Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 102 Visitors from the Ming Cult
"By the way, when you went to Mount Tai last time, did you hold Zhizhen in your arms all the way?"

Tian Jun flatly said to Zhu Wen, who wanted to send her back to his horse, "Hold me."

"Zhizhen can't ride a horse, so I just took the emergency measure. And if I buy another horse, won't I give her to you?" Zhu Wen said, "We're not really dating right now..."

"I don't care." Tian Jun said shamelessly: "She is just your military advisor. You carried her on horseback for so long. Now you want to carry me too."

Being jealous is a woman's instinct, and even a girl like Tian Jun who is no less heroic than a man is no exception.

Zhu Wen showed a trace of helplessness and tied the reins of the other horse to its tail.

Tian Jun proudly sat on Zhu Wen's thighs and spread her legs apart.

Zhu Wen and Xingxiang were both young at the time, and neither of them was willing to confess their feelings, so their intimacy was extremely limited. The only girls he actually hugged were Lan Suting and Tian Jun.

Lan Suting was thin and light, and although she felt soft and fragrant when placed on his lap, she didn't have much flesh on her body, and it didn't arouse any sexual desire. Zhu Wen liked to hold her because he thought she was truly lovable.

The tight muscle bundles on Tian Jun's mound and thighs, formed from martial arts training, are plump, full and full of toughness, which is undoubtedly the physique that only a northern rouge who has been riding and practicing guns for a long time can possess.

The long, taut legs looked like they could easily break anything.

"Sister Jun, you are truly a beauty." Zhu Wen felt the pressure and numbness on his legs, and stroked Tian Jun's swan-like neck with his palm.

Being affirmed by the man she liked, Tian Jun felt extremely proud of her figure for the first time. She leaned her back tightly against Zhu Wen, feeling the man's reliable chest.

Tian Jun didn't know what kind of fairy Xingxiang was. However, judging by her facial features, she, with her square face, was clearly no match for Duan Hongyan and Chaoying.

However, her figure made Zhu Wen admit many times that he was tempted by her.

Apart from the fact that Tian Jun was the same height as Zhu Wen and was half a head taller than him when sitting on his lap, the whole picture was quite harmonious with the talented man and beautiful woman.

"Unfortunately, our horse can't take it anymore." Zhu Wen immediately said something unromantic.

Tian Jun was stunned for a moment, and then he noticed that the horse was breathing heavily.

"You and I weigh over 200 pounds combined." Zhu Wen said, "Do you really think you're as petite and delicate as Zhizhen?"

"Bastard!" Tian Jun couldn't help but wanted to slap Zhu Wen again, but Zhu Wen caught him accurately.

"I can't help it. You've always got me in such a bad spot." Tian Jun showed a look of resignation and returned to his horse. "What kind of horses do Wang Jingchong and his personal guards ride? They're so tall."

Tian Jun thought that if the two of them rode a tall horse this time, they wouldn't have to worry about the horse being tired from being alone together.

"Um... you've never been to Kansai, right?"

Guanxi includes Guanzhong, Xiliang, Hanzhong, Bashu and other areas west of Tongguan.

"Is that kind of horse from Guanzhong?" Tian Jun asked.

"To be precise, Xiliang. The horses of Liangzhou are rampant throughout the world, and this is no mere talk. Ever since General Zhang Yichao recovered Xiliang, the most important tribute demanded by the imperial court has been the horses of Liangzhou."

"It's only produced there? Can't we introduce it to Kanto? Our horse farm in Hebei is also very good." Tian Jun was puzzled.

"The ancestors of the Xiliang horses are the Dayuan and Wusun horses, the celestial horses, including the Ferghana horses introduced by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Because of their Western Region ancestry, they are more susceptible to humidity than horses from the Central Plains, and can only be bred in the dry Xiliang. Wang Jingchong bought Xiliang horses for his personal soldiers, but these horses were not acclimatized to the climate and soil of Guandong, and their lifespan was short."

Tian Jun suddenly realized: "What a shame. In Guandong, there aren't many horses that can carry the equipment. Otherwise, cavalry battles would be much more exciting!"

Her exotic face had distinct lines and a rich sense of depth. When they rode side by side, Zhu Wen felt that her profile was much more beautiful than her front, and in his stunned state, she seemed to possess a youthful and charming charm.

"Liangzhou horses, Khotan jade, and Sogdian girls were the three most sought-after treasures by the Tang people along the Silk Road. Speaking of the Maritime Silk Road, they were Kunlun slaves, Bodhisattva barbarians, and Silla maids..."

Even though Zhu Wen was a traitor, he couldn't help feeling proud when talking about this kind of thing.

This was perfectly normal, as Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi were also very proud of it in the past. But Zhu Wen soon realized that he had made a mistake.

Tian Jun's mother was a Hu girl from Yanqi, and could also be considered a Sogdian girl in a broad sense.

Tian Jun noticed that Zhu Wen hadn't spoken for a long time. She was stunned for a moment before she figured out the reason.

"It's okay." Tian Jun sighed softly. "No matter how corrupt the internal affairs of the Tang Dynasty are, it is still the most culturally prosperous country in the world. It has such a need."

"I heard that when the Tibetans were at their peak, due to their lack of culture, they couldn't absorb the large number of Western Hu slaves. So while they were fighting fiercely with the Tang Dynasty, they also sold large numbers of Hu men and women to the Tang Dynasty, sending them to the music academies and brothels across the country."

"Besides, if my mother had not come to the Central Plains, I would not exist."

The people of the Western Regions possessed beauty and exceptional talent, but in the struggle for supremacy between powerful nations like the Tang Dynasty, the Arabs, Tubo, and the Uighurs, they were mere weaklings, vulnerable to bullying. Even without the need for the Tang Dynasty to intervene, a steady stream of Western Regions barbarians would be sent to its markets for sale.

But the people in the Tang Dynasty had suffered enough, and Zhu Wen really had no energy to sympathize with the barbarians in the Western Regions.

After the two returned to the military camp, they tacitly concealed some details from Lan Suting.

Tian Jun devoted all his remaining energy to martial arts training, and even added training such as jumping over trenches while wearing heavy armor and carrying sandbags.

"I just realized how hard Sister Jun practices martial arts." Lan Suting said to Zhu Wen, "Compared to you, you are really too lazy."

"After all, no matter how much I practice martial arts, I can never become a peerless master like Alliance Leader Wang, and it is impossible for me to surpass my senior brother." Zhu Wen answered calmly.

"That's right. Your main job is to give advice and strategies. Besides, your martial arts skills are quite sufficient now. Sister Jun tried so hard, but she still couldn't beat you."

Zhu Wen's expression shifted slightly, and for a moment he almost thought that the affair between him and Tian Jun had been exposed. He then dismissed this possibility.

After Tian Jun came back, in preparation for participating in the life-and-death battle, he seemed like a completely different person. He didn't drink a drop of alcohol and definitely wouldn't be a sieve.

So what Lan Suting was talking about was only his previous fight with Tian Jun.

Being liked by several beautiful and outstanding girls is really a troublesome thing - Zhu Wen sighed in his heart, hoping that his junior sister's feelings for him now are just at the level of friendship.

Otherwise, Zhu Wen suspected that Duan Hongyan would become even more terrifying than Yan Shuai if she learned that he was going to date Tian Jun...

"While you were away, the Salt Marshal held an important meeting." Lan Suting said to Zhu Wen, "Your second brother went in your place."

When Zhu Wen was away, Zhu Cun was in charge of all the affairs in the camp.

"A heroic figure named Ge Jian has defected to the Grass Army. He claims to be one of the four great patriarchs of the Ming Cult and holds crucial intelligence to counter the Flame Marshal's armored cavalry."

During the Battle of Qizhou, the one hundred armored cavalrymen ambushed by General Yan on the boats pierced through the central army of the Cao army commanded by Shang Rang, which numbered more than ten thousand people, several times and blew them into pieces. Then they attacked from the back and defeated the front-line troops led by Wang Xianzhi himself.

The identity of the mysterious cavalry commander in white helmet and armor who commanded the cavalry remains a mystery to this day.

Zhu Wen was stunned: "Pang Xun's subordinates?"

"Ten years ago, the Ming Cult leader Pang Xun raised an army of 100,000 to fight against the imperial court. His force was even larger than ours. In that battle, it took the full force of the Four Great Tang Marshals to defeat Pang Xun. Although Pang Xun was defeated, the whole world was terrified."

Lan Suting nodded. "That senior, Ge Jian, claimed to be the 'Wing King,' one of the four great 'Mujas' of the Ming Cult. He only faked his own death. This time, he's here to avenge Pang Xun and the 100,000 Ming Cult members who perished."

"Revenge?" Zhu Wen was a little puzzled. "The greatest contribution to the pacification of Pang Xun was made by General Feng. If Ge Jian really wanted revenge, shouldn't he have joined the northern barbarian army and attacked Zhenwu? Why is he looking for General Yan?"

Lan Suting shook her head: "Then I don't know."

"He also brought his thirteen-year-old son to the army. I think his name is Ge Congzhou. He's a chubby-looking boy, quite cute."

(End of this chapter)