Chapter 77: Ten Thousand Miles (5)

Mei Niang’s words struck Li Huaizhong like a dull blow that knocked him to the ground.
Indeed, he had now invited the wolf into his house—over five thousand heavily armed Tang soldiers had entered Julan City. Even the Arabs feared the combat strength of these Tang soldiers; how could he possibly compete with them using the same number of armored troops?
As the saying goes, it’s harder to send a Buddha away than to invite him in. Now that he had so grandly invited this “Buddha” in, trying to send him away with words was nothing but delusion. But did he have to accept his fate and watch Gao Xianzhi use Julan City as a resting place for his defeated troops? If that happened, what would he do if the Arabs attacked?
Even if he showed enough sincerity, would the Arabs appreciate it? After all, sheltering the defeated Tang troops was a certainty, and trying to clear his name would likely be difficult.
Damn it! Damn it!
Furious, Li Huaizhong pounded the headboard, breathing heavily. How could he be so stupid? How could he have believed Li Kuo’s words at face value?
“Your Majesty need not be angry!”
Mei Niang, on the other hand, remained calm and spoke softly, “All Your Majesty needs to do now is three things, and the Tang soldiers will leave the city on their own.”
“Oh?”
Delighted, Li Huaizhong turned to listen to her advice. He had a clever advisor right by his side—how could he have forgotten?
“First, Your Majesty must put pressure on them. If the Tang soldiers don’t feel any pressure from Julan City, they certainly won’t leave. Of course, Your Majesty can’t handle this personally. In my opinion, General Sanghel would be a good choice.”
Mei Niang smiled gently, “Of course, it can’t be too forceful. If it leads to a battle between the two armies, that wouldn’t be good.”
After a brief pause, she continued, “The second point is that Your Majesty should continue to chat casually with that Tang general to win his goodwill.”
Li Huaizhong frowned. “What do you mean, Mei Niang? Just now you said I need to put pressure on the Tang soldiers, but now you want me to get close to that Tang general. Isn’t that contradictory?”
Mei Niang shook her head. “Not at all. The two things I mentioned will have completely different effects.”
Seeing Li Huaizhong’s confusion, Mei Niang smiled gently.

“This creates pressure, meant to make the Tang people feel a sense of crisis. While bringing you and the Tang general closer together is entirely to lower his guard. There’s a saying in the Central Plains: if you want to take something, you must first give it. If Your Majesty wants the Tang people to voluntarily withdraw from Julan City, he certainly needs to win their goodwill first, making them see you as a trustworthy ally. Meanwhile, General Sanghel will reinforce the key defenses in the city. When it comes to a confrontation, facing such a fortified city, even if the Tang people want to stay, they’ll have to think twice, right?”
“Brilliant! It’s a brilliant plan! Meiniang means to first lull the Tang people’s vigilance, then secretly strengthen the city’s defenses, and finally force them to leave!”
Li Huaizhong couldn’t help but applaud in admiration. “Meiniang is truly this king’s supreme strategist! Having you alone is worth more than thousands of troops!”
“Your Majesty overpraises me. I’m just a woman—how could I be of any use?”
But Meiniang refused to take credit, shaking her head. “For governing the country and the army, Your Majesty still needs to rely more on the court officials.”
Li Huaizhong waved his hand. “There’s no need for modesty. If I say you can do it, then you can. Those court officials and generals are all like dull stones—lacking courage, only good at flattering. Whenever I need their advice, all they can do is sigh and offer useless, weak suggestions. How can they compare to even a fraction of your ability?”
At the mention of these officials and generals, Li Huaizhong grew furious. Throughout Julan Kingdom, every powerful court official put their own family’s interests first. When it came to offering advice, they all turned out to be worthless!
“Meiniang, go on. What’s the third thing I need to do?”
Li Huaizhong took a deep breath to calm his anger. Once he was somewhat composed, he nodded slightly at Meiniang.
“Your Majesty is so impatient! My people are all yours—would I not tell you if I had something to say?”
Meiniang teased him with a smile before saying seriously, “As for the third point, it’s clearly impossible to achieve relying solely on Julan City’s strength. So, Your Majesty needs to turn his attention westward.”
“Westward… westward…”
Li Huaizhong repeated those words several times before suddenly saying, “Are you saying we need to leverage the power of the Arabs?”

“Your Majesty, a fine bird chooses its tree to perch on. Since You Majesty has decided to abandon cooperation with the Tang people, why not go all the way and win over the Persians’ favor? I’ve heard that General Abu Muslim has long coveted the four garrisons in Anxi. Before, he was hindered by the well-organized forces there and didn’t know how to proceed. Now that the Battle of Talas has ended and the Anxi forces have been utterly defeated, he surely intends to take this opportunity to capture those four garrisons at once.”

Mei Niang spoke slowly, guiding Li Huaizhong step by step in the desired direction. “If at this time, Your Majesty could reveal the location of the defeated Anxi forces and work with the Persians to wipe them out completely, could the defenders of those four garrisons withstand the full force of the Persians? By then, with the merit of surrendering the cities and defeating the enemy, what benefits could General Abu Muslim offer You Majesty?”

Hearing this, a glint appeared in Li Huaizhong’s eyes as he mused, “If that really were the case, would General Abu Muslim grant me a more honorable title than the Tang emperor?”

Mei Niang burst into laughter. “Your Majesty, the Tang emperor only gave you a nominal title, while General Abu Muslim is a nobleman who can provide you with endless livestock and land.”

After pondering for a moment, Li Huaizhong shook his head. “No, that won’t do. If I were to do that, I would be unrighteous. The Tang emperor has been kind to me—how could I betray him like that?”

Seeing such grandiose words from him, Mei Niang found it amusing. Righteousness? When had Li Huaizhong ever been a righteous person? If he truly were righteous, how could he have murdered his father and brother to seize the throne of Kulan? Clearly, he couldn’t contain his desires any longer and wanted to send a message to Abu Muslim right away, yet he still pretended to be a saint—how hypocritical!

Still, since she was already his, what could she complain about?

Mei Niang shrugged. “Your Majesty, rest assured. If the Persians really capture the four garrisons in Anxi, the blame will fall on them alone—certainly not on You Majesty. You’re just acting in accordance with the situation; what crime is there?”

Seeing that Li Huaizhong remained silent, Mei Niang sighed. “Besides, by then, the Persians will already be holding the Tang empire by the throat. The Tang people will be too busy defending to bother You Majesty.”

“Hmm, you make a good point. I’ll send someone to handle it right away.”

Finally resolved, Li Huaizhong smiled. “As for now, my beauty, you should take good care of me!”

Suddenly, Li Huaizhong lifted Mei Niang and threw her onto the bed. “Ah!”

Meiniang let out a sudden cry, her cheeks already flushed red. “Please show mercy, Your Majesty.”…
The sun had just risen, its golden light piercing through the thick clouds and shining down upon the earth.
On a small hill not far from Julan City, hundreds of tents were scattered.
Gao Xianzhi, clad in golden armor, gazed at the dark gray city in the distance. Under normal circumstances, he would have no hesitation in leading his troops straight to the city, with all the officials coming out to welcome them regardless of who ruled the city. But now, he even hesitated about entering!
The Battle of Talas had completely changed the status of the Anxi Army and his own position. Now he had to consider the moods of these barbarian rulers!
“General Gao, why did you get up so early?”
Li Siye had appeared out of nowhere and said in agreement, “Julan City is just ahead. We’ll be back in Anxi in no time. Once there, we can organize and rest our troops. I believe that within three years, we’ll be strong enough to fight against the Arabs again and wash away our past humiliation!”
His confident words somewhat soothed the pain in Gao Xianzhi’s heart.
“Siye, in your opinion, should we pass through Julan City?”
Gao Xianzhi didn’t respond to Li Siye but pointed at the city walls in the distance and spoke slowly.
“Of course we should. The Tang Dynasty is their suzerain state, and we deserve this right. Why not go?”
Li Siye clenched his fist and said, “Could it be that General Gao is afraid that the barbarians will have evil intentions seeing our disorganized army? Don’t worry. If they show you any disrespect, I, Old Li, will slice them into pieces with my sword!”
“We need to consider the situation.”
Gao Xianzhi shook his head with a bitter smile. “It can’t be entirely their fault. After all, our Anxi Army is weak. I just wonder where Li Kuo and the others are.”
“You’re still thinking about him? I guess that fool is still searching along the banks of the Talas River. We left in a hurry and didn’t leave any messages for him. How can he find his way then? Sigh!”
Li Siye shook his head and said, “But don’t worry. Even if that kid isn’t in Julan City, with our more than two thousand troops, we can easily pass through the city.”