Yaoying's body swayed, almost unable to stand steadily.
She didn't know there was a Grand Princess Yiqing in the shadows, and only reminded Li Xuanzhen and Du Sinan in her letter that they should beware of Southern Chu. She didn't know if they could uncover Grand Princess Yiqing's spy.
Haidu Aling laughed lightly: "Seventh Princess, look, if it weren't for the help of your Han princesses, how could I have plundered the Central Plains without a hitch and gotten such a stunning beauty such as the princess?"
Yaoying calmed her thoughts and raised her eyes, "Han people are human, you Northern Rong people are also human, there are good and bad people. I am not Grand Princess Yiqing; I will not cooperate with the prince."
She paused for a moment and straightened her spine.
"Not everyone will be lured in and coerced by the prince. There are many more people like me.
"This time when the prince attacked Great Wei, Southern Chu, which was separated from Great Wei by a deep blood feud, should have sent troops along with you. Yet, they held their troops back, because they knew that the prince's ambition was not just a single Guanzhong. Without lips, the teeth feel the cold, and linked branches share the same spirit1. Although the ambitious people of Southern Chu and Western Shu have been deceived by the prince for a while, once they know the truth, they will never make peace with such a person!
"The Central Plains has been unified. Great Wei will soon pacify the war. Southern Chu and Western Shu will both submit to Great Wei; the mountains and rivers are unified, the ruler and ministers are of one mind. Northern Rong is certainly strong, but Great Wei is not without strong generals!"
Haidu Aling's slender eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his lips hooked up, "Princess' broad-mindedness, this prince admires."
Yaoying said coldly, "The prince's broad-mindedness, I also very much admire."
Haidu Aling paused, "Princess admires this prince?"
The corner of Yaoying's mouth lightly curled: "The prince was not born to Wakhan Khan. In order to repay the Khan's kindness of raising you, you have led the front lines and fought until soaked in blood. How much land did the prince capture for the khan this time?"
Haidu Aling's face stiffened slightly.
Yaoying sensed his anger and thought secretly in her heart: Sure enough, Haidu Aling was very sensitive to his identity. After all, he was not Wakhan's own son.
Haidu Aling seemed unable to respond, and his hands stopped moving, signaling that Yaoying could leave.
Yaoying turned around and brushed her sleeves.
Haidu Aling's face was gloomy. He called his strategist and casually grabbed a cloth towel to wipe the deer blood on his blade, "Did you hear what the Seventh Princess just said?"
The strategist nodded his head.
"She is a delicate woman with such broad-mindedness. Are all the people of the Central Plains really like this? Is this indeed not a good time to attack the Central Plains?"
The strategist deliberated for a moment and said in words that Haidu Aling could understand: "Although Wei has not been established for long, it has won the hearts of the people. As the saying goes, united for long, bound to be divided, divided for long, bound to be united2. Southern Chu was forced until they now hold a small piece of land. The outside looks beautiful, but the inside has long been completely rotten. They are not Wei's rival. Looking at the Central Plains, no other influences can stop Wei's unification of the North and South."
Haidu Aling frowned and pondered.
He was not Wakhan's own son, so what could he get in return for all these painstakingly hard-earned war achievements?
If he continued to stay and attack the Central Plains, even if he captured Guanzhong, Wakhan would not divide Guanzhong to him. Wakhan only had his own sons in mind.
He must first establish a firm foothold within Northern Rong.
Sooner or later, the Central Plains would be his. There was no need to rush.
The Crown Prince did not seem to be uncaring about the Seventh Princess as was rumored. Furthermore, the Second Prince and the Seventh Princess were dependent on each other. He would keep the Seventh Princess for his own use later.
Haidu Aling made up his mind and ordered his strategist: "Starting tomorrow, order all the tribes to throw away their provisions and join my uncle as soon as possible. You stay behind to govern Helong. Don't let the people sent by the other princes steal my war credits!"
The strategist answered yes.
The next day, the speed of the marching party steeply accelerated.
In order to be quick, the troops abandoned the large carriages, and Yaoying was taken on horseback by several strong and skilled Hu women who followed the procession as they sped westward.
They crossed Ganzhou, Suzhou, Guazhou, Shazhou, through the vast wilderness at the foot of the Qilian Mountains, arriving at the eight hundred miles long quicksand.
The Moheyan Moraine, according to written records, was 800 miles long. Its ancient name was Shahe and was without birds, without animals, and without water and plants. At night, the mountain demon spirits lit fires, as brilliant as the stars; at day, the wind embraced the sand, scattering like rain.
Yaoying was taken care of by the Hu girls every day and did not suffer much on her way through the desert. However, she was afraid that Xie Qing and the others had suffered.
They were locked up with the other captives and marched at the end of the group.
Whenever the procession stopped for a rest, Yaoying looked for a chance to talk to the captives, wanting to ask them to help bring a message to Xie Qing, but the few Hu girls were too strict and the captives did not speak Chinese, so she tried several times in vain.
Further north, across the 800-mile Quicksand River, was Izhou.
When the previous dynasty was in turmoil, Izhou was occupied by miscellaneous powers. It was once attached to the Western Turkic, Tubo, and other different tribes. At present, Izhou was under the rule of the Northern Rong, and the Northern Rong encampment was now located in Izhou.
The closer they got to Izhou, the more letters the Northern Rong sentries sent from Wakhan Khan. Haidu Aling was busy dealing with Wakhan Khan, and not a trace of him could be seen.
Tali told Yaoying that Wakhan Khan had been besieging the Royal Court for the past six months, and had lost to the Buddha's son once again not long ago. Angry and anxious, he suddenly fell ill and had to retreat to Tu City, which was why Haidu Aling rushed back to Izhou.
Yaoying secretly sighed with relief.
...
The Western Regions were vast, the climate harsh. Large and small oases were randomly scattered through the territory, and each oasis could only support a limited population.
This geographical environment made it difficult for the Western Regions to produce a rich and powerful empire with a strong military. They simply could not afford to raise a large number of soldiers and horses, so when the Northern Rong attacked, the tribes' troops were uncoordinated and unorganized, unable to put up a fight.
When the Northern Rong conquered the Western Regions back then, the Northern Rong was so powerful that the Northern Rong Khan thought he could level the entire Western Regions in just a few months.
The Northern Rong was invincible, and everywhere the cavalry went, city-states and tribes of all sizes were subservient.
The Khan was complacent and decided to take advantage of the situation to capture the legendary Holy City and make the Buddha's son his prisoner.
Everyone thought that Wakhan Khan would smoothly capture the Holy City and take Buddha's son captive.
However, in that battle, Wakhan Khan, who had a powerful cavalry, lost.
The 30,000 against the Buddha's son's 2,000 men were not only defeated and forced to retreat, but the unbeatable Wakhan Khan, who had lost all his armor, fell off his horse and was nearly trampled to death by his own mount.
That battle, which was won by a severely disadvantaged military, made the thirteen-year-old Buddha's son, Tumoroga, famous in the west and of unprecedented prestige.
At the same time, it left a deep, lasting impression in Wakhan Khan's mind.
The proud Khan was eager to get out of the shadow of his defeat and revive morale. However, he didn't know why, but after that defeat, whenever the Northern Rong army fought against the Royal Court army, especially the middle army loyal to the Buddha's son, something always went wrong.
After another defeat at the hands of Tumoroga's army, Wakhan Khan began to doubt whether Tumoroga could really do magic.
This became a heart disease for Wakhan Khan. From then on, he always subconsciously avoided fighting with the Royal Court.
The Western Regions' northern road was thus peaceful for ten years.
In those two battles, Haidu Aling followed closely by Wakhan Khan's side.
Wakhan Khan's heart disease was also the heart disease of Haidu Aling.
Both generations of khans lost at the hand of Tumoroga, both were apprehensive of the Holy City, and neither dared to launch an attack on it carelessly.
When Tumoroga was alive, neither Wakhan Khan nor Haidu Aling was able to break through the Holy City.
It was not until Tumoroga died of illness that Haidu Aling laughed heartily and said to his men, "Without the Buddha's son, is the Holy City still the Holy City?"
Immediately, he counted his men and led his troops to besiege the Holy City.
Soon after, the Royal Court was destroyed.