A raincoat wind and snow to the small garden

Chapter 38: Liangzhou Ghost Soldiers (Part )

The group arrived in Liangzhou.

Xiang Xiaoyuan was not a military general, nor was she a secret guard trained by the Xuanqi Division, and she could not speak the Hu language. Therefore, she did not insist on going to the front line, but stayed in the city-state and lived with the officials from the Eastern Palace.

Lin Qiyu and Yan Yun both left.

Before leaving, they bribed the servants of the Eastern Palace and ordered them to take good care of Xiang Xiaoyuan.

The officers waved their hands repeatedly, indicating that they would not accept the favor without any gratitude. Besides, Eunuch Fusheng had just come and scolded them this morning. Everyone knew that Miss Xiang was the crown prince's favorite. They were busy trying to curry favor with her, so who would dare to provoke her?
Even Cai Chunming came to say goodbye to Xiang Xiaoyuan.

Cai Chunming was wearing the dress of a Hu dancer today, revealing her slender waist like a snake. She had a gold bead curtain wrapped around her waist and a snow-white fox fur coat draped over her shoulders. The sharp fox fur made her delicate skin look even whiter.

As soon as Cai Chunming saw Xiang Xiaoyuan, he stuck to her, resting his pointed chin on her shoulder and poking the dimple on her face with his little finger stained with flower juice.

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "Sister Cai, are you going to the front line too?"

Cai Chunming: "Yes, but my division of labor is different from theirs. I will be sent with other beauties to the twenty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions to gather information from the royal families and see if there are any traitors who have defected to the Xiongnu among the Hu city-states that have submitted to Wei."

Xiang Xiaoyuan stood in awe and said, "Sister Cai, you have worked hard."

Cai Chunming chuckled: "What's so hard about it? This is what I love to do."

Cai Chunming let go of the little girl, and suddenly lifted her skirt and turned around in front of her. The woman was wearing crisp jewelry, dazzling pearls and jade, and was extremely charming.

Cai Chunming asked: "Xiaoyuan Xiaoyuan, am I the most beautiful woman in the Western Regions?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan nodded: "Sister Cai is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!"

Hearing this, Cai Chunming's mood brightened. She came over and rubbed Xiang Xiaoyuan's cheek, "Obviously, our Xiaoyuan is also very beautiful. Don't worry, I am going out this time to be the most beautiful person, worthy of the king with the highest status. Xiaoyuan, you must behave at home. When I finish my mission and come back, I will take you out to play."

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "Okay."

Cai Chunming left satisfied. Coincidentally, she knew Huaiyu was also on the list of those accompanying the emperor and would not be staying at the private residence in Liangzhou, so she was in a good mood. "Get out of here! Stop flirting with Xiang Xiaoyuan while she's away."

As soon as Cai Chunming left, Zhao Qingheng, who was forcibly dragged here, glanced at Xiaoyuan.

Out of sympathy or pity, he couldn't help but say to Xiang Xiaoyuan, "Don't take Cai Chunming too seriously."

He blinked at Xiaoyuan, not understanding.

Zhao Qingheng curled her lips. "The novelty of Cai Chunming only lasts three months. The last male disciple she coaxed was initially reluctant and reserved, but in the end, he insisted on marrying Cai Chunming. But she got tired of him and just walked away. And yet, that male disciple still comes to her door every day to show his affection."

Xiang Xiaoyuan took out a Liangzhou specialty date from her purse, put it in her mouth and chewed it. After swallowing it, she said to Zhao Qingheng, "No, Sister Cai is not my only friend. If she doesn't want to play with me, I can still find Senior Brother Huaiyu, Ah Qi, Lin Qiyu, Yan Yun, and if all else fails, I can find my master..."

Zhao Qingheng choked. That's true. Xiang Xiaoyuan is not alone. It's up to her whether she wants to play with Cai Chunming or not. There is absolutely no chance that Cai Chunming will abandon her.

Xiang Xiaoyuan simply distributed her friendship evenly to everyone.

Being close to one person can easily hurt you, but being close to a group of people will only keep you busy.

Zhao Qingheng bowed in admiration: It’s really great.

In late winter and early spring, a snowy plateau stretches beyond the borders of China, its glaciers and mountains blanketed in white. Just then, the Xiongnu Khan, Tuohai, leads his troops invading the Western Regions. The Protectorate stationed in the city-states of the Western Regions sends an urgent message, requesting reinforcements to drive back these brutal Xiongnu intruders.

In order to enhance the prestige of the Wei Kingdom, Xie Yunxue dispatched troops overnight, counted military supplies, and went out of the city to resist the enemy.

Only a few officials and logistics teams remained in the city. After everyone left, Xiang Xiaoyuan was about to start her action.

It happened that the secret guard Ah Qi was also the one who was abandoned. He went out for a walk in the small garden and found that the customs and habits of the border town were very different from those in the capital. There were horses, camels, and blond-haired and blue-eyed Hu people everywhere. Most of the houses in the city were made of red willows, reeds, and yellow mud. As for the trees, most of them were poplars.

Xiang Xiaoyuan couldn't stand the wind and sand, and wore a veil hat all day long to keep out the sand. She couldn't help but sigh that it was no wonder that so many officials in border towns wanted to return to the capital to live. Few people could stand the wind and sand in Mobei alone.

He bought a pot of fine wine and a flatbread filled with minced mutton from Xiaoyuan and returned to his private residence.

She ran to Ah Qi's residence, put down her food, and shouted, "Brother Ah Qi, are you home?"

No one answered her.

"Brother Qi? Come out quickly, I have work for you!"

No one paid attention.

"Forget it, I'll just wait for Senior Brother Huaiyu to come back. After all, Senior Brother Huaiyu is kind and good-hearted. No matter what Junior Sister asks him to do, he will agree!"

A snowball hit Xiang Xiaoyuan on the back of the head.

With a thud, Xiang Xiaoyuan fell into the snow pile.

Ah Qi: "...Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, you are too shameless."

Xiang Xiaoyuan climbed out of the snowdrift, shook off the snow on his forehead, and sulked, pouting: "No senior brother would throw a snowball at someone!"

As she spoke, she secretly made a snowball and threw it hard at the handsome boy's face.

With a bang, Ah Qi was hit directly.

Ah Qi wiped the snow off his face. Even though the boy was angry, he still curved his peach blossom eyes and smiled faintly: "Are you relieved?"

"Yeah." Xiang Xiaoyuan sat cross-legged in the snow. She broke the pancake and handed it over. "Brother Qi, since you have nothing to do anyway, can you do me a favor?"

Ah Qi looked smiling, but that didn't mean he didn't have a temper.

Suddenly, Xiang Xiaoyuan hit him with a snowball, and she poked his lungs, specifically pointing out the fact that "Aqi was left in the city by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince because he was useless." Now she wants to trick him into running errands. How can such a good thing happen?
But Xiang Xiaoyuan kept saying, "Brother Qi, you can't be in trouble, right? Brother Huaiyu is always quick at doing things. If he wasn't in the city, I wouldn't have come looking for you..."

Ah Qi sneered and pinched Xiang Xiaoyuan's cheek: "Did your Senior Brother Huaiyu ever tell you that you can't say a man is not good enough?"

He shook his head innocently at Xiaoyuan.

"Forget it, what are you going to do?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan poured Ah Qi more wine and smiled faintly, "Eight years ago, Liangzhou was under the jurisdiction of Wang Junyang, the governor of Longyou. But Your Majesty discovered that he was colluding with the Hu people and intended to unite with foreign enemies to invade the Central Plains from the south. To kill this traitor, Your Majesty sent Zheng Huai, the Duke of Zheng, to slaughter all 30,000 of Wang's rebellious troops in Liangzhou."

"I've been walking the streets these past few days, specifically investigating Wang Junyang's affairs. His wife, Cui Qiong, was the legitimate daughter of the Boling Cui clan, one of the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats. Her status and position were much higher than Wang Junyang, who came from a humble background. If it weren't for the Wang family's local military power, Cui Qiong's marriage to the Wang family could truly be considered a downgrade. However, after the incident at the Wang family, Cui Qiong could have returned to the Cui family, but she refused to divorce and instead accompanied her husband to his death. Their only daughter was also poisoned by Cui Qiong at home before Zheng Huai led his troops to attack the city, and was buried under a peach tree."

After the city was captured, the Wang family's house was razed to the ground. The first thing the local people did was not to pay tribute to the Wang family, but to dig up the bones under the peach tree, because they knew that Cui Qiong loved her daughter and might have left many precious burial objects.

Ah Qi didn't expect that she wanted to investigate this old case, which concerns the emperor. Junior sister is really brave.

(End of this chapter)