Ang Lee would not interfere with the private conversations of his soldiers. He always felt that as a warrior, one should be a little more vulgar. If one spoke in a refined manner and treated others politely, it would be worrying …
"Big Brother, will we still have a chance to come to Dongnu Province in the future?"
"Yes, there will definitely be a chance. As long as we are still alive, we will definitely come here again. What's wrong, Kun Xiong? Are you also reluctant to leave Dongnu Province? Are you reluctant to part with Lil 'Miss?"
"To be honest, Big Brother, although it has only been a few days, we have already developed feelings for each other. If we were to leave just like this, I would not feel good."
Ang Lee smiled: "Kun Xiong, if even a boorish man like you is troubled by feelings, there is no need to talk about the soldiers. However, time will dilute everything, and it will slowly get better. Hide these feelings in the bottom of your heart, we have more important things to do."
"Yes, Big Brother, I understand."
Li Kun Xiong frowned and walked to the side.
"Wuyang, you are really something. You even managed to take down Guichang Prince. This trip was not in vain."
Li Feishou Yu walked over with Zhang Erniu.
Ang Lee smiled lightly: "Shouyu, don't tease me. You are not bad yourself, you have not been idle for the past few days."
"Hahaha!"
The two looked at each other and laughed.
"Lieutenant Li, why do you think Lil 'Miss cries when she is happy?"
Zhang Erniu seemed to have encountered something very puzzling as he frowned.
Li Feishou Yu went up and gave him a kick: "Brat, you only care about your own comfort. You are too boorish. You made the girl cry, didn't you?"
"No, I was not that boorish."
Zhang Erniu was still very confused.
"Alright, Erniu, go and check the troops. We will leave in an hour."
"Yes, I understand."
Ang Lee didn't know how to explain this matter, so he had to ask Zhang Erniu to do it. Although the soldiers missed Miss from Dongnu Province very much, time would change everything. When they returned to Chang 'an and saw the bustling capital of the Tang dynasty, their memories in Dongnu Province would gradually fade. At least they wouldn't be as sad as they were now.
"We're fine. We've made so many contributions during this trip to Dongnu Province. How do you think His Majesty will reward us?"
"It's nothing more than gold, silver, treasures, and promotions."
"Isn't that enough? Don't worry. This time, you personally killed the Tubo Prince Lang Zhidu and annihilated twenty thousand Tubo border troops. His Majesty will at least confer you the title of General."
Ang Lee nodded and smiled. "Yes, I think so too."
"Hahaha!"
An hour later, Ang Lee broke camp and headed east. He planned to go to Yizhou City first and then return to Chang 'an along the official road from Hanzhong to Sichuan.
Ang Lee's troops traveled very quickly and arrived at Qingcheng County in Shuzhou two days later. At this speed, they could return to Chang 'an City within a month and report to Emperor Li Longji.
However, after entering the Tang dynasty's territory, Ang Lee heard of a major incident. The Tang dynasty's City Builder Zhu Lingqing, who was in charge of building Anning City, was killed by the rebels.
Ang Lee also understood the cause of this incident. The Tang dynasty's Emperor, Li Longji, planned to open a transportation route from Annan to Central Sichuan in order to strengthen his control over the Cuan clan in the south and build a city in Anning City to guard it. Because this strategic passage ran from north to south in the Cuan region, it caused great panic among the Cuan clan. Therefore, the Kun Province's Provincial Governor, Cuan Rijin. The Nanning Province's Provincial Governor, Cuan Gui Wang, and the Cuan clan's Cuan Rijin and Cuan Chongdao launched a large-scale resistance. They captured Anning City and killed the Tang dynasty's City Builder Zhu Lingqing.
After all, the Cuan clan's power was limited. Their rebellion wouldn't have much of an impact on the Tang dynasty, nor would it threaten the Tang dynasty's safety. However, this was a major incident. As a City Builder of the Tang dynasty, Zhu Lingqing was killed by these rebels. The Tang dynasty also cared about its reputation. How could they just let it go like this?
From the information that Ang Lee received, the Tang dynasty's Jiannan Province's army had already begun to gather in Cuan region and were waiting for Emperor Li Longji's orders. As soon as the Emperor issued an imperial edict, they would immediately suppress the rebels of the Cuan clan.
Ang Lee was quite knowledgeable about history in his previous life. Naturally, he understood what the Cuan clan's rebellion meant. This was Nanzhao's second opportunity to expand its power on a large scale.
Nanzhao was originally a small country in the southernmost part of Erhai. Its land area was extremely small. Last time, it took advantage of the Tang dynasty's struggle for hegemony with Tibet to get close to the Tang Empire. Then, with the support of the Tang empire, it destroyed all the Five Zhao in the north and completed its grand plan of unifying the Six Zhao. Later, it annexed Cuan region and doubled its power again, forming the powerful Kingdom of Nanzhao. This threatened the interests of the Tang Empire and caused the Tang Army's several southern expeditions to be defeated and suffered heavy losses.
Nanzhao had already unified the Six Zhao. It must not be allowed to annex Cuan region. Otherwise, the Tang dynasty's Jiannan Province and Annan Province would be completely separated. The strategic situation would be beneficial to Nanzhao and disadvantageous to the Tang dynasty.
After hearing about Zhu Lingqing's incident, Ang Lee always told himself that he might not be able to change anything, but he would do his best to change the historical trajectory of Nanzhao's rise again.
After the army entered Shuzhou, the road conditions became much better. The carriages and horses were not as bumpy as before. In short, it was much more comfortable.
Looking at the beautiful scenery on both sides of the road, the Tang Army felt very relaxed. Zhao Yefu, the Prince of Guichang, was safely staying in Queen's City. They no longer had to be nervous to guard against assassins.
Ang Lee's mood was also very relaxed. Although Xi Yu was a high-ranking official of the Tang dynasty, he was not very valuable. No one should assassinate him. Moreover, with him and hundreds of soldiers under his command to protect him, ordinary assassins would not be so bold.
Of course, sometimes things were not as they thought. Everything could be unexpected. Assassins could also make mistakes and go crazy.
Just as Ang Lee led the army forward slowly, more than a dozen pairs of eyes were staring at them from the dense forest on both sides of the road. They were ready to launch a sneak attack.
It was strange. Why was it so quiet on both sides of the road?
Ang Lee suddenly felt the abnormality of the surrounding environment. He paused and was shocked. "Oh no, there's an ambush."
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"
By the time Ang Lee reacted, more than a dozen sharp arrows had been shot and went straight to Xi Yu's carriage.
"Shouyu, Guangcheng, protect Assistant Minister Xi."
Ang Lee shouted. He turned around and shouted, "Kun Xiong, Fei Yu, catch a few alive for me."
"Yes, Big Brother."
Seeing more than a dozen arrows nailed to the carriage, Ang Lee was shocked. He quickly urged his horse to rush over.
"Assistant Minister Xi, Assistant Minister Xi, are you well?"
Xi Yu struggled to lift the curtain of the carriage. His face was full of fear. "Li Xiaowei, why would someone want to assassinate me? Who did it?"
Obviously, Xi Yu also felt that it was very strange. Although he was a high-ranking official of the Tang dynasty, he was not very valuable. The Tang Empire would not suffer much loss with or without him. Moreover, he had been an official for many years and had not offended anyone. Why would an assassin want to kill him?
Seeing Xi Yu's forehead sweating, Ang Lee was shocked. "Assistant Minister Xi, you are injured."
"I got an arrow in the arm. It's nothing serious."
"Military doctor, military doctor, quickly call the military doctor."
Ang Lee was very anxious. He cupped his fist and said, "It's all this general's fault for not protecting you well. Assistant Minister Xi has suffered."
"It's fine, it's fine. Li Xiaowei, quickly catch the assassin. Don't let the assassin escape."
Xi Yu weakly waved his hand.
Ang Lee looked back at Zhang Guangcheng. "Guangcheng, I will leave Assistant Minister Xi to you. There must not be any more accidents."
"Li Xiaowei, don't worry."
"Shouyu, let's go catch the assassin. I want to see who it is that dares to attack the Tang dynasty's diplomatic mission."
Ang Lee was very angry. He took Li Feishouyu and went to catch the fleeing assassin.
There were only a dozen assassins. They were very weak. How could they be a match for Ang Lee and the others? Li Kunxiong and Li Feiyu led a group of soldiers and quickly caught two of the assassins alive. Ang Lee took Li Feishouyu and also killed many assassins. They also forced the remaining two assassins into a difficult situation.
"It's fine. It's a woman."
Ang Lee saw very clearly that a woman suddenly appeared in the forest. The two assassins immediately kidnapped the woman as if she was their savior. They threatened Ang Lee not to force her.
At this moment, Ang Lee was full of anger. How could he let these two assassins go for an insignificant village woman?
"Shouyu, you take the right and I take the left. Kill them."
"What? You don't want them alive?"
Ang Lee sneered. "I hate it when people threaten me. Besides, Kunxiong and Fei Yu have already caught two of them alive. That's enough."
"Okay."
Li Feishouyu nodded and aimed at the assassin on the right. Ang Lee drew his bow and aimed at the assassin on the left.
The two assassins panicked when they saw that Ang Lee did not care about the innocent woman. They moved closer to the center and hid behind the woman. However, they did not know about Ang Lee and Li Feishouyu's superb archery skills. As long as they revealed even a little bit of their bodies, they would be shot.
However, what made Ang Lee admire was that the woman who was being held hostage did not cry or make a fuss. She seemed to have a sense of pride. He could not help but admire her.
"Release the arrows."
"Whoosh!
Whoosh! "Two arrows shot out at the same time. They brushed past the innocent woman's left and right cheeks and shot into the heads of the two assassins.
"Uh …"
The two assassins widened their eyes in shock and fell to the ground. After struggling for a moment, they died.
The woman who was being held hostage took a few deep breaths. After stabilizing her mind, she looked at Li An with great boldness. There was not the slightest trace of fear in her eyes. In fact, there was even a faint trace of heat.
"My wife is not afraid in the face of danger. You don't cry or make a fuss. Ang Lee admires you."
"Oh, so the general's name is Ang Lee. I am Yang Yurou. Many thanks to the general for saving my life."
Yang Yurou smiled and her gaze became even more passionate.
"My wife's name is Yurou. You are not weak at all. That's right. Why is my wife here alone?"
Ang Lee was more or less on guard. A woman appearing in the forest alone was not normal.
Yang Yurou sighed and looked at Ang Lee with a burning gaze. "My husband is dead. I still have two children to feed at home. There is no food, so I went to the forest to pick some mushrooms and wild vegetables."
"So there is a village nearby."
"Our village is three li ahead. Would the general like to come and sit for a while?"
Ang Lee was overjoyed. "My wife, Ang Lee did not want to disturb you. However, Assistant Minister Xi was injured by the assassins and needs to rest. So I have to disturb you."
"Yurou will lead the general."
Yang Yurou happily expressed that she was willing to bring Ang Lee to her village to rest.
Escorting the two captured assassins, the group of people headed towards the village three li ahead.
Xi Yu had only been shot in the arm and was not seriously injured. However, he was old after all, and the journey was extremely bumpy. Because of this, he appeared to be extremely weak. If he continued the long journey, he was afraid that it would cause great harm to his body. Therefore, Li An decided to take a short rest and investigate the origin of the assassin.
There were only a few dozen families in the village. It looked run-down. However, it was quiet and peaceful, full of a rural atmosphere.
"General, my house is in front."
Yang Yurou warmly invited.
"My wife, Ang Lee is only a lieutenant, not a general."
Ang Lee said politely and dismounted from his horse to walk into Yang Yurou's house.
Yang Yurou's house was very run-down. Other than some broken tables, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks, there was no valuable furniture. A boy and a girl saw Ang Lee walk in and were too scared to speak.
"General, these two are my children."
"Haha, they are quite cute."
Ang Lee went forward and pinched the two children's cheeks. He looked back at Yang Yurou. "My wife is raising two children by herself. It really isn't easy. Have you ever thought of remarrying?"
"If the general doesn't mind."
Ang Lee was slightly embarrassed. He pursed his lips. "My wife, rest. I'll go interrogate the assassins." He walked out.
"Big Brother, the two assassins have been brought."
Li An nodded and looked at the two assassins. The two of them were burly and had ferocious looks on their faces. At first glance, one could tell that they were brave men. Even though they were tied up, they did not show any signs of weakness.
"Who are you? Why did you sneak attack us?"
"Hmph."
"You don't want to talk? See how I'll deal with you."
Li Kunxiong was furious. He went forward and kicked.
Ang Lee quickly gave Li Kunxiong a look to stop him. He went forward and patted the assassin on the shoulder. "A real man dares to take responsibility for his actions. Since you dared to take the risk to assassinate, you should have the courage to admit it."
"Hmph."
The two assassins still refused to talk.
"Big Brother, people like them who refuse to talk no matter what should be punished severely. I don't believe they won't talk."
"Kunxiong, our Tang dynasty is a country of etiquette. How can we use punishment at will? We have to convince people with reason."
Li An hurriedly stopped Li Kunxiong, who wanted to be rough. He looked at the two assassins and said, "You two are unwilling to betray your master. This General admires your loyalty. However, you have to give us a reason to assassinate him."
"You are the Tang Dynasty army."
One of the assassins finally took the lead to speak.
Ang Lee seemed to have a premonition. He said in surprise, "Why? You don't know that you are assassinating the Tang Dynasty army?"
The two assassins looked at each other. "We made a mistake. You can kill us or torture us as you wish."
"Oh, you can even make a mistake. You are really powerful. Tell me, who do you want to kill? If the reason is reasonable, I will let you go."
"Is what you said true?"
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