Chapter 88: Old Friend

    There were only two explanations.

    One, Tumoroga wanted to ally with the Wei empire.

    Two, monks were compassionate, and as a monk, Tumoroga could not bear to see her taken away by Haidu Aling.

    Yaoying weighed her options. No matter which it was, as long as she could temporarily escape from Haidu Aling’s clutches, she would have the possibility of returning to the Central Plains.

    From Helong to the Western Regions, no matter where she escaped to, Haidu Aling could catch her back. Only by escaping to the Royal Court would she have a chance to breathe.

    Let’s take it step by step and see what happens.

    Tumoroga seemed to be in a hurry to get back to the Holy City. The next day, the troops gathered their things and set out before it was light out. That night, they also did not stop to set up camp until it was completely dark out.

    On the fourth day, the Central Army cavalry directly separated from the rest of the troops, dumped their heavy provisions, and continued on their way.

    In this way, they rushed for a few days in a row. En route, they only passed through a small oasis, the rest was the Gobi sand extending to the horizon. The mountains towering in the sky looked ever so distant, the snowy peaks at the top of the mountains surrounded by clouds and mist all day long.

    The farther north they went, the hotter it got. Yaoying and her personal soldiers had no clothes to change into, so they had no choice but to continue wearing their thick felt robes.

    The medicine she had exchanged with silver coins from the Royal Court cavalry was gone, and Xie Qing’s wounds were not improving. It was sizzling hot during the day but cold at night, making her wounds gradually show signs of festering.

    Yaoying was a little anxious.

    Tumoroga seemed to have forgotten about her since saving her that day, neither sending anyone to confirm her identity nor saying what to do with her.

    The Central Army sent her food every day. When she asked to see Tumoroga, the cavalryman immediately laughed and reprimanded her wishful thinking, “Why would the Buddha’s son see you, a Han girl?”

    Yaoying thought of other ways.

    She had run out of silver coins, and Tumoroga had no intention to pay any attention to her.

    It seemed that the monk had no intention to ally with the Wei empire. It was only in a spell of compassion that he saved her.

    Yaoying and her personal soldiers took their felt robes and exchanged them with other slaves for some medicine, changed into slaves’ clothes, and lasted for two more days.

    That evening, the sunset left half of the sky a brilliant, burning red, and the marching troops suddenly broke out in a burst of cheers.

    A slave pointed to a towering cliff in the distance and said to Yaoying, “Han girl, this is our Holy City!”

    Yaoying looked up, expecting to see the spectacular sight of a majestic capital city, but before her eyes was only a large, towering black earthen cliff. Below a precipice was a river dozens of feet wide. It diverged to the north and coiled once around the earthen cliff, forming a natural barrier.

    Before she could take a closer look, a soldier on horseback galloped from the front of the group all the way to the back and loudly announced that the ranks had stopped to rest.

    Yaoying was stunned: from the speed of the team’s march over the past few days, it was obvious that Tumoroga was in a hurry to get back to the Holy City. Against expectations, why did the team stop to rest when they reached the foot of the Holy City?

    Wasn’t he afraid that he wouldn’t be able to make it back to the capital city before dark?

    The Central Army deserved to be called the most loyal to the royal family. No one complained about Tumoroga’s order; even though the Holy City was close by, the troops longing for home stopped immediately.

    The setting sun collected the last golden glow from the sky. The night breeze blew, suddenly becoming chilly. Yaoying and her personal soldiers shivered with cold.

    Just when she thought they would be going to sleep in the desert tonight, the procession suddenly moved again.

    Yaoying, guided along by the soldiers to hurry in the dark with the others, was thinking: So Tumoroga wants to wait until after dark before entering the city. Was this because he didn’t want to alarm the people of the capital?

    She had never been to the Holy City and could not identify the way. It felt like a long road, then a long trestle bridge, then a steep stone staircase. After climbing for a long time, they reached the top of the cliff, and then went downhill on a stretch of sandy road.

    It seemed that the Holy City was located in the middle of a river valley, surrounded by rivers upon rivers, and walled in by earthen cliffs…

    It happened to be an easy to defend and difficult to attack terrain. It was not surprising that the Northern Rong never managed to conquer the city.

    In the darkness, only the torches in the hands of the cavalry emitted a dull, faint light.

    Yaoying couldn’t see a thing and felt that after walking the inclining road for a long time, the front seemed to open up and the wind blew and whistled.

    The cavalry took her and her personal soldiers away from the line of slaves and sent them to a stone prison to be locked up.

    The stone prison was dry and cold. Yaoying and her personal soldiers looked at each other wide-eyed in the darkness for half a day then she said, “It’s better than sleeping unprotected in the Gobi. Let’s sleep first.”

    The round-faced soldier exited the stone prison and rushed back to the royal palace.

    Tumoroga had quietly returned to the palace. The Buddhist halls inside were lit up, and a few monks rushed over. They spoke for a while with Tumoroga, excusing themselves after.

    The soldier respectfully saluted the monks.

    One of the brown-eyed monks said, “Banruo, Buddha’s son said that you have brought back a princess of the Wei empire?”

    The round-faced soldier’s face suddenly turned dark and red. Humphing a few times, he said, “Yes, that brazen Han girl said she was the Seventh Princess of the Wei empire, with the title of Wenzhao.”

    The monk paled slightly and asked, “Where is the Seventh Princess now?”

    Banruo replied, “In the stone prison. She blasphemed Buddha’s son, committing a great sin. Tomorrow, I will ask the regent to punish her!”

    The monk frowned, pressing his hands together, and said, “The Seventh Princess is a destined person. You cannot treat her so.”

    Banruo’s mouth dropped open.

    Yaoying had just lied down on the ground when the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside.

    Several of the Royal Court’s soldiers opened the cell door and respectfully said, “Seventh Princess, please come with us. The Venerable Master wants to see you.”

    Yaoying was taken out of the cell and into a side hall of the royal palace.

    An old man in a sleeved kasaya stood in front of the stone steps. Seeing her, he put his palms together: “Seventh Princess.”

    Yaoying’s gaze fell on the old man’s face and was stunned for half a day before she finally recognized those brown eyes.

    Her heart surged, unable to speak for half a day. She slowly came back to her senses, put her palms together, and smiled. Although disheveled and appearing wretched, dressed in the clothes of a slave, her bearing was still graceful: “Venerable Master, after a farewell in Chang’an, I trust you have been well?”

    Mondatipa looked at the young girl who was in dire straits but still calm in front of him, and smiled slightly: “Thanks to the blessing of the princess, I have fulfilled my long-cherished wish.”