Unknown Knight

While the craftsmen in Aix were concentrating on studying the hydraulic forging hammer, things were not happening around them. The captured Tojunayan's son Hugunayan once sent a messenger.

The courier delivered the letter to Schulersburg, where he was detained directly by Ran Hu. Then someone was sent to deliver the letter to Tangquan Fortress and hand it over to Aix.

This was a letter full of threats. In the letter, the temporary lord of Aichemor, Hugunayan, threatened Aix, telling him to apologize as soon as possible and release all the Kugit prisoners.

Aix smiled faintly, really not knowing what was going on, and wrote back to tell Hugunayan to stop daydreaming and wake up.

He did not raise the price, and maintained the same conditions as before. However, his old father, Tuoju Nayan, was a great nobleman, and exchanging twenty Tang slaves was not in line with his temperament. He had to increase the price, double the price, that is, to exchange forty Tang slaves.

A few days after the messenger was released, Hugunayan sent another messenger to deliver a letter, but this time he made a 180-degree turn and the tone of Hugunayan's letter was very polite.

In the letter he first said that his old bastard father did not listen to his advice and insisted on invading Shules, which ended up humiliating himself and he deserved to be captured.

Then he said that the other captured Kugit soldiers and three Nayans were also implicated by Toju Nayan. They also did not want to invade Shules and were forced to do so. Could they be released first, and then the two families could reconcile and never attack each other again?

Axel ignored him and didn't even bother to reply to the letter. He just asked the messenger to tell Hugunayan just three words: Impossible!

As a result, the messenger came back soon after he went back to deliver a message. This time, it seemed that Hugunayan was sober for once and began to discuss the conditions for exchanging prisoners with Aix.

At first he asked if he could ask for fewer Tang slaves, saying that the current number of Tang slaves in his territory was not enough, and even without adding his old father's share he could not get the full number for the time being.

He also asked if they could exchange some of the Kugit soldiers first so that his old father could have some time to wait. After all, all of this was the result of their family's recklessness, and they couldn't let the subordinates who followed their family get implicated.

Seeing him speak so righteously, Aix always felt that there must be something fishy here. It was totally unlike the ordinary father-son relationship, so he sent someone to call Ran Hu for questioning. After all, Ran Hu was an old man close to Tuoju Nayan, so he should know something.

After asking, Aix actually got some results. He roughly understood the reason. It turned out that this Toju had maintained his face well and looked like a man in his forties, but his real age was actually fifty-five, which was really a long life in this era.

Not only that, he is also a Huang Zhong or Lian Po-like character, still strong despite his old age. Last year, before the Khergit invasion of Vijia, he married a seventeen-year-old girl as his concubine, who gave birth to a little son for him that year. It seems that it will not be a problem for the old man to live another ten or twenty years.

This worries all his descendants, as they are all waiting to divide his property after the old man dies. If they cannot survive and die first, it will be a big loss.

Among them, the one with the highest voice and the greatest power is Hugunayan. He is a close minister of Saiga Khan. His territory is in Disita Castle near the royal city of Turga. He has a close relationship with Saiga Khan, and Saiga Khan also supports him to inherit his father's territory.

As a result, Toju Nayan was defeated this time, and his life or death was unknown. With the support of Saiga Khan, Hugunayan temporarily took over as the lord of Aichemol.

He probably wishes his old father would die in Aix now. The previous letter was actually a test. His reversal of attitude after finding out the situation is very telling.

After figuring out the whole story, Aix had no idea what to do. He could take control of Hugunayan, the child under his father's wing, in a matter of minutes.

He first took the initiative to write a letter to Hugunayan, starting with a complaint, telling him a lot of difficulties and the losses in the war, and told him that if he did not get compensation, his life would be very difficult.

Then he changed the subject and told Hugunayan that he had discussed it with his old father and if the situation really didn't work out, he would let the old man go back. In order to return to the territory, the old man had basically agreed to his conditions and so on.

As expected, this time the messenger replied faster than before, and Hugunayan agreed to Aix's conditions very straightforwardly in the letter.

He just told Aix in the letter that he just couldn't get enough Tang slaves. The existing ones were bought from other Nayans at high prices. He was still short of forty people, which would be the share for his old father.

If it really doesn't work, his old father doesn't have to go back for the time being. He is willing to spend an extra forty good horses as compensation, which will be regarded as the various expenses for his old father to stay in Aix temporarily.

After reading the letter, Aix couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that the acting city lord was knowledgeable and knew the price of a Tang slave that Aix had exchanged for a good horse last time.

I didn't bother to say more and wrote back to tell him directly that his old father was the lord of a city after all, and he was provided with good wine and meat here, which was very expensive. I needed another twenty good horses to maintain his treatment. I also told him directly that the prisoner exchange ceremony would be held outside the Shules Fortress in five days.

Five days later, Hugunayan arrived with a team of five to six hundred people, of whom more than three hundred were Tang slaves to be exchanged.

When he met Aix in front of Fort Schulers, this man had no awareness of inheriting his father's hatred. Instead, he was very polite to Aix and took the initiative to give Aix some local specialties as a token of friendship.

Aix was polite and returned him some real goods such as velvet and snow salt. The two sides exchanged prisoners smoothly and happily.

In fact, both sides thought that this was a win-win. Hugunayan believed that even twenty Tang slaves could not defeat one Kugit cavalryman, not to mention that there were well-trained Kugit lancers among them.

But Aix was just the opposite. He believed that even an ordinary member of the tribe was more valuable than a Kugit cavalryman.

So this time it was a win-win situation for everyone. There were no unpleasantness that happened last time, and the handover was completed in just one hour.

But at the very end, Hugunayan looked at Aix with resentment, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Ikes knew what he was thinking, so he said to him confidently:

"Don't worry, Lord City Lord. You are very straightforward. I have made you my friend. You can rest assured that your father is with me. I will definitely take good care of him."

After that, she gave him a look that said, "I understand you." Everyone understood each other tacitly, bowed politely and said goodbye, then left in their respective teams.

Looking at the Kugit cavalry slowly moving away, Ran Hu came over and said:

"Sir, why do you want to keep that old thing Tuoju in the territory?"

"Oh, do you think an old fox is a bigger threat to us, or a half-grown wolf cub?"

Aix said meaningfully.

"Of course the old fox is the biggest threat, but wolf cubs will grow up. I think it would be better to release the old fox before the wolf cub grows up and let them consume each other."

After hearing what Ran Hu said, Aix smiled and shook his head:

"Do you think if we release this old fox now, will the wolf cub still have any chance?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

Ran Hu seemed to understand something, but still continued to ask Aix.

"Why don't we wait until this wolf cub grows up, and then we release the old fox back. Wouldn't that be a bigger spectacle? Hmm?"

As they spoke, the master and servant winked at each other, and then burst into evil laughter.

The next day, after returning to Tangquan Fortress, Aix dismounted and washed his face, and then went straight to the dungeon where Tojunayan was imprisoned.

Togunayan is 55 years old, which is a very old man in this era. He may die of depression at any time. For this reason, Aix decided to give the old man some care and motivation to strengthen his belief in living.

There is basically no one in the dungeon now. The spies who were coerced last time have been reformed and released without charge. Among the tribesmen rescued this time, their relatives are probably included.

This old guy is a rare treasure in Aix's eyes. Fearing that he would be lonely, Aix specially found two tribesmen who speak Kugit fluently to look after him, chat with him and entertain him.

However, the life behind bars, which the old man had never experienced before, had already caused severe physical and mental damage to him in a short period of time. The anxiety and fear almost made him give up the will to live.

The once shiny bald head had lost its former luster and was visibly wrinkled. The black braids on both sides that he was once so proud of had also fallen apart and turned as white as dead grass.

"Oh my, what have you done? Didn't I tell you to clean up the old man's place? Why is it so smelly and dirty?"

The Aix man who was walking quickly arrived first. He came up and started scolding the two guarding tribesmen. He also kicked them twice in a pretend manner and winked at them to stay away.

Then he said to Tuojunayan very apologetically:

"Oh, I'm so sorry, old sir. I was so busy with my work that I didn't take care of you. I'm so sorry."

"But my people came to redeem me?"

Tuoju Nayan held the railing with both hands and said that he didn't want to stay here for even a quarter of an hour.

"Uh, haha, old man, it's not that I don't want to let you go back, it's just..."

Aix was hesitant to speak, looking very embarrassed.

"Just what? I am an important official of the Khanate, and my family is the pillar of the Khanate. How come no one has been sent to take me back after so long?"

"Well, old man, you should read it yourself."

As he spoke, Aix handed him a stack of correspondence with Hugunayan.

With the light coming in from the vent, Toju Nayan's hands were shaking more and more, and the veins on his head were bulging. Aix was really afraid that he would burst his blood vessels and die from anger, so he hurriedly comforted him:

"Please calm down, my lord. I really want to let you go, but your eldest son gave me sixty fine horses. I really can't open my mouth to do that!"

After hearing what Aix said, Toju Nayan, who was furious, came to his senses, as if he saw hope, and hurriedly said to Aix:

"Lord Aix, let's talk it over. I know I was wrong in this conflict, but I had no choice. It was Khan Saiga who gave the order, so I had no choice but to send troops here.

How about this? I'll give you eighty, not a hundred, horses in exchange for my freedom. As long as you let me go, we can negotiate the price."