On March 18, Zhao Ziliang and others continued to set off for the west after resting for a few days in Shi Guo, and Si Jinti, the king of Shi Guo, led a hundred officials to send them ten miles outside the city.

Zhao Ziliang reined in the war horse, and Si Jinti arched his hand and said: "King, we have a saying in Datang called 'Send the king a thousand miles, and you must say goodbye in the end', the king and the hundred officials should go back!" ”

Si Jinti nodded and said, "Since this is the case, this king will not be far away!" Come, send the gift that this king has dedicated to the emperor of the Celestial Empire! ”

A minister waved his hand, several carriages drove forward, the first carriage was very luxurious, but it was impossible to see what was inside, the second and third carriages each had a large iron cage, the iron cage of the second carriage contained a male lion, the male lion walked around in the cage, staring at Zhao Ziliang and others with vicious eyes, and the iron cage on the third carriage contained three fire rats, which were squeaking. The fourth carriage was loaded with some other local products, all of which were rare things that the Tang Dynasty did not have.

Zhao Ziliang pointed to the first carriage and asked, "Wang, what is this?" ”

Si Jinti waved his hand, and an attendant stepped forward to open the curtain on the carriage, only to see a woman in costume sitting in the carriage, the woman had a peerless appearance, beautiful and incomparable, coupled with a strong exotic style, Zhao Ziliang and the others kept swallowing saliva.

Si Jinti was very proud, and introduced: "She is the granddaughter of this king, her father is from Cao Guo, and her mother is the eldest daughter of this king, she was born in my Shi country, so she is not only a Cao country, but also a Shi Guo person, how is it, general, how does she look?" ”。

Zhao Ziliang said dumbfounded: "Alluring the city and the country!" ”

"Hahaha other gifts are nothing, this woman is not only born beautiful, but also tuned a good Hu Xuan dance, is the national treasure of my Shi country, and now this king will give her to the Tang Emperor first, talk about respect!"

Zhao Ziliang hurriedly bowed his hand: "The last general will thank the king for his kindness on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor!" Please go back, the king, and the last general will take his leave! ”

"General go slowly, let's see you at the city of Broken Leaves on August 15!"

Zhao Ziliang waved his hand. The mission left Shi Guo and continued westward.

If you continue to go south for 200 miles from Shiguo is the famous iron gate pass, both sides are high mountains and mountains, the rock wall is dark iron color, there is a door, reinforced with iron, there are a large number of bells hanging above the household window, if someone takes the pass, its bell will ring, because it is dangerous. Therefore, in the name of the Iron Gate, this Iron Gate Pass is not the domestic Iron Gate, but in the southern part of Uzbekistan in the future.

After the Iron Gate Pass, to the south is the country of Tocharo, more than 100 years ago when Xuanzang traveled to the west, Tocharian was divided into 27 small countries because of the royal family's heirs and the country's wealthy chieftains. These twenty-seven small countries usually have constant friction, but they are still relatively loyal to the Tang Dynasty.

Zhao Ziliang and his entourage did not continue to the south, but to the west. One hundred and eighty miles west of Shi Guo, there is a small country on the edge of the Dumo River called Xiao Shi Guo, also known as Nasebo.

The day before arriving at Nasebo, the mission set up camp by the Dumo River and set out from Shiguo. Zhao Ziliang has always arranged for Chen Qingying's mother and daughter to take care of Si Jinti's granddaughter's daily life, but the woman is not easy to serve, which often makes Chen Qingying's mother and daughter very troubled.

In the first two days, the woman made a lot of noise. Lost his temper, didn't eat or drink, and lost a lot of weight. Later, I finally drank some thin food, and it was not noisy, but the woman's performance was completely less explosive than before, just like a fierce horse turned into a sick horse, the whole person became silent, and the two attendant maids were so anxious that they kept persuading, but it had no effect.

"General, think of a way, if that woman continues like this, I'm afraid that she will die on the road in a short time!" Chen Qingying said to Zhao Ziliang with some worry.

Zhao Ziliang frowned when he heard this, got up and walked out, Chen Qingying was stunned, and hurriedly followed out, and the two soon came to the carriage.

Zhao Ziliang waved his hand to the carriage, Chen Qingying immediately stepped forward to open the curtain, and the woman and two maids in the carriage appeared in front of him, and they were really haggard a lot, this is the beauty that the king of Shi Guo Si Jinti dedicated to Emperor Xuanzong, if something happens on the road, he, a guerrilla general, is only afraid that his life will not be guaranteed.

After the door curtain was opened, the woman in the carriage slowly raised her head, and when she saw Zhao Ziliang, who was tall and burly, dressed in mighty armor, full of evil face, and holding the handle of a knife, she looked very scared, and the whole person couldn't help but shrink back.

Zhao Ziliang saw the other party's reaction and realized that he might have scared the other party, he took a step back, put down the hand holding the handle of the knife, and asked, "What's your name?" ”

The woman: ""

No response? Zhao Ziliang was a little puzzled, and then Chen Qingying said: "General, she can't understand our words."

Can't understand Chinese? Grass, how does this communicate? Zhao Ziliang scratched the back of his head and remembered, isn't that guy from Balu a Sogdian? He said to one of the servants behind him, "Go and call Baru!" ”

"No!"

Balu quickly rushed over, "General, are you looking for me?" ”

Zhao Ziliang nodded: "Well, General Ben has something to say to her, but she can't understand General Ben's words, you come to act as a translator!" ”

Balu promised: "Yes! ”

Zhao Ziliang pursed at the woman: "You ask her, what's her name!" ”

Balu did so, and asked in Sogdian, and the woman hesitated, but still muttered, and Balu translated: "General, she said that her name is Ye Na, Cao Ye Na!" ”

Zhao Ziliang touched his chin and said, "Cao Yena? How does this sound weird? Feeling familiar again? His father's surname is Cao? ”

Balu explained: "General, the name Ye Na is a relatively common name among our Sogdians, it means 'favorite person', and it can be called by this name by both men and women, which is nothing more than that men are good-looking and beautiful!" As for the surname, the people of Cao are all surnamed Cao, the people of Kang are surnamed Kang, the people of Mi are surnamed Mi, and we Sogdians all take the name of the country as their name."

"I see!" Zhao Ziliang suddenly realized.

Since ancient times, there have been people with the surname Cao in the Central Plains, and the Hu people who went to the East from the Cao State of Central Asia generally wrote their surnames as the surname Cao, and the same as the original Cao surname people in the Central Plains, a considerable number of people with the surnames Kang, Mi, Shi, Shi, and An were also sinicized from the Hu people who went to the Central Plains with the nine surnames of Zhaowu in Central Asia, so if they are not subjected to detailed research from the region, it is generally difficult to distinguish whether they are the original inhabitants of China or the descendants of the Sogdians who migrated to China from Central Asia.

At this time, Zhao Ziliang suddenly remembered something, "Wait, Cao Yena?" Cao Ye, that? The "Biography of the Emperors and Princesses" of the "New Tang Dynasty Book" records: "Princess Shou'an, born to Cao Ye Naji. 'Princess Shou'an is the daughter of Emperor Xuanzong. The nickname is Worm Niang, because Cao Ye Naji gave birth to her after only nine months of pregnancy, so that Xuanzong thought that she would die early, and called her to wear Taoist clothes since she was a child. Could it be that this Cao Ye is the 'foreign concubine' of Xuanzong recorded in the history books of later generations? Ji is an honorific title for a woman with a noble status and good looks, and it is not an exaggeration to call her Cao Ye Na Ji, this woman may be the Cao Ye Na Ji recorded in the history books! ”

Thinking of this, Zhao Ziliang couldn't help but glance at Cao Ye a few more times, thinking that he must not let this Cao Ye have an accident, and he must send her to Chang'an safely.

After pondering for a while, Zhao Ziliang said to Balu: "Tell her." No matter what reason she refuses to eat and drink, since she was given to the emperor of our country by the king of Shi Guo, her life is not her own, if something happens on the road because of her own reasons, the emperor of our country will definitely be angry with Shi Guo and Cao Guo, when the army of the Celestial Empire is coming to the city, Cao Guo and Shi Guo will be devastated, since Shi Guo and Cao Guo are not spared, her parents and relatives are afraid that it will not be easy. Let her think clearly, it is because of her own petty temperament that Shi Guo and Cao Guo will suffer senseless losses, or should she cheer up and eat. Take good care of your body, and at the same time save Cao Guo and Shi Guo."

Balu immediately translated Zhao Ziliang's words in Sogdian, and Cao Yena's expression was stunned after hearing this, and then his face became fierce. Waving his hands and shouting.

Balu turned his head to Zhao Ziliang and said, "General, she said that you can't do this, since she has already been returned to your country." It has nothing to do with Cao Guo and Shi Guo, if your country does this, it will be a bandit! ”

Zhao Ziliang sighed and said to Balu: "Tell her that it is not General Ben who makes the decision, but the emperor who is high above, no one can guess the emperor's thoughts, if she doesn't want to involve others, it's best to take care of her health along the way, otherwise no one dares to take care of what the emperor will give when he hears the news of her accident!" ”

This time, Cao Ye did not speak for a long time after listening to Balu's translation, and it took five or six minutes before he picked up a small table of gruel in the carriage and drank it.

Seeing that Cao Yena finally began to eat, Zhao Ziliang finally put his mind at ease, and while he was happy, he ordered not to leave in the afternoon, let everyone camp in place, and let the soldiers bathe and wash their clothes by the river, washing away the dust and tiredness.

The attitude of the country of Nasebo towards the mission was average, and he received Zhao Ziliang and his party with due courtesy, but when Zhao Ziliang proposed that Nasebo send troops to attack Tuqishi, the king of Nasebo simply refused him.

Walking more than 250 miles from the country of Nasebo along the Dumo River to the northwest is the capital of Anguo, Ayanmi, and then more than 150 miles from Aranmi, and more than 120 miles from Donganguo to the southeast. He connected East Sogdia with West Sogdia and was in the middle of East and West Sogdia, Kang, Cao, Mi, Shi, and Shi were all East Sogdians, while An, Dong'an, Wudi, Mu, and Huoxun were all West Sogdians.

Zhao Ziliang and his entourage set off from Nasebo, passed through Anguo, Dong'anguo, and He on the way, arrived at Xicao, and returned to the capital of Kangguo, Sama Jiancheng, but did not go to the west of Wudi, Mu, and Huoxun Kingdom.

In mid-May, seeing that there were only three months before August 15, Zhao Ziliang did not dare to delay any longer, and returned along the same road after resting for two days after Sama built the city, but did not go to Shiguo again, but from Cao Guo to the northeast along the Yaozhishui, to the lower reaches of the Pearl River, only to stop at the border of Bahanna and return to Toyunbao eastward.

Originally, Zhao Ziliang also planned to let the mission return to Shule Town first, and he himself planned to take some people disguised as caravans to go to Turgish to reconnoiter the terrain and military deployment and defense facilities, but considering the safety of Cao Yena, an important person in the team, he could only give up his original plan and directly lead the mission back to Tuoyunbao through the country of Bakhana. (To be continued.) )