Xi Tong’s camp was in complete chaos. He didn’t expect a group of bandits to be able to follow strict military orders. Xi Tong had witnessed Yun Ye’s great army more than once or twice—orders being carried out and prohibitions being observed were the most basic military principles.
He bellowed a couple of times but didn’t receive good results. There were even bandits who tossed wine sacks over, inviting him to drink. Sighing quietly in his heart, he lifted the wine sack and drained it in one breath, drawing a chorus of cheers and praise.
“Husband, you were too rash. Even if you want to reach a mutual assistance agreement with the Turks, you shouldn’t speak of it in broad daylight before everyone. This will bring disaster upon you. It’s enough that you alone know about the Yun family’s arrangements here. You absolutely must not speak of it, otherwise tremendous catastrophe will immediately descend. Marquis Yun is now a great general holding military authority, not your everyday brother. At this time, for the sake of military secrets, he might very well steel his heart to eliminate us.”
“These years you’ve killed countless mountain bandits and also subdued countless mountain bandits. You have innumerable enemies. In the Central Plains, things are truly unstable. Although you have the Yun family’s protection and the authorities have never troubled you, such days cannot last forever.”
“Madam Yun’s letter has given you an extremely good opportunity—an opportunity to establish meritorious achievements and build a career. Seize it and we can live well in our own country, never again having to act according to others’ moods. You are a great hero, a great warrior—how can you remain subordinate to others?”
Xi Tong looked at Jiuniang and smiled helplessly. Hanging his long sword on the rack, he said: “I actually don’t care. Yun Ye is my brother. Naturally, I would never betray him until death. In the letter to him, I’ve already explained my plans clearly. If he’s unwilling to let me compete for supremacy beyond the frontier, this trip I’ll just consider it helping him.”
“Whether I’m a king or a farmer, I don’t care. Since you want our children to become royalty, naturally I’ll give it my all. As for Yun Ye, you don’t need to worry. I know what kind of person he is more clearly than you do. Since I’ve said I want to establish my own country in the west like the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu, he won’t oppose it. Whatever support I want, he’ll definitely give it to me.”
Jiuniang’s face was terribly pale. She struggled hard to restrain herself from trembling. The idea was beautiful, but after arriving at Suiye City, she discovered that things here were a thousand times more complex than she had imagined.
Xi Tong embraced Jiuniang’s body and stroked her hair, saying: “Yun Ye once said that a person’s lifetime is just a joke. Try your best to let yourself live easily and freely—that’s good. I think these words are very much to my taste, so I didn’t oppose your idea. Since we want to be kings, we’ll go do it. If we don’t do it, how will we know we can’t become kings? Moreover, those bastards outside really have no way to make a living. The Great Tang is now deploying great generals to lead the suppression of bandits. Who knows what wind possessed the emperor? The great army combs through the Hebei region back and forth like a fine-toothed comb. The mountain bandit heads hanging on city walls are as numerous as the gourds you dry in the sun. We have to find them a way to survive, so as not to waste them calling me big brother.”
“Your concubine doesn’t know if what she’s doing is right or not, husband. Your concubine has no way to be certain.” Jiuniang finally couldn’t help but bury herself in Xi Tong’s embrace and weep.
Xi Tong laughed cheerfully and said: “What’s this talk of right and wrong? It’s nothing more than this one life. What does it amount to? The difficult thing in a person’s lifetime is not living cheerfully. Xiao Tie, Xiao Chui, Xiao Jian, Xiao Dao will all help you. We just have many sons, and their martial skills are good too. The whole family wants to see you smile. Hehe, why not just seize a piece of territory for you in this purgatory? As long as you’re happy, that’s good.”
“Tomorrow I’ll go find Liu Fang to ask her for supplies and provisions. With these things, we can recruit soldiers and buy horses. The better personnel were already snapped up by Xiao Miao, so we’ll go find horse bandits.”
“I’ve heard you say that Liu Fang is Yun Ye’s first strategist. I don’t know if she’ll give them to us.” Jiuniang was still worried.
Xi Tong picked up Jiuniang horizontally and said as he walked: “We’ll only know after asking. Tomorrow’s matters we’ll discuss tomorrow. Things have been busy these days. We haven’t enjoyed ourselves for a long time. Tonight we’ll make up for it, hahaha…”
Xiao Miao rested her chin on the table, her two hands constantly scratching back and forth on the tabletop. She couldn’t beat Dan Ying—no matter what, she couldn’t beat Dan Ying. This was truly irritating. She very much wanted to try out her petty thieving skills tonight.
Supporting herself with both hands on the table, she slid out the window like a civet cat. Iris lay at the other end of the table. She had long become accustomed to Her Highness’s strange behavior. Counting on her fingers, Her Highness would always return when she bent down her ninth finger. She wondered if this time she could persist a bit longer.
This time the return was very quick. The finger had only bent to the sixth when she came back, her face covered in grease, a chicken leg dangling from her mouth. She continued lying on the table sulking, biting that chicken leg with crunching sounds.
Iris didn’t ask what caused this situation. She obediently brought hot water to wipe Xiao Miao’s face.
“Master said my petty thieving skills have already reached great accomplishment. How is it that I still can’t deal with this fellow?” Xiao Miao grabbed Iris by the collar and lifted her up to ask.
Iris helplessly shook her head and said: “It shows this fellow is very formidable, more formidable than ordinary people.”
Xiao Miao put the lifted Iris down on the table. She herself paced around on the floor thinking of solutions. That fellow called He Tianshang was easy to deal with—give him a punch to the eye and he’d obediently go to sleep. Dan Ying was truly too annoying. She merely wanted to go out for a stroll and gather some intelligence. Why did he have to sit in the courtyard drinking, even saying he was admiring the moon? Was there even a moon tonight?
“Junior martial sister, you shouldn’t go out anymore. Suiye City is very dangerous right now. Many strange people have arrived. Little Ying isn’t letting you out because he’s afraid you’ll ruin the grand plan.” Before Gou Zi finished speaking, he flew out with a nosebleed streaming. Xiao Miao most hated him calling her junior martial sister.
Mister Liu Fang came in. Dan Ying walked in carrying a wine pot. Qu Zhuo followed behind Liu Fang with a grinning smile, making eyes at Xiao Miao. Gou Zi practically hugged the wall as he slipped in, staying far away from Xiao Miao.
There was no help for it. His own qualifications were insufficient. To reluctantly train to his current level was already not easy. But Dan Ying and Xiao Miao, these kinds of geniuses—their martial arts seemed to increase every single day. After several years’ effort, he could no longer defeat either of these two people.
After Iris put down the teapot, she obediently walked out and gently closed the door. Liu Fang had always had very good feelings toward such tactful maidservants.
“Qu Zhuo has returned from Talas and still gained quite a harvest. Most importantly, from the number of people entering and exiting the city gates daily, he determined that the army of Talas is gradually decreasing. This indicates one thing—their Western Expedition is false; returning and flowing back east is the truth. The Tubo people’s envoys have departed. This also shows they’ve already made their decision. In the place where barbarians congregate, seeing Shiwei people and Mohe people isn’t strange. Most bizarre is that here one can actually see Silla people.”
“Hehe, this becomes interesting. The Tubo people departed, the Shiwei people departed, the Mohe people departed, and the Silla people also departed. What do they want to do? What have they discussed and agreed upon? What decision have they made? This old man feels it’s necessary to probe. Three days from now, our great army will transfer into the mountains and begin harassing the Shache Kingdom. If possible, we’ll capture one or two of their cities, then quickly retreat. But we won’t return to Suiye City.”
“What about our home here?” Xiao Miao was somewhat reluctant to leave.
“Give it to Xi Tong, then also ask Han Zhe if he wants to go together with us.”
“Why not notify Xi Tong to advance and retreat together with us?” Dan Ying was very puzzled by Liu Fang’s arrangements. These years he and Xi Tong had been together, their feelings were good, and he was reluctant to abandon him.
Liu Fang glanced at Dan Ying and said: “I feel that in that camp belonging to bandits, the one whose words count isn’t Xi Tong. You go tell him. Let him make his own decision about what to do. Best to advise him quickly. The Turks, Tuyuhun people, Xueyantuo people, plus the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu here—they’ve already reached an agreement. The greatest possibility is they’ll turn around to deal with us. To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the interior—this is a fundamental order. If he fantasizes about forming an alliance with the Turks, we’ll immediately depart without stopping for even a moment.”
“We’ll leave the city right now and go live in the military camp. We won’t leave a single person in the city. It’s very dangerous here now.”
Qu Zhuo finally stood up and said: “Rather than saying we’re an army, we’re better described as a family. He Tianshang deliberately avoided tonight’s meeting. He’s unwilling to get involved. He only wants to help, without entanglement of interests, so he can be trusted. Han Zhe and Xi Tong’s intentions are unclear. As allies is sufficient—they cannot be regarded as family.”
Liu Fang smiled at Qu Zhuo and said: “Young fellow, what a pity. You’re adequate in intrigue but insufficient in open strategy. For now, we’ll make do with using you.”
Xiao Miao immediately stood up to pack her things. Among all the people here, she had the most belongings.
The waning crescent moon always appears latest. When it hung in the sky, Xiao Miao looked with lingering attachment at the small alley where she had lived. The doorway was piled full of food. She didn’t know if those children, upon learning this was the last time food would be delivered to them, would feel disappointed.
“Your Highness, we should leave. They’ve already gone far.” The Iris sisters wore leather armor and pulled Xiao Miao’s war horse through the small alley. Then the three war horses galloped swiftly away.
“I will return!” Xiao Miao said this to herself.
Dan Ying didn’t follow Liu Fang and the others to the military camp. Instead, he rode swiftly to Xi Tong’s encampment, prepared to fulfill a friend’s duty. Liu Fang’s intention was very obvious. She hoped Xi Tong would stay behind and stabilize the Turks, giving her own great army enough time to hide in the mountains. Once the Turks’ large forces began their eastern expedition, her own army could take the lead in attacking the Sassanian Kingdom, tying down as many enemies as possible for Yun Ye, preventing those who wanted to return east from launching war with full force.
If she timed it appropriately, letting everyone see the weakness of the Shache Dashi people, she might be able to let these desperate people see a glimmer of hope, thereby following her westward.
Although such thinking was good, Xi Tong would be dead for certain. Those Turks, Tuyuhun people, and Xueyantuo people who discovered Liu Fang’s intentions would tear this fool into pieces.
Dan Ying actually cursed Xi Tong countless times in his heart. Only if a wandering hero’s brain had been kicked by a donkey would he think about establishing his own country. Yun Ye, Liu Fang—these old villains could all easily push him out as a scapegoat. He probably wouldn’t know why he died even unto death, only blaming his own bad luck.