All her soldiers were loyal and had been with her through thick and thin; she could not see them being executed by Sultan Gu. However, they were in the Royal Court and should follow the customs. It was also Xie Peng and them who were at fault in this matter. Only by first clarifying the matter clearly could she find a solution.
Xie Chong gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Recently, the city has been very lively. There are many merchants taking advantage of the festival to enter the city to sell goods. We heard that a horse seller in the south of the city sells good horses and went searching. Who knew that there were more than horses being sold..."
His eyes were red, "They also sell people! They also sell Chinese people!"
Yaoying slightly sighed inwardly.
Human trafficking was one of the most profitable businesses on the Western Regions' trading routes, and almost all Western merchants sold female slaves. In the past, most of those sold to the Central Plains were pretty Hu women, but here in the Western Regions, those who were kidnapped, tied up with straw ropes, and traded like livestock were captives of various tribes, including a large number of Han Chinese.
With the decline of the Central Plains empire, the status of Han Chinese in the Western Regions fell to the ground. Reduced to pariahs, they were forced to cut off all ties with the Central Plains, forced to speak Hu, practice Hu customs, braiding their hair to the left, completely at their mercy.
Xie Chong knelt down to Yaoying, his tiger-like eyes in tears: "Princess, Xie Peng and I understood our current situation and did not want to make trouble. We were going to quietly walk away... but an old man heard us talking and suddenly rushed up crying..."
The old man was grey-haired, thin and bony, practically just skin and bones. He fell at Xie Peng's feet, rough fingers clutching the corner of his robe. But when he spoke, it was the authentic, official language of the Central Plains: "Heaven has eyes! Heaven has eyes! Before I die, I can actually hear my native tongue again!"
Xie Chong and Xie Peng helped the old man up.
The old man asked them where they were from. When he learned that they had come from the Central Plains, he froze for half a day and suddenly let out a bawling cry.
"Does the Emperor of the Central Plains still remember us commoners? We have suffered waiting for the Emperor's troops to recover the rivers and mountains, waiting for decades!"
The two soldiers were red-eyed, unable to respond.
In the previous dynasty, when the Zhu clan had just founded the empire, they wanted to recover the Western Regions. However, the military strength was lacking, the troubles in the imperial court so intense that the nation did not last beyond a few generations. The current emperor Li De and Crown Prince Li Xuanzhen wanted to regain Helong, but the founding of the Wei empire was still short, and facing internal and external problems while also not understanding the situation in the Western Regions, they temporarily did not dare to rashly send troops.
The two men did not know how to answer the old man. The old man also did not expect to hear a positive answer, crying in despair.
At that moment, the Hu merchant selling the slaves swung his whip over. The old man was beaten to the ground.
Xie Peng, unable to bear to see the old man suffer humiliation, wanted to pay to buy the old man, but the merchant, because they were Chinese, deliberately made things difficult. He, in front of two, went as far as beating the old man alive!
The old man, who came from a prestigious family in Hexi, was taken captive to the Western Region when he was young. A slave for decades, he still did not forget his hometown, only hoping that the emperor's troops could recover Hexi as soon as possible. This kind of old man was killed alive!
Speaking until here, Xie Chong hands clenched into fists. Trembling, he forced himself to hold back his anger and sadness, saying: "Xie Peng wanted to save the old man, and clashed with the Hu merchant, accidentally injuring him. The city's soldiers arrested Xie Peng and Xie Chong, saying they broke the law and should be beheaded according to the law! They have been escorted to the Regent!"
Yaoying sighed.
Xie Peng and Xie Chong were too impulsive.
Her mind whirring wildly, she called for the other personal soldiers and gave them orders one by one: "You quickly go to the treasury and get some cloths and silk, jewels and jade and send them to the Hu merchant, asking them to go speak on their behalf. Bribe the city officials and ask if silver can be used to pay for the crime."
The personal soldiers complyingly saluted and went their separate ways.
Yaoying took Xie Qing to the main hall. She was walking quickly, almost reaching the long corridor, when her footsteps stopped.
Would someone as noble and honorable as Tumoroga care about such a trivial matter? He was preparing for the scripture debate these days and was said to be in seclusion, not seeing anyone.
Yaoying hesitated for a moment. Returning to the courtyard, she asked the guard on duty: "Is General Ashina on duty today?"
The guard immediately said, "Wait a moment, Princess. I will go and invite General Ashina."
Yaoying was stunned.
Another guard explained, "General Ashina has instructed that if the princess asks about him, whether he is on duty or not, we must go and inform him immediately."
The tall, strong figure of Ashina Bisha soon appeared at the courtyard entrance, his golden braided hair making the sunlight appear a few shades darker in comparison.
"Princess is looking for me?" He asked with a grin.
Yaoying stepped forward and told him about Xie Peng's situation: "My personal soldiers have violated your distinguished nation's laws and should be punished according to the law, but they are loyal and devoted, following me through many ups and downs. I indeed cannot bear to see them die in a foreign land. Moreover, they did injure but not to the point of death. They truly are guilty but should not be executed. Is there no way to turn this around?"
Bisha put away his joking expression, frowning lightly: "They were sent to Sultan Gu?"
Xie Chong nodded his head at the side.
Bisha sighed and said with a bitter smile, "The Regent's temper... I'm afraid it is not easy to deal with."
Yaoying's heart tightened.
Bisha looked down at her. Seeing her brows lightly knitted, her face pale, the pair of watery bright eyes fixedly looking at him, her features were beautiful as a painting. He suddenly felt his body go soft. Scratching his head, he softened his tone, saying: "Since there was no injury to life, in fact, it is not a big deal. Come with me, Princess. I will go seek the Regent."
After saying that, fearing that Yaoying would be scared, he added, "Don't be afraid, Princess. I'm here!"
Yaoying quietly sighed with relief, thanked him gratefully, and followed him out of the palace.