Chapter 127: Set a Trap
Ashina Bisha packed his luggage, arranged for a carriage and horses, and went to see Yaoying at the Buddhist temple.
In the courtyard, the wooden flower trellises were crawling with intertwining vines, clusters of fruits hanging off their green branches. The grapes were not yet ripe, but they were plump and round, crystal clear.
Bisha raised his hand, plucked two bunches of grapes, and brought them into the house.
Yaoying was sitting on her knees in front of the long desk, her brow lightly knitted, with a pile of scriptures in front of her.
Bisha couldn’t help but chuckle: “Did the king ask you to read these?”
Yaoying nodded with a smile. Pushing away the scriptures, she straightened up and gestured for Bisha to take a seat.
Xie Peng, who was guarding the corner of the room, hung his head and retreated.
Bisha sat on the felt carpet, eyes quickly scanning around. The room’s furnishings were still the same. There were no additions to the gauze brocade curtain or the soft treasure couch beside a few large chests filled with books.
Princess Wenzhao was a princess who was able to bear extreme hardships. No matter where she was, she could always take things as they came.
This was exactly what Bisha was worried about. With exceptional beauty, the charming and delicate attitude of a young lady, the brightness and poise of a royal princess, but with tenacity and strength of character. He admired such a woman, and therefore, was more afraid of Princess Wenzhao getting close to Roga.
Seeing that he was so dazed, Yaoying looked at him and asked, “General, the Regent is not at liberty to see me?”
Recovering from his thoughts, Bisha coughed and said, “The Regent has important business to attend to, so it is not convenient for him to see the Princess. If the Princess has anything to convey, I can pass on the message for her.”
Yaoying pondered for a moment. Sultan Gu’s whereabouts were secretive, so important political orders were all conveyed by personal soldiers. If she wanted to see him, she didn’t know when that time would come. Some things were the same whether it was her or Bisha who said it.
“General, have the Northern Rong people you captured that night been sent back to the Northern Rong?”
Bisha shook his head: “Not yet. I’ll leave for Northern Rong tonight and escort them personally.”
Yaoying was stunned: “The general has to personally escort them?”
Bisha’s eyes flickered for a moment, but he did not say anything about the state letter Roga had personally written: “Yes, I will personally escort them back to Northern Rong. Their princely escort appeared in the royal palace of the Royal Court. Northern Rong’s Khan has to give an explanation to the Royal Court.”
Yaoying did not ask more questions and said, “I was just about to discuss this matter with the general. Those few Northern Rong people can come in handy.”
Bisha raised his eyebrows.
Yaoying met his scrutinizing gaze, and said openly, “I have been trapped in the Northern Rong camp, and have heard many hidden secrets of the Northern Rong royal family. Haidu Aling is a foreigner adopted by Wakhan Khan. Several of Wakhan Khan’s sons have been at odds with him for a long time, and the Khan has also become fearful of him. There are many internal conflicts within the royal family. If the general can exploit those Northern Rong people, it can deepen the estrangement between Wakhan Khan and Haidu Aling.”
Bisha’s eyes narrowed slightly, looking at Yaoying with a different look than usual: “How does the princess know that there is already a gap between Haidu Aling and Wakhan Khan?”
Yaoying laughed lightly: “Previously, when the Buddha’s son was in urgent need of water anise, the general himself went to the Northern Rong to ask for my dowry. Didn’t Wakhan Khan promise to return the dowry on the spot, and even reprimanded Haidu Aling?”
Bisha rubbed his chin and said, “Correct.”
Yaoying said with certainty, “If other princes had taken my dowry and the general had gone to the Northern Rong to ask for it, Wakhan Khan would not have agreed to return the dowry so easily.”
Bisha recalled the day and nodded: “Indeed, Wakhan Khan was very polite to me, and even scolded Haidu Aling in public…”
His eyes lit up and he laughed lightly into his palm.
“Wakhan Khan is using our Royal Court to deliberately suppress Haidu Aling!”
The Northern Rong worshipped the strong, barbaric, and uncivilized. It was not uncommon for the Khan’s throne to change hands within a day. Whoever was strongest could become the new Khan and the same was true between father and son, brother and brother. Thus, familial affection in the royal family was thin. Whenever an old Khan died, the tribe would be in violent turmoil because of the struggle for power. A powerful empire could grow rapidly and level the grasslands in just a few years, or fall apart and collapse overnight.
Wakhan Khan was getting old, and Haidu Aling was young and strong. He was not Wakhan Khan’s own nephew, so the old Khan has begun to guard against Haidu Aling.
Bisha was momentarily excited, before frowning and saying, “But this is just our guess. Maybe Wakhan Khan is confusing me.”
Yaoying nodded, “Maybe as the general thought, Wakhan Khan has deep schemes and foresight, and was just confusing the general at that time. But, that is not necessarily true now. Haidu Aling’s visit to the Royal Court this time confirmed that my guess was true.”
Bisha narrowed his eyes, “Oh? Why does the princess say so?”
Yaoying smiled: “General, if you were Prince Haidu Aling, with a heavy army in hand, conquering in the north and south, and ambitious, would you provoke the Royal Court again and again for a woman like me after the Royal Court and the Northern Rong had entered into an alliance?”
Bisha was stunned, his gaze fell on Yaoying’s face: “The princess looks like a goddess. Haidu Aling is determined to have the princess.”
Yaoying looked calm: “Yes, Haidu Aling sees me as his prey, but he is an experienced hunter. A calm hunter will not just risk his life for his prey.”
Bisha looked at Yaoying, his eyes gradually changed. He couldn’t help but sit upright, and his expression became more serious.
“What does the princess mean?”
Yaoying slowly said, “I have a slight understanding of Haidu Aling. He is rude and has big ambitions, but he is never someone who disregards the big picture for a woman. He is confusing Wakhan Khan and the Khan’s sons to make Wakhan Khan let down his guard.”
She dared to be so sure not without reason.
In the book, Haidu Aling was brave and warlike and rose quickly, attracting the other princes’ jealousy and Wakhan Khan’s suspicion. The princes set up an ambush to trap Haidu Aling. He fell into the trap and nearly died under their sword, with many of his most trusted soldiers dead.
After he recovered from his injuries, Haidu Aling hid himself in seclusion, pretending that he had given up in despair because of his lame leg. For more than a year, he kept walking with a limp. After that, he plundered several Northern Desert beauties during one of his campaigns, one of whom was known as the first beauty who was enchanting and charming, good at the art of intercourse. He spent the whole day hanging out with her in his tent, indulging in sex and neglecting military affairs. When his subordinates advised him, he raised his sword and killed them.
When Wakhan Khan and his sons saw that Haidu Aling had become an invalid, drunk and dreaming of death, and all of his soldiers were deserting and rebelling yet he could not pull himself away from the beauties, they gradually relaxed their guard against him.
Later, Haidu Aling led his troops into the camp and killed Wakhan Khan with his own hands, slaughtering the royal family of the Northern Rong and becoming the new Northern Rong Khan.
When Yaoying was in the Northern Rong camp, there had been many open fights and covert maneuvers between the Northern Rong princes and Haidu Aling. She simply fanned the flames and lured the other princes to grab Haidu Aling’s spoils of war, intensifying the conflict. After that, Bisha brought the letter to Wakhan Khan to ask for her dowry, she planted some traps in the letter so that the Northern Rong Khan would be wary of Haidu Aling.
Now there must be a state of swords drawn and bows bent within the royal family of the Northern Rong.
Yaoying said softly: “Haidu Aling is not a person who is confused by beauty. He and Wakhan Khan, father and sons, must have broken out in conflict, so he deliberately came to the Royal Court and broke into the royal palace that night to make Wakhan Khan think he is a foolish person who is dizzy for a woman.”
After saying that, she smiled, “These are just my guesses. It’s just as well that the general is going to the Northern Rong tent, so the general can keep an eye out to see if Haidu Aling and the other princes are already at odds.”