Chapter 14: Wukong (Part 2)

  Everyone who heard Aru's words was surprised: "Dumped?"

  Arumandao said: "I always feel that those two people have some problem with their eyes, looking uncomfortable, so I thought of a way to get rid of them and come find you myself. This happened yesterday."

  Ouyang Shidao said: "What exactly do you think is wrong?"

  Arumandao said: "I don't know what to say."

  Yang Yingqi hesitated and said, "Think again, did Mr. Di instruct you to say anything before you left? No matter how insignificant it may sound, if you remember, don't reveal a single sentence."

  Aruban thought for a moment and said, "Ah, I see. Master said to hurry up and come drink wine. He said that the friends of Wugu are as enthusiastic as the Western Chu Emperor on the west side of the Great Food Country, and have prepared the most sumptuous wine feast on the vast grassland for you."

  "The Great Food Country's western region, the Western Chu Emperor... What is this Western Chu in the west of the Great Food Country? Western Chu... Western Chu..." Yang Yingqi thought for a moment and exclaimed: "Oh no! Mr. Di and our three or four hundred brothers are all in trouble?"

  "What's wrong with this sentence?"

  Yang Kaiyuan suddenly thought of something and exclaimed: "Western Chu! King Xiang Yu of Western Chu! Could it be that the front is hinting at the Hongmen Banquet?"

  "What are you talking about?"

  Yang Yingqi explained: "Something went wrong on the side of Wugu, Mr. Di must have seen it, but he knew that in that situation, he was already unable to escape, so he pretended not to notice. Later, he made an excuse for you to leave Wugubou, with the intention of letting you inform us not to step into the trap set by Puli! Mr. Di's last sentence was actually a cryptic message. Xichu is the national title of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu! Xiang Yu once hosted a banquet for his opponent Liu Bang in Hongmen, which was actually an attempt to assassinate Liu Bang! Xiang Yu never called himself emperor, only hegemon-king. But Mr. Di feared that the people of Wugu would have heard of the name of the Hegemon-King, so he didn't call him hegemon-king, but instead called him 'the Emperor of Western Chu' - this title sounds unfamiliar and for a moment makes one unable to think of Xiang Yu. As for 'the western side of the Great Food Country', it's just confusing. This cryptic message is not that obscure, if it were a strategist from the Central Plains, most would be able to guess it correctly."

  Arutha said: "In short, it's that bunch of bastards from Wuguna who want to harm Master, right?"

  Yang Yingqi nodded and said, "It should be like this."

  They discussed for half a day, and Khun Bilik listened to the translation beside them. When he heard this, he became enraged: "That scoundrel Temur is actually using treachery on friends who have come from afar?!" Zhuan An replied, "Don't worry, we'll take people to kill him right away!"

  Zhe Yan Chong said: "How big is Wugu? Are there many people?"

  Hubilai said: "Their population is less than half of mine in Mongolia, but one Mongolian can take on two of them!"

  Zhe Yan Chong shook his head and said, "But for now we only have a few hundred people. And what's most important to us right now is not to settle scores with the Wugu tribe, but to rescue our tribesmen who are trapped in the Wugu tribe!" As he spoke, his face darkened: "If Wu Gu dares to harm my tribesmen, I..."

  He didn't continue speaking. Yang Yingqi said: "Don't say ominous words! It definitely won't happen! Let's quickly think of a way, we should still be able to rescue them!"

  Cao Guangyi emphasized the importance of gathering intelligence, saying: "In any case, let's first find a way to gather information about the Wugu people before we do anything else." He said to Hebolu: "Hebolu brother! Mongolia and Wugu are both northern tribes, and the Wugu people should not know that you have made contact with us. If your people go to investigate, it should be much easier!"

  After listening to the translation, He Bu Le understood what Zhe Yan Chong and others meant, nodded and said: "Right! It's still more important to save people first." Following Cao Guangyi's suggestion, he sent a few clever and agile tribesmen to inquire.

  Those Mongols, after meeting the herdsman of Wugu, said they had just returned from doing business in Khitan and wanted to pass through the territory of Wugu to return to their own tribe. They "accidentally" asked where Wugu's Khan tent was, gradually getting closer to the heart of Wugu. Finally, a Wugu person casually mentioned: "There are really many people coming to Wugu recently."

  "Oh, why say that?"

  "A while ago, a group of defeated Khitan soldiers arrived. Later, another batch of Han people came. Just the other day, there was a battle at the mansion of the Grand Master, and it was against that batch of Han people."

  "Are you all adults? Didn't your Wokou betray Liao? How can your Khan also serve as Jiedushi?"

  "Alas, we have been reunited with Great Liao for some time now, didn't you know?"

  "Hmm, haven't heard much about it. By the way, you mentioned earlier that a battle was fought, what happened afterwards?"

  "That battle, dozens of people died on both sides, but they finally captured that group of Han people."

  "Got them? What did you catch them for?"

  "Give them to the Khitan people. These Han people seem to have a grudge against them, and it's said that a high-ranking official of the Khitan will pay a large sum of money to buy these Han people back for revenge. This time, the Khitan envoy came over and asked us for this and that. We've captured these Han people, just in time to offset our losses."

  "These Han people are really pitiful. Now they must be locked up like livestock, right? I heard that the high officials of Liao country are very generous with their rewards, you should be careful not to let those Han people escape - they might be worth more than cattle."

  "Don't worry, that place they're heading to is not far from the Da Xianbei Mountain. The main force of our army is also nearby, and this group of Han people won't be able to escape."

  These Mongolian envoys then went their separate ways to investigate and verify the information, before secretly returning to report. Yang Yingqi listened and said: "It turns out that Wugu has already surrendered to Liao State. Alas, this time we were too careless, we should have investigated clearly before coming. That Wugu chieftain is a man who forgets righteousness for profit, he's not even human!"

  Ouyang Shi sneered, "Have you inquired clearly? Originally, we were just desperate for a cure and rushed to wherever was safe. In Liao territory, we were pursued by the Khitan army; at the Song border, we were forced by our own clansmen; on the grasslands, not only did we encounter horse thieves, but also the imperial guards! Heaven didn't even give us a moment's rest, when would we have had time to make detailed inquiries?"

  "Alright, now that we have a basic understanding of Wugu's situation, let's discuss how to rescue them."

  Yang Yingqi said: "If you want to save people, you need to have Mongolian friends to help."

  "He said, 'The affairs of the Han people are our own affairs!' In this era, the grassland nations or referred to the Han people as Song people, or Tang people. After spending time together, Hebu Le had learned a few simple Chinese phrases and, following the habit of Yeli Chongyuan and others, referred to them as Han people. Through their interactions, he also came to know that Yang Yingqi was knowledgeable and quick-witted, and did not look down on him as a child, saying: 'If you have any ideas, Brother Yang, just speak up.'"

  Yang Yingqi drew a simple diagram on the sandy ground according to the Mongolian scout's description, saying: "This is Wuguban, I think they are waiting for us to fall into their trap. So we can't go rashly, but use the tactic of luring the tiger away from the mountain..."

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  Note: In the historical context of Yang Yingqi's dream, before Temujin unified the various tribes on the steppes, the Khitan people to the north and the Jurchen people to the east had different names for each tribe. The so-called "Mongol tribes" were actually a term coined after the Mongols rose to power, and was used by later generations to refer to these tribes.