It was only after Hesijia arrived in Lanzhou that she realized she had been deceived.
Seven days ago, her second brother Tanli returned to the imperial capital from the battlefield on the Western Front and reported to his father Khan and ministers the results of his initial contact with the Xinjiang Army:
Li Jiangyao is willing to temporarily cease the war and start peace talks.
This means that Ashina's delaying strategy is about to work.
The Turkic monarchs and ministers were very happy about this. After stabilizing the Xinjiang Army, they will be free to deal with Li Bing first. Once the situation in the Central Plains is completely opened, the Turks will have the opportunity to revitalize the situation at hand.
At least, that's what they think.
Tanli received Ashina's approval and made another suggestion: he hoped that his sister and brother-in-law could also go to the Lanzhou front line to help him mediate and hold the other party back.
The reason he gave was very good: Hesijia had dealt with the Zhenjiang Army before, and the noble status of Hesijia and Yun Qianxue made it easier for Li Jiangyao to believe that the Turks were sincere in peace talks.
In this regard, Ashina Zhijin was quite hesitant. Hesijia was the apple of his eye, and he was unwilling to let this girl take risks. However, Tanley found his sister privately, coaxed and lied, and used national justice to force the Heskaya couple to agree to go.
Seeing that his daughter and son-in-law both expressed their willingness to go on a mission, Ashina Zhijin finally nodded helplessly. After all, this peace talk is just a pretense. Just meet Li Jiangyao casually and delay him for a month or two. With the protection of the Eleventh Legion, Hesijia should not encounter any danger.
In this way, Yun Qianxue handed over the command of the Blood Guard Cavalry Corps, accompanied her beloved wife, and followed her good brother Tanli to the Lanzhou front line.
But who could have expected that as soon as they arrived, they would be placed under house arrest by the Golden Wolf Army.
Hesijia realized that something was wrong and asked to see Tanli many times. Unexpectedly, the guard guarding them said that His Royal Highness the Second Prince had gone to the Zhenjiang Army Camp and would not be back for a few days.
Three days later, Tanley finally returned to Lanzhou. Accompanying him was Yudala, the special envoy of the Xinjiang Army and the head of the Intelligence Department.
Yuduoluo met with He Sijia and Yun Qianxue on behalf of Li Jiangyao, the Great Protector of the Zhenjiang Army and the Holy King of Western Xinjiang. As soon as he came up, he went straight to the point and directly relayed Li Jiangyao's suggestion to the couple: Ask the wise couple to join His Highness Tanli to sign a peace and friendship treaty with the Shengtang Dynasty, and immediately return to the Turkic Empire to reorganize the country.
This is more of an "order" than a "suggestion."
Because behind this suggestion, there is another sentence: If the wise couple refuses to accept this suggestion, then the Zhenjiang Army will have no choice but to attack Lanzhou.
Attacking when disobedient and "helpless"?
Hesijia's powdery face was frosty and she asked coldly: "Where is General Li now? Metasequoia City or Zijin Pass?"
Yuduoluo replied calmly: "Reporting to Your Highness, the Protector-General has arrived at the front line of Lanzhou and is with Marshal Xu."
Hearing the word "Xu Shuai", Hesijia couldn't help but trembled in her heart, and immediately regained her composure: "I request to meet General Li and General Xu, and there is no need to discuss anything else!"
Hearing this, Yudala glanced at Tanli next to him, and Tanli made a helpless expression: "Her Royal Highness the Princess and Jun Yun are both representatives of my father Khan, and it is normal for them to request a meeting. "
Yudala nodded in understanding: "I understand, I will go back immediately to report to the Great Protector and ask him to make a decision."
Not long after, a reply came from the Zhenjiang Army: they agreed to meet. I would like to ask the three representatives of the Turks to condescend to come and meet us at our military camp.
In this way, He Sijia and Yun Qianxue were "protected" by the Golden Wolf Army again, and followed Tanli to Yongdeng County, located in the northwest of Lanzhou.
At this time, Yongdeng County has become the frontline base camp of the Zhenjiang Army. More than 300,000 troops have gathered here, with strong soldiers and horses, and they can conquer mountains and rivers.
Li Jiangyao, dressed in cyan casual clothes and accompanied by Xu Youchang in full armor, met with Tanli and the others at the Yongdeng County Yamen.
As Hessgar said in his letter, everyone has changed after a few years of separation.
Xu Youchang's resolute and simple face is engraved with the weather and frost of the battlefield, and there are some gray spots on the temples;
Hesijia is now a wife, and she lacks the innocence of a girl, but has more of the elegance and charm of a mature woman;
Tanli didn't know when he started to slowly grow a beard. He changed his previous image of a bohemian young man and became more and more like a traditional Turkic prince and noble;
The scar on Yun Qianxue's face is still very conspicuous, and the bravery in his eyes is no longer as aggressive as before, and his clear eyes are mixed with a bit of indescribable melancholy.
The one who has changed the most is Li Jiangyao.
People are still the same people. Calm, free and easy, shrewd and wise. But at the same time, a kind of kingly aura that is proud of the world also emerges, which is impressive.
Hesijia looked at Li Jiangyao and Xu Youchang in front of her and sighed secretly in her heart. She touched her left chest with her right hand and bowed: "Hesijia, the special envoy of the Great Khan of the Holy Lord of the Turkic Empire and Princess Yingyang, sends my regards to the Protector General and General Xu. With the highest respect.”
Li Jiangyao sat motionless, only smiled and raised his hand: "Your Highness, you have had a hard journey. Come, please give seats to the three special envoys."
Hesijia and the others sat down as instructed. Xu Youchang stared at the princess, his eyes full of soft and deep light, and he asked gently: "Your Highness, have you considered our suggestions carefully?"
Hesijia's eyes met Xu Youchang's, and a hint of resentment flashed across her face, and she said in a deep voice, "I wonder what the suggestion General Xu is referring to?"
Xu Youchang said calmly: "The Great Protector hopes that you, His Highness Tanli, and General Yun Qianxue can escape from this war as soon as possible and return to the Turkic Empire."
Hesijia nodded slightly and turned to look at Li Jiangyao: "Daduhu, you want me to betray my father. I understand this, right?"
Li Jiangyao first glanced at Yun Qianxue, who was full of anger, and then responded: "That's right, that's also wrong."
Hesijia smiled sweetly: "Is it right or wrong? Daduhu is still the same as before, he likes to say some two-faced words that make people confused and can't grasp the pain. I would like to ask Daduhu to give me some advice on what is right. , that’s not right either.”
Faced with Hesijia's sarcasm, Li Jiangyao did not show any disobedience and said calmly: "I believe that for the future of the Turks, betraying the Khan does not mean betraying the empire. Such high-sounding rhetoric should not be tolerated in front of the princess and the consort. That’s great. Is my guess right?”
Yun Qianxue said coldly: "The Great Khan is the Empire, and the Empire is the Great Khan. There is no difference between the two. We will definitely not choose to betray like Stanley. Since both sides already know what each other's intentions are, there is no difference between them. We must continue to deceive each other. You two, let’s meet on the battlefield.”
"Jun Yun, what are you doing!" Tanli stopped him quickly and said, "The Protector-General and Xu Shuai are compassionate and do not want to harm our Turkic soldiers anymore, so why do you insist on pushing everyone into the fire pit?! Protector-General, Yun Qianxue has a straightforward temper and harsh words, you must not be like him."
"Tanli, shut up!" Yun Qianxue raised her sword eyebrows and said angrily: "Are you worthy of talking in front of Hesijia and me? You are greedy for life and afraid of death, betrayed your father, betrayed your sister and friends, you are still considered Are you human? I can’t wait to kill you right away!”
Hesijia said coldly: "Jun Yun, please be more restrained. Let's go back and settle our own accounts slowly. Don't embarrass the Turks in front of the Protector and General Xu."
Hearing this, Yun Qianxue could only groan and say no more. His handsome face was full of coldness and pride.
Li Jiangyao smiled faintly when he saw this: "Let me just say that you are not convinced by those common principles. But fortunately, I have other reasons."
Seeing that there was still room for improvement, Tanli couldn't help but be happy: "Oh, please give me some advice."
Li Jiangyao rolled his eyes at him and said to He Sijia and Yun Qianxue: "I just received information. On the second day of your departure, the Tenth Army of Temple Prince Ronya entered Tianshui, and the Fifth Army entered Baoji, The first unit of the Polar Corps has entered Hanzhong. Three of you, do you know what this means?"
He Sijia and Yun Qianxue couldn't help but were stunned and looked at each other.
Tanli was even more surprised and said: "This is impossible! After learning that I had stabilized the Xinjiang Army, Father Khan had already decided to use troops in the Central Plains first. How could he dispatch the main force of the Golden Tribe to set up a defense line behind me?"
Xu Youchang said in a deep voice: "That is indeed the case. My scout team has already confirmed it."
Li Jiangyao faced the three people who were shocked and said calmly: "What does this mean? The only thing that can be explained is that your father Khan has seen His Highness Tanley's true plan and acquiesced to all this. "
As soon as these words came out, Hesijia and the others were stunned, and they didn't know how to react for a moment.
Xu Youchang nodded and explained softly: "The actions of the Fifth Army and the Tenth Army of the Golden Tribe are very unreasonable. They did not directly deploy heavy troops to garrison Lanzhou, but chose to deploy layers of defenses behind Lanzhou. They were obviously preparing for the loss of Lanzhou. The city is preparing. To be honest, the implication of releasing water is very obvious.”
Li Jiangyao continued: "Prince Tanli, think about it, what kind of negotiation can require Her Majesty the Princess to intervene? Even if I, Li Jiangyao, am confused, I will not be fooled around by a delicate little girl. Right? If the Turkic Khan treats me like this, he will really live up to his reputation."
Tanli was stunned and said: "You mean, Father Khan let us go on purpose?"
"Your father has good intentions." Li Jiangyao sighed softly, looking at the sky outside the window: "Perhaps he wants to complete an unspoken deal with me. The price of the deal is Lanzhou City, and the deal The result is that I let his children have a way of life and the Turkic Empire a way of life."
Although everything Li Jiangyao said sounds incredible, looking at it from another perspective, it is not impossible.
The Turkic Eastern Conscripts and Horses were firmly trapped in the Guanzhong area by the Zhenjiang Army. They struggled to break through the encirclement three times in a row, but failed to open the door of Zijin Pass. Maybe Ashina Zhijin was really desperate. For the sake of the future of the Turkic Empire, and for his son, daughter and son-in-law to survive and return to their homeland, he went along with the flow and acquiesced to Tanli's plan.
Of course, this is just Li Jiangyao's guess, and there is no actual evidence to prove this inference.
However, Ashina, who has always been maverick and unconventional, made a series of unreasonable arrangements.
First, they agreed that Tanli would negotiate with the Zhenjiang Army on behalf of the Turks, and then agreed to let Hesijia and Yun Qianxue also come to Lanzhou. Then they specially deployed the main force to hold the last line of defense in the east of Lanzhou.
No matter how you look at it, it seems like he did it intentionally so that Tanli Hesijia and the others could gain forgiveness from Li Jiangyao and lead the Eleventh Legion back to the Western Continent.
This will be the last fire of the Golden Tribe and the last hope of the Turkic Empire.
"No, that's not the case!" Hesijia said stubbornly with tears in her eyes: "Father Khan is by no means the kind of person who gives up easily. He will lead us to continue fighting!"
Yun Qianxue suddenly reached out to support his wife's trembling shoulders and said in a deep voice: "Perhaps the guardian is right..."
As he spoke, he took out a golden token from his arms: "This was secretly given to me by the Great Khan himself before we set off. At that time, he told me that with this golden token of the Holy Khan, all Turks could be mobilized. I was asked to take the imperial army with me, just in case something unexpected happened. At that time, I thought it was used to control the 11th Legion, but now I think about it, the Great Khan... the Great Khan might really want us to go back……"
"Father--" Hesijia could no longer hold back her grief, turned around and threw herself into Yun Qianxue's arms, crying uncontrollably.
[Heroes, the decisive battle between the Zhenjiang Army and the Turks is coming. Please use your precious comments and likes to cheer for Li Jiangyao and the others! 】
