Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

101: The Case of Yitian

Seeing that Cui Lingyu was learned and talented, Su Wen took out something wrapped in paper from his pocket and handed it to Cui Lingyu, saying, "Lingyu, take a look at this. Do you recognize it?"

Cui Lingyu took the paper package and opened it; inside was a small white thread.

Su Wen said, "This was found around the body of Captain Renyong Peng Yu that day. Unfortunately, there were too many people and too many people at the scene that day, so I couldn't find any more useful clues. I only found this little bit!"

Cui Lingyu examined it carefully, but Xiao Bi, who was beside her, immediately spoke up after looking at it: "Miss, this is silk. Judging from its appearance, it must have been soaked in oil and then dried, which is why it's so translucent!"

As a child who grew up in the city, Su Wen had never seen silk before, only heard of it.

Su Wen pondered for a moment and said, "Do you think that silk thread tying the bird's leg might be used?"

As he spoke, Su Wen watched the birds in the air fly to one side, but he was still somewhat puzzled. He asked, "This silkworm silk isn't very strong. After it wrapped around a bird's leg, the force of the bird flying up was enough to break it. Why didn't those birds break it?"

At this moment, Cui Lingyu replied softly, "Since this case is related to the Tibetans, then Su Lang need not be so suspicious. There are many skilled Tibetans who are good at raising birds and eagles, so these birds must have been trained by them!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen immediately understood and stopped thinking about it.

The entire Dunhuang County was extremely harmonious today, with nothing happening at all, which made Su Wen feel somewhat uneasy.

But Su Wen knew that this was a sign of the approaching storm!

Last night, Su Wen saw people who were high on drugs in the alley. At this moment, there are countless such people in the entire Dunhuang County.

For such people, if they are not given more, they will become agitated or even go crazy. If Yi Tian uses this substance to control those who have used it, the consequences are truly unpredictable.

Moreover, Su Wen is currently completely unaware of the situation on Zhang Yi's side. He only knows that Zhang Yi led eight hundred cavalrymen out of the city to meet the enemy. If Zhang Yi fails, with only two hundred soldiers in the city, it is hard to say whether they can hold out under the combined attack from both inside and outside.

Although there were more than two thousand civilians forming the guard, this number was far from enough to fight against the thirty thousand Tibetan troops, plus an unknown number of people within the ranks.

If it weren't for Cui Lingyu accompanying Su Wen, Su Wen would probably be restless right now. After all, Su Wen didn't know if the person who sent the letter to the Grand Commander's Mansion had arrived alive!

At the same time, all fifteen routes were blocked, and only one person, hit by three arrows, covered in blood, and with one arm severed, managed to fight his way out of the ambush.

Upon arriving at the city gate of Hezhou, the man was already pale, having reached this point solely through sheer willpower.

The man was being helped up by several soldiers at the city gate. Upon seeing this, the corporal hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

Only then did they discover that the person had been dead for some time, and the bruises on his lips indicated that he had been poisoned.

The corporal searched the man's body, pulled a letter from his pocket, opened it, and frowned deeply. He leaped onto his horse, pulled on the reins, and shouted, "Giddy up!"

He rode to the gate of the Grand Commander's Mansion, dismounted, and shouted, "Grand Commander, an urgent message from 800 li away! Something terrible has happened!"

"explain!"

"The acting prefect of Shazhou, Imperial Envoy Su Wen, has written to the Grand Commander requesting that troops be immediately dispatched to Dunhuang County in Shazhou. The Tibetans, leading an army of 30,000, have already crossed the Aihekou!"

"What? Immediately issue an order to mobilize 5,000 troops... No, if too many troops are mobilized, and the Tibetan army attacks other areas, that will be troublesome!"

"Issue the order: mobilize 3,000 troops and 3,000 auxiliary troops to immediately proceed to Dunhuang County, Shazhou!"

"By order of the Grand Commander's Office, request that Wang Junchan temporarily take charge of Hezhou, and I will personally lead the troops there!"

......

As night fell, Su Wen, Xu Ge, Cui Lingyu, and Xiao Bi were all ready. All four were wearing inner armor, and Cui Lingyu and Xiao Bi had changed into men's clothing.

Although the purpose of the visit was only to witness the passing of the new Buddha, Su Wen still opted for everyone to wear inner armor as a precaution.

Xu Ge and Xiao Bi even each brought a long spear and a long sword. The two were originally too long, but Xiao Bi's long sword was in two pieces with rivets in the middle. As long as they were put together and twisted, the rivets would lock and it would be a complete long sword.

Xu Ge also wanted one, and decisively sawed off his own spear.

Normally, Xu Ge wouldn't dare carry a long spear when going out, since it's too long and conspicuous. But now, with it wrapped in cloth, you can't tell at all that there's a long spear and a long sword inside.

In particular, Xiao Bi was carrying a cloth-wrapped Mo Dao (a type of long sword), and people thought she was carrying a Guqin (a seven-stringed zither) or Guzheng (a zither).

However, this made Su Wen even more convinced that Cui Lingyu definitely knew martial arts, and her martial arts skills were not low, at least it could be seen from Xiao Bi.

That's a Mo Dao (陌刀), which weighs over 50 jin (approximately 25 kg) according to Tang Dynasty standards. Converted to later times, it would weigh over 20 jin (approximately 10 kg).

The thought that a woman who is only 1.7 meters tall can wield a Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) is terrifying!

If even the maids are like this, would Cui Lingyu, the young lady, really be like this, needing to lean on Su Wen's arms and being a weak woman who can't ride a horse?

However, from the first time Su Wen met Cui Lingyu, he felt that she was very gentle and weak.

The group headed to Linxiang Temple. Although they arrived half an hour early, the temple was already packed with people. It seemed that the cult had attracted many followers. Of course, there were also many people who came to see the new Buddha's passing.

......

at the same time.

On the other side, a man rode up to Zhang Yi and said, "Reporting, General, the Tibetan vanguard has already gone to sleep!"

Zhang Yi said, "Alright, Li Zhong, you lead the Third Regiment to attack from the left flank, while I lead the Fourth Regiment to attack from the right flank. Remember, no prolonged battles, just harassment!"

"yes!"

Not long after.

When the army sets up camp, there will be hidden soldiers and sentries around. Therefore, it is necessary to wait until the enemy has finished setting up camp and fallen asleep before launching an attack. The remaining number of people used for guard duty is relatively small, which is the key to harassment!

Zhang Yi mounted his horse, drew his bow, aimed, and fired. The arrow struck a Tibetan soldier on the sentry post, who fell to the ground and died instantly.

"Clang clang clang~"

The sound of gongs echoed throughout the Tibetan camp!

A Tibetan sentry shouted loudly, banging a gong: "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Waaah~"

A deep, resonant bugle call echoed across the fields.

All the Tibetan soldiers quickly donned their armor. At that moment, Zhang Yi led two hundred heavily armored cavalrymen in a charge from the right flank. The Tibetan soldiers were terrified when they saw that it was cavalry and hastily engaged in battle.

The formation wasn't even properly deployed. Facing elite armored cavalry, it was like sending a man to block a tank, without any explosives—a complete dimensional reduction attack.

In particular, such cavalry charges were impossible to resist; they were simply lambs to the slaughter.

At that moment, Tibetan cavalry charged forward on horseback, and Zhang Yi shouted, "Retreat!"

With a roar, all the troops began to charge and flee to the left, while those who charged from the left fled to the right.

The infantry dared not resist at all, and tried to hide whenever possible.