Hidden in the court

Chapter 73 The ideal is beautiful

Chen Ju led his men straight to the royal court of Shache.

This battle lasted only an hour, and the artillery fire did not affect the city. There must be someone else in the royal court, and now we need to find someone who can take the lead. Let everything here return to normal as soon as possible.

Sure enough, Chen Ju really found it.

His men searched the Shache royal court for a long time and brought up a middle-aged man who was tied up.

"You guys tied this up?"

"No, General. He was like this when we found him."

"Untie him."

The soldiers quickly untied the tied man. As soon as the man was freed, he bowed to Chen Ju and muttered something.

Chen Ju helplessly summoned the translation team, "What did he say?"

With the help of the translation team, Chen Ju finally understood.

"Is your Excellency the emissary from the North?"

Chen Ju was speechless for a while, "I am, who are you?"

But after hearing what the translator said, the man couldn't help but burst into tears and began to complain to Chen Ju.

"I am a vassal of Shache, named Qi Xuan. From the beginning, the Kingdom of Kucha sent envoys to persuade my king to detain merchants from the Celestial Empire and then become an enemy of the Celestial Empire. I strongly opposed this, but my king was greedy and hoped for the best.

So far, I wanted to persuade my king to surrender immediately, but the king's court was bewildered, so there was a battle. They saw that I was loyal to the imperial court, and they were afraid that I would rebel, so they tied me up. I heard the sound of fighting outside the city just now, and then I knew that the general had won, it was really God's blessing..."

Seeing that he was getting more and more excited, Chen Ju interrupted his speech and asked, "I just want to ask you one thing. Can you be a good king of Shache?"

Qi Xuan seemed overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately kowtowed to Chen Ju twice more.

"Although Qi Xuan is not a great talent, he is passionate and respectful to the Celestial Empire. If possible, Qi Xuan is willing to lead Shache to pay tribute to the Celestial Empire."

For some reason, Chen Ju always felt that Qi Xuan in front of him was not very reliable, but there was no better choice at the moment, so he had to be the best among the short ones.

"Okay, I'll tell His Majesty this. I want you to repair the city wall as soon as possible and appease the people of Shache. You can do it."

"Yes."

Qi Xuan responded and walked out.

A soldier leaned close to Chen Ju's ear and said, "General, I think there is something wrong with him."

Chen Ju was startled by the sound next to his ear and turned his head to see. Wasn’t that the artilleryman from before?

After kicking him twice more, he asked, "Tell me, what's the problem?"

"When I first found him, the rope that tied him up was wrong. Normally, the knots used by others to tie him up are not like that. He wanted to tie it himself. I suspect he tied himself up to deceive our trust."

Chen Ju stared at him for a long time, somewhat surprised.

"Okay, I get it. Don't worry about it. What's your name?"

"General, my name is Wang Fu. I am from Wangjia Village outside Chang'an City."

"Well, you are a good kid, go down and have a rest."

The battle was fought without bloodshed, lasting less than an hour, and only 32 shells were used.

Chen Ju stayed in Shache for three days. During these three days, Qi Xuan fulfilled his mission conscientiously.

Except for the city wall which has not been repaired, those who need to be appeased have been appeased, and those who need to be resettled have been resettled. Don't worry about the thickness of the city gate, it has finally been repaired.

"Hey, I'm going to Shule soon. Find me some people who know the way and can lead the way."

"Yes."

Although Chen Ju also had a map in his hand, Shule was still quite far away from here, so it would be safer to take these people with him.

Seeing that Shache had almost recovered and had eaten and drunk his fill, Chen Ju asked Qi Xuan to report to the emperor and ask for an imperial decree, and then he continued on his journey.

How to say this matter, the main point is, I have said everything I need to say, it is up to His Majesty whether to give it to you or not.

Originally, Chen Ju's journey was the longest, and he stayed in Shache for a few days and still had to go to Shule.

During this time, he also communicated with Lu Peng and learned that Lu Peng had reached the last country on his route and there was no conflict. Chen Ju was still indignant about this. Why are people here so blind?

Lu Peng also knew that Chen Ju was heading to Shule, and he told Chen Ju, "Whenever there is an incident, your son is always at the forefront, and he has won a lot of military merits..."

Chen Ju read Lu Peng's letter and was so happy that snot bubbles came out of his nose.

Shule was also a powerful country, larger than Shache, and even ranked second after Qiuci among the Thirty-Six Kingdoms in the Western Regions.

At this time, the news that the northern army had destroyed the city walls of Shache had also reached Shule.

Shule Royal Court

"What plans do you have?"

The King of Shule asked everyone.

"My king, we should immediately ask for help from Kucha."

"It's not just about asking for help, it's also about buying time. We can't let the North use that kind of weapon."

Yes, Shule did not intend to surrender quietly, and even had ties with Qiuci. However, unlike Shache, they did not intend to have a direct conflict with the North.

Shule also had 3,000 soldiers, and although they all wore leather armor and their walls were higher and thicker than Shache's, they did not think that they would be any different from Shache under the attack from the North.

You can say that these people know the times and they won't surrender. Or you can say that they don't know the times and they have a clear self-awareness.

"Your Majesty, we can pretend to surrender and host a banquet for the envoys from the North. We can take this opportunity to imprison them. The North's army is stationed outside the city. Without a commander, they will not receive orders and will be paralyzed."

"By then, we should be able to delay until Kucha comes to support us. Then we can attack from both sides with the Kucha army, strike quickly, and wipe out the northern army in one fell swoop."

King Shule's eyes lit up when he heard this, but then he frowned. The previous plan was completely feasible, but it would require the annihilation of the northern army. If the northern army was angered, it would be disastrous.

The people below saw his concerns and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. After we annihilate the northern army, we can write to the northern army in advance and put the blame on Qiuci. Then we will release the northern envoy and escort him all the way. In this way, the northern army will not be able to blame our country."

When the King of Shule heard this, he thought for a moment and then laughed. The ministers below also laughed.

"Okay, let's do it. Send someone to ask for help from Qiuci immediately and inform them of the plan."

That night, three teams set out from Shule City and headed towards Qiuci in different directions.

Two days later, Chen Ju saw Shule City standing in the oasis from afar.

As they got closer, they found that the people in the city were also somewhat jubilant. The officers and soldiers on the city wall did not even question the Northern Army when they saw them. Instead, they smiled and saluted Chen Zhi, speaking in their broken Chinese.

"Messenger of the Celestial Empire, welcome to Shule."