Chapter 295

Ye Guhong asked Long Kongkong and Wan Dashi to go to the chiefs of the various Miao tribes and ask them to send soldiers. They carefully selected warriors from each tribe and drew 2,000 strong and courageous fighters. Together with Wan Dashi’s 1,000 elite soldiers, there were a total of 3,000 people, with enough food and supplies, and they set off for the Yi territory.

Within a few days, after passing through Shunyuan City, the Yi tribes had gathered tens of thousands of troops. Hearing that Xiexiang had made peace with the Miao, they were both shocked and angry. Most of the leaders said that Xiexiang must have been forced to make peace, and they advocated directly attacking the Miao army to rescue her.

The most powerful of the tribes, the Xieles, were Xiexiang’s family. Her father, Xiexiang, could see that these people were up to no good, and against the majority opinion, he asked his son Xie Meng to stay in the army and personally lead the clan’s best fighters to negotiate with Ye Guhong’s camp.

Xie Xiang was in his early forties, with a full beard and an extremely strong build. When he saw Ye Kuhong welcoming him, he shouted with murderous intent, 鈥淎re you the one who is causing trouble for my daughter? My Yi tribe has 100,000 troops, and with one man and one knife, you few thousand people will be turned into mincemeat! If you know what’s good for you, quickly release the person and I will spare your life!鈥�

Ye Guhong laughed, 鈥淔ather-in-law, you seem quite fierce when you first meet your son-in-law.鈥�

Xie Xiang was stunned, and then burst into a rage, 鈥淲hat have you done to my daughter?鈥�

Ye Guhong shook his head, 鈥淢y dear daughter-in-law is like a fairy, so I would never be rude. But she is wise and discerning, and she personally mentioned that she wanted to marry me. If I didn’t agree, wouldn’t that be blind?

He kept saying 鈥渕y son鈥� and 鈥渕y son鈥�, and Xie Xiang’s arrogance became more and more annoying. Just as he was about to retort, Ye Guhong waved his hand and smiled mysteriously, 鈥渂esides, Xie Xiang is in the prime of her life. You are her real father, so can you really bear to see her spend her whole life as a widow, waiting for a deadbeat who has no fame and no fortune?鈥�

Xiexiang was shocked when he heard the words 鈥渇amous but without substance鈥�. Naturally, as her biological father, he knew that Xiexiang and Aicui had never consummated their marriage, but he dared not reveal this to outsiders.

After all, Xiexiang was able to succeed as the Xuanwu Envoy because Aicui had no heir, and Xiexiang was able to force Xiexiang to the throne on the grounds that 鈥減erhaps my daughter is pregnant鈥�.

The Tiele tribe was already a powerful one, one of the most influential tribes among the Yi people. After Xiang inherited the position of Xuan Wei Shi, she found various excuses to continuously annex seven or eight smaller tribes, growing even stronger.

When everyone realized that Xiexiang was not pregnant, the power of the Tiele tribe had already been established. The father and daughter worked together to maintain their position.

Ye Guhong saw that his expression was uncertain and laughed, 鈥淭his is not something that should be told to outsiders. Father-in-law, why don’t we talk about it inside the tent?鈥�

Xiexiang was also a bit bold. After listening to what he said, he pondered for a moment, then told his attendants to wait outside, and he and Ye Guhong entered the tent alone.

Ye Guhong walked up to him and whispered, but told him in detail how he had rescued Xuexiang and killed Aicui and the others back then. After listening, Xuexiang’s eyes twinkled. After all, in this matter, the benefits that the Tiele tribe had gained were far greater than just letting his daughter be a concubine. It can be said that he was deeply indebted to Ye Guhong.

Ye Guhong saw him bowing his head and not saying anything, and laughed again: 鈥淭here is no need to talk about the past. My son-in-law has come to reconcile the two clans, but there is a great future to be shared with your Yi and Miao clans…鈥�

He extended his foot and drew a map of the nine provinces on the ground with the tip of his toe, pointing out the situation in the world: 鈥淵our two clans have been fighting for several years, and the soldiers are used to fighting. If you are willing to join forces with me, it will be easy to occupy Shu. If we do, the world will surely tremble. Right now, the Lianghuai, Ganzhou, and Chu regions, as well as Peng and Monk, are all poised and ready to go. In the Jiangnan region, the Ming Sect is itching to make a move. Seeing that I, Emei, have raised the banner of righteousness first, they will surely not lag behind and will soon make their move. From then on, half of the world will no longer belong to the Mongols!

“Although I have taken the lead in righteousness, if the Mongols want to attack me, it’s just that the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and they can’t do anything about it. They will have to fight the Lianghuai and Jiangnan heroes first. I will take the opportunity to attack and seize Hanzhong, build strongholds at several key passes in the Qinling Mountains and wait and see how the world turns out! Father-in-law, this is the same strategy as that used by the Shu Han Kingdom in the past.鈥�

鈥漈hen I will gather my strength and bide my time. When the Ming Church is on the decline and the Yuan army has lost most of its elite troops, I will personally lead an army out of the Qinling Mountains, take Chang’an and Tongguan as a base and sweep through the Three Qin Provinces. Father-in-law, you will lead the Yi and Miao allied forces downstream downstream, capturing Jingchu and Jiangnan. Half the world will be in my hands. With the western barrier of Tongguan and the Yangtze River to the south, we can exhaust the remaining forces of the Mongols. Then we can send troops from both routes to meet in Shandong, march north in one fell swoop, and sweep across northern China. From then on, the world will be settled!鈥�

Back then, Liu Bei, Liu Xuan De, fought for half his life, what a hero! After Zhuge Liang’s 鈥淢iddle-Kingdom Strategy鈥�, he couldn’t help but be convinced.

Although Xie Xiang is a wealthy Yi ethnic leader, his strategy and tactics are not comparable to Emperor Zhao Lie. Ye Guhong revealed his skills by drawing a map, which already made Xie Xiang unable to take his eyes off it. After listening to a summary of 鈥淶hongliu Zhongdui鈥� from the Yuan Dynasty, Xie Xiang was even more moved.

When he heard that Shu was to be taken, he was a little disdainful, but when it came to the part about watching the battle from the mountain while the beacon fires were lit, he could no longer hold back his excitement. When he heard that the two armies would join forces and sweep the north, his breathing became heavy like an ox!

鈥淢y son-in-law!鈥�

Xie Xiang’s eyes shone with deep affection as he called out.

He took Ye Guhong’s hand and said, 鈥淢y daughter, Xiexiang, has had her fortune read since she was a child, and it says she is destined to 鈥榙ance like a phoenix in the sky鈥�!鈥�

Ye Guhong laughed and said, 鈥淴iexiang is extraordinarily beautiful and kind-hearted, and she will be a great empress.鈥�

Xiexiang hurriedly said, 鈥淪ince you are bringing the two families together, how can you not be impartial? If the Miao girl becomes the empress…鈥�

Ye Kuhong shook his head and said, 鈥淚t seems that the position of the Miao woman will not be higher than that of the concubine.鈥�

Xie Xiang frowned and said, 鈥淭hen who will be the empress?鈥�

Ye Kuhong laughed and said, 鈥淔ather-in-law, when I said that Xuexiang should be the concubine, it was in the present. If you are successful in future battles, it is not impossible that your daughter will become an empress because of your achievements.鈥�

Xie Xiang was unhappy and said, 鈥淵ou want to use the empress as a bone to hang me on and make me work for you?鈥�

Ye Guhong laughed loudly: 鈥淗ow can you compare yourself to your father-in-law like that? That’s not right. Besides, when you go to war, how would you know that it’s for Xiexiang? If you become the Yi king yourself, won’t it be more powerful than being the father of Xiexiang’s wife as you are now? After all, Xiexiang’s position, no matter how high, cannot be passed down to his brothers. Isn’t it only natural that your father-in-law’s power be passed down to your son?鈥�

Upon hearing this, Xiexiang nodded slowly, as if he had been promised the great benefit of being the leader of the Yizu tribe for generations. He then said, 鈥淚’m afraid the leaders of the other tribes won’t be happy about this.鈥�

Ye Kuhong said, 鈥淭hat’s fine. Invite them to my tent for a drink. My son-in-law doesn’t need to say much to make them speechless!鈥�

Xie Xiang thought of his eloquence just now and suddenly felt confident. He nodded and said, 鈥淎rrange a banquet. I’ll go summon them!鈥�

Ye Kuhong said, 鈥淚t’s not necessary for everyone to come, otherwise it will be a waste of time and words with all of them talking at once. Just summon those with similar power to yours. If they are willing to listen to your father-in-law, you can go and convince them yourself.鈥�

Xie Xiang agreed that this made sense, and left immediately. After a full two hours, he returned with five or six large chiefs with gloomy expressions on their faces.

Ye Kuhong invited everyone into the tent, but saw that the table and food had already been set. Ye Kuhong took Xie Xiang by the hand and said, 鈥淔ather-in-law, sit next to your son-in-law, and the other chiefs, help yourselves.鈥�

He took his seat in the middle of the table, looked at everyone as they took their seats, and was about to speak when one of the chiefs slammed the table and shouted, 鈥淵e, you married Xiexiang’s daughter, so of course he is willing to work for you. But what you are saying is that all of our men will have to fight and die. Why should you be the emperor when you take over the world? He will be the Yi king? That’s not fair!鈥�

He waved his hand and included the Yi chiefs: 鈥淲e here, a few of us, know that we cannot be the emperor of the Han people, but in the future, when rewards are given according to merit, at least one of us will be given a state and be able to establish a kingdom and be king, and you will be the great emperor, and we will each be the little emperor!鈥�

Ye Guhong laughed and said, 鈥淭hat’s right, that’s right, everyone contributes and everyone benefits, that’s only fair!鈥�

The Yi chief was greatly pleased and pointed at Ye Guhong and said to Xie Xiang, 鈥淵our son-in-law is sensible, and it’s fine to let him take some advantages. In the future, let’s simply draw the river as the boundary, and give you all the land on the left side of the river, and we’ll all share the right side.”

Another Yi chief saw that this person had done well, and quickly got up and shouted, 鈥楾hat’s not enough, that’s not enough. Just think, in the future, if he really takes over the world, what if he doesn’t keep his word? At that time, I’m afraid his troops will outnumber ours, and we’ll have to fight him?鈥�

Xie Xiang was annoyed and said, 鈥漌e all worked together to rebel against the Mongols, and we relied on each other’s trust. Now that the land is not yet his, how can we give it to you?鈥�

The Yi chief said proudly, 鈥淚 have a plan if I say so. I heard that your son-in-law is called the 鈥楨mei Jade Hero鈥� and is the most outstanding disciple of the Emei School. These famous disciples of the school value the friendship of the school the most. I heard that the Emei School has mostly female disciples. If we each marry an Emei disciple, in the future, even if he wants to forget his roots, he will have to consider the friendship of the school. This is equivalent to a marriage alliance, and with an alliance, we will all be family!鈥�

Upon hearing this, the other Yi chiefs applauded, 鈥淣ot bad, not bad, this is a good idea, we want to marry into the family! Xiexiang, you’ll be the father-in-law of Yuxia, but we’ll only be his brothers-in-law, which is a step down for you, but it’s also a way of showing you respect.鈥�

Xiexiang frowned for a moment after hearing this, and looked at Ye Guhong and said, 鈥淢y son-in-law, what do you think of this matter…鈥�

Ye Guhong laughed heartily, shaking his head and saying, 鈥淭he leaders of the Yi tribe are truly full of talent and extremely thoughtful. You all, just watch this glass of wine I’m about to drink…鈥�

He said this and raised the wine glass high in the air. The Yi man who wanted to split the land and establish a small kingdom thought that he was going to drink first in respect, and pointed and laughed, saying, 鈥淵u Xia is drunk before he has even drunk, and there is still no wine in your glass!鈥�

Ye Guhong’s smile did not diminish: 鈥淗aha, I was afraid that there was not enough noise if there was wine in the glass.鈥�

As soon as the words fell, with a crack, the wine glass smashed to pieces on the ground.

The Yi people’s faces changed, and they were about to explode when they heard the sound of a bamboo flute. In addition to Xiexiang, snakes suddenly crawled out from under each person’s table, their triangular heads jumping up. The group of Yi chiefs screamed in unison, struggling to stand up, but they saw a black gas quickly roll up to the top of the door, their seven orifices bleeding at the same time, and they fell with a loud noise, immediately silent.

Xiexiang was shocked, jumped up and said, 鈥淵ou, you…鈥�

But then he saw the tent curtain lift, and the White Snake and Xiexiang stood in the doorway, the White Snake glaring and saying, 鈥淲hat do you mean, you? What are you waiting for? Take my sister back and get rid of their troops!鈥�

Xiexiang also glared, suddenly reached out and grabbed the White Snake’s face, saying, 鈥淵ou should remember to be respectful when you speak to your sister’s father!鈥�

The white snake let out a cry of alarm, and as she was about to grab back, Xiexiang had already quickly walked into the tent and looked at Xiexiang and said, 鈥淔ather, don’t blame Ye Lang. This was my daughter’s plan. If we let these people live, when you and your brother become the Yi king in the future, they will inevitably hold you back. It’s better to get it over with now and avoid trouble in the future.鈥�

Xiexiang hurriedly said, 鈥淎lthough you have killed the leaders of each department, if the soldiers below are not satisfied, won’t it be a bloody battle?鈥�

Xie Xiang said coldly, 鈥淚f anyone doesn’t submit, the Tiele tribe will immediately join forces with the Miao people to destroy their army and rise up. Let’s see who dares to disobey!鈥�

The white snake was about to catch up and pinch her face, but when she suddenly saw Xie Xiang’s majestic bearing, she didn’t dare to do it for a moment. She could only pout and say, 鈥淵ou are just a trick of Shi Yelang. What are you so pleased about?鈥�