Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

"I caught it!" Guo Hong's voice came from outside the window early in the morning. Guo Shao put the silver spoon in his hand into the porcelain bowl after drinking the porridge, walked over and looked outside, and saw two children jumping and running towards a basket. Guo Hong was overjoyed, and lay down on the ground to watch the frightened sparrows inside.

Seeing this, Guo Shao felt that these two children were very powerful! Guo Shao did this kind of thing more than once when he was young, and it had a deep impact. He tried many times and only caught it once, because sparrows are very alert, and whether they will go in to eat rice depends on luck; and the waiting time is too long.

"I think they can do it." Guo Shao praised in front of Jinzhan.

Jinzhan hadn't combed his hair yet, and came out in regular clothes, so he helped Guo Shao dress up, and smiled softly as if he was still awake, "It takes talent to be fun."

Guo Shao said solemnly: "It is really difficult to catch sparrows like this. I will definitely not be able to catch sparrows now, and I don't have that patience."

Jinzhan said: "What should the children do with the sparrows they catch?"

Guo Shaodao: "Jinzhan will ask them later, I have to go to the Palace of Political Affairs."

Fu Jinzhan wrapped her arms around Guo Shao's waist, so she could only lean on Guo Shao's chest, and pulled the ribbon from behind to fasten it for him, then stretched out her hand to smooth the silk on his shoulders, and said, "It's easy if your hair doesn't grow back, so you don't need to comb it."

Guo Shao said with a smile: "The monks in the temple are the most trouble-free!"

Fu Jinzhan said softly, "I heard that Wang Zhong sent Xiao Siwen's daughter to the Long Live Hall last night, why did His Majesty drive her away?" She tiptoed into his ear again and said, "Anyone you want is fine."

Guo Shao was speechless, seeing that it was getting late, he said goodbye to Jinzhan and came out of Zide Hall.

As soon as he reached the steps, the eunuch Cao Tai stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Li Yiyin has been escorted to Beijing."

Guo Shao stopped for a while, turned around and asked, "When did it happen?"

Cao Taidao: "I just arrived in Tokyo last night. After hearing about it, I will only wait to report this morning."

"I see." Guo Shao walked down the stone steps.

The imperial chariot was embraced by the front and the back, and went southward along the straight and wide central axis. After passing the Xuanyou Gate, you saw the magnificent and familiar Jinxiang Temple complex. As soon as Guo Shao got out of the car, he saw a woman standing far away on the side of the road. It was Li Yueji.

Guo Shao was taken aback for a moment, then turned to look at Cao Tai. Cao Taidao: "The maidservant has been on duty for the past two days, and Concubine Li Xian condescended to beg her, so the maidservant dared to let her out of Xuanyou Gate...because His Majesty is coming to Jinxiang Palace today."

Perhaps he was pleading for her father again, so he said calmly, "It's almost time to discuss politics. You let Concubine Li Xian come to Yangde Palace."

"Slave obeys the order." Cao Tai said with a bow.

Guo Shao arrived at Yangde Hall first, it was still early. The sky is already bright, the sun has not yet risen, and the light in the palace in the early morning is dim. The layout of the outer court of the imperial palace is magnificent and correct, and the overall atmosphere is relatively grand, with few red and green bright colors, which is more simple at this time. Guo Shao walked over the wooden floor of Yangde Hall, sat down on a bed and waited.

A court lady came first and brought two cups of tea, Guo Shao smelled the tea and prepared to start the day.

After a while, eunuch Cao Tai came in with Li Yueji. She stood in front of the table and folded her hands in front of her belly, bent her knees and said, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty, Your Majesty will live forever."

She was wearing a light purple skirt and a scarlet cloak. The fair skin on her face was carefully dressed with rouge and gouache, which made her even more gorgeous. The long skirt made her figure look more slender, and the softness of the silk made her even more concave-convex. Guo Shao sized it up, and felt that Li Yueji was actually pretty and temperamental. When he thought that she was a well-known beauty in Dangxiang, he suddenly realized...but in this palace full of beauties, she no longer attracts as much attention as before.

"Concubine Li Xian, please sit down, you see the palace servants have sent you two cups of tea." Guo Shao said calmly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Yueji carefully sat down on the bench next to the table.

Guo Shao's health improved, he was in good spirits, and he looked at her with spirit. He spoke quickly, but his tone was gentle and direct, "General Li (Li Yiyin) has arrived in Tokyo..."

Unexpectedly, Li Yueji said, "I want to talk to Your Majesty about Lingzhou today."

When Guo Shao heard this, he immediately shut up and looked at her face seriously, as if he wanted to listen patiently. He is not very interested, just the ability to experience.

Li Yueji's eyes drooped, and her voice lowered, "I really know that I was wrong. You can't blame Your Majesty for Brother Wuzang Ling's death. If you have to blame it, you can only blame my own willful actions... If it wasn't for my confusion, I wouldn't have agreed with Brother Ling to take me away without permission."

Guo Shao said in a magnanimous tone: "The matter is over, so don't mention it."

Li Yueji raised her head with a complicated expression, but she looked at Guo Shao sincerely, "I don't know the heights of heaven and earth, and treat marriage as a trifle. The road to escape was difficult and dangerous, and I almost died at the mouth of a beast. Fortunately, Your Majesty rescued me in time. I shouldn't have any grudges against Your Majesty, and I should be grateful for the life-saving grace."

Guo Shao nodded slightly, thoughtfully. Xin Dao no matter what the purpose of both parties was at the time, the marriage was a matter agreed by both families, and this matter really cannot be blamed on me... But he is also very clear, if it is not because of the pressure of the situation and power, Li Yueji would say this now?

Li Yueji asked softly again: "Does Your Majesty stop blaming my concubine?"

Guo Shaodao: "I don't care anymore."

"Your Majesty is truly magnanimous." She pursed her lips and looked at Guo Shao with a smile. Although the smile in his eyes was a bit forced, he felt much more relaxed.

Guo Shao glanced at her thick and smooth lips casually, and took a sip of water from the teacup on the table.

After a brief silence, Li Yueji also picked up the teacup and put it to her lips, but did not drink. At this time, the teacup between her fingertips held for a moment, and the tea slowly dripped onto her chest, and the soft silk material was immediately wet|drenched.

Guo Shao froze there for a moment, staring intently at the scene in front of him, Li Yueji also looked at him, and the two looked at each other.

Not long after, Guo Shao thought about Li Yiyin's affairs, immediately put down his teacup, looked up at the eunuch Cao Tai at the gate of Yangde Hall, and said, "Go to preach the decree, I won't go to the Yizheng Hall today, and tell everyone to disperse."

...

Xiao Siwen was in a bad mood, he gave up Yunzhou, led the army to Fengzhou first, and then returned to Shangjing.

Countless troops of Xu's army gathered in Hedong, and most of the Liao army mobilized by Xiao Siwen had been trapped in Yanmen Pass and completely lost. At this time, it would be meaningless to compete with Xu's army for Yunzhou. So this city was lost again within a few days after Xiao Siwen regained it.

It was dusk when he went to Beijing, and Xiao Siwen immediately received the imperial decree from the Daliao Emperor, and the important ministers and nobles in Beijing entered the palace to discuss matters early the next morning.

Xiao Siwen didn't even have time to rest, and immediately contacted Yelu Xiezhen and Xiao's confidantes to the mansion to discuss first.

Tomorrow morning in the palace, it must be a big event that the Daliao army suffered heavy losses and a crushing defeat in Hedong! Most importantly, whose responsibility?

Seeing Yelu Xiezhen, Xiao Siwen said, "Fan Zhongyi and Yang Gun misled me! These two are the chief culprits of the Yanmen Siege!"

Yelu Xiezhen obviously knew about Hedong's defeat a long time ago, and he was not surprised when he heard this. He frowned and said, "Fan Zhongyi swore in front of the Khan and all the officials, but now he has broken such a major event, he deserves it... But Yang Gun is a little bit wronged."

"Oh?" Xiao Siwen made a voice casually. He wondered why Yelu Xiezhen interceded for Yang Dagon. One was that Yang Dagon followed Yelu Xiezhen's wishes and came to persuade Xiao Siwen; the other was probably because Yang Dagon saved Yelu Xiezhen's brother Yelu Hu'er.

Yelu Xiezhen and Yelu Huer are half brothers, and the usual brotherhood doesn't seem really good. But Yelu Xiezhen had to repay Yang Gun's love because of his brother...

Yelu Xiezhen murmured: "Yang Gun wanted to dissuade this from the beginning. I heard that after he and Fan Zhongyi returned to Yunzhou from Hedong, although they did not find any evidence that the Xu people were deceiving the enemy, they persuaded Xiao Gong not to advise the Liao army to rush into the pass."

Xiao Siwen said calmly: "If the King (Northern Courtyard) thinks that Yang Gun is innocent, of course I have to see your favor."

Yelu Xiezhen frowned and said, "Yang Gun's matter is not important, he doesn't even have an official position, and Fan Zhongyi is not important... These people don't have enough status, I'm afraid they can't afford this responsibility."

"What does your Majesty mean?" Xiao Siwen asked.

Yelu Xiezhen said in a deep voice: "If only two villains are to be blamed, such a big defeat will be left alone, and many people will be dissatisfied. Instead of letting Taizong's people take the opportunity to threaten us, it is better to retreat. Xiaogong, I am afraid you will not be able to get rid of this matter."

Xiao Siwen really couldn't deny it, everyone knew that if he hadn't fully supported this big event, Fan Zhongyi and others would definitely have failed! Xiao Siwen said nothing.

Yelu Xiezhen sighed again, and persuaded: "I have always supported Duke Xiao, and Duke Xiao must be clear about it. But Daliao has suffered heavy losses in this matter, and so many people have died. If the center of the court is still presided over by Duke Xiao, there must be many people who are dissatisfied... What I mean is, as long as Duke Xiao stepped back from the chair of the Privy Councilor in the North Court, and everyone elected another person to take charge of the state affairs, the situation can be eased."

Yelu Xiezhen paused, and then said meaningfully, "Even if the Privy Councilor of the North Court is not Duke Xiao, at least he is still one of us."

"Your Majesty is right..." Xiao Siwen replied softly, but he was noncommittal.

He walked back and forth in the room, a very bad premonition enveloped his heart.

Xiao Siwen has never been obsessed with power and status, and insists on sitting in any position, but sometimes he dare not let go of power easily... In the past, many people did not dare to act rashly against him because he was extremely powerful. If he attacked him, the opponent would bear a great risk; if there was no power and the power to retaliate, what would the enemies under the hidden waves worry about?

Retreat to advance? It's too easy to say.

Xiao Siwen racked his brains and thought hard, is there a better way now?