Free Web NovelChapter 2334: Chapter 2309: Agreement Reached
The official agreed, just as he was about to speak again, a minor officer came running in and said, "Your Majesty, General Bali is here..."
Before the words were finished, the Western Turkic general strode in, laughing heartily, "I heard the honored guests of Your Majesty have arrived, won’t Your Majesty let us meet them?"
A flash of displeasure crossed the eyes of the King of Kucha, but he raised a smile on his face and said, "General Bali is here, please take a seat."
General Bali sat down directly.
When Bai Shan and the others entered with two large boxes, they saw someone seated below the throne. Bai Shan paused for a moment, then bowed only towards the throne.
The King of Kucha was very curious about the condition of General Guo, so he asked Zhou Man.
Manbao did not dare to speak too heavily, fearing that if he thought General Guo was going to die and attacked the camp directly, what would happen? Nor did he dare to speak too lightly, lest he didn’t believe them and suspected they were being held hostage.
So Manbao emptied a bag of scholarly words, ensuring the king wouldn’t understand, and finally told him the consequences, "... If not treated in time, even if he recovers now, it will still affect his lifespan."
The King of Kucha did not understand the previous statements, but he understood this sentence. He perked up and asked, "What medicine does Guo Xiao need?"
Manbao then presented a prescription prepared earlier, all good herbs for replenishing blood and energy, with ginseng at the top.
This item, the King of Kucha himself only had one box of, bought from central Chinese merchants at a high price. When he fled, many items in the treasury were left behind, but he did not forget this box of ginseng, naturally, he couldn’t give it to Guo Xiao.
However, the King of Kucha couldn’t say that, so he simply stated that many herbs were not available in the palace, as it had been plundered before, but he would mention it to the ministers to see where in the city these could be bought for them.
Bai Shan took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty’s kindness in allowing us to purchase herbs already shows benevolence, how could we dare to impose further on Your Majesty’s expenses?"
The King of Kucha’s gaze involuntarily fell on the two boxes.
Bai Shan immediately indicated that they would not use these gold and silver to buy, nor would they use the spoils of this battle; General Guo still had some savings.
Only then did the smile on the King of Kucha’s face become genuine.
The topic then turned to the main issue, with the King of Kucha bringing up when they would enter the city to surrender. Bai Shan indicated that they would return with the medicine for General Guo to take, and once he was able to mount a horse, they would lead the surrendering troops into the city.
Bai Shan also mentioned the matter of General Guo’s future treatment.
Suddenly, Bali, who had been sitting silently on the side, sneered, "A defeated general, Your Majesty’s willingness to accept his surrender is already magnanimous; how dare he demand an official rank?"
Bai Shan looked helplessly at the King of Kucha.
The King of Kucha smiled at Bali, "General Bali, Guo Xiao is indeed capable, if he sincerely surrenders, we Kucha can certainly afford a general’s position."
"Does Your Majesty really trust them so? The Han people are always cunning, this could be their delaying tactic," Bali spoke to the King of Kucha in Turkic, "In my opinion, why not use the army to crush them directly? At that point, the surrendered forces would turn into captives, wouldn’t they listen to Your Majesty better?"
There was no need for translation for Bai Shan and Manbao to understand; the two furrowed their brows slightly and did not hide their comprehension. Quickly, they responded in less fluent Turkic to the King of Kucha, "Please, Your Majesty, keep your promise."
They also addressed Bali, "General, although our General Guo is injured, he is strategic and has fierce generals under his command. We have three thousand troops; I fear it won’t be easy for you to attack our camp directly?"
Bai Shan confronted him, "Otherwise, would Your Majesty and the general have waited so many days and not pursued victory vigorously on the second day after our general was injured?"
This struck at the King of Kucha’s sore spot. Why hadn’t they pursued the victory? Wasn’t it because Bali felt the money wasn’t sufficient, no matter how often he was told, he turned a deaf ear, finding various excuses to decline?
Now, knowing that Guo Xiao had a large amount of gold and silver treasure, he wanted to attack. But if he went, where would the share be for him?
It was known that most of the spoils in Guo Xiao’s hands had been looted from the palace.
Bali wanted to take away the treasures of the Kucha palace; how could there be such logic?
Thus, the King of Kucha was more determined to accept Guo Xiao’s surrender. He quickly reassured Bai Shan and also placated Bali, stating that Guo Xiao was only following the orders of the central Chinese emperor, and the battles between them had nothing to do with Guo Xiao personally, so past grievances would be wiped clean, and they would all be friends henceforth.
Bali’s cheek twitched, but he finally swallowed his anger, forced a conversation with the King of Kucha, and then left.
The King of Kucha glanced at the time and found it was getting late, so he invited Bai Shan and the others to stay for a meal. That night, they would lodge at a relay station outside the palace, and the next day, after obtaining the necessary herbs, they could leave the city to discuss surrender with Guo Xiao.
At that point, the Wang City would send an envoy to negotiate specific matters with Guo Xiao.
The King of Kucha dared not let Guo Xiao, who purportedly had three thousand troops, enter the city directly. Naturally, all soldiers must lay down their arms and remove their armor before they could enter the city and surrender.
Bai Shan agreed with a smile, then left the palace with Manbao.
The officials sent to receive them led them to the relay station while tactfully indicating that Kucha was not the central plains, and the herbs were incomplete; some herbs they were seeking might not be found.
Manbao expressed understanding and stated that as long as half could be procured, General Guo would be very satisfied.
Both sides reached a consensus and were very pleased. The official said he would personally bring people and herbs to meet them the following day.
Once the people left, Bai Shan signaled Daji to close the door before discussing with Jin Kui’an, "They still don’t trust us, obviously not intending to let us contact others in the city."
Jin Kui’an asked, "What should we do then?"
Erge inquired, "Does Young Master Bai have other means to contact personnel within the city?"
Bai Shan replied, "I will do my best; you need not worry. Just watch my signals tomorrow."
Jin Kui’an still felt they were just inexperienced youth and unreliable, whereas Erge seemed very confident in them. Since Bai Shan told them not to meddle, they really didn’t, and stayed peacefully in the station, eating and drinking while waiting for the next day.
Bai Shan and Manbao exchanged a look but said nothing.
As dusk approached, Bai Shan and Manbao tried to leave the station for a walk but were stopped. The official guarding them stated, "The city has just been through a war, and it’s still in chaos. You two look obviously like people from the central plains, quite different from us, going to the streets might cause trouble. For your safety, you’d better not go out."
Bai Shan regretfully said, "We originally wanted to seize the opportunity to buy some things, but if it’s inconvenient, we’ll have to wait for another chance to properly tour Kucha city."
The group was restricted to the station, and Manbao kept Keke observing the situation at the camp.
But because the distance was a bit far, although it was still within Keke’s scanning range, many detailed things couldn’t be known in time.
It kept an eye on the open areas and the entrance of the camp. When it saw two horses quickly being led inside by someone, it followed along.
