In the Politics Hall, laughter and chatter filled the air. Everyone was sipping milk tea while chatting and discussing matters. However, the situation in the Turks and Tubo was far from this pleasant scene.
In Yan City of the Turks, heavy snow had been falling continuously for two whole days and two nights without any sign of stopping. Countless houses had been crushed under the snow, and numerous families had perished. People were freezing to death in the streets, in the fields, and beside their livestock.
To the high - ranking officials and nobles, the pure white snow was a rare and beautiful sight. But to the ordinary people, it meant unbearable cold.
A crowd gathered in front of the government office because it was the sturdiest and warmest building around.
However, ordinary restaurants refused to admit these displaced people whose homes were destroyed and who were on the verge of death. Not to mention the government office in Yan City, which immediately sent people out to drive them away. Those who dared to force their way in would be sent to hell in advance.
The crowd was dispersed only to gather again because they had nowhere else to go. Even the dilapidated temple, which seemed on the verge of collapse, was filled with people. If you were a bit late, there would be no room to stand.
A young and strong man huddled in a corner in front of the government office, wrapped in a tattered sheepskin. His face was flushed, and he looked dazed, on the verge of death at any moment.
He was holding a little girl of three or five years old. The girl was wrapped in layer upon layer of clothes, making the cute and delicate little doll look extremely bulky.
Her expression was very innocent. Maybe she didn't know what was about to happen. She only knew that she was nestled in her brother's arms, and his body temperature was getting higher and warmer.
"Brother, what do you think Princess Chengyang of the Tang Dynasty is doing now?" the little girl asked innocently, tugging at her brother's arm.
Yan City was so close to the Tang Dynasty that the deeds of Li Jingyun would spread throughout the city in just a few days. Most families in the city now took Li Jingyun as an example when educating their daughters, just like the "children of other families" in later generations.
The young man turned his head with difficulty towards his sister and forced a smile, "She should still be sleeping. It's only the third hour of the day. It's still early."
If Li Jingyun had heard this, she would surely have retorted immediately. In the past, her days were indeed leisurely, but now she had to rush every day, going to the new villa, the newest villa to check, visiting the woolen - sweater shops, or, like now, discussing politics in the Politics Hall.
"What does a woolen sweater look like? Is it the same as the clothes we wear? Will it be very beautiful?"
The little girl was full of fantasies. Their clothes were also made of wool. What was the difference between a woolen sweater and their clothes?
Her brother licked his dry lips, grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth. The cold snow slid down his throat and turned into ice - cold water. As the cold water entered his stomach, he shivered, and his mind seemed to clear up a bit.
"A woolen sweater is a bit like the clothes worn by those officials. Once when I was delivering goods to a merchant in Songzhou, I happened to catch a glimpse of one. It looked thick and very warm," the brother said, then coughed twice, spitting out a mouthful of blood, which he immediately spat aside.
He couldn't let his sister see it. It would surely scare her!
This was the youngest child in the family, a precious darling who had been doted on since childhood. During this heavy snowfall, in order to save her life, their mother had carried her out of the house. Their father had walked at the back and was crushed by a falling roof beam and died on the spot. Their mother had only taken a few steps before freezing to death.
Now, he himself was already numb from the cold and didn't know how much longer he could hold on.
The little girl stretched her neck and looked around but didn't see her parents. She asked her brother, "Brother, didn't you say that Mom and Dad went to find food? Why haven't they come back yet? I'm a bit hungry."
Immediately after, her stomach growled.
She didn't understand the meaning of life and death and didn't know that she would never see her parents again.
The brother felt a wave of helplessness, "Wait a bit longer. The snow is too heavy, and the roads are difficult to walk on. That's why they're taking so long to come back."
The people sitting with them began to talk animatedly, "Isn't Zhenzhu Tongsi Jin in the Tang Dynasty? I wonder if he can bring back the woolen sweaters."
"Bring them back? Weren't they going to propose marriage to the princess? My younger brother saw them. He said that although they claimed to have five thousand fine horses, there were actually far fewer than that, and they were all sick and thin horses. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty isn't stupid. How could he marry his daughter to us?"
"Hey, I don't care about the woolen sweaters. I just wonder if the Tang Dynasty will send troops to attack us. Just give me a quick end."
The speaker was a woman in her thirties who had been frost - bitten. Her left arm hung limply. By accident, it hit the wall, and the entire left arm fell off.
Her face was ashen, and she had already given up hope and was waiting for death.
In fact, the whole group of them was just waiting for death here.
It had been noisy at first, but after more than an hour, it became eerily quiet. Zhishisi Li, the commander of the Bailandao Army, led a thousand elite soldiers into the city. Due to the heavy snow and extreme cold, Yan City had no combat power at all, so they entered the city smoothly.
They also saw the current scene in the city, which was like a living hell.
Dead bodies were everywhere, lying in piles in complete silence. The city was like a ghost town.
"No wonder no one was blocking us. They've all ended up like this," Zhishisi Li sighed after looking around.
The temperature here was incredibly low, which greatly reduced the combat power of the Turks.
The Western Turks had a vast territory but a sparse population and not many troops. Moreover, from Khan Tong Yegu to the small and large officials in the Western Turks, no one thought that the Tang Dynasty would choose to go to war with them at this time. So, they hadn't deployed any troops in Yan City at all.
In their minds, winter was the time for them to plunder southward. It was already a miracle that they didn't launch a raid themselves. How could the Tang Dynasty dare to attack?
At the government office, Zhishisi Li had originally intended to block the local officials. Who would have thought that he would see the cute little girl in the pile of corpses. He personally pulled the little girl out, sized her up, and decided to take her back.
A subordinate asked, "General, why take her? Isn't she just a burden?"
"She's pretty and well - behaved. Most importantly, she's about the same age as Princess Chengyang. It would be good to send her to Princess Chengyang as a maid," Zhishisi Li replied.
He had also married a daughter of Li Yuan. According to seniority, Li Jingyun should call him uncle - in - law.
The little girl coughed twice and felt weak all over. She was taken to the Tang Dynasty for treatment. She had just suffered from frostbite and was extremely hungry. After waking up and eating something to regain her strength, she would be much better.
Looking at the strange environment, strange people, and things around her, the little girl vaguely guessed that she would never see her parents and brother again in her life.
Well, the Tang Dynasty had occupied Yan City with almost no effort. The news reached the ears of Khan Tong Yegu, who was struggling to figure out how to provide disaster relief. This made the already difficult national situation of the Turks even worse.
It was said that during that period, Tong Yegu was extremely irritable. Every day in his tent, he either scolded or beat people, or simply had them beheaded. All the officials in the Turkic court lived in fear.