Chapter 55: Xiao Yanyan’s Mysterious Background

Rumble rumble rumble!

The low roar of warhorses sounded outside Ta Village.

A cavalry team of over a hundred men, with the sunlight on their backs, galloped rapidly towards Ta Village.

“Whoa whoa whoa!”

When they were close to Ta Village, the riders slowly reined in their horses.

“It seems Ta Village is safe and sound,” Luo Ping said softly, nodding as he saw no difference in Ta Village from before.

“The battle last night mainly happened in the west; of course, it’s peaceful here in the east,” Luo Meng explained from the side.

They came from the east, so they saw the peace on the east side of Ta Village.

“Brat, do I need you to explain to me?” Luo Ping glared at his son directly.

The father and son led the men to continue into Ta Village.

Soon, Li Xiao and Zhao Tiezhu came out to welcome them.

“Uncle Luo, brother-in-law.”

Li Xiao rode up to the two, then looked around in the team, and his eyes soon lit up.

His Khitan language lessons were secured.

“Miss Xiao.” Li Xiao nodded in greeting.

Xiao Yanyan rode forward and asked hurriedly: “I heard from the people you sent back that the Eastern Capital Army arrived and even fought with you?”

Xiao Yanyan’s tone was full of urgency and hope.

Coming to Jin Prefecture this time, she almost died at the hands of the Karluks, so she was quite uneasy in her heart.

Now, finally learning the news of the Eastern Capital Army’s arrival, Xiao Yanyan naturally couldn’t wait to rush over.

In addition, she was also anxious because of the Ta Village matter.

In her view, the Eastern Capital Army and these fortresses like Hexi Fortress were on the same side.

Moreover, the Han cavalry led by Li Xiao also had very strong combat power, not much inferior to the Khitan iron cavalry.

With such a force, the Han people should be won over even more to fight the Karluks together.

How did they end up killing each other instead?

“Can’t be considered a fight.” Li Xiao shook his head gently.

“At most just some conflicts, and it was the private decision of a tribal chief from Yin Mountain, having nothing to do with the Eastern Capital Army.”

“The matter has been resolved.”

Li Xiao ultimately decided to remove the Eastern Capital Army from this matter, treating it only as a conflict with the Čarlan tribe.

No choice; the Eastern Capital Army was too strong, and the troops of the seven-fortress coalition were just cannon fodder against them.

Although Li Xiao could also take people to defect to the Naimans or even Western Xia, that would only be a last resort.

“Resolved? That’s good!” Xiao Yanyan nodded gently, breathing a slight sigh of relief.

If that Čarlan tribal chief acted on his own initiative, then it was easier to handle.

Her, Xiao Yanyan’s face (prestige), could still suppress it.

“Go in first, Uncle Luo, Miss Xiao.”

“My grandfather and the others just arrived.” Li Xiao said.

Leading the one hundred and fifty cavalrymen from Hedong Fortress into Ta Village.

Ta Village had this name mainly because there was a stone forest in the village.

Tall and thin, with distinct joints, like bone spurs protruding from the earth.

From a distance, they looked like a forest of pagodas (ta), standing abruptly on this flat grassland.

Therefore, Ta Village got this name.

However, Li Xiao hadn’t seen this stone forest in later generations; presumably, it had long collapsed under the baptism of time and sandstorms.

After another period of time, close to noon, the troops from Qianhe Village, Houhe Village, and Qiyun Village finally arrived.

A total of three hundred people from the three villages.

Quite a lot; it seemed that apart from a small number of able-bodied men staying behind to guard the villages, most were pulled out.

Li Xiao expressed his satisfaction.

At least these three villages were not the kind of people who would advance when seeing benefits and run when seeing danger.

“Everyone, now our seven-fortress coalition has all arrived, with a military strength exceeding a thousand people.” inside a courtyard, the leaders of the seven fortresses sat around.

As the strongest party from Hexi Fortress, Li Xiao looked at everyone and spoke first.

Hexi Fortress had four hundred people, Hedong Fortress one hundred and fifty, Gushan Fortress one hundred and fifty, and the other three villages three hundred.

That was a thousand people.

In addition, there was Ta Village. If disregarding consequences, Ta Village could fully pull out two hundred and fifty or even more cavalry.

After all, this was the base camp of Ta Village; once the battle started, Ta Village would have no need for people staying behind.

Finally, there were the more than three hundred Čarlan slaves just subdued.

Although their loyalty was insufficient and they couldn’t be sent to the battlefield yet, mixing them in the team to boost numbers and keep up appearances was no problem.

In this way, the military strength of the seven-fortress coalition could fully reach more than one thousand five hundred people.

It was one-tenth of the total number of the Eastern Capital Army.

Already a force that could not be ignored.

“According to the news we got, the total strength of the Eastern Capital Army is fifteen thousand, coming in two routes.”

“The first batch is the army from Yin Mountain, with a strength of about eight thousand five hundred people.”

“Our scout cavalry has already encountered the opponent’s scouts.”

“Currently stationed twenty li west of Ta Village, the commander is the Eastern Capital Garrison Commissioner, Xiao Simo himself.”

“As for the army from Beihai, there is no news yet; maybe they are still on the way.” Li Xiao said in a deep voice, telling everyone the news he had gathered.

Yin Mountain was located southwest of Jin Prefecture, the core of the entire Northern Border, with the largest population and strongest power.

Beihai was located northwest of Jin Prefecture, mostly nomadic peoples, with a population similar to Jin Prefecture.

Moreover, Beihai was farther from Jin Prefecture, so the arrival time of the Beihai army would definitely be later.

As for the last prefecture in the Northern Border, the Desert (Damo).

Perhaps it also received orders from the Eastern Capital to send troops to participate in the war, but they definitely came from another direction, so Li Xiao and the others wouldn’t encounter them.

The Desert was just south of Jin Prefecture.

“If we fight the Eastern Capital Army, we have almost no chance of winning,” the Qiyun Village Lord shook his head and said.

Just the Eastern Capital Army twenty li away outnumbered them by more than five times.

Once war started, the chance of winning was extremely low.

“But our purpose is to protect the interests of our seven-fortress Han people, not to be enemies with the Eastern Capital Army,” Zhao Tiezhu said.

Unless necessary, no one wanted to fight a war.

“If the Eastern Capital Garrison Commissioner is a clear-headed person, he absolutely won’t make things difficult for us Han people at this time,” Luo Ping snorted lightly.

“For the Khitans, the real enemy has always been the Naimans, along with the Karluks.”

Li Xiao nodded gently: “But we still have to be prepared. If the Eastern Capital Army acts recklessly, we absolutely can’t sit and wait for death either.”

Although the Eastern Capital Army had many people, the Han people of Jin Prefecture were not soft persimmons either.

“At worst, rebel against Liao directly and defect to the Naimans,” Qin Kaishan said aggressively; his violent temper couldn’t hold back at all.

The leaders of the seven fortresses discussed in this courtyard, mainly formulating plans on how to fight or run if the Khitans prepared to start a war.

In addition, once the Khitans conscripted them Han people to attack the Karluks or even the Naimans, how should they preserve their strength and avoid excessive casualties?

These were all problems Li Xiao and the others needed to consider.

Just as things were almost discussed, Luo Meng came in and said that Xiao Yanyan had arrived, looking very anxious.

After getting Li Xiao’s permission, Xiao Yanyan soon walked in hurriedly and said excitedly to Li Xiao.

“Li Xiao, I’m leaving.”

Li Xiao wasn’t surprised.

Originally calling Xiao Yanyan from Hexi Fortress overnight was to use her identity as a princess to act as a buffer.

Because unless absolutely necessary, Li Xiao really didn’t want to conflict with the Khitans.

The time wasn’t right; he needed to develop quietly for a few years.

So, Xiao Yanyan’s role became prominent.

She was a princess and a daughter of the Xiao family; she should have some face with the Eastern Capital Garrison Commissioner, right?

Li Xiao had spent a lot of effort coaxing her during this period, not just for the happiness of his lower body.

But unexpectedly, after arriving at Ta Village, Xiao Yanyan was a bit too excited.

“My brother is here to pick me up.”

“Li Xiao, come with me to meet my brother.”

“You are so capable; my brother will definitely appreciate you.”

“And you saved me; you can definitely get generous rewards from my brother.”

Listening to Xiao Yanyan’s excited words, Li Xiao was somewhat surprised.

Although he knew Xiao Yanyan had a brother she depended on, Xiao Yanyan hadn’t elaborated on his identity.

Now Li Xiao made a slight connection, and immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.

“Hiss!~”

“Your brother wouldn’t be?”

Li Xiao looked at Xiao Yanyan with astonishment.

Damn it, he should have thought of it earlier.

Also blame Xiao being a big surname; there were too many people surnamed Xiao among the Khitans. Who knew which branch of the Xiao clan Xiao Yanyan belonged to?

So he didn’t think in that direction.

Of course, most importantly, Li Xiao only learned yesterday that the Eastern Capital Garrison Commissioner was named Xiao Simo.

Looking at Li Xiao’s stunned expression, Xiao Yanyan showed a proud smile on her face.

Li Xiao was usually plain and calm; it was the first time she saw this expression on his face. Xiao Yanyan was very satisfied with the effect of ‘revealing her golden body’ (true identity).

“That’s right, my brother is named Xiao Simo, precisely the Eastern Capital Garrison Commissioner.”

Xiao Yanyan said this sentence in the lightest tone, but the pride in the woman’s heart still overflowed unconsciously.

This woman was just like this, not knowing humility at all.

What she liked most was showing off in front of people, and what she liked hearing most was others’ flattery, but on the surface, she always pretended not to care.

Hmph, hypocritical woman!

Li Xiao complained secretly in his heart.

But Xiao Yanyan’s wave of showing off indeed had a maxed-out effect.

“What? Your brother is the Eastern Capital Garrison Commissioner?”

“You are Xiao Simo’s sister?”

“Hiss~”

“Are you really Lord Xiao’s sister?”

Luo Ping and others widened their eyes instantly upon hearing Xiao Yanyan’s words, showing shocked expressions.

Looking at her in disbelief one after another.

Originally thought she was just a beautiful Khitan woman, didn’t expect her identity to be so noble.

Xiao Simo’s sister, that would be great.

“If Xiao Simo dares to start a war, then kill his sister first to sacrifice to the flag!” Qin Kaishan thought secretly in his heart.

(Translator Note: To prevent Xiao Wolila from really becoming Sima Yi, Yelü Yilie voluntarily gave up power.

After his death, let his sister Yelü Pusuwan act as regent.

Who was Yelü Pusuwan? Xiao Wolila’s eldest daughter-in-law.

Power has been given to your Xiao family; the old thief can’t kill everyone, right?

It has to be said that Yelü Yilie’s move was indeed clever.

After that, Xiao Wolila was indeed well-behaved, doing his best to assist his daughter-in-law.

Perhaps feeling old, Xiao Wolila finally handed over his political assets to his eldest son and retired to enjoy his old age.

Unfortunately, the struggle for power is the cruelest, capable of separating husband and wife, and making brothers fight.

With Xiao Wolila’s retirement, Yelü Pusuwan felt she was already terrifyingly strong, and her ambition grew daily.

Finally no longer satisfied with the position of regent, she ascended the throne and proclaimed herself emperor directly, with the era name Chongtian.

Emperors are the sole rulers and do not allow others to share power.

Thus, Yelü Pusuwan’s view of the Xiao clan became very displeasing at this time.

Then she aimed at her husband, wanting to strip the Xiao family of power.

The final result was that Yelü Pusuwan united with her brother-in-law (husband’s younger brother) and killed her husband.

The sister-in-law and brother-in-law thought that once the deed was done, Xiao Wolila could only accept it and honestly act as Li Yuan (retired emperor).

But unexpectedly, Xiao Wolila didn’t buy this at all.

He directly raised troops to launch a coup, killing both his eldest daughter-in-law and youngest son.

In the end, Yelü Yilie’s son, Yelü Zhilugu, successfully reaped the benefits…)

(End of this chapter)