Dongfang Shuo walked very slowly, from Yutian to Gumo, he walked for nearly a month.◇↓◇↓ Novel.￥f

By the time he arrived in Gumo, the songs about Guo Wu and others defeating the bandits were widely sung, and it was known to everyone. There is nothing wrong in winter, and people like to gather together to sing, dance, and listen to stories, which is most suitable for spreading these news.

When he learned that Dongfang Shuo was back, King Gumo personally went out to greet him, and his attitude was more respectful than before. He was not as tall as Dongfang Shuo, and once he bent down, he was more like a dwarf. Even so, he still dared not straighten his back, as if he was carrying a mountain and could not raise his head.

Dongfang Shuo was chatting and laughing, greeting Gumo's powerful men who came to greet him. He was a very lively and careless person. He had been with Gumo many times and had many interactions with these people. However, he had the intention of living in a guest house in the past, but this time he had a bit of a master's taste.

At the banquet, the guests and guests were having fun. After three rounds of wine, someone asked about the war in Khotan intentionally or unintentionally. There was inevitably doubt in his words that the songs were exaggerated and that they were making Liang Xiao famous.

Dongfang Shuo didn't mind at all. "Everyone, words are like the wind, and there are always untrue things. How can those songs be taken seriously? Just listen to them as stories. As the saying goes, hearing is false, seeing is true, and seeing is true, you will have the opportunity to see General Liang's mightyness with your own eyes."

When Gu Mo heard this, his heart became nervous. "Mr. Dongfang Shuo means that General Liang will come to Tianshan?"

"Of course he will come in such a good place in Tianshan." Dongfang Shuo said slowly: "But, the king can rest assured. When I, the Han people, are not greedy for your property and population, but I just hope to bridge the conflicts between the countries and let you live in peace. Look at Khotan, it is not a good thing to cover the country's countries now. Everyone works together to transform rivers and canals, and will soon become a great country with a population of 50,000 or 60,000. What have they paid? They just support hundreds of Han troops."

King Gumo was shocked. "Will the nations of Khotan become a great power?"

"Don't be nervous, it's just an alliance." Dongfang Shuo laughed loudly and comforted Gumo's ministers. "You know that the Central Plains court has a great demand for jade. Khotan is a country that produces jade. Of course, we have to spend more time and don't want anything to happen there. General Liang left Khotan in Khotan and asked him to protect the Nanshan commercial roads so as not to be harmed by bandits and horses, and had no other intentions."

King Gumo breathed a sigh of relief, but still couldn't feel relieved.

The Han people may not have any malicious intentions, but who can guarantee whether the King of Khotan and others have malicious intentions? This is true for all the countries in the Western Regions. Once they have strong strength, they will inevitably expand and conquer. In the past, Khotan was poor in strength, and the two countries could barely compare with Gumo. There was no advantage to say, and of course they would not go far away from the desert. Now the situation has changed, and their population may be twice as big as Gumo, so it is hard to say.

If the Han people make some tricks behind their backs and the countries in the Nanshan Mountain send troops to fight, the Gumo Kingdom, which is the lower reaches of the Yutian River, may be the first to bear the brunt.

King Gumo secretly decided to send people to cross the desert to find out the situation of the countries in the Nanshan Mountains and see if it is true as Dongfang Shuo said. If this is the case, then you have to prepare in advance.

Dongfang Shuo stayed in Gumo for two days and set off for Kucha.

In recent years, he has been in Kucha City most of his time. It is about the distance from Daban City and Chigu City, and it is very convenient to travel. More importantly, Kucha City has sufficient strength and is the largest country in the Tianshan Kingdom except Wusun. Kucha general Jose has a good relationship with the Han people. With his support and protection, Dongfang Shuo can be so free in the Tianshan area.

When he returned to Kucha City, Dongfang Shuo immediately visited Jose.

Jose was also very concerned about the situation in Nanshan, and he also heard those songs. Although he knew Liang Xiao and Liang Xiao gave him a sword, he also expressed doubts about Liang Xiao's record. It is barely acceptable to break one hundred and one thousand. Is this thousand and twenty thousand too exaggerated? Moreover, his opponent is the famous Tianlang.

Dongfang Shuo smiled. "It's all true."

"All it be true?"

"Yes, it's all true. Of course, success is definitely hard-won. There are many plans and preparations behind it, which are not worth telling outsiders. However, the general is not an outsider, so I can tell you something."

Dongfang Shuo told Jose about the past few wars of Liang Xiao. In addition to the method of making crossbows, he explained to Jose one by one. Jose was also a general who had been in charge of soldiers for many years. After hearing these details, he couldn't help but admire him.

"General Liang is indeed a god-like military force. Outside Daban City, he asked Duwei Li to detour to Chigu City, and attacked the back of Daban City, and took the Daban Fortress in one fell swoop. Now that he returns to the Western Regions, he is not only brave, but also has a higher strategy. It is a gratifying congratulation. Tianlang seems to be powerful, but his expedition to Yangguan is a defeat that cannot be wrong."

"The general hit the nail on the head." Dongfang Shuo smiled and said, "There are many people who have the same opinion as you, and Lie Jiaomi should be one."

Jose's heart moved. "What, am I wrong?"

"That's right, not right." Dongfang Shuo said: "We Han people have a saying that the military tactics of war are like water. Water has no constant shape and soldiers have no constant power. How can there be certain rules? Tianlang died because of blind movement. Can he escape if he doesn't move? The Cheshi people hid in Daban City and did not come out, but they were different from Liang Boming who broke through the fortress?"

Jose thought about something.

"Besides, Liang Boming is now living in the South Mountain countries, and his strength is no longer comparable to that of the first visit to the Western Regions. If you still think that you can be safe and sound when you guard the city, wouldn't it be too late to have the consequences?"

Jose brows and showed a little fear. Only then did he realize the real danger. The situation has changed. If he still speculated on Liang Xiao's possible actions according to the previous situation, and when Liang Xiao and his army arrived, he would definitely suffer a great loss.

"Then... can General Liang attack Chigu City?"

"It's hard to say whether we want to attack Chigu City forcibly, but it's inevitable to force Wusun to surrender. When Liang Boming came to the Western Regions, he wanted to bring the hosts of the countries back to Beijing, but was blocked by the Xiongnu and returned halfway. Now our Han army has defeated the Xiongnu and occupied Hexi. How could he give up halfway? General, let me tell you the truth. As long as there is a thirty-six countries in the Western Regions, Liang Boming will not leave as long as one of them is dissatisfied."

Jose remained silent. Dongfang Shuo's words had a strong threatening meaning, which made him feel uncomfortable. But he also knew that when Liang Xiao returned to the Western Regions, the situation had changed, and he might not help but be dissatisfied. The battle between the countries in the South Mountain was pacified, and Liang Xiao moved to Tianshan was inevitable. The only difference was when he could be prepared.

The pressure facing Kucha is obviously greater than that of Wusun. Kucha is not as dangerous as Chigu City, nor as powerful as Wusun. Once Liang Xiao's troops come to the city, Kucha may suffer the tragedy of massacre again.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Liang Boming and I both regard you as friends and Kucha as ally, and do not want to fight each other. What we want is friendship, not battle. So, I hope you can persuade the King of Kucha to form an alliance with my great man."

Jose's eyes rolled. "Since he is an ally, I am a Kucha and I send a mantra to the Han. Will the Hancha send a proton to the Kucha?"

"Protons are impossible, but princesses are possible."

Jose's eyes lit up. "You mean... a marriage?"

Dongfang Shuo smiled and nodded. "But at most, there is only one country in the Western Regions who can get along with each other. Whether you can seize this opportunity depends on yourself."

Jose was overjoyed. If he could really get married with the Han Dynasty, it would definitely be a big profit. The Han Dynasty and the Huns would give him a batch of property every year. Even if Kucha was not as powerful as the Huns, the Han Dynasty would not give him every year. However, having a princess in Kucha would definitely benefit Kucha without any harm.

If you think about it carefully, the only one who can compete for this opportunity with Kucha. Dongfang Shuo made this suggestion, of course, hoping to join forces with Kucha to attack Wusun. But from another perspective, if Wusun and the Han Dynasty have a marriage, what benefits can Kucha have? With the support of the Han people, Wusun still wants to bully Kucha and bully it.

Jose agreed immediately and would explain his interests to the King of Kucha and strive to form an alliance with the Han Dynasty as much as possible.

Lie Jiaomi sat in the palace, tapping his thighs gently with his fingers, listening to the news of the spy who had just returned.

Although he decided to use Jing to stop and wait for Liang Xiao to attack the city, he did not intend to die. He sent a large number of spies to inquire about the news, and he had to know only the information related to the Han people.

The Western Regions are vast and rely on people to walk on horseback. The speed is too slow. Many news has a long delay. Word of mouth will cause the news to deform. In fact, it is indefinitely difficult to say how many credible components there will be. Lie Jiaomi is vigilant enough about this, which is also a headache for this.

However, the news that was recently sent back made him very uneasy.

Dongfang Shuo came back from Yutian and was warmly entertained by King Gumo. However, he didn't stay in Gumo for long and quickly rushed to Kucha. In the eyes of Lie Jiaomi, this seemingly normal behavior was very abnormal.

In the past, when Dongfang Shuo passed by Gumo, he would come to Chigu City to see him, and look at his Yan family Aruikan. This time he passed Gumo and did not enter Chigu City, which was really strange.

Why didn’t he come to Akaga Castle? Why was he in a hurry to go back to Kucha?

A series of questions filled Lie Jiaomi's mind, making him dizzy and suspicious.

A string of crisp and messy footsteps sounded, and Arikan appeared at the door. She glanced at Liejiaomi, raised her hand to signal the maids to wait outside, let her pace lighter and walked to Liejiaomi.

"Is there any news?"

Lie Jiaomi nodded and signaled the spies to go down. He rubbed his hands and thought for a long time. "Dongfang Shuo came back from Yutian, stayed in Gumo for two days, and had already returned to Kucha. I heard that Gumo King was very enthusiastic about him. During this period, Gumo had a very popular new song, which was about Liang Xiao. He Yutian won another battle and killed several groups of strong bandits with two hundred people, capturing nearly 10,000 people."

Arakan raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Also, I heard that the Han people wanted to station troops in Gutian, and the countries such as Khotan, and Jumi to form an alliance. After the Han people helped them repair water conservancy, they could support more people. Perhaps in a few years, they would have a population of 100,000."

Arui couldn't help laughing. "This big thing is... nothing. Do you think everyone in the world is fool?"

"Don't you believe it?"

"Of course I don't believe it."

"I didn't believe it when Wu Dan led his troops to the east. Even if Liang Xiao was good at fighting and his strength was so weak, how could he defeat Wu Dan's 20,000 army? As a result, Wu Dan died, the 20,000 army collapsed, and it was decided to fight in Nanshan."

Aruikan's face turned gloomy and he stood up. "Are you still blaming Wu Dan? He is dead and has been killed in the battlefield. Don't always use someone who has died in battle as an opponent."

Lie Jiaomi looked at Arikan in surprise. "What's wrong with you?"

Arikan also realized that he had lost his composure and sat down embarrassedly. "It's nothing, I feel sad when I think of Wudan."

Lie Jiaomi touched his nose and sighed softly. "I know you are sad, but now is not the time to be sad. If we cannot defeat Liang Xiao, we will meet Wu Dan soon. At that time, you can't tell him and your father that you have been sad but have not avenged them."

Arikan glanced at Liejiaomi. "Do you have a plan?"

"I have a plan, but I don't know what the Han people have. I think the Han people are planning a conspiracy, but I can't think of any conspiracy. Alas, the Han people are so cunning that they can't be defended. Dongfang Shuo suddenly did not come to Chigu City, which made me very uneasy."

"If it's because of this, just send someone to invite him."

"Otherwise, if you invite him here, the meaning will be too obvious." Lie Jiaomi raised his head and stared at Arikan. "You send someone to go there."

"I?"

"Yes, if you send someone to come, you will say you plan to accept his advice and see what arrangements he has."

Arrikan was a little panicked. “I…his advice?”

"Did he not suggest you choose someone and rebuild Hunxie's tribe?"

Aruikan's face turned pale and stood up suddenly. Lie Jiaomi waved his hand and signaled her not to be nervous. "I didn't monitor you, but it's not difficult to guess. You are uneasy without the support of your mother's clan. Dongfang Shuo wants to get rid of you and me, so he naturally has to seize this opportunity, so that you can still live a good life without Wusun."

Arikan bit his lip without saying a word, but a little fear appeared in his eyes. She always thought that this matter was well hidden, but she didn't expect that Liejiaomi knew it clearly. Liejiaomi said that he had no one to monitor her, but how could she easily believe Liejiaomi's words?

Lie Jiaomi chuckled softly and snapped her fingers. A servant walked in and knelt down to show his respects. Lie Jiaomi stood up and walked out slowly. In front of the servant, he stopped. "Tell the Yan family what you found, so that she could know what kind of person Dongfang Shuo is." After that, he glanced at Arakan and walked out slowly.

Arakan covered his beating heart, and a strong sense of anxiety surged in his chest—

(To be continued.)
Chapter completed!