Chapter 23: The Roar of the Dragon (I)

After seven days of relentless marching, Li Kuo had pushed the endurance of the horses under the soldiers of Shule to its limits. Yet even under such unfavorable conditions, the soldiers of Shule maintained high morale. It turned out that the decision to assign each soldier two horses was absolutely correct—without it, it would have been impossible for them to cover over 500 li in just seven days while resting only two hours a day without any soldier falling behind. Without two horses per soldier, they could never have reached Yiwu so quickly!

The Jinshan Uyghurs were sent by Geshu Han to ambush them! When Li Kuo shared his conclusions with the generals of the Shule army, everyone was shocked and gasped in realization. At Yumen Pass, Zhang Ziqian had told him something, but to maintain troop morale, Li Kuo hadn’t revealed everything to the soldiers. Still, they could tell something from the generals’ tense expressions. By connecting this with Zhang Ziqian’s words, Li Kuo easily reached a conclusion: Geshu Han first sent a secret letter to Zhang Ziqian, hoping to cut off his head without bloodshed, but Zhang Ziqian, out of loyalty to an old friend, allowed him to pass. Enraged, Geshu Han decided to annihilate the Shule army outright. Of course, as the governor of Hexi, it would be inappropriate for him to do this himself, so he planned to use the Jinshan Uyghurs to destroy the Shule army completely.

As for the terms he agreed to with the Uyghurs, Li Kuo had no idea. But one thing was certain: as long as he remained in the territory controlled by the Hexi army, he might face Geshu Han’s revenge at any moment.

At this point, if he could reach Anxi safely and reveal the truth, even without evidence, Geshu Han would still face criticism from the court officials. Moreover, there must be some powerful figure behind him who certainly wouldn’t want such a situation to arise.

Li Kuo knew very well who this powerful figure was! On the surface, he pretended to be friendly, but he was actually hiding knives behind a smile, always trying to kill him.

So, he needed to get rid of Geshu Han’s pursuit as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the Shule army consisted entirely of cavalry, with two horses per soldier, allowing them to outrun Geshu Han’s pursuers day and night!

Once they reached Yiwu, they would be in the territory of the Anxi Protectorate. It was well known that Gao Xianzhi and Geshu Han were at odds, and even out of personal grudges, Gao Xianzhi would surely not let his Shule army suffer any harm. As for the old feuds between these powerful figures, those were not matters a young girl needed to worry about.

Yiwu City was located on the far eastern edge of the Anxi Protectorate and had long been free from warfare. The guards in the city suddenly saw thousands of cavalry charging from the east, thinking they were the Göktürk raiders looking for plunder. They quickly nocked their bows and aimed at the distant figures. At the commander’s command, no matter how desperately the invaders pleaded, they would shoot these reckless barbarians to pieces in an instant. It was only when a sharp-eyed guard recognized the bright red Tang characters rising from the swirling yellow dust that the city guards reluctantly put down their bows and arrows.

After all the commotion, it turned out to be their own people! Yet these travelers, covered in dust, looked exactly like the usual Göktürk bandits. If they truly were troops coming from the Western Capital, wouldn’t they be accompanied by banners that covered the sky and an imposing presence?

After Li Kuo handed over his official documents from the Ministry of War for the Yiwu city commander to verify, the commander finally believed that General Li wasn’t lying. But this incident completely changed the “glorious image” of the high-ranking officials in the capital in the commander’s eyes. From then on, if any insolent fool dared to boast that his seventh uncle was a general in Chang’an, he would surely bring up General Li’s exhausted appearance from that journey to shame them.

But that was for later; let’s not dwell on it for now.

Perhaps due to days of traveling across the Gobi Desert, everyone was deeply moved upon seeing Yiwu City, which wasn’t particularly grand. Some of the more sensitive soldiers even wept and knelt in front of the city gates, leaving Li Kuo at a loss as to whether to laugh or cry.

Fortunately, this situation didn’t last long. Once the Yiwu commander opened the city gates to let them in, the exhausted soldiers from Shule rushed toward the gates like wolves seeing lambs. If not for Li Kuo and the other generals enforcing discipline, the Shule army’s discipline would have been completely ruined.

Of course, at such a moment, Li Kuo wouldn’t bother his comrades with these issues. After nearly two months of travel, everyone in the Shule army, including him, just wanted to go inside and take a hot bath to relieve their fatigue!

Yiwu City wasn’t large, but it was well-organized. Perhaps because the soldiers here longed for the capital, Chang’an, its layout was quite similar to that of Chang’an. However, Yiwu City had only thirty-six districts, much smaller in scale compared to Chang’an.

But no one cared to compare these minor details. How could they not be excited to see a glimpse of their hometown thousands of miles away? If not for concerns about discipline, they would have immediately invited their comrades to explore the city and make up for their hardships!

Of course, everything still had to follow the rules.

More than two thousand brothers were settled by the governor of Yiwu in the military camp in the southern city. This camp had not been occupied for a long time, so it was covered with a lot of dust. But at the moment, the soldiers of the Shule army didn’t care about such things. After all, they had just spent nearly a month in the Gobi Desert, and to them, this camp seemed even cleaner than the Huaqing Palace where the emperor rested in the summer!

Li Kuo and his trusted aides, at the strong insistence of the Yiwu governor, stayed in the governor’s residence.

Coincidentally, this governor of Yiwu also had the surname Li, with the given name An. Governor Li seemed to always want to prove his noble lineage. He immediately claimed to be the eighth-generation direct descendant of the Prince of Huai’an from the time of Emperor Gaozu. After expressing his emotions, tears streamed down his face. There were many princely lords appointed at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. Although some were killed during Empress Wu’s reign, most of them were direct descendants of Emperor Gaozong. Princes like the Prince of Huai’an naturally wouldn’t arouse Empress Wu’s suspicion or lead to her plotting against them.

If what Li An said was true, it wasn’t entirely impossible for him to be a descendant of the Prince of Huai’an. But claiming to be his eighth-generation direct descendant seemed a bit far-fetched. After all, the Prince of Huai’an was highly regarded by Emperor Gaozu and received generous rewards. Even if one follows the principle that rulers change and so do their ministers, the Prince of Huai’an was a legitimate founding prince. Even if his title was passed down, it wouldn’t force his direct descendants to flee to Anxi in search of fame and fortune, right? (Note 1) Although he understood this, Li Kuo didn’t point it out and instead happily joined Governor Li in reflecting on the unpredictability of life.

“You don’t believe me!”

Li An was clearly angry, with fury almost blazing in his eyes.

“Sigh!”

After a long while, Li An shook his head and said with a bitter smile, “Ten years ago, my grandfather was framed by villains and died of grief. His hereditary title was revoked, and all his property was confiscated by the state. Thanks to the efforts of some old friends, my family members weren’t affected, but we lost everything.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “My brother, I, and our mother went to Anxi to seek refuge with our uncle, who was a military advisor. But misfortune struck us again.”

By this point, Li An’s eyes were red. He forced back his tears and continued, “As people under punishment, we couldn’t use official routes. We wandered in the countryside, living on charity for months. Just as we were about to enter Anxi, we encountered over a hundred Göktürk riders in a small valley. Those Göktürk people were heartless—they not only stole goods but also killed people…”

“Mother fought desperately to protect my brother and me, but sadly was struck by their swords. Sometimes, even in my dreams, I can still see her face covered in blood… Those Göktürks snatched thepackage from my mother’s still-warm body and pointed their swords at us. My brother clung tightly to me, trembling uncontrollably…”
No wonder he hates the Göktürks so much! Li Kuo sighed inwardly, his brows slightly furrowed.
Although the young man knew that Li An had been unharmed and was sitting here safely, hearing him describe the scene firsthand still made him ask anxiously, “What happened after that?”
“Later, a general passed by the mountain pass. He was dressed in plain clothes, leading a group of soldiers on horseback.”
At this point, warmth shone in Li An’s eyes. “That general sternly rebuked those Göktürks and led his troops into a fierce battle with them.”
After a brief pause, Li An continued, “That general was extremely brave. Under his leadership, his troops quickly wiped out those Göktürks. He came to me, picked me and my brother up, and asked if I wanted to work for him.”
“So you naturally agreed?”
Nodding slightly, Li An replied, “In my eyes, he was like a god. What reason did I have to refuse? From then on, my brother and I became his adopted sons, undergoing strict training every day. In my memory, he rarely spoke or smiled, always with a stern expression. My brother and I lived in a spacious room in the governor’s mansion, with no worries about food or clothing, but we weren’t happy.”
Looking at the spring trees outside the window, Li An smiled helplessly. “Time passed like that until, four years later, on the Lantern Festival, that general found me.”
Leaning back on the soft couch, Li An sighed deeply. “You must be very curious about what he said. Actually, I thought the same thing at the time. I just didn’t understand why he chose that day to find me.”
Li An’s eyes now seemed so deep, as deep as a bottomless pool.
“He came to me and told me to kill someone.”
A faint, cold smile appeared on Li An’s lips, as if mocking himself from back then.
“That was the first time I killed someone. It was a complicated feeling. I was afraid, of course. I didn’t understand why that person had to die. I asked the general.”
Suddenly turning his head to face the young man, Li An said loudly, “Guess what he said? He said I was a soldier, and soldiers don’t need reasons to kill. That year, I was only seventeen…”

Note 1: Li Shentong, whose given name was Shou and courtesy name was Shentong, was from the Tang royal family. He was the grandson of Li Hu and a cousin of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan. After Li Yuan launched his uprising, he joined forces with Liu Chongli and others in response, proclaiming himself the military commander of Guanzhong. Emperor Gaozu appointed him as a Grand Master of Ceremonies. After capturing Chang’an, he was appointed Minister of the Imperial Clan and granted the title of Prince of Huai’an, reflecting Emperor Gaozu’s high regard for him.