"Does the Duke speak truly? You must not deceive this one, Chou'er!"
Hearing the Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler's delicate coo, Old Cheng felt he was about to ascend to heaven!
Truly, more genuine than Zhenguan!
He patted his chest thumpingly, fully aware of how Li Shimin would react to this news.
"Then, Duke, could you summon the soldiers outside the city into the city?"
Chou'er would have the citizens welcome them, serving food and drink, thus welcoming the imperial army with open arms.
"Haha, good! Then I shall trouble Chou'er to send someone to call the four company commanders who entered the city with this Duke."
Cheng Yaojin showed no caution, completely dazed.
"Jin Mei, Jin Ping, you two go together, and be polite!"
The Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler commanded the sturdy woman who had guided Cheng Yaojin earlier, and the female guard whose weapon Cheng Yaojin had knocked away.
"Yes, Your Majesty the Queen!"
After the two knelt and saluted, they descended the stone steps.
Before long, four company commanders, whom Cheng Yaojin had summoned to accompany him, hurried over.
"Duke!"
"Liu Chan, Yue Jing, you two go out of the city and lead the army in. Tonight, we will lodge within the city."
Cheng Yaojin waved his hand at them.
The two nodded and departed.
Cheng Yaojin then said to the Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler, "I must trouble Chou'er to send someone to find a camp for my two subordinates within the city."
The Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler did not speak, merely turning her head to look at Jin Ping, who had just returned.
"Yes, Your Majesty the Queen!"
Jin Ping, being clever, walked towards Wei Datou and Bi Yuntao and said, "Two generals, please follow this humble one."
Wei Datou and Bi Yuntao glanced at Cheng Yaojin. Cheng Yaojin impatiently said, "Why aren't you going? Do you expect your brothers to sleep on the streets after entering the city?"
"Yes, Duke!"
Only then did the two follow Jin Ping down the nine levels.
Seeing them leave, Cheng Yaojin thought of the four miserable wretches he had seen on the first level.
"Chou'er, what about those four men on the first level? Didn't you just say there were no men in the kingdom?"
The Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler sighed, "Those four are the only people who have entered the Eastern Female Kingdom in the past two years."
"They said they were from the Great Tang, passing through a small kingdom, on their way to India to obtain scriptures."
"When they arrived here, their travel expenses were depleted, so they stayed in the city to do some labor, awaiting the day they could save enough to continue their journey."
Cheng Yaojin seemed to regain a sliver of clarity, "Labor? What kind of labor would make someone so thin they are almost unrecognizable?"
Hearing him say this, the Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler actually blushed.
"Did this humble one not mention before that there were no men left in the kingdom? If so, how could we continue to procreate?"
"Therefore, the labor they performed was the selling of their bodies."
Towards the end, the Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler's voice became as faint as a mosquito's hum.
Cheng Yaojin was stunned!
Damn it, Chang'an has courtesans, and here they have male prostitutes?
"Wait, you said they were from the Great Tang? And on their way to India to obtain scriptures?"
The Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler nodded.
A monk appeared in Cheng Yaojin's mind, "Chou'er, I must go down and see. Perhaps I know one of those four."
"This humble one will accompany the Duke down."
The Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler stood up, as if afraid Cheng Yaojin would run off, and taking his arm, walked down the steps.
When they reached the first level, those four individuals were still sitting by the steps, as before, watching the afterglow of the setting sun.
Old Cheng leaned closer, looking at the bald head, and it looked more and more familiar.
"You, are you Chen Hui of the Hou family from Luoyang?"
Upon hearing his name, the bald head's body trembled violently, and a trace of consciousness returned. He looked towards Cheng Yaojin's face.
"General Cheng?"
After calling out Cheng Yaojin's official title, Chen Hui seemed to recall his current predicament and gave a self-deprecating smile.
"You have mistaken me, this monk is not any Chen Hui."
After speaking, he prepared to get up and walk out of the stone building.
"Hahahaha!"
Cheng Yaojin suddenly burst into laughter behind him and said, "Back then, the Emperor forbade you from traveling west, yet you insisted on going west!"
"Now, for travel expenses, you have even broken the precepts of Buddhism. Do you still have the face to continue your westward journey?"
Unexpectedly, the Chen Hui Cheng Yaojin spoke of turned around and offered a Buddhist salutation to him, muttering something.
"Amitabha!"
"Form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form, form is emptiness, emptiness is form; so too are feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness."
"Benefactor, you are attached to appearances."
Cheng Yaojin was taken aback. This Buddhist scripture sounded profound, unlike what he had heard from those old monks before!
"No, this fellow hasn't even reached India yet?"
"What has he realized on his own?"
Immediately, Cheng Yaojin patted his forehead, thinking, "Why am I bothering myself with this?"
"The Emperor has already issued an edict to suppress Buddhism, can this guy still run back?"
"If I don't kill him here, it's giving face to that Hou fellow from Luoyang."
"Does the Duke truly recognize this person?"
The Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler asked, her arm around Cheng Yaojin's, her body occasionally squirming.
Cheng Yaojin felt his arm being held tightly. At forty years old, he inexplicably felt the same strange sensation he had experienced when he saw Miss Sun in his youth.
He smiled and said, "Recognize him? Why wouldn't I?"
"This person is named Chen Yi, from Hou Shi in Luoyang, Great Tang."
"His monastic name is Xuanzang, and he intended to travel to India to obtain scriptures. The Emperor issued an edict forbidding him from leaving Chang'an, and I don't know when he sneaked out."
Saying this, he walked over to the other three and kicked one of them with his foot.
"Kid, who are you?"
The one kicked down was short and had a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks.
This person looked at Cheng Yaojin with vacant eyes, as if seeing a savior.
"Help! Help! Please don't do this to me anymore!"
"I beg you, tell them to stop doing this to me!"
As he spoke, this fellow suddenly burst into tears.
"Wuwuwuwu~~!"
The Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler, holding Cheng Yaojin's arm, felt a bit awkward. To ease the awkwardness, she began to explain.
"Duke, please do not misunderstand. They do not do this under duress; it is all voluntary."
"That's right, Your Majesty the Queen will introduce them to the Duke."
"These three are the monk's disciples. This one is called Wukong, the one with the big ears is called Wuneng, and the other is called Wujing."
"The three disciples of the 'Wu' generation. Has the kid from the Hou family truly realized something?"
"Hmph, who cares about that? It has nothing to do with me anyway!"
He casually pulled out a cigar and put it in his mouth, nodding and taking a puff.
The female guards who had descended with the Eastern Female Kingdom's ruler watched him smoke, lost in thought.
"Men also like things that are dark, large, and thick?"
"But why does smoke come out of his mouth?"
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