Yanyuntai·One

Chapter 6 Yanyan Taming Horses
Fifteen years have passed since the Chaga Rebellion.

In a courtyard of the Imperial City of Shangjing, the buds of weeping willows are just blooming in front of the window.A girl in red stood in front of the study window, stomped her feet and asked the middle-aged man in the room: "So, what happened next?"

Beifu Prime Minister Xiao Siwen took a sip of tea leisurely and asked, "What happened later?"

This girl is Xiao Siwen's youngest daughter, named Yanyan.She was anxious when she heard the voice: "What happened after the Xianggushan incident?"

Xiao Siwen had some free time just now, and was pestered by his little daughter to ask endlessly, so he talked about the past, and now he was a little tired, so he said: "What happened later, isn't that the way it is? Cut down and kill, what else?"

Yanyan was dissatisfied, and rushed to Xiao Siwen's case again: "How did Chagao die? Why did he succeed today? Didn't Chagao control everyone at that time? Also, what did the little prince do?" Was it found? Why don’t you continue to implement the Han system today?”

Xiao Siwen pressed his temples, feeling a little headache.He regretted it a little bit. He knew that this little girl always liked to ask countless "whys", and she would not give up if she was not satisfied. Just now, he was confused by this little girl's sweet "Daddy, you don't know anything." I know", coupled with those big lovely eyes looking at him with trust, he obeyed everything unconsciously.

If the question wasn't too sensitive, he would be willing to answer it, but—he sighed, and said lightly: "I ran away when I heard the news that day. After a public discussion, King Shou'an was elected as the successor. Cha Ge knew that the people had betrayed their relatives and had no choice but to surrender, but was killed by the former emperor's younger brother, Lou Guo."

Yan Yan was dissatisfied: "Lou Guo is the younger brother of the first emperor, and he is also a descendant. Why didn't he succeed, but King Shou'an succeeded?"

Xiao Siwen glared at her: "You are still young, so you don't need to ask about such royal matters."

Yanyan pursed her lips: "Daddy is so boring. Since childhood, he told us that we should know about the royal affairs, learn more and know more, but now I say that I am still young, so I don't need to ask too much about the royal affairs. Isn't this contradictory? "

Xiao Siwen was a little embarrassed by what she said.The Xiao family is a descendant family, and the daughter of the Xiao family has been educated with the goal of being a concubine since she was a child. She has learned various cultural etiquette, riding and shooting soldiers, and common sense education in royal affairs.Xiao Siwen was about to use other words to divert away, when the door of the study opened, the eldest daughter Xiao Hunian walked in, gave Yanyan a hard look, and reprimanded: "Dad has a lot of business, you have been making a fuss for a long time, isn't it enough? Hurry up." Come out with me." He pulled Yanyan out with half-pushing and half-persuading.

Seeing that the two sisters had left, Xiao Siwen wiped off his sweat.Every time Yanyan makes a fuss, Hu Nian has to come out to suppress this little demon star.He couldn't answer Yanyan's question. Since Mu Zong took the throne, he has massacred all his officials and made people panic.Soon after the Xianggu Mountain Incident, Sejong's mother and younger brother, Yelu Louguo, was killed for treason and ordered to be buried in a place that will never be seen again.Mu Zong's half-brother Yelv Dilie also became Lou's accomplice and was imprisoned.The Taiwei Yeluhu Guzhi was imprisoned and executed in the name of treason, Xiao Meigude, the political affairs order of the uncle of the country, Li Huan, a scholar of the Xuanzheng Palace, and others were killed and rode for plotting to go south.

In the following year, Abaoji's third son, Yelu Lihu, and his sons Yelu Wan and Lang Jun Jigan were secretly reported to have conspired against Yelu Dilie together with Yelu Dilie. A round of killing and cutting power.In the ninth year of Mu Zong, Yelu Dilie and the former Xuanhui envoys Haisi and Xiao Daqian conspired against each other;

Over the past few years, the clan's rebellion and important ministers' rebellion have occurred one after another and cannot be calmed down. Even Mu Zong's brothers cannot avoid being implicated.How can I explain all this to that innocent child?
With a sullen face, Hu Nian dragged Yanyan out all the way.Yanyan took two steps, came back to her senses, took Hu Nian's hand and shook her coquettishly: "Sister, I still have something to ask."

Hu Nian's resistance to her was much stronger than Xiao Siwen's: "If he can answer you, Dad will naturally answer. If he doesn't answer you, he can't say it."

Yanyan was stunned, she didn't expect to hear such an "unreasonable" answer from her always gentle and reasonable sister, she stomped her feet angrily.

Hu Nian smiled slightly, looking at Yanyan, as if looking at an ignorant child.Yanyan knew from a young age that once Hu Nian showed such an expression, it would be useless for her to be obedient and coquettish, and it would be even more useless to play tricks.After thinking about it, she retreated and said: "Eldest sister, I still want to ask—"

Hu Nian glanced at her vigilantly, she would not be fooled by this kid's little trick of talking around.

Yanyan hurriedly raised her hands and confessed: "I didn't ask that, I asked something else..."

Hu Nian stared at her, trying to make her understand that it's best not to pester her for too long: "What are you asking?"

Yanyan has already reached the tip of her mouth and quickly changed her words: "Ask...I want to ask, why does Aunt Sage have a posthumous title, but Empress Zhen does not have a posthumous title?"

Hu Nian was stunned when he heard this, and it took him a long time to say, "Why do you ask this?"

Yanyan blinked her eyes: "Because I'm weird."

Hu Nian looked at Yanyan, but did not answer. Instead, he asked, "Then why do you think she doesn't have a posthumous title? Has no one mentioned her in these years?"

Yanyan thought for a while, then said hesitantly: "Is it... because she is not a descendant, but a Han woman?"

Hu Nian was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "Not exactly."

At this moment, she was in a daze, remembering the scene when she entered the palace with her mother, Princess Yan, and saw the two queens.At that time, she was only four or five years old, so she didn't remember many things, but the meeting with Empress Zhen was unforgettable to this day.

Beautiful, noble, elegant, wise, she felt for the first time what these words really meant.At that time, she was just a little child, and Empress Zhen was talking to others. She stayed in Empress Zhen's palace for less than a quarter of an hour before being led out to play by the palace people, but she still felt that she had not been ignored. Empress Zhen In his busy schedule, he would smile at her and pay attention to her emotions, unlike Riri's mother who used to take her to the noble lady's mansion where she was treated as a child.Although in those places, she was also surrounded by a group of noble ladies who praised and flattered her, but when those people spoke, their eyes were on her mother.

Empress Zhen will never know that many years later, this little girl still remembers the scene of watching her from afar for only a quarter of an hour.Moreover, in the days to come, I will involuntarily imitate her every move.but……

Hu Nian withdrew his mind, looked at the bouncing younger sister in front of him, and subconsciously said, "Because...she is a different kind."

"Heterogeneous, what is different?"

"Heterogeneous means being different from everyone else."

Whether it's Empress Zhen's clothes, speech and behavior, the "Southern barbarian taste" that Khitan noble ladies don't like but secretly imitates in private, or her charm that makes Emperor Sejong fascinated by her and violates the rules, or is it out of the desire to promote Sejong? Due to the fact that the incident of Sinicization was blamed on her, Empress Zhen was regarded as a different kind in the eyes of most Khitan nobles.She is different from other women, even though Khitan women can ride horses and shoot, they are also good at managing tribes, but it is beyond their imagination to actively intervene in political changes or even change the system like this.

Yanyan asked: "Why is it different?"

"This is not something that can be said in a few words..."

Hu Nian pulled Yanyan to sit on the corridor, and told the story of Empress Zhen in detail, and also analyzed in detail the many past events of the daughter of the Xiao family as a concubine since the founding of the country.The latter, as family history, was originally Yanyan's homework when she was a child, but what she heard at that time was much simpler and she forgot a lot.Listening to those old "common sense" at this moment, in my sister's mouth, there is more meaning.In particular, the many old things that Queen Yingtian told Luping made her fall into deep thought.

After Hu Nian finished speaking, seeing his younger sister resting her chin and meditating seriously, she couldn't help laughing, and pushed her: "What are you thinking about?"

Yanyan came back to her senses: "Sister, don't you actually think that the old lady is also a different kind?"

"Nonsense, the old queen mother assisted Taizu Taizong in the founding of the country, she is a good wife and mother, and she conforms to the old customs and is supported by the tribe. How can she be a different kind?"

"What do you mean the old queen doesn't like people? The emperor likes Sinology, so she asked the tribe to promote Taizong, but several Han officials under Taizu were recommended by the old queen. Many of the Sinicization initiatives are done when Taizong succeeded to the throne. In fact, the old empress still promoted an emperor who liked the Chinese culture and emphasized the Han system. I think the old empress does not necessarily have a preference for Taizong, don’t they often disagree? Isn’t the old empress very angry when Taizong went south?”

Hu Nian couldn't answer for a while, and asked instead: "You child, where did you hear these words?"

"Hmph, sister looks down on people, can't I figure it out by myself? The old queen killed all the younger brothers, advised Taizu to kill the leaders of the seven tribes, recommended Han officials, and killed the heads of the tribes after the death of Taizu. Which point conforms to the old customs? When has she ever been soft on the tribe? She did not follow the Taizu's will to abolish King Dongdan and establish Taizong, forcing King Dongdan to die in a foreign country..."

Hu Nian covered her mouth anxiously: "You little ancestor, how dare you say anything? How can people in our family criticize the old queen? If other people in the clan hear about it, they must beat you up. "

Yanyan pulled Hu Nian's hand away, and said dissatisfied, "Where did I criticize the old lady? Besides, with the old lady's character, even if she is alive, she is not afraid of criticism."

Hu Nian was annoyed: "You are not afraid, I am."

Yanyan was surprised, she was not afraid of anything, only her elder sister, she didn't think that her elder sister would be afraid too: "What are you afraid of?"

Hu Nian pulled her face: "I'm afraid that your nonsense will hurt your father and family."

Yanyan burst out laughing: "Our family is descendant, what are we afraid of getting involved?"

Hu Nian looked at this bold and foolish boy and felt a headache: "Although we are descendants, the descendants are not limited to our family. Now the Lord is suspicious and easy to kill. Even if he is a descendant of the royal family, he will die under his sword." There are already quite a few people under it. That year when the case of surrender to the Southern Dynasty came up, the Taiwei Yelu was suddenly executed, and the uncle's political affairs order Xiao Meigude was killed. Although you were young at that time, I told you. "

"Didn't he feel guilty when he first succeeded to the throne? Since Taizu founded the country, which time did he not kill people when he changed the throne? When he is firmly on the throne, he will not be so stupid to continue to make enemies. In the past few years, he has killed less Besides, who doesn't talk about him behind his back, drinks and sleeps every day, makes his father help him with political affairs every day, doesn't he know? Dad doesn't rebel, and he doesn't go to Nantou. If he wants to punish his father indiscriminately, who will give him work?"

Hu Nian stared at Yanyan, feeling that this younger sister was becoming more and more difficult to manage.The Xiao family is a descendant family, and most of their daughters are married to the royal family, either marrying the emperor or the kings, so they can manage the tribe from a young age, and lead the army to fight.It's a pity that this kind of education fell on Yanyan, which is a disaster. Learning martial arts well has increased her ability to go to the house to expose tiles and make troubles.

Hu Nian could only turn around and leave as he did several times before: "No matter what you say, I won't allow you to go out and talk about it anyway. If you let me hear it, I will ask Daddy to restrain your feet and prevent you from going to the spring bowl. .”

Yanyan could only hop behind her in vain: "Hey, elder sister, you are unreasonable. Didn't you tell me to be reasonable when you were young? If you can't explain it, you can be arrogant."

Hu Nian's voice came from afar: "So what if I'm being arrogant, just because I'm your eldest sister."

Seeing Hu Nian's figure turn around the corridor and leave the yard, it was useless to shout any more, so she stomped her feet angrily and chased him out of the yard.Naturally, Hu Nian wouldn't stay where she was and wait for her, and she didn't have the guts to go to Hu Nian's yard to interrupt her from managing family affairs.

At this moment, another girl in yellow clothes ran over and shouted: "Yanyan, Yanyan, it's not good." She looked about four or five points like Yanyan, but slightly taller and thinner than Yanyan, and she already showed The girl's slender figure is not like Yanyan's round face and some babies' fat and childish looks.She is Xiao Wuguli, the second daughter of Xiao Siwen, who is only two years younger than Yanyan, and she is the best friend on weekdays: "Yanyan, it's not good, Xianhe got a good horse that was tributed by Wusun Kingdom, and it will be on the spring bowl." Overwhelm us."

Yelu Xianhe, titled Princess Yonghui, is a close branch of the royal family. She has been very close to Yanyan and Wuguli since she was a child, and she has been fighting since she was a child.Last time Yanyan crushed her in the Autumn Nabo, she held her breath and mustered all her strength, this time she just got a good horse, so she was determined to get back this face in the Chun Nabo.

Hearing this, Wuguli felt uneasy, so he quietly ran to Yelu Xianhe's house to inquire about the situation, and hurried back to tell his sister: "She is a red-maned horse. I heard it is called a fire lion. It is very powerful. She took it out for a horse race this morning." , leaving the other horses behind."

Yanyan also became nervous: "Second sister, did your yellow puma also lose?"

She blurted out: "How do you know?" After she finished speaking, she also understood that they had been fighting since childhood, and if there was a horse race in Xianhe, she would definitely try it out first.With a bitter face in the black bones: "My horse lost, and it was a bad loss. Yanyan, what should we do? This time we will lose face in the spring."

Yanyan was also flustered, she looked up at Wu Guli with something to say in her eyes, and hurriedly asked: "Second Sister, do you have an idea?"

Wuguli looked around, pulled Yanyan aside, and lowered his voice furtively: "Do you know that our family sent a batch of good horses from Xiajunzhou [1] the day before yesterday, should we go and see them?" Look, are there any good horses?"

Yanyan looked at Wuguli in surprise: "Hey, how do you know?"

It's strange that there are things about the family that she doesn't know but knows in her bones.

"Don't tell us, big sister. I heard that these horses haven't been tamed yet. It was Chongjiu who heard it from Fuhui." Chongjiu is Wuguli's maid, and Fuhui is Hu Nian's maid.

"Then let's change our clothes soon and go take a look now."

Wuguli had exactly this intention, since the two of them grew up, when troubles arise, they always like to pull each other up, the power of causing troubles is doubled, but the punishment afterwards can be halved.

The two changed their clothes and went to the racecourse in the west of the city.Sure enough, there were a lot of good horses sent this time, but the racecourse steward knelt on the ground and kowtowed, allowing the two nobles to wave their whips threateningly, but refused to order to open the gate of the racecourse and let them in.

On weekdays, Spring and Autumn Nabo, there will also be some activities, releasing horses that have not been fully tamed, and giving these aristocratic children a try to tame the horses. None of the wild horses and horses in the wild are among them.And one of the wild horses in this batch was so violent that it bit the other horses in the same stable.He knew the temperament of the two girls in front of him, if he told the truth, not only would he not be able to stop them, on the contrary it would make them want to tame them even more.

Seeing that Wu Guli had been threatening for a long time, the steward just kept pushing and begging for mercy, but had no intention of letting them in at all, so she said impatiently: "Second sister, ignore him, let's go to the racecourse by ourselves."

Yanyan directed a few maids, untied the fence of the racecourse and walked in.

The steward of the horse farm saw that the situation was not good, so he quickly winked at the subordinates, and quietly went to inform the eldest girl Hu Nian, who was busy making gestures to teach the horse slaves to quickly deliver grass to the most violent black horse and block the horse's neck Mouth, so as not to be too active and screaming for the girls to see, I followed behind with a sad face, trying to lead them to a safe place, but I didn't know that the two sisters were used to doing what adults didn't let them do since they were young. Things, as long as someone tries to lure them in a certain direction, they will habitually go in the opposite direction.

The steward turned his head and saw the two sisters running towards the stable where the black horse was, he couldn't help but turn pale with fright, and shouted: "You two girls, I can't go there—" and chased after them.

Sister Yanyan trotted past the rows of stables and stopped in front of the black horse with great precision. "Look at this horse's head, look at these eyes, look at this skeleton, look at this coat color...it's absolutely a good horse!" Yanyan looked at it obsessively.

"There is only one horse in this stable. The horses in the left and right stables dare not approach. This horse must have a strong temper."

"The stablekeeper only feeds it grass and has no other horses. It must be shut up. I really want to hear it neigh."

"Yes, a good horse can tell by its bark."

The horseman next to him listened to their conversation, sweating more and more on his forehead, and his hands began to tremble.The two eldest ladies stepped forward and waved him to get out of the way.

Wu Guli fed the horse with her own hands, but Yanyan took out a few pieces of candied fruit from her handkerchief, cut them into tiny pieces with a knife, walked to the stable, saw that Wu Guli had already fed it, and said: " Second sister, it's my turn now."

Seeing her holding the fruit in Wuguli, he regretted it: "Oh, Yanyan, why didn't I think of that!"

Yanyan held the candy in her hand, and handed it to the horse. The horse ate grass for a while, and when it was full, it smelled the aroma of sugar, and hurriedly stretched out its head, licked the candy in Yanyan's hand, and lowered down more docilely Let Yanyan caress its head.Yanyan stroked the horse's head for a while, then stroked the horse's back, and after feeding a few pieces of fruit, she saw that the horse looked comfortable, turned her head and said, "Second Sister, do you want to come first?"

Wuguli shook his head.Both her sisters have ridden horses since they were young, and they also understand the nature of horses: "No need, it ate your caramel, it is better for you to train it."

Yanyan smiled brightly: "Okay, next time there is a good horse, you can choose it first." Seeing that the horse was completely black, except for its four hooves, she turned her head and asked, "Is this horse named?"

The horseman hurriedly said, "No."

"Then call it Dark Cloud Gai Xue, and it will be mine from now on." Saying that, Yanyan turned around and entered the stable, caressing the horse, while untying the rein tied to the post, taking advantage of the horse's slack Get down and get on the horseback.

Although this untamed wild horse was harnessed and driven to Shangjing, it was untamed after all.Seeing someone riding on the horse and being let go of the rein, he immediately hissed, jumped out of the stable, let go of his hooves and ran wildly, trying to throw the man off the horse.

Yanyan tightly grasped the reins and leaned on the horse's back, comforting her softly while showing the horse her hand that still smelled of fruit.The horse was ridden by someone, and ran away out of animal instinct, but it was already full and ate sugar, and felt that the people on horseback were not dangerous, so the horse's hooves gradually slowed down.

Seeing that it slowed down, Yanyan hurriedly took another piece of fruit cane to feed it, and after so many times, the horse did not continue to have seizures, as if it agreed to let this harmless little girl stay on its back.

But when he heard the bell of the horse, Wu Guli and his maid rode after him on horseback. Seeing that the horse had slowed down, he shouted happily: "Yanyan, you are really good at taming a strong horse so quickly. My family, Yanyan, is the most capable and smartest." Yanyan complacently listened to her sister's flattery: "That's natural."

Regardless of the persuasion of the horse farm manager, Yanyan is about to ride the newly tamed horse and go straight back home. She intends to take advantage of these few days to strengthen her relationship with her new partner, so that when the spring is over, she can suppress the daughters of the royal family and descendants. Win the championship in one fell swoop.

Yanyan rode a horse, and returned home with Wu Guli and all the maids proudly.I don't want to just leave the racecourse and turn into the street market, when I suddenly hear the loud drumming.

Nearby is the West Market, which is often used to execute criminals.Usually before the killing, there will be three-way drums at the entrance of Xishi to attract people to watch and achieve the purpose of deterrence.In recent years, Mu Zong murdered more and more people, so this kind of loud drum sound was familiar to everyone, even the mules and horses were not surprised.

I don't want the dark clouds and snow that Yanyan is riding today has never heard such a sound like a huge thunder.This horse was originally wild, and he didn't bother to care about it when he was full just now, so he wasn't really tame.At this time, there was a loud noise, and the beast's instinctive fear of danger made it jump up, hiss long, and run around indiscriminately.

Yanyan screamed, there was a street market in front of her, and there were many pedestrians, if the horse ran there, wouldn't it cause a big disaster?She used all her breastfeeding strength to rein in the horse, but she couldn't hold it back. Seeing the horse go straight, she had no choice but to forcefully turn the horse's head in another direction.

Wu Yun Gaixue was already violent, but at this moment, frightened, he became even more furious. He just ran wildly, and ran straight in any direction.

Yanyan couldn't care less about it anymore, and only one thought in her mind was "rein in it and don't let it hurt anyone", and she was being led further and further away by this wild horse.I could only hear Wu Guli yelling: "Yanyan, Yanyan..." It seemed to hear the eldest sister Hu Nian calling.

She vaguely thought that she was probably too afraid of the eldest sister, so she also heard the second sister's voice as the eldest sister's.But he didn't know that it was Hu Nian who was chasing after him on horseback.

It turned out that her sisters were making trouble at the racecourse, and the supervisor of the racecourse hurriedly sent someone to notify the eldest girl while perfunctory.Hu Nian was in a hurry when he heard the news, and hurriedly put down the matter at hand, changed his riding clothes and chased him out.

Going back and forth wasted time, and when Hu Nian came after him, he saw this most thrilling scene. Seeing that Wu Guli was frightened and screamed, Hu Nian hurried forward without giving orders, and shouted: " Yanyan, Yanyan, don't be afraid, sister is here..."

It's just that her horse is not as fast as Yanyan's horse. Seeing that the execution ground is approaching soon, today the execution ground will behead a group of prisoners, and the guards are strict.

Notes:

[1] The local administrative organization of the Liao State is a state established by the ministers of the clan's relatives and tribal leaders who neutralize those with military exploits, and the population they share or capture is a joint military-administrative organization.

(End of this chapter)