest, smiling at her, the smile very peculiar.
“Your Highness, is the water too hot?” Iris, who was attending Xiao Miao’s bath, saw Xiao Miao’s face was bright red and asked worriedly, even putting her hand into the bath basin to test. The water wasn’t hot.
“Iris, let me look at your chest.” Xiao Miao looked at her own small breasts and sighed, wanting to see just how large Iris’s chest was. This matter had already nearly driven her crazy with torment.
Iris was very clear about her master’s thoughts. Giggling with laughter, she untied the cloth strips binding her chest. A pair of huge breasts stood proudly before Xiao Miao’s eyes—white and large.
“Your Highness, my breasts aren’t big enough. My sister’s chest is even bigger than mine. I heard before that a female slave with very large breasts and a very slender waist sold for a full fifty gold coins.” Iris cupped her own breasts, showing off to Xiao Miao.
“I’ll give you a thousand gold coins—give me your breasts!” Xiao Miao said irritably, reluctantly moving her gaze away from Iris’s chest.
Iris’s eyes swiveled, and she moved close to Xiao Miao’s side, whispering in her ear.
“Real or fake? I previously asked someone to consult the Divine Physician Grandpa, but was driven out by the old grandpa. It looks like there’s no way to make them bigger.” Xiao Miao was initially somewhat pleasantly surprised, but then thought about how she’d asked Xiao Ya to go find Sun Simiao to ask about methods to make breasts bigger. In the end, the old grandpa said nothing and just drove Xiao Ya out of the medicine hut. If even Grandpa Sun had no solution, Iris’s method probably wouldn’t work. But cow udders really were very large.
Xiao Miao’s breakfast included a large bowl of milk. A warrior’s diet is very particular. Just like Dan Ying—when he ate, he only ever ate until eighty percent full, absolutely never having a day of overeating or overdrinking. Xiao Miao used to be the same, but starting today, it seemed something had changed. Not only was Dan Ying puzzled, Gou Zi was also puzzled. Xiao Miao previously would never eat an extra bite, so what was the logic behind holding milk and drinking it non-stop today?
Xiao Miao drained the milk in one gulp, picked up a sword, and said to everyone in the room: “I’m going to check the Suvastu River’s current to see whether it can be forded. If the current isn’t deep, we’ll go to Gandhara.”
Liu Fang shook his head: “We’re not going anywhere first. We’ll garrison and stay in Nieduocheng. Lesser Bolü’s Su Shilizhi has already been beheaded, and his family has also been slaughtered by Abbas. So now, we’re not rushing to attack. We’ll let a portion of our soldiers return to bring their family members over to live in Nieduocheng. Since we’re all living comfortable lives, there’s no reason to let our entire families go hungry.”
“Good, good!” Xiao Miao happily clapped her hands in agreement. Her subordinates had already begged her many times. Suiye City was really too poor now. This year was another great drought year—she’d already heard some people had starved to death.
Watching Xiao Miao run out excitedly, Qu Zhuo and He Tianshang, who had been eating with heads down, both looked up and asked Liu Fang: “Your strategy of pulling firewood from under the pot is to unfold now? Isn’t it too hasty?”
Liu Fang smiled and shook his head: “It’s exactly the right time. If we want our snowball to roll bigger, we must have enough people. No matter what kind of people they are, as long as they step onto Lesser Bolü’s land, it means they no longer observe the treaties signed by these Western Region nations. One more person heading west means one fewer heading east. So, as long as people want to come to Lesser Bolü to follow the Holy Maiden Anqi, we must accept them. Issue generous rewards to the soldiers going back to fetch people—the more the better.”
Qu Zhuo nodded and went to handle this matter. All of Lesser Bolü had been conquered. Su Shilizhi was very wealthy—his treasures and grain were perfect for rewarding the warriors.
To enable his subordinates to return home with peace of mind, Dan Ying specifically made a trip to the Greater Bolü military camp and brought back the Greater Bolü king’s head. Thus Greater Bolü hastily withdrew its troops, and three princes began their difficult struggle for power.
The Angel Army officers and soldiers returning home in glory received a hero’s welcome. The biggest reason was abundant money and grain. They declined their fellow townsmen’s requests to join them in participating in the eastern campaign, and instead smilingly brought along their parents and family members, not planning to stay in Suiye City even a quarter-hour before returning to Lesser Bolü.
The Great Elder, leading Helu, watched helplessly as those soldiers happily headed south with their entire families, powerless to act. These people weren’t their tribesmen—they couldn’t obstruct them. Helu looked at the Great Elder eagerly and restlessly. He also wanted to lead soldiers to charge into Shache—he’d heard that even the bandits there were now wearing gold and silver. As a dignified Turkic noble, he could only remain aggrieved, guarding Suiye City, unable to go anywhere.
Liu Fang didn’t allow his soldiers to widely publicize their affairs in Lesser Bolü, but this kind of thing simply had no way of being concealed. When one person knew that these Angel Army people had already conquered a piece of land for livelihood, basically all the people of Suiye City also learned this news. Seeing the Angel Army’s prosperity, wise men would immediately question the tribal chiefs:
“We have fierce warriors. Why should we wastefully expend our lives in the process of fighting with the Tang people? We are wolves. Wolves should bite rabbits, bite sheep. Why should we fight with the mighty lion?”
If the Angel Army’s appearance still wasn’t enough to shake popular sentiment, when Divine King Han Zhe produced a huge amount of money to recruit brave warriors, the entire Suiye City boiled over. It just so happened that at this time, Black Wind Bandit Xi Tong requested to use a huge amount of money to ransom his brothers who had previously been captured by the Turks. These were three people who had struck it rich.
Han Zhe’s identity was sensitive—the Tibetans’ face had to be given. But treating a bandit like Xi Tong, they weren’t so polite. The Turks proposed harsh conditions. Xi Tong didn’t even bargain—he directly agreed. Right below Suiye City, the bold act of exchanging one dou of gold and silver treasures for one person stimulated everyone in the entire city until their eyeballs turned red.
Thus the crowd of people entering Shache and Arab territories increased. By the time the city lord wanted to control this trend, another batch of Turks who had struck it rich had already returned. They had witnessed firsthand the Shache people’s weakness. Although the Arabs were somewhat more formidable, that place was also even more prosperous.
“People’s ambition needs to be cultivated slowly. The nourishment is gold, silver, treasures, power, and supreme glory. The current Turks are confused. They can’t see their own future, so they’re easily led blindly. Once they taste the sweetness, they’ll be like blood-sucking leeches—they won’t stop until they’re fully gorged on blood.” Liu Fang was lecturing Qu Zhuo and Abbas. As for Xiao Miao, she completely ignored Liu Fang’s teachings.
“This is to say, once you pry loose a huge boulder, its own weight will carry it down the mountain slope with thunderous force. Either it’s smashed to pieces, or it reaches its destination. Soon, a hero will emerge among the Turks—a hero who will lead them on a western campaign. That Helu might very well be that hero. The only intact military forces remaining here are his. As long as he raises his arm and calls out, the followers will be countless. His tribe will expand to the extreme in an instant. Whether it’s from fear of those on the eastern campaign or wanting to achieve his own ambition, the western campaign will become his only choice.”
“When those on the eastern campaign discover their efforts have all become a joke, the Turks will collapse without a fight. They’ll only think about quickly going home, quickly catching up with their family members’ footsteps. Whether they’re Turks, Xueyantuo people, Zhaowu Nine Surnames people, or Tuyuhun people, they’ll all have the same problem.”
Liu Fang said thus, waving his cattail-leaf fan.