Chapter 56: Grand Princess of Chu

Grandpa Qin Kaishan’s idea ultimately couldn’t be realized.

With such a powerful political resource as Xiao Yanyan, how could Li Xiao bear to sacrifice her to the flag?

Moreover, there was no fundamental conflict between the Han people and the Eastern Capital Army.

Everything was caused by the Čarlan tribe.

So, soon after, Li Xiao personally led a hundred cavalrymen to escort Xiao Yanyan to the camp of the Eastern Capital Army.

“I really didn’t expect you to be a princess? And your brother is Garrison Commissioner Lord Xiao?”

“It really opened my eyes~”

On the way to the Eastern Capital Army camp, Li Xiao and Xiao Yanyan rode side by side, chatting from time to time.

The tone was also full of flattery and admiration.

Giving Xiao Yanyan enough vanity so that the corners of her mouth were curved up all the way, she couldn’t suppress it at all!

“Hehe, it’s normal that you don’t know.”

“I didn’t want to cause trouble relying on my brother’s name anyway. Although I am a woman, I still want to make a name for myself with my own ability,” Xiao Yanyan said with a raised neck and a smile on her face.

“A heroine among women!”

“Admirable~”

Li Xiao gave Xiao Yanyan a thumbs up, looking admiring.

Princess Jieyou, modern version Mulan, Princess Pingyang, and other templates of heroic ancient women were shamelessly applied to Xiao Yanyan.

Coaxing Xiao Yanyan until her mouth never closed, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but lift upwards, looking nonchalant on the surface but enjoying it immensely in her heart.

“This woman~”

Li Xiao had already seen through her.

Careless, without any scheming, and couldn’t withstand praise.

Just complimenting her a little made her lose her bearings with joy.

A bit silly!

But also very cute, right?

Communicating with such a woman was much more pleasant than communicating with those smart women full of calculations.

Wasn’t it just saying nice words to coax a woman!

For the future, for the safety of the Han people of the seven fortresses, it wasn’t shameful.

After advancing for another distance, a cavalry team appeared in front of Li Xiao and the others.

Not many in number; the other party sent people back to call for support while approaching Li Xiao and the others.

“Who are you?” A Khitan minor leader shouted loudly from a distance.

Li Xiao glanced at Xiao Yanyan, and saw her shouting loudly in Khitan.

Li Xiao couldn’t understand, so he turned to look at Hutu.

“Master, Her Royal Highness the Princess said: She is the Grand Princess of Chu.”

“She wants to see Garrison Commissioner Lord Xiao Simo,” Hutu whispered the translation to Li Xiao.

At this time, Li Xiao knew Xiao Yanyan’s title: Grand Princess of Chu!

Associating with the origin of this title, Li Xiao couldn’t help but sigh: a family of ruthless people!

Since he already knew she was the biological sister of Eastern Capital Garrison Commissioner Xiao Simo.

Associating again with Li Xiao’s guess about Xiao Simo’s identity.

Then Xiao Yanyan’s identity was also ready to come out.

The Grand King of the Six Divisions back then, who commanded most of the Western Liao army, Xiao Wolila, was her grandfather.

And her maternal grandfather was even more formidable, directly being the founding emperor of Western Liao, Yelü Dashi.

Her biological mother was equally terrifying, the third emperor of Western Liao, Yelü Pusuwan, known as the Western Liao version of Wu Zetian.

Her biological brother was the Grand King of the Six Divisions and Eastern Capital Garrison Commissioner, and her cousin was the current Western Liao Emperor Yelü Zhilugu.

This identity background was simply explosively awesome.

No wonder she could be titled a princess with the surname Xiao.

Even if she was an empty-title princess without real power, so what?

Anyway, Li Xiao was determined to cling to this thigh.

Even Jesus couldn’t stop him.

After hearing Xiao Yanyan’s words, the Khitan cavalry opposite instantly exclaimed.

“It’s the Princess~”

“The Princess really came back.”

“Quickly go back and report to the Great King.”

Some soldiers recognized Xiao Yanyan and ran excitedly towards this side on the spot, wanting to welcome back their princess.

On the other side, in the Eastern Capital Army camp, Xiao Simo was sitting on a folding stool, listening to the report of his scout cavalry.

Resting his arm on his thigh, fingers gently rubbing his stubble.

After contemplating for a moment, he finally said: “So, the strength of these Han people is more formidable than we estimated?”

A general under Xiao Simo nodded heavily and said: “Although the Han attack on Aslan’s tribe had the element of sneak attack, it also proved that the Han people have enough courage and resourcefulness.”

“Must not be underestimated.”

As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.

The first thing the Eastern Capital Army did upon arriving in Jin Prefecture was to send people to understand the current situation in Jin Prefecture.

But this understanding shocked the Khitans.

Aslan’s tribe, one of the three major Karluk tribes in Jin Prefecture, was wiped out by the Han people.

The other two tribes didn’t conquer most of Jin Prefecture like sweeping fallen leaves in the autumn wind as imagined.

Instead, because of the tenacious resistance of the Han people, they didn’t make much progress.

In short, the situation in Jin Prefecture was much better than they had imagined before.

Originally, Xiao Simo thought that after coming to Jin Prefecture, he would have a fierce battle with the Karluks first.

Unexpectedly, the Han people did him a big favor.

Xiao Simo even suspected that even if the Eastern Capital Army didn’t come, the Han people might be able to extinguish the Karluk rebellion.

“Hexi Fortress Lord, Li Xiao?”

“Hehe, interesting,” Xiao Simo chuckled lightly.

In the subordinates’ reports, the name mentioned most was this Li Xiao.

A fifteen-year-old boy actually organized such a large-scale night raid and successfully eliminated the entire Aslan tribe.

This had to make Xiao Simo somewhat curious about this young man.

“Was the matter of the Čarlan tribe also done by this Li Xiao?” Xiao Simo asked calmly.

The subordinate shook his head: “Not clear yet.”

“But this Han fortress that wiped out the Čarlan tribe indeed has a very good relationship with Hexi Fortress, and also participated in that battle to raid Aslan’s tribe.”

Hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Xiao Simo’s face: “Interesting.”

“If there’s a chance, I’d like to meet this Han youth.”

Just as Xiao Simo’s voice fell, a personal guard walked hurriedly into the big tent and said excitedly to Xiao Simo.

“Great King, the Princess is back.”

“Who?” Hearing the personal guard’s words, Xiao Simo was stunned for a moment.

“The Grand Princess of Chu is back,” the personal guard repeated.

“What?” Hearing this, Xiao Simo’s face instantly showed a shocked expression. He stood up from the folding stool at once, overturning the table in front of him.

“A-Man is back?”

Immediately after, he looked at the personal guard with disbelief. After the other party nodded, shock turned into ecstasy.

“Hahahaha~”

“Good, good~ great.”

“A-Man isn’t dead; A-Man is still alive.”

Xiao Simo clenched his fists excitedly and strode forward.

Since the news of the Karluk rebellion in Jin Prefecture came, Xiao Simo hadn’t slept well for a day.

Jin Prefecture being beaten to pieces, people dying, Xiao Simo could not care.

After all, when Xiao Simo’s army arrived, all demons and monsters would vanish into nothingness.

However, Xiao Yanyan was still in Jin Prefecture!

After the defeat of the Jin Prefecture Governor-General’s army, Xiao Yanyan’s life or death was unknown, with no news at all.

In these days, Xiao Simo felt like years were passing by each day, regretting to death; he really shouldn’t have agreed to let Xiao Yanyan go to Jin Prefecture.

Now it’s good; his sister didn’t die, she came back~

Xiao Simo was overjoyed.

Grabbing his personal guard’s collar, he asked impatiently: “Where is A-Man?”

“Take me to find her.”

Before the personal guard could speak, Xiao Simo heard a voice he thought of day and night.

“Brother~”

Xiao Simo slowly let go of the personal guard, raised his head to look outside the big tent, and froze.

A familiar figure appeared before his eyes, and Xiao Simo’s eyes gradually turned red.

“A-Man~”

“Brother!”

Xiao Yanyan cried and rushed into the tent, throwing herself into Xiao Simo’s arms.

Brother and sister reunited, a deeply touching scene.

The surrounding Khitan generals also looked happy.

In their eyes, Xiao Simo was a great man with strong willpower, perseverance, who wouldn’t yield to anything.

But only in front of the Grand Princess of Chu would Xiao Simo reveal the soft side of his heart.

After all, this was the sister he depended on for life!

When siblings meet, they inevitably pour out their hearts.

Soon Xiao Yanyan talked about her whereabouts during this period.

“Oh, you were saved by a group of Han people?” Xiao Simo said with a surprised look.

“Mm-hmm, at that time in the Northern Mountains, that bastard Dahe Chuluoduo left me and ran away. Many Karluks began to chase me.”

“Fortunately, Li Xiao led people to appear in time and saved me, and even killed more than a hundred Karluk pursuers.”

…

“Later, Li Xiao led people to raid Sanhe Fortress at night and killed all the Karluks of Aslan’s tribe.”

“And he even helped me find back this saber left by Mother~”

“Brother, Li Xiao is definitely a very capable person, brave and resourceful, a rare talent.”

“You must help me reward him well.”

Xiao Simo held the golden saber in his hand, stroking it gently, as if touching a complex emotion for his mother deep in his heart.

But soon, he muttered the name Li Xiao.

“Li Xiao? Hexi Fortress Lord?”

“Hehe, what a coincidence!”

Just now, Xiao Simo was still talking about Li Xiao. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he turned out to be his sister’s savior.

And listening to Xiao Yanyan’s description, the image of Li Xiao in Xiao Simo’s mind became more three-dimensional.

An outstanding young man.

So, he nodded gently, stroked Xiao Yanyan’s head, smiled lightly, and said:

“Don’t worry, A-Man~”

“Since he is a meritorious person, Big Brother will definitely reward him heavily.”

Leaving aside Li Xiao eliminating the Karluks of Aslan’s tribe, just based on the merit of saving Xiao Yanyan alone, Xiao Simo would absolutely not treat him unfairly.

Of course, it also depended on whether Li Xiao was a sensible person.

After all, judging from his behavior of surrounding and annihilating the Čarlan tribe, this was a fierce horse not easily tamed.

(End of this chapter)