In the dying dusk, the sunset of the Suye Water Valley is reluctant to spread the last light on this lush grassland and the sparkling Suye water. The river is surging, the afterglow is scattered, the strange is longitudinal, the birds are returning late, and the heaven and earth are slowly shrouded in endless solemnity.

The evening breeze blew, and the city head was hula-la-la. Under the Great Banner, a Turkic man in his fifties leaned on the female wall at the head of the city with one hand, looking into the distance. Behind him stood dozens of samurai, like sculptures carved with knives and axes, standing still.

"Father Khan, what are you looking at?" A string of silver bells broke the silence between heaven and earth. A little girl with pigtails and silver pearls on her tail walked up to the city. Looking at her figure, she is only old, but her demeanor reveals a intelligence that is not commensurate with her age. Behind her was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old Xuanang young man, but when she saw this young man carrying a scimitar at his waist, holding a horned bow, and a cowhide hulu with gold trim on his back, more than a dozen feathered arrows rustled in the wind. After walking up to the city, the young man tried his best to maintain a calm appearance, but the slightly tense lips and the childishness that could not be concealed still revealed his nervousness at the moment.

"Aitengina, my little moon, why did you come up?" Ayitengna means bright moon in Turkic language. "Father Khan, I saw that you were standing motionless at the head of the city, so I asked my brother to take me up to have a look." "Kudulu, you are really nonsense, you will do whatever your sister says! The city is so dangerous, how can you bring her up! "The father completely puts the blame on the son. Kudulu was submissive, his left hand held the bow tightly, and he didn't dare to come out.

"Father Khan, I want to come up myself, don't blame my brother." "Forget it", Da Khan waved his hand, "Pay attention!" The warriors at the head of the city hurried to guard the brother and sister and covered them with shields.

Ayitengna was too short, not as tall as the female wall at the head of the city, and she couldn't see anything but her countless legs and the yellow bare walls, and her eyes grunted.

"Father Khan, I want to see the deer and wild boars outside the city!" In the face of the little girl's coquettishness, the khan had no choice but to pick up Aitengana with his left hand, and with his right hand, he copied a round shield painted with a blue wolf from the samurai and protected it in front of his daughter.

If you follow Aitengina's line of sight, you will find an endless array of cowhide tents on the horizon outside the city. In the middle of the tent, a large flag fluttered in the afterglow of the setting sun, and from a distance, the crimson flag had a black character on it. Aitengna stretched out her little hand, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, and horizontal. "Father Khan, there is a king on the banner opposite!" The little girl proudly flaunted her knowledge in front of her father. "But why do they also have a big banner, isn't there such a tall and big banner near Shattered Leaf City?"

"My little moon, the banner on the other side is the urging flag of our Turgish! The Tian Khan of Chang'an, after using our Turgish people, will abandon us. He had given us soft silk and beautiful porcelain like a hound; But now, like a wild deer, he unleashed the most ferocious falcon, and with a mighty bow and a sharp sword, he seized and tore us apart. Is this what the Han people say about the cunning rabbit and the dead lackey, and the bird is good and the bow is hidden? But it's clear that the cunning rabbit is not dead, and the birds are not finished? Is it just because we are unwilling to bow our proud heads? Is it just because we want to be more independent in our own destiny? The all-knowing and all-powerful Ahula? Mazda, can you tell me why? The khan roared at the big tusk outside the city, but it was obvious that the almighty Zoroastrian god was not in the mood to answer the trivial matters of the world now, and in addition to the wind that filled the river valley, there was only the occasional sound of painting horns from the Tang army camp outside the city, which was mournful and high-pitched, accompanied by curling cooking smoke.

"Father Khan, where is Chang'an?" Her father's roar was not fully understood, but she had heard the word "Chang'an", and according to her maids, Chang'an was a very large city, much bigger than the city of Broken Leaves, incredibly large and unimaginably large. It seems to be an ahula? The huge flame in Mazda's hand that never ceases is always shining. The city of Chang'an was inhabited by the feared Heavenly Khan, as well as countless gold and jewels, and every family wore silk and every household had porcelain. Whether it was a Sogdian merchant from the river leading a caravan of camels, or a Han merchant from the Central Plains riding a horse, when he talked about Chang'an, his eyes were full of longing. Ayitengna has always wondered what Chang'an is and where is it?

"Chang'an", Khan laughed, "My baby, Chang'an is far away, ride the fastest horse, keep going east, east, through the snow-capped mountains, through the desert, tens of thousands of miles, you have to walk for more than two months to get there." ”

"Chang'an is so far away?" The time and distance her father described were far beyond Aitengina's grasp, and the farthest distance in her mind was a few groves of groves by the plain leaf water outside Broken Leaf City, where there were many beautiful wildflowers and deer, and her father had once taken her on a hunting trip.

"Chang'an is also very close", the Khan's voice was low, "it is under that big flag, where there are Tang soldiers, it is Chang'an." ”

Father's words made Ayi Tenggena completely confused, although she was often praised as a smart child by her father Khan, but Chang'an, which was far and near, still made her confused, and she didn't know where the flame-like Chang'an was?

Aitengna fell silent, and so did the city. The setting sun was getting closer to the ground on the distant horizon, and the surroundings were getting darker.

"Father Khan, has it been decided?" The young man, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, and he stood behind his father with a restrained expression, and asked softly like an ordinary samurai asking a khan.

"Kudulu, have you remembered your mission tonight?" The father did not answer positively. "Remember, I will definitely protect my sister." "Just remember, follow my horse, protect Aitengana, you don't have to worry about anything else." "Yes, I will definitely protect my sister with my scimitar and bow and arrows," the boy replied firmly, waving his bow vigorously with his left hand. "Actually, when we need you to protect her, we are not far from defeat, may your knife not need to be unsheathed, may your strings not need to be opened, may Ahura? Mazda bless us. With that, the khan turned and walked down the wall.

At the same time, in the Tang army camp outside the city, a huge tent was in the center of the barracks like the North Star, under the arch of the surrounding tents. In front of the big tent, a crimson flag whirred in the wind, and the black word "Wang" kept changing shapes in the air. Under the banner, a team of soldiers dressed in bright light armor is building a nest car. The nest car is to erect two parallel high poles on a large sturdy chassis, and then put a beam on the two high poles. On the beam hangs a movable gondola, which can accommodate two people.

"Please tell the marshal, the nest car is ready." After the nest car was set up, the team was quickly running to the front of the big tent to report to the tooth soldiers guarding in front of the tent.

After the tooth soldier walked in, after a while, the tall handsome man walked out of the tent. Although he was in the army, he wore a purple round-necked robe, a pale blue hat, and a fish bag with gold horns hanging from his white jade belt. If it weren't for the jet-black horizontal knife tied around his waist, this posture would really be the name of the minister who entered and exited the Daming Palace, not the border military general of Jin Ge Iron Horse. The handsome's long beard fluttered in the wind, but it couldn't hide the gloom on his face.