Chapter 65: Banner
Yaoying sat in the carriage and thought to herself: When the Yelu tribe was destroyed, she would not end up any better than these Hu girls.
Li De would not dispatch troops to save her.
When he needed the Yelu tribe, he could send his daughter for marriage. However, after he recaptured Liangzhou, the Yelu would be insignificant to him. He was not arrogant enough to think that with Great Wei’s current power that he could recover the Western Regions. The situation in Liangzhou was complicated. He was busy purging the remnants of the forces within Liangzhou in preparation for the future recruitment of troops to attack Southern Chu. In the short term, he would not continue to send troops to Hailong.
Without external aid, she only had Xie Qing, her attendant, and her personal soldiers. When the Yelu tribe was destroyed, how could they, a mere few dozen of them, escape?
Yaoying did not know why the Yelu tribe declined.
The tribes on the grasslands could rise as quickly as the powerful Northern Rong, who spanned to the east and west in just a few years, or they could be wiped out overnight and vanish like smoke.
She could only improvise.
In the following leg of the route, as before, the Eldest Prince from time to time showed a salivating greedy expression in front of Yaoying.
He was vicious and barbaric. Whenever he came across a caravan or a migrating tribe, he immediately had a glow in his eyes and gathered his men to loot.
Sometimes, even a shepherd and his few sheep were not spared.
Tali and Ayi could speak the Turkic language, and soon became acquainted with the people of the Yelu tribe, and made inquiries about a lot of information.
Yelu Khan had seven sons, three of whom were adults, along with six adopted sons.
“The eldest prince is brave and good at fighting and is highly valued by Yelu Khan. He is very greedy and often has conflicts with other princes for seizing the spoils of war.
“The second prince resented that the Eldest Prince would succeed the Yelu tribe. He secretly united with his clansmen to ask the Yelu Khan to expel the Eldest Prince.
“The third prince is vicious and cruel and personally killed one of his younger brothers.
“Right now, Yelu Khan’s favorite is his adopted son, Bemutai. When Yelu Khan went to Chang’an to meet the emperor, it was Bemutai who followed him.”
Hearing this, Yaoying’s heart stirred, recalling the foreign man she saw at the banquet that night.
That man’s expression that was like sizing up his prey made her uneasy for a long time.
“Are Bemutai’s eyes light yellow?”
Tali nodded: “The people of the Yelu tribe said that Bemutai’s eyes resemble an eagle. He is fatherless and motherless, precisely the son of an eagle.”
Yaoying’s heart was abruptly tensed, and her body stiffened.
Golden eyes, fatherless and motherless, the son of an eagle… was it a coincidence?
Yaoying composed herself.
Perhaps she was oversensitive. That person could not have appeared in the Yelu tribe.
A few days later, with the arrival of Yelu Khan’s men sent to meet Yaoying, the Eldest Prince gradually restrained himself a little, not daring to unbridledly verbally harass Yaoying.
Yaoying offered to let those plundered Hu women help her guard the dowry she brought from Chang’an.
“The cloth and silk I brought are the most valuable and precious brocade in the Central Plains. One bolt is worth a thousand jin of gold. They must not get wet or blow in the wind.”
The silk of the Central Plains sold well in the Western Regions and further in the Great Shi and Fulin. Now that the trade routes were broken, a good bolt of silk could even be exchanged for even a small tribe from a Western Regions’ country lord.
The subordinates and the Eldest Prince’s eyes were bright and shiny. Thinking that Yaoying’s dowry would be the Yelu’s in the future, it absolutely must not be ruined, so they readily promised to do so.
The next day, the Hu women were on the carts carrying the silk, covered with thick blankets, no longer going on foot in thin clothes.
They were ordered to guard the silk, and the Yelu tribe’s horsemen could no longer pull them aside to sate their lust.
When the procession stopped to rest, Yoyo’s attendants brought them food for their bellies.
The Hu women were moved to tears. Seeing Yaoying get off the carriage, they saluted her in succession and said in unskilled accents, “You are the kindest Khanum we have ever seen.”
Yaoying sighed.
There was only so much she could do.
The weather grew colder. Soon, the wind and snow were so heavy that they had to brave the snow to make their way.
The Eldest Prince’s fierce reputation was so great that the caravans and tribes above the Gobi were scared at the mention of him.
So, whenever they saw the Yelu tribe’s team appear from afar, whether they were merchants, shepherds, or tribes, they immediately turned around and fled. Even the Yelu tribe did not dare to take any risks under the Eldest Prince’s nose.
Several times before the Eldest Prince could launch an attack, the other side had already perceptively fled to the rugged mountain path that was not conducive for the cavalry to attack.
The Eldest Prince was furious.
It was a rare sunny day. They were resting by the river in a shady place, letting their horses and camels drink their fill when suddenly they heard impassioned pipa music from the snow.
In the distance, a caravan of camels and horses came towards the river from the west and headed east.
A few of the caravan’s merchants, wearing felt hats and carrying pipas, were laughing loudly and playing at the same time, the music like glittering jewels.
The Eldest Prince pricked up his ears in excitement and called out to his troops. These days, he had only robbed a few old horses and a few female slaves. At last, he saw a huge caravan!
Dozens of warriors shouted loudly and got on their horses. Following behind the Eldest Prince, they galloped towards the caravan.
Snow flying in all directions, the sound of hooves like thunder.
Xie Qing immediately escorted Yaoying away from the flat land.
Yaoying rode up a small hill and looked back at the snow-capped plains. Her brows knitted: The snow was covered with traces of the Yelu tribe; how could the caravan dare to come closer?
As she looked into the distance, the Eldest Prince and his warriors had already skillfully assumed their positions, like a beast full of strength opening its ferocious mouths towards the caravan.
The caravan seemed to be somewhat panicked. The startled horses raised their hooves and whinnied, and the pipa-playing Hu merchants turned their horses around.
The guards flanking on either side came forward and slowly raised a banner.
Yaoying was stunned: Why did the merchant guards not draw their swords but raised a banner instead?
Did they know they could not defeat the Eldest Prince and simply surrendered?
It was too far away for Yaoying to see what words were embroidered on the banner. She was about to ask Tali when Yelu Khan’s men not far behind her suddenly jerked backward and let out a terrified cry.
“Stop!”
A subordinate’s face was deathly pale and he yelled toward the Eldest Prince. Immediately realizing that the Eldest Prince could not possibly hear him, he hurriedly galloped down the hill.
“Fuman, stop!”
He yelled while urging the horsemen to blow the horn.
The bugle horn sounded, dust flew up ahead, hooves sounded like sudden rain, and the Eldest Prince and his warriors were still charging, their swords flashing.
The caravan guards in the distance seemed to be completely unafraid of the Eldest Prince. Facing the fierce and vicious Yelu horsemen who were pouncing on the merchants from all sides, they still held their heads high and chest out, holding their banners high, not moving a muscle.
The glorious sunlight peeking out after the snowfall fell on the banner waving in the wind. It was a snow-white banner, embroidered with intricate patterns.
The guards held their banners without drawing their swords, calm and collected.
As if this one banner was enough to withstand a magnificent army of thousands of men and horses.
The subordinate was scared out of his wits and sped forward, grabbing the horn and blowing it himself.