As the sun sets and the moon rises, a hotel in the southwest corner of Bakhna City is dimly lit.
Ever since Zhang Yanji entered his room, his complaints have not stopped.
"This hotel run by Li Te people is even shabbier than I thought!" In Zhang Xiaolangjun's opinion, even a military camp is not as shabby as this room!
No, this can't be called a room at all. There isn't even a complete tea set in the half-old house. The big bed where five or six people sleep together is full of wormholes. The wooden basin for washing feet has more than one huge crack.
...
The most important thing is that after nightfall, he heard the screams of wolves, and the hairs on his body stood up. It's not that he is timid, Zhang Yanji never wrinkled when he faced the Tubo and Uighurs.
A frown! But the sound was too loud, too shrill, making people tremble involuntarily.
After asking the store owner Hu Er, he just said that it was because it was close to the ridge, so it didn't matter.
He doesn't live here himself, so of course it doesn't matter! Let him stay in a ghostly room for half the night and see if he still screams!
Of course, the inn is not full. However, although there are many vacant rooms in the backyard, Zhang Xiaolangjun is too embarrassed to open this door to change rooms. It is really urgent!
"No, Brother Kuo'er, this voice is too harsh, I can't stand it!"
Zhang Yanji endured it again and again, and still complained. If it was just one or two times, that would be enough, but this beast never stopped barking. Even the horses in the stable became restless, kicking and beating the stalls, and
How can I sleep?
He must change his room. Who can sleep listening to this wolf howling?
"Why, who told me that he wouldn't mind the condition of the house when he first moved in?" Li Kuo looked at his friend with a half-smile, his eyes full of teasing.
"Well, at that time, I didn't know it was like this... Hey, it's all Ashinara's fault!" Zhang Yanji couldn't argue, and in the end he could only use the old Turkic man as a shield.
Brother Kuo'er gave him so much money as a guide, so he brought everyone here!
"Hey, mortal, mortal! I said you kid can't imitate Qilang. Why do you still let your eldest young master have such a temper when you are away from home?"
Zhou Wuwei swallowed the half-soft but not crisp piece of roasted naan in his mouth, and made fun of Zhang Yanji. In order not to be discovered by the cannibal sentry post, they had traveled all the way from the Sega Mire, and they were really exhausted.
It was a lot of hard work. If I could find an inn with better conditions, I wouldn't treat myself badly.
But the current situation is that many inns and shops in the city of Bakhna are closed for unknown reasons. Ashina Raza spent a lot of effort to allocate nearly 600 brothers to a dozen inns.
It's a blessing that we don't have to sleep on the street tonight, so why mention the environment of the inn?
What's more, the inn they stayed in had the best environment among the dozens of hotels.
"Actually, actually... I think that boss is a little weird. Have you noticed that there is a hint of sullenness in his eyes when he looks at us, but it is deeply hidden under that greedy gaze!
I think, I think he must have something up his sleeve."
Zhang Yanji instinctively trembled when he heard the howling of the wolf. Thinking of Hu Yier's somewhat strange behavior, he naturally had many inexplicable thoughts.
If this inn was a shady shop, the owner would light some incense and come in while everyone was sleeping to seek wealth and death...
The legendary scenes were linked together in Zhang Yanji's mind, which further verified the young man's inference...
"Okay, if you are really worried, go and sleep in Yucheng's house. I really can't stand your temper." Li Kuo waved his hand helplessly and issued an eviction order.
"Who's scared! I'm just saying casually, forget it if you don't take it seriously!" Zhang Yanji straightened his chest and cheered himself up resolutely.
"Hmm! This grilled naan tastes pretty good, Qilang, you can try it." Zhou Wuwei put another piece of pancake into his mouth and chewed it vigorously. The young man's fat cheeks trembled and sometimes fell into two small dimples.
"Well." Li Kuo was not in the mood to enjoy the delicious food now. All his thoughts were focused on the mission of this trip to the river. The reason why he chose Bukhanna as the first stop was because King Asilanda of Bukhanna was there.
Zhu Huli can be regarded as one of the more pro-Tang Dynasty people. If the Zhuhu Hus in the river are a chain of interests, Bahan is the weakest link in this chain of interests.
The young man himself was not completely confident in persuading Asilanda to defect to the Tang Dynasty, but since he had to choose a Hu country for the experiment, the young man would naturally choose the one with the least risk.
It was only after arriving at the city of Bahan that the young man discovered that things were worse than he imagined. Not to mention that there was no trace of the Tang Dynasty here, and even the local culture of the barbarians in the river had been killed. Instead, there was fanaticism.
In the Tianfang Sect culture, everyone on the street wears Dashi blouses and communicates in Dashi dialect...
If the local people have been completely bewitched and controlled by the Tianfang Sect, even if King Ashilanda is persuaded, can he control the situation in Bakhna City?
"Tomorrow, I want to go to the palace for a walk."
Li Kuo thought for a long time and decided that he should go to the palace to take a look in person. Although there was no time limit for their lobbying this time, things would change later, and such a major event must not be delayed.
"I'll go with you!" Zhang Yanji didn't want people to mistake him for being timid anymore, so he immediately stood up. Rather than being ignored here, it would be better to go for a walk than to be bored.
"I'll go too, General!" Dou Qing, as Li Kuo's confidant, naturally couldn't let the young man take risks alone, so he patted his chest and loudly asked for orders.
"Brothers Yanji and Dou just come with me. Too many people go, which makes it unsightly." Li Kuo nodded, thinking about his next plan: "Not guilty, tomorrow you find Yucheng, Xiaochun, Li Sheng and the others.
Go around the city, don’t ask any questions, and learn more about what’s going on in the city!”
"Don't worry. Hmm! This grilled naan tastes really good, try it..." Zhou Wuxin's cheeks bulged and softened, but he didn't have a moment to spare.
"Hey." The young man reluctantly took the roasted naan and chewed it.
Well, it tastes really good.
...
...
The royal palace of Bakhna City is located in the north city, and the terrain is very high.
Even the Amehuzir Market, which is the closest to the palace, is more than two hundred meters vertically away from the palace. Therefore, it was not easy for Li Kuo to find an opportunity to get close to the palace.
Walking slowly from the inn in the southwest corner of the city, the young man discovered many things that were completely different from those in Ashburai City. The folk customs here are more food-oriented, and the streets are more deserted. Even the Amehuzi next to him
The number of people gathered at the ear market was not as large as that at a gathering in the lower state capital of the Tang Dynasty.
People on the street were all in a hurry, and it seemed that people like them who 'wandered' without any purpose were aliens. Li Kuo finally found a teahouse facing the north gate of the palace, sat down, and ordered a pot of tea.
Different from Ashpurai City, the north side of Bakhna City is taller. Viewed from this angle, there are many sentry towers surrounding the palace. This means that it is impossible for the boy to climb over from the side like last time.
Wall, and then rush along the mountain road to the palace.
As for the back mountain, it should be the private garden of King Ashelanda of Bakhna. The stepped enclosed layout allows the king to enjoy the scenery of the Pearl River, and of course it also eliminates the possibility of assassins entering the palace through the back mountain.
How to get in?
The young man was thinking to himself, and the tea had been delivered.
The owner of the teahouse is a light-skinned Lite man who speaks fluent Turkic and Dashi dialect. In this area, these two languages are the common standard languages. As for Tang dialect, it really comes second.
Seeing that everyone in the young man's group was wearing a big food blouse, he greeted them with big food.
"The blessings of Allah be upon you! The tea you ordered is ready. There is a total of one large food silver coin."
Li Kuo couldn't understand what he said at all, so he could only shrug helplessly.
Although the teahouse owner was a little surprised, he was very professional and repeated it in Turkic dialect.
Fortunately, Li Kuo had learned some simple Turkic dialects and roughly understood what he meant. He took out a large food silver coin from his bag and handed it to him.
"Thank you, thank you!" The teahouse owner grabbed the silver coin, rubbed it on his sleeve and stuffed it into a small cloth bag. Nowadays, the Zakat tax in the city of Bukhan is so heavy, if he doesn't collect more
Some money and profits are not enough to pay taxes.
Alas, there are not many customers who spend as much as this!
Zhang Xiaolangjun was already very thirsty, so he picked up the teapot and filled his cup.
"Pfft!" But perhaps he was not lucky enough to bear it. As soon as the tea was in his mouth, Zhang Yanji spurted it out.
"This is also tea? Even if it is water to wash the pot, it tastes much better than this." Zhang Yanji wiped the water stains on his mouth and complained loudly. If this kind of thing were done in Chang'an, Zhang Xiao
Due to my temper, I will definitely bring the matter to Jingzhao Mansion!
"General, this businessman is too shady. He actually charges a silver coin for such tea." Dou Qing had a bitter look on his face after taking a sip, holding up the silver coin because it was not worth it.
"This is not the Tang Dynasty. It would be nice to have tea." Li Kuo waved his hand, indicating that the two of them should not pay attention to these details.
They were speaking in Tang dialect, so the tea guests around them naturally couldn't understand what they meant. However, these barbarians were probably quite curious about this language, and without exception they turned towards the three of them.
"Well, drink tea!" Not wanting to attract attention, Li Kuo took the lead and poured a full cup of tea into his mouth.
Things are valuable when they are rare, and things are valuable when they are rare. What is the most lacking thing in the palace...
At this moment, an ox cart loaded with all kinds of vegetables drove slowly towards the palace in Beicheng.
That's it!
A brilliant idea suddenly flashed through Li Kuo's mind!