Hong Cheng proudly explained to His Majesty the Emperor the basic principles of secret codes. Before he could finish, Li’er had already understood what Hong Cheng meant by these codes. Books written by great scholars always had traceable patterns. As for the books Hong Cheng would write, they should be feasible. At least, given how familiar he was with Hong Cheng, he had no idea what sort of thing he would actually produce. Clever boy—now whenever he does anything, he tries to extricate himself from trouble. Dream on! When you return to the capital, you’ll learn that my noble titles and stipends aren’t so easily earned. Want to hide away in the academy for peace and quiet? Fat chance!
“Hong Cheng, write your book well. When it’s finished, I shall reward you handsomely. Oh, I’ll reward you with five hundred strings of cash.”
Seeing Hong Cheng’s disappointment, he added: “A grand sum like five thousand strings—your master can’t afford to reward that right now. Even if I did reward it, you wouldn’t dare accept it. The censors would criticize you to death. Sigh, what kind of person is Yun Ye? If you think you can gain advantage trading with him, wait until your next life. He knew that presenting this method to me directly wouldn’t get him any benefits. Only through a fool like you can his interests be maximized. Why do you all rush to trade with him, and remain smugly satisfied even after being deceived? I don’t believe that if you hadn’t accepted, he would dare not present this good method to me! A perfectly good child—what has he become now? I don’t know how the Empress has been teaching him.”
“Is Your Majesty blaming this consort for negligent instruction?” Empress Zhangsun, dressed in full regalia and displaying graceful bearing, appeared particularly voluptuous having just given birth. She had specially applied a flame pattern on her forehead and was standing nearby, laughingly bantering with the Emperor.
“Empress, come see what this is.” After speaking, Li’er held the jade seal in his palm for the Empress to see.
Empress Zhangsun’s eyes widened like saucers, her mouth agape. Pointing at the jade seal in Li’er’s hand, she asked in amazement: “Could this be the Imperial Seal of State?”
Li’er nodded with a smile. Empress Zhangsun immediately straightened her clothing and bowed down respectfully: “This consort congratulates Your Majesty and congratulates the realm.”
In an instant, the guards, palace maids, and eunuchs standing at the palace gate all bowed down, saying in unison: “We congratulate Your Majesty and congratulate the realm.”
Li’er placed the Imperial Seal back in its box and frowned—he disliked this crude container. He took the seal out again and handed it to the Empress, asking her to find a proper box specifically for storing this treasure.
The news of victory seemed to grow legs, spreading throughout Chang’an in an instant. The barbarians in the city became increasingly humble, while the Han sons grew more arrogant—this was the chain reaction brought by victory. In this era of conquest and subjugation, a thoroughly satisfying great victory was far more useful than poetry and cultural education.
Officials were all taking up their brushes to write congratulatory memorials, scholars began singing war songs, and even Yanlai Tower quietly put out signs for half-price liquor… Tonight there would be no curfew.
On this day of universal celebration, Zhang Baoxiang, Deputy Commander of the Datong Campaign, was still searching the wilderness for Xie Li. The bitter cold wind had numbed his limbs, but in his chest still burned a searing flame. After the Battle of Yin Mountain, the desperate Xie Li had fled westward, losing his trail in this wilderness. Watching the Great Tang cavalry patrolling everywhere, Zhang Baoxiang believed that Xie Li, without his guards, could not escape this wilderness.
The wilderness stretched endlessly. Xie Li’s warhorse had long been exhausted and finally collapsed on the plain. Over these past days, this horse had been his water flask and his food pack. The crisscrossing wounds on the warhorse’s body revealed what it had endured. Xie Li had survived these seven days on the warhorse’s blood. Now his last support had fallen on the grassland. He extracted his left leg from beneath the horse and swiftly used his knife to cut the muscle from the horse’s leg. While the horse meat still retained some warmth, he needed to eat quickly. The cold wind would soon freeze the meat as hard as stone.
The warhorse wasn’t dead yet, merely lacking strength. Its head moved with difficulty twice before its eyes closed. Xie Li put the blood-soaked horse meat in his mouth and chewed vigorously. His small knife was sharp and could easily cut the horse meat into strips, making it very convenient to eat. He didn’t care about the taste of this bloody flesh—he only knew that not eating meant death.
How could a person squeeze into such a small hole? This was a marmot burrow on the grassland. These rodents, only slightly larger than rats, loved most to dig holes. They always dug many burrows to evade the eyes of hunting falcons above, which also provided natural refuges for other small animals, such as rabbits. Xie Li surely wished now that he could become a marmot or rabbit-like small creature. Unfortunately, years of comfortable living had transformed his once robust physique into layers of fat.
There was nowhere to hide, only the rat hole before him. The once mighty Xie Li, who had dominated a region, felt somewhat dejected. He wanted to turn back and fight to the death with those cursed Great Tang cavalry—at least that wouldn’t tarnish the Khan’s name. The curved blade in his hand remained sharp, but the man had transformed from rock to mud.
He struggled to burrow into the hole, only thinking of how to evade the Tang people, not considering how to get out after entering. The burrow was pitch black inside. There seemed to be two glowing green eyes staring at him. His entire body couldn’t move—the surrounding soil seemed to come alive, fixing him tightly in the burrow.
Those glowing green eyes belonged to a marmot. He had eaten countless of these small creatures—their meat was delicious, their pelts superior. He even had a coat sewn from marmot fur that was very warm. Now he had awakened the hibernating marmot. Didn’t these things only eat grass? Why was it now biting his forehead?
Xie Li despaired. He really didn’t want to be eaten alive by a marmot in this dark burrow. He began shouting loudly, but unfortunately, his voice couldn’t reach the surface—it could only temporarily frighten away the marmot.
Zhang Baoxiang searched this entire wilderness but still couldn’t see any sign of Xie Li. Xie Li’s dead warhorse still had warmth, the blood on its thigh hadn’t yet congealed. All signs indicated Xie Li was within three miles, yet his three thousand soldiers couldn’t find him—truly strange. If this were high mountains and dense forests, it would be understandable, but now he was in open wilderness. Without even standing on horseback, he could see three miles in all directions. Xie Li, where are you?
Going to heaven was impossible, so he could only enter the earth. “Search all burrows and mounds. Don’t overlook any trace, even if you must dig three feet into the ground to find Xie Li.” Zhang Baoxiang’s palms were full of sweat. Li Ji was still forty miles away—he didn’t want this enormous merit to fall into another’s hands.
The wilderness had only a thin layer of snow. The heavy snow from days ago apparently hadn’t reached here. After all, this was already a thousand miles away, less than five hundred miles from Tuyuhun. The relationship between Great Tang and Tuyuhun wasn’t good. If Xie Li escaped, half the glory of this great Yin Mountain victory would diminish. Zhang Baoxiang understood this, as did Li Ji.
Daylight hours in the wilderness winter were extremely short. By the hour of You, the sun would set, and the wilderness would be pitch black. Then catching Xie Li, a native grassland man, would become difficult. Now only a bit over an hour remained until sunset.
Under the bright sunlight, nothing could hide. The eagles flying in the high sky, the marmots watching from mounds—all fell into Zhang Baoxiang’s view. Only Xie Li was absent. Could he really have transformed into an eagle, as Turkic mythology claimed?
Zhang Baoxiang had also grown up on the grasslands. Precisely because he knew grassland geography well, he had received this appointment from the Great Tang Emperor. For a mere judicial officer to receive such an appointment could almost be called ascending to heaven in one step. But illustrious official positions equally required illustrious military achievements to support them. Capturing Xie Li alive would completely repay His Majesty’s recognition and grace.
The eagle overhead was circling. The anxious marmot still refused to return to its burrow. Zhang Baoxiang suddenly laughed heartily and led his men to surround that small mound. The marmot fled in panic. Before running far, it was captured by the eagle above and carried to the ninth heaven.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Baoxiang laughed even more cheerfully. Coming to the marmot’s burrow entrance, he looked inside. This was a newly opened hole. In his youth, he had caught marmots—marmot oil was the best medicine for treating scalds and burns. Taken internally, it could dissolve stasis and stop bleeding; used externally, it could treat arthritis. Such a treasure held fatal attraction for Zhang Baoxiang, who came from humble origins. He circled half the mound and came to its back, discovering another burrow. Seeing knife marks, his heart nearly flew from his chest. He truly couldn’t believe heaven would favor him so.
His subordinates quickly dug out the marmot’s den. The assembled soldiers didn’t first issue a cheer but instead burst into roaring laughter. The formerly noble, gloomy, authoritative Xie Li was wedged in the rat hole, unable to move, his forehead covered with marmot bite marks.
Zhang Baoxiang personally reached in and pulled Xie Li from the burrow. At the first opportunity, he used rope to gag his mouth, binding Xie Li tightly. He cleared two horses, used a long spear as a crossbeam, threaded it through the bound hands and feet, and secured it firmly between the two horses. Zhang Baoxiang didn’t want any further accidents.
A black smoke signal rose from the wilderness, followed by one signal after another rising from the grassland. This smoke signal was the agreed-upon sign—it didn’t represent enemy invasion. It represented Xie Li’s capture. It wound through the grasslands, across the desert, over mountains, crossing great rivers. The distance of ten thousand miles took only half a day to reach Chang’an. The beacon tower on Longshou Plain, seeing the signal smoke from Li Mountain in the distance, poured oil on the already prepared wet firewood. A torch was thrown into the woodpile, and thick black smoke immediately billowed forth.
The feast in Taiji Palace was interrupted by guards: “Your Majesty, the Longshou Plain beacon has been lit!”
Li’er cast aside the golden goblet in his hand and came before the hall. Under a distant bright moon, black smoke rose straight up from the beacon tower.
Beckoning an attendant, he said loudly: “Come! Bring me a giant goblet.”
A brimming goblet of wine was held high by Li’er. Tears slid down his cheeks, unable to contain the heroic spirit in his chest: “Ministers, Xie Li has been captured! The Turkic campaign is settled! Come, I shall not return until drunk with you all—drink to victory!”
The hall echoed with cries of “Drink to victory!” Li Yuan heard from afar. Looking at the smoke signal outside, the corners of his mouth turned up: “Perhaps I too should go celebrate.”