Ch.106Occupation War (5)

Kuchlug killed the emperor of Western Liao and became the emperor of the Liao Dynasty.

The first thing he did after ascending to the throne was none other than marrying Yelu Pusuwan, the emperor’s younger sister.

To reiterate, he was an outsider, not a native of the Liao Dynasty.

For this reason, he couldn’t ascend to the throne without marriage.

This was why he immediately married her to secure legitimacy.

“With this, I have become the emperor of Western Liao.”

Kuchlug looked at the palace with a satisfied smile.

Though he had been chased all the way here by Yesugei, he didn’t succumb to such hardships.

Thanks to that, he was able to join hands with Xiao Apgang, the military commander, with the help of the Jin Dynasty, and use this as a foundation to usurp the throne.

“With the power of Western Liao, I can repay Yesugei in full for the humiliation and disgrace I suffered.”

Kuchlug said this while clenching his fist.

The reason he became the emperor of Western Liao was solely to take revenge on the Mongols.

He needed power for that revenge.

Now that he had become the emperor of Great Liao, it was only a matter of time before he could exact his revenge.

But there was still an obstacle.

It was the fact that the crown prince had not yet been found.

“I thought he would be in the Eastern Palace…”

The crown prince was about 7 years old.

Therefore, he thought the prince would be hiding in the Eastern Palace with the emperor.

Contrary to Kuchlug’s prediction, the crown prince had disappeared without a trace.

“Deploy the soldiers. We must capture the crown prince.”

At Kuchlug’s command, the soldiers began to move busily.

Watching this from right beside him, a strange light began to flicker in Yelu Pusuwan’s eyes.

She too was a woman with ambition.

Like her mother, Empress Dowager Ganqian who ruled Western Liao before her brother became emperor, she wanted to become empress.

Of course, this was a desire she couldn’t have while the emperor was alive.

But now that she had married Kuchlug and become empress, she couldn’t help but look to the next step.

In this situation, she quite coincidentally realized that the crown prince was still alive.

This meant that she could eliminate the usurper Kuchlug by putting the crown prince forward as regent and become the de facto ruler of Western Liao.

Yelu Pusuwan thought this while watching Kuchlug’s reaction.

Judging by his expression, Kuchlug seemed completely unaware that Yelu Pusuwan was having such thoughts.

With this in mind, she spoke to Kuchlug with a coquettish smile.

“Your Majesty.”

“What is it, Empress? Though we are newlyweds, the current situation is urgent, so unless it’s important, let’s talk later.”

For Kuchlug, Yelu Pusuwan was nothing more than a means to become emperor.

Since he never had any feelings for her in the first place, his interest in her had diminished as soon as he achieved his goal.

This was obvious even to Yelu Pusuwan as a woman.

But if she reacted immediately to this change in Kuchlug’s behavior, he might become suspicious.

So the empress pushed these feelings inside and spoke calmly.

“Since Your Majesty seems busy, I will take my leave.”

“Would you do that? I would be very grateful if you did.”

Kuchlug, preoccupied with the crown prince, failed to notice Yelu Pusuwan’s true intentions.

“Before I leave, I have a request for Your Majesty.”

“What is it? If it requires a lot of effort, I’ll hear it later.”

“It’s not such a matter, so you need not worry.”

At the empress’s words, Kuchlug nodded perfunctorily and created an atmosphere urging her to speak quickly.

“As the palace is currently in turmoil, it’s dangerous for a woman to walk alone. So I humbly request that the Military Governor, I mean, the Commander-in-Chief, be assigned to protect me.”

When Xiao Apgang’s name came from Yelu Pusuwan’s lips, a strange light began to flicker in Kuchlug’s eyes.

He turned his head to look at the empress.

As Kuchlug tried to discern the empress’s intentions, she looked back at him as if she had no ulterior motives.

“…The empress is right. The palace is indeed in turmoil.”

He had only been in power for a day.

In such a situation, if there was danger to the empress, who was the basis of his legitimacy, Kuchlug’s political position would also become precarious.

Additionally, his relationship with Xiao Apgang had become subtly strained, so he judged it better to keep the two in one place to monitor them.

“Very well. I will tell the Commander-in-Chief to attend to the empress.”

“I am grateful for Your Majesty’s boundless grace.”

Yelu Pusuwan rejoiced inwardly, thinking she had deceived Kuchlug.

She began to plan how to join hands with Xiao Apgang and oust Kuchlug.

But contrary to her expectations, Kuchlug was not an easy man to fool.

“I cannot send Xiao Apgang alone, so I will send my soldiers with him. My adjutant here will keep you safe.”

At Kuchlug’s words, a large man stepped forward.

The man, who looked menacing to anyone, introduced himself with a bright smile before the empress.

“It is an honor to serve the empress. I am uneducated and may commit rudeness, so I ask for your understanding in advance.”

It was an extremely disrespectful thing to say to an empress.

Despite the adjutant’s brazen words, Kuchlug merely smiled and did nothing to reprimand him.

“He may be rough in temperament, but he is a military officer who is better than anyone at protecting people, so don’t worry.”

Kuchlug looked at Yelu Pusuwan with a vile smile.

* * *

“Huff… huff…”

A young child was breathing heavily.

Though his appearance was shabby, his fair skin and unwrinkled face immediately revealed that he was no ordinary child.

The child turned his head to look toward the imperial palace.

And in a low voice, he swallowed his tears.

“Father… sob…”

The child’s identity was none other than Crown Prince Yelu Zhilugu.

The reason this 7-year-old child was outside the palace was due to Kuchlug’s rebellion.

Because of the rebellion, the emperor and crown prince had no choice but to hide in the Eastern Palace.

But soon, fearing discovery by Kuchlug, the emperor used a secret passage known only to the imperial family to evacuate his son and a trusted eunuch.

Thus, Crown Prince Yelu Zhilugu survived Kuchlug’s blade.

“We must move quickly, Your Highness. If we delay any longer, Kuchlug’s soldiers will surely catch up.”

At the mention of Kuchlug’s name, the crown prince gritted his teeth.

Kuchlug was an outsider who had essentially fled from Mongolia.

Despite this, the emperor had shown him kindness and treated him well as a guest.

Betraying that kindness and instead turning his sword against the emperor to covet the throne made him a mortal enemy in the crown prince’s position.

“I will definitely kill you and avenge my father, Kuchlug…!”

Despite being only 7 years old, Yelu Zhilugu had grown up due to his father’s death.

That’s why his eyes—no, his eyes—could hold a clear and red anger that a child couldn’t normally possess.

The eunuch attending the crown prince also made no effort to hide his anger toward Kuchlug.

But right now, escaping from the enemy’s grasp was more important.

So after calming the crown prince, he headed straight for the stables located in the most remote part of Qara-Ordo.

This was a place where the emperors of Western Liao secretly raised horses in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Of course, it appeared to be an ordinary stable on the outside, so few knew it was exclusively for the imperial family.

Thus, the eunuch and the crown prince headed quietly toward the stables.

Upon arrival, an old man in shabby clothes appeared and questioned the two.

“What business do you have here?”

In response, the eunuch immediately took out a token he had hidden in his bosom.

After checking the token, the old man opened his eyes wide and looked around.

“I will prepare immediately.”

While the old man was preparing, the eunuch and the child could catch their breath.

Just as they were sighing in relief, Kuchlug’s soldiers began approaching the stable.

“Those bastards have come this far…!”

The eunuch tried to step forward, but there were too many soldiers.

They approached the old man and questioned him about why he was preparing horses at such a late hour.

The old man made up an excuse that the horses drink water at night, but the soldiers didn’t believe him.

Some soldiers were even trying to confiscate the horses from the old man, claiming they needed to prepare for any situation.

Without horses, they would be caught quickly even if they escaped the city.

The eunuch realized he had no choice but to step forward himself.

“Your Highness. If you go straight to the inner side of the city wall, there is a way to get out. My trusted subordinate is waiting there, so ride a horse and go straight there. It’s not far from here.”

“What… what about you, eunuch…?”

“I plan to distract those soldiers.”

The crown prince tried to stop him, saying something, but the eunuch moved faster.

He began making strange noises and heading in the opposite direction of the horses.

“There… there he is! Catch him immediately!”

“Chase him! Hurry!”

“That man knows the crown prince’s location! Catch him now!”

As the soldiers disappeared, the crown prince immediately moved to mount a horse.

But he was too short to get on. Seeing this, the old man bent down and offered his back so the crown prince could climb onto the horse.

“Thank you. I will not forget your service.”

“Please take care of yourself, Your Highness.”

After saying this, the old man mounted a horse.

And he rushed toward where the eunuch was.

Seeing this, the crown prince turned his head and headed straight for the place the eunuch had mentioned.

Thanks to the eunuch and the old man who had distracted the soldiers, the crown prince was able to safely reach the location of the secret passage in the city wall.

Using the secret passage to get outside, the crown prince turned his head to look at Qara-Ordo.

“I will… I will definitely return.”

The 7-year-old crown prince was no longer a child.

He was someone who could risk everything for revenge.

Even if it meant making a deal with the devil.

Saying this, the crown prince galloped away.

The place he was heading was none other than Western Xia, which was under Mongol control.