Daqin: Zulong's Traveling Frog

Chapter 306
The guide A Fei appeared out of nowhere, pushed aside the crowd, walked to the front, and said loudly: "I am the guide A Fei, and I took the Ye Mingzhu, and it has nothing to do with the Loulan caravan."

He is a well-known guide in the Western Regions. He has led caravans in and out of Yumen Pass many times. Not to mention his familiarity at the pass, even the envoys sent by the Central Plains court to the Western Regions sometimes rely on him to lead the way, so most people on the spot recognized him. he.

He said this sentence in Chinese, the voice was not loud, but it was like a bolt from the blue, which surprised everyone.All eyes turned to him in an instant.

Gan Qi was extremely surprised, and stammered: "A Fei...you...you..."

A Fei ignored it, and repeated it again, saying: "I took the Ye Mingzhu, and it has nothing to do with the Loulan caravan." Going up to Gan Qi's black horse, he took off the leather water bag hanging from the saddle, and explained : "I hid the Night Pearl in Gan Qi's water bag in advance and rushed out of the gate early in the morning."

"Originally, I was worried that if someone discovered the secret in the water bag, you would only blame Gan Qi. But now I suddenly understand that one person does things and one person is responsible. This is a hero."

"I'll hand over Ye Mingzhu, you guys let the caravan go."

He unplugged the water bag, covered the mouth of the bag with his palm, and slowly drained the water. When he opened his palm again, there was indeed a huge round white bead, emitting a soft halo.

Everyone was dumbfounded, and Gan Qi opened his mouth wide in shock.Hundreds of people crowded outside the pass, so quiet that not even a cough could be heard.

It was Li Xin who broke the silence first, and asked: "Honorable envoy, is the pearl in the guide's hand the sacred object that His Majesty the Emperor bestowed on Princess Huaiyu?" Su Mu said, "It is the sacred object, Ye Mingzhu, but..." He had been waiting for the soldiers to find the stolen goods, but now that Ye Mingzhu suddenly appeared, he showed a surprised expression, as if he couldn't believe the facts in front of him at all.

Li Xin nodded and said: "It's good to find the holy object successfully. Someone, please take down the guide and return the holy object to the Khotan envoy." Without waiting for an answer, Fanmu waved his hand and ordered: "Let the Loulan caravan go. .”

He had already seen that most of the people in the Loulan caravan were well-trained sergeants, and they should have been selected deliberately. It can be seen that the Loulan Kingdom attaches great importance to this trip to the Central Plains to buy grain. At an important moment, make a matter of stealing holy objects?
What they are anxious to transport back to the country is life-saving food, and anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance whether the food is more important than the night pearl.

It was clear that the envoy from Khotan intended to make use of the issue. He had given him a lot of benefits in private before, and he also wanted to bribe him so that he would stand on Khotan's side at this moment.

However, he has his own position—if the envoy of Khotan ordered to detain the Loulan caravan on the charge of stealing holy relics, at most he could only get the food, but since the matter involved the diplomatic relations between the two countries, the imperial court A commissioner will inevitably be sent to question and investigate, and the food may not necessarily fall into his own pocket in the end, and it will inevitably cause enmity with Loulan Kingdom.

He also organized a camel caravan in private to sell goods to the Western Regions for profit. If Loulan imposed heavy taxes on his caravan from now on, wouldn't he lose more?

His camel caravan may not pass through Khotan, but it must pass through Loulan.It's rare that a person like Ah Fei stepped forward in time, maybe it wasn't the Khotanese who caused the trouble, but the guide really stole it, otherwise how would he know that Ye Mingzhu was hidden in Ganqi's water bag?

Or is it true that, as Sumu said, the Loulan people deliberately stole the holy relics in order to provoke the relationship between the court and Khotan?
The Night Pearl was hidden in a water bag, which was a very hidden place and not easy to be found. Ah Fei was just afraid that if something happened, he would have no choice but to stand up for Lou Lan.

No matter what the truth is, someone finally took the initiative to admit that he had stolen the sacred object, and he was just an insignificant guide, and he would not have any stake in beating or killing him.

The pros and cons of this, Li Xin weighed the pros and cons clearly in an instant, so he didn't continue to ask whether the Loulan caravan knew about it and whether it was involved, and immediately ordered the arrest of A Fei, which would not offend the Loulan country, but also enough Explain to Khotan.

The soldiers suddenly agreed, took out the rope, rushed forward, took off the weapon from Ah Fei's waist, tied his arms behind him, pushed him to kneel in front of Li Xin.

Li Daodao: "According to the laws of this dynasty, those who steal royal relics should be put to death. Honorable envoy, I ordered this guide to be beheaded in front of the Yumen Pass to show the public, so that you can make a mistake. I am afraid that if something happens, you have to stand up." It's just for Loulan. No matter what the truth is, someone finally admitted to stealing the sacred object, and he was just an insignificant guide, and he would not have any stake in beating or killing him.

The pros and cons of this, Li Xin weighed the pros and cons clearly in an instant, so he didn't continue to ask whether the Loulan caravan knew about it and whether it was involved, and immediately ordered the arrest of A Fei, which would not offend the Loulan country, but also enough Explain to Khotan.

The soldiers suddenly agreed, took out the rope, rushed forward, took off the weapon from Ah Fei's waist, tied his arms behind him, pushed him to kneel in front of Li Xin.

Li Dao said: "According to the law of this dynasty, those who steal the royal relics should be executed. Honorable envoy, I ordered this guide to be beheaded in front of the Yumen pass to show the public, so as to show you a sigh of relief."

Sugi only came back to his senses at this point, and hurriedly shouted: "Wait a minute!"

Li Xin was amazed and asked, "Does the envoy want to intercede for him?"

Su Mu said: "Don't dare to ask for mercy. I want to ask the general to hand over this daring little thief to me and bring him back to Khotan, where Princess Huaiyu will personally dispose of him."

Li Xin expected that after Sumu took Ah Fei back to Khotan, he would torture him severely to force him to admit that he stole the holy relics. Don’t let things go, if you want to annex Loulan, you can send troops directly, and you have to find an excuse to steal the holy relics! But these are none of my business, and I just don’t offend either.”

He immediately laughed, and said: "It's better for the envoy to consider it carefully. Well, I will hand over this little thief to you and bring it back to Khotan, and ask Princess Huaiyu to cut it off." Passing through Loulan, how do we explain to the checkpoint the guide who captured their caravan?"

Mu Mu said: "Naturally speaking the truth. Ah Fei confessed his crimes in public, and so many people heard him admitting with his own ears that he had stolen the sacred objects. Even according to the laws of their Loulan country, they would cut off their hands and feet and throw them at the gate of the city." show it to the public."

(End of this chapter)