Tibet.

Chapter 1373: Investigating Doubts
After coming from Lingshan, Li Chenghua led the team westward through the mountains. The road was covered with thick snow everywhere, which made it difficult for war horses to walk. However, it was a piece of cake for the long-legged camels. The camels stretched their long legs and walked steadily through the mountains.

That morning, the team entered the Atami Canyon, and after walking another sixty miles forward, they would see Atami.

At this moment, there was a faint sound of shouting and killing in the front. Li Chenghua immediately realized that something was wrong and shouted, "There is an enemy, prepare bows and crossbows for battle!"

The soldiers took their weapons and jumped off their camels, leaning against the stone walls on both sides of the canyon or squatting behind large rocks. Dozens of hired camel drivers hurriedly led the camels back.

Soon, five or six camels came running in front of them. The soldiers on the camels were wearing armor. They were actually Tang soldiers. Zhan Yannian, the General of the Internal Guards, shouted, "Whose army is this?"

The soldiers on the camels were Yuchi Xian and his men. Although they were careful along the way, they still encountered an enemy patrol team. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides. The Tang army was outnumbered and many people were killed.

Yuchi Xian led the remaining seven soldiers and fled while fighting, with a hundred patrolling enemy troops chasing them relentlessly.

Yuchi Xian heard shouts from the front, but found countless soldiers dozens of steps ahead. His heart sank and he immediately fell into despair. His men shouted excitedly: "Captain, it's the Tang army, it's our army!"

Yuchi Xian also saw the other side's armor clearly, and was immediately overjoyed. He shouted: "We are the Suiye Tang army, and there are enemy troops chasing us from behind!"

Li Chenghua was a little worried and asked again, "What's your name and what's your position?"

"I am the scout captain Yuchi Xian, and my father Yuchi Guang is the governor of Beiting."

Li Chenghua was very familiar with the children of high-ranking officials, and she knew that Yuchi Guang's son was indeed working in Suiye.

"Quickly withdraw and let us deal with the enemy!"

Yuchi Xian ran over with his men, and soon a large group of pursuers appeared behind them, all riding camels.

Zhan Yannian shouted, "Shoot!"

Three hundred crossbows were fired at the same time, densely packed with arrows, and the pursuing camel cavalry were caught off guard and were shot down one after another, screaming in agony. The camel cavalry behind them thought they were ambushed, and were so frightened that they turned around and fled.

The Tang army chased after them, shooting arrows along the way and killing more than thirty people. In the end, only more than ten people escaped back to Suiye City.

Yuchi Xian already knew the other party's identity. He stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant Yuchi Xian pays respect to General Li!"

Li Chenghua nodded and smiled, "I know your father. A good father will have a good son. Why did General Yuchi appear in Suiye at this time?"

Li Chenghua was a little puzzled. Suiye had fallen more than two months ago. How come there were still Tang soldiers there now?

Yuchi Xian hurriedly said, "I came from Yibo City, on the orders of Governor Guo to go to Anxi to ask for help!"

Li Chenghua was overjoyed and asked anxiously, "Is your governor still alive?"

"They are still alive. A total of 900 of us have successfully broken through. Commander Guo led 600 people to retreat to Yibo City. Together with the original defenders, there are now about 700 people in total."

Li Chenghua nodded. "You went to Anxi for help, is it because you don't have enough food?"

"Exactly! Even if we kill horses, we can only hold out for a month at most, so we must invite reinforcements back within a month."

Li Chenghua smiled and said, "We have more than 1,300 camels, enough to take you back to Anxi!"

At this moment, a soldier came running over and said to Yuchi Xian nervously: "Captain, Ah Tie is missing, and there are traces of blood on the ground!"

Yuchi Xian's expression suddenly changed, "Not good!"

He hurriedly explained to Li Chenghua: "One of our brothers was injured and fainted. We couldn't take him away, so we hid him behind a big rock. He must have been captured by the enemy."

Li Chenghua's face also changed slightly. She knew that once the other party got the intelligence of the Tang army, they would most likely lead a large army to attack Yi Bo City. As long as the other party had enough camels, this amount of snow would not affect the military operation.

"Pass on my order, set off immediately!" Three hundred internal guards with more than a thousand camels began to march rapidly northward. This time, they were guided by Yuchi Xian. When they arrived near Suiye, night had already fallen. He was very familiar with the terrain. He bypassed several enemy checkpoints, entered the Suiye River Valley, and headed northwest.

Li Chenghua saw that Yuchi Xian was staring at the front nervously, fearing that the enemy troops had already arrived. She smiled and said, "Captain Yuchi, don't worry. We were not intercepted by the enemy army halfway, which means that their commander does not know about this yet, so they cannot be in the front, but should be in the back!"

"Ah! That's it."

Yuchi Xi'an calmed down a little, and he no longer cared about the enemy. He led the Tang army's internal guards and quickly headed towards Yibo City.

Guo Xin and his generals never dreamed that the rescue team they sent out would return in just ten days, and bring back a large camel caravan, which turned out to be the Internal Guard.

While everyone was happy, they were also a little nervous. After all, they lost Suiye City. Are the Internal Guards here to hold them accountable?

Guo Xin's official rank was only the fourth-rank General Yiwei, with the military rank of Huben Zhonglang Jiang, while Li Chenghua was the third-rank General Guanjun, the commander-in-chief of generals, and his official position and qualifications were far higher than Guo Xin.

Although she is a woman, she is a well-known female devil in Chang'an. No one is not afraid of her. She is also very famous in the army. She is a legendary female general. After all, Li Chenghua is the first female general.

Li Chenghua could see that the other generals were very nervous. She said calmly, "I came to Suiye on the order of the emperor, not to hold you responsible. In fact, the emperor has no intention of holding you responsible. The responsibility does not lie with you. But the emperor wants to know who is the enemy behind the fall of Suiye? He wants to understand the current situation in Hezhong? He wants to understand the situation of the various countries in Hezhong? He wants to lay the foundation for next year's battle in Hezhong. I am here to understand these situations on orders."

Everyone then breathed a sigh of relief. Guo Xin asked the generals to disperse. He asked Sima Zhengju to stay and discuss the next arrangements with Li Chenghua.

"Excuse me, Commander Guo. I have more than a hundred men escorting thirty-four members of the Saint Maiden Society. Later, they sent me an eagle letter saying that the thirty-four members of the Saint Maiden Society died mysteriously, and then Suiye was attacked. Since then, there has been no news from them. I want to know where my men are now? Are they all killed? And the death of the thirty-four members of the Saint Maiden Society, does Commander Guo know anything about it?"

Guo Xin said slowly: "General Li, don't worry too much. The enemy attacked Suiye, and it was the inner guards who first discovered it. They were the first to evacuate, and I heard they went to Gongyue City in the Yili River Valley."

Li Chenghua was overjoyed and asked again: "Are there any casualties?"

"There will definitely be some casualties, but most of them should be evacuated."

"How much does Governor Guo know about the mysterious death of a member of the Saint Maiden Society?"

Guo Xin smiled and said, "Let Sima Zheng answer you! He is in charge of investigating this case."

Zheng Ju was short and fat, but very shrewd. He bowed slightly and said, "Reporting to General Li, more than 30 members of the Saint Maiden Society were poisoned to death in the post house. Someone poisoned their food, and it was a highly toxic poison. They soon bled to death. According to my investigation, the biggest suspect should be a servant who did odd jobs in the post house. His name was Suba, a Qarluk, only fourteen years old. He disappeared afterwards. Some people said that he had been doing odd jobs in the kitchen that afternoon. We searched his room and found that everything in his room was gone. Obviously, he had started to pack up and move in advance, which means he was the one who poisoned the food."

"And then? Any news about this Suba?"

Zheng Ju smiled bitterly and said, "We have discovered the whereabouts of Suba. I sent people to capture him, but the soldiers were attacked and five of them died. Then the city gate was lost and Suiye City was in chaos. So I believe that it was the hidden insider who poisoned the members of the Saint Maiden Society."

Li Chenghua pondered for a moment and said, "There are two questions here. One is, since it was the army of the Saint Maiden Society that attacked Suiye City, why did their accomplices poison the members of the Saint Maiden Society? The second question is, where were the 20,000 troops of the Saint Maiden Society ambushed? Did they attack suddenly, or have they been ambushing for a long time?"

Guo Xin and Zheng Ju looked at each other, Guo Xin sighed and said, "Old Zheng, you should continue talking!"

Zheng Ju smiled bitterly. "General Li actually has three questions. The first question is why the Saint Maiden Society wants to kill the Saint Maiden Society. We don't know. The second question is where are the 20,000 troops of the Saint Maiden Society ambushed? We don't know either. For the third question, we have half an answer, that is, the other party's insider came at least a month ago, but we don't have the answer whether the Saint Maiden Society's army has been ambushing for a long time or they came suddenly."

Li Chenghua nodded. Although the other party didn't know most of the information, they answered a key question, which was that the insider had entered Suiye City a month ago. This information was very important, indicating that the Holy Maiden Army did not obey the command of the Holy Maiden Society.

Because from the planning of the war to the deployment of the insider, the insider's infiltration and waiting, to the final surprise attack and the capture of the city, it would take at least three or four months, and three months ago the Holy Maiden Society was preaching rapidly in the Tang Dynasty, so it was impossible for the Holy Maiden Society to commit suicide.

"Are you sure he sneaked in a month ago?" Li Chenghua asked again to confirm.

Zheng Ju nodded. "There are about 500 merchants who came here more than a month before the city was captured. They said they were here to buy pig iron and food. I negotiated with them. Pig iron is a banned item and is not sold to the public. One of our men recognized that the merchants who opened the city gate were the merchants who bought food."

At this moment, a soldier suddenly came running and said, "Report to the commander-in-chief, a large enemy force has been spotted 20 miles away!"

(End of this chapter)