Chapter 201 The New King and His Father Khan

In early spring, the snow outside the Great Wall was about to melt, but was almost completely washed away by a few days of heavy rain. The snow melted into icy water, forming depressions on the grassland where young grass was growing. Looking down from a distance, it looked like a swamp.

It's strange to say, the heavy rain started falling when Xiao Yan went on the northern expedition. At that time, it seemed like there was a hole in the sky, and the rain poured down like a torrent, making the land outside the Great Wall and the Yan area muddy.

The heavy rain made it difficult for Yelu Lage to attack the queen, and it also made it difficult for him to hunt down the queen. It also caused the people in Mobei to almost ignore the army coming from the south to march north.

However, as the Northern Expedition began to end at lightning speed, the heavy rain that seemed like it would never stop gradually stopped.

As Xiao Yan continued to move northward, the layers of dark clouds rolled back, and the sunlight that had been blocked for more than half a year suddenly poured down from the gaps in the clouds, shining on the boundless grassland and swamps. The tens of thousands of Yandi soldiers who had been fighting in the rain for several days could not help but cheer to the sky, calmly accepting this baptism from heaven.

The sun is shining, the sky is cloudless, and the weather is fine.

On both sides of the Cangli River, about 300 miles south of the Mobei royal court, rows of knights were watering their horses on the banks, flags were waving, and countless armored soldiers were galloping on their horses along the river bank with high spirits, and cheers were heard in the air.

The sunlight is very dazzling. Along the Cangli River heading north, there are puddles like mirrors almost everywhere, reflecting the dazzling light, which makes people feel happy.

On the grass on the south side of the river bank, Xiao Yan sat casually on a carpet, holding a very slender eagle feather pen in his hand, writing and drawing on a small booklet.

A few bad guys were taking Xiao Yan and their mounts for a walk in the distance. They didn't come over easily. They turned their backs and were obviously circling in the distance.

The ultraviolet rays outside the Great Wall are very strong. In just ten days or so, Xiao Yan has become darker. The sunlight is also very dazzling, and the reflection on the water not far away makes his outline clearer. However, his movements are neither slow nor steady, and he has the temperament of a superior.

The queen was kneeling beside him. There was a small table in front of her, and she was slowly grinding ink.

Shulido today wore her long hair in a bun on top of her head like the Han people, which was rare. Several small braids were also fixed with golden hairpins. She was not wearing a felt hat. She looked very cool in the sun, but still had the gentleness of a mature beauty.

However, she was wearing a Mobei-style left-breasted military uniform as usual, with a calm expression. She just sat there and pondered quietly, which made her look extremely dignified, noble, and heroic.

Also in the distance, several maids were standing bent over, their eyes fixed on the ground, holding a few trays with some fresh fruits on them, and they did not approach easily.

Shuliduo ground the ink neither slowly nor slowly, his eyes fixed on the ink tray, but his peripheral vision was glancing at Xiao Yan beside him, vaguely making out the words on the booklet in his hand, from which he could see words like "Linhuang Prefecture", "Household Registration", "Military Registration" and so on.

She felt gloomy in her heart. In fact, she knew very well that Xiao Yan was not afraid of letting her see it, otherwise he would not have been conceiving calligraphy and painting in front of her, not to mention asking her to help him polish it.

Moreover, the three words "Linhuang Prefecture" are easy to understand. The Xilou Town of the Mobei royal court is located between the Lang River and the Huangshui River. A few dozen miles north of this is the Huangshui River. It was Shulido who told Xiao Yan this.

At the moment, Shuliduo knew without thinking that these three words were used to name the royal court. The Central Plains area was a road system, such as Henan Road and Henan Prefecture, which was Luoyang, and Daliang's capital Bianzhou, which was Kaifeng Prefecture.

There is nothing wrong with naming it. Perhaps according to Shuliduo's own idea, when Mobei is completely established, the royal court will also be called this name, but what about the household registration and military registration...

But he really had the queen's weak spot.

……

"General Xiao, how about some melons and fruits? They are all presented by the chieftains who came to serve us. They are not many, just to reward General Xiao for his hard work in the battle."

Shuliduo smiled and said, "May I have someone present it to you?"

"Oh, bring it here."

Xiao Yan waved his hand casually, obviously not taking it to heart.

Shulido chuckled and nodded slightly to the maids in the distance.

Several plates of washed green plums, grapes, red dates, and yellow pears were placed in front of Xiao Yan. However, the maids did not leave immediately. One beautiful maid glanced at Shuliduo carefully.

The queen nodded slowly.

The maid knelt down, not too low, but just enough to expose a little bit of her collar, then picked up a bunch of grapes and timidly said in not very fluent Chinese: "General Xiao, please..."

Xiao Yan stopped writing and looked at her with a frown.

The maid was a little uneasy and lowered her head, but her arms still held the grapes and handed them over.

Fortunately, Xiao Yan just smiled and took the bunch of grapes. He turned around and said, "In the early spring, there are such cross-season fruits in Mobei? It seems that there are capable people under the Queen's command."

Shuliduo calmly glanced at the booklet that Xiao Yan had placed on the small table, and said with a smile: "General Xiao has indeed misunderstood. The people under my command are now dwindling, and this is really presented by the chieftains of the tribes."

"It's Queen Xin."

Xiao Yan pointed at the plates and said to the maid with a smile, "Why, you only want to give them to me and forget about your queen? Or do you not dare to let your queen use these fruits?"

Hearing this, the maids turned pale and quickly knelt down: "We dare not murder General Xiao!"

The former just laughed, obviously not really meaning it.

But Shuliduo frowned slightly, then sighed and waved to the girls: "Go down."

Several women bowed their heads hurriedly and stepped back in a hurry.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, General Xiao." Shuliduo put down the grinding tool, pressed the sleeve on his wrist, took a pineapple himself, and cut it into small pieces with his personal knife.

"Whatever the queen wants to say, just say it."

Xiao Yan laughed, pointing at the maids who were obviously not always with Shuliduo, and said, "With our friendship, do we still need to use this honey trap?"

Shuliduo was frank and said directly: "Those women are all daughters of respectable chieftains in various tribes. It would be a blessing for them if they could be favored by General Xiao."

Xiao Yan laughed and shook his head, but did not take the small piece of pineapple handed to him by Li Duo. Instead, he took one for himself and flicked his finger, and the small knife on the edge of the plate fell into his palm.

While peeling the pears, he said slowly, "I know what the queen wants to ask and what she is worried about."

Shuliduo's face subconsciously tensed.

"What the queen is thinking is that I have been stationed here for the past two days and have not moved forward. She is worried that I might have other ideas. And -"

Xiao Yan pointed at the booklet and asked with a smile, "And what I want to do with Mobei, the things that the queen is worried about are nothing more than these two things, right?"

Shuliduo blinked her beautiful eyes and said half-truthfully, "That's right, but I'm not worried. I'm worried that General Xiao doesn't trust me, so he won't tell me the truth."

As she spoke, she pointed to the tents that stretched out in the distance to the south and said, "General Xiao, do you know that your appearance has caused a great disturbance in Mobei? When I went out to the border two months ago, I had summoned all the tribes, but almost no one responded. However, you have defeated Yelu Lage several times, and the whole of Mobei has begun to turn around because of you. I am worried that if you are deceived by villains and do not trust me, there will be countless evil-minded people in Mobei..."

Xiao Yan had good eyesight. Looking in the direction of her finger, he saw a few big men dressed as chiefs who, after watching the maids retreat, began to hang their heads and stamp their feet in a corner, looking extremely disappointed.

After hearing this, he smiled and asked, "Queen, don't you have any bad intentions towards me?"

Shuliduo suddenly paused, staring at the small piece of yellow pear in her hand for a long time, then slowly took a bite, met Xiao Yan's eyes, and said word by word: "To borrow General Xiao's words, do I have any other choice?"

"Oh? At Xifengkou, there is still..."

"In this queen's eyes, there is no Xifengkou."

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and met Shuliduo's eyes.

The queen's expression was calm, but her beautiful eyes showed a resolute determination. She looked at Xiao Yan without hesitation, and this time she did not look away.

The former's expression remained unchanged as he peeled off the last piece of pear skin and said, "The queen is indeed very courageous."

"No, if it weren't for General Xiao, I wouldn't have such courage." Shuliduo shook her head and said, "And if it weren't for General Xiao, I would go to Xifengkou. If it weren't for General Xiao, I would also believe that Xifengkou could become powerful..." She pondered for a moment and said lightly, "But I know there will be no ifs. Mobei is no longer the same as before and can't stand any more turmoil. I know that General Xiao can defeat Yelu Lage with thunderous force, and he can use the same means to deal with me and the king.

Between Mobei and the King, I simply chose Mobei, but the prerequisite is that General Xiao can sincerely cooperate with me..."

Xiao Yan met her gaze and just smiled with a relaxed expression.

He turned around and waved to the bad guys in the distance.

After a moment, a man rushed over and knelt on one knee: "Xiao Shuai."

"Give me the stuff."

"Here."

The bad guy took out a letter from his pocket and presented it with both hands.

After Xiao Yan took it, he immediately left, as if he had no intention of eavesdropping on their conversation.

"In the past two days, you have summoned the chiefs of various tribes and invited me to attend several times, but I did not agree."

Xiao Yan handed the letter to Shuliduo and said, "I know this action has greatly reduced your dignity, but I have taken the opportunity to collect a lot of good things. This is the list of tribes that have privately expressed their willingness to pledge allegiance to me. Take a look for yourself."

Shuliduo frowned and took it quickly.

As soon as she saw it, her hands began to tremble subconsciously, obviously feeling a little unbelievable.

"Is this enough to show my sincerity?" Xiao Yan placed the peeled pineapple on the plate indifferently, rubbed the blade of the knife with his fingers, and said with a smile: "They bullied you because you had almost no soldiers under your command, and the Han army was reduced to only a hundred people. There were only five hundred truly loyal people around you. Seeing that I didn't seem to really support you, Queen, they suggested that I could re-elect a new king for the tribe..."

"Hmm..." He thought for a moment and said, "If I give up Yelu and you, Queen, these powerful men will be willing to serve me as their master."

Shuliduo's lips were bitten white. She looked up at Xiao Yan and was speechless for a moment because of fear.

She knew that this was not a joke. Not all tribes on the grassland respected the Yelu clan. In the past, it was simply because the Yelu clan had the most troops and controlled the largest territory, which made the other tribes sincerely respect them as royal families.

But now the royal court, which was the place where the Yelu family rose to power, has been severely damaged. Yelu Lage's 50,000 troops marched south, and only about 10,000 defeated soldiers escaped. Abaoji has gone into exile and is missing. Shulido is left with only a few hundred soldiers.

Seeing this situation, the chiefs of various tribes who came to pay a visit naturally had other thoughts.

It was really because the Yelu clan had suffered such a terrible decline in the past year and a half, and had lost too many soldiers and horses. Even the queen only had 500 soldiers and horses. It was inevitable that they were disappointed and set their sights on Marshal Xiao Yan, who was capable of sweeping the entire grassland.

Not to mention the nearly 10,000 elite cavalrymen under Xiao Yan's command, just the 3,000 heavily armored cavalrymen, as long as they have sufficient supplies, can completely crush the grassland. You must know that even their Mobei royal court is just a palace tent, and the number of cities built on the entire grassland can be counted on one hand. What can they use to compete with these heavy cavalry?

Moreover, in every era, there is no shortage of guides. As long as Marshal Xiao gives the nod, there are countless tribes that would sell everything they have and grit their teeth to come up with a batch of supplies to supply Marshal Xiao's troops.

"My queen..." Shuliduo bit her lip for a long time and whispered, "I want to know what Jiulang thinks."

In fact, she had seen it very clearly in the past two days. Although Xiao Yan had led her thousands of miles northward, and their alliance seemed unbreakable, she was really afraid that Xiao Yan would turn against her one day and let her fall into the bottomless abyss.

Especially now.

"Don't worry, Queen."

Xiao Yan smiled and said, "I have no interest in the grassland, and I have no intention of staying outside the Great Wall. What I need now is a Mobei who can obey me for a few years.

They can't do it. They don't have your means and prestige, Queen, and their own strength is not enough to suppress the various tribes and make them obey. Once I leave, they will inevitably fall apart and run to join forces with Li Keyong, Li Siyuan, and Zhu Wen, which is not in line with my expectations. "

Shulido breathed a sigh of relief.

"but--"

Xiao Yan leaned forward and squinted his eyes and said, "The queen is too resourceful. It really makes me worried."

"Jiulang, you are joking." Shuliduo said solemnly without hesitation: "I swear by the Eternal Heaven that if I betray Jiulang, I will not die a good death in this life."

Xiao Yan glanced at her, laughed, and then cut the pineapple in half, giving half to himself and the other half to Shuliduo.

"I still remember what the queen said that day, you and I will share Mobei."

"That's right. I haven't forgotten it." Shuliduo took the half pineapple with a serious face.

"The Queen can deal with the people on the list as she pleases. It has nothing to do with me."

Xiao Yan pointed at the letter, sat cross-legged, and said, "Now, it's time for the Queen to fulfill her promise."

Shulido was slightly startled, and then called over one of her real maids.

"Let Yaoguang come over."

Soon, Yelu Yaoguang was brought in by two maids. The former was still wearing a short robe and seemed to be practicing archery.

"Mother"

"Kneel down."

Yelu Yaoguang didn't ask any more questions and immediately knelt down respectfully.

Shuliduo glanced at Xiao Yan, and seeing that the latter seemed to be also looking at what she was going to do, she spoke without hesitation.

"Yaoguang, raise your head."

"Yes."

"Look at this man clearly. From now on, in Mobei, you can only rely on one person, and that is General Xiao. In the royal court, besides your mother, you can only trust him."

Shuliduo stared at Yelu Yaoguang and said word by word: "From now on, General Xiao is your father Khan of the Central Plains."

The latter was stunned.

Xiao Yan also smiled with interest, but said nothing.

"Did you hear that?" Shuliduo's face turned cold.

Yelu Yaoguang did not hesitate any more and refused to think about it. He bowed to Xiao Yan and said, "Yaoguang greets Uncle Xiao... I greet Father Khan. Please teach Yaoguang archery!"

Shuliduo let out a breath and watched Xiao Yan's reaction closely, but saw that the latter remained silent.

Her heart skipped a beat.

But immediately, Xiao Yan's faint smile was heard.

"Queen, gather the chiefs of the tribes."

"It's time to appoint a new king."

(End of this chapter)