Chapter 68: The Little Aunt's Ambition

Moduo was indeed loyal. As King of the Zhongyun Sanpoba's trusted bodyguard, he knew exactly where the cellar was and where people hid.

So while Sanpoba was still promising titles and rewards to his other guards, a torch and a bundle of something were tossed into the cellar, and thick smoke immediately billowed out.

Wolf dung mixed with arsenic and dried cornel — it burned with quite a kick!

Before long, Sanpoba, who had been thinking that once the bandits outside left he would properly punish the south-city commoners for not coming to fight the fire, was dragged out like a dead dog.

Zhang Zhao sat squarely upon the Zhongyun king's original throne. Sanpoba was a fairly young king, only around thirty-three or thirty-four.

So he did not have many children, and his wives and concubines were also young. At this moment they had all been seized and made to kneel around Zhang Zhao.

One by one, the palace-tent warriors were also hunted down by the organized traveling merchants. Some, of course, were caught by the Zhongyun commoners of the south city. Ma Yaozi's lavish spending had successfully given those commoners a rather good impression.

So when Zhang Zhao issued a "huge" bounty of one string of cash per man, the entire south city's commoners stirred into action, and the palace-tent warriors hiding among the crowds like stray dogs were all rounded up.

"Cousin! I leave the security of the south city to you. Anyone who rapes, loots, robs, or sets fires — kill without mercy!" Zhang Zhao did not even glance at Sanpoba, but first gave instructions to Yin Yaozi.

Originally he had intended to grab a fortune and leave, but after seeing the south-city Zhongyun people's attitude toward Sanpoba, and after a descendant of Yuchi Sheng appeared, he changed his mind. Such a good place — there was no need to leave in such a hurry!

Sanpoba had two principal wives (queens) and four consorts. The principal wives were called the Left Queen and the Right Queen.

The Left Queen was precisely the woman who had just tried to awe and entice Zhang Zhao by using the identity of a descendant of the Great Tang imperial clan.

Her name was Li Ruoliu, and her identity was genuine. Her ancestor had left Chang'an and returned to Khotan in the third year of Qianning, after Emperor Zhaozong of Tang was imprisoned by Li Maozhen, because by then everyone knew the Great Tang would soon cease to exist.

And this branch of Yuchi Sheng's descendants that returned to Khotan did not live very comfortably either.

After all, in legal terms, the throne of the Kingdom of Khotan should have been theirs. Back then, Yuchi Sheng and his younger brother Yuchi Yao had been praised for yielding to each other, but by now, after seven or eight generations, the situation had become somewhat delicate.

So six years ago, in order to win over the Zhongyun Kingdom and ensure the smooth flow of the Southern Silk Road, the King of Khotan Li Shengtian conferred the title of Princess Fengxian upon Li Ruoliu, the most restless cousin in Yuchi Sheng's line, and married her off to the Zhongyun Kingdom.

But alas! Li Ruoliu, who had thought she could enjoy a better life in the Zhongyun Kingdom, soon met with tragedy.

The Zhongyun king Sanpoba married her, first, to strengthen relations with Khotan, and second, to ease relations with the Guiyi Army of Dunhuang. In short, it was to maintain the prosperity of the Southern Silk Road.

As for her personally — well! Although this Princess Fengxian was quite beautiful, bearing seventy or eighty percent resemblance to the famous Showa-era beauty Sawaguchi Yasuko.

But unfortunately, Sanpoba had married her only to have a decorative vase. Moreover, because he feared Khotanese influence seeping into Zhongyun, he had always been cold toward her, mixed with some wariness.

People say a couple quarrels at the head of the bed and makes up at the foot of it, but these two had shared a bed so few times it could be counted on one hand — there was no making up to speak of at all.

So just one year after marrying Li Ruoliu, Sanpoba installed another Right Queen, a native-born Zhongyun woman, a slightly plump beauty with even more Indo-European features.

"Bitch! Bitch! So it was you who bought off Moduo! You dare betray your king!"

Sanpoba, pinned to the ground, let out a furious howl, because he saw Li Ruoliu appear beside the throne.

"You? A turtle-shelled barbarian like you is worthy of being my king?

That's right! Didn't expect it, did you? Moduo came over to my side long ago. You thought he had his eye on the Left Commander's wife — heh heh!

The one he had his eye on was me!

You didn't know, did you? Your trusted bodyguard was thinking day and night about climbing into your queen's bed. Haha! Did you think everyone was like you, fond of that fat white barbarian wench?"

Li Ruoliu, who had just been frightened by Zhang Zhao, now had the full bearing of a queen. She walked scornfully to the front of Sanpoba's head, smiling as she spoke through gritted teeth. It seemed that after being neglected for so many years, she had no small amount of pent-up resentment!

"May I ask how this young lord intends to deal with Sanpoba? And how does he plan to make use of this city of Wuni?

The young lord has only a hundred or so men. Though they are brave and unmatched, in the nearby cities of Datun and Shicheng and the dozens of oases there are still seventy or eighty thousand Zhongyun people. Capturing Sanpoba is easy, but taking his place — that is difficult!"

After taking a few jabs at Sanpoba, Li Ruoliu turned her gaze back to Zhang Zhao. She still did not know who Zhang Zhao was or where he came from, but she could roughly determine that Zhang Zhao was a Han man. In Li Ruoliu's view, as long as he was Han, things would be manageable.

Zhang Zhao looked at this woman with interest. Although she was inwardly extremely anxious, outwardly she still appeared completely calm and composed.

Faced with a "villain" like Zhang Zhao and over a hundred murderous "bandits," she could still keep her composure and think of a way out while angling for advantage — quite scheming.

Scheming was good! What Zhang Zhao liked most were scheming women. Scheming ones generally had considerable ambition, and ambitious people — especially women — were the easiest of all to control.

And, come to think of it, this woman was even his nominal aunt!

So Zhang Zhao beckoned to Li Ruoliu. After she walked up before him, Zhang Zhao gave a mysterious smile.

"You want to tell me that my best choice is to grab what I can and leave, right? You also want to tell me that if I choose to kill Sanpoba, then you are the best candidate to control Wuni City, is that right? Aren't you afraid I'll take the money and go, and then not kill Sanpoba?"

"The young lord would not." Li Ruoliu bit her lower lip with two fine, pretty teeth, then stared fixedly at Zhang Zhao.

"Because I am a daughter of the Han. If the young lord does not kill Sanpoba, then after you leave, I will surely be tortured to death by him. I do not believe the young lord could stand by and watch a Han woman be cruelly abused by barbarians!

Moreover, if the young lord did not want to kill Sanpoba, why go to such lengths to bring him back? When cutting weeds, one must remove the roots. The young lord is a man of great vision and strategy — he surely understands!"

Interesting! Zhang Zhao rubbed his chin. This woman's way of thinking suited his taste, and indeed, he had also considered: was it possible to support this woman to control the Zhongyun Kingdom? At the very least, it was an option.

"Give me a reason — a reason that shows you can control the situation!" Zhang Zhao straightened his posture, his expression turning serious.

Seeing that Zhang Zhao did not seem to be joking with her, Li Ruoliu also very formally adjusted her clothing, stopped the little gestures with which she had been constantly radiating feminine charm, and became more like a queen.

All chapters have been cached for you. Download the APP to view.