Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 940 Engagement and Betrayal

"Why didn't I die that night?" She asked herself in her heart: that night, so many people who were braver, smarter, and prettier than me died under the blades of the Tang people, but I survived. I thought it was the mercy of the gods, but now I know it is a punishment. The gods let me survive so that I can become a tool of the Tang people to better invade the motherland.

Maybe it was not too late, Shaya suddenly became excited, if she jumped from the window, or strangled her neck with a rope, she could end all the suffering, thousands of years later, poets would sing praises of her bravery and lament her fate. Shaya rushed to the window several times, opened it, and tore the sheets into pieces and made ropes, but her courage disappeared at that time, and she could only fall on the bed and sob silently.

The next day, two women came, bringing all kinds of Tang women's clothes and jewelry, and visited her. Shaya said nothing. Soon after, a Tang doctor came. He touched Shaya's forehead and felt her pulse. Before leaving, he gave Shaya some medicine soup and asked Shaya to take it obediently. Shaya drank the medicine soup and fell asleep.

In her dream, she returned to the night when Sanghapura fell. The sound of cannons, shouts of killing, the sound of buildings collapsing, and people begging for mercy kept reaching her ears. She curled up in bed, shivering, and the footsteps were getting closer and closer to her. She knew it was the enemy, looking for her. She had no way to escape, and the only thing she could do was curl up under the blanket. The footsteps stopped, and she knew he was standing outside the door, holding a sword and blood on his hands. Only then did she realize that she was naked, and she quickly lay on the ground, covering her body with her hands. The door slowly opened, creaking, and blood slid from the sword...

When Shaya woke up, she kept muttering, "Please, please, don't kill me, please don't kill me!" But the room was empty, only the moonlight shining through the window, shining on the bed, like flowing water.

On the morning of the third day, when the door was opened again, Shaya was lying on the bed. She curled up in the blanket in panic and covered her eyes with her hands to avoid the stimulation of light.

"Time is running out!" Yaksha stood in front of the bed, his voice a little impatient: "The army will set sail in three days, so we have to get married in these few days! Take a shower, change clothes, and dress up like a princess!" Behind him stood two guards, fully armed, with their hands on the hilts of the swords at their waists.

"No!" Shaya looked at the man in front of her in horror. She pulled the blanket down to her chin to cover her body and begged, "Let me go!"

"Don't waste time!" Yasha said, "Otherwise I will ask my people to help you change!"

"Please..."

Yasha's patience was exhausted, and he waved his hand: "Drag her down, and be careful not to hurt her face, otherwise it will be embarrassing at the wedding!"

The guard grabbed Shaya's wrist and almost lifted her off the bed. She struggled hard, but it was almost ineffective. The blanket slipped to the ground and she was only wearing a nightgown.

"I warn you, don't do anything stupid, this is the last time!" Yaksha looked at Shaya coldly: "Sit down and let my people dress you up. As long as you behave yourself, you will be my queen, and your child with me will be the future king. Otherwise--" He paused for a moment: "I will have to find another woman to replace you!"

Shaya looked at the man in front of her angrily, her eyes fierce and cruel: "I hate you!" she whispered.

"Very good!" Yaksha smiled and said, "This is better than being dead!" He suddenly drew out his sword and swung it to the side. Before Shaya could react, the half candle on the candlestick next to him had broken into two pieces.

"Remember, if the knife can cut off the candle, it can also cut off your neck!" Yaksha skillfully put the knife back into the sheath and said, "Do as I say, and we'll see you at noon!" After saying that, he turned and left.

After Yaksha left, Shaya immediately collapsed to the ground again, staring blankly at the wall until two maids timidly walked into the room. "Are you ready?" she asked them, "We can start now!"

The servants carried in wooden barrels and filled them with hot water. Shaya took off her outer clothes and walked into the barrels. The maids untied her braids, washed away the dust on her body, and combed her hair. When she stood up from the barrel, the maids dried her body, put on gorgeous clothes, combed her hair, put on makeup, and put on jewelry.

After dressing up, Shaya sat down and waited. The maid brought some snacks, and she ate a few to calm her stomach. At noon, when Yaksha came again, he was already dressed up, wearing a purple gauze futou, a scarlet round-necked shirt, and black leather Liuhe boots. He looked Shaya up and down, showing a satisfied look: "Very good, we can set off!"

The whole ceremony was much simpler than Shaya had imagined. She and Yasha walked side by side to a square. A tall and loud-voiced master of ceremonies announced something to the crowd, and then the people around them cheered in unison. She and Yasha sat down side by side, and the onlookers filed past them, put down their gifts, and then left. Soon, all kinds of gifts were piled up in front of them.

When the master of ceremonies announced the end of the ceremony, Shaya couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. She was wondering if she could leave when she heard Yasha whisper to her, "There's still some time before lunch, let's go for a walk first!"

Shaya knew she had no choice, so she could only nod and put her arm around Yasha's outstretched arm. The two of them walked through a corridor and into the garden. Although the flowers were blooming all around and the fragrance was fragrant, Shaya's heart was dead.

"You look much more beautiful now than in the morning!" said Yaksha.

"Thank you for your praise!" Shaya replied instinctively, but Yasha smiled and nodded: "Time is limited, so I'll make it short. Shaya, your name is He! Whether you are willing or not, you are my wife now. In the Tang Dynasty, wives must obey their husbands. Is it the same in Linyi?"

"Yes!" Shaya nodded.

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The city of Balatiba.

The tail of the comet cut through the sky, like a wound in the sky, bleeding. Gugal stood alone on the watchtower of the city wall. When ships from afar entered the freshwater lake where the city of Bharatiba was located, this was the first place they saw. There was a crossbow on his right hand side, stone bullets and iron spears were piled on the floor, and the walls were full of traces of Javanese stone bullets. When he first came to Bharatiba, he was a translator and a double agent, but now he has become the governor of this city, even if it is only temporary.

Gujar didn't believe in omens, but now he couldn't help but believe it. In his life, Gujar had never seen such a bright comet, let alone such a horrifying mixture of blood and sunset. Anyone who was not a fool knew that when the rainy season ended, a new war would break out. The Khmers, Javanese, and Tang people would do their best to fight to the death for control of this fertile land. Well, even in the rainy season, the blood would not stop flowing if the Tang fleet did not appear.

It was ridiculous. I had been a businessman for half my life, and I had sold out and betrayed for half my life. But I actually believed the promise of the Tang general and stayed in the city of Bharati as the governor, a temporary one at that. I was the governor, but I had no soldiers and could only rely on the power of the Javanese. The only thing that could keep the Javanese was the promise of the Tang general, "I will come back." It was really ridiculous!
"Governor Gujar, Governor! Someone is visiting!" someone shouted loudly under the tower.

Gugar turned around, with his back to the sky, holding the crossbow with one hand: "Come up and help me, my legs are sore, help me down!"

With the help of his followers, Gugar walked down the wall with difficulty, climbed onto the sedan chair, and asked, "Who?"

"The elders of the city of Balatiba!"

Unlike the inland areas (i.e., Land Zhenla) that were used to being ruled by the God-King, the Water Zhenla area, with convenient transportation and prosperous commercial trade, existed for a long time in history as a loose alliance of city-states. Each city-state was a relatively independent political entity. In most cases, the city-state was managed by the Council of Elders composed of big businessmen, big landowners, and temple priests. Even after the Khmer people took control of the area, they only sent a governor to each city-state to collect taxes and wage wars, while the internal affairs of the city-state were actually governed by the Council of Elders. After Jumong used a trick to capture the city of Paratipat with the Javanese, he only eliminated or drove away the Khmer garrison in the city and replaced it with Gugal as the governor, without destroying the original autonomous system.

Gujar had always been a great supporter of this system until he became the governor of the city of Bharati.

"Here we go again!" Gugar lowered his head in frustration: "Why can't they be more patient?"

"In my opinion, it must be the Javanese who are behind this!" the follower whispered.

"I don't need you to remind me!" Gugar said angrily. He shook his head, ashamed of his rage. Only the weak would get angry. "You are right. The Javanese are using them to test their strength!"

"Master!" the attendant whispered, "You can just get on the ship and leave here, leaving the city to the Javanese, and let the Tang people deal with the Javanese themselves. How can you rule this city without money, soldiers, ships, or anything?"

"Get on the ship, then where to go?" Gu Jiaer shook his head. He knew that it would be safe to leave here, but it also meant that he would not pass Jumong's test. If Jumong returned with his army, he could still control the city of Balatiba, then he could remove the word "temporary" from his title of "temporary governor".

When Gugar walked into the hall, a group of people surrounded him. Although he was extremely tired, he still had to force a smile: "Please sit down, please sit down, one by one, let us discuss slowly, I believe we can get a good result!"

"Respected Governor, let's stop beating around the bush! When will the Tang army arrive?" A skinny man shouted, with a green cape eroded by sea salt hanging from his shoulders, and faded due to long-term sun exposure. This shabby-looking man is actually the leader of the largest inland shipping guild in the city of Paratiba. More than 90% of the trade between the city of Paratiba and the upper and middle reaches of the Mekong River is controlled by him.

"When the gods allow it, it will arrive!" Gugar laughed, "Who can control the wind? Only the gods can. Let's pray to the gods together!"

"The gods are often unreliable!" The skinny man shook his head: "Governor, let's be honest! The city of Paratiba can surrender to the Tang people, the Khmers, the Javanese, or anyone else. But there must be a prerequisite, that is, the other party can guarantee the safety and prosperity of our city. If we need to take up arms and bleed, why not choose either the Javanese or the Khmers to protect us? Anyway, we only need to pay tribute and kneel down to them!"

"Correct!"

"The Tang people appointed you as governor, but you refused to stay to protect us. What does this mean?"

"We can't keep delaying like this! The Khmer have already cut off the water route to the upper reaches. This is no joke!"

The elders spoke one after another. As they said, although most military operations and large-scale engineering construction must be stopped during the rainy season in Southeast Asia, river transportation is an exception. The city of Paratipat, located at the mouth of the Mekong River, enjoys the dual benefits of both inland river and maritime trade. After the Khmer people lost this place, they immediately blocked the route of the city's ships to the upper reaches of the Mekong River, which was undoubtedly a huge blow to the business and shipping industry of Paratipat City.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Gugar asked helplessly, "Do you want to switch sides and join the Khmer again? Don't forget that the Javanese have troops stationed nearby. Even in the rainy season, they will never allow you to join the Khmer again!"

"I didn't say we were going to go back to the Khmers!" someone shouted, "Why not ask the Javanese to protect us? They have great power!"

"Have you forgotten? The Javanese and the Tang people have an agreement!" Gugar laughed, "The Javanese have agreed that this place belongs to the Tang people. If they accept your request, it means that the agreement has been violated, and the Tang people will become the enemy of the Javanese!"

"That's just an agreement! The Javanese have broken agreements before! Besides, didn't the Tang people take over this place by breaking agreements?"

Faced with the aggressive questioning all around, Gu Gal felt his head buzzing. He wanted to nod and agree, but reason reminded him that if he betrayed Jumong, he would definitely not end well.

"If you really want to do this, then go ahead! I don't have an army to stop you!" Gugar said with all his might, "But I want to remind you that the Tang people's fleet is very powerful, even more powerful than the Javanese. When they really come back one day, you will pay the price for it!"