Chapter 196 Two Paths (Part )

A loud thunder exploded in the sky, and the sound of rain outside the tent became louder and louder. This first rainstorm after the cold spring finally poured down completely. The sound of thunder mixed with the sound of rain actually drowned out Shili Qixiang's excited voice.

Shuliduo frowned, placed her hands lightly in front of her abdomen, and did not even look at the two sisters Qingguo and Qingcheng who broke in together. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Shili Qixiang.

"What did you say?"

"Queen, I have seen the king!" Shili Qixiang wiped the mud off her face and said excitedly, "Queen, the king is back!"

"We said that big brother... uh... God will help us." Qingguo patted her round belly and laughed: "Everyone said that big brother was trapped in Bohai Sea and was chased by Yelu Lage, a bastard, and couldn't come back, but I just don't believe it."

"That's right." Qingcheng agreed, touching the hairpin on her ear, and was very happy.

Shulido just covered her beautiful eyes, paced back and forth thoughtfully, and then glanced at the two maids on her left and right.

The two understood each other and immediately stepped out of the tent to wait.

"Stand up first." She did not show any particular joy, but seemed very calm. Then she turned around with her hands behind her back, facing away from Shili Qixiang and the other two, and stared at a Tang sword on Lanqi. After a moment, she said, "Tell me in detail."

Shili Qixiang stood up, hesitated for a moment, and said: "My queen, I was ordered to go south to seek help from Xiao Yan seven days ago. I entered Tanzhou through Gubeikou. I planned to find the Yan army commander Xiao Yan had placed in Tanzhou, that is, Tian Daocheng, the commander of the Lulong army, as you said.

However, I had just arrived at Hengshan City in Tanzhou at that time, and before I could enter the camp to find Tian Daocheng, the Yan army was in chaos that night. I saw clearly from the mountain that a group of troops joined forces inside and outside, startling the Yan army camp, and the Lulong army also engaged in a fierce battle, but they could not stop it in time, so they were dragged into the Yan army..."

At this point, she became a little excited again, and her voice was full of joy: "I think this matter is strange, because the sound of the camp call is very similar to that of Mobei, so I sent someone to catch up with the large group of people. Unexpectedly, when I caught up with them, I found that it was... it was the king who led the troops!"

“Haha! I knew what big brother is capable of!” Qingguo rubbed his hands together, then patted Qingcheng on the shoulder and said, “It’s a good thing that sister-in-law didn’t let us sisters go to Bohai to look for big brother, otherwise we would have made a wasted trip!”

Shuliduo nodded slowly, then glanced sideways: "Go on."

"I revealed my identity and went straight to see the king. The king was very happy to see me. He first asked about the situation in the royal court and then about your safety..."

Shili Qixiang spoke very quickly, saying, "The king was relieved when he learned that the queen had not been trapped in the royal court. Then he was very happy to learn that Yelu Lage had not murdered the two princes. He also said, 'Lage is just a little greedy, but he is kind to his family.'"

After listening to the first half of the sentence, Shuliduo withdrew his eyes from the Tang sword, then sat down on a chair and said without joy or anger: "Yelü Lage does have good intentions."

The former knew that what he said was inappropriate, so he quickly changed the subject: "Your Majesty does not know the inside story. I think he still thinks of the brotherhood, and he made such an evaluation after learning that the two princes are safe..."

"Your Majesty is kind and benevolent towards his people. This is clear to me." Shuliduo said, "Please tell me the key points. Where did Your Majesty get the troops? What is the situation of the nearly 10,000 Yan troops? This is what I want to hear in detail."

Beside her, Qingguo Qingcheng rushed to ask, "Hey, Shili Qixiang, how is our big brother? Has he lost weight? Can he still carry a cow?"

Shili Qixiang was startled and looked at Shuliduo, who was also slightly startled after hearing what the two said, but then asked without changing his expression, "How is the king himself?"

"The king is fine, and he was victorious at the time, so he was in a good mood. He has indeed lost some weight..."

"Jiejie, it seems that big brother is still suffering." Qingcheng took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

"That's right, I said that I shouldn't let my eldest brother go south." Qingguo spread his hands and complained, "Now it's like this, with my second brother and eldest brother fighting for the throne, our good family has been ruined because of this trip south."

Shili Qixiang saw Shuliduo frowning, so she immediately said, "Queen, the king's troops, in addition to the remnants from last year, also include some Black Water Mohe people from Bohai State..."

"Jurchen?" Shulido asked without even thinking.

"Yes, it was the Jurchens." Shili Qixiang explained, "They called themselves the Wanyan tribe, and their leaders were a pair of brothers. The king borrowed two thousand soldiers from them so that he could go back to Liaoxi from Bohai. As for the nearly ten thousand Yan troops, the king sent the Jurchens to seize Liu Rengong, the King of Yan appointed by Xiao Yan, and then spread rumors that Xiao Yan was about to march north, and took them away together..."

"Wanyan tribe...Liu Rengong..."

Shuliduo nodded slowly, and finally a little emotion appeared on his face. He thought: "In other words, the king already has more than 10,000 troops under his command?"

"That's right!" Shili Qixiang said happily, "According to my observation, although the two thousand Jurchens are not well-equipped, they are very brave and are not inferior to our Mobei warriors. They can be called cavalry warriors!"

Beside her, Qingguo Qingcheng could no longer hold back and asked anxiously, "You've said so much, why didn't our eldest brother come back with you?"

Shili Qixiang explained, "At that time, the king was leading his army eastward. Although I explained to him that Gubeikou was in our hands, the king said that Gubeikou was protected by Danzhou, where Xiao Yan's troops were stationed. Although he captured nearly 10,000 Yan troops, most of them were incomplete. If he fought with Xiao Yan, he would be defeated and lose most of his troops. So he planned to go east through Xifengkou and Luanhe River back to Mobei."

As she spoke, she looked at her queen and said, "The king also said that you don't need to hold on to this place any longer, Queen. Just break out as quickly as possible."

But to her surprise, the expression on Shuliduo's face slowly faded, and then she fell into deep thought, as if she was thinking about something.

On the contrary, the two sisters Qingguo and Qingcheng were eager to fight. Qingguo was tall and took the lead in patting her chest and said, "Sister-in-law, big brother is right. Let's not wait here. We should go and reunite with big brother as soon as possible. We sisters will protect you and fight your way out. Let's see who dares to stop me, Yelu Tabuyan!"

"Don't worry, sister-in-law. With us, the sisters from the grassland, here, no one can hurt you." Qingcheng also echoed and added.

At this time, Shuliduo smiled faintly and waved his hand: "In this case, you go down and prepare. We will look for you after we break through."

The two sisters were naturally overjoyed. They did not even need to greet each other and just turned around and walked out, muttering to each other at the same time.

"Finally there is hope..."

"Wait until the eldest brother comes back, and then I'll teach the second brother a lesson."

"Yes, beat him up!"

……

As Shiri Qixiang watched the two people walk out of the big tent, she subconsciously fell silent and stood there. She suddenly lost her initial excitement and joy.

"Wipe your face."

After the two Qingguo Qingcheng left, Shuliduo's expression returned to normal. She stood up, picked up a towel she was using and threw it to Shili Qixiang.

The latter took it and had a bad feeling. He even forgot to thank the master for a moment and just buried his head in wiping his face.

After she wiped the mud off her face, Shuliduo put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "In other words, there are only two thousand Jurchens under your command who are capable of great use? Or, are two thousand Jurchens not enough now?"

"There are still nearly 10,000 Yan troops..." Shili Qixiang spoke subconsciously, but paused, then trailed off, stammering: "There are also, there are still hundreds of elite cavalrymen of General Dilu and General Helu, all of whom were taken away from the royal court last year. After several fierce battles, they are all very brave..."

"That's three thousand people?"

Shuliduo remained calm and said, "I will not count the losses of the Jurchens who broke through the Lulong army, nor the specific number of people under Xiao Dilu and Yelu Helu. I will just assume that they are a total of 3,000 cavalry. As for the so-called nearly 10,000 Yan troops, I will not count whether they can fight, whether they are a burden, their morale, their weapons, their military supplies, and whether the commanders of each army will obey orders. I will just assume that they are nearly 10,000 unarmored infantry.

So, 3,000 cavalrymen need to protect nearly 10,000 unarmored infantrymen, and then they need to be led northwards through the border, into the northern desert, to fight a decisive battle with Yelu Lage. Shili Qixiang, have you told the king how many soldiers and horses Yelu Lage has under his command?"

Shili Qixiang's forehead was covered with sweat and he hurried to explain.

But before he could say anything, Shuliduo's voice suddenly rose slightly, and her beautiful eyes were filled with frost: "Or is it that the king does not intend to fight a decisive battle with Yelu Lage?!"

Shili Qixiang's fingers trembled slightly, and she didn't dare to raise her head. Her Adam's apple rolled up and down, and she said in a dry voice: "This is exactly what I want to report to the queen...

The king said that the queen should just break through and head south to join him...Although the nearly 10,000 Yan troops cannot be called a strong army, they can select 5,000 to 6,000 young and strong men. The king is confident that he can train a group of real soldiers within a few months. At that time, as long as the queen leads us to break through and join the king, the king will have tens of thousands of real soldiers under his command..."

She swallowed, obviously not knowing whether she should say the next words or not, but her scalp was tingling, as if she realized that Shuliduo's cold eyes were staring at her, so she could only continue to speak in a dry voice.

"The king said that we had a large army at that time. Although we could not compete with Yelu Lage, Yelu Lage could not wipe us out immediately. Moreover, as the King of Mobei, the people in the royal court still had support, so we should be able to force Yelu Lage to sit down and negotiate..."

"Oh?"

Shuliduo laughed, and then asked with a half-smile: "As the people in the Central Plains say, to defeat the enemy without fighting?"

"Yes."

Shili Qixiang suddenly found that she seemed to have walked into a dead end and was unable to move forward or backward.

Sweat kept oozing out of her forehead, but her back kept getting colder.

"We negotiate with Yelu Lage..." Shuliduo seemed to be so angry that he laughed. The chill he had just felt was gone. He just paced back and forth with a smile and said, "Then, Your Majesty can win a breath through this negotiation and force Yelu Lage to return the royal court and the throne to us?"

“It’s not like that…” Shili Qixiang was so overwhelmed by this aura that she dared not raise her head and stammered.

"The king said that through negotiations, we can honor Yelu Lage as the King of Mobei, but as a condition, Yelu Lage must give the king a pasture and a piece of land... The king has troops and Liu Rengong, and can also recruit ambitious people in Yan to Mobei... In just five to ten years, the king will be able to restore his position..."

"I will know it in the end. I will know it in the end."

Shuliduo stood with his hands behind his back, laughed, and then suddenly called out, "Shili Qixiang."

The latter could no longer stare at the ground, so he raised his head and swallowed his saliva: "Slave, slave is here."

The smile on the queen's face suddenly turned into a cold look.

“It’s okay for Tabuyan and Tabuhua, but even for the king!
Even you, do you think that this coup is just a family affair of the Yelu family? Do you also think that, as Ta Buyan said, when the king comes back, everything can be settled, and she can even beat Yelu Lage up? ! "

"I definitely don't mean that..." Shili Qixiang immediately lay down and kowtowed to the ground.

Shuliduo just smiled coldly: "Who do you think Yelu Lage is? Does he really think he dare not kill Yao Guang? Do you think he really takes the king seriously? I will tell you, the so-called coup, once it starts, will never end until one's death! Not to mention that he is the king's brother, even if he and the king are father and son, he dares to commit patricide!

If this queen's head doesn't fall off, Yelu Lage will not be able to sleep even if he gets the throne! Do you think he really doesn't dare to fight the king with his vitality seriously injured? ! This guy has no future in Mobei, he only cares about whether his throne is stable or not. Let alone more than 10,000 troops, even if the king has 50,000 royal court troops, this guy has the opportunity now, and he dares to give it a try! "

Shili Qixiang knelt on the ground, his face pale, and he seemed to dare not make a sound.

"besides--"

Shuliduo smiled coldly: "Who do you think Liu Rengong is? With his reputation, can he really stir up a chaos in Yan land involving hundreds of thousands of people?

Why do you think those nearly 10,000 Yan soldiers followed the king to flee north?"

Shili Qixiang's Adam's apple moved, and he said dryly: "It's because... Xiao Yan..."

"Oh, you know why." Shuliduo said with a cold face, "There are countless people in the so-called Yan army who are trying to take advantage of the situation, and there are even more who are afraid of Xiao Yan's revenge. If there was no news that Xiao Yan was going to kill them, do you really think these people would leave the Yan land where they have lived for generations and come to Mobei with refugees to seek survival just because of Liu Rengong?"

Shili Qixiang's shoulders were shaking and he felt cold all over.

But immediately, Shulido's sneer rang out again.

"besides--"

"It's fine if the king doesn't know, but don't you know it when you follow me? Do you think Xiao Yan will give us the opportunity to recruit people in Yan after this incident? What do you mean by recruiting ambitious people? Xiao Yan even dared to disobey Zhu Wen in the Central Plains. Is there anyone more ambitious than this boy in the entire Yan? Why do you think this boy would do this trick of nurturing the enemy and why did he insist on me sending people to help him cause chaos?"

"Slave, slave..."

After a series of quick and urgent questions, Shili Qixiang had completely lost her spirit and said incoherently: "I was pleasantly surprised to see the king, and I didn't expect these things..."

"So..." Shuliduo covered her beautiful eyes and said slowly: "You, didn't ask Xiao Yan for help?"

Boom...

The thunder roared again, and the huge main tent suddenly became quiet and silent.

The sound of thunder and rain outside came in one after another, mixed with the sound of armored soldiers running quickly and faint shouts of killing in the distance.

Shili Qixiang's face turned pale, and he trembled without saying a word.

"what."

Shuliduo laughed at herself and said, "In fact, there is no need to ask. If this boy goes out to fight, you will definitely run into him... I know that no one in this world can understand me.

The king can’t, you can’t. And he, indeed, can’t either.”

"Queen, let's break out..." Shili Qixiang finally cried, "I deserve to die, but at least the king is really back. I have already found out clearly during this trip to the south. Xiao Yan's trick of nurturing the enemy for his own benefit was delayed for a long time by a senior official from the Central Plains. He couldn't even handle this matter, so how could he send troops..."

"Break through..."

Shuliduo laughed at herself and said, "What's the point? If I leave, Yaoguang will surely die at the foot of the mountain. Not only that, Yelu Lage will probably kill Bei'er when he hears that you are back. Ten thousand people under your command? Oh, it's just three thousand soldiers and nearly ten thousand encumbrances. I believe that you can train up a good army in a few months, but without baggage, equipment, and even money and food, why would the Yan people work hard for me in Mobei?"

After saying this, she seemed to have finally lost her momentum, or perhaps the dozen questions she had just asked Shili Qixiang were actually questions she was asking herself.

"Everything is lost."

Shuliduo's face suddenly became more haggard, and her phoenix eyes lost their majesty. She sat on the chair tiredly, as if nothing could make her hold on any longer.

“Queen…” Shili Qixiang kowtowed desperately and cried, “I deserve to die, I deserve to die…”

"You are not wrong, the king is not wrong, no one is wrong." Shuliduo said tiredly, "It's just that I lost."

After that, she smiled bitterly again, and asked herself, "I don't even know where I lost. Maybe it was the decision to go south last year? Or maybe I shouldn't have gone south to rescue the king? Or maybe I shouldn't have cooperated with the tiger and that person..."

In fact, she knew very well that if Xiao Yan had not appeared, all this would have ended last year when Abaoji led his troops south to aid Liu Shouwen. At that time, the Liu family was in civil war, and whichever family Mobei supported would win, and Mobei would also gain endless benefits from it.

But, no if.

Could it be God's will...

Shuliduo shook her head in self-mockery, but when this thought came to her mind, she remembered that when she was a child, the priest in the tribe said that she would have power over the world in her life and become a woman like Emperor Wu.

Thinking of this, she smiled sadly, as if she no longer believed this sentence.

In front, Shili Qixiang was still weeping and kowtowing: "Queen, I deserve death, but I beg you not to be discouraged... Why don't you trust the king for once, break out this time, lie dormant for ten or five years! The king will definitely be able to return to the royal court..."

"Where is Yaoguang?" Shuliduo stared at Shiliqixiang.

She knew very well that even if Abaoji regained the throne, he would not listen to her in everything. For example, the future development of Mobei could not be decided entirely by a woman like her, so she tried her best to cultivate Yelu Yaoguang.

Yelu Yaoguang died, and even Yelu Bei died. Her nearly ten years of hard work had gone to waste. Not to mention that she was already thirty years old. Even if she could train a new successor to Abaoji in the future, would she still have the ambition to do so? Would she still have the time to do so?
"..."

Shili Qixiang could not answer, but it was obvious that she wanted Shuliduo to abandon Yelu Yaoguang and Yelu Bei.

"Go ahead." Shuliduo was disheartened and said casually, "I'll consider it later."

Shili Qixiang refused to leave, as if she was afraid that her queen would make an irreversible decision. She knew better than anyone that the queen she had served for more than 20 years was cruel to others and even crueler to herself.

The tent fell into silence. Shulido listened to the faint shouting and screaming outside, but he smiled miserably, got up tiredly, and went to look at the Tang sword.

Then, she slowly drew out the blade, and saw a flash of cold light and murderous aura.

"Queen!" Seri Qixiang was startled and stood up in panic.

Dang clang——

Shuliduo threw the Tang sword on the ground and shook his head: "It's my fault. I shouldn't have trusted him."

The former was stunned. In the past six months, she had wanted to hear the queen say this sentence countless times, but when she heard it at this moment, she felt only desolation in her heart.

"Go out, I'll be alone."

"……Yes."

Serika stepped back, her eyes fixed on her queen, but she saw that for the first time, a look of confusion appeared on the latter's face.

She felt miserable and wished she could die to atone for her crime, but with the enemy at the doorstep, if she died, perhaps no one would be able to help Shulido break out.

However, at this moment, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside.

A moment later, a maid who was guarding outside hurried into the tent. She seemed not to notice the expressions on the two people's faces. She just lowered her head and said, "Queen, a spy broke into the camp from the back mountain and was captured by General Yaoyan. However, this person claimed that he wanted to see you."

"No." Shuliduo waved his hand tiredly: "Behead him."

Shili Qixiang suddenly asked, "Which sect is this person a spy from?"

"General Yaoyan may not know, but this man is wearing the clothes of my Mobei, but he is not from my Mobei."

"Bring him in!"

Shili Qixiang looked at Shuliduo hastily and said, "Queen, maybe he is the king's man. Why not meet him?"

The queen was neither sad nor happy, she was just indifferent.

The former didn't know what else to say, but took this opportunity to stay in the big tent and never leave.

After a while, a man was carried to the tent entrance by Yaoyan's younger brother.

Yaoyan didn't know what happened yet. He looked at Shili Qixiang, who was covered in mud, in surprise, and then said in a buzzing voice, "Queen, the people are here."

Shuliduo forced himself to show his dignity, glanced at the ordinary-looking man, and said indifferently: "You risked your life to break into my camp just to see me?"

"It's not really a risk of death."

Unexpectedly, the tied-up man first glanced at the Tang sword on the ground, then smiled and said, "It's not really a request to see the queen, but someone just pushed the dirty work to me again?"

"Dirty work?" Shili Qixiang stood in front of Shuliduo cautiously: "Who are you?"

The man smiled and said, "Perhaps the queen has heard of my name."

"Say it."

"Barr."

Suddenly, Shuliduo stood up abruptly and stared at the man with a look of surprise and doubt.

Shili Qixiang was also confused. Why did this person Bal sound familiar?

"Of course, I have another name." The man narrowed his eyes and smiled, saying: "Xiao Yan, you are used to calling me Sanqianyuan..."

Shuliduo's eyes flashed, and she said in a deep voice: "What do you want to say?"

"He asked me to tell you."

Sanqianyuan raised his head, looked at the map behind Shuliduo, and pointed with his chin: "Break out and lure Yelu Lage south. Don't worry, your worries have been solved."

Shili Qixiang was startled, and suddenly remembered who "Baal" was, and then he was frightened again.

Worry about the future...

"Untie the rope for him." Shuliduo first instructed his younger brother Yaoyan, then clenched his palm tightly with his fingers and looked at Sanqianyuan: "You mean, Yaoguang?"

"As long as the queen understands."

Sanqianyuan stretched his arms and said meaningfully, "By the way, he also asked me to tell the queen.

There are two paths, and the queen should make a choice. "

(End of this chapter)