Chapter 111: Balance
Golden Sparrow Mountain was a small mountain peak forty li northwest of Wuya Village.
At this time, Li Xiao and Xiao Yanyan and their group arrived here in grand style.
Looking at the desolate surroundings, Xiao Yanyan asked puzzledly: “We’re already far from Wuya Village. What are we doing here?”
Li Xiao held her in his arms with one hand and reined in the horse with the other, making the war horse stop.
He chuckled and said: “The weather is nice and sunny today, and it’s not too cold. The scenery here is unique.”
“It’s perfect for us to learn Khitan Language.”
With that, Li Xiao ordered his personal guards and Xiao Yanyan’s guards to seal off the small mountain as usual.
He himself rode his horse, taking Xiao Yanyan up to the mountain peak.
Standing at the highest point, gazing into the distance, everywhere he looked was the splendid landscape of Jin Prefecture.
Looking south, there was still no sign of cavalry from Feiying Fort.
Li Xiao then dismounted, first laying a sheepskin on the grassland, then hugging Xiao Yanyan down from the horse and throwing her onto it.
Khitan Language learning was in full swing.
Half a shichen later, accompanied by a faint low rumble of war horse hooves.
Xiao Yanyan, who was riding and galloping, changed her expression: “Someone’s coming.”
From the sound, the number of people coming should be around two or three hundred.
In this wilderness, it couldn’t be that Xiao Simo sent people to find her, right?
With that, Xiao Yanyan prepared to force her legs out, but was stopped by Li Xiao.
Instead, he smiled reassuringly and comforted her: “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”
“It should be my people arriving.”
“Ignore them, let’s continue.”
With that, he directly mounted the horse, taking control.
At this moment at the foot of the mountain, the Khitan Guards looked at the large group of war horse cavalry approaching from afar, all appearing on high alert.
On the contrary, Li Xiao’s guards relaxed a bit, even chuckling and comforting those Khitan People.
As the large cavalry force drew near, everyone finally saw their appearance clearly.
Wearing tattered sheepskin jackets, sheepskin hats on their heads, holding spears, dressed like Han People.
The guards all breathed a sigh of relief.
“People from Feiying Fort have arrived,” Tie Tou said softly.
He was one of the people who knew Li Xiao’s plan, so he immediately rode forward to greet them.
Immediately after, Da Hu came over from the crowd with two burly men and asked: “Tie Tou, where’s Elder Brother?”
Tie Tou shrugged, gave him a look, and said: “Up on the mountain.”
“I advise you not to disturb him for now.”
Da Hu shook his head lightly, smiled helplessly, and had the people from Feiying Fort rest in place.
After all, after running for so long, both people and horses were tired.
Soon after, Li Xiao, having quickly finished the battle and dressed neatly, rode down the mountain.
At this moment, everyone from Feiying Fort stood up and saluted Li Xiao one after another, shouting: “Greetings, Governor.”
Feiying Fort was also considered one of Li Xiao’s direct forces.
After the Battle of Wuya Village, they were subdued by Li Xiao, the Wang Family was wiped out, and the remnants continued to be led by the Qian and Zhou families.
In this reorganization, they were divided into two centurions, led respectively by Zhou Dali and Qian Sanbiao from the two families.
Although Li Xiao’s massacre of the Wang Family left them with heavy shadows, later on, the two families had truly gained many benefits following Li Xiao.
So, they both respected and feared Li Xiao.
Upon receiving Li Xiao’s order, they immediately came to Golden Sparrow Mountain to stand by.
“Governor~”
Zhou Dali and Qian Sanbiao came before Li Xiao to pay respects.
Although both were already centurions, they were even more deferential before Li Xiao than before.
Li Xiao dismounted, straightened his sticky clothes a bit, looked at the two, and said: “Dali, Sanbiao, I called you here for one thing.”
“Within three days, I want you to seal off the area thirty li around Golden Sparrow Mountain.”
“Capture everyone coming to Wuya Village from the northwest direction.”
“Can you complete this task?” Li Xiao looked at the two and asked sternly.
He vaguely guessed Xiao Lintta’s next plan, so he came to try his luck. If it really turned out as he thought.
Then things might become simpler.
Even if they couldn’t catch them, the worst was getting a scolding from Xiao Simo.
Anyway, with just the matter of Wuliji being killed, they couldn’t bring down Li Xiao.
“Understood.”
“With us here, no one will slip into Wuya Village.”
Zhou Dali and Qian Sanbiao thumped their chests with fists and said firmly.
“Good, rest a bit, then start acting,” Li Xiao nodded lightly.
Wang Erhei had arrived at Wuya Village two shichen earlier.
And the Uliji Tribe had been pursued and killed so miserably by Hexi Fort, so they would first consider preserving their lives, then come to Wuya Village to complain.
So, they definitely couldn’t have arrived before Wang Erhei.
But they would surely arrive in the next two or three days.
After Li Xiao returned to the mountain summit, Xiao Yanyan was lying flat on the grassland sunbathing, covered with clothes and sheepskin, only exposing a pair of jade-white feet swaying outside.
Hearing the sound of hooves, her hand grabbed the nearby saber, she slowly opened her eyes, and only after seeing it was Li Xiao did she relax and continue sunbathing.
“You mobilized a full two centurions of cavalry here. What are you planning?”
“Don’t say it’s to protect us. I don’t believe that nonsense,” Xiao Yanyan said, glancing sideways at Li Xiao.
“Hehehe~”
Li Xiao chuckled, dismounted, walked over and lay on the ground too, pulling Xiao Yanyan into his arms.
Jokingly, he said: “Of course, to launch a mutiny, catch your brother when he passes by, and force him to marry you to me.”
Xiao Yanyan scoffed, naturally not believing Li Xiao’s nonsense.
Then, her hand pinched Li Xiao’s soft flesh, and she said viciously: “Stop talking nonsense, confess honestly.”
“What are we really doing here?”
“Ouch, that hurts, you damn woman twisted off my flesh,” Li Xiao howled in pain.
Then, pretending to yield, he said: “Alright, alright, I’ll talk, I’ll confess.”
Xiao Yanyan was a smart woman, surely suspicious from the start.
After all, if it was really for outdoor fun, they could do it near Wuya Village with nice scenery, no need to come so far.
So, Li Xiao didn’t plan to hide it from her.
He simply mentioned the matter of the Uliji Tribe.
Although he didn’t mention Xiao Lintta’s name, with Xiao Yanyan’s cleverness and the political sensitivity fostered growing up in the Xiao Family, she quickly grasped the key to the matter.
Her beautiful eyes widened, she propped herself up on one arm, half-exposing her plump breasts, turned her head to Li Xiao, and said with an incredulous look.
“General Xiao Lintta?”
Li Xiao rubbed her smooth back gently with his rough palm, eyes closed toward the sun, and said.
“What’s so surprising about that?”
“Xiao Lintta scheming against me is perfectly normal.”
Xiao Yanyan shook her head helplessly and lay back in Li Xiao’s arms.
In a tone both annoyed and helpless, she said: “I thought General Xiao Lintta was an honest man.”
“I didn’t expect him~”
Li Xiao opened one eye, looked at her, and smiled: “Didn’t expect him to be so ruthless?”
“To fight me, he schemed to kill a chiliarch and caused hundreds of casualties?”
Xiao Yanyan nodded and sighed heavily.
Li Xiao chuckled: “Very normal.”
“You thought he was honest before because there was no conflict of interest between him and you or me.”
“But now it’s different. I’ve become the biggest obstacle to his goal of becoming the local emperor of Jin Prefecture.”
“So, revealing his true nature isn’t surprising.”
With that, Li Xiao smiled faintly: “Actually, Xiao Lintta’s methods are much gentler than I imagined.”
“If I were in his position, to take down me this deputy governor, I’d do things even more ruthlessly.”
Perhaps he wasn’t ruthless enough, or his political means weren’t cunning enough, or maybe he was wary of Xiao Yanyan and didn’t dare go too far.
“He’s gone too far. I’ll go tell Brother, don’t let General Xiao Lintta deceive him,” Xiao Yanyan said indignantly.
Since she was with Li Xiao, when considering issues, she would naturally side with him subconsciously.
Xiao Lintta became the bad guy.
Li Xiao pulled back the Xiao Yanyan who was about to get up, shook his head, and said: “Don’t go, it’s useless.”
“Your brother won’t care about this.”
Xiao Yanyan frowned and asked skeptically: “Why?”
“Brother dotes on me a lot.”
Li Xiao pulled her back into his arms and said in a low voice: “It has nothing to do with you.”
“It’s that he has to consider the big picture.”
“After all, in Jin Prefecture, my influence is strong enough. Half of the eight chiliarchs are my people.”
“Directly overshadowing the governor Xiao Lintta.”
“That’s not what your brother wants.”
Xiao Simo wanted balance, with the two governors checking each other, even the governor stronger than the deputy governor.
But the situation in Jin Prefecture was the opposite; Li Xiao’s strength was much greater than Xiao Lintta’s.
So, to balance the two major forces in Jin Prefecture, even if Xiao Simo knew the truth, he would turn a blind eye.
He might even help Xiao Lintta.
Xiao Lintta had calculated Xiao Simo’s mindset, daring to do this.
So, Li Xiao said explaining to Xiao Simo was pointless.
Xiao Simo’s stance wasn’t on Li Xiao’s side.
“Then what? Am I supposed to watch you get framed?” Xiao Yanyan said angrily.
“Of course not.”
Li Xiao grabbed her vital spot, and amid her soft cry, he said confidently: “Although your brother won’t accept your feeble explanation, if evidence is laid before him, he has to accept it.”
“Maybe even counter Xiao Lintta.”
Li Xiao snorted lightly and said.
This guy really thought of Li Xiao as just a young man who only knew fighting and killing.
Little did he know, in his previous life, Li Xiao had mastered political means in workplace struggles to perfection.
