In the early morning, Xue Bai woke up in the tent and opened the curtain to see that it was foggy again.
It was not the gray haze he had seen before, but a dreamy fog that diffused from the primeval forest. It was hazy, making the forest look like an elven kingdom.
The composition of the miasma is complex. The most influential one is malaria caused by the bites of various poisonous insects. Now in October, there is also a miasma caused by various corpses and feces.
Xue Bai has been able to figure out some of the rules of the formation of smoke miasma. At night, the dew gas is heavy and the poisonous gas sinks. When the temperature rises during the day, the poisonous gas rises. According to officials who have been to Nanzhao, it is often impossible to see anything within a short distance in the early morning. You must wait until the smog dissipates at noon. Doors and windows must be closed when sleeping at night, and you must not take off your clothes to prevent the smog from invading. If you get up early and rush, You must eat well or drink more alcohol to resist, otherwise you will easily get sick.
For this reason, he asked Nalanzhen to order the march later to delay the encounter with more Tubo and Nanzhao officers and soldiers.
When he camped last night, he chose a sandy beach. He also asked the soldiers to cut more firewood, light bonfires, and prepare big leaves to fan the wind. After he got up, he did not let Li Fei Yuanli order the march. Instead, he asked the soldiers to barbecue and rest around the campfire.
For fear of exposing their flaws, no one spoke. The oppressive atmosphere caused by this habitual silence had the greatest impact on the morale of the military. Xue Bai did not encourage his soldiers to speak, but he calmly learned Tubo language from Li Fei Yuanli.
"This place is called 'Dago Langhou Mountain'. What does 'Wang' mean?"
Li Fei Yuanli scratched his head and said: "I don't know, it's probably the mountains. The Baiman language is somewhat similar to the Chinese language, except for some words."
Xue Bai said in Tubo: "I heard that Liuzhao is difficult to govern, partly because of the language barrier. The Wuman are scattered in the mountains and forests. Among them, the Baiman and Mengshezhaoman have languages. So, Tang chose to support Mengshezhao? "
Li Fei Yuanli was a rough man and didn't know much about these things, but he was very interested in how to conquer Liuzhao and thought about it seriously after hearing the words.
Gong Jiezan walked over at this time and shouted in a condescending tone: "Why can't you do it?!"
"The princess did not give orders."
Xue Bai agreed, looking past Gongjiezan and looking at Paga who was following behind.
Pajia was secretly observing Xue Bai just now. He felt that this "Li Qian" did not look like a slave, but had the aura of pointing the country like a prime minister, like a Tang court official, so he thought about why a Tang court official appeared. With the princess? Where did the original Minister of Security go?
A bold idea popped up in his mind, and Paga was horrified... The next moment, the two looked at each other.
Xue Bai's eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts. Paga subconsciously avoided his eyes and shrugged his shoulders unconsciously out of fear.
"Bloody slave." Gong Jiezan scolded Xue Bai, "It's not your turn to speak here."
Xue Bai actually smiled when he heard the word "slut", and Paga felt inexplicably that he was smiling at him.
Nalanzhen came out of the tent and asked, "What's going on?"
Gongjie praised: "Princess, it's time for us to set off."
Na Lanzhen did not answer immediately, but looked at Xue Bai's face. She knew that Xue Bai's plan was nothing more than to drive away the Tubo people and buy time for the Tang army to attack Taihe City. However, the Tang army was not familiar with the roads. If she could reach the Tubo camp earlier, she might have a chance to stop them.
Knowing that Xue Bai didn't want to set off as soon as possible, she tested his bottom line and pretended to hesitate: "But... okay then."
"Let's set off." Gongjiezan immediately turned to his soldiers and shouted.
When he looked again, he saw that the more than 60 people who were escorting the princess south were motionless. They immediately cursed: "The princess gave the order, but you still don't get up?!"
Xue Bai said: "Why do you force the princess?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Fei Yuanli stood up, walked behind Na Lanzhen, and glared at Gong Jiezan in a guarding posture.
Gong Jiezan said in surprise: "Did I force the princess?"
"Princess." Li Fei Yuanli asked, "Is he forced to stay still?"
Nalanzhen said: "Yes."
"Princess, what are you doing!" Gong Jiezan stamped his feet angrily.
Xue Bai then spoke and said: "Princess, why not wait until noon and the smoke miasma clears before setting off?"
"good."
Nalanzhen turned around, walked aside, chatted a few words with Xue Bai in a low voice, and suddenly ordered: "Bring that slave called 'Pig Shit'. I think he is quite smart and follows me in my tent." Do things outside.”
When Paga heard this, he couldn't help but shuddered and said hurriedly: "I am the Prime Minister's man."
"Princess, won't your words help?" Li Fei Yuanli shouted, asking someone to go over and bring Paga to him.
Not long after, through the thick fog, the sound of horse hooves could be heard in the distance. According to reports, Nanzhao officials who were waiting upstream to welcome the Tubo princess had arrived.
Na Lanzhen was pleasantly surprised, secretly thinking that this time she finally did not let vicious people like Xue Bai get their wish. If he can escape a little, he can let Gongjiezan and Nanzhao officials work together to defeat this small group of Tang troops.
The sound of horse hoofbeats was not urgent, and a team slowly came out of the mist.
Xue Bai stood by the bonfire and watched, thinking that they deserved to catch the miasma in such a hurry.
Li Fei Yuanli walked up to him and whispered: "There are nearly a hundred people in total, twenty or thirty armed with bows and swords, more than fifty servants, and more than ten officials."
"knew."
~~
Over there, Gongjiezan had already stepped forward to greet him and asked in Tubo: "General Yang, why are you here?"
"I was away for the past two days. I learned that the princess was crossing the river downstream, so I hurried over."
"General Yang is interested...Princess, this is General Yang Luodian of Nanzhao."
"General Yang, it's been a hard journey." Na Lanzhen deliberately took a small step forward, avoiding the Tang soldiers behind her, and asked: "Since you know that there is a ferry downstream, why don't you arrange for someone to guard it?"
"The princess doesn't know something." Yang Luodian said: "It looks like you can cross the river there, but it is very dangerous. If you are washed away by the river, the lower reaches are full of cliffs. There is no place to go ashore. There is only a big whirlpool called ' "Sinkhole', if passing ships get close, they will be sucked into the whirlpool."
"So it's so dangerous." Nalanzhen patted her chest and said, "Fortunately, I didn't encounter any when I crossed the river yesterday, but I wonder what happened to the soldiers and horses who escorted me south?"
As she said that, she rolled her eyes and glanced at Xue Bai in a demonstrative manner.
Xue Bai ignored this boring provocation.
Although he is not a local, he has been to the Jinsha River once or twice due to work reasons in his previous life, and he specifically visited these ferries where "the golden sands and water beat the clouds and the cliffs are warm", such as Longjie Ferry, Hongmen Ferry, Jiaoping Ferry, Qiaojiadu. Because of this, he dared to give Wang Zhongsi advice. The place where Wang Zhongsi crossed the river yesterday is not yet a ferry. It gradually became Longjie Ferry after the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It is not easy to cross the river, but with the leather bag, it can naturally be done. Speed up the time for the Tang army to cross the river to avoid being swept away.
However, Xue Bai had already left with Nalanzhen when crossing the river, and he did not see whether the subsequent crossing of the river went smoothly.
As for Yang Luodian of Nanzhao, he must not have been absent for the past two days, but he was eager to see the Tibetan army suffer heavy casualties, so he took advantage of the situation and lent them a boat to cross the river.
When the three parties meet, each has his or her own thoughts.
"If the princess is worried," Yang Luodian said, "Should I arrange for more boatmen to go..."
"No need." Xue Bai didn't wait for Nalanzhen's answer, stepped forward and said, "The princess has to rush to Langqiong to see the Prime Minister, so there is no need to delay her."
Yang Luodian asked: "Who are you?"
"The slave beside the princess, Li Qian."
Yang Luodian didn't understand why a Tubo princess who came for marriage would bring a handsome man with her. Was it because she didn't want to give Nanzhao face?
Gong Jiezan rolled his eyes and said, "General Yang, how about you come all the way and rest in my tent first?"
"That's it...Princess, please allow me to retreat temporarily."
Xue Bai waited for them to leave and immediately asked Dejimedo to take Nalanzhen back to the tent. He deliberately followed Gong Jiezan and Yang Luodian for a few steps and listened to their conversation.
"Even the princess can see that even if Nanzhao is strong and clear, the key crossing point should be guarded."
"The barbarians live in the mountains and forests and have no salary. How can they guard it? It doesn't matter. Shangguan and Xiaguan have been built. The Tang army cannot attack..."
The two people gradually walked away, and Xue Bai couldn't hear what they said next.
He stopped and thought that "Shangguan" and "Xiaguan" should refer to "Longshou Pass" and "Dragon's Tail Pass".
But before leaving Chang'an, he had not seen any trace of the existence of these two gates in any official document from the court. He even asked Li Linfu, Zhangchou Jianqiong, and Xianyu Zhongtong, but none of them knew about the existence of these two gates.
"We are about to be exposed." Li Fei Yuanli asked in a low voice, "Should we strike first?"
Xue Bai nodded and muttered: "It's not that we have been exposed, it's that they will definitely get rid of me."
He found that the identity he pretended to be wrong at the beginning this time was too easy to arouse the disgust of officials from both Tubo and Nanzhao.
It's just that he was considered a face-shou in Chang'an, but he still acted like a face-shou in Nanzhao. Maybe this is... Xue Bai shook his head and quickly recovered his mind.
Turning around again, I saw Paga standing aside with an uneasy look on his face.
~~
Yang Luodian walked into the tent and immediately asked: "Who is the man next to the princess?"
Gongjiezan didn't answer.
Some things are just like that, and there is no easy answer.
He pondered and said, "How about you and I kill him for the sake of Tubo and Nanzhao?"
"You killed a slave because of Tubo's sincerity." Yang Luodian said lightly, "What does it mean if I kill him?"
"I am a servant of Tubo. It is not easy for me to take action without the princess's orders." Gongjie praised: "I mean, kill secretly. Is there any narrow road from here to Langqiong that is suitable for taking action?"
"have."
The two agreed that it was noon and the fog-like smog gradually dissipated. The team set off and headed northwest to the Wave Dome.
That night when he camped, Yang Luodian noticed something was wrong with Princess Tubo, so he went to Gong Jiezan and asked, "Don't you think the princess seems to be controlled by someone?"
"How could she be controlled by others?" Gongjiezan said with a bitter smile, "You don't understand our princess. She has been strong since she was a child and treats me with dignity."
Yang Luodian's feelings were completely different.
He thought about it until late at night, and finally decided to find out the matter tomorrow so that he could feel relieved.
After a day's journey, he fell into a deep sleep until a shout came.
"Help!"
"Help!"
The man spoke Tubo for a while and unfamiliar Chinese for a while.
Yang Luodian stood up and hurried outside the tent. Looking towards the bright light of the campfire, he saw a bloody figure running towards this side desperately.
The two guards guarding outside his tent rushed to stop him.
Yang Luodian quickly recognized that this was the confidant of the Prime Minister of Tubo. They had waited for the princess together and got to know each other.
At the same time, there was a sudden loud scream in the camp. It was the Tubo soldiers who were killing the sleeping Nanzhao soldiers.
Yang Luodian was frightened and angry, and shouted at his subordinates to resist, but the camp was already in chaos. Some people shouted "Kill the Tubo people" and some shouted "Kill the Nanzhao people". The situation was like hell.
The situation was irreversible. Yang Luodian gritted his teeth, abandoned his subordinates, and escaped with only a few people.
The two guards also left the injured person in their hands and were about to leave, but the injured person shouted: "Help, I know, something happened!"
"What happened?" Yang Luodian turned around and asked.
"Li Qian next to Princess Tubo is a work of the Tang Dynasty." Pajia said: "He seduced the princess to assassinate the prime minister and prevent Tubo from forming an alliance with Nanzhao. When I found out, he wanted to kill me to silence me..."
"Take him away!"
Yang Luodian knew that Pajia was an important witness to prevent Nanzhao and Tubo from being separated. He had no time to say more, so he ordered people to take Pajia and evacuate decisively.
They took the horses, and when they left the camp, there were only five people left. Then arrows shot out, hitting the three Nanzhao soldiers who were behind. Yang Luodian looked back and saw Paga shivering on his horse. He quickly grabbed his reins and ran away quickly.
We must rush to Taihe City as soon as possible and inform Nanzhao Wangge Luo Feng about the matter.
…
In the dark night, someone was watching Yang Luodian's movements. When he saw him turning south, he quickly chased after him.
The fighting in the camp continued, and dozens of figures left the place one after another.
After creating chaos in which the Tubo and Nanzhao people killed each other, the Tang army no longer cared about how the camp would end.
~~
It's dawn again.
Nalanzhen was tied next to the bonfire, looking at the sunrise in the horizon. The sun shone on Jin Shao's tidal flat by the river, and she suddenly felt that it was blood.
When Xue Bai woke up and walked past her, she asked without looking back.
"You know that I want to use Yang Luodian against you, so you kill him first?"
"You are quite naive." Xue Bai responded casually.
He was holding a telescope and was looking at the terrain.
"Gongjiezan...is he dead?"
"I don't know." Xue Bai said, "It doesn't matter, otherwise we would have sent people to get rid of him first. Fortunately, he was not smart enough to see the truth."
Nalanzhen sneered: "Are you warning me that I will die easily if I am too smart?"
Xue Bai said: "I'm not warning you."
"Are you going to join the Tang army?" Nalanzhen said: "I haven't arrived at Langqiong. The prime minister will definitely understand what happened and send troops to attack the Tang army. Tubo might not have participated in the Nanzhao war, but now you are Angered, all you do is add fuel to the fire."
"Do you know why I kept you alive?"
"You want to keep using me as a hostage. But let me tell you, I will not let you use me anymore. I would rather die than be a tool of you, an evil ghost, to harm people again."
"You are not as valuable as you think you are." Xue Bai said: "You saw last night that it is not difficult for the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty to defeat you. I kept you alive because I thought there was a possibility of us cooperating in the future. "
"Ha." Na Lanzhen sneered.
The country hates the family, and she doesn't think there is any possibility of cooperation with him. If there is a day when she escapes from the clutches, she will just kill him with one knife.
"Then tell me who among the nine ministers colluded with the Tang court and betrayed Tubo."
"I will tell you when we capture Taihe City and let you go."
"You lied. You just made up a reason to hang me and prevent me from dying. You are willing to be used by you."
"If you don't believe it, go and die." Xue Bai remained nonchalant.
He didn't think Na Lanzhen would die. If she had the courage, she might as well have exposed his conspiracy earlier and died for her country.
He could see that she was the same person as him, she wanted power and would never give up her life easily because of setbacks.
What's more, she was tied there and it was impossible to commit suicide.
However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Nalanzhen was actually a chrysalis, jumping towards the bonfire.
In just an instant, the smell of burning was felt, and the bonfire quickly ignited the clothes and ropes on her body.
Xue Bai reacted very quickly and hugged her out. But the fire still burned on her clothes and even burned on his sleeves. He quickly threw her down and rolled on the ground several times.
The surrounding Tang soldiers also reacted very quickly, and they all rushed to slap them with their robes.
The fire was scorching and the smoke was filled. Although it only lasted for a short time, what appeared in Xue Bai's mind was the figure of Li Tengkong. It was during the fire in Zhongnan Mountain. He hugged Li Tengkong and rolled on the ground to put out the fire. He was afraid that he would roll to the foot of Huashan Mountain.
But what he didn't say was that at that time he was thinking that if he and Li Tengkong fell from the top of Huashan Mountain to the cliff and were shattered into pieces, they would be broken into one place... no regrets.
"Are you okay?" He lowered his head and asked.
Then, he suddenly realized that the person under him was not Li Tengkong. Li Tengkong was as elegant as a lotus, but the eyes in front of him were filled with stubbornness.
Xue Bai then stood up and immediately picked up his telescope. Just now in order to hug Nalanzhen, he threw it on the ground. At this moment, when he looked at it, he saw that the scenery in the distance was still the same, but there were a few spots on the mirror.
Although this thing can be slowly recreated, right now he only has this one, and he didn't even give it to Wang Tianyun when he asked for it. When it became like this, he couldn't help but get annoyed and glared at Nalanzhen fiercely.
Nalanzhen was in a daze, but for a moment, she broke free from the rope, and before the Tang army around her could react, she jumped like a rabbit and ran towards the Jinsha River.
Now that she had tested it out just now, Xue Bai didn't want her to die, so Tang Jun would naturally not let go of arrows, so she ran boldly and very fast.
Soon, the golden beach was in sight.
"call--"
A thick piece of firewood came over from the side and tripped Nalanzhen's feet. She fell to the ground with an "ouch", and she still wanted to get up and run away, but Tang Jun was already surrounding her.
She simply sat there and watched Xue Bai walking slowly, and gradually a smile appeared on her face.
"Are you angry?" Nalanzhen sneered and asked loudly, "I've never seen you angry before."
Xue Bai didn't answer and shook his head.
Na Lanzhen said proudly: "You are right, we are the same people, greedy for power. Then I will be as cruel as you are. If I can be cruel to myself, I will be even more cruel to you in the future."
Li Fei Yuanli couldn't stand listening to her, and he didn't tolerate her. He stepped forward to pick up the firewood and hit her twice, causing blood to flow from her mouth, but she was still laughing.
"No need to fight." Xue Bai walked closer.
Na Lanzhen became more and more proud and said: "Look, you are not willing to kill me, and you are not willing to beat me? I see through you, I have value."
"Whatever you think, but you are not ruthless, you are willful." Xue Bai said: "When one day no one gives you the truth, if you still dare to be so crazy, I will consider you ruthless."
Nalanzhen raised her head proudly.
A nosebleed ran down.
She couldn't wipe it off, but she felt that she had experienced these hardships and had grown up.
Xue Bai only saw Nalanzhen's naivety in this episode. He was too lazy to teach her to grow up and set off back to Taihe City.
~~
Taihe City.
Cangshan Mountain is towering and Erhai Lake is bright, like eyebrows and eyes on the earth.
Longshou Pass and Longweiguan are located in the city, completely sealing the road between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake, forming a terrain that is extremely easy to defend but difficult to attack.
It could be built so quickly because Ge Luofeng had already ordered the construction of these two gates before he launched an army to attack Zhang Qiantuo. Now that he was sitting on a natural chasm, he had the strength to fight against the Tang army.
On the eighth day of October, Nanzhao's detectives were still paying attention to the movements of the Tang army approaching from the east. In the distance, someone was standing on the mountains, looking at Longweiguan with a telescope.
After that, his heavy brows wrinkled slightly...
(End of chapter)
