The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 180 The Fall of the Sun Khan, Chaos Erupts in the Eastern Capital

"Reporting, Grand Commander!"

"The Kereit army crossed the Yudujin Mountains and encountered our army near the Dragh River."

"Li Dahu and Li Erhu, two commanders of ten thousand men, led their troops in a night raid and killed more than three thousand Kereit soldiers."

In Tannu Tuva, Li Xiao quickly received the battle report of the Battle of the Dragh River.

Without much hesitation, he ordered in a deep voice, "Order all the tribes of the First Garrison to assemble immediately and prepare to march south."

"Order Li Sanhe, the 50,000th household commander, to lead his troops to garrison Tannu Uriankhai and wipe out all resistance within his territory."

Although the main force of the Naiman army was annihilated, some scattered soldiers escaped and harassed the Jinzhou army from time to time, causing them great annoyance.

Furthermore, some hidden Naiman tribes have not yet been discovered.

Li Xiao assigned these meticulous tasks to Li Sanhe.

From now on, the population and grasslands of the Naiman tribe will belong to Jinzhou.

Li Xiao planned to appoint Li Sanhe as the General Protector of the Western Sea, stationed in the territory east of Jinshan and west of Yudujin Mountain.

"As ordered!"

After his personal guards left, Li Xiao went to a small tent not far away.

Although it was almost noon, Gu'erbiesu, who had been tormented by Li Xiao for most of the night, had just gotten up and was doing her makeup.

"This humble servant greets the Grand Commander."

When Gu'erbiesu saw Li Xiao enter, he quickly got up to greet him.

She even went to Hutu to learn a few sentences of Chinese. Her accent was strange, but you could understand what she meant.

Before he could finish speaking, Li Xiao grabbed him and roughly threw him onto the bed.

Then he grabbed her head and pressed it down.

"The escort team carrying Baibuhua will arrive at the camp soon. You will come with me to see him later."

"Woooooo~"

Li Xiao pressed her head and shook it up and down a few times, taking it as her agreement.

Soon after, a cavalry unit of 120 men arrived at the camp.

They not only escorted Baibuhua back, but also brought back all the women and supplies that Dahu and Erhu had captured along the way.

At this moment, Bai Buhua was in a terrible state. He used to be a big fat man weighing 200 pounds, but now you could clearly see his cheekbones, and his stomach had become flat. He was very thin, but also very weak.

"Come down."

Bai Buhua was tightly bound with ropes and roughly pulled off his horse by the soldiers.

However, when he managed to get up from the ground and raised his head, his expression instantly turned to shock, his legs went weak, and he trembled all over with fear.

In the camp, a flagpole was found to be hanging not a battle flag, but a dried-up human head.

"Toghtobolo~"

Bai Buhua was terrified and said in a trembling voice.

After all, they were brothers. Even though Bu Yilu's black head was completely dried out, he still recognized him instantly.

"He's really dead!"

"Hehehe~ Waaah~"

Gradually, his eyes reddened slightly, and his mood became depressed.

Although by a twist of fate they became enemies for half their lives, their brotherly bond remained, and Bai Buhua never intended to kill him.

Now that Toghtobir has been killed, all that remains in his heart is grief and fear.

Toqto'a Bolor was, after all, the Great Khan of the Naiman, yet the Jinzhou army killed him without hesitation.

Can we really expect them to go easy on us?

The thought that he would end up like Toqto'a Boluo filled Baibuhua with terror, and he could no longer move his legs.

"Grand Commander, the bandit chieftain Baibuhua has arrived."

"Bring him in!"

Soon after, Bai Buhua was brought to Li Xiao's tent.

But the moment he looked ahead, his expression became even more shocked and angry.

A young man was sitting upright on the tiger-skin chair that originally belonged to him.

This man had broad shoulders and a wide waist, his bronze skin gleamed with a cold light, his thick black hair was tied back, and his eyes were like those of a hawk, scanning the crowd with an innate sense of oppression.

It was obvious without a doubt that this man was Li Xiao, the Grand Commander of Jinzhou.

This was his first meeting with Li Xiao. Although he was shocked by Li Xiao's youth, he felt an urge to devour him alive.

The reason was that the person sitting in Li Xiao's lap was none other than Gu'erbiesu.

In the past, she was dignified and reserved in front of Bai Buhua, but now her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were smiling.

Upon seeing this scene, Bai Buhua's pupils constricted sharply, and his breath caught in his throat.

"Gu'er, don't rush."

But then he lowered his head helplessly.

He had long been prepared to be a loser and understood what would happen to Gu'erbie if he fell into the hands of the Jinzhou army.

When this scene unfolds before your eyes, you have no choice but to accept it.

"I am Taiyang Khan of the Naiman tribe, and I wish to see Xiao Simo."

“I am willing to lead the Naiman tribe to surrender to the Six Courts King of Liao,” Bai Buhua said in a deep voice.

But what he got in return was a silly laugh from Li Xiao: "Bai Buhua, look at you, you're utterly ridiculous."

"Now that the Naiman tribe has been destroyed, what right do they have to surrender to our Great Liao?"

He had a feud with the Naiman people.

The rebellion of the three Karluk tribes in Jinzhou resulted in the deaths of Li Dahai and dozens of men from Hexibao.

The Naiman people were the ones supporting that rebellion.

Bai Buqa even provided the Karluks with a hundred sets of heavy armor, which was a direct factor in Li Dahai's death in battle.

Now, the three tribes of the Karluk in Jinzhou have been destroyed. Li Dahai was killed in battle while covering the rear, and Dahe Chuluoduo, who was trying to escape, has been turned into a human pig by Li Xiao and died a miserable death.

Now, the sun sweat has also fallen into his hands.

The revenge for Li Dahai and the young men of Hexibao has been completely avenged.

"What kind of man can't even protect his own woman?"

"Living is also a waste of food."

"Go out and keep your brother company," Li Xiao said in a cold voice.

Many Chinese emperors enjoyed imprisoning enemy leaders in the capital and summoning them to belittle and ridicule them on major holidays, thus showcasing their military prowess and satisfying their arrogance.

But Li Xiao didn't care about any of that.

What he wants is territory, people, women, and wealth.

As for that idiot Bai Buhua, keeping him around is just getting in my way.

Upon hearing that Li Xiao was actually going to kill him, Taiyang Khan's composure vanished completely, and he began to panic.

A trembling voice said, "No~"

"I am Sun Khan, you can't kill me."

"You have already gained control of the Naiman tribe. I am nothing to you. Please, spare me."

“If you like Guerbiesu, I can give her to you.”

"You love gold and silver jewelry, so I would give you my treasured luminous pearls, the finest Persian carpets, and the best warhorses."

"I'll do anything you ask if you can spare my life."

Then he looked at Gurbesu and shouted hoarsely, "We swore an oath before Ahala to be together for life, have you forgotten all of that?"

"Please beg him to let me go."

Upon hearing this, Gu'erbiesu's delicate body trembled slightly, and a hint of barely perceptible panic flashed in her eyes.

Li Xiao looked down at Bai Buhua, secretly shaking his head in his heart.

He couldn't help but think of history's evaluation of Taeyang Khan.

They are cowardly and weak, yet arrogant and conceited.

This assessment is quite accurate. No matter how Baibuhua pretends on the surface, when his life is in danger, all his pride vanishes.

The sight of him kneeling on the ground, weeping and begging for mercy, was truly unsightly.

"You are not as brave as your brother."

"At least, he was cursing me when he was killed," Li Xiao said calmly.

Gu'er Bie Su lowered her eyes, a complex expression flashing across her face, a mixture of guilt and helplessness.

But soon, she nestled into Li Xiao's arms, as if seeking solace.

Baibuhua is a thing of the past.

Li Xiao is the man she can rely on in the future.

So he took the opportunity to express his loyalty, saying, "Bai Buhua, you have disappointed me greatly."

"With a formidable enemy at hand, you are cowardly and utterly irresponsible. Compared to the Grand Commander, you are nothing but a coward!"

"You are not worthy of being my Guerbiesu's man."

Upon hearing this, Bai Buhua's face showed shock before he began to curse wildly.

"Gu'er, be careful! I'm going to kill you, you bitch!"

"I used to be so good to you. I was even willing to give up everything for you, and you betrayed me."

"I kill you."

Bai Buhua roared, his voice filled with despair and hatred.

Seeing this, Li Xiao waved his hand, and the soldiers beside him immediately rushed forward and dragged Bai Buhua away.

"Prostitutes are heartless, actresses are unrighteous, and some women are born to be femme fatales."

"Only a fool like you would be so easily fooled."

Then, turning to look at Gu'erbiesu, she smiled faintly and said, "Should we say a final goodbye to him?"

Gu'erbiesu's face instantly tensed up, and he frantically shook his head, saying, "No, it's not necessary."

"My heart now belongs only to the Grand Commander; there is no room for anyone else."

Li Xiao smiled faintly and said nothing more.

This woman is not only ruthless, but also quite scheming.

Keeping them around for too long will inevitably cause trouble in your backyard sooner or later.

Subsequently, Tayang Khan's head was cut off and hung on the flagpole, alongside that of Buyiruk Khan.

Good brothers should be together, all in one.

Meanwhile, the Golden Armor Army departed the camp in a grand procession, joining forces with the other troops of the First Garrison along the way, along with a thousand Black Armored Heavy Cavalry, for a total of eight thousand soldiers, before heading south to confront the Kereit tribe. On the other side, Sangkun, holding a gilded wine bowl, watched the graceful dance of the Naiman women in the tent, a smug smile playing on his lips.

But when Bileg Beqi stumbled into the tent, his smile froze on his face.

"Your Highness!"

Bileg Beqi's armor was tattered and blood seeped from his wounds. He knelt down with a thud and said in a pained voice.

"Our unit suffered a night attack by the Liao army and lost heavy losses."

"what?"

Sang Kun's pupils contracted sharply, and he smashed the wine bowl in his hand on the ground with a "thud".

"It was my carelessness."

"I didn't expect the Liao army to be so fast. Caught off guard, we were caught in a night attack by the Liao army," Bileg Beqi said, taking responsibility for the attack.

Sangkun angrily demanded, "How many soldiers have you lost?"

“There are less than a thousand people left,” Bileg Begi said hesitantly.

"waste!"

"Five thousand vanguard troops, and only this many remain?"

He kicked over the carved low table in front of him, rushed over to Bileg Beqi in a few steps, his eyes seeming to spit fire.

"How exactly was this battle fought?"

"Your Highness, the strength of the Jinzhou army far exceeds our expectations."

Bileg Beqi struggled to lift his head, his face covered in blood and dust: "They were all wearing a special kind of armor, in red and white, which our swords, spears, and arrows couldn't harm them at all."

"But the weapons of the Jinzhou army are very sharp. This is a spearhead that I captured at the cost of my life."

"It can easily pierce our army's leather armor."

As he spoke, he presented a gleaming spearhead with trembling hands.

Sang Kun took it and examined it carefully. He saw that the spearhead was triangular in shape, very sharp, with a deep blood groove that gleamed with a cold light under the candlelight.

Using the leather armor commonly worn by Kreik soldiers, it was easily pierced.

Sang Kun's face turned extremely ugly: "This is outrageous!"

Why did the Liao army possess such sharp weapons?

"And they were all wearing armor?"

Because of the Jin dynasty's blockade of the grasslands, the rate of grassland soldiers wearing armor was very low.

Only the Naiman and Kereit tribes were able to mine ore and forge a small amount of iron armor; all other tribes could only wear leather armor.

Sangkun knew all too well the difference in combat effectiveness between armored and unarmored soldiers.

Therefore, the news about Bileg Bechi shocked him greatly.

Are all the Jinzhou troops fully armored? How are they supposed to fight this battle?
"Your Highness, the force that attacked my vanguard was only a small number of Liao soldiers, about four or five thousand men."

“Perhaps this is the elite of the Liao army; other armies might not be like this,” Bileg Beg speculated.

But Sangkun could not place his hopes on such speculation regarding the fate of the Kereit army.

He said in a deep voice, "Order all units to halt their advance."

"We'll make a plan after we find out the specific situation of the Liao army."

The night raid by Da Hu and Er Hu made Sang Kunda's mentality somewhat unstable.

Despite having roughly the same troop strength, the Jinzhou army was able to defeat the Kereit army.

Moreover, if the entire Jinzhou army were to be fully armored, then the Kereit forces would be in trouble.

……

War between Jinzhou and the Kereit tribe is imminent, while at the same time, the ice and snow in Dongdu begin to melt.

Xiao Simo, wrapped in a heavy fur coat, slowly walked out of the tent.

The sunlight shone on him, but it couldn't dispel the chill that surrounded him.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and he couldn't help but cough violently. His body trembled violently, and he clutched his chest tightly with both hands, as if he wanted to cough up his internal organs.

"Your Majesty!"

A clear yet worried shout came from behind.

Princess Shulu Wujin, dressed in an exquisite brocade robe, hurried over with her lotus-like steps, her eyes full of concern.

"It's windy outside, and you're not fully recovered yet, why did you come out?"

She reached out her slender hand and gently patted Xiao Simo's back.

Xiao Simo waved his hand, trying to calm his breathing, his voice hoarse: "It's alright, lying in the room for too long is making me a cripple."

"The sun is shining brightly today, so I came out for a walk."

Shu Lu Wujin followed Xiao Simo and slowly arrived at the city wall.

Looking at his pale face and swollen eyes, Shu Luwujin's eyes couldn't help but redden.

Back then, Xiao Simo was known as "capturing tigers on mountains and catching dragons in the sea," and was a first-class warrior of the Liao Dynasty.

But now he spends his days confined to his bed, accompanied only by medicine.

This situation caused Shu Lu Wujin immense heartache, but she could only grieve in silence.

"The war between the Jinzhou army and the Naiman tribe has broken out, and we don't know what the outcome will be."

Xiao Simo stood on the city wall, tightening his coat, his gaze piercing through the endless sky and earth, as if he could see the battlefield where Jinzhou clashed with the Naiman tribe.

"Although Li Xiao is young, he is brave and skilled in battle."

"Moreover, after Your Majesty's conquest, the Naiman tribe has long since become a pack of dogs and is not worth worrying about at all."

"I believe that it won't be long before you hear good news from Jinzhou," Shulu Wujin said reassuringly.

The situation in Tokyo is not optimistic at present.

Xiao Simo's serious injury caused unrest among the various factions in the Eastern Capital, and the royal court took this opportunity to launch repeated attacks across the Ili River into the Seven Rivers region.

Moreover, in the northwest, the Kangli people frequently moved south to attack the inhabitants of Beihai.

The only bright spot is in Jinzhou, where Li Xiao quelled the rebellions in the desert and Gaochang, and is now working to deal with the threat posed by the Naiman people.

After the victory in the Naiman War, the troops from Jinzhou can be dispatched to Dongdu.

The crisis will naturally resolve itself.

But Xiao Simo was not so optimistic. He stretched out his pale fingers and gently stroked the city wall, shaking his head and saying, "It's precisely because Li Xiao is brave and skilled in battle that I'm worried."

Shu Lu Wujin's lips trembled slightly, but she didn't know what to say.

"If I am in good health, then there will be no problem."

"But my time is running out," Xiao Simo sighed softly.

He knows his physical condition best.

His biggest worry was that once he passed away, Xiao Helun would be unable to control his arrogant and fierce subordinates.

At that time, would the northern border be torn apart?
“Your Majesty is overthinking it. Li Xiao is Aman’s husband, and he was promoted by you. He is extremely loyal to you,” Shulu Wujin said softly.

Xiao Simo shook his head slightly and said, "Even biological brothers can turn against each other, and siblings can become enemies."

“I once trusted Xiao Linta so much, yet he betrayed me in the same way.”

"The human heart is the most unfathomable thing."

"What I'm saying isn't just about Li Xiao; isn't it the same for everyone else?"

As he spoke, Xiao Simo suddenly smiled, turned to look at Shu Luwujin, and said:
"If that day really comes, I would rather Li Xiao suppress the others."

"In that case, you and your child might still be able to save your lives."

Shulu Wujin cried, covering her mouth with her hand, silently shedding tears, and stubbornly shaking her head: "Your Majesty, you will definitely get better."

"Don't say such discouraging things."

Just as the couple were talking, a guard rushed over, looking flustered, and said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, something terrible has happened."

"His Highness the Crown Prince has fallen into the water."

Upon hearing this, Shulu Wujin's pupils shrank, her face paled, and she staggered, almost falling to the ground.

Xiao Simo, equally shocked and furious, his already pale face turned even paler as he angrily asked, "How could the young master have fallen into the water?"

"Where is he now?"

The guard's voice trembled, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead: "His Highness was playing by the river when the ice suddenly broke. By the time we found him, he had already fallen in."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Simo was furious. The ice surface cracked. How could it be such a coincidence?

But now is not the time to investigate; we should rescue them first.

"Prepare the horses, let's go to the river."

The cold wind cut like a knife, and the sunlight shimmered on the broken ice.

Several guards were shivering as they pulled Xiao Helun, who was soaking wet, out of the water. His face was deathly pale, his eyes were closed, his lips were purplish-black, and his wet hair clung to his face.

Shulu Wujin staggered to her child's side, letting out a heart-wrenching cry: "My child!"

Upon seeing this, Xiao Simo became agitated, his chest heaved violently, his steps faltered, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

With bloodshot eyes and a hoarse voice, he growled, "What are you standing there for? Quickly, get the doctor!"

Soon after, the doctor arrived. After examining the situation, he knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince... his breath is weak, I'm afraid..."

"shut up!"

Xiao Simo interrupted with a low growl, his hair disheveled, his eyes filled with despair and anger.

"You're quacks! If you can't save my son, I'll make you all pay with your lives!"

Xiao Helun was his only legitimate son, and he originally had high hopes for him, intending for him to inherit his legacy.

But reality dealt him a heavy blow.

Xiao Helun is too young to suppress the arrogant and fierce soldiers of the Northern Frontier, and he himself is now on the verge of death.

Must Xiao Simo, an old man, bury his young son?
His eyes reddened, his fists clenched, and he suppressed his anger, growling in a low voice, "Save him at all costs!"

The doctors continued their frantic treatment, as if blessed by God.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Helun's pale fingers twitched, and he coughed slowly a few times, spitting out a few mouthfuls of water.

"He's awake! The young master is awake!"

The maidservant beside her exclaimed in surprise.

Shulu Wujin wept with joy, hugging her child tightly: "My son, you're finally awake. Don't be afraid, Amo is here."

When Xiao Simo saw his son wake up, his tense nerves finally relaxed, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to investigate to the end and find the mastermind behind the murder when...

Immediately afterwards, I felt a surge of intense fatigue wash over me.

The scene before him gradually darkened, and he collapsed directly into the arms of his guard.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, how are you?"

"Quickly, quickly heal the king."

(End of this chapter)