Tubo's internal affairs were internal affairs. He had just reached forty years old this year, he was a strong and vigorous man, in the prime of his life. He was wearing a black robe, his hair was tied into a bun on his forehead, his mustache was thick and black, he looked very dignified. He scrutinized the Persian man kneeling in front of him and asked, "You said you are from Uzhile?"
"Yes, Xiaoren was only in charge of guarding the horses and camels, but in the end our messengers were seized by Great Minister Trinling and sent to the palace. Xiaoren did not know what happened, I could only run away in panic. After enduring for these past few days, I finally found out the reason. Xiaoren really had no other choice but to come and complain to Daren that we are wronged! "
Speaking to this point, Big Bear's tears and snot flowed down his face, his situation was unspeakably miserable. They were able to become scouts, they were good at disguise, they knew how to act, these were their greatest strengths.
Bo Chui picked up a wooden bowl inlaid with red coral beads, he blew on the surface and drank a mouthful of horse milk wine. With a cold laugh he said, "Wronged? What are you wronged about? "
Big Bear said, "Our Tulshi Cavalry Division was driven into a corner, we really had the intention to seek refuge with Tubo, we absolutely did not have any intention of pretending to surrender."
Bo Chui put down the bowl and looked at him with a smile, he said, "If you had the intention to surrender, why didn't you surrender to Zanpu, but to the Great Minister's mansion?"
Big Bear nodded his head and said, "Xiaoren also did not know, the palace was heavily guarded, we came from afar, we could not find the way in, we were just in front of the palace looking for a guard or official to explain our reason, asking him to pass on our message, in the end we just happened to meet the Great Minister coming out of the palace. When the Great Minister heard our intention, he brought our men back to his mansion, and then … they were arrested. "
Bo Chui's eyes flashed, he leaned forward and asked, "Did you hear it with your own ears, saw it with your own eyes?"
With a bitter smile Big Bear said, "If Xiaoren saw it with my own eyes, I would have been arrested long ago. Xiaoren did not hear it, but when the messengers ordered Xiaoren to guard the horses and camels, they said they were going to find someone to report to the palace. I saw them go, and then they met the Great Minister and his men … "
"You know the Great Minister?" Bo Chui asked.
"Xiao Ren does not know," Big Bear said, "It was Xiao Ren who followed Great Minister all the way back to his mansion, only then did I know. Xiaoren led the camel and horse and waited outside for a while. I saw the Great Minister personally came out with our people. Seeing Xiaoren by the roadside, our messenger repeatedly signaled Xiaoren with his eyes, telling me to run away. Xiaoren realized something was wrong, so I had no choice but to abandon the camel and horse and escape without a trace. "
Bo Lun's interest was piqued. He stroked his beard and asked, "In that case, why don't you escape back to your tribe?"
Big Bear wanted to cry but had no tears. "Sir, this lowly one is only one person, how can I go back? I'm afraid that once this lowly one leaves this city, I will be killed by the bandits. Besides, if I were to return like this, there's no way Chieftain Uzhile would let me off so easily. This lowly one has no other choice but to complain to Milord. I know the situation of our tribe the best. Chieftain Uzhile has gathered the entire tribe to discuss whether or not to side with the Tubo, and we've come to a consensus. There's no way we're lying. "
Bo Lun looked deeply at Big Bear and said: "Take him away first, put him in the dungeon."
Big Bear cried out: "Interior Minister Daren! Everything this lowly one has said is the truth, I beg Interior Minister Daren to uphold justice for us, we've been wronged … "
Amidst the cries and shouts, Big Bear was taken away by the warriors. Bo Lun pondered for a while, muttering to himself: "If what this person said is not the truth, why did he come to complain? If what he said is the truth, why did the Great Minister say that they were pretending to surrender? It's illogical to refuse such a thing that has hundreds of benefits and no harm … "
Bo Lun sat cross-legged, his hands crossed, his two thumbs subconsciously circling. After circling for a while, his eyes gradually revealed a look of suspicion.
Early the next morning, Bo Lun entered the city to see Zan Pu. He purposely asked about this matter, wanting to interrogate the few Cavalry Tribe members. Unexpectedly, these people had all been skinned, and even their skulls had been dug out to be used as butter lamps. Not a single person was left alive. Bo Lun was very depressed. He returned to his mansion unhappily. The head steward Si Nanxi tiptoed in.
Bo Lun glanced at him and asked faintly: "What's the matter?"
Si Nanxi quickly took a step forward and said with a fawning smile: "Sir, the merchant that sold you a pair of celadon pots has come to King City again. This time, he has brought a pair of vases, I wonder if Sir is interested?"
Bo Lun was immediately interested. This person liked to collect Central Plains porcelain and would not hesitate to buy the rare ones. Once he heard this, he was overjoyed and said: "Alright, ask him to bring it for me to take a look."
Si Nanxi hurriedly said: "Milord, this lowly one also said the same thing. But they traveled a long distance, and in order to prevent damage, the porcelain was carefully tied up. Once they arrived at King City, they had to let the guests inspect the goods, so the tying up was removed. This pair of vases is too large and needs to be tied up again before they can be transported. It is truly inconvenient, and the slightest carelessness can lead to damage, so … Milord must personally take a look."
It was not easy to make large porcelain, and coupled with the inconvenience of traveling, especially on long journeys, porcelain was easily damaged. Thus, it was very rare to see large porcelain from the Central Plains. When Bo Lun heard that this pair of vases was extremely large and difficult to move, he became even more excited and said: "Very large porcelain? Let's go and take a look! "
… …
Shen Mu had made many preparations for this operation. Using his vast intelligence network, he had learned which Tibetan minister had been on a diplomatic mission to the Eastern Turks and had met Ashina Musi. This was not difficult. The Tibetans and the Eastern Turks had worked together to deal with the Western Turks, driving them away from their homeland, which had been the primary nomadic territory of the Four Garrisons of Anxi. At the same time, they had also defeated the garrison of the Tang dynasty there. In this process, the two sides had to frequently communicate with each other in order to unite their forces and divide the spoils.
After investigating, he discovered that four Tibetan ministers had been on diplomatic missions to the Eastern Turks, and Ashina Musi, as the nephew of the Turkic Khagan Gu Tulu, had attended every one of these meetings, so they had met.
Shen Mu investigated these four Tibetan ministers and discovered that two of them were close to Lun Trinling. One of the other two did not have much authority. Although he was not on Lun Trinling's side, he did not necessarily have the courage to make an enemy out of Lun Trinling. In the end, he had decided on Bo Lun Xi as his target.
Bo Lun Chui excitedly left the mansion. The people who were secretly monitoring him immediately passed on the message. Yang Fan and the others immediately began to prepare in full swing.
The porcelain was on the first floor of Lun Jingxia's residence, and there were many other goods that were too bulky to be placed outside. When Bo Lun Xi arrived at Lun Jingxia's residence, Yu Qingshan immediately went to greet him.
Bo Lun Xi had no time for pleasantries and excitedly rushed into the residence. His eyes were immediately attracted by a pair of massive vases that gleamed with a faint light. These vases were nearly half the height of a man, and though Bo Lun Xi had collected many pieces of porcelain, he had never seen such a pair of treasures before. His eyes were immediately glued to them.
After staring at the vases for a long time, Bo Lun Xi lightly reached out and caressed them. Feeling their warm and smooth surface, he suddenly said, "Light some torches to brighten up the place!"
This sort of tall stone building did not have very good lighting, and it was rather dark inside, making it difficult to see clearly. A few torches were lit around the vases, and the two vases shone brightly, and Bo Lun Xi's eyes could not help but light up as well.
The texture was exquisite, the vases were thin and smooth, and the bones were compact. Knocking on them produced the sound of metal and stone. There were all kinds of patterns on them, such as red-crowned cranes, pine trees, clouds, and court ladies. The more Bo Lun Xi looked at them, the more he liked them. He repeatedly nodded his head and said, "I want them! These two vases, I want both of them! Move them to my house immediately! "
By this time, Yang Fan and another group of people had already arrived at the residence of the Tufan Great Minister Lun Jingling.
Along the way, Yang Fan stuck a full beard on his face, concealing his original appearance as much as possible. He followed Yu Qingshan's group to the Tufan King City. Meanwhile, Niu Mang and the others disguised themselves as another group of merchants, and entered the city right after him.
While Bo Lun Xi was impatiently waiting to buy the pair of Yue kiln vases, Yang Fan had already left and blended into Niu Mang's group of merchants. Niu Mang's' group of merchants' sold a lot of silk, satin, porcelain, and Buddha statues to the Great Minister's residence. Yang Fan disguised himself as a young worker carrying goods, and followed the cart into the rear courtyard of the Great Minister's residence.
"Move in, move in, be careful!"
The steward of the Great Minister's residence shook a bunch of keys in his hand, standing in front of the storeroom and shouting loudly. Yang Fan carried a bundle of satin on his shoulder, and with the brim of his hat pressed low, he looked around vigilantly. He slowly walked into the storeroom, and placed the goods according to the steward's instructions.
In the distance, Yu Qingshan, with a dozen of his workers, carefully carried two huge vases, and slowly walked over. The warriors of the Great Minister's residence protected them, and along the way, they chased away the common people, for fear that someone would recklessly barge in and damage the beloved treasures of the Great Minister.
Along the way, there were people disguised as all kinds of travelers and peddlers. Every few dozen steps, there would be one person to pass the message back. In front of the Great Minister's residence, the cart driver sat on the shaft of the cart, staring at the hand signals coming from afar. He secretly signaled to the people carrying goods in the courtyard, and adjusted the speed of their movement.
Bo Lun Xi was worried about the two rare vases, and personally escorted them back to the residence. Such huge and heavy vases could not be moved quickly, so it was easy for Yang Fan's side to adjust the speed of the movement. When the signal came from the other side, indicating that Bo Lun Xi was approaching, they had just moved the last few goods into the storeroom and placed them properly.
"Get out, get out, get ready to go back!"
Niu Mang waved his hand to chase them away, and Yang Fan and the other workers left the backyard. Returning to the door, Niu Mang bowed and said to the steward of the Great Minister's residence, "Head steward, the goods are all here."
"En!" The head steward nodded arrogantly, and placed a heavy bag of gold in his hand, and said, "Count it, in the future, if there are goods of such quality, feel free to come again. In this Imperial City, other than our Great Minister's residence, there are really not many who can afford it."
Niu Mang smiled, "Of course, of course, there is no need to count, head steward, do you think I don't trust you?" As he said this, he took out a few golden beans from the bag and stuffed them into the steward's hand, and said with a smile, "You have worked hard, you have worked hard."
The head steward smiled with satisfaction, and wiped his abdomen with his hand. The few golden beans disappeared, and no one knew where he had stuffed them.
At this moment, Bo Lun Xi was leading the way on horseback, and behind him, a dozen strong men were carrying two large vases with wooden poles. They were protected by Tubo warriors, and they swayed with each step.
Walking out of the residence, Yang Fan's back was facing the Great Minister's residence, and he quickly tore off his full beard. A person beside him nodded to him, and lightly patted his stomach, and said in a low voice, "I have also succeeded!"
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