Fumeng Lingcha and his party returned to Anxi Liu's backyard in Pingkangfang, gathered everyone to discuss in front of the main hall of Liu's backyard, and decided to refine the work. Li Siye and Gao Xianzhi went to Ashina Xin's mansion to urge him to prepare the Khan's ceremonial guard.
Departure. Fumeng Lingcha was responsible for commanding and arranging travel arrangements, while Ma Phosphorus was responsible for contacting the Khan Guards formed by the Longwu Army.
Their respective tasks were in place and they went to work separately. Captain Tian Cheng, who stayed in the backyard, was very familiar with various places in Chang'an, so the two of them asked him to personally lead the way to Ashina Xin's residence in Guangdefang.
"After Ashina Buzhen surrendered during the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong granted him the residence of the Hussar General in Guangdefang. Xin now lives in his great-grandfather's residence, which is only five miles away from the residence of the minister Pushe Liu Rengui in the Zhenguan period.
Ten steps, look ahead, you are here."
The three of them stopped in front of the gatehouse. Tian Cheng stepped forward and knocked on the side door: "Open the door! Ashina Xin, open the door quickly!"
The door was suddenly opened, but there was no one at the door. Tian Cheng poked his head in and looked around. Suddenly a young man jumped out with an ox-horn bow in his hand. The prismatic arrow was sharpened. He opened the bow and aimed at Tian Cheng's head.
face.
This young man still has braided hair and wears a tanned leather robe with a cross-collar collar. There is a cold light in his eyes, making him look like an unruly wolf in the prairie.
Cold sweat broke out on Tian Cheng's forehead, and he hurriedly said: "We are from the Anxi Protectorate!"
"Guardian of Mengchi, how can you call Ji Qi Jue Khan by his name?" The young man tightened his bow string and asked in a cold voice.
Li Siye was suspicious. Ashina Xin must be married. He was twenty-six or twenty-seven if he wasn't thirty. How could he be a young man?
"Are you Ji Qi Jue Khan?"
The young man shook his head quickly: "No, I am the Khan's personal attendant and the captain of the Khan's palace guard, Chulu Aijin."
Li Siye looked into the courtyard and saw that the people cleaning in front of the gate and courtyard were all maids. I'm afraid he was the only one in the palace guard he was talking about.
He pointed at Gao Xianzhi and himself and said: "This is General Gao, the military commander of the four towns of Anxi. I am Li Siye, the military commander of Shule and Khotan. I am here to invite Khan Jue to go to Qixi and take office as Khan with the ten surnames. Mengchi
Protector."
When Chuolv heard this, his face flushed with excitement, he threw the bow in his hand behind the door, and wiped his hands on his clothes at a loss, then he remembered that he should salute, and he crossed his hands awkwardly and said: "Two distinguished guests, please come in!
"
He welcomed the three of them into the courtyard, and there happened to be a noble lady walking out of the moon cave door in the side courtyard. She was wearing a golden hairpin, a wide-sleeved gauze shawl, and a chest-length undershirt. Although she was dressed in such a Chinese style, Li Siye could not tell what she was doing.
Some Turkic characteristics are seen on the face.
The woman asked Chuilu lightly, "Are these two people here to see Alang?"
Chuulu nodded excitedly as if pecking rice: "Princess, General Gao and General Li are both generals of the Anxi Protectorate. We have come here to invite Khan to Qixi to serve as the Protector of Mengchi."
Li Siye saw that the woman's face visibly dropped. He and Gao Xianzhi stepped forward, bowed to her and crossed their hands: "General Gao Xianzhi and Li Siye pay their respects to Princess Jiaohe."
Princess Jiaohe turned around coldly and said in a low voice: "My Alang is not in the mansion. If you want to find him, go to the West Market to find him."
"West Market?" Li Siye and Gao Xianzhi looked at each other.
"Oh, I know!" Chuilu volunteered, "My master often goes to the cockfighting ring in the West City to gamble. I'll take you there!"
The two of them nodded at the same time. Anyway, the West Market is not far from Guangdefang, it's just an extra mile.
The cockfighting ring is located in the northwest corner of the West Market, facing north of the horse row, adjacent to the release pond. This area is full of places for various gambling projects, including cricket fighting, grass fighting, and Ashina Xin's.
Favorite - cockfighting.
This was not only Ashina Xin's favorite, everyone from saints to princes and ministers loved cockfighting. Xuanzong set up a cockfighting workshop in the palace, and the best in the cockfighting industry even gained the emperor's favor and suddenly became rich.
The entire gambling stall area was buzzing with people, and the noise was endless. Three religions and nine streams were mixed in, and most of the vagabonds and villains from Chang'an City gathered here. Chulu led them through the crowd until they came to a larger place.
cockfighting grounds.
The stall owner drove bamboo stakes into the ground and used linen cloth to circle a three-foot square area. Everyone crowded outside the silk cloth, stood on tiptoes and stretched their necks to look around. The stall owner used a long bamboo pole to hang the chicken coop into the curtain.
He opened his throat and shouted: "The one on the left is the Iron Crown Head of the Shi Xingui family! The one on the right is the White Winged Beak of the Zhang Mo family! Let's start betting! Whoever you buy wins! Whoever loses!"
The spectators went to the stall owner to place their bets, received a piece of cloth written in pen and ink, and gathered around the chicken pen to discuss the matter.
There were so many people present that Li Siye and Gao Xianzhi couldn't squeeze in. Fortunately, they were both tall and looked for Ashina Xin among the futou at the scene.
This guy must be here, his chickens are already in the field, where else can they go.
The stall owner used a bamboo pole to open the chicken coop, and two bald roosters walked out of the cage and entered the arena. The cage was lifted away, and the two chickens began to circle around the curtain, sizing up their opponents.
"Peck it! Peck it!"
The stall owner took off a small bag from his waist, grabbed a few sesame seeds and sprinkled them into the arena. The two chickens began to peck at each other, circling in a circle on guard against each other. When they were about to get close, they suddenly fluttered their feathers and flicked their wings to peck at each other.
The onlookers were shouting and shouting like a pot was exploding, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
"Peck him! Peck him to death!"
There was a guy shouting the loudest, and his face turned red. He was indeed a Hu man, but he was too Chinese. Moreover, there were all kinds of Hu men in this gambling stall, so it was difficult to distinguish him.
Chuulu has also lowered his head and infiltrated into the crowd, looking for his master everywhere.
The crowd became more and more crowded, and the shouts became louder and louder. The chicken feathers raised by the two chickens fluttering against each other were flying over people's heads, and there were cheers and curses. They stretched their arms to cheer for the chicken they were optimistic about.
It seemed that the winner was decided, and the other chicken was stepped on by the winner. Some of the onlookers sighed and others groaned. The battle in the chicken pen had just ended, and two people started fighting outside.
This is just a fight between chickens and humans, and it is a fierce fight.
The two people fighting didn't have any real abilities. They just grabbed each other's collars and yelled at each other, which was far worse than the belligerent chickens.
Those who were trying to stop the fight and those who were making noises were quarreling with each other. It seemed that they were afraid that the world would not be in chaos. Chuulu also pushed forward and turned around and shouted to Li Siye and the others: "The one who is fighting is my Khan."
Li Siye stepped forward and pulled aside the people who were blocking him. These people were still angry, but when they looked back they saw a majestic military attache and they all avoided him knowingly.
He pulled the two people who were still pulling apart with his arms and asked, "What's there to fight?"
Ashina Xin pointed at Zhang Mokai and scolded: "You little bitch! Put fox oil on the chicken's head! Otherwise, how could my Tieduantou lose?"
"You bitch! How dare you scold me, tie iron hooks to chicken feet, and do such shameless things!"
"You are a bitch!"
"Okay!" Li Siye shouted: "Everyone goes home! Don't argue."
Zhang Mo wanted to argue again, but was frightened by Li Siye's majesty and retreated angrily.
Chuulu stepped forward and took hold of his master's sleeve and said, "Khan, I have found you. People from the Protectorate are looking for you."
"The Protectorate?"
Although Li Siye and Gao Xianzhi were sure that this person was Ashina Xin, they still looked him up and down, dragged him out of Fighting Cock City and asked: "Your Excellency, you are the Protector of Mengchi, the successor to the Khan Ashina Xin?"
Ashina Xin cupped his hands and said, "You two gentlemen, you don't have to be polite, just call me Shi Xin."
He looked at Ashina Xin up and down again, making his whole body tremble.
Before meeting Shi Xin, Li Siye imagined the Khan to look like this: black braided hair hanging on both sides of his shoulders, wearing a felt hat, a fur coat with lapels, tall black leather boots, and a waistband. Carrying a straight knife.
But he actually looks like this: wearing a cross-footed bun on his head, a wiping forehead, red lips and yellow face, a purple-red robe, a sachet hanging on his belt, and a cockfighting manual in his arms. No wonder he was in the crowd just now If you can't find him, how does this image of a noble son of Chang'an look like Ji Qi Jue Khan?
I remember that when I read history in the past, I often read about the assimilation of the Hu people by the Han people and regarded it as an abstract concept. But today I have seen a living specimen of assimilation. Ashina Xin may also know the lives of his ancestors. How can he wait for his son? Can he know the meaning of his surname? Can he still regain the wildness of the family with the blood of the prairie wolf?
Gao Xianzhi and Li Siye both felt like a basin of cold water had been poured on their heads. How could such a person secure the position of Khan in the complicated struggle environment between the Wunu Shibi tribe and the Wudu Lu tribe in the east and west of Suiye River? Can he survive? It’s all a problem, right?
No wonder Li Tang wanted to name Mishe and Buzhen as the Khans of the Past and the Khans of the Past. Doesn’t this mean that each generation is inferior to the previous one? Can it help the ancestors gain some vigour? Can they look more handsome?