Free Web NovelChapter 2335: Chapter 2310: Message
Two orderlies jumped off their horses and immediately ran to report to General Li: "The Chief Steward divided the troops into two groups. One went to cut off the Western Turkic route, and the other returned to Wang City in Kucha. They will arrive early tomorrow morning..."
Keke relayed this to Manbao.
Manbao breathed a sigh of relief and ran off to find Bai Shan.
Bai Shan was standing by the window, looking at the street below. Hearing the commotion, he turned around and smiled slightly, asking, "Any news?"
Manbao nodded vigorously, squinting her eyes and beaming at him.
Bai Shan understood. He also smiled slightly and didn’t ask for specific news, instead extending his hand to her.
Manbao placed her hand in his, and the two stood shoulder to shoulder, looking at the street below from the inn.
Though they had just experienced war, the street below had already come back to life, bustling with many stalls selling various foods.
It’s a pity they couldn’t go out; otherwise, it would have been nice to try some.
Tomorrow, this place might experience another war.
Early the next morning, some Kucha officials brought several herbal medicine merchants to see Zhou Man. They brought some herbs, some on Manbao’s list and some others.
Upon entering, the officials discreetly glanced at the servants in the inn. Seeing one slightly shake his head, they knew that Bai Shan and the others had behaved honestly last night, without doing anything excessive.
The officials introduced the herbal merchants to Zhou Man with a smile, then stood by to watch them identify the herbs and negotiate prices.
Manbao wanted high-quality herbs for replenishing blood and energy, and she wanted most of the herbalists’ stock of such herbs, negotiating a bit on the price. As for other herbs, Manbao considered the situation of the camp’s herbs and selected some to buy, while also expressing a desire to see more types of herbs.
Thus, through selection and negotiation, the group stayed until noon.
Keke said, "The main army is setting an ambush at another city gate, while Junior General Meng is bringing troops from your camp towards this city gate."
This was an impending pincer attack. Manbao lowered her eyes, selected two items from a pile of herbs, and placed them on the table, one in the west and one in the north. She smiled and asked Bai Shan, "These are white orchid root and hairy agrimony for stopping bleeding. I remember our army has some hairy agrimony, but not much. Should I buy more hairy agrimony or some white orchid root?"
Bai Shan looked at the positions of the two herbs on the table, paused, and said, "Hairy agrimony is good, but since our army already has some, let’s buy some white orchid root."
Manbao nodded, turned to the herbalist who could provide white orchid root, and said, "Give us a load, please."
Bai Shan took out a money bag, poured out a gold ingot, and asked the merchants to split the cost, giving him the change.
The merchants, seeing this gold ingot, were eager to recommend more herbs, considering they had spent most of it. They thought they should spend it all—getting change was a hassle.
Bai Shan, however, said to the officials with a smile, "Your herbs are quite expensive now. When the general enters the city, please ask your king to be merciful, allowing our soldiers to buy some affordable herbs. In the last battle, many of our soldiers were injured."
The last battle at the city gate, where they took back Wang City, was a proud moment for Kucha, making the officials quite pleased. One of them smiled and said, "When General Guo comes in, our king will certainly show favor."
Bai Shan glanced at Manbao, then smiled and said, "In that case, for the sake of our soldiers, we should hurry back and make this deal."
Bai Shan took the opportunity to say farewell to the officials and proposed that they leave through the West City Gate.
He explained, "You know, many soldiers in the army are from the Central Plain and still think of returning home. So what General Guo did was discussed only with a few deputies. To avoid chaos, before you officially send troops to take over, this matter should not be publicized."
"The day we came was when General Guo replaced the guards at the checkpoint, using another excuse to leave the camp. Now, it’s not appropriate to exit through the North City Gate again, or it would be hard to explain to the soldiers guarding the checkpoint."
The official frowned slightly, "But we still need to accompany you back to the camp to see General Guo. Do we have to sneak back?"
Bai Shan quickly said, "Not necessarily. You just need to change into Han people’s attire. Then you can directly enter the camp to meet General Guo. Once the surrender terms are agreed upon, we’ll seize an opportunity to collect the soldiers’ weapons and lead them in surrender. Then your king’s army can take over, and any disobedient soldiers can be quickly subdued." Seeing Bai Shan’s thorough considerations and his reasoning, the officials pondered slightly and nodded, "But leaving through the West City Gate and returning to the north is quite far."
Bai Shan smiled, "Although it’s far, if we leave now and speed up on the road, we can arrive before sunset. The army will be having dinner then, and it will be getting dark, reducing the chance of being noticed."
The official couldn’t help but smile and said, "Lord Bai, you are truly considerate, even thinking of this."
They suspected this route and reason were planned from the start.
Bai Shan smiled at him bashfully, "The matter is sensitive, so being cautious is always a good idea."
The official had no further objections but still reported the matter to the king.
The soldiers quickly reported back, and the king of Kucha agreed.
As Bai Shan and his group headed to the West City Gate, escorting a carriage, General Bali watched them from a distance on horseback. He sneered, turned, and said to his confidant, "The king of Kucha lacks courage. After being surrounded by Guo Xiao for so long, he is surrendering as soon as someone surrenders to him."
"General, should we go back?"
"No," he said, "Kucha hasn’t given us enough food and silver as promised. Since they don’t want us to mobilize troops, we’ll only leave after they’ve given us what was originally agreed."
"What if they never give it to us?"
Bali sneered, "If they don’t give it, we’ll take it ourselves."
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the street stalls and shops behind them. Manbao, riding a horse beside Bai Shan, heard Keke say, "Your camp raised the flag you mentioned."
Manbao looked at Bai Shan and said, "I want to eat the pancakes in the camp."
Erge, riding nearby, couldn’t help but look up at her. This was the code agreed upon before leaving the camp. Once Zhou Man said this, the army would attack the city again in two quarter hours.
He circled around, unable to spot anything unusual, yet sensing an oddity everywhere.
So, from where did Zhou Man get the information?
No matter where she got it, upon hearing this phrase, everyone who heard it felt their backs tense and sat up a bit straighter. Though they appeared to walk forward unaffected, their hands occasionally touched the handles of their swords, ensuring their weapons were still at their waists.
Only Bai Shan smiled and replied, "We’ll eat when we get back."
The two no longer spoke, but as they looked at the distant West City Gate, they slowed their pace, subtly causing the entire procession to decelerate. Manbao pointed at a stall and said, "Though we can eat when we return, I still want to try Kucha’s meat pies."
The Kucha officials, who were also accompanying them back to the camp, generously bought two for them to taste.
