Chapter 218: Uncle, And Also Brother-in-law
Yelü Jin squatted by the stove, watching the last bundle of dry grass turn to ash in the hearth.
The wild vegetable porridge in the earthenware pot emitted a dim steam. She stirred it with a wooden spoon, scooping out a few withered yellow leaves.
This was the food for the four of them.
It was hard to imagine that a once high-and-mighty Great Liao princess could now be living such a difficult life.
Once the food was ready, Yelü Jin brought it to the room,
Inside the room were two younger princesses, both with sallow complexions and appearing malnourished.
There was also a middle-aged woman, looking haggard and weathered, lying weakly on the bed, occasionally coughing.
“It’s time to eat.”
Yelü Jin placed the earthenware pot on the bed and then distributed the food to them. Each person received only a small bowl of thin porridge, barely enough to feel three-quarters full.
The youngest princess, named Fu Yun, looked only four or five years old. Seeing the watery broth, her mouth turned down, tears began to flow, and she whispered aggrievedly, “Sister, I want to eat meat.”
There were three princesses in this place, none of whom were favored; they were banding together for warmth.
Originally, there had been over a dozen consorts.
However, Xiao Simo considered imprisoning adult women a great waste.
So, after keeping two for himself, he generously rewarded the rest to meritorious officers and soldiers. By now, some of them had likely already had children.
In the courtyard now, only three princesses without mothers and one seriously ill old consort remained.
Therefore, the burden of life fell upon the eldest, Yelü Jin.
Hearing the little princess’s words, Yelü Jin sighed softly, “I also want to eat meat, but no one gives us meat to eat anymore.”
She recalled that when Xiao Simo was still around, meals were delivered on time every day, sometimes consisting of full sorghum rice, other times of mutton soup, no less than what she ate at the royal court.
At that time, Yelü Jin was still resentful about losing her freedom.
With her capricious nature, she would even throw her bowls on the ground and curse at the maidservants who delivered the food.
But later, the Eastern Capital fell into chaos, and Xiao Simo disappeared without a trace.
The Eastern Capital underwent successive power shifts, with Xiao Daru and Xiao Pula Yelu rising to power one after another.
But they were ultimately not Xiao Simo, not her maternal uncle.
With such a distant relation, how could they remember that a few girls were still imprisoned here?
The small courtyard seemed to have become a forgotten corner, and even grain began to run short.
Yelü Jin finally understood that although Xiao Simo had imprisoned her, he had at least provided her with a roof over her head and a life that, while humiliating, was stable.
In these chaotic times, to have enough to eat and wear, and to be cared for, was already a rare stroke of luck.
The old consort beside her, emaciated and half-reclining on the bed, took the little princess’s earthenware bowl and gave her half of the thin broth from her own bowl.
A faint smile appeared on her haggard face, and she said in a weak voice, “Fu Yun, eji’e is not hungry, you eat this.”
“I don’t want it, eji’e~” the little princess shook her head repeatedly.
Although young, she wasn’t completely clueless.
She knew that if eji’e shared the thin porridge with her, she would go hungry.
The feeling of starvation was unbearable, and the little princess had already experienced it.
Yelü Jin looked at the old consort with a pained expression and said, “Eji’e, why must you do this?”
“Eji’e” means aunt or concubine mother.
Yelü Jin’s own mother died early, and it was the old consort who raised her, no different from her own mother.
Seeing her now tormented by hunger and illness, Yelü Jin’s heart ached greatly.
The old consort shook her head gently, “I know my own condition.”
“I probably won’t make it.”
“But you are still young and must live well.”
“One day, you will be able to leave this cage.”
Having said that, she quietly closed her eyes, turned her head away, and began silently chanting Buddhist scriptures, her fingers subconsciously moving, but there was nothing there.
The once expensive red sandalwood prayer beads had been used to bribe guards for food.
Now, they were poorer than ordinary slaves.
Yelü Jin heard this and shook her head in sorrow, looking at the sky outside the door, murmuring, “Leave?”
“We’ve probably been forgotten long ago.”
The other princess beside her, named Yelü Wulan, was two years younger than Yelü Jin.
She was also dispirited, her face showing nervousness as she said, “I just looked over the wall, and the city is full of those white devils.”
“And there are many more devils in yellow and red clothes.”
“There are too many, we can never escape.”
During the internal conflict in the Eastern Capital, they had not lacked opportunities to escape.
But with just a few girls and a seriously ill old consort, they probably would have been captured before even leaving the Eastern Capital city.
Moreover, the outside of the city was filled with rebel soldiers, completely devoid of order.
Leaving the Eastern Capital city, their fate would only be more tragic.
So they could only passively remain in the mansion, waiting for an opportunity, hoping the Royal Court Army would capture the Eastern Capital and rescue them.
Unfortunately, they were disappointed.
Li Xiao, the Great Governor of Jin Prefecture, led tens of thousands of Jin Prefecture Army soldiers to reinforce the Eastern Capital, defeated the Royal Court Army outside the city, and then captured the Eastern Capital city.
They raced a thousand miles, advancing into Seven Rivers to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Royal Court Army.
This news was all overheard from two guards.
Upon hearing the news of the Royal Court Army’s great defeat, the hearts of these girls were utterly crushed.
The Jin Prefecture Army was patrolling everywhere in the city, and their chances of leaving became increasingly slim.
“Jin Prefecture Governor Li Xiao~ It’s that bastard again!”
Yelü Jin muttered with resentment.
Gazing at the sliver of sky outside the door, she involuntarily thought of Li Xiao’s appearance.
Her arrival in the Eastern Capital was thanks to this man.
He was the one who broke through the Imperial Palace of Kuyun-Ordu and abducted her.
He had even threatened that she would go to him for his pleasure back then?
Thinking of this, Yelü Jin gritted her teeth.
Shameless, lewd, despicable bastard.
But then, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.
Her maternal uncle Xiao Simo was dead, and no one could protect her anymore.
The Eastern Capital was now occupied by the Jin Prefecture Army; it was Li Xiao’s territory.
“He wouldn’t really call me over for his pleasure, would he?”
This thought popped into Yelü Jin’s mind, and she began to panic.
Suicide? Or take that guy down with her?
But if she died, what about eji’e? What about Fu Yun?
Yelü Jin’s mind was in turmoil: “If that guy dares to threaten me with Fu Yun and eji’e, I, I will~”
After thinking for a long time, she couldn’t come up with a good plan.
It seemed she couldn’t resist at all.
Could it be that she had to give in to him?
After all, although that guy was annoying, he was not bad-looking, so it wouldn’t be a total loss…
With this thought, Yelü Jin tidied up the earthenware pot and asked Yelü Wulan to fetch water from the courtyard to wash it.
But at this moment, the main gate was suddenly kicked open.
“Bang~”
The loud noise startled them, and the bowl and jar Yelü Wulan was holding shattered on the ground with a ‘crash’.
Immediately after, she looked towards the door, her eyes instantly filling with panic.
She cried out in terror, “Eji’e, sister, eji’e~”
“The devils are here, many devils have come for us.”
Back then, Li Xiao led the White Armored Army to sweep across Seven Rivers and break through the Eastern Capital, earning him the title of White Devil.
This also left a deep shadow on the young hearts of these princesses.
No matter the color, they were all Jin Prefecture devils.
They were bad people.
The sound of armor clashing grew closer, and over a dozen Imperial Guards entered with hurried footsteps.
They were all wearing cotton armor with yellow bases and red trim, exuding an aura of killing intent.
They wore tasseled helmets, their eyes were stern, and the cavalry sabers at their waists swayed slightly with their steps.
The captain at the forefront swept his gaze over Yelü Jin and Fu Yun, as if appraising objects, then waved his hand. Several soldiers immediately fanned out and quickly entered the room to inspect.
Yelü Jin and her sisters could only huddle together helplessly.
Their expressions were terrified, and they trembled.
“Who are you? What do you want?”
But no one answered her. After the inspection was complete, footsteps sounded again from outside the door.
Unhurried, steady and powerful, a tall figure passed through the broken threshold and entered the courtyard.
Yelü Jin looked up and met a pair of eyes as cold as a deep pool.
The man appeared to be around twenty years old, tall and imposing, standing like a wall.
His face was determined and stern, he wore a plain black robe, his short hair was neat and tidy, he had a hint of stubble, and his gaze swept over everyone in the courtyard, finally landing on Yelü Jin.
“Li Xiao?”
Yelü Jin exclaimed, recognizing the Jin Prefecture Governor Li Xiao at once, and her heart immediately panicked.
“What should I do?”
“Is he here to take me for his pleasure?”
Yelü Jin’s mind was in chaos. Holding the little princess, she kept backing away.
Li Xiao’s attention, however, was focused on their clothing and complexions.
“It’s rare that you still remember me.”
“But in just over a year, how have you become so disheveled?” Li Xiao walked forward, examining Yelü Jin’s pretty face, and suddenly said mockingly.
He remembered when he first saw her in the Imperial Palace; she was as proud as a swan and even dared to talk back to him.
But now, she wore plain clothes, her face was yellow, her jawbones were thin, and her hair was messy.
She looked nothing like a princess.
She looked exactly like a refugee.
“You~”
Hearing Li Xiao’s mockery, Yelü Jin became furious, her small tiger teeth lightly grinding as she said,
“If it weren’t for you, how would I have ended up like this?”
“And you’re still laughing at me?”
“Si Gele!”
Saying this, she looked aggrieved.
Her eyes were slightly red, her mouth pouted, and she looked like she was trying hard not to cry.
Although not favored by Yelü Zhilugu, she was still a princess and had lived a life of luxury since childhood.
Unlike now, she had suffered greatly.
And the main culprit was this scoundrel in front of her. If not for the personal guards beside him, Yelü Jin would have pounced on him and bitten his face fiercely.
Li Xiao let out a sneer, circled the courtyard, and chuckled, “You should be grateful to me for coming to the Eastern Capital.”
“Grateful?” Yelü Jin was dumbfounded.
How could he say such a thing?
She had never met such an unashamed person.
“Of course, you should be grateful to me, otherwise, you would have been captured by the Kangli people and taken to the grasslands.”
“Yelü Wusitu’s relationship with your father is just so-so.”
“Don’t expect him to show you forgiveness; he might just reward you to a little noble who smells of mutton and is filthy, or even an old man~” Li Xiao said with a snort.
Compared to Yelü Wusitu, Li Xiao was already a good person.
After that guy broke through Kuyun-Ordu, he looted everything, taking anything he could carry back to the grasslands.
Therefore, Li Xiao had saved her life.
Yelü Jin felt a shiver run down her spine.
Such a life would be worse than death.
She opened her mouth, not knowing how to retort.
She just looked at Li Xiao with an angry expression and snorted, “Hmph, you’re not a good person either.”
Li Xiao shook his head and smiled, this girl was indeed a bit like Xiao Yanyan in temperament.
But he didn’t want to argue with a woman. Instead, he looked at the scene in the courtyard and asked, “How did it become so disheveled?”
“Is there no one in charge here anymore?”
Especially the broken earthenware pot on the ground; judging by the residual marks, what Yelü Jin and the others ate should have been thin and watery, not anything good.
But she was still a princess, Xiao Simo’s niece. Li Xiao couldn’t understand how she had fallen so low.
“After uncle passed away, no one has looked after us for a long time.”
Seeing Yelü Jin remain silent, Yelü Wulan mustered her courage and said.
Li Xiao frowned slightly, “Then what do you eat usually?”
“It’s not that no one cares at all. The Royal Mansion still sends us some food, but it’s very little, not enough to eat.”
“Eji’e is sick from hunger.”
“Not enough to eat?” Li Xiao asked, confused.
For the dignified Xiao family, even without Xiao Simo, it shouldn’t be this short on food.
Besides, Shu Lü Wujin didn’t seem like someone who would be harsh with people.
Therefore, Li Xiao decided to go back and ask Shu Lü Wujin what was going on.
After all, Yelü Jin was now his woman, and it made Li Xiao angry that she had been suffering like this.
She was such a beautiful young girl back then, and now she was so thin from hunger.
How was he supposed to touch her?
It would hurt his hands!
However, in the next second, Li Xiao’s peripheral vision caught sight of the two guards who had led the way earlier. Their expressions had become nervous and uneasy, and one of them was even trembling slightly in the legs.
“What’s wrong with you two?”
“Why are you sweating so much? Is it hot?”
Li Xiao walked up to the two of them and asked in a calm voice.
His sharp gaze swept over their faces like a knife, and his powerful aura, imposing even without anger, made the already guilty pair even more fearful.
“Yes, yes, this weather is just too hot~”
One guard said with a trembling voice, forcing a forced smile onto his face and constantly wiping his forehead with his sleeve.
The other man kept his head down, not daring to say a word.
Li Xiao turned to Yelü Jin and asked, “Are these two the only ones serving you in this residence?”
Yelü Jin turned her head and said softly, “There were originally four maidservants, but they all ran home when there was fighting inside the city.”
This meant that the only way to contact the outside world from the residence was through these two guards.
Li Xiao’s expression turned slightly cold, and he asked calmly, “Did they do anything inappropriate to you?”
Before Yelü Jin could speak, Yelü Wulan next to her quickly complained to Li Xiao, “At first, they were fine.”
“But after my uncle passed away, they started to become arrogant towards us.”
“They gave us less and less food, and said that if we wanted to eat well, we had to pay to buy it ourselves.”
“My mother gave them her prayer beads to buy food, those were red sandalwood prayer beads, worth a lot of money, but they only bought us a lamb leg.”
Yelü Wulan said indignantly, almost pointing at the guards’ noses and accusing them of extortion.
It was true that these two guards had become more and more outrageous lately.
If they weren’t severely punished, they might do even worse things in the future.
“Heh heh~”
Li Xiao laughed, a laugh of anger.
The world truly was a place where people fawned over the powerful and bullied the weak!
Yelü Jin was like those consorts who had been cast into the cold palace; no matter how glorious they were before, to live peacefully in the cold palace, they had to bribe the eunuchs and palace maids guarding it regularly.
Otherwise, they would definitely suffer greatly.
When Xiao Simo was still alive, the two of them naturally wouldn’t dare to be presumptuous.
But after Xiao Simo’s death, they assumed Yelü Jin and the others had no support, believing they held their fate in their hands, and thus became brazen.
By controlling the food supply, they intended to drain Yelü Jin and the others of all their value.
If no one paid attention, those two bastards would become even more audacious.
“Guards~”
Li Xiao snorted coldly and roared.
“Drag them away and hand them over to Zhang Shitou.”
“I didn’t want to see them again.”
Before killing them, he wanted them to experience the cruel punishments of the Imperial Guard.
Killing someone who betrayed their master like this was too easy for them.
“Yes, sir.”
Four guards stepped forward and immediately subdued the two on the ground.
Although these two didn’t understand the Chinese Li Xiao was speaking, they knew they were in deep trouble from the situation.
They collapsed onto the ground, crying and begging for mercy.
“Spare us, spare us, Great Governor.”
“We know we were wrong, we won’t dare to do it again.”
“Spare our dog’s lives, Great Governor, we won’t dare again.”
Li Xiao’s expression remained unchanged. He simply waved his hand, and the two were dragged out, their pathetic pleas abruptly silenced.
Because all their teeth had been shattered by the Imperial Guards.
Seeing Li Xiao’s decisiveness and dominance, Yelü Wulan’s eyes lit up.
She said excitedly, “Uncle, Uncle, you’re amazing.”
“With you here, we won’t be afraid of anyone bullying us anymore.”
As she spoke, her eyes darted around, clearly a clever and lively girl.
She knew that Li Xiao was in charge of the Eastern Capital now, so she quickly tried to build a connection and get close to him.
This was to avoid being bullied by others in the future.
However, when Li Xiao heard her address him, his mouth twitched involuntarily.
“Uncle?”
In the Khitan language, this meant uncle by marriage.
Well, he was indeed her uncle by marriage.
Xiao Yanyan and Yelü Zhilugu were cousins.
Therefore, Yelü Zhilugu’s child naturally had to call Li Xiao uncle by marriage.
Even Yelü Jin was the same, which made Li Xiao very unaccustomed to it.
After all, Yelü Zhilugu had explicitly said he wanted to marry her to him.
What kind of situation was this!
Uncle and niece serving the same man?
Li Xiao had ended up with the same situation as Hong Taiji.
But this kind of relationship was completely normal in this era.
As long as it wasn’t within the same surname and direct bloodline, ancient people didn’t care.
In the face of bloodline continuity and marriage alliances for family interests, seniority was not an issue at all.
Li Xiao cast a deep glance at Yelü Jin again, who looked very thin.
He didn’t like women who were too thin; they felt rough.
But Yelü Jin had a good foundation; she would recover in a few days with proper care.
So, Li Xiao didn’t fuss. He said to the princess, “Don’t call me ‘Uncle’ anymore. Call me ‘Xihu’.”
Xihu meant brother-in-law in Khitan.
Upon hearing this, Yelü Wulan was stunned, as if she hadn’t comprehended.
But Yelü Jin next to her immediately reacted. She stepped back warily, glaring fiercely at Li Xiao and said, “You won’t succeed! I’d rather die than serve you.”
She looked furious, her small tiger teeth bared as if she were about to bite Li Xiao.
Here it comes, this day was finally here.
She knew that this scoundrel Li Xiao had never given up on his intentions towards her.
“Oh?”
“But what if your Father Emperor asked you to marry me?” Li Xiao smiled.
“My Father Emperor wants me to marry you?” Yelü Jin was stunned, looking at Li Xiao in disbelief.
“I fought a battle with him, and he lost, so he married you to me to exchange for my Northern Frontier army’s retreat and to stop attacking the Royal Court,” Li Xiao said.
“If you don’t marry me, then my Northern Frontier Army will attack the Royal Court again at any time, and I’ll capture your Father Emperor and cut off his head, humph!”
Yelü Jin was dumbfounded. She didn’t doubt Li Xiao’s words.
Because this was exactly the kind of thing her Father Emperor would do.
Yelü Zhilugu had always disliked her, so it was normal for him to use her for a marriage alliance with Li Xiao in exchange for peace for the Royal Court.
At this moment, Yelü Jin felt no anger, nor the despair of being abandoned by the world.
Instead, she felt a sense of relief.
Because ever since the Jin Prefecture Army had broken through the Imperial Palace, Yelü Jin had been prepared to be insulted.
But she hadn’t expected Li Xiao to not touch her at all.
Even when she was imprisoned by Xiao Simo in the Eastern Capital, once she reached a suitable age, she would definitely be married off or rewarded to a meritorious general.
In short, her fate was to be married off to a man, unless she died.
Now that the Jin Prefecture Army had occupied the Eastern Capital, she had also prepared herself to be forcibly taken by Li Xiao for his service.
However, she hadn’t expected Li Xiao to tell her that it wasn’t just about serving him, but a formal marriage alliance.
This brought Yelü Jin some comfort.
She kept telling herself: “Since I’ll be taken advantage of by this scoundrel Li Xiao eventually, I might as well secure a proper status. It will be better for me in the future.”
While she was mentally preparing herself, Li Xiao had already walked up to her and directly cupped her chin, lifting her face with a slight force.
He looked her up and down, saying with slight dissatisfaction, “You’re not as pretty as before, and you’re too thin, not plump at all.”
Yelü Jin was stunned. She hadn’t expected Li Xiao to be so presumptuous. She tried to struggle but found her body weak and unable to muster any strength.
Most importantly, Li Xiao’s face was only about a foot away from her.
With every breath, he exhaled a strong man’s scent that seemed to wash over her cheeks like a gust of wind.
Having never been this close to a man before, her cheeks instantly turned as red as blood. Her mind went blank, and her breathing became labored.
Her body felt weak, and she couldn’t muster any strength, completely forgetting to struggle.
Fortunately, Li Xiao found her too thin and had no interest in continuing.
He quickly let go and said with some disdain, “Eat well these days and gain some weight.”
“When we return to Jin Prefecture, you will be a member of my Li family.”
With that, he turned and left with his men.
Yelü Jin hurriedly tried to calm her rapid breathing, touched her flushed face, and watched his departing back, saying with a look of defiance:
“Scoundrel, you won’t succeed.”
“I, Yelü Jin, will not marry you.”
But as soon as she finished speaking, Yelü Wulan next to her said with a look of surprise, “Really? Sister?”
“If you don’t want to marry, I will.”
Yelü Jin was instantly dumbfounded, turning to look at her with a shocked expression.
Yelü Wulan, however, continued speaking to herself, “Uncle might seem bad, but he has a good heart.”
“He helped us get revenge, and those two guards definitely won’t have a good ending.”
“And we can’t go back to the Royal Court anymore.”
“If we’re staying in the Northern Frontier, we need to find someone to rely on, and Uncle is perfect.”
“He’s so young yet already the Eastern Capital Governor, and he’s so tall and strong, he can definitely protect us~”
She said, looking pleadingly at Yelü Jin and earnestly saying, “Sister, if you don’t want to marry, can I go for the marriage alliance in your place?”
Yelü Jin was completely bewildered, she hadn’t expected her to have such thoughts.
But for some reason, Yelü Jin felt no joy at all. Instead, she felt as if something of hers was being snatched away.
Her cheeks flushed with anger, and she said furiously, “You wish!”
