Yours truly, Ouyang Feng

Chapter 35: Arresting the ruler and bringing him to justice

Gaochang City.

The King of Gaochang, escorted by two wolf riders, arrived at the magnificent palace in a dishevelled and dishevelled clothes. There he saw a young man in heavy dark armor sitting on the throne that belonged to him, with a horse and a golden sword in his hand.

Although he had never seen him before, King Gaochang had heard of his legend many times over the past year. He knew that the young man wearing the Xixia specialty "wart armor", with a stern face and tall and straight even when sitting, was none other than Ouyang Feng of Baituo Mountain, who was known as the "White-robed Shura, Blood-handed Yaksha, and the Dragon King of the West".

Under the high throne stood five young men and women, all wearing wart armor.

The King of Gaochang did not recognize any of these five men, but he knew that under Ouyang Feng's command, there were eighteen wolf riders who had fought with him over three thousand miles, and who were highly skilled in martial arts and ruthless. Some people called them the "Five Tigers and Thirteen Tigers".

Those five young men and women wearing dark blue wart armor were obviously the strongest "Five Tigers" under Ouyang Feng.

But now no one will introduce their identities to the King of Gaochang in detail.

When the King of Gaochang was brought to the throne, a calm young man who looked to be about 22 or 23 years old, with his hand on his sword, asked in a deep voice:
"King Gaochang, do you admit your guilt?"

"Crime?" The King of Gaochang said angrily, "I have never been an enemy of the White Camel Mountain, nor have I blocked trade. What crime have I committed? Why are you starting this unjust war, raising an army to attack us, and destroying our capital?"

"An unjust war?"

Ma Yue sneered and shouted:

"How dare you quibble! Do you think I don't know? Since we killed Xiao Wuwei last year, you have sent seven letters to Western Liao and three groups of envoys in the past year. Except for the first letter and envoy, which reported Xiao Wuwei's death and apologized for the crime, the other six letters and two groups of envoys were all begging Western Liao to send troops quickly to destroy our White Camel Villa!"

Upon hearing this, the King of Gaochang felt his scalp go numb and turned pale with shock.

He sent envoys and wrote to the Liao Dynasty, requesting the Liao Dynasty to send people to wipe out Baituo Mountain. All of this was done in secret, and only his trusted attendants and a few important officials knew about it. So how did Baituo Mountain Villa get the news?

Ma Yue said coldly again:
"Two months ago, your envoy bribed the Xiao family with a large sum of money. Under the Xiao family's lobbying, the Western Liao court finally agreed to send Xiao Wuwei's legitimate son Xiao Ba Ta to succeed as the Regent. When Xiao Ba Ta left for the post, he led 300 soldiers from the Xiao clan, including 100 armored cavalry, who were going to attack my White Camel Mountain! You have been deliberately trying to destroy my White Camel Mountain Villa, so we will naturally raise an army to punish you!"

The King of Gaochang turned pale, his body trembled slightly, and he suddenly shouted:
"I am innocent! Last autumn, you broke into my capital, massacred the Shaojian Mansion, and beheaded the Liao envoy. During this year, you forced many tribes, both large and small, to submit to Baituo Mountain and pay tribute to Baituo Mountain... All these things have destroyed the dignity of the Gaochang royal family. As the King of Gaochang, can't I resist?"

The most important reason was not spoken by the King of Gaochang:
There was a lawless man like Ouyang Feng who was highly skilled in martial arts and could sneak into the palace at any time to take his head. Even if the other party would not attack him without reason, the King of Gaochang could not eat or sleep well at the thought of such a man.

As long as Ouyang Feng is alive, King Gaochang will be uneasy!
"Resist? Of course you can't resist."

Ouyang Feng, sitting high on the throne, finally spoke.

"Can't resist?" King Gaochang was stunned, then laughed angrily, "What's the logic behind this?"

"Reason? It's also because the Zhao Song Dynasty was weak and incompetent, so the Western Regions forgot the majesty of the Han and Tang Dynasties. But even though the Western Regions have long lost the influence of the Central Plains, haven't you heard of the story of Ban Dingyuan?"

Ouyang Feng looked down at him with an indifferent look in his eyes and said calmly:
"This place is the homeland of the Han and Tang dynasties. Since ancient times, this is how we Han people have done things on this land."

"..."

The King of Gaochang was stunned, and felt that this boy was extremely domineering.

Is this how Han people do things?
What's the point of this?
He looked at Ouyang Feng's cold and heroic face with obvious Western features, raised his finger tremblingly and pointed at him, "You, you are also Han Chinese?"

"My father is from the Central Plains." Ouyang Feng said calmly, "My family's surname is Ouyang. Ouyang comes from the surname Si, which is the oldest double surname in China and the first of the Han double surnames. If my family is not Han, how many people can be called Han?"

As for saying that the maternal lineage is not Han, for example, saying that Li Shimin's grandmother was a Xianbei, and insisting that Li Shimin was a Xianbei, that is completely unnecessary.

Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Chinese have recognized paternal bloodline, and this is also in line with genetic science - every man has an ancestral Y chromosome that has been passed down from father to son since ancient times, not from father to daughter.

Whatever race your mother is from, whatever race your father is, that is what race you are.

But if a woman marries someone else and gives birth to a boy, he will truly be an outsider who has inherited the chromosomes of his ancestors from another race.

Of course, China doesn't just look at bloodline.

As a civilization with a broad mind and strong assimilation ability, as long as one recognizes Chinese civilization from the bottom of his heart, even if they are of foreign blood, they can still become Chinese.

But there is no need to explain these in detail to the King of Gaochang.

Ouyang Feng waved his hand, and two wolf riders took the speechless King of Gaochang away.

After the King of Gaochang left, a handsome middle-aged man dressed in Central Plains clothes and with a long elegant beard came out from the side hall. His appearance was more Westernized than Ouyang Feng.

It was the father-in-law of Ouyang Feng's elder brother Ouyang Lie, the Minister of Finance of Gaochang State whose Chinese name was Li Zhaoxian.

The King of Gaochang repeatedly wrote letters and sent envoys to the Western Liao, asking the Western Liao to send troops to punish Baituoshan, and the news that Xiao Bata led 300 soldiers to take up the post was first told to Baituoshan by Li Zhaoxian. After Ouyang Feng broke through the capital of Gaochang with 500 cavalry, he was able to quickly control the entire city and capture the Gaochang royal family as a whole, also because of the internal support of the Li family.

Otherwise, no matter how good Ouyang Feng and his five hundred wolf riders were, it would be difficult for them to control Gaocheng Royal City in a short period of time.

Although this city is only a "small city" with a circumference of less than eleven miles, which is not worth mentioning compared to the capital cities of the dynasties in Middle-earth with a circumference of dozens of miles, it is not something that can be easily controlled by a mere 500 people.

The reason why Li Zhaoxian betrayed King Gaochang and helped Ouyang Feng was not only because he was related to the Ouyang family by marriage.

When he was young, he followed the old owner of the manor for a period of time. Among the seventy-year-old wolf riders, Li Zhaoxian had a seat.

And he was able to succeed to the position of the head of the family with the help of the old owner of the manor and the old wolf rider brothers.

In Li Zhaoxian's view, the old owner of the manor was his elder brother and benefactor, and the King of Gaochang was just an "ally" who gathered together for profit - the situation of the states in the Western Regions was different from that in the Central Plains. The king did not have absolute authority and was only subordinate to the leaders of various ethnic groups.

The various powerful families serving in the royal capital were essentially just the king giving up some of his interests in order to win over allies.

Now the King of Gaochang has invited soldiers from Western Liao to destroy the White Camel Villa and kill his daughter and son-in-law. Because of his daughter, Li Zhaoxian, who knows best how powerful Ouyang Feng and the White Camel Wolf Cavalry are, of course has no psychological pressure to rebel.

"Congratulations, Second Young Master, for conquering the capital of Gaochang."

Li Zhaoxian bowed to Ouyang Feng who was sitting on the throne.

Ouyang Feng's cold and tough face showed a rare smile, and he stood up to avoid him and said:
"Uncle is my father's elder brother and my eldest brother's father-in-law. I can control this city thanks to your help. Ouyang Feng is a young man and I don't dare to accept your uncle's gift."

He stepped down from the throne and said to Li Zhaoxian:

"Has order been restored in the city?"

"Yes." Li Zhaoxian smiled slightly, "I have used the reasons that the Second Young Master taught me to convince the elders of the temples in the city. The temples have sent monks to appease the people, and the people in the city have been reassured."

Gaochang has not yet been greened, and it is still a Buddhist country. There are many temples in the city, and all residents worship Buddha. As long as we can persuade the temples and ask them to send monks to help, it will not be difficult to pacify the whole city.

As for why he was able to convince the temples...

"Now that the Arabs are expanding eastward, the area west of Gaochang has all become Arab territory. Even the Liao royal family, who originally worshipped Buddhism, had to take religious names and worship in order to appease the believers under their rule. Gaochang is already the last Buddhist country in the Western Regions. Given the style of the Arabs, if we allow them to expand to the Western Regions, can this Buddhist pure land under our feet continue to exist?"

"The King of Gaochang is weak and has no weapons. He can't even resist the local tyrants of Baituo Villa, so how can he resist the army of the Tang Dynasty? And Master Ouyang is not only a prominent family in the Central Plains, but also has practiced the Buddhist Vajra Indestructible Body and Dragon Elephant Prajna. He is the guardian dragon king appointed by heaven! With him, we will definitely be able to stop the Tang Dynasty from advancing eastward and keep the Buddhist land of Gaochang pure!"

The above is the rhetoric that Ouyang Feng taught Li Zhaoxian.

He was already famous, and his strength of leading the Five Tigers and Eighteen Braves to fight over three thousand miles and five hundred wolf riders to destroy the royal capital in one battle was already very persuasive.

The temples did not want to see rivers of blood and countless lives lost in the city, and they were even more afraid that the temples would be robbed. They also actually believed that Ouyang Feng could stop the Arabs from advancing eastward, so they accepted Li Zhaoxian's lobbying.

"But the temple elders have a request..."

Li Zhaoxian hesitated for a while and said:

"They want to ask the Second Young Master to spare the Gaochang royal family and not commit so many murders."

"The King of Gaochang and his successor must die. But they can die in a dignified way by sending them off with poisoned wine."

Ouyang Feng said calmly:

"Those who have no right of inheritance can be spared and demoted to commoners. All royal property will be confiscated, leaving only what is necessary for living."

"Second Young Master, please be merciful." Li Zhaoxian bowed again.

Ouyang Feng smiled and asked:
"Where are Xiao Bata and his three hundred cavalrymen now?"

"I was just about to report this to the Second Young Master."

Li Zhaoxian showed relief on his face and said:
"Xiao Ba Ta will arrive at the royal city by this evening at the latest. Fortunately, the Second Young Master is very swift in his military operations. He sent down his troops this morning and broke into the city first. Otherwise, if Xiao Ba Ta and his three hundred cavalrymen had been allowed to enter the city, it would have been much more troublesome."

Ouyang Feng nodded slowly:
"Indeed. But now, I can set a trap for Xiao Bata... I am determined to get the iron horse armor of his one hundred armored cavalrymen!"

Please give me a vote!



(End of this chapter)