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Gao Yanshou heard Eulji Nawi's words, and a storm of emotions surged within him. He had thought this girl was merely a rogue from the wilderness, never expecting her to be connected to Great Mo Li Zhi Quan Gai Su Wen. It was truly like discovering a hidden gem in the blue fields or a pearl lost in the vast sea—a rare talent fallen into the mortal realm!
At that time, there was General Eulji Mundeok, who had turned the tide and repelled Sui Yangdi's three invasions. He was regarded as the foremost figure in Goguryeo's Blue History. Now, with Great Mo Li Zhi Quan Gai Su Wen holding the king as a regent, he wielded immense power.
If what Eulji Nawi hinted at was true, then this girl before him was the daughter of Cheon Gae Su Mun, making her value even greater than Princess Min'en Gao Huizhen!
Zhang Suling was intelligent, but having only recently arrived in Liaodong, she could only understand simple Goguryeo language. However, Zuo An, a scout from Youzhou Prefecture, frequently infiltrated Liaodong with scouts from Yingzhou to gather intelligence on the enemy and was familiar with Goguryeo language. Hearing the two discuss Gem's identity left him shocked.
He had thought that Gem was like him, an orphan since childhood; he never imagined there was such a backstory!
But when he cast a questioning glance at Gem, she looked just as confused, while Qingxiazi's expression darkened and he remained silent.
"Yes, yes! If not for her unusual identity, why would she be by Silver Pearl Prince Gao Renwu's side, accompanied by such an extraordinary person as Qingxiazi!"
Gem understood Eulji Nawi and Gao Yanshou's conversation but struggled to recall anything specific; her mind was blank. She only remembered that Qingxiazi and Silver Pearl Prince had told her she was an orphan who had drifted to the banks of Liao River with the rogue tide and had been rescued by Silver Pearl Prince after suffering serious injuries.
Could it be true that she was Cheon Gae Su Mun's daughter? If so, how should she navigate her life?
As these thoughts weighed heavily on her heart, Gao Yanshou felt as if he had found treasure. He ordered his personal maid to bring Gem into the inner residence to take good care of her, ensuring she had plenty to eat and drink, fearing even the loss of a single hair.
In contrast, others did not receive such favorable treatment. Although Eulji Nawi was proud, being from a noble family gave him insight. He immediately noticed Qingxiazi's worried demeanor and suspected he knew Gem's background. Thus, he ordered for him to be imprisoned in solitary confinement for severe interrogation.
Though Qingxiazi was just an old man now, his skills were peerless and concealed deadly techniques; if unleashed, no one could approach him.
Yet he felt guilty and his thoughts were in turmoil because he understood the truth behind it all. For Jewel Girl, this truth was hard to accept.
Qingxiazi’s real name was Qingxiazi; he was an enigmatic Taoist from the Tang Dynasty. At that time, Rongliuwang still reigned. To foster good relations with Tang, he encouraged his people to convert from Buddhism to Taoism and sent envoys to Tang seeking Taoist scriptures. Qingxiazi was tasked with escorting these scriptures.
Rongliuwang naturally treated Qingxiazi and his group well and honored him as a national teacher. He invited Qingxiazi to preach these scriptures among domestic followers and established many preaching sessions across the land, gaining considerable popularity.
During this time, Silver Pearl Prince had a deep affection for Daoism and often debated with Qingxiazi. Through their exchanges, they formed a close bond—both teacher and friend—benefiting greatly from each other.
Cheon Gae Su Mun's power grew increasingly formidable, causing Rongliuwang to feel apprehensive. He summoned Silver Pearl Prince Gao Renwu for a secret discussion, devising a plan to lure Cheon Gae Su Mun to the Taoist temple of Qingxiazi under the pretense of listening to teachings, with the intention of killing him to eliminate future threats.
However, Cheon Gae Su Mun was well-informed and saw through the scheme. He did not attend the meeting and instead hosted a banquet to seek reconciliation, expressing that he had no desire for conflict. All civil and military officials attended the banquet, and Rongliuwang suspected nothing. Suddenly, Cheon Gae Su Mun launched an attack, slaughtering over a hundred officials, and ultimately even Rongliuwang could not escape, dying without a complete corpse.
Silver Pearl Prince realized that their plans had been exposed and hurriedly moved all of Rongliuwang's harem away. Relying on the Imperial Guard, he sought to escape from Marudo Castle; however, Cheon Gae Su Mun had blocked their routes.
The resourceful Silver Pearl Prince quickly devised a clever strategy. He sent palace maids and eunuchs disguised as Princess to break through with the Imperial Guard while the real Princess disguised herself as a disciple and was escorted out of the city by Qingxiazi. To provide cover, Silver Pearl Prince led troops to launch a surprise attack on Cheon Gae Su Mun's residence.
At that time, Cheon Gae Su Mun had three sons and one daughter. His eldest son, Cheon Manseong, and second son, Cheon Manjeong, though young, had already been trained in the military. His third son, Cheon Manchan, had been secretly sent to Baekje Kingdom, leaving only his twelve-year-old daughter, Cheon Manru, who enjoyed his affection.
Gao Renwu was consumed by national hatred and personal vendetta. Upon entering Cheon Gae Su Mun's residence, he began a massacre. Although Cheon Manru came from a family of generals and had some martial skills, she was terrified by the sudden attack on her family. She hid with several concubines in a bamboo house while Gao Renwu's men set fires everywhere. With no place to escape, those hiding jumped from the building. Cheon Manru also jumped in an attempt to survive but suffered a head injury that caused her to lose her memory.
Gao Renwu aimed to eradicate all survivors; anyone who jumped but did not die was finished off. When it came to Cheon Manru, seeing her youth and considering that he would eventually have to kill her anyway, he decided to take her away instead. He intended to deceive and reform her but found that the little girl had lost her memory, which saved him much trouble.
With fires raging and murders committed, having taken Cheon Gae Su Mun's daughter, Gao Renwu dared not linger any longer and hurriedly escaped from Marudo Castle. After finding Qingxiazi, he learned that Princess had encountered an ambush and was uncertain if she had survived; Qingxiazi was also severely injured.
Left with no choice, Gao Renwu followed Qingxiazi's guidance and crossed Liao River stealthily to seek help from Tang Dynasty. In pursuit of Gao Renwu, Cheon Gae Su Mun dispatched troops to Liaoxi while Yingzhou remained on high alert. Gao Renwu and Qingxiazi could only flee with Cheon Manru to Youzhou.
The little girl’s injuries healed significantly but she could not remember anything. After discussing it together, they decided to give Cheon Manru a homophonic name—Gem—and fabricated an orphan backstory for her before seeking assistance in Youzhou Prefecture.
At that time, Gao Lvxing was the Governor of Youzhou Prefecture and was extremely arrogant; he refused to meet them directly and only allowed Gao Di to handle matters. However, Gao Di hesitated and could not make decisions. Frustrated with the domestic situation, Gao Renwu requested Youzhou Prefecture send people to search for many Royal Family descendants; yet Gao Di delayed addressing this matter.
In a fit of anger, Gao Renwu confronted Gao Di. Seeing that they were outnumbered three against one, Gao Di attempted to arrest them for transport to Yingzhou to hand over to Goguryeo’s Cheon Gae Su Mun in exchange for peace between both sides.
Unexpectedly, Gao Renwu fought fiercely against capture; although he was apprehended himself, he provided Qingxiazi and Jewel Girl with an opportunity to escape.
What followed was their encounter with Xu Zhen who rescued Gao Renwu.
After hearing Qingxiazi's account, Gao Yanshou and Eulji Nawi were secretly astonished. It must be said that Gao Renwu truly lived up to his reputation—brave and resourceful. If it weren't for Eulji Nawi breaking through from within this time and having someone like Gao Renwu as an insider, the Tang army would surely have swept through Marudo Castle in less than a year!
The more primitive and impoverished the land, the more the people believe in heaven, earth, and spirits. Goguryeo had a local Sun God worship, which later introduced Buddhism. By the time of the Rongliuwang period, in order to befriend the Tang Dynasty, Taoism was also introduced.
Even the warlike Cheon Gae Su Mun did not dare to act against the Tang Taoists. Since Gao Yanshou and Eulji Nawi had achieved their goals and confirmed Gem's identity, they naturally did not dare to mistreat Qingxiazi.
As for Zuo An, due to his strong and unyielding nature, he had already been well dealt with. Eulji Nawi was feeling frustrated because he could not capture Gao Huizhen. Upon seeing Zhang Suling's outstanding beauty, he couldn't help but have wicked thoughts.
Thinking that since Xu Zhen had slept with Gao Huizhen, he would sleep with Zhang Suling in return, it would be a tit for tat.
However, when he arrived at the dungeon, he discovered that Zhang Suling had actually escaped! Not only that, but this little girl had even released Zuo An!
“Quick! Everyone come! Completely seal off the residence; we must find these two damned Tang People!” Eulji Nawi was furious, and the entire residence instantly became chaotic. Many soldiers searched every nook and cranny but still could not find Zhang Suling and Zuo An.
At this moment, Zhang Suling and Zuo An were wearing Goguryeo soldier uniforms and were looking for Gem and Qingxiazi. The two were quite clever; although they were unfamiliar with the terrain, they followed the chaotic crowd around and managed to determine the locations of Qingxiazi and Gem. However, both places were heavily guarded, making it difficult to devise a plan.
The Western Martial General, being a bandit by nature and very cunning, led his men to search through filthy places like latrines. Sure enough, he found two stripped soldiers and immediately understood that the two little ones they were hunting were hiding among his own soldiers!
“Quick! Gather everyone together! Anyone who hesitates will be arrested immediately!”
It seemed that luck was on their side; Zhang Suling was clever enough to know that the most dangerous place was often the safest. The Western Martial General was also out of sync with Gao Yanshou's subordinates and could not identify them clearly. Thus, he followed the Western Martial General around searching. Upon hearing his orders, they quickly complied without gathering others and instead found an opportunity to climb over the wall and leave the residence. Knowing they could not save Gem for now, they could only escape toward the city gate.
Gao Yanshou and Eulji Nawi thought that with the Western Martial General gathering troops, they had found those two damned little ones. However, after assembling everyone, they discovered that they were not in the military at all!
In their anger, they reprimanded the Western Martial General thoroughly. The entire garrison was mobilized, and fast horses were sent to seal off the city gates.
Zuo An was injured and could not move quickly. The two were unfamiliar with the roads in the city and took a while to exit the residential area. Just as they saw the city gate ahead, they found themselves trapped with no way out.
Although Eulji Nawi and Gao Yanshou were only temporarily stationed in Xuantu City, their vigilance was high as they feared Xu Zhen's army might pursue them. They closed all four city gates and stationed heavy troops for defense. However, Xuantu City was only slightly larger than Tuolang; there weren't many garrison troops or weapons available.
Zuo An and Zhang Suling were anxious and did not know how to trick their way out of the city gate when they heard commotion and screams from atop the city wall. The garrison was running around everywhere waving flags and shouting while beating drums in a lively manner!
At the moment of the commotion, a buzzing sound erupted outside the city. Looking up, one could see white feathers raining down like they were free, and the garrison was immediately turned into a porcupine!
Inside the city, the garrison continuously surged onto the city wall, recruiting auxiliary soldiers to transport defensive equipment. However, the enemy outside attacked like a violent storm, and soon the city wall was piled high with corpses!
Eulji Nawi and Gao Yanshou received intelligence and immediately brought troops to support. Yet before they reached the city gate, there was a loud crash—the city gate was actually broken open by a massive collision!
A red-armored general wielded a long knife, crashing into the garrison crowd. The long knife swept through, scattering shards of silver light, and the garrison's bamboo spears were swiftly severed, unable to withstand the assault!
The Xu Zhen led the charge, accompanied by Xue Rengui in white robes and silver armor, along with Xie Anting. Zhou Cang and Han Fuqi closely followed, while Zong Gaohe Jutsu and others were not willing to fall behind. They fought their way through, leaving a trail of blood and cries that shook the heavens. The enemy fled in panic as if they had seen a fierce demon, showing no ability to fight back!
Seeing this scene, Eulji Nawi and Gao Yanshou were greatly alarmed. With a long sigh, they turned their horses back, grabbing Gem and Qingxiazi to escape through the South City Gate.
The Tang army advanced like a hot knife through butter, effortlessly overwhelming their foes. Many Goguryeo civilians locked their doors in fear and did not dare to show their faces. Fortunately, the Tang army was a righteous force that harmed no civilians and focused solely on attacking the lord's mansion.
Zuo An and Zhang Suling feared being mistakenly killed by the Tang army and rushed into a civilian house. Without hesitation, they changed their clothes and grabbed a Tang soldier to request an audience with the Chief of Military Operations.
The Tang soldier saw that there were Tang people in the city and recalled the commander's orders. He hurriedly took Zuo An and Zhang Suling to meet the Xu Zhen.
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