Gaochang, located in the middle of the Silk Road, was very accessible so it connected in all directions. To the west reached Yanqi, Qiuci, Shule, and more. The east led to Yizhou. Through 800 miles of the barren Moheyan Morraine, was the Yumen Pass, and then to the east were Guazhou and Shazhou.
Right now, Hexi was under the Northern Rong's control. The trade routes were extremely severed, and subsequently, commercial trade in Gaochang declined. Once upon a time, there were inns and post stations lining the oasis like fish scales, merchants from various countries traveling in droves, with talented Hu women spinning and clapping and skillfully singing. Nowadays, it was very difficult to see camels and caravans on the trade routes to and from the Western Regions and the Central Plains. Most of the caravans set off from Gaochang, Yizhou, and other nearby places and traveled directly to the west.
The weather was getting cooler and it is the right time for caravans to travel.
In order to avoid the eyes and ears of the Northern Rong, Yaoying and the team disguised themselves as a caravan selling silk with several large carts full to the brim with goods. These goods not only were used to disguise their identity but after arriving in Gaochang, the merchandise would be then sold locally. The gold and silver exchanged would be used to bribe the princes and nobles in Gaochang.
Lao Qi followed Yaoying on this journey. He had been wandering about for many years and was well-informed as he could speak several kinds of Hu languages.
On the way, Yaoying asked him about the price of silk fabrics, jewelry, jade, and other things in Gaochang. He worked as a steward, so he was knowledgeable in a little bit of everything and answered her questions clearly.
Sultan Gu silently journeyed along, his movements secretive, seeming to be responsible only for surveillance. Other things were taken care of by Yuanjue.
Yaoying felt that Bisha was right. Sultan Gu was indeed eccentric. He practically never talked to anyone and never took off the mask on his face.
The close guards did not dare to disturb him. When there was anything that needed to be reported, they would tell Yuanjue directly, and then Yuanjue would relay the information.
The vigorous hawk followed them all the time. Its huge wings swept past their heads from time to time, enveloping them in dark shadows.
From the Royal Court to Gaochang, from high ground in the northwest and low ground in the southeast, they first passed through a large area of undulating hills with rugged and difficult roads. The terrain gradually leveled out, and after a few days of walking along the foothills of the mountains, an endless plain appeared in front of them. The Gobi Desert's sand weaved in and out and ran across the desert with oases of various sizes scattered out like stars.
Just as the Royal Court attendant said, it had scarcely turned cooler for a few days when signs of snowfall soon appeared. Fierce winds raging, the weather was gloomy, steely clouds shrouding the sky. Walking in the vast emptiness, the sounds reaching their ears was the ghost-like, mournful wailing of the wind. The horizon was desolate and barren. Only when they reach the oases did they occasionally see traces of other camel caravans.
Yaoying was glad that she had prepared thick fur coats beforehand and her soldiers also carried winter coats according to her instructions. They came from the Central Plains and could not bear the bitter winter. Every day, they were wrapped in layers of fur jackets like dumplings.
Within a few days, the temperature plummeted, and the winds mixed with snow assaulted their face. All of them wore wind and snow masks and struggled to move forward in the wind and snow.
When a guest house specializing in providing accommodation and meals for merchants appeared in the middle of the vast Gobi, everyone could not help but cheer and urge their horses to a gallop.
Yaoying turned around to glance back. Sultan Gu was at the very back of the group. One man and one horse, their silhouette solitary.
On this journey, he was either alone in the front to scout the road, or wordlessly followed at the end of the procession. Traveling together for more than ten days, Yaoying had not yet spoken to him.
In the wind, a few clear cries sounded. The goshawk swooped down, circling around Sultan Gu.
Sultan Gu raised his arm, and the goshawk immediately landed on his left arm.
Yaoying frowned lightly. She had seen the goshawk land on Sultan Gu's arm several times these days.
The guest house was built in the middle of Shazhou. Very simple, just a few mud houses, but the good thing was that it was cleaned very well. The innkeeper was a brown-haired, brown-eyed Hu man. Hearing the hoof beats, he had long come out to attentively welcome them in. Seeing Yaoying and her entourage were riding good horses, he was even more so enthusiastic, personally sending hot water and hot soup.
The main area had a fireplace, the hearth burning a scarlet red. The people sent away the shopkeeper, took off their masks, and sat around the fireplace to warm themselves. Two guards stood by the door to keep watch.
Yaoying drank a bowl of hot soup, warmed her hands and feet, and looked around.
Sultan Gu was nowhere to be found.
Other than Yuanjue, everyone else was afraid of him. As long as he was present, even the most lively and active Xie Chong didn't dare to speak loudly.
He probably knew that everyone was afraid of him and kept to himself.
Yaoying asked Yuanjue, "I've seen a goshawk the past few days. That's Buddha's hawk, right? Why is it following us?"
Yuanjue was stunned and replied with a smile, "The king is in seclusion. This goshawk is following us, so if the Regent has something important to report to the king, he can have him deliver the message. As long as a hawk is well trained, it can also be a scout."
Yaoying nodded and then asked, "The hawk was trained by Buddha's son?"
Haidu Aling's Abu was the one he personally captured and raised when he was in his youth. In the Northern Rong, it was a great thing for a teenager to be able to tame an eagle. He was very conceited and always said that Abu was one in a thousand, a divine eagle.
Yuanjue said, "When the king was young, imprisoned in the Buddhist temple, this hawk was injured and fell down the earthen cliff. The king happened to save it. The king entrusted people to send it back to the hawk nest... Those people not only did not send it back but also nearly strangled the hawk to death. The king then left it in his care, saved food to feed it, and then it became the king's hawk. "
Yaoying sighed as she listened.
On the day of Tumoroga's birth, there was a vision in the Holy City, and the sun's glow filled the entire sky. He was the posthumous son of the previous Royal Court's monarch and became the new monarch at birth. Every generation of Royal Court monarchs' births were accompanied by various legends. At that time, it so happened that someone had made an offering to the Royal Court with the legendary Udumbara1 flower, which signified the Buddha's descent to earth. Together with the venerable masters' prophecies, it made the claim that he was the reincarnation of Ananda spread far and wide.
At that time, the princes and nobles who controlled the government did not want Tumoroga to have the people's loyalty and devotion and sent him, a newborn, to the Buddhist temple to be detained.
He was in a difficult position and could not even protect himself, but he gave up his own food to feed a hawk. He was truly compassionate.
Talking about the past, Yuanjie also had some feelings. Pointing to a few close guards to the side, he smiled and said: "They, Banruo, and I, originally orphans with no one to rely on, were sold to a nobleman as slaves. When serving the nobleman, we accidentally made a mistake. The nobleman lost his temper and pulled us to the square to publicly whip us to death. It was the king who saved us and gave us commoner identities. Our names were all given by the king! Most of the Central Army's close guards are sons of noble birth like General Ashina. Only us few are from commoner status."
He was all smiles, and his tone was one of undisguised pride and admiration.
The few close guards beside them also grinned. Back and forth, smiling radiantly, they talked over each other about all the times Tumoroga saved the common people.
Xie Chong, Xie Peng, and the others could somewhat understand the Hu language. Listening in rapt fascination, they incessantly questioned them.
After more than ten days of travel, everyone gradually familiarized themselves. Talking about Tumoroga, the atmosphere was even more harmonious. Laughing and joking, it was very lively.
However, Yaoying's heart jumped when she heard it.
The biggest contradiction between Tumoroga and his ministers lay in the fact that there was no distinction between the noble and the lowly in his heart, treating every citizen as his people. But the Royal Court was not like the Central Plains. Here, there was no Confucian indoctrination, no deep-rooted concept of loyalty between ruler and subject. The nobles could buy and sell slaves. Each big noble owned land and all the people on the land, similar to a lord. In the eyes of the nobles, the people were their slaves.
So when the Northern Rong came raging, what the princes and nobles were most worried about was not the death of the people, but whether they could keep their family's wealth. Just like when the Central Plains were in turmoil, some influential families were willing to instigate battles and collude with foreign enemies for the sake of their family's interests.
Ten years ago, when Northern Rong's army pressed in, the princes and nobles decisively abandoned the city and fled. Without Tumoroga commanding the army, the four army divisions would never have turned back to defend the Holy City.
This was probably also the reason why Tumoroga was still sick. Not only did he have to deter a powerful enemy, but he also had to guard against villains in the court.
In the end, it boiled dry the blood in his heart; a candle reduced to ashes.
Yaoying was absent-minded for a bit. Putting on her veil, she scooped up a bowl of soup, picked up a few pastries baked to softness, and went out of the hall. Her eyes scanned all around, and sure enough, she saw that upright figure on the second-floor corridor.
On this journey, whenever they stopped to rest, Sultan Gu would definitely stand guard in a place with a panoramic view.
He killed people like flies, he was full of hostility from head to toe, and his aura was fierce. No one dared to approach him, but Yaoying felt a sense of peace walking with him.
She ascended to the second floor with her bowl of soup.
When she turned the corner, there was a sudden sharp cry in front of her. The goshawk dived down from high above and swooped towards her, its immense wings sweeping along the fishy wind and lunged straight at her face.
Yaoying hurriedly backed away protecting the soup bowl. Her feet stumbled, and her whole body fell backward.