The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 63 Looking in the Mirror

"Your Highness, yes." Gai Jiayun waved towards the dancing girls, and a woman came over and saluted Li Ying and Gai Jiayun.

Gai Jiayun continued, "It's her. Although she can't speak, her dancing skills are amazing. Among all the Kucha dancers, she is the best."

Li Ying nodded and took a look at the girl, who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. Her face was not very pretty, just good-looking, but she had a pair of clear eyes.

"You continue dancing." Li Ying said to the girl.

After the girl went back to continue dancing, Li Ying asked Gai Jiayun, "I heard that Zhou Ziwu gave her to you?"

"Your Highness is really well-informed." Gai Jiayun smiled, "Before, she seemed to be the wife of Zhou Yuyou, the son of Zhou Ziwu. Later, Zhou Ziwu took a fancy to her and took her as a concubine. Later, Zhou Ziwu gave her to me."

"This……"

Li Heng was stunned. He finally understood why Zhou Yuyou was not sad about his father's death.

Li Heng couldn't help but glance at Yang Yuhuan beside him.

When Yang Yuhuan saw Li Heng looking at her, she smiled sweetly and rolled her big round eyes, as if asking Li Heng what was the matter.

Li Ying smiled back and shook his head.

"How is her relationship with you?" Li Ying then asked Gai Jiayun.

Gai Jiayun said: "This doesn't seem to be a big deal. I only know that she has never disobeyed me."

Li Heng nodded.

Judging from what Gai Jiayun said, Gai Jiayun did not know that this dancer had collected some of his evidence.

Li Heng didn't say anything else.

After the banquet.

Li Ying and Gai Jiayun walked out of the gate together, but unlike when they went in, this time Gai Jiayun was escorted out.

When they arrived outside the door, none of Gai Jiayun's loyal soldiers had left yet. They were all standing in the wind and snow waiting.

Li Heng came up to the soldiers, glanced at them, and said, "Everyone, General Gai is the governor of Anxi, but he doesn't know how to repay the grace of heaven, rectify the border defense, and take good care of the people. Instead, he eats up the salary without paying, oppresses the people, and commits crimes. I will send him to the court for trial."

"You are not only General Gai's soldiers, but also the people of our Great Tang. You are also the strongest defense of our Great Tang. You have come here to see General Gai off. This is the most righteous act. I will not pursue it. You can go back and do your job."

The soldiers all saw the current situation clearly, and Li Heng also promised not to settle accounts with them, so there was no need for them to stay any longer. They all saluted and said in unison: "Thank you, Your Highness!"

After saying that, they left in disappointment.

Li Ying asked, "By the way, is An Sishun here?"

"I am here." A general who had just retreated immediately came up to Li Ying and saluted respectfully.

Li Ying took a look at him and saw that he was about thirty to forty years old, with a Tang accent, a Hu appearance, and a tall stature.

Li Ying said, "Come with me."

"Yes." An Sishun replied respectfully.

Calling An Sishun, Li Ying said to Gao Xianzhi: "Seal off General Gai's mansion. Also, bring back the dancer that Zhou Yuyou wants."

"Yes." Gao Xianzhi replied.

……

……

……

When we returned to the inn, it was already Yin time.

Li Ying ordered Zhou Yuyou to be brought out of prison.

Zhou Yuyou walked in and saw the dancer waiting in the hall. He exclaimed in disbelief: "A Yuan!"

The dancer A Yuan heard Zhou Yuyou's voice and turned around.

Suddenly, their eyes met. They stared at each other for a long time, then slowly moved closer and hugged each other tightly, crying and laughing.

A Yuan gestured to Zhou Yuyou for a while, and then Zhou Yuyou cried, "Now that Grandpa is dead, we can build a grave for our child. If Grandpa doesn't implicate me this time and I'm lucky enough to survive, I will go find a master to pray for the child's soul to be reborn."

A Yuan continued to gesture: "..."

"This is not your fault. If the king wants his subject to die, the subject must die. If the father wants his son to die, the son must die. It was Grandpa who forcibly killed our child in order to monopolize you, causing you to be unable to have children again. You are not wrong."

A Yuan: "..."

"I will marry you. If anyone is unworthy of anyone, it's me."

……

The two of them, one gesturing and the other talking, although the people around couldn't understand what A Yuan was saying, they could still get the general idea from Zhou Yuyou's words.

Li Ying was listening at the side and suddenly felt like he was looking in a mirror.

This feeling brought up infinite sadness in his heart. He closed his eyes slightly and tried his best to adjust himself.

Seeing that Li Ying looked unwell, Yang Yuhuan reached out and held his hand, saying, "My dear, you have been working hard for almost a day and a night. It's time to go and rest."

Li Heng opened his eyes, looked at Yang Yuhuan's concerned eyes, and said with a smile: "You go to sleep first, I still have some things to deal with."

"I'll accompany you." Yang Yuhuan said softly.

Seeing Yang Yuhuan like this, Li Heng didn't force it. He just smiled slightly and nodded.

After a while, Zhou Yuyou seemed to have made an agreement with A Yuan, and the two of them came in front of Li Heng and kowtowed together.

Zhou Yuyou said: "Thank you for your help, Your Highness. I will never forget your kindness."

Li Ying looked at the two of them and asked, "Are you going to get married?"

"Your Highness, yes." Zhou Yuyou said firmly, "I dare not hide it from Your Highness. Over the years, I have painstakingly collected evidence of their crimes, hoping that one day I can bring them to justice and marry A Yuan."

"You are honest." Li Heng paused, "If you want to get married, I can be your witness."

"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness." Zhou Yuyou was overjoyed and pulled A Yuan to kowtow to Li Heng several times.

Li Heng said, "You don't have to thank me so quickly. We haven't issued the official document to investigate your grandfather yet. Whether to confiscate your property, sentence you to prison or exile you is still under discussion."

"I understand. No matter how Your Highness punishes me, I will be willing to accept it." Zhou Yuyou replied.

"That's good."

Li Ying nodded and had Zhou Yuyou taken back to prison.

After dealing with Zhou Yuyou's matter, Li Heng asked Gao Xianzhi, "How are the people captured by General Feng?"

Gao Xianzhi replied: "We are currently trying to arrest the relevant people, but the city of Qiuci is not small, and the perpetrators are not in one place. I am afraid we will not be able to finish until daybreak."

"Okay." Li Heng nodded. "General Gao, please deal with the soldiers whose bodies have not been returned home after the battle of Khotan, as well as the gifts from their families, according to the rules."

"Here."

"Among the suspects arrested this time, local officials will summon the judges and the Qiuci judicial department to conduct a joint trial and report the results to me. As for the officers and soldiers in the army..."

Li Heng looked at An Sishun who had been following him silently, and asked, "General An, how do you think we should deal with this?"

An Sishun was suddenly called out, and was startled. He quickly said, "I am not a military commander, nor am I the one in charge of the army, so I dare not speak nonsense."

Li Heng said: "General An was not among the criminals, otherwise I would not have known that General An was in Anxi."

An Sishun was stunned again, and asked doubtfully: "Your Highness, do you know me?"

Li Heng said, "In the second year of Kaiyuan, Tubo led a hundred thousand troops to attack the four major towns of Longyou Road. At that time, General An followed Longyou Defense Envoy Xue Na to defeat the enemy. At that time, General An defeated the enemy together with the grandfather of General Wang, the current governor of Hexi. You are all heroes of the Tang Dynasty, so I naturally know something about you."

In the second year of Kaiyuan, Li Heng was not yet born. After that, An Sishun had been serving in the four major towns of Longyou Road, and his reputation was not very loud. So when An Sishun heard what Li Heng said, he really felt that Li Heng had paid attention to them, the border generals, otherwise he would not know him.

(End of this chapter)