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"Uncle, when I came back, I saw the carriage of the King of Kucha. Is the matter resolved?"
"Um,"
Gao Gu nodded lightly, looking not particularly interested. He and Zhe Luo had known each other for many years. Although both of them had impure motives when they first met, they had cooperated well over the years and built Qiuci into a powerful country in the Western Regions, second only to the Kingdom of Jingjue.
Gao Gu was somewhat depressed after this falling out.
Gao Lu said with emotion: "It's a pity that our relationship with the King of Kucha has deteriorated this time. Uncle, do you want to ease the relationship with the King of Kucha?"
Gao Gu turned around like a wolf and looked at him, "What a pity? Why do you have such an idea?"
Gao Lu was startled by Gao Gu: "After all, this Yancheng was built by my uncle with great effort, and the relationship with the King of Kucha was also the result of my uncle's many years of management. Isn't it a pity?"
Gao Gu stretched out his hand and grabbed Gao Lu's shoulders hard. Gao Lu was so scared that he trembled all over, but he didn't dare to break free from Gao Gu's hold.
Gao Gu said seriously:
"Lin Heng, remember, our mission is to lift the curse on our people. We risked our lives and paid the price of shortening our lives, not to come to the Western Regions to build good relations with the King of Kucha, nor because we were attracted by the wealth that the Western Regions could bring. Do you understand?"
"Don't let the wealth brought by this trade route make us lose sight of our original purpose. These are just our attempts to find a way to remove the curse from our tribe."
"If the Queen of Jingjue had not rejected our request without any room for maneuver, what would have been wrong with me helping her unify the Western Regions?"
"As for whether she treats the people of the Western Regions well or not, it has nothing to do with me."
Gao Gu's words were like a wake-up call to Gao Lu. He finally understood why his uncle was so angry. He knelt in front of Gao Gu in shame:
"I understand, uncle. My thoughts were biased. I was blinded by the gold and silver and forgot our purpose. We must lift the curse on our clan at any cost!"
Gao Gu helped him up and said, "It's good that you understand. As for easing relations with the King of Kucha, it will take time and effort to do so. We don't have time for this important matter."
Brushing the dust off Gao Lu's shoulders, Gao Gu looked at this junior whom he valued the most and said with satisfaction:
"Go ahead, help A-Yue and the others pack their luggage."
"Here."
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After working for half a day, it was already dawn. The massive battle between Hu Xiuwu and Zhe Luo had already attracted the attention of the entire city. Now, countless pairs of eyes were staring at the Gao family in the dark.
The old servant disappeared just after he left Gao's house.
Even Ze Luo had spies from other countries following him. Normally, Ze Luo would not compete with these minions, but today he happened to be in a bad mood. If any of the spies in the dark dared to look at him for even a second, he would use his sword to crush their brains, and their bodies would fall limply in the dark.
After suffering a loss at the hands of Zhe Luo, other forces turned their attention back to the Gao family. This was why Gao Gu proposed to temporarily stay at Prince Gumo's mansion yesterday. He had anticipated this scene.
It was easy for Gao Gu to buy a house, but it was not so easy to avoid those curious and probing eyes.
The mansion of Prince Gumo can just meet Gao Gu's requirements. Gumo is also one of the most powerful countries in the Western Regions. It is the mansion where the future King of Gumo will live. What's more, Prince Gumo's wife can read his mind, so no one can lie in front of her. Naturally, she does not have the above-mentioned shortcomings.
A group of more than fifty good men from the Gao family marched towards Prince Gumo's residence in a mighty manner, and Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo also put on cloaks to conceal their appearance to prevent other people from recognizing them and causing any more trouble.
The team went to Prince Gumo's mansion without any disguise and in a high-profile manner. The spies from other forces watched Gao Gu and his team enter Prince Gumo's mansion, and Prince Gumo personally greeted them at the door.
After the spies passed the news back, the people behind the scenes were inevitably surprised and confused. As Ze Luo's think tank, Gao Gu was also a celebrity in Yancheng.
But he suddenly threw himself into the arms of Prince Gumo, which made people wonder what had happened.
Who was it that fought with Ze Luo in the early morning? Was it Princess Gumo? Or did the old Gumo King come here secretly?
Why did they fight? Was it for Gao Gu?
What is even more interesting is that when the Gao family moved to Prince Gumo's place, the soldiers patrolling the streets of Qiuci did not stop them. Even when they met them face to face, they just pretended not to see them.
The ambiguous behavior of the Kucha soldiers inevitably makes people think about it.
Who won this fight? Ze Luo has always been the strongest alien in the Western Regions. In the Western Regions, no one can beat him in a singles match.
But if someone beats Zelona, the title of the strongest in the Western Region would probably be lost.
Too many doubts lingered in their minds, turning over and over, but they were clear about one thing,
After this incident, Qiuci and Gumo might become enemies.
Hey, it’s going to be fun from now on.
Chapter 144 Late Night Visitor
After Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo settled down in Prince Gumo's house, it was already daybreak and Yancheng had returned to its former bustle. Although various forces in the city were now confused, ordinary people were not greatly affected.
At most, I would listen to a heroic piece of music in the early morning, and treat it as an anecdote and a topic of conversation among neighbors and friends during the day.
Hadili insisted on personally taking Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo to the residence arranged for them. Princess Zumureti couldn't stop him, so she could only support Hadili and accompany him and Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo.
Hadili arranged the best room in the mansion for them. If Hu Xiuwu had not repeatedly refused, he would have wanted to give his room to Hu Xiuwu and the other man.
Hu Xiuwu said to Hadili, "Prince, you don't need to worry about us anymore. We two brothers and sisters can take care of ourselves. Prince, you should go and have a rest."
Hadili's face looked very ugly. It had not been long since he fled back to Qiuci. His injuries had not healed yet, and he forced himself to kill the envoy of Jingjue. He had already reached his limit, and now he was just barely holding on.
So Hadili did not refuse. He did feel a little unwell, but before he left, he still instructed his subordinates to meet all the needs of Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo.
After Hadili left, Hu Xiuwu said to Chen Duo:
"I guess it won't be long before we leave. We can go back soon. I really miss the hotpot in Sijiu City."
There was hope for his return home, so Hu Xiuwu couldn't help but feel excited. He chatted with Chen Duo about the situation at home, while Chen Duo just listened silently.
In fact, it doesn't matter to her where she is. If Liao Zhong wasn't in the modern timeline, that place would not have any appeal to her at all.
The dozen years of modern life are not as fulfilling as those short months two thousand years ago.
When the sun was high in the sky, servants from Prince Gumo's mansion came to call Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo to have dinner, interrupting Hu Xiuwu's conversation.
When they followed the servant to the place where Hadili had met them before, Gao Gu had already arrived. He was sitting upright in the guest seat, sipping the fine grape wine from Gumo in an elegant manner.
Hu Xiuwu was somewhat impressed by him. After going through so many things last night and early morning, Gao Gu still had the mind to taste wine.
When Gao Gu saw Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo arriving, he raised his glass to signal them that Hadili was sitting on the main seat with the princess beside him. Just like when Hu Xiuwu first met Hadili, Hadili looked much better after a short rest, but still looked a little tired.
Hadili warmly invited Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo to take a seat. After they sat down, Hadili clapped his hands and asked the servants to bring the food.
Roasted lamb, a fruit platter, and a sauce made from peanuts and peppercorns.
What made Hu Xiuwu happy was that although the roasted lamb at Hadili’s mansion still did not have chili peppers, it at least had cumin added to it, and was almost the same as the barbecue recipe of later generations, except that the taste was a little lighter.
He ate very happily, and Chen Duo didn't care about other people's feelings. The two of them feasted on the food, while Hadili and Gao Gu seriously discussed the plan to rise up and resist Jingjue.
If they simply raised an army, even if they added Qiuci and several other powerful Western Regions countries to fight against Jingjue, it would be useless in the face of Jingjue's alien army.
Gao Gu advised Hadiri that if they could find a way to get rid of the Queen of Jingjue before launching an uprising, the morale of the Jingjue Kingdom would surely be greatly reduced.
Hadili shook his head and said to Gao Gu solemnly:
"I have thought about what the sage said, but you have also seen what happened to me. Even if the King of Kucha and I join forces, we may not be a match for the Queen of Jingjue."
Gao Gu pointed at the fragrant roasted lamb and said, "What if we use poison? Is it feasible to hide the poison in the lamb meat and then offer it to the Queen of Jingjue?"
Hu Xiuwu helped Hadili answer this question:
"It's impossible. If you want to poison a foreign cultivator, unless you can find a strange poison that has been added with Qi by a foreigner, ordinary poisons will be useless to the Queen of Jingjue, not to mention that she can rely on the ghost cave to help her detoxify."
Hadili nodded helplessly, indicating that what Hu Xiuwu said was true.
Hu Xiuwu wiped the oil stains from his lips with his sleeve, burped again, and said slowly:
"But Duo'er and I are her nemesis."
When Chen Duo heard Hu Xiuwu mention her name, she put down the leg of lamb in her hand and looked at Hu Xiuwu with a swelled mouth.
Hadili said excitedly: "I'd like to hear more about it!"
Hu Xiuwu looked at Chen Duo lovingly and continued, "I can block the connection between the Queen of Jingjue and the Snake God, and Duo'er's Dan Shi can get rid of the Queen of Jingjue."
"No one in the world can resist Dan's bite."
Hadili perked up, as if he had seen the death of the Queen of Jingjue. He said excitedly, "Great! No wonder the Queen of Jingjue wanted you two. It seems that she is afraid."
Hu Xiuwu was not as optimistic as Hadili: "The only problem is that both Duo'er and I need her, but Duo'er is wanted throughout the Western Regions. It is definitely not feasible to go to Jingjue in my original appearance."
"If you hide your face, you won't be able to get close to the Queen of Jingjue."
After hearing what Hu Xiuwu said, Gao Gu turned to look at Hadi Li. Hadi Li understood why Gao Gu was looking at him and shook his head:
"My ability can only take me through the shadows."
Gao Gu was not discouraged: "If this is the case, then we must think of a foolproof plan and let Xiuwu in."
"I still need someone to help me delay time. It will take time for me to cut off the connection between the Queen of Jingjue and the Ghost Cave."
Hadili volunteered: "You can leave this matter to me. After I recover from my injury, I can face the Queen of Jingjue together with Xiuwu."
After thinking for a moment, Gao Gu said, "Hadili, if you appear in front of the Queen of Jingjue again, will she recognize you?"
Hadili shook his head and explained, "Although I am confident that I have not revealed my true form and no one in Jingjue has seen my appearance, people like us look at people and things not only by appearance, but also by a person's aura."
"It's hard to say for others, but if I appear in front of the Queen of Jingjue again, she will definitely recognize me."
Gao Gu said: "Originally, I was thinking of having Hadili pretend to capture Hu Xiuwu and present him to the Queen of Jingjue."
"If that doesn't work, then we have to convince King Zeluo of Kucha to carry out this plan."
Gao Gu added: "Not only that, we also need someone to hold back the guards in the Jingjue Palace."
For the plan of presenting captives in front of the palace, one must find someone who is trustworthy, otherwise it will be easy for the fake to become real; and one must act cautiously to avoid a situation like Jing Ke's assassination of Qin, where at the last moment, Qin Wuyang's nervousness and strange complexion alerted the King of Qin, and ultimately the plan failed.
At this point, Hu Xiuwu suddenly remembered that there was still an important person missing:
"Where is King Zeluo of Kucha? Why didn't he summon us?"
Gao Gu smiled and said, "At the Yin hour today, Xiuwu and Zhe Luo made such a big noise that I'm afraid there's already a lot of discussion in Yancheng now."
"Although Ze Luo looks rough, he is very considerate. He won't come to us in a big way."
"But tonight, in the dead of night, he will come!"
······
It was past midnight, and Chen Duo had gone to rest at Hu Xiuwu's persuasion, but Hu Xiuwu himself had not fallen asleep yet, as he was still waiting for a guest.
King Zeluo of Kucha.
At noon Gao Gu predicted that Ze Luo would arrive late at night, so Hu Xiuwu was waiting for him. Not only him, but also Hadili and Gao Gu did not rest.
While waiting for Ze Luo, Hu Xiuwu controlled the gods to practice the Huangting Sutra, while he himself began to practice the Golden Light Mantra. The combination of the two would achieve twice the result with half the effort.