In a gorgeous attic, there is a five-hundred-year-old locust tree by the stream with dense branches. A middle-aged man stands quietly under the tree.

"Reporting to the sanctioning officer, trying to persuade him to surrender has failed." Tuoba Weiyang said respectfully.

The man has a tall and cold appearance, with thick eyebrows and wide forehead, and three long beards hanging down to his chest. He is the sanctioning officer Zhe Lansu, also known as Qiqianli.

He has absolute power of life and death over an area of ​​​​seven thousand miles.

Just like the current royal princess, the so-called Tianhuang Guwei has to bow her head in this field.

"You know I don't like hearing this." Zhe Lansu frowned deeply.

"I almost died in Kucha City. This man is so shameless and determined to see the King of Hell."

Tuoba Weiyang had a cold face and could not suppress his anger.

"A woman's most powerful weapon is between her legs. Have you tried your best?" Zhe Lansu's face was expressionless, and it was difficult to distinguish between joy and anger.

"Sanctions..." Tuoba Weiyang almost turned her face, suppressing the humiliation forcibly, and said word by word:

"Your Majesty, you refused to marry me and almost beheaded me with a sword!"

Zhe Lansu withdrew his gaze, stared quietly into the distance, and murmured:

"Women don't want wealth or power, and they are even more determined not to do things for fame and fortune."

He is very sorry.

To describe it in Chinese language, it is hard to calm down.

Such a talented and beautiful man, if he is loyal to him, he will have another trump card in the future struggle for power in the center.

The empire is favored by heaven, and its territory is expanding infinitely. The sanctioning officers wherever they are stationed are frantically recruiting talents. The stage of troubled times will only be a competition between talents.

The mediocre only deserve to obey!

After a long silence, Zhelan sighed solemnly and said:

"Since I want to be the last glimmer of glory in the setting sun of the apocalypse, I will fulfill him."

"Kill, kill, if I keep Kucha City any longer, my old face will be completely disgraced!"

The previous sanction officer blocked the news and continued the old policy when he took office. To this day, the imperial center still thinks that the entire Western Region is Damang territory.

If the gods found out about it, Zhe Lansu might not be able to eat and walk around, and his face would be lost in the temple.

"How many troops will be sent?" Tuoba Weiyang asked.

Zhelan stared at her for a long time, then suddenly punched a strong locust tree and cursed:

"Disgusting, disgusting, so damn disgusting!"

Tuoba Weiyang didn't take it seriously. She was used to the style of this sanctioning officer. The most disgusting thing was of course Kucha City!

Because this city has lost its strategic significance to the empire, if it can be conquered to capture the Western Region, half a million soldiers will be spared.

The key point is that the Western Region is all imperial territory, with only one lonely dead city left.

Having too many troops is a waste. Every soldier needs food and military pay. Every time you mobilize, you will waste your wealth.

The reward is far greater than the effort!

But if you ignore it, and one day the central government sends someone to inspect it, the consequences of being exposed will range from being punished to being removed from the official position.

Zhe Lansu narrowed his narrow eyes, exuding the majesty of a superior, and said loudly:

"Dignity is involved in this city. It is not only the dignity of the Chinese nation that Gu Changan adheres to, but also the dignity of our empire that does not tolerate small disobedience."

"Raise three thousand troops and set off today!"

"Yes!" the armored attendant in the distance shouted.

"Absolute advantage..." Tuoba Weiyang raised her white face and said silently.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to go with the army." She seemed impatient.

Zhe Lansu said "hmm" without retorting. The princess was not a princess. If something unexpected happened to the princess, she would die.

"We want to see if Gu Changan's proud head will be lowered and his tail will be begging for mercy when he dies."

There is hatred hidden in Tuoba Weiyang's tone, and she must witness it with her own eyes.

Zhelan glanced at her solemnly, women in the world are so grudge-y. The princess may not be holding a grudge because she almost died. She must have taken the initiative to get married and was rejected by Gu Changan, right?

He waved his hand and said:

"Bring a coffin made of nanmu from central Sichuan. He was born in Qiuci and died in Qiuci. He never set foot on the Eastern soil in his life. After his death, let him feel the atmosphere of the Eastern soil."

"What?" Tuoba Weiyang screamed, unable to accept such a noble courtesy to the enemy.

"What kind of person do you think Gu Chang'an is?" Zhe Lansu asked back.

"Self-professed, superficial and ignorant!" Tuoba Weiyang said decisively.

Zhe Lansu sneered and said in a deep voice:

"He is elegant, noble and independent. Belittling the character of our enemies will not make us greater."

"Gu Changan is destined to be unknown, but he deserves the highest respect. A man who died defending his territory can still walk sideways in the Palace of Hell!"

"Yes..." Tuoba Weiyang lowered his head, feeling unwilling to do so.

"Bury him and the coffin under Qiuci City." Zhe Lansu warned, then left with his hands behind his hands.

In addition, he had to step up efforts to block the news. The story of the Anxi Army must not be spread to the Eastern Central Plains, and Gu Changan's heroic deeds must not be exposed.

Once Shenzhou knew that an army had been stationed in the Western Region for sixty years and that a twenty-year-old man was guarding the city alone, what a huge disturbance would be caused.

At that time, the decadent and disintegrated Central Plains integrity will probably usher in an awakening and explosion.

…

On the lonely city top, there is always a figure standing, sometimes in the watchtower, sometimes leaning on the railing of the tower, watching the sunset thousands of times.

But today the city wall is nowhere to be seen.

In most houses in the city, women, children, sick and disabled people stood in front of the door one after another, with sad expressions and intermittent cries.

Mrs. Guo is dying.

Perhaps after seeing the map, the collapse of the Tang Dynasty completely shattered her will and destroyed her mental state. This 80-year-old old man came to the end of his life.

"When I die, I am the only one in the Anxi Army."

A brisk voice came from the room, perhaps reflecting the light, and the old woman's voice was no longer hoarse as before.

Sixty years ago, she came with her husband to garrison in the Western Regions. She bid farewell to the delicate Jiangnan and came to the quiet and twilight city of Qiuci.

These sixty years have been really hard.

But when she was dying, she didn't feel even a trace of regret.

"Chang'an, I've suffered so much for you." The wrinkled woman tightly held the young man's arm and muttered repeatedly, "You have suffered the most in Kucha City."

"It's not bitter." Gu Changan gently patted her arm with his other hand.

"If you were born in the Central Plains, you would have been a relegated son with long sleeves and fluttering sleeves, a good husband admired by girls in the boudoir..."

"Grandma, stop talking about this." Gu Changan forced a smile and interrupted her ramblings.

"Let's go, even if you leave and come back again, otherwise I will die with my eyes open." The old woman stared into his eyes tightly, and kidnapped him with her last wish before she died.

Gu Changan remained silent, facing this topic as firmly as usual, but this time his tone was very soft.

"Unless I die, if I lose this city even for a moment, I will be ashamed of the more than 20,000 Anxi heroes and my own conscience and belief."

"Besides, I have lived here since I was a child, and I don't want to adapt to the outside world."

The old woman's vision gradually dimmed. She smiled with relief, moved her pale lips with difficulty, and whispered:

"Grandma will bless you in heaven. You will always be the pride of the Anxi Army. You...you...you hold up the backbone of the nation."

Suddenly, she looked directly at the faces outside and shouted with her last strength:

"The sun, moon, mountains and rivers are still there, and the lonely city is still there. Don't cry, everyone, move slowly."

The arms dropped quietly, and the breath gradually disappeared.

Gu Changan's body stiffened, he helped her close her eyes gently, and then walked out of the room silently.

There was a sound of crying outside the door, and women, children and children poured in one after another. They lay in front of the bed and cried and whined, with tears rolling down uncontrollably.

For sixty years, Mrs. Guo was the monument of Anxi's persistence. Her death seemed to have cut off the spirit of Anxi's army.

Gu Changan stopped suddenly, turned around and stared at Wu Yangyang's relatives, as if talking to himself or swearing loudly:

"The isolated city is still there, and I am still there, and the invaders cannot go there."

After saying that, he took his usual steady steps and headed towards the city head.

The enemy's most violent attack may be not far away, and he has no time to grieve, or his grief will only be left in an uninhabited corner.

He has witnessed too many deaths. He was still an infant at the age of one. Due to time travel, he could easily understand the meaning of death. For twenty years, countless acquaintances left him with smiling faces.

A heart numb but firm.
Chapter completed!