My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 693 Everyone, Go Home
In mid-September, the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains in Xizhou were covered in a vast expanse of white. The long army, wrapped in cotton-padded clothes to keep warm, carrying long weapons and flags, marched towards the gentle slope of the hill with shallow footprints.

The snow-capped mountain halfway up the mountain disappeared from sight. The scouts' fast horses galloped along the mountain trails, drank a sip of hot water at the sentry post of the Ye Lan Kingdom, and continued to deliver news from the front.

On the seventeenth day, the army descended from the Tianshan Mountains. Queen Itas of the Yelan Kingdom, along with a group of female ministers and Bainani, set up a grand ceremony at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

There were more than 200,000 troops on the march, and it was impossible for all of them to go down the mountain. More than half of the main force led by Han Xin was still marching in the mountains.

At the moment, Su Chen asked Xiahou Yuan to take charge of the front army of more than 40,000 people, accept the supplies of food and drinking water from Ye Lan Kingdom, and then go to the military camp outside the city of Ye Lan Kingdom for rest.

It has been nearly three years since the last time that Itas came to see the emperor, when he personally led his troops through Xizhou.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye while this war was going on.

After the invasion of western barbarians and the changes in the Western Regions, Queen Itas's face has become old. For nearly three years, the heavy responsibility of cooperating with the Xia Kingdom to rebuild the Western Regions and govern the area fell on her.

It's no longer as simple-minded as it was back then.

In front of the triumphant Emperor of Xia, she was dressed simply, without the complicated hair accessories of Yelan Kingdom. She just tied her long hair into a simple bun and fixed it with a jade hairpin.

She got off the car and was about to kneel down towards Su Chen who was riding a horse. The latter raised his hand and said, "No need to kneel down. You have done a good job in the Western Regions in the past three years."

"Itas doesn't dare to take credit for it." The beautiful Queen of Yelan bowed her head. "If it weren't for the Great Xia soldiers who killed all the barbarians in the West, there would be few people alive in the Western Regions. Itas has put in all her efforts, but it's nothing."

Perhaps it is because he has been in contact with officials of Daxia for a long time, so his words have many characteristics of Xia country.

Of course, it is still comfortable to listen to.

Su Chen then asked Itas to change to a spacious carriage and return to Yelan together. Itas was very calm and did not seem nervous about riding with the emperor.

On the way, she talked about some wars in the reconstruction of Western Province and gave a brief report on the situation in recent years.

"Let's not talk about it today. When you come to Yanjing in the future, tell me clearly." The terrain at the foot of the mountain is still very high. Su Chen sits upright in the carriage of Ye Lan Kingdom, overlooking the plains below from a high place. The withered yellow of the Gobi Desert and the lush green shade of the oasis are intertwined and stretch to the other side of the mountains where the sun sets in the distance.

"I just came back and don't want to hear about government affairs. There is the Western Region Protectorate in the Western Region. Who is the general on duty there this year?"

"General Yuwen."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yuwen Chengdu, who was riding a war horse in the team following the ceremonial guard on both sides, bowed to Su Chen in the crowd. There were also several female officials from the Yelan Kingdom beside him, and their expressions were quite consistent with his.

Yuwen Chengdu felt like a fish in water when he came here.

What Su Chen said might be a bit exaggerated, but women in Yelan Country are respected and are quite proactive in matters between men and women. With Yuwen Chengdu's personality... how could it be wasted?

Su Chen then waved to him, and the latter hurriedly spurred his horse to squeeze past the female official beside him, came to the left side of the carriage, and bowed again above the horse's back.

"Yuwen Chengdu, I pay my respects to your majesty."

Su Chen sat on the chair and smiled: "General Yuwen...are you used to being here?"

"It's OK. The exotic customs are particularly comfortable. But Your Majesty will not take me with you on the Western Expedition. Do you think my ability to lead troops is not as good as that of other generals?"

"How dare you speak to His Majesty in such a tone?!" Qin Shubao rushed out from the team on the right. He had a hot temper when he was young, but his temperament became gentle after he became weak and sick and bedridden.

Now that he is in good health, young and strong, his temper has naturally returned to its peak. He is the first one who is unhappy with the Yuwen family of the former Sui Dynasty.

"What does it have to do with you that I am talking to His Majesty? In terms of martial arts, I am much better than you..."

Yuwen Chengdu is no pushover either. His personality is sometimes good and sometimes bad. When he is in a good mood, with his mighty and handsome figure and appearance, he is simply a god sent from heaven.

When he is in trouble, he is capricious and domineering, but it must be said that he is still a good general who cares about his subordinates.

At this time, Yuwen Chengdu had only said half of his words when a figure as big as a small mountain appeared behind Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong and his party. The huge shadow covered Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong and their horses.

Li Xuanba, with his back to the sun, had a gaze that seemed to have electricity. He held the golden hammer in both hands and looked at Yuwen Chengdu in a muffled voice.

"You said you were good at martial arts?"

Yuwen Chengdu glanced at the unimaginably strong body, shuddered suddenly, and raised his hand and waved it vigorously.

"How could I say that, Xuanba, you heard it wrong."

The generals around him laughed too, but their voices were quieter and not as unbridled as those in the army.

After all, there are many Ye Lan people watching here. If they were to be laughed at, it would be a loss of face for the Xia court.

An hour later, they were about to reach Yelan City. Yuwen Chengdu escorted them here, then led the troops of the Protectorate back south to their base there.

Su Chen got off the carriage and looked at the Yelan City, which had changed its appearance. The black flag with a white dragon of the Xia Kingdom was fluttering on the city wall. Below the city tower, the soldiers of Yizhou were lined up in neat rows, standing on both sides.

Guan Yu, Zhang Liao and Zhang Fei, who had returned earlier, greeted them at the city gate. They all dismounted and bowed: "We welcome Your Majesty!" Su Chen nodded and stepped forward to bow in return.

"The three generals are working hard to lead the way."

As he spoke, he and everyone else entered Yelan City. The troops gradually moved into the military camp built by Guan Yu and his two companions to rest. By the time the follow-up troops including Han Xin, Zhuge Liang and others arrived, it was already the end of September. When they set out on their return journey, it was already October.

After passing through the states of Zhanmi and Tiele and entering the Mongolian grasslands, Subutai came to ask Su Chen for instructions and asked his cavalry to return to their respective tribes first.

Influenced by Chinese learning and nearly three years of fighting against a common enemy in the West, the Mongolian cavalry has basically won Su Chen's trust and is no longer the Western Rong people of the past.

Only tens of thousands of people came out, but only a little over 100,000 were able to return home...For more than 40,000 people, only their ashes were left, which were placed in jars and brought back by their clansmen.

The news of the army's return spread throughout the north and the Central Plains. On the vast grassland, people from Bingzhou, Luzhou in the Central Plains, and various states in the north could be seen everywhere waiting on the grassland.

Even Lei Tong led his troops among them, maintaining order while looking forward to the arrival of the imperial carriage.

In the field of vision, the imperial carriage did not arrive, but first came a majestic and strong black horse, stepping out from the crowd, with the smiling emperor on top.

"Thunder Copper!"

Over there, Lei Tong lifted his cloak and knelt on one knee, bowing his hands and saying in unison: "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Get up." Su Chen also got off the horse, held up his hands, and said a few words of encouragement. Then Lei Tong was hugged by Zhang Fei from behind.

"Haha, Lao Lei, I miss you so much!"

Zhang Fei learned the tone from Su Chen, and as soon as he opened his mouth, Lei Tong was frightened so much that he trembled.

After the team marched for a while, the outline of the pass was already in sight. Qi Youhu led the soldiers and civilians in the city to welcome them outside, and even specially prepared rice milk to welcome the royal army.

Many years ago, Qi Baoguo blindly followed the Beigongye switch and let the Western Rong people in. This sin also implicated the entire Qi family and they were exiled to Yunzhen to do forced labor.

A few years passed and they all came back.

However, after their property was confiscated, they are now just ordinary people. Standing in the crowd, looking at Su Chen who was riding towards them. Some of them may hold a grudge, some are trembling with fear and dare not look up, and some have an expression as if it is none of their business.

In front of the great martial arts master, Emperor Xia was just a small drop in the ocean.

Enter Yantang Pass. Then it was Li Dian's Longyang County. On the way back to Yanjing, Li Dian told Su Chen the whole story of the Ding'an Rebellion.

Su Chen remained silent, looking at the scenery outside the car.

In my ears was the excited shouting of the soldiers.

……

In Yanjing, dust and smoke rose into the sky like a dragon dancing, and cavalrymen rushed out of the city gate tower.

Di Renjie, Xun Yu and Li Bai led the civil and military officials to escort the prince and the queen out of the city. Fang Xuejun ignored the prince's support and stood beside the carriage, gazing at the vaguely visible dragon flag, her eyes already a little moist.

Soon, a cavalry group that arrived ahead conveyed the emperor's order. Their armor was shiny and bright when they went to the battle, but now it was all dull and covered with marks of swords and knives.

The standard-bearer held the dragon flag and waved it in the wind. The rest of the cavalry rode their horses around the open space in front of the civil and military officials, shouting loudly: "The Western Expedition Army has returned in triumph, your majesty has returned in triumph, and all the heroic comrades have returned in triumph!"

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials bowed. They saw that the first ones to arrive were several teams of infantrymen, who were escorting a coffin converted from a carriage, with neatly stacked urns inside.

Di Renjie stepped forward, looked at the soldiers' armors mottled with knife marks, then looked at the overlapping urns in the car. He immediately pursed his lips, raised his gray head and took a deep breath.

"Are you brave enough to kill the enemy?"

"Brave!" The soldiers and cavalry escorting the coffin roared in unison.

The soldiers and horses following behind slowly stopped after hearing the roar. Su Chen stood on the ancestral coffin carriage and raised his hands towards the figures over there from a distance.

Di Renjie raised his hands and bowed to Su Chen silently.

Immediately, he turned around and asked someone to bring some drinks.

One after another, carts were pulling wine jars. Facing this group of veteran warriors, Di Renjie held up his wine bowl and said in a high-pitched voice: "The barbarians from the west killed our Great Xia Western Province and slaughtered the people. You have returned victorious from the expedition, so you should drink the fine wine of Great Xia to celebrate your victory."

He slowly poured the wine in front of each coffin.

The sound resounded.

"Brothers, go home!"

(End of this chapter)