Xu Youchang held a large bouquet of fiery red brocade flowers in his hand and walked back and forth in circles at the entrance of the small courtyard, but he still could not muster the courage to go in.
On the way to escape to Western Xinjiang, Xu Youchang accidentally rescued the Turkic princess Hesijia who was living here. Then they went to Metasequoia City and finally found a place to stay.
Regarding Hesijia's true identity, Xu Youchang did not dare to disclose it to the outside world, but quietly told Li Jiangyao. Li Jiangyao did not expect that this Turkic princess would have such a tortuous and bizarre experience. After going round and round, she ended up here again. Met.
He thought about it, and in order to prevent his soldiers from having any negative impact on Hesijia due to their hatred of the Turks, he decided to let her temporarily live in the city guard's mansion with Xia Xia, who he had rescued from the horse bandits. Lotus as a companion.
From then on, Hesijia stayed in Metasequoia. It's not that she hasn't thought about returning to Turks as soon as possible, but as Xu Youchang said, there are rebels from various countries operating everywhere in the ghost desert of Western Xinjiang. In the chaos of war, no one can guarantee her safety.
In addition, Xia Lian also became another reason for her not to leave for the time being. Xia Lian is a girl with a pitiful background, but she is kind-hearted and treats people very well. It didn't take long for the two girls to become good friends. They ate and lived together and were almost inseparable. In her spare time, Xia Lian taught Hesijia to pick herbs, cook Western Xinjiang delicacies, weave floral threads, and weave felt blankets. Hesijia gradually fell in love with the life in Metasequoia City, which was peaceful and fulfilling.
In this way, the happiest person is Xu Youchang.
As long as he was not fighting or training, he would find a reason to come visit Hesijia. The attentive Xia Lian saw General Xu's affection for Hesijia, and she always found an excuse to go out and leave the two of them alone.
Although Xu Youchang usually leads the troops with great authority and speaks eloquently when training, but when he was alone with Hesijia, this guy was too stupid to say a word. He only sat quietly aside and looked at Hesijia. Scarlett was busy with needlework.
Even if he didn't say anything, he felt sweet in his heart.
The situation of Hesijia and Xu Youchang is similar. The tall and handsome young general in front of him had a charming and awe-inspiring aura. She had been captured by him once and was rescued again, but no matter when, Xu Youchang was always polite, upright and tolerant in front of her.
Even though Xu Youchang was almost about to write "I like you" on his face, he was still like a shy child, cautious and did not dare to be rude to Hesijia.
Xu Youchang's "silly look" was like a wonderful seed of love that had sprouted in Hesijia's heart unknowingly.
Outside the courtyard door, Xu Youchang was still hesitating. He held the bouquet of brocade flowers tightly in his hand and kept organizing his words in his mind, repeatedly practicing the words he had prepared for so many days. This guy wants to confess to his sweetheart.
Previously, Xu Youchang went to ask Holia specifically about the ways and habits of men in their Western Xinjiang area to show love to their beloved girls. Holia became energetic as soon as she heard this, and ran to pick a large bouquet of Nanjin flowers for Xu Youchang. She also taught him a famous love poem from Western Xinjiang and asked him to recite it to the girl, and then boldly spoke out what was in her heart. .
Xu Youchang thanked him profusely and finally memorized the difficult-to-pronounce Xijiang poem. Then he anxiously ran to the backyard of the city guard's mansion to look for Hesijia.
However, who would have expected that General Xu, who had no fear in the face of thousands of troops, would actually tremble with fear at the door of the small courtyard. He waited outside for half an hour without daring to knock on the door.
Xu Youchang, Xu Youchang, you are really worthless! Doesn’t it mean that I like you? What are you afraid of? No one can die!
Xu Youchang cursed himself secretly, and finally plucked up the courage to step forward, but before he could raise his hand, the courtyard door suddenly opened with a creak, and Xia Lian's figure appeared at the door.
"Ah, General Xu, are you here?" Xia Lian was startled by Xu Youchang, and then she saw the handful of red nanjin flowers in his hand. She understood instantly, turned around and said with a smile: "Sister, hurry up Come! General Xu has something to say to you!"
Xu Youchang was shocked and hurriedly hid the bouquet behind his back. Looking at Hesijia who came from behind with a confused look on his face, he smiled awkwardly.
Hesijia said curiously: "General Xu, what do you want to say to me?"
"Ah? Ah! It's nothing, nothing." Xu Youchang's face turned red. He glanced at Xia Lian who was covering her mouth and having fun, and asked, "What? Are you going out?"
Hesijia first looked at Xia Lian strangely, not knowing what she was laughing about, then turned around and replied: "Well, we have made an appointment with Princess Nanhua to accompany Efentia on an outing outside the city. Xiao Aifen has just arrived in Metasequoia and is unfamiliar with the place, so we take her out to play so that she can get familiar with it as soon as possible."
"It's time to play," Xia Lian hurriedly stopped her: "General Xu seems to have something very important to tell you. It doesn't matter if we go later. You guys talk first, and I'll go back and get something."
Without waiting for Hesijia to speak, Xu Youchang said quickly: "No, no, no, Miss Xia Lian, I think I'd better come here another day. You guys are busy first."
Xia Lian looked at him narrowly and said with a smile: "General Xu, have you thought clearly? Do you really want to come here another day?"
"Another day, another day." Xu Youchang said as he retreated, and then ran away without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Looking at his back as if he was running for his life, Hesijia asked curiously: "What's wrong with him? You said he has something to tell me. What exactly is it?"
Xia Lian pursed her lips and smiled: "Okay, I don't know what it is. You'd better ask General Xu yourself. Come on, let's set off. Don't keep the princess and the others waiting for too long."
"Aren't you going back to get something?"
"I won't take it anymore. I'll take it another day." Xia Lian laughed, took Hesijia's arm and walked out. After a while, the two of them arrived at the place where Efentia lived. Together with Holiya who was waiting there, they mounted their horses and whipped out of the city.
-
The Marquis of Durham, deputy marshal of the Turks, and Duolun, the leader of the Iron Pigeon Army and the new leader of the "Tracing Group", left Beida Camp and headed for the King's Court in Chechi. Today they have been walking for seven or eight days, and when they see that they have entered the border of Chechi, they are not far from their destination.
Durham and Doron were both a little anxious at this time.
According to reports sent by Prince Gunie, King Alekjiang of Loulan led an army of 50,000 and was approaching the border of Chechi. Geerhan was also not to be outdone, and mobilized his first and second legions, a total of 30,000 main troops, to prepare for the attack.
A new war in the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang is about to break out.
But Doron cares about another thing. Blood Guard Generals Kunli Mingtai and Holia applied to the Great Khan to join the "Searching Team" to search and rescue Princess Hesijia. At this time, they had arrived at the royal court of Chechi and were discussing with Prince Gune to prepare for action. For such an important matter, he, as the group leader, must not be absent.
Therefore, Durham and Toronto raced hard without any delay on the road, hoping to reach their destination one day earlier. However, not long after they entered the territory of Chechi, the guide in charge of leading the team suddenly proposed to take a detour, leave the easy-to-travel trade road, and walk a section of the Gobi Desert.
Durham was a little confused and asked the guide why.
The guide explained that not far ahead was Metasequoia City, which was still under the control of the Shengtang Army and was often patrolled by large-scale scout cavalry. Once you encounter it, you may be in danger.
As soon as Duolun heard the word "metasequoia", he immediately remembered the painful memories of the previous attack there, and couldn't help but feel mixed emotions and indescribable discomfort.
Durham was furious. During the Crescent Bay Battle, it was he, the Marquis, who led a surprise attack and annihilated Shengtang's 120,000 elite troops in one battle. Now he was actually asked to take a detour to avoid Shengtang's remaining soldiers. It was really unreasonable!
"What the hell are those ghost-faced white-robed soldiers?!" Durham shouted: "I'll kill one when I see one, and kill a pair when I see two! Take the high road!"
-
"Efentia, Heska, come and see, there are wild fruits here! They can be used to make fruit wine." Xia Lian shouted happily, calling everyone to come to the bushes here.
Horiyah played with the riding crop in her hand and hummed: "I say Efentia, you should be careful! The one next to it is scorpion grass, it can bite!"
Upon hearing this, Efentia quickly retracted her extended hand, being so frightened that she did not dare to move.
Hesijia smiled and said: "It's not as exaggerated as the princess said. This kind of grass has sharp thorns, and it will hurt if you get stung, but you will be fine after a while."
Efentia was relieved, turned around and made a face at Horiyah: "That annoying guy, scaring me all the time."
Princess Nanhua laughed and was about to tease the little Persian girl again. Suddenly, two scout cavalry hurried over and reported to her that the scouts had discovered a Turkic horse team and were approaching here quickly.
Hearing this, Holia immediately became vigilant. While telling Xia Lian and the others to be careful, she got on her horse and prepared to run to check on the enemy.
Seeing this, Efentia shouted excitedly that she wanted to go too, while Hesijia also wanted to take a look because she heard that the people coming were Turks. So, they took Xia Lian to discuss with Holia.
Princess Nanhua was originally a fierce girl who was not afraid of anything. Since the three good sisters had this plan, she certainly wouldn't worry so much and readily agreed immediately. Four people rode fast horses and led dozens of guards to the east.
-
The Turks discovered by the scouts were planning to go to Durham, the royal palace of Chechi.
The closer they got to Metasequoia City, the more Lord Durham deliberately slowed down the entire team, and also erected a Turkic military flag and swaggered through the city. The guide saw this and scratched his head anxiously. He repeatedly persuaded Duolun next to him and quickly changed the route.
Duolun naturally knew the Marquis' temper very well and did not dare to contradict him face to face.
Durham was born into the Turkic Golden Clan, with noble blood, and he was also a fierce general who was good at fighting. The 40,000 golden-armored warriors under his command can be regarded as the ace among the aces of the Turkic army, and they are as close to the heart of Ashina Zhijin Khan as they are.
In the Western Xinjiang War, it was Durham's golden-armored cavalry who first arrived at Crescent Bay and directly tore apart the defense line of the Zhenjiang Protectorate, thus winning the victory for the Turks.
Therefore, the arrogant Marquis of Durham became more and more confident and would not take the small Metasequoia City seriously at all. Duolun is a shrewd person, how could he get into trouble with his senior boss in this matter?
"I'm talking about Little Doron," Durham asked triumphantly on horseback: "I heard that you have attacked this place before. What happened? Didn't you defeat it?"
Duolun and Durham drove side by side: "Master Marquis, it's not like we failed to defeat us. The Great Khan gave me other tasks at that time, otherwise..."
Durham laughed and said, "Come on, I don't know about your gang of brats? They're far from fighting. I'll have my sons come over later and slaughter all of Metasequoia City, so that you can vent your anger."
"The Prince of the Temple has ordered Geerhan to destroy the remaining enemies of the metasequoia. I'm afraid the Marquis's elite intervention is not needed." Duolun was slightly embarrassed.
Durham shook off his beard, twisted his fat body, and said disdainfully: "How can you expect those idiots in Western Xinjiang to do this kind of thing? In terms of combat power and bloody nature, I am a Turk..."
"No!" The guide behind suddenly screamed, interrupting Durham who was about to make an impassioned speech: "Master Marquis, there are enemies over there!"
