She entered the palace at the age of fourteen, and her age this year is fifty-two. After careful calculation, from the time she entered the palace to now, no more, no less, exactly thirty-six years.
And before she entered the palace, her childhood sweetheart's other half was Han Dechang!
In an instant, her heart felt as if she had been pricked by a needle. It hurt a little, not very violently, but it lingered for a long time.
The candlelight in the silver tent danced slowly, illuminating her white hair and his wrinkles.
They are no longer young.
The past events of my youth, whether regretful or sentimental, are all in the past.
When I think of it now, I feel more nostalgia than wanting to make any compensation.
It is impossible to compensate for what has been lost.
"Have you encountered any embarrassing things recently?" After a moment, Han Dechang didn't want to worry about the issue of addressing each other anymore, and asked proactively with a smile.
No matter the fifty-two-year-old Empress Dowager Xiao or the fourteen-year-old Xiao Yanyan, in his eyes, the character has not changed much. That is, when she wants to help, she will act coquettishly and resort to all kinds of tricks, but she will never tell the truth.
.
When she was a girl, she would tie herself to a relationship and make herself do this and that for him. In the first few years when she became the Queen Mother, she often repeated her same tricks.
In the past ten years, her position has become more and more stable, and she has the emperor and the entire Liao under her control, so she finally stopped using such little tricks.
But today, she suddenly recalled the events of her youth again. Perhaps the purpose was not the same as her own. She just wanted to shake her head and smile at the young couple in her memory.
"In your eyes, am I so miserable? If there is no embarrassing thing, I won't think of you?" Xiao Chuo was stunned again when he was asked, quickly cleared up the feelings on his face and heart, and rolled his eyes at Han Dechang.
.
It was still a familiar move, and he resolutely refused to admit it even if he was caught. The heavy feeling in Han Dechang's heart suddenly weakened a lot.
Smiling, he responded softly, "There is nothing unbearable. When you have something to do, you should ask me to help, isn't it right? As for when you have nothing to do, you are the Queen Mother of Liao, and I am the King of Qi of Liao. The two of us
People have a lot of things to be busy with, and it’s okay for them not to think of each other.”
These are all true.
This attitude is open-minded enough and is actually how many old friends get along with each other.
Immediately, the acupuncture feeling in Xiao Chuo's heart also quickly weakened. He rolled his eyes at Han Dechang again and shook his head helplessly, "You are really boring. I don't know what the ladies in your family have done over the years.
How did you get through the day?"
"Let's live day by day, now that we are husband and wife. Besides, when they married me, they were already pretty enough." Han Dechang responded with a smile without being upset.
"Yes, they are marrying the youngest founding father of Daliao. They are less than twenty years old and they have no right to know about Nanjing." Xiao Chuo felt something again and sighed.
Didn't she herself devote half her life to the glory of the moment she got married?
Being an emperor's woman is unparalleled in the world. As for Han Dechang back then, although she couldn't let go of her, compared to being an imperial concubine and assisting her husband in governing the world, the attraction to her as a girl was weaker after all.
"I have four thousand direct descendants in my hands, and the troops of the Shiwei and Mohe clans who came to help me can also be used by me." Since he had guessed that Xiao Chuo suddenly started to feel nostalgic and wanted something, Han Dechang simply took the initiative to reveal it.
Ming Jiadi said, "In addition, there are seven or eight generals who are also friendly with me. In addition to Your Majesty, if you find anyone who may be detrimental to Daliao, my sword can be used by you at any time!"
"It's not that serious! You don't have to take Longxu out alone." Xiao Chuo immediately put away his emotion and shook his head with a smile, "I never wanted to be the empress of Daliao, and the relationship between mother and son with Longxu has not diminished at all.
.Although, now he feels more and more annoyed that I am in the way."
After a pause, her voice dropped rapidly, "What I am in trouble with today is how to restrain the ambition of Chu King Longyou so that the emperor and he will not fight each other in the future."
"King Chu? He wants to rebel? The Queen Mother must be careful, he is your biological son!" Han Dechang was frightened and quickly dissuaded him in a low voice.
King Yelu Longyou of Chu was Xiao Chuo's second son. He had a very close relationship with the current emperor Yelu Longxu as brothers and sisters.
During Yelulong's southern expedition, King Yelulongyou of Chu was specially left to sit in Zhongjing to guard the palace for him and protect the families of the officials.
If Yelu Longyou develops a disloyal heart, not only will the great cause of the Southern Expedition be ruined, but the emperor himself will lead the army back to quell the rebellion, and countless civil servants, generals and their families who stayed in Beijing will die!
"It is precisely because he is my biological son that I am in trouble." Xiao Chuo's voice also lowered, with anxiety that could not be hidden in his eyes, "He has already made some moves, but he has not yet made a final decision.
If I kill him now, I'm afraid he will be wronged. But if I let it go and wait for him to repent, I'm afraid he will definitely die in the end, and Longxu will doubt me for this."
"I will immediately ask the emperor for orders early tomorrow morning and return to Beijing to urge the supply of horse feed and livestock to the front line." Han Dechang was very decisive. He did not ask where Xiao Chuo's news came from, but immediately began to plan a solution.
He was the prime minister of Liao and the king of Qi. His disciples and old friends were all over the court and the public.
He defeated the Song army, suppressed the rebellion and assisted the government, and was famous in the three capitals of Liao Dynasty.
He has enough friends in the descendants of the Xiao family, the royal Yelu family, and the major Khitan tribes, and they respond to his calls.
He also has direct descendants given by two generations of emperors, which is enough to intimidate those around Yelu Longyou from making rash actions.
However, Xiao Chuo glanced at Han Dechang and shook his head sadly, "The emperor has never been betrayed since he was a child. If he knew that Longyou had evil intentions, even if Longyou had not implemented them, I am afraid he would not allow Longyou to live in the world.
!”
She could control a vast country and make the ministers obey her orders. However, she could not stop her two sons from drawing swords against each other.
This was what made her feel haggard, and what made her feel so weak that she had to reach out to Han Dechang for help again.
Except for Han Dechang, no one in the civil and military dynasties, including the clan elders with the surnames Yelu and Xiao, could put themselves in her shoes.
Except for Han Dechang, no one can successfully resolve the crisis and ensure that her other son will not be settled by the Queen.
This was a choice she made after careful consideration and was verified by many experiences. Han Dechang has never failed to live up to her expectations in his life, and I believe it will be the same this time.
"Actually, I am also old. I can't help at all if I stay on the front line. Your Majesty is not willing to ask me, an old minister, for advice on everything!" Sure enough, as she wished, Han Dechang quickly thought of a more appropriate solution.
The solution was, "If I can't stand the heat and get sick, your majesty will definitely allow me to go back to Daliao to recuperate. If I take the opportunity to ask for the task of organizing food, grass and baggage for the front line, your majesty will not suspect that I have other plans."
Knowing that Xiao Chuo was worried, he slowed down his speech and continued to add, "When I return to Shangjing, I will immediately transfer the King of Chu to Nanjing in your name. Without supporters around him, he will have no reliance to realize his ambitions.
.Then, you send him to the wilderness to suffer more. Afterwards, even if the emperor guesses that he has been up to no good and sees his bruised and swollen face, he will be soft-hearted. Even if he is not soft-hearted, the King of Chu is in your hands, and he will
It’s not easy to send troops to catch him.”
"Those who instigated him, Nanmian Xingren Division has compiled a list for me!" Good Xiao Chuo made a decision immediately, took out a piece of silk from his sleeve, and held it in front of Han Dechang, "Bring the list with you and verify it.
After that, kill those who deserve to be killed, and those who deserve to be punished by that clan, and don’t tolerate any of them!"
She feels sorry for her own son, but she doesn't feel sorry for outsiders.
She would kill those "traitors" who threatened the Liao Dynasty without frowning in her eyes.
"Yes!" Han Dechang took the silk cloth and bowed in salute. In an instant, he felt a little relieved in his heart.
"Have you wanted to return to Daliao for a long time? Are you not optimistic about this southern expedition?" Xiao Chuo's intuition was very keen. He immediately noticed the change in Han Dechang's mentality and asked with a frown.
"I'm getting old too!" Han Dechang smiled and did not give a direct answer.
"Why?" Xiao Chuo was not satisfied with the answer. He took a step forward and grabbed Han Dechang's wrist again.
"A new generation replaces an old one. The emperor should have his own arms beside him. If I stay, I won't be able to help, but it will become redundant." Han Dechang did not hide anything, adding with a smile, "In addition, the Song Army used gunpowder bombs
, I can’t think of a way to crack it.”
"That's all?" Xiao Chuo was hesitant and continued to investigate.
"And the man who donated gunpowder bombs to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty." Han Dechang gave another answer without thinking, "He reminds me of an enemy of our Han family, Zheng Ziming."
"Zheng Ziming?" Queen Mother Xiao Chuo frowned and lost some strength before remembering another legend.
That legend is already very far away from now.
I think back then, there was a girl in Han Dechang's family who brought her husband back from the south of the Yangtze River to meet her family. The husband she chose was Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the Song Dynasty!
The elders of the Han family had no vision and could not see Zhao Kuangyin's future. They took great action to break up the couple, and in the future, they won the trust of the then Emperor of Liao and killed the girl with their own hands in front of Zhao Kuangyin and his two sworn brothers.
Shoot.
One of Zhao Kuangyin's two sworn brothers was Chai Rong, who later became Zhou Shizong.
One was the prince of the later Jin Dynasty, Shi Ziming. At that time, in order to avoid disaster, he changed his surname to Zheng.
Just a few years later, the Han family paid a huge price for their choice.
The monster-like Zheng Ziming actually defeated 20,000 elites of the Liao Dynasty with the help of a cold (flu). Together with Zhao Kuangyin, they killed the commander Han Kuangmei and others who were leading the army at the front of the battle.
The Han family was hit harder than anyone imagined. It took them twenty years to finally recover.
"Queen Mother, I have a favor to ask you." When I was in a trance, I heard Han Dechang say solemnly.
"You can say whatever you want, as long as I can do it, I will never shirk it!" Xiao Chuo knew that he could not let Han Dechang just work without asking for anything in return, so he smiled and nodded gently.
"Then Han Qing is like Zheng Ziming's second best." Han Dechang put away his smile and bowed his head in salute, "If the Queen Mother has the chance to get rid of him, she must do it at any cost. Otherwise, I don't know how many variables are waiting for Your Majesty next.
