Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 373

Chapter 373 Tender Village, Tomb of Heroes
The strong wind roared and the yellow sand rolled.

Qin Shubao immediately raised his spear battle robe and stood on a remnant wall stone pier, looking into the distance.

His eyes were filled with boundlessness. As far as he could see, the heavens and earth bordered on the boundless cliffs.

“Commander-in-Chief!” A few cavalry trotted over. One of them said loudly, “The soldiers searched everywhere for water and found nothing.”

Qin Shubao involuntarily pursed his dry lips and threw the tiger-headed golden spear to a small school beside him. He jumped off his horse and said, “Rengui, we have already left Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass for more than a hundred kilometers. This is the most difficult part of the silk road. One is the lack of water, the other is the lack of wind and sand.” He had no choice but to let the soldiers hold on a bit longer. A hundred li west of this desert was the old land of Loulan Ancient Kingdom and Pu Changhai (Luo Bu No). Not only was there a source of water there, it was also an important market town on the Silk Road. We’ll take it down and rest for now. ”

Xue Rengui clasped his fists and said, “That’s the only way. Since we left Lanzhou, our army has won 16 battles, big and small. However, we are already exhausted and lack food and rice. If we don’t rest, we will be at the end of our rope. I hope that Pu Changhai doesn’t have a large number of Tibetan soldiers or Western Regions rebels. Otherwise, it will be another bloody battle.”

“What? Are you afraid?” Qin Shubao chuckled and sat down beside a red earth stone. He knocked on his knee and said, “It’s only sixteen formations. What does it count as?” I’m old, too. My body is not as good as before. He remembered that in the past, when he followed His Majesty to the north and south, it was normal for him to fight for several days and nights without stopping for a moment. “Now that I’ve only traveled over a thousand miles, I feel sleepy.”

“General Mo is naturally not afraid.” Xue Rengui smiled and said, “Sixteen consecutive victories can be considered brilliant.” The Tibetan army and the Western Regions rebels had already been killed by the Great Governor to the point of fear. They had originally thought that the two battles between Yumen Pass and Yangguan would be so tragic, but they had unexpectedly won so easily. “However, our army has suffered many casualties in these several battles. When we left the house, there were only 13,000 elite cavalry left.”

“If we fight, we will die. There’s nothing we can do about it.” Qin Shubao frowned and snorted, “Six to seven thousand heroic souls are buried in the wilderness, in exchange for thousands of kilometers of the Great Tang Empire. More than twenty thousand enemy corpses have been buried. They have died well.” When Sanlang was in Lanzhou, he led you and Yuwen Hongtai to train this Yue Cavalry. It was really good. Battle bravery, discipline, and stubbornness. I was exhausted from running for thousands of kilometers without food or water. I didn’t hear anyone complaining, but my morale was still high. With such an army, there was no need to worry about winning. “Another thousand miles to attack the sixteen consecutive battles, this old man is not afraid at all!”

“With a commander-in-chief like the Great Commander-in-Chief as their commander, the brothers will naturally work even harder.” Xue Rengui said, “The general is only worried about one thing right now.” The Great Governor left Lanzhou and led his army to attack Gaochang. Lanzhou lacked the backbone, so what should we do? Although Xue Wanjun had generals, it would be difficult for him to defend the viceroy’s mansion alone. “Furthermore, if the Imperial Court investigates the next decree to inquire about the matter, won’t we give up halfway?”

“Haha!” Qin Shubao stroked his beard and smiled. “Rengui, Sanlang often praises me for your meticulousness and caution. Indeed, it is not bad. Your worries are reasonable. I have thought of these questions many times. However, after all, you do not know the Imperial Court, nor do you know the Emperor.”

“Oh, what do you mean?” Xue Rengui asked curiously.

Qin Shubao smiled faintly and said, “Whether Lanzhou is a war or a peace, the Imperial Court will definitely argue endlessly, and His Majesty the Emperor will also make a decision for a while. At this time, there should be a reckless person like me who will fight first and then. Since it is settled, no matter how much argument there is in the Imperial Court, it will be in vain.”

Xue Rengui asked in shock, “So what if someone impeaches the Great Governor because of this?”

“Impeachment is impeachment, what are you afraid of!” Qin Shubao said nonchalantly, “This old man has already led troops a thousand miles away. Even if I am impeached, this imperial edict to punish this old man will still be a matter of time before he catches up to us.” At that time, we will all take down Gao Chang! Furthermore, the Emperor did not know how much he wanted to teach Tibet a lesson to calm down Gao Chang, but because of the criticism of those Confucian scholars in the court, he was unable to make up his mind. Even if this old man resists his imperial edict, it is also in keeping with his original intention. Do you think His Majesty the Emperor can really punish me for a serious crime? Even if you want to punish me, it’s fine. When this old man takes down Gao Chang, his merits and demerits will be equal. At most, he will remove me from my official position and let me return to my field, right? Haha! It was worth it to say so. Anyway, sooner or later, Lanzhou will be Sanlang’s place of use, so there’s no harm in giving it to him sooner or later. This old man is happy to go home and have his grandson as soon as possible and enjoy the happiness of family. Before that, I want to enjoy the pleasure of galloping through the battlefield. When I’m done enjoying it, that’s when Sanlang takes over my spear. ”

“Great Commander’s ambition is far-sighted, but it won’t be as good as it is at the end of the day!” Xue Rengui cupped his fists and sighed.

“Don’t praise me.” Qin Shubao stroked his beard and smiled proudly, “I’m doing everything according to Sanlang’s will.” That brat was the most resourceful. In the past few years, this father of mine has always acted according to his wishes. I am inferior to him in planning; He is inferior to me in attacking the enemy from a thousand miles away. Take advantage of this old bones’ ability to move, help him do more things! As expected, as long as I send troops, the Emperor will send Sanlang back to Lanzhou to take charge of the overall situation. Rengui, you don’t have to worry about the future, just charge forward and try your best to gallop! “In front of us is the Pu Changhai of the Loulan Ancient Kingdom. That is an important path on the Silk Road of the Western Regions. No matter who is entrenched there, flatten it!”

“Yes!” Xue Rengui clasped his fists heavily and shouted, “Great Commander, let the general lead three thousand iron armor to clear the obstacles in twelve hours. Welcome, Great Commander and the soldiers to rest in the city!”

“Alright!” Qin Shubao stood up and laughed loudly as he patted Xue Rengui’s shoulder armor. “When Sanlang left, he repeatedly reminded him that he had his own ideas when discussing everything with Rengui. He could entrust his vanguard generals with all kinds of battles. You, Xue Rengui, should take the first credit for winning every of the sixteen consecutive battles in the Western Expedition!”

Xue Rengui smiled and cupped his hands. “I’ll let Xue take down the seventeenth formation by himself. Commander-in-Chief will rest for a while. At this time tomorrow, I’ll invite Commander-in-Chief to conspire with me to get drunk in Loulan Ancient City!”

“Go!”

“Yi Prefecture is riding the vanguard. Get on the horse!” Xue Rengui jumped onto the horse and tied up her cape. She pointed forward with her Fang Tianhua halberd and shouted, “Target Loulan, attack a hundred li. Attack within twelve hours-let’s go!”

‘”Nuo—–” Three thousand Yue rode out, rolling up a hundred feet of sand.

Qin Shubao stroked his beard and stood up. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Xue Rengui’s cavalry gradually disappear into the distance. He sighed with emotion, “Qin Qiong, with young talents like Sanlang and Xue Rengui taking over your horse spear, you can indeed return to your field without any regrets … Gao Chang, this is the last battle of your life!”

At night, by the polo court of the old Qin family’s backyard.

Qin Mubai came to the armor room with a lamp alone. He took out oil, water, cloth and other items. He took out the armor, saddle, bow, and arrow, and sat in the room by himself, carefully wiping them away.

These martial artifacts were exceptionally precious. Normally, Qin Mubai would not take them out to practice. The armor was a golden light armor personally bestowed by Emperor Li Shimin when he successfully ran for Baiji for the first time. Although it wasn’t difficult for Qin Mubai to get a good set of armor in the army, the so-called “good armor” was also difficult to compare with Yugong’s top-grade golden armor. The saber was a righteous saber given by Li Daozong. Needless to say, the saber was of extraordinary significance. The spear was a tiger-headed golden spear passed down from the Qin Clan. It was exactly the same as the one Qin Shubao used. Other items such as the Golden Condor Saddle, the Thrushcross Tiger Pattern Iron Bow, and the specially made snake-headed steel armor-piercing arrows were all extraordinary.

Especially the bow and arrow. Qin Mu had wasted a lot of effort. She had used the bow and arrow to modify it according to her previous life’s competitions. She had asked the craftsmen to customize it for her. It was very different from the ordinary bow and arrow of today. Apart from the tension of the bowstring, it was also more scientific and convenient to use, and the accuracy of the bowstring was greatly improved.

These things had been idle for too long.

Qin Mubai wiped it very carefully and was not disgusted at all, nor was he willing to fake someone else’s hand. To a soldier who was fighting, weapons, armor, and horses were closely related to his own life.

Now, Qin Mubai was looking forward to leaving Chang’an as soon as possible and rushing to Lanzhou for the battlefield. It was true that Chang’an was a peaceful and gentle hometown, and the Central Plains was bustling with flowers and peaceful people, but Qin Mubai felt that he was destined to belong to that yellow sand battlefield. After returning to the capital from Lanzhou last year, many unexpected events happened one after another. After several ups and downs, some people left, some people came, some people developed, some people will never recover.

Seeing so many joys and sorrows, and getting tired of intrigue, Qin Mubai felt that the simple man’s hot-blooded horse spear was much more comfortable on the battlefield in the barracks!

About half an hour later, a maid whispered, “Third Young Master, there’s a visitor.”

Qin Mubai paused for a moment and said, “Didn’t I say that I didn’t see anyone today? Why are you disturbing me?”

“Third Young Master, please forgive me. I didn’t dare to disturb you. It was Mistress who asked me to invite third Young Master. It would be better for third Young Master to meet the guests.”

“Who is it?”

“Your Highness Princess Gaoyang and Wu Meiniang.”

Qin Mubai was stunned for a moment and said, “Just the two of them?”

“Yes, just the two of them.”

“Then invite them here.”

“Yes …”

Qin Mubai was still sitting in the hut, wiping away the weapons and armor. She thought to herself, “I’m about to leave. They came to say goodbye to me, right … I didn’t want to part ways with them when they were reluctant to part, so I deliberately avoided them. I didn’t expect that they would come together.” Forget it, just come! After all, it was unknown when and where they would meet again.

After a while, Princess Gaoyang and Wu Meiniang came and stood side by side at the door, whispering, “Mubai …”

“What’s wrong? Come in!” Qin Mubai chuckled, “It seems that you’ve become a lot stranger to me. In the past, you weren’t so polite.”

The two women smiled and walked in. They sat down beside him and silently watched him wipe the tiger-headed golden spear in their hands.

“Let me help you.” As Wu Meiniang spoke, she reached out to pick up the rag in Qin Mubai’s hand.

“No need.” Qin Mubai said, “I never pretend to be someone else in this kind of thing.”

“Am I also someone else?” Wu Meiniang smiled.

“Alright then, here you are.” Qin Mubai smiled helplessly and said, “Remember, the spear needs oil, not too much. If it’s too slippery, it’s easy to miss when it slashes across other people’s weapons.” Don’t be too little, you can’t pull out the armor and robe that you stabbed into others. More than half of the gun body needs to be stained with a little oil so that blood can flow down quickly; You can’t see oil under half of it, or I can’t say anything with a slip of my hand. ”

Wu Meiniang knitted her brows and shook her hand. She returned the rag to Qin Mubai and worriedly said, “You should do it yourself! I can’t bear the slightest mistake.”

“Mubai, you know how to scare us.” Princess Gaoyang furrowed her brows and whispered, “You know we’re worried about you, but you said it so terrifyingly!”

“Haha!” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “Knowing that parting is the most uncomfortable time, why are you still here?”

Wu Meiniang and Princess Gaoyang exchanged glances, their faces filled with sorrow and silence.

“Alright! Don’t act like you’re going to die. This isn’t the first time I’ve left Chang’an for war.” Qin Mubai pretended to be relaxed.

‘”Mubai, I know. You want me to be obedient, sensible, and obediently stay in Chang’an to take care of my mother-in-law’s family. I really want to do the same, but …” Princess Gaoyang pursed her lips in embarrassment and whispered, “But I want to go to Lanzhou with you more, okay?”

Qin Mubai’s movements paused for a moment. The corners of his lips curled up slightly and he remained silent.

Princess Gaoyang sighed softly and turned her head away. “Alright, forget I said anything …”

‘”Thank you, Ling’er” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “We haven’t been together for a day or two. You know me, and I know you. There’s no need for us to say anything else. Anyway, I’ll come back unharmed. You should stay in Chang’an obediently and don’t let me worry about you.”

“Mm” Princess Gaoyang nodded her head gently and didn’t say anything else.

Wu Meiniang said, “Mubai, when I accompanied you to see Fang Xuanling the day before yesterday, I was already preparing for the matter of raising grain. I believe that it won’t be long before we can get the first batch of grain of about 300,000 stones and set off from Chang’an together with Su Dingfang and King Jiangxia.”

“So fast?” Qin Mubai asked in surprise, “Changan is not Xiangyang. You haven’t done any grain business here, have you?”

“Isn’t there a Zheng Clan? Have you forgotten that the Zheng Clan is the largest grain and salt merchant in Chang’an, the Imperial Court’s Imperial Merchant!” Wu Meiniang said, “If it weren’t for the Imperial Court’s authorization, who would dare to do business in grain and salt, let alone in Chang’an? Although I took over the grain and salt authorization from you and Li Ke in Xiangzhou, I really wouldn’t be able to do anything in the pass. Fortunately, I can still rely on the Zheng Clan to do things.”

“Oh, no wonder you are so confident. You praised Haikou for 500,000 stones of grain in front of Fang Xuanling!” Qin Mubai said.

Princess Gaoyang blinked her eyes and asked, “Five hundred thousand stones of grain, is it very expensive? How much is it worth?”

“It’s not particularly expensive. It’s probably only worth a Qin Immortal Pavilion in Chang’an.” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “But at the frontlines, even if you have money, you can’t buy such a thing. Moreover, the cost of transporting 500,000 stones of grain to Lanzhou is more than two to five hundred thousand stones! In addition, the large number of civilian workers and carriages and horses are not something that ordinary people can afford to hire and prepare.”

‘”Mother Mei, you’re so capable” Princess Gaoyang said enviously and jealously, “You can do so much for Mubai, but I can’t help you at all. I feel that compared to you, I’m useless at all!”

“No way!” Wu Meiniang hurriedly said, “You are the lucky star in Mu Bai’s life. Without you, Mu Bai would not be so powerful today. As for me, apart from doing business, I have nothing but money. I can only help Mu Bai a little. After all, you are more helpful to him!”

“Is that so?” Princess Gao Yang smiled and asked, “Mubai, is that so?”

“Haha!” Qin Mubai shook his head and smiled, “Alright, you two are the lucky stars of my life. You are also my best sage, so there’s no need to brag to each other.”

“Hehe!” Princess Gaoyang and Wu Meiniang laughed together. The sadness of parting finally dissipated a lot.

“It’s getting late. All of you should go back and rest early!” ‘”I still have a set of armor to wipe, and I will go to bed early after finishing it. I have to go to the barracks outside Chang’an City to arise at dawn,” Qin Mubai said with a ruthless heart. “I have to get up at dawn and go out very early.”

Princess Gaoyang and Wu Meiniang stood up silently. Their four bright eyes looked at him and whispered, “Then let’s go …”

“Mm” Qin Mubai replied softly and did not look up at the two of them. The sound of their rustling footsteps could only be heard as they walked away.

‘”Whoosh” Qin Mubai heaved a sigh of relief and secretly said, “Gentle Village, Tomb of Heroes” Although I’m not a great hero, I don’t want to be distracted by my children’s worries. Can they understand?

At this moment, a series of tiny footsteps approached from afar. Qin Mubai couldn’t help but frown. Gaoyang, go and return?

After being together for so long, Qin Mubai could not be more familiar with the sound of her footsteps.

‘”Mubai” Princess Gaoyang returned as expected. She rushed into the room like a civet cat and pounced on Qin Mubai’s back, hugging his neck.

“What?” Qin Mubai asked with a smile.

“Fuck!”

Qin Mubai almost fell to the ground, “What are you talking about!”

“Anyway, if you ask, I will answer. Don’t go back on your word!”

“Naughty!-Where’s Mama Mei?”

“I asked her to sleep with three people. She’s shy and went home. Hehe!” Princess Gaoyang giggled and bit Qin Mubai’s ear. “Husband Mubai, darling Sanlang, I want to give birth to a son for you!”

“What husband, darling, who did you learn from?” Qin Mubai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Princess Gao Yang giggled in Qin Mubai’s ears, and her voice became seductive. She snorted and said, “You’ve only been busy for days, and you haven’t provoked me. Now that you’ve been away from Chang’an for so long, I don’t know when we’ll see each other … don’t you have any ideas?”

“Didn’t I just fear that you would wake up tomorrow morning and disappear from your sight. Are you sad and sad?”

“Who cares! You said that a spring night is worth a thousand dollars. You can go to Lanzhou to clean this gun!-Come, go to the room and have a son!”

“…” Qin Mubai was so speechless that the corner of his mouth almost cramped. He gritted his teeth and said, “There’s no hurry to give birth to a son. I only know that tonight, you’re going to be miserable!”

“Come on! Come on! If I’m afraid of you, I’m not your Qin Mubai’s woman, hehe!”