Chapter 366: You Dare Call Yourself Heavenly Khagan?

The meeting at Feng'an Army set the precondition for taking Lingzhou and placated Zhang Xichong.

After painting a bright future for this Grand Marshal Zhang, Zhang Zhao rushed back to Liangzhou without stopping.

The reason for such haste was that these two days marked the due date of Zhang Zhao's principal queen, Cao Shijiu Niang Yanxi.

To begin with, in this era, a woman giving birth — especially a first birth — was basically taking a walk before the gates of the underworld.

And the matter of whether this child was a boy or a girl carried enormous implications.

Because Zhang Zhao and his maternal uncle Li Shengtian had an agreement: his eldest legitimate son or eldest legitimate daughter was to be betrothed to the children of his cousin Li Congde.

Li Congde was a little older than Zhang Zhao, and already had both an eldest legitimate son and an eldest legitimate daughter; now he was just waiting on Zhang Zhao's side.

"Waaah! Waaah!" A cry like the croaking of frogs rang out, and Zhang Zhao immediately rushed to the door of the birthing room.

Before long, Cao Sanniang, who had been inside the whole time, ran out, her expression one of both relief and a touch of regret.

"Congratulations, Great King — it is a princess!"

'Hah!' Zhang Zhao let out a long breath. He already had two sons, so he did not care about the matter of an heir; what he wanted more was for the child to be a daughter.

"Rewards! Great rewards! One bolt of colored silk for everyone!" Zhang Zhao laughed with extreme delight.

The surrounding maids and guards, though they did not understand why the Great King was so happy when no heir had been born,

still rejoiced greatly upon hearing of the reward of a bolt of colored silk, and a chorus of thanks rang out.

"Mother, Cousin Congde is going to be disappointed!" Zhang Zhao said with a smile to his legitimate mother, Princess Fengtian, behind him.

"You certainly don't keep anything from me!" Princess Fengtian smiled with narrowed eyes, but then gently shook her head.

"Congde is a clever man. He may not have the grand vision and great talent of you, Zhang Erlang, or Li Erlang, but he knows what he can ask for and what he cannot.

The future king of Khotan, able to marry the eldest legitimate daughter of the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains — what more could he be unsatisfied with? This should also be what he wants most."

"Can I truly become the Son of Heaven?" Zhang Zhao, hearing these words, felt slightly dazed, and took Princess Fengtian's hand as they walked outside.

In this era, there was no practice of a husband rushing into the birthing room to check on his wife; a place like a birthing room, the higher one's status, the less one would be allowed in.

If Zhang Zhao tried to enter, the midwife and maids at the door would surely block him with their lives.

"My son will certainly become the Son of Heaven — and a Son of Heaven like Emperor Gaozu of the Former Han or Emperor Taizong of the Former Tang!"

Princess Fengtian lovingly soothed Zhang Zhao's shaken spirits, and then her expression slowly grew more serious.

"But Erlang, your time may be very tight. When I came to Dunhuang, your uncle asked me to tell you that the villain Saktu has converted yet again in the Land of the Seven Rivers.

He has abandoned the Tianfang faith, which was of little help to him, and returned to the embrace of Aluohe.

And recently he has been in constant contact with Jieli Pijia of the Gaochang Uyghurs; it seems the two groups of Uyghurs are trending toward unification."

Zhang Zhao slowly nodded. Religion, as expected, was merely a means for someone like Saktu to amass power.

Damn it, he truly was a lingering ghost — defeated once by the Khotan army just three years ago, and now he had regained his vitality.

On the other side, the great free-for-all among the sons of the Gaochang Uyghurs' Wumuzhu Khagan had also produced a winner; Jieli Pijia had already seized the reins of power among the Gaochang Uyghurs.

"Have the Gaochang Uyghurs been making big moves recently?" Zhang Zhao continued to ask.

He knew that the pressure on his uncle Li Shengtian must have grown considerable, for him to convey these matters through Princess Fengtian.

Sure enough, Princess Fengtian nodded. "After Jieli Pijia took power, using the pretext of having helped defeat Saktu three years ago, he has been hoping to obtain from Khotan a rich stretch of land a hundred li around Jiashi City. Recently Gaochang's roving cavalry have frequently crossed the border, and the two states have had constant friction. Moreover..."

Princess Fengtian hesitated a moment before saying in a low voice: "Jieli Pijia has not called himself Khagan in his own state, but has styled himself Heavenly King!"

"The dog slave! A mad dog barking at the sun, a fool of Yelang puffing himself up — I will surely kill him!" Zhang Zhao suddenly clenched his left fist, his face full of fury.

Because Heavenly King was not a title one casually claimed. In the context of the Uyghur language, Heavenly King could also be translated as Heavenly Khagan!

I, Great King Zhang, am only the Glorious Khagan, yet Jieli Pijia dares to call himself Heavenly Khagan!

In Zhang Zhao's view, the title of Heavenly Khagan — apart from Li Erfeng — should only be enjoyed by him, Zhang Erfeng.

"You are the lord of a state; do not lose your temper casually. A lord must not raise armies out of anger, a general must not give battle out of rage!" Princess Fengtian quickly took Zhang Zhao's hand and patted it gently.

"But Erlang, you truly must pay attention to the sentiments of those under you. Pugu Jun was once a military officer under the Grand Guardian, then betrayed his trust and seized Beiting; the Anxi Army's Guo Dalang and his men were also attacked by this man.

The Gaochang Uyghurs therefore bear a deep blood feud with the Guazhou-Shazhou Guiyi Army under your command and with the descendants of the Anxi soldiers. Breaking the Gaochang Uyghurs to avenge this grudge will also secure the west — better sooner than later."

"Many thanks for Mother's reminder; your son understands!" Zhang Zhao drew a deep breath, forcing himself to set these matters aside for the moment, then revealed a look of reluctance.

With Princess Fengtian here, he could concern himself less with household affairs, saving a great deal of energy.

"Is Mother still preparing to return to Khotan?"

Princess Fengtian slowly nodded. "Ayiguli and Xianyu — I am leaving them in Liangzhou. Spend more time getting close to them.

Especially Xianyu. That child is somewhat timid and hesitant, the result of his father not being around all year.

Since you wish Xianyu to shoulder the heavy task of opening up the Transoxiana region, you must teach him more. Wait until he is fifteen before he comes to Anxi. I will first help you lay a solid foundation in Ningyuan."

Zhang Zhao opened his mouth, but in the end did not ask, only nodded silently.

Princess Fengtian had married into the Zhang family in her teens. After Zhang Zhao's father Zhang Chengfeng passed away, she had kept a living widowhood for twenty years. By now her grandchildren were not young, yet she herself was only in her forties.

Princess Fengtian had always wanted to return to Khotan, so let her go — consider it compensation for the twenty years of youth she had lost.

A bowl of fine white porridge, paired with a few sweet white-flour steamed buns, was Great King Zhang's breakfast. But before he could finish, a milk-scented, milk-scented ugly little baby was carried in.

Zhang Zhao took the child and held her himself for a while. The little princess's eyes could barely open, her skin was red, and she looked like a wrinkled little old man — but the more Zhang Zhao looked, the more adorable he found her.

"Father, can I hold her?" Li Zhun, already seven years old, was eager to try.

This boy's formal name was Zhang Xiancun. The name Li Zhun, given by his mother Li Ruoliu, had become his nickname.

Zhang Zhao very carefully handed the child to Li Zhun. Several maids looked as if facing a mortal enemy, terrified that Li Zhun would drop the baby — but the boy was quite steady, and even raised his head with a rather proud air.

"Mother has long since trained me, because when the little brother in her belly comes out, I'll have to hold him too. And I'm going to take my little brother fishing by the river at Zhongzhou City!"

Zhang Zhao rubbed his head with a bit of a headache. His harem had few women who were easy to deal with.

This little aunt Li Ruoliu was a real oddity — she had insisted that Zhang Zhao rename the Zhongyun Kingdom to Zhongzhou, and then appoint Li Zhun as Prefect of Zhongzhou.

And every year she insisted on taking Li Zhun to this small city of only a few thousand people, in a small prefecture of only twenty or thirty thousand people in total, to live for several months. If not for her current pregnancy, she would have already run off.

After chatting with Li Zhun for a while, Zhang Zhao shooed away this boy whose mouth, once opened, would not close. He asked about everything and was curious about everything — who knew where he got so many questions?

"My lord, Mother has made several sets of small clothes for the young princess and sent me to have her try them on!"

Li Zhuncai had just been driven off when a young girl in a gaudy tender-green jacket and skirt—yet somehow not gaudy at all on her—came over with two maidservants.

The girl looked fourteen or fifteen, already slender and graceful, and quite fair of face.

Although she called Zhang Zhao "my lord," she was in fact neither Zhang Zhao's daughter, nor the daughter of Cao-shi Cao Yanmian, who had sent her.

This girl was the daughter of Saketu, captured together with Zhang Zhao at Shule years ago. Six years had passed, and the little girl who had once been terrified had now come of age.

There was an awkward problem: although this girl had no blood relation to Zhang Zhao, she had always called him "my lord," and Zhang Zhao had always treated her as half a daughter.

But Cao-shi Cao Yanmian, perhaps because she was pregnant and wanted to secure his favor, had lately been hinting—hinting that Zhang Zhao could take this girl into his household.

Ugh! How utterly corrupt!

Slurp...!

No! No! Such a thing could not be done. Great King Zhang shook his head like a rattle-drum. A man must have some bottom line—he could not be such a beast.

The girl standing before Zhang Zhao was a little bewildered, not knowing why Great King Zhang kept shaking his head while holding two sets of children's clothes. The clothes were quite well made, were they not?

"My lord, there is news on the matter!" Just then, Murong Xinzhang came over. Zhang Zhao set the clothes down and walked out with Murong Xinzhang.

"Pei Yuan's family has been settled by the Son of Heaven outside the Wangchun Gate of Kaifeng in the Eastern Capital. When I was in the Eastern Capital I often passed by for amusement. There are indeed several mansions there guarded by soldiers. I had thought they were some Commandant's yabing guards, but it turns out Pei Yuan's family is there too."

Murong Xinzhang had been sent by Zhang Zhao to gather information on Pei Yuan's family. Relying on Zhang Xichong alone at Lingzhou would not do; Pei Yuan had to be added as a second safeguard.

And for Pei Yuan to be fully at ease, the family that Shi Jingtang was holding as hostages was the most critical matter.

"Is there any solution? No amount of money is too much!" Zhang Zhao asked in a low voice.

Murong Xinzhang nodded. "There is. Yang Guangyuan has lately grown immensely powerful. He has been enfeoffed as Prince of Dongping and Military Governor of Pinglu.

His son, Yang Chengzuo, is married to the Princess of Chang'an. He and I were acquainted when I was in the Eastern Capital. If we bribe him with money, he can certainly arrange for Prefect Pei's family to be secretly released from the city."

"Good! Go find Liecheng and explain the situation. Have him go to the Eastern Capital personally. He must bring Yuying's family back to Hexi. For anything under three thousand strings of cash, he may act on his own authority."

Over the past year or two, perhaps the Sogdian blood in Zhang Liecheng had begun to show itself—he had become especially good at trading and gathering information, so Zhang Zhao had simply transferred him out of the army and put him to work in intelligence.

However, Murong Xinzhang did not find Zhang Liecheng. Instead, Zhang Liecheng came looking for Zhang Zhao, bringing with him a man dressed as a traveling merchant.

"Your servant, the adopted son of Commander An of the Chengde Army, kowtows before the Great King. The Commander has a letter for Your Highness!"

Zhang Zhao glanced at Zhang Liecheng, who nodded to indicate the man was reliable. Then Zhang Zhao's heart gave a leap.

The Military Governor of Chengde was An Zhongrong—the very man who had boasted that the Son of Heaven was simply whoever had the strongest soldiers and horses. It seemed he was rebelling this very year.

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