The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 261 Er Ya's man is the Northern Frontier Protector-General

"Eight years..."

Wei Xuan's gaze trembled like a withered branch as it fell on the woman's face, overlapping and then separating from the image of the girl with sheepskin hair ties in his memory.

Those eyes, which had once disregarded the lives of thousands on the battlefield, slowly welled up with tears, reflecting the face before them that was both strange and familiar. As her eyelashes trembled violently, a warm tear slowly fell onto the blood-stained cotton armor on her chest.

Eight years have passed between the northern frontier and Hexi Corridor. Ever since Daya married into Liangzhou City, the siblings, adrift in the chaos of war, have lost all contact with each other.

Although time and hardship have long since reshaped this face, the woman before him still faintly reveals the features of his childhood in his eyes and brows, bearing a striking resemblance to the eldest sister who always protected him in his memory.

"Big sister!" he called out, his voice trembling involuntarily.

He waved away the cavalrymen on his left and right, dismounted, and slowly walked forward, his vision blurred by the mist rising from his eyes.

A wave of heat seemed to be rising in his throat as he struggled to utter, "Big sister, it's me, Tiger!"

This cold-faced general, who struck fear into the hearts of the enemy, was now nothing more than a young man who had lost and found his loved ones again.

Eight years of pent-up emotions surged up suddenly, and scalding tears finally broke through the defenses.

"Big sister, it's me, Tiger! Waaaaaah~"

At this moment, Daya froze on the spot as if struck by lightning, the strange yet familiar call causing her pupils to shrink.

Her gaze was also fixed on Wei Xuan's face, and a dormant name deep in her memory was awakened.

His chapped lips suddenly trembled violently, and he staggered forward half a step. His withered fingers hovered above the young man's blood-stained armor, hesitant to touch him, as if the person in front of him was a phantom that would shatter at the slightest touch.

"Tiger..."

Her voice was hoarse, her body trembled, and her face was filled with disbelief.

But the little boy in her memory who always liked to tug at her clothes gradually overlapped with the dashing young man in front of her.

"Tiger, you're Tiger!"

Daya's expression grew increasingly agitated, two lines of clear tears streaming down her face. Her excited voice murmured as her hand slowly landed on Wei Xuan's face.

She finally confirmed it: this was indeed her younger brother, Wei Xuan, Wei Huzi.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh~"

"Tiger, you're Tiger!" Daya hugged Wei Xuan's neck and burst into tears.

Wei Xuan, his eyes also filled with tears, murmured with trembling lips, "Yes, I am Hu Zi, Big Sister, I have come to see you."

Eight years later, the siblings reunited, and the deeply moving scene shocked everyone else who witnessed it.

Wei Xuan's personal guards never expected that their commander had an older sister in Liangzhou City.

Then, upon further reflection, the guards were even more shocked.

"Hiss~ Is this woman also Madam Wei's eldest sister?"

"The Grand Protector's maternal elder sister?"

Once these relationships were clarified, the guards looked at Wei Daya differently; she was now a very powerful and influential figure.

Su Renli, standing next to him, was even more bewildered.

Watching his wife hugging and crying with another man, he was filled with shock.

"Tiger?"

He was certainly familiar with this name.

Over the past eight years, he had heard his wife mention this name countless times; it was his brother-in-law.

The only time they met was eight years ago when they got married.

The image of the child in my memory slowly overlapped with the image of the young general before me.

Su Renli was filled with shock. His pupils widened instantly, and he muttered to himself, "Good heavens, is this my brother-in-law?"

"This is terrible, this is terrible!"

The next second, he suddenly grinned and looked at his brother-in-law's demeanor, as if he were a high-ranking general in the Northern Frontier Army.

In that case, wouldn't our own land be safe?
Su Renli became more and more excited as he thought about it, to the point that he forgot the pain in his chest.

But compared to Wang Er and the others, who were armed and kneeling on the ground trembling, their feelings were quite different.

That's ridiculous.

Su Renli, that coward, actually has a brother-in-law who is an official in the northern frontier?

If you have that kind of relationship, why the hell didn't you say so earlier!

The brothers won't come to steal you anymore.

What's going on here?
Throwing bricks into the outhouse is suicidal.

"Master Su~"

"Spare me, spare me, Master Su!"

"Please plead with this northern border general to spare our lives. We brothers will serve you like slaves from now on!"

"Yes, Master Su, we used to drink and frequent brothels together. For the sake of our past visits to brothels together..."

Hearing these bastards' pleas and cries, Su Renli's face slowly darkened. He gritted his teeth and whispered, "Shut up."

Soon, Wei Xuan and her brother gradually regained their composure and turned to look at Su Renli and the others.

"Sister, who are they?"

He recognized Su Renli; he looked much the same as he remembered.

But who are the others?

"They are mutinous soldiers."

Da Ya sobbed through her tears, but her eyes remained fixed on Wei Xuan's face, as if afraid that he would disappear in the blink of an eye.

marauders?

Wei Xuan's eyes instantly sharpened as he scanned Wang Er and the others, then shouted, "Take them out and kill them all."

A bunch of bastards, trying to steal from my sister Wei Xuan.

It's simply courting death.

Upon hearing this, Wang Er and the others turned deathly pale and knelt down, pleading, "Master Wei, Grandpa Wei!"

"Spare me! Spare me!"

Then, he pleaded with Su Renli, "Grandpa Su, please, please put in a good word for me!"

Su Renli swallowed hard, secretly glancing at Wei Xuan, but ultimately didn't dare say anything against his conscience.

Eight years ago, when I first saw this brother-in-law, he was chubby and fair-skinned, and looked very cute.

But looking at him eight years later, although he has grown taller and more handsome, he has somehow become less cute.

Su Renli was still intimidated by him.

"Shut up."

"Drag them down."

The captain of the bodyguards shouted loudly and punched one of the thugs in the mouth, breaking all of his front teeth.

He then led his men to break the arms and legs of these men, dragged them outside the courtyard, and swung his knife down on them.

"Ah~"

The pitiful screams vanished instantly, and everything returned to calm.

Soon after, Wei Xuan's personal guards sealed off the street, and the surrounding neighbors also quietly peeked out, peering curiously at Su Renli's family.

Something is very wrong with the Su family!
Just then, Daya was wailing loudly inside the house.

"Waaaaah~"

"Dad, mother~"

Her tears soaked her rough face, her whole body trembled, her face turned red and purple, and she let out a desperate cry.

In the years since she married into Liangzhou City, she has almost completely severed ties with the northern frontier.

I just learned about the Three Rivers Fort from Wei Xuan.

The news of the Grolu people's rebellion and attack on Sanhe Fortress, resulting in the deaths of her parents, grandfather, and other relatives, leaving only Wei Xuan and Er Ya as the last members of the Wei family, struck Da Ya like a heavy blow.

She never imagined that her marriage would be her last goodbye to her family.

"Mother, don't cry."

"When I grow up, I will definitely avenge my grandparents."

Su Wuji gripped the short bow tightly, his facial muscles taut, his expression resolute as if he were about to prove his Dao.

Then she looked up at Wei Xuan's face and asked, "Uncle, can you teach me how to kill someone?"

"I always lack strength when I shoot arrows. Even when I hit them, they just don't die."

"I want to learn skills to avenge my grandparents," Su Wuji said in a naive yet determined voice.

The killing of Su Wuji's maternal grandparents by the Gelurus people caused his mother so much pain, and the seeds of hatred were gradually sown in Su Wuji's heart.

Revenge seems to have become his mission.

Looking at his eldest nephew, Wei Xuan felt a surge of affection and nodded with satisfaction.

Even though it was their first meeting, this young man showed no fear or unfamiliarity towards him, and seemed destined for greatness.

Moreover, Wei Xuan had already seen the wounds on Wang Er's body; two arrows had struck his chest in succession, penetrating an inch into his flesh.

To be so skilled at such a young age is enough to show that he is a born military general.

Gently patting his head, Wei Xuan said in a deep voice, "You can't kill them because you're too young."

"When you grow up, you will naturally be able to pull a heavier bow."

"Practice diligently, and in the future, not only humans, but even tigers and wild boars will find it hard to escape the sharpness of arrows."

"But how many enemies can you kill with just your arrows and strength?"

"Ten? Or a hundred?"

"In the end, he's only capable of taking on a hundred men."

"You are my nephew, Wei Xuan. If you're going to do something, do it like a man who can take on ten thousand men." Wei Xuan patted Su Wuji's shoulder heavily and said in a deep voice.

He took a great liking to the child from the very first moment he saw him.

The Su family is a family that values ​​poetry and literature, and the eldest sister is a woman, so the important task of teaching Su Wuji to become a hero invincible naturally fell on Wei Xuan's shoulders.

"Uncle, how can one become a match for ten thousand men?"

"Studying, fighting," Wei Xuan said.

He then whispered to Su Wuji the importance of reading, saying that without knowledge one is merely a brute, but one should not rely too much on knowledge from books.

Ultimately, it is necessary to apply what you have learned to the battlefield. This requires a great deal of war experience to think about which knowledge is useful, which is not, which is important, and which can be simply touched upon.

To sum it up in a later way, it's about combining theory with practice, which is also what Li Xiao taught them in his courses at the Hexi Military Academy.

After a while, Wei Daya's crying gradually stopped, but because her voice was hoarse and she no longer had the strength to cry out, her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked utterly dejected.

Wei Xuan stepped forward, his rough hand covering Da Ya's trembling hand, his face cold and resolute as he said, "Elder sister, the dead cannot be brought back to life."

“But as long as my siblings and I are still here, the spirit of Sanhebao will never dissipate.”

"The Wei family still has you, me, and Er Ya. Things will only get better from now on."

"Er Ya?" Upon hearing this name, a trace of nostalgia flashed across Daya's face. She remembered that when she got married, Er Ya was still a little girl with pigtails, who always liked to cling to her even when she was doing chores.

Eight years have passed; that little girl must have grown up by now.

"Yes, I've grown up." Wei Xuan nodded gently.

"Very beautiful, just like you."

"He looks like our mother, and his physique is like our father's. He's not shorter than you, just not as strong."

"Oh, right, I haven't told you yet, Er Ya is getting married too."

Upon hearing Wei Xuan's words, Daya stopped crying and murmured, "Have Erya gotten married too?"

"Which village did she marry into? What is her husband's surname?"

Wei Xuan sat on the edge of the bed and continued to try to calm her down, saying, "They are from Hexi Fort, surnamed Li, named Li Dalong, and now called Li Xiao."

"The Li family of Hexi Fortress?" A relieved smile finally appeared on Daya's face, and she nodded gently.

Hexibao is very close to Sanhebao, and many families there are related.

Daya naturally knew the Li family, and had even heard of the name Li Dalong, knowing that he was the eldest grandson of the Lord of Hexi Fortress.

"The Li family of Hexibao is considered an excellent family in our Jinzhou."

"Now that Er Ya can marry the young master of Hexi Fortress, our parents can rest in peace in heaven," Daya said, tears streaming down her face.

Er Ya has found a good family, which puts her mind at ease.

However, at this moment, Su Renli cautiously looked at Wei Xuan and said in a slightly nervous and hesitant tone, "This... Tiger..."

Although he was the brother-in-law, he was actually quite intimidated by this younger brother-in-law, especially when he thought of those guys like Wang Er, who had their heads chopped off by a single sentence from him.

This made Su Renli extremely afraid of Wei Xuan, and he was even a little nervous when he spoke to him.

"Um, you just said my second sister's husband is named Li Xiao?"

"I heard that the name of the Grand Protector of the Northern Frontier is similar to..."

Wei Xuan nodded slightly, and said with a hint of helplessness, "That's right, it's him."

"Er Ya's husband is Li Xiao, the Grand Protector of the Northern Frontier."

Upon hearing this, Su Renli immediately cried out in horror, "What?"

At this moment, his eyes were wide open, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and his fingers, which had been tense and uneasy just moments before, froze in mid-air.

"The Northern... the Northern Frontier Protectorate?"

He staggered back half a step, knocking over the earthenware jar behind him.

"That's a force of 100,000 iron cavalry, who inflicted heavy losses on the imperial army, and ravaged the entire Hexi Corridor..."

His words abruptly stopped as he stared intently at Wei Xuan's calm face. He suddenly recalled the rumors circulating that the Northern Frontier Army was only in his early twenties, similar in age to his second sister's husband, Li Dalong.

At that moment, he felt his throat tighten: "This...this...is it real?"

His stammering words carried both awe for Li Xiao and shock at learning the truth.

There was even a hint of ecstatic joy in his eyes.

He had been trying to find a relative in northern Xinjiang to act as guarantor, and ideally, to persuade a powerful figure in northern Xinjiang to leave his family's farmland.

But unexpectedly, the big shot turned out to be himself.

The brother-in-law of the Northern Protector-General?
Is this identity strong enough?
At this moment, Su Renli suddenly wanted to slap himself. With such a background, how could he still be eyeing those few dozen acres of land?
What a good-for-nothing.

Da Ya, standing beside her, also stared wide-eyed in disbelief, her mind replaying only one thought: "Er Ya's man is the Grand Protector of the Northern Frontier?"

……

At the same time, a large number of northern border troops entered the city and purged the remaining stubborn resistance forces within the city.

As the sun dipped below the western mountains, Li Xiao, escorted by his personal guards, entered the city and rode his horse into the Liangzhou Governor's Mansion.

Governor Supinaluo and others were also brought before Li Xiao.

"Registration Officer Wang, you look much more haggard than I have seen in just one day. What happened to you?" Li Xiao said in a cold voice, sitting high above in the main hall.

“Little man, I…” Wang Hongchang’s face was pale, and he looked miserable but couldn’t say a word.

He had a very miserable day, under considerable physical and mental stress.

He ended up looking quite disheveled, with even a few more strands of white hair on his head.

Li Xiao then turned to look at Supinaluo, the governor of Liangzhou, and said in a deep voice, "I have already questioned the soldiers guarding the city until the moment before Liangzhou fell."

"The soldiers did not receive your order to open the city gates, Governor Supi; they opened the gates themselves."

“Prefect of Supi, Chief Clerk Wang, I have already told you that if you refuse to surrender before the city falls, not a single chicken or dog will be spared.”

Li Xiao's words caused everyone to panic instantly, and Wang Hongchang even knelt down on the ground.

"Great Protector, spare us! Great Protector, spare us! We were preparing to open the city gates to welcome the Celestial Master, but we were thwarted by spies from the imperial court within the city, and we were too late!"

Li Xiao didn't want to listen to their excuses, and only glanced indifferently at Supinara, who stood aloof.

He said in a deep voice, "Although the city gates have been opened, it is thanks to the Liangzhou army and people. As for you..."

"In this war, we did not do anything that would benefit our northern border region."

"Therefore, to my Northern Frontier, you are nothing but a bunch of useless trash."

"Men, take them away."

"Confiscate their property and send them to the army!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Hongchang and the others were immediately terrified and knelt on the ground, begging Li Xiao for mercy.

Even Supinara himself could not remain calm, his body trembling slightly, his face filled with panic.

He wanted to demonstrate his unwavering loyalty to Li Xiao so that Li Xiao would value him and appoint him to an important position, but he didn't expect Li Xiao to seem to care about him at all.

They were to be conscripted into the army immediately.

"Please allow me to speak, Grand Protector."

Supinara knelt down, lifting his robe, the veins on his forehead rising and falling with his rapid breathing.

“If you were to execute us now, it would be like throwing a stone into a deep pool, causing officials from all directions to feel the pain of losing their own. When we attack cities and seize territories in the future, the generals would surely defend them to the death, which would only increase the suffering of the people.”

"However, if you would show mercy and forgive our sins, we would gladly serve you like dogs and horses, even if it meant taking up our whips and putting down our stirrups."

"At that time, we will send proclamations to all directions, proclaiming the Grand Protector's magnanimity and integrity, so that the whole world will admire his righteousness. This is a strategy of subduing the enemy without fighting, and winning hearts and minds is the best policy!"

Supinalo's words were ultimately nothing new; he was trying to use his reputation to blackmail Li Xiao.

But what Li Xiao cares about least is his reputation.

The so-called reputation is just a tool for the scholar-official class to play power games, and Li Xiao has no intention of going along with them.

If the goal is simply to quickly capture a town or a region, then cooperation with local gentry and powerful figures is necessary.

It's like swallowing a poisoned fruit; one day you'll suffer the consequences of these people's actions.

Therefore, he did not need cooperation; he had only one goal: to overthrow the scholar-official class and the powerful clans.

They shared their cakes with other poor people.

After all, the vast majority of people in the world are poor. As long as the six towns remain stable and do not descend into chaos, these poor people can be kept in check by the interests of the scholar-officials and powerful families.

If the cake is divided as evenly as possible, then the world will naturally be at peace.

Therefore, in Li Xiao's plan, the interests of the scholar-officials and powerful families had to be sacrificed.

Therefore, he was even willing to increase the difficulty for himself and postpone his entry into the Central Plains in order to consolidate his foundation and wipe out these people.

Otherwise, they will end up like the Mongol Yuan and Ming-Qing dynasties.

"Hahahaha~"

Listening to Supinaluo's pedantic moral blackmail, Li Xiao suddenly clapped his hands and laughed, but a faint disdain appeared in his eyes.

"To wield the whip and drop the stirrup? To serve like a dog or horse?"

He suddenly leaned down, his sharp gaze piercing Supinara's pale face.

"Today you wag your tails and beg for mercy because you see the Northern Frontier is powerful. If a fierce army were to appear under the city walls in the future, you would probably be the first to bind the city and hand over the seal."

"The bloodstains of my warriors in the northern frontier are all left for their country and their people, and for fighting for loyalty and righteousness. How can you fickle people use the word 'broad-mindedness' to embellish your flattery?"

"In Bendu's eyes, you are nothing but a bunch of scheming and despicable people."

"Since you know that the best course of action is to subdue the enemy without fighting, how can you not know that 'if one's virtue does not match one's position, disaster will surely follow'? Without swift and decisive measures, how can one have the compassion of a bodhisattva?"

After saying that, Li Xiao waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Take them all away, confiscate their property, demote the men to mine slaves, and send the women to the army as slaves."

These people must be defeated.

Otherwise, where would they get so much money to reward the army? Where would they get so much land to resettle the large number of landless people?
Amidst the pitiful cries of Wang Hongchang and the others, the guards dragged them all away. Their fate awaited them in the coal and iron mines of Xihai, and they might even die on the way there.

Subsequently, the Northern Frontier Army stormed into various residences.

Amid screams and pleas for mercy, all the men, guards, and servants from each of the mansions were arrested.

The women and maids were not spared either.

They then used torture to extract information about the family's wealth.

In just two days, Liangzhou City underwent a dramatic transformation.

Meanwhile, a fast horse galloped into Xingqing Prefecture.

The soldier had three command flags stuck on his back, representing the urgent dispatch of the imperial edict.

"Get out of the way! This is an urgent message!"

"Urgent dispatch."

The soldiers shouted loudly and, followed by the city gate guards, ran all the way to the outside of the Privy Council.

"My lord, my lord, an urgent report from 800 li west of the river."

Upon hearing this, Privy Councilor Nailing Sicong's expression changed drastically, and he abruptly stood up from his chair: "Quick, bring it here!"

He ordered Sicong to bring over the wooden box, tear off the wax seal, and after just one glance at the letter, he was struck dumb as if by lightning.

His eyes widened, his whole body swayed, and he looked incredulous.

"what?"

"This...this...this is impossible!"

Nai Ling Sicong plopped down in a chair, his face pale and cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He kept shaking his head, muttering, "Impossible!"

"How could this happen? How could we have lost?"

This report was personally written by Supinaluo, the governor of Liangzhou. It only mentioned two things: Weiming Shi'an's army was defeated, and the northern frontier army was at the city gates, putting Liangzhou in grave danger.

At the same time, he declared that he would live and die with Liangzhou City, vowing to repay the emperor's kindness if the city survived and if the city fell. He even ended his last words with a final letter.

He appeared to be a loyal and patriotic minister, which deeply moved Wang Sicong, who exclaimed with grief and indignation, "A loyal minister! A loyal minister!"

"If we can live and die with Liangzhou, the name of Supinaluo will surely be remembered in history."

Having said that, he immediately stood up and strode towards the palace.

Such a significant matter must be reported to His Majesty the Emperor.

(End of this chapter)