Chapter 79: Finally Reaching the Western Regions
Yaoying became Haidu Aling’s spoil of war.
Seemingly satisfied with her obedience, he agreed to leave several of Xie Qing and the others’ lives behind.
Before being sent to the carriage, Yaoying looked back at the mountains towering in the twilight. As layers and stacks of sedimentary, the mountains and rivers were glorious.
She would return. She would go over those lofty mountains and return to her homeland.
…
Although he had just attacked the Wei empire and made an enemy of them, Haidu Aling was still completely unafraid. It was only after capturing Yaoying a mere one day’s mile from Liangzhou did he unhurriedly return with his men and horses.
Yaoying was locked up in an iron-barred carriage, personally guarded by Haidu Aling’s own soldiers.
She finally ate fresh food.
In the afternoon, the Northern Rong soldiers brought a Hu maidservant to Yaoying’s side.
Yaoying looked at the other woman in surprise: “Why are you here?”
Tali wiped the corner of her eyes: “Slave remembered the Princess’ instructions. After you left, slave also took advantage of the chaos to escape, but not long after, the Yelu tribe was annexed by the Northern Rong. The Eldest Prince and all the clan elders died… Slave had just found a place to settle down when the men in the tribe were killed by the Northern Rong, and us women became their slaves. “
Helong had been occupied by the Northern Rong. All tribes were forced to submit: men were killed, women became slaves.
Tali lowered her voice and said, “Princess, slave heard them say that the Northern Rong Khan attacked the Royal Court in the Western Regions. After suffering a defeat, he summoned Prince Aling back. Prince Aling is taking us back to the Western Regions.”
Yaoying sighed softly.
Not long ago, she and Tali talked about the Quicksand River, about Tali’s homeland, and at that time she thought she would never go to that distant foreign land in her life.
It turned out that the desolate Yelu tribe was not considered far from her homeland; the Western Regions, several thousand miles away, was truly far away.
That night, Yaoying was brought to Haidu Aling’s tent.
“How did the Seventh Princess figure out my identity?”
The man who grew up among wolves was physically strong and stood by the long table like a majestic mountain. Holding a knife in his hand, he was slowly and methodically dissecting a wild deer that was not yet dead.
The smell of blood assaulted her nose.
Yaoying stood in front of the long table and said lightly, “I have heard my elder brother mention the prince of the Northern Rong.”
“Oh?” Haidu Aling did not raise his head. His long knife sharply peeled off the skin of the wild deer, “I did fight with Li Zhongqian. He was very brave.”
His words took a turn, “But Li Zhongqian was seriously wounded and has been in a coma. The person who is guarding Liangzhou is your Crown Prince. As far as I know, there is a feud between you and the Crown Prince. If it were not for the design of the Eastern Palace, you wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.”
Haidu Aling lifted his head. His light yellow eyes were like sparkling ceramic glass in the candle flame.
“Your father took you in exchange for Yelu Hazhu’s loyalty, the Crown Prince had you marry instead of the woman he loved, and when your elder brother was injured, the ministers looked on without taking action. Why did you still inform them?”
Yaoying still said lightly, “Because I am from Great Wei.”
Haidu Aling raised his eyebrows: “I can take revenge for the Seventh Princess. When I kill the Crown Prince, I can support Li Zhongqian to ascend to the throne.”
Yaoying smiled coldly, “Don’t worry about the Crown Prince.”
What happened after the replacement marriage was a feud between her and Li De and Li Xuanzhen. After she escapes, she will personally sort out the father and child entanglements with Li De.
She would never cooperate with a person like Haidu Aling, this kind of beast-like person.
Haidu Aling was treacherous, cold-blooded, and ruthless. When he was young, he killed the mother wolf who fed and raised him, just to use the wolf’s pelt to qualify for the tribe. Wakhan Khan treated him like his own son, had his younger brother adopt him to give him a noble birth, but he resented his adoptive father’s cowardice and uselessness. Now, he was still as close to Wakhan as father and son, but in the future, he will personally kill Wakhan, slaughter Wakhan’s sons and grandsons—killing all Wakhan’s heirs—then become the new chief of the Northern Rong.
How can such a merciless man sincerely help her to take revenge?
If she agreed, not only the Great Wei rivers and mountains, but the entire Central Plains would end up in Haidu Aling’s hands. She and her elder brother would be mercilessly killed by Haidu Aling.
Haidu Aling laughed: “Does the Seventh Princess not believe in my sincerity?”
Yaoying looked straight at Haidu Aling: “If what the prince said about helping me to take revenge is achieved by stepping on the bones of tens of thousands of innocent people, there is nothing to talk about between us.”
Haidu Aling slowly cut open the wild deer’s belly, “Yelu Hazhu only took one look at you, then was captivated and had to marry you… Seventh Princess, you disrupted my plans. The person who should have married was Princess Fukang.”
If Princess Fukang married, firstly, he could take that opportunity to kill the Crown Prince, causing disorder in Great Wei. Secondly, he could use that Zhu shi woman’s identity to disturb the people’s hearts. Plus, by planting the blame on the Southern Chu and Shu side’s spies, the Central Plains was bound to be chaos. At that time, the Northern Rong could effortlessly destroy the Wei empire.
It was a pity. Haidu Aling had made many calculations but never calculated that Yelu Hazhu would take a single glance and desire the sweet Chinese Princess. In order to marry her, he even took out Liangzhou as a bargaining chip.
He was puzzled until that night at the palace banquet when he saw the splendidly-dressed Seventh Princess. Then, he understood why Yelu Hazhu was tempted.
Such a stunning beauty should belong to him.
It was her unparalleled beauty that made him lose his guard and scorn this woman.
Haidu Aling clicked his tongue a few times: “I only sent out a few letters promising Princess Fukang to help her restore her country, and she was willing to marry down to the Yelu tribe. And her aunt… that Turkic Princess Yiqing that married away. I promised to restore her country for her, and she helped me out and conspired, sending out loyal servants to the Central Plains to contact old ministers loyal to the Zhu clan. She persuaded Western Shu and Southern Chu to attack your Great Wei…”
Yaoying eyes slowly grew wide.
Haidu Aling smiled: “Seventh Princess, Princess Fukang is a princess, Grand Princess Yiqing is a princess, you are also a princess. Why are you not the same as them?”
Yaoying did not say a word, the hands in her sleeves trembling gently.
So it was like this! It was like this!
Haidu Aling should not have brought troops to attack the Central Plains so early, and Zhu Luyun should not have somehow colluded with the Hu people in the first place. She had never understood why many things had changed, but it turned out that the beginning of the change was due to Grand Princess Yiqing!
No wonder Haidu Aling knew the countries of the Central Plains so well, no wonder he was in the north, but was always aware of the movements of Southern Chu, no wonder Grand Princess Yiqing sent her loyal servants back to the Central Plains to ask for help, no wonder Southern Chu actually got involved with Haidu Aling! All of this was Haidu Aling’s plot!
He and Grand Princess Yiqing joined forces and sent spies back to the Central Plains to spy on the military and find subordinates for her while stirring up the governments of the various countries. The loyal servant who appeared next to Zhu Luyun and encouraged her to marry the Yelu tribe was only one of them!
That princess who married to the Turks for politics long ago wanted to restore the country for the Zhu clan, going so far as to form an alliance with Haidu Aling, nearly allowing the Northern Rong to march in without resistance.