Chapter 48 Section VII

Only part of Li Xi's conversation with the queen is his sincerity exposed. For example, he said "to accept surrender from your majesty and become a rich and noble minister", which really revealed his inner activities. He even hoped that a queen who loves him infatuatedly , at this critical moment, he would really sacrifice himself to satisfy his desire.But the rest are false threats.Not only did he not have the power to control the guards of the royal city, he also had no power to control the court.It is true that he sent people to negotiate with Yang Keshi to surrender, but the two messengers sent out did not return. In the midst of this chaotic army that is full of swords and axes, and killing people like hemp, generally speaking, this kind of contact is very difficult. It is difficult to achieve the goal, either because the person was killed before seeing Yang Keshi, or because he didn't have the courage to look for Yang Keshi at all, and slipped away in the chaos.Therefore, Li Shi said, "I have agreed with Yang Keshi to save your majesty's life", which is nothing more than a lie to deceive others and oneself.

When a sentimental lady imitates the image of a lover in her mind, she always "creates" him subjectively according to her own wishes and imagination, instead of reflecting him truthfully according to his reality.So her simulations, mostly unbelievable, are sometimes wildly different from reality, or even diametrically opposed.Li Xi's character is neither a foolish and coquettish little lover as she imagined, nor a clever elf who moves his tail and head as she hoped.In fact, Li Shi is an extremely selfish, extremely despicable, reckless and extinct daredevil who does not care about his status at any time and is not afraid to use any means in pursuit of wealth.

There are two kinds of bad guys, and accordingly there are two kinds of fencers.One is the timid and meticulous wall-riding school. After he climbed to the top of the wall, he had to use his brain to see clearly which side was the soft green grass and which side was the dark deep pool.You have to be sure that you have more than 90% safety before you dare to climb down the wall slowly.The other is the bold and reckless wall-riding faction. As soon as he sees the limelight turn, he will close his eyes and jump off regardless of life or death.Li Shi obviously belongs to the latter category.As soon as he heard the news that the Song army had entered the city.Deciding that the general situation is over, relying on the fact that he had some ties with Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo, he acted recklessly.His main capital is three hundred guards, and his only magic weapon is a key to open the secret room. He is sure that he will be able to find the queen in the secret room at this time.Sure enough, the queen was robbed, and he thought that the great work was done, so he rushed out from the side door of the back garden in a hurry.

At the back door, he also made some arrangements, asking his father Li Chuwen to bring some generals from the Ding family to meet him.But Li Chuwen's troops disappeared like a shadow before Li Shi ran out of the garden gate.None of them could escape the fate of being surrounded and wiped out in a surprise attack, and before being surrounded and wiped out, none of them had time to rush into the tunnel to report the news. Now there is a neat Khitan army stationed at the important exits around the garden wall.After its main force wiped out Li Chuwen's men, it stationed at the side gate of the back garden, waiting for the queen and Li Shi's party to rush out from inside.

At this time, the sky was still not bright, although Empress Xiao was blinded in the plain carriage, through several layers of cloth, she could still see the torches lit outside, people and horses gathered, and heard a burst of shouting and killing, and the sound of drums. masterpiece.This interception battle was obviously out of the expectation of Li Shi and his party.Empress Xiao only felt her car stop suddenly, almost pulling her out of the car seat.She clearly heard Li Shi's order: "Quickly go back to the palace." But it was too late for this order to be executed, and a sword fight rang out at the gate of the palace.

At this moment, Empress Xiao panicked in the car.She couldn't tell who the opponent of the fight was from the shouts of killing, and she couldn't judge whether the fight was good or bad for her.She fearfully thought that in the melee, she might be killed by the rebellious troops on both sides, or someone on the other side would snatch her from Li Shi and dedicate her to the Song army, or the opponent who had already entered the royal city. Song Jun.They did not allow Li Shi to surrender, so they captured him and killed him.Before she woke up from the terror, someone pulled back the curtain, and a man in armor, with a knife that was still bloodstained, went straight to the front of the car, and played clearly in Khitan dialect:

"Chen Yelu Dashi came late to rescue him, which caused the rebels to run rampant. The plot almost succeeded and alarmed the holy car. The crime is serious." He respectfully, but not without a hint of irony, pointed to a large pile of lying on the ground. Looking at the dead body, he said cheerfully, "Fortunately, Xichen has killed the old thief, and the little thief has also been killed. The traitor has been eliminated, and the overall situation is roughly settled. Now the city is in danger. Please return to the palace as soon as possible to preside over the big plan." Illuminated by countless bright lights, this armored man who walked a little bit staggeringly, but was as stable as Mount Tai, was it not Dashi Linya?The queen wiped his eyes and recognized him again, he had moved his pocket slightly, revealing his face clearly.This pair of piercingly open deep eyes that are slightly light green, seem to be so deep that they can see through people's hearts and livers, these majestic sword eyebrows, this upright and innocent bridge of the nose, these vigorously swinging eyes. Commanding Ruoding's hand, who is the general who clearly played to her in Khitan dialect, Da Shi Lin Ya?

Dashi Linya was imprisoned under her warrant, and now the two corpses lying bloody in a pool of blood were the reason why she imprisoned him.At a critical moment, they betrayed her, and this big Shi Linya suddenly appeared here to protect her like a parachutist. The situation was so complicated that it made her dizzy, but she had no time to figure it out After these twists and turns.As soon as she saw Dashi Linya, her first reaction was to unconsciously tuck up the sable fur and fasten the collar button once more, so as not to expose her neck and the inner clothes underneath.For a woman who she respects but is a little afraid of, the first thing she considers is lest she lose her appearance in front of him, and her current clothes are obviously not very face-worthy.

Then she calmed down, thinking about how he got here, and what should she do? She thought that Dashi Linya once supported her husband and herself, and his attitude was clear, but later he opposed her, publicly expressing that he wanted to get rid of the "Ning Xing" around her, and Jiedu was also unequivocal.For his upright and aboveboard attitude, she responded to him with intrigues and tricks, put him under house arrest, and threatened him to "abandon his prejudices and conspire with the state".There were very unpleasant memories between the two of them.But now the bloody facts finally made her sober, the crisis is approaching, and the loyal and sycophant stand out.It is the most obvious fact that she has always believed, shielded, and obsessed with those who want to betray her country and herself, and it is her defenders that she attacks.Now she has no doubt that for the sake of the overall situation, he will never miss the old evil and abandon her.When she was determined to resist the Song army, he was the only person she could trust and cooperate with, no matter in terms of morality, ability, or prestige.

For this, she shed tears of remorse and gratitude. Yelu Dashi is the kind of person who chooses his own goal and never looks back.Seeing the turmoil of the current situation and the changing situation of the country, he decided to dedicate his life to one ideal, which is to defend, continue and regenerate the country.His perseverance, his prestige, and his energy all made it possible to realize this ideal.Even when he was in captivity, he was still, and even more so, a national hero worshiped by the Khitans and some Xi people, the pillar of the country, and the only central force that could unite them.Empress Xiao tried her best to belittle him and promote Li Chuwen, so she created many rumors, but no one seriously believed them.Her method of pressing on the one hand, lifting on the other, striking at the same time, and pushing the seedlings to encourage growth at the same time actually made Yelu Dashi's reputation even more glorious.Objective effects often come to the opposite of the ruler's subjective wishes.

When the news spread that Yang Keshi's army entered the outer city and killed Khitan people everywhere, Yelu Dashi's old troops poured into his private residence like a flood, asking him to come out to preside over the military and save the perilous people. Xiao Orila and others who guarded him also joined his team without hesitation.At this critical moment, his role is to quickly condense these dispersed forces, and quickly form a resistance force centered on him. He needs him to do something at this critical moment.He organized his men and deployed them hastily.His two sons, Yelu Sizhen and Yelu Huaisha, led some soldiers and were sent to the center of the outer city to fight in the streets.At this time, Yang Keshi's headquarters had been set up in the Minzhong Temple, and Yelu Sizhen and Yelu Huaisha accepted the task of taking the initiative to attack in the direction of the Minzhong Temple, and then guard the several passages leading to the king's city, step by step, and stick to it. , to block the advance of the Song army, and exchange flesh and blood for time to prepare for the defense of the royal city.At the same time, it can also rescue some Khitan and Xi people who are being slaughtered, and cover their retreat to the royal city to thicken the defensive force.The strict father's instructions to his sons are that they are only allowed to die as national martyrs, and not to be born as deserters.With tears in their hearts, the pair of young and middle-aged sons said goodbye to their father and rushed to the battlefield.Here, Yelu Dashi left Xiao Orila behind, and with his command flag, he went to take over the defense of the royal city.With a part of the troops, he came straight to the palace.It did not come as a surprise to him that news of the palace guard's change had been reported to him.He already knew about the secret tunnel in the back garden and the "miscellaneous secrets" that happened there.Sure enough, as soon as his army arrived, he wiped out this small group of rebels and saved the Queen's family. If Empress Xiao had already fully believed in Dashi Linya's personal loyalty to her, Yelu Dashi would have to investigate whether this "Teli Jian" was loyal to her country?He wanted to find out whether the queen who eloped from the back door voluntarily joined the enemy, or was she held hostage and forced to come out?This is a crucial question, which will determine his attitude towards the queen, whether the queen or he will directly take charge of the city defense plan. The queen has already shed tears of gratitude and remorse, but the tears of "Teri Jian" are contemptible and not enough to represent her heartfelt feelings.It is said that she also cried loudly during the imperial meeting that decided to subjugate the Song Dynasty.Since there was a record of betraying the Zongshe once, it is hard to guarantee that she will not repeat the old drama.Yelu Dashi is a down-to-earth person who refuses to believe in tenderness easily. Empress Xiao was really smart and capable, she guessed what Dashi Linya was thinking, and guessed that she was being investigated by him.She immediately took the most resolute action, expressing her determination to fight the war to the end, and to fight against Song Kou, in order to dispel the doubts in the hearts of all those present.Despite her resolute action, it is still in the form of a moving performance. At this time, the news came, and the number of Xi and Khitan people crowded near the palace gate had increased to tens of thousands, including veteran generals who had fought for a long time and famous warriors.In the previous period, due to the queen's absurd measures, they were divided and waited for the collapse of the overall situation.Now they are united by the belief of defending the royal city, defending the court, and surviving death.Some of them have heard the news that Yelu Dashi came out to preside over the military, and some have not heard the news, but they all rushed to the palace to listen to the dispatch of the queen and Yelu Dashi.At this time, the status of queen can still play a major role. She got off the plain car, wrapped her sable fur tightly, and walked firmly into the crowd with firm steps.Yelu Dashi threw the knife to the servants, held the saber tightly around his waist, and followed her, and the people naturally made way for them.She walked to the middle of the crowd, concentrating on it for a moment, then unexpectedly bent down and performed a grand gift for a Liao nobleman when he saw the emperor.The etiquette is to kneel down on the left knee, dragging the right leg behind her, and then she turns around and bows to the crowd.Such a big gift, from the perspective of the Queen's status, is unavoidably a bit humiliating, but for her, at this time and place, it still maintains the highest dignity of the Queen.After she had done her obeisance, she went up some stone steps and said the following words in a very firm and clear voice: "The barbarians are raging, and the rebels (when she mentioned them, she never turned her eyes in that direction) are responding internally, trying to hijack the widows and betray them to the enemy. The widows are fighting with each other," she looked shyly at her outfit , her disheveled clothes and messy bun helped me a lot. Even Yelu Dashi was reminded by her action and believed she was telling the truth. Dashi Linya is loyal and brave to the country, he came here after hearing the news, escaped the widow from the prison, and wiped out all the ugly people..." A burst of cheers interrupted her speech, and she felt that the emotions of the crowd had been manipulated by her, so she simply paused and said: "I have made up my mind and swore to live and die with this city. I will not allow barbarians to invade the royal city. Even if there is misfortune and the city is covered with blood, this piece of clean soil is the burial place for the survivors." She paused again, and then solemnly announced: "I'm asking Dashi Linya to be the city guard." After a word, there was a burst of joy, and she simply exhausted her words, "Everyone listens to Dashi Linya's orders, just like listening to my voice. Unfortunately, I fought After death, Dashi Linya is the master of the princes. The important task of saving the nation and restoring the country is all on Dashi Linya and Zhuqing. I immediately went to the palace and changed into a uniform and went to the city. This court food. Please work hard and live up to my high hopes!" Then she bowed to Yelu Dashi again, "I will entrust the ancestral temple and society to you, and you will accept my obeisance!" It was the most dramatic action she could do here and now.While she was speaking, many people cheered, many people wept bitterly, and although many people were expressionless, they had already decided in their hearts to die for the country and the Lord.As soon as she finished speaking, the knights rushed to the city to wait for Yelu Dashi to dispatch. While the queen was making a moving performance, Yelu Dashi was considering specific actions.He returned the Queen's gift, and after accepting the full authority of the city defense she assigned, he immediately put forward an important suggestion: "Your Majesty will resend it to the minister, and the minister will follow the order and lead the troops to the city," he waved to the crowd, Ask them to go to the city to defend immediately, "The matter of city defense, I have a plan in mind, and with the command of Xiao Zhiyuan there, I will be able to kill the barbarians, keep the capital, and live up to your majesty's trust. Your Majesty, I hope you will quickly drop the handwriting, Urgently order Dong Shi, the king of the Fourth Army, to come to help. The minister sent people to meet him at the south secret gate, and attack him from both inside and outside. Be sure to kill all the barbarians." This move was really important, Empress Xiao obeyed her advice at this time, and immediately followed suit. Yelu Dashi galloped to the top of the city, distributed the troops, divided the flood area, and the deployment had just been decided, and a small group of Song troops had been found under the city.At this time, the queen wearing a phoenix helmet and silver armor also came to the city with a large number of soldiers coming one after another.The queen's words were fulfilled. Not only did she hold the drum, she beat the war drum so loudly that her hands were sore and her body was sweating profusely; emission.There was an arrow that was shot by her, or by the soldiers beside her, but it was in her name. It actually shot a Song soldier who was trying to cross the moat to the ground.The queen's first achievement made the soldiers in the city cheer. At this time, Yang Keshi's army was fiercely resisted by the Xi and Khitan people, and they were fighting hard in the streets and alleys of the outer city, and had not yet formally deployed to attack the king's city.The Song Army that appeared at the base of the city was just a cruising force, and their attack was only of symbolic significance, and Empress Xiao's symbolic arrow greatly boosted morale, making it easy for the soldiers in the city defense to repel the attack. The trial attack of the stragglers.