Chapter 209: Luojia Mountain Fortress

"Lu Sanlang? You are Lu Sanlang? Truly, hearing of you is nothing compared to meeting you!"

In Kese City, after Lu Sanlang suddenly cut down Yusuf outside the walls, the entire city defense collapsed in an instant.

Zhang Zhao smoothly led three thousand men into the city, and key locations such as the governor's residence, the treasury, and the armory were all taken over.

The only problem was Lu Sanlang, kneeling before Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao had first heard this name from Li Qilang; the suffering of the monks of Dayun Temple had all begun because of this man.

Because he had betrayed the secret of the Loyalty Treasury, Shule's governor Iltihad had imprisoned the monks of Dayun Temple for years, precisely to learn the exact location of the Loyalty Treasury.

Zhang Zhao had assumed that a fellow like Lu Sanlang — one who betrayed his own clansmen, betrayed the glory of his ancestors, and then scraped his way into a petty translator's post in the resistance — would look rat-faced and repulsive.

But he never expected that the Lu Sanlang before him looked just like Lu Zhishen: sparse hair, a long face with a broad forehead, round eyes and a wide mouth, a great beard down to his chin, and in his eyes, which he struggled to make meek, fierce glints kept flashing through.

Kneeling there, he was clearly trying to put on a pleading look, yet he was like a gray wolf crouched on the ground, the savagery and cunning practically overflowing.

"In reply to the Great King, I am Lu Sanlang. Since the Great King says he has heard my name, then he must also have heard of my betraying the secret of the Loyalty Treasury!"

A flicker of struggle crossed Lu Sanlang's face as he knelt, but he still took the initiative and said it in a muffled voice.

"You're rather honest!" Zhang Zhao said, glancing at Lu Sanlang in surprise.

"By stabbing Yusuf to death today, did you think you could cancel out the crime of betraying your ancestors?

Perhaps you think that with such a great deed, I might even reward you. I'm afraid you're mistaken. If you don't believe me, ask them."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhao pointed at Yan Jin, Ma Yaozi, Ma Shacai, and the others who had returned with him.

Among them, Yan Jin was the angriest. Ma Yaozi had already won the great merit of pacifying the Beishan tribes and rescuing New Kucha, while he himself had yet to earn any great merit.

"Screw your mother!" Yan Jin flew at him with a kick, and with a thud, knocked the kneeling Lu Sanlang flat on the ground.

"Screw your mother, you dog of a rat! Your old man followed the Great King first to kill the Persians, then rode thirty li at full gallop back to battle. The fight was nearly over, and then your mother jumped out and stole my merit of slaying the general and seizing the commander! Go to hell!"

At Yan Jin's words, the wolves of the Hanshan Capital in the room all burst into curses.

It was indeed just as Yan Jin said: a thirty-li return raid on the battlefield, three thousand riders smashing fifteen thousand men in one stroke.

And just at the end, when they were about to slay the enemy commander amid ten thousand troops and achieve a perfect record, Lu Sanlang had plucked the biggest fruit. It was like finding a few rat droppings in a pot of chicken soup — truly sickening!

Growing angrier the more he spoke, Yan Jin rolled up his sleeves and started swinging. Lu Sanlang did not dare resist, and could only shield his head and face with his hands while shouting.

"Great King, although I was the first to kill Yusuf, that also broke the will of Kese City's defenders in the fastest possible way.

Moreover, after entering the city, sealing the treasury and pacifying the surrendered troops — are those not my merits?

You field slave, stop swinging your fists and feet! If you hit me again, I, Lu, will fight back!"

"You dog of a rat? You want to fight back? Your old man has fought all across Qiangtang and Anxi, and no one has ever dared to contend with me!"

Hearing this, Yan Jin grew even more furious beyond measure. With a clang, he drew the zhangdao blade at his waist.

"Great King, let me fight this dog-slave to the death."

"Enough! Commandant Yan, stand down!" Zhang Zhao waved his hand, signaling Yan Jin to withdraw.

"We are already few in number. Sons of Tang do not kill sons of Tang. If this wretch could not speak a word of Han speech and did not know who his ancestors were, I would have killed him and been done with it.

But now, for the sake of the former Shule Garrison Commander, Duke Lu Yang, who served the nation loyally, I will spare his life. Get out! I will not pursue your crime of rebellion!"

Zhang Zhao had said this deliberately, because he knew Lu Sanlang certainly did not want to leave.

If he left Zhang Zhao, where could he go? To the Land of Seven Rivers to join Saktu? Or could one expect a man who so clearly lived by the blade to go farm?

Sure enough, when Lu Sanlang heard Zhang Zhao telling him to leave, not only was there no trace of joy on his face, but his expression instantly turned deathly pale.

But just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, a man came wailing through the main gate.

"Great King, you cannot let him go! Master Daozhen and the others nearly lost their lives, and it all began with this man's betrayal. More than a hundred monks of my Dayun Temple perished — how can he be allowed to leave alive? I beg the Great King to kill him!"

The one weeping and pleading was none other than Li Qilang. He stood beside Lu Sanlang, trembling with rage, then suddenly jabbed his finger at Lu Sanlang's face.

"Your grandmother, of the Li clan, survived in her childhood only by the meals the monks of Dayun Temple gave her. Without the monks of Dayun Temple, would you, Lu Sanlang, even exist? How can a man so repay kindness with enmity?"

Lu Sanlang looked at Li Qilang, and shame suddenly surged onto his face — completely different from the pleading expression he had deliberately put on earlier.

"Is that my Li cousin before me? Cousin, please hear Sanlang's explanation."

It turned out the Lu and Li families had intermarried for generations. Li Qilang's great-aunt had married Lu Sanlang's grandfather, and Li Qilang's grandfather had likewise married Lu Sanlang's great-aunt.

In other words, the two men's great-grandfathers were each other's great-grandfathers on the maternal side.

"The truth is, I did not betray the secret of the Loyalty Treasury. Back then, after Luojia Mountain Fortress was breached by Orghuchak Khan, most of the people died in battle.

All of us half-grown children were taken captive. Later, when Bughra Khan Saktu came out to form the ghulam guards, we were chosen to become Bughra Khan's ghulam guards.

The secret of the Loyalty Treasury was actually something I let slip by accident, and in the end someone reported it.

Great King, look at me now. If I truly were the informer, I would long ago have risen to Bughra Khan's side as a trusted ghulam. How would I have been tossed away to Kese City as a petty centurion?

You can see that when Governor Yusuf purged Bughra Khan's trusted men, he never even considered me — that shows how awkward my position was."

"You mean to say you came from Bughra Khan Saktu's ghulam guards?"

Zhang Zhao nodded. It barely made sense: after defeating an enemy, taking the captured children and training them into ghulam guards.

It was not only Bughra Khan Saktu who did this; the entire Islamic world did so, and would continue doing so even a thousand years later.

"That is only your own account. Who knows whether it is true or false?"

But Li Qilang was not buying it. The tragedy of Dayun Temple's destruction had affected him too deeply. Every time he woke from a midnight dream, Li Qilang could not help trembling with fear.

"Cousin Li, you and I both know that in the Loyalty Treasury there are over a thousand sets of armor alone. With those, one could at least carve out a domain of one's own in Anxi or Transoxiana. Would I, Lu Sanlang, not want to retrieve them someday?

Besides, I do not even have a single treasure map — only one piece of information of uncertain truth. What could I have gained by selling it to Saktu? More likely, I would have been ordered to find the map.

At that time, the Five Surnames and Three Wang families did not know each other's whereabouts. Finding them all would have been harder than fishing a needle from the sea, and some families had very likely already died out, leaving the map nowhere to be found.

But if you cannot find the map, and you have already whetted the appetite of those above you, that is probably no good thing.

No matter how foolish Lu Sanlang is, he would not sell a secret so likely to bring disaster upon himself as a stepping stone to advancement!"

Hmm! Everyone in the room, including Zhang Zhao, nodded. It had to be said, there was some sense in it.

A treasure claim that could not be verified would bring no benefit if spoken, and might well bring disaster instead.

"Fine, even if you let it slip unintentionally, the hundreds of monks of Great Cloud Temple died because of you — you can't escape that responsibility!"

Li Qilang still refused to forgive Lu Sanlang, but Zhang Zhao glanced at Li Qilang with some doubt. He kept feeling that Li Qilang seemed to be making excuses for Lu Sanlang.

"Great King, everyone, Cousin Li — do you truly believe Great Cloud Temple was destroyed because of the Loyalty Storehouse?" Lu Sanlang gave a bitter laugh.

"Obviously not. Great Cloud Temple is the heart of the Buddhist kingdoms of the Western Regions. If he didn't destroy Great Cloud Temple, how could Bughra Khan Satuq make everyone convert? How could he raise the banner of a pioneer of the Heavenly Square faith?

And what would he use to steady the hearts of the Heavenly Square faithful at home and draw holy warriors from the west? From the moment Bughra Khan converted to the Heavenly Square faith, the destruction of Great Cloud Temple was already fated."

"Ah! My several hundred fellow disciples — what a terrible death they died!"

Sure enough, just as Zhang Zhao had suspected, Li Qilang no longer fixed his glare on Lu Sanlang and berated him, but instead broke into loud wailing.

All his earlier accusations had almost all been guiding Lu Sanlang toward defending himself.

"His circumstances deserve pity, but his crime is hard to forgive! Though it was an unintentional mistake, you still cannot completely wash away your guilt. The deaths of several hundred monks of Great Cloud Temple cannot be settled by a few casual words from you!"

Zhang Zhao also decided to do him a favor. This Lu Sanlang seemed clear-headed, and he had been raised since childhood by the Karakhanid state as a ghulam guard. He still had several dozen loyal men around him, said to be descendants of the sons of Tang from the old Luojia Mountain Fortress.

He was still something of a talent, and it would be a pity to let him go. Now it all depended on whether he knew how to take the hint. If he did, then there was no harm in giving him a chance.

Lu Sanlang was indeed quite clever. The moment he heard Zhang Zhao's words, he knew what he ought to do.

He had to understand that his life was not currently in danger, because Zhang Zhao had already announced his pardon just now. And now that Zhang Zhao was saying these things to him, he surely hoped he could produce something of value worthy of Great King Zhang recruiting him.

"Great King, Lu Sanlang's crimes are deep and heavy, but at the root, it was the people of the Karakhanid state turning their backs on the Buddha that caused it.

They are the true enemies of all of us sons of Tang. Whenever I recall the past, the pain is unbearable. I beg the Great King to permit this Lu to follow you and take revenge.

I have served in the Karakhanid army for more than ten years and have some modest renown. I am willing to use it to recruit the surrendered soldiers of Kesh for the Great King.

Of the eight thousand men in the city, I know clearly who can be used and who cannot. Around Kesh there are more than twenty cities great and small, and most of the soldiers from outside the city have fled into it. I am willing to win them over for the Great King.

After Yusuf's purges, very few of the people here remain loyal to Bughra Khan Satuq. If the Great King will only allow me to atone for my crimes through service, then the hundred thousand and more people of Kesh and Andukan will be the Great King's."

With that, Lu Sanlang performed a grand obeisance, knocking his head against the ground with a thud-thud-thud.

"Great King, this is highly feasible. If we can quickly pacify the soldiers and civilians under Yusuf's rule, we can quickly draw off troops to take Khujand and make the kingdom of Fergana whole and unbroken!"

Yang Shouli was the first to voice approval. Although Lu Sanlang did have the taint of betrayal, the problem really was not that great.

As a fellow descendant of the Anxi Army, so long as the man had not committed unforgivable crimes, Yang Shouli naturally hoped Lu Sanlang could have a chance to keep his life.

"Great King, your subject also approves. In this battle the Great King defeated a larger force with a smaller one — first routing the thirty thousand Persian troops, then turning back to capture Kesh. It is cause for rejoicing, but the Samanid Persians will certainly not let the matter rest.

If we can settle Kesh and Andukan as soon as possible, we can gather all our strength and defeat the Persians again!"

Guo Tiance was the second to come forward. Apart from the bond of both being descendants of the Anxi Army, Guo Tiance was also thinking of the revenge the Samanid Persians were very likely soon to bring — this was a great state with close to two million people under its rule.

"I beg the Great King to allow him to atone through service!" By this point, most people had seen through Zhang Zhao's intent, so they went along with the favor as well — even Yan Jin, who had just given Lu Sanlang a severe beating, was no exception.

"Good! Since all of you plead for him, Lu Sanlang, I, the lone king, will give you a chance.

But merely helping to settle Kesh and Andukan is not enough. You must also raise a great army for me, and be first to climb the walls in every battle!

If you can take Khujand, I will restore your status as a descendant of the Anxi Army." Zhang Zhao pretended to think for a long while before nodding his agreement.

Lu Sanlang, still kneeling on the ground with his forehead bruised black and blue from kowtowing, was overjoyed at once. "Great King, rest assured — Lu Zhen will devote himself wholeheartedly and strive to win merit and atone for his crimes as soon as possible."

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