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Kapitel 49

Upon hearing Xiao Xuan's cries, Talaigan Naiwanshi prostrated himself on the ground and wept bitterly, saying, "Empress Dowager, Talaigan Naiwanshi deserves to die. Please, Empress Dowager, spare Talaigan Naiwanshi."

"I ask you, do you have elderly or young children in your family? Do you have a wife and children?"

Talaigan Naiwanshi shook his head and said, "Talaigan Naiwanshi is all alone. He lost both his parents when he was young and joined the army. Later, he had the opportunity to enter the palace as a servant. He married a wife, but she passed away due to illness."

"Hmph, you're a grown man, why are you nagging like a woman? What's the point of gossiping about these things? Everyone has a head and two legs, right? Do you think the royal family has an extra head and an extra leg? Are the affairs of the inner court different from those of ordinary people? Do you find them novel or interesting?"

"Empress Dowager, Talaigan Naiwanshi knows his mistake!" After saying this, Talaigan Naiwanshi raised his hands and slapped himself in the face. The sound of him slapping himself echoed in the hall.

"Enough! You go and receive twenty strokes of the cane, and I want you to swear to heaven that you will never drink alcohol again in this lifetime!" Xiao Xuan said.

Empress of the Khitan - Empress Dowager of the Khitan Chapter Ninety-One: Entrusting the Child (Part 1)

Updated: 2008-09-23 16:30:57 Word Count: 1418

"Ah!" Another commotion arose among the courtiers.

Shi stared intently at Xiao Xuan, a hint of doubt in his heart. He felt something was amiss. Even if the Empress Dowager appreciated and took his advice to heart, the punishment for the offenders this time seemed a bit too lenient. In the past, both of these offenses would have been capital crimes.

Han Derang and the others looked at Xiao Xuan, feeling a little strange.

Upon hearing Xiao Xuan's words, Tali Gan Naiwan was overjoyed and repeatedly kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Empress Dowager! Thank you, Empress Dowager!"

"Go down!" Xiao Xuan ordered. After giving the order, she looked at the assembled officials and said, "Do any of you ministers have anything else to report?"

The courtiers remained silent.

"Court adjourned!"

After Xiaoxuan finished speaking, she turned and walked down from the main hall to the back. At this moment, she could no longer hear the courtiers' respectful farewells; her mind was filled with the dream about the destruction of the Khitan.

A few days later, Tacigan Naiwan was summoned to the inner court and received by Xiao Xuan alone.

"Is your injury healed?" Xiaoxuan asked in a deep voice.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am now out of danger. I also want to thank Your Majesty for sparing my life," Talagan Naiwanshi said, kneeling on the ground.

Xiao Xuan dismissed all the eunuchs, leaving only one maid, Dawa'er, and Talaigan Naiwanshi. Looking at the two of them, Xiao Xuan said, "I want you to do something."

"But please give your orders, Your Majesty. I, Targa Naiwanshi, will do my utmost, even at the cost of my life, for Your Majesty."

"Dawa'er respectfully obeys the Empress Dowager's decree."

"I want you to get married."

Dawa'er and Tarazan Naiwanshi exchanged a glance. Dawa'er was young and honest, which Tarazan Naiwanshi found very pleasing. He quickly said, "Thank you, Empress Dowager." Dawa'er hadn't expected Xiao Xuan to find him a husband so quickly. Seeing Tarazan Naiwanshi's strong and healthy physique, he was secretly delighted and said, "Dawa'er thanks the Empress Dowager."

"Very well, you don't need to find any more matchmakers. I will make the decision for you; from this moment on, you are husband and wife. I ask you, are you familiar with the Jurchens?"

Tacigan Naiwan was taken aback, then replied, "I am very familiar with it."

"If I were to order you to live in seclusion among the Jurchens, would you be willing?"

The two exchanged a glance and then looked at Xiaoxuan, their voices trembling with tears, "But what have we done wrong that the Empress Dowager wants to expel us?"

Looking at Tacigan Naiwanshi and Dawa'er, Xiao Xuan said, "I am not going to expel you. Answer me first, are you willing or not?"

"I will certainly carry out the Empress Dowager's orders."

"Dawa'er is the same. 'I also require you to keep this a secret.'"

After glancing at Dawa'er, Tarazan Naiwanshi swore an oath to heaven, saying, "The Empress Dowager's orders are uttered in my heart, and I, Tarazan Naiwanshi and his wife, dare not be negligent. If we, Tarazan Naiwanshi and his wife, reveal anything, we will surely be punished by heaven." Having finished his oath, Tarazan Naiwanshi looked at Xiaoxuan and said, "Now that we, Tarazan Naiwanshi and his wife, have completed our oath, may I ask the Empress Dowager why you want my wife and I to go into seclusion among the Jurchens?" Xiaoxuan sighed and said, "There is another person going with you. It is Zheng Ge, the fourth son of myself and the late Emperor."

What?! Taligan Naiwanshi and Dawa'er were in a state of confusion, looking at Xiaoxuan in panic and asking, "What does the Empress Dowager mean by this?"

Xiao Xuan said while shedding tears, "I had a dream. I dreamed that a hundred years later, my Khitan people would be swallowed up by the Jurchens, and our bloodline would be extinct. I thought this was a divine message. I have loved Emperor Tianzan for many years, how could I bear to see my Khitan bloodline die out? So I want you to take Brother Zheng to the Jurchens' territory and live in anonymity. If Heaven has eyes, it will preserve our Khitan bloodline."

Upon hearing this, both men were startled. The ancients believed in deities, and now that Xiaoxuan recounted this dream, how could they dare doubt it? They both thought that perhaps the gods favored the Khitan, and thus sent this message to the Empress Dowager in a dream. They hurriedly said, "Talagan Naiwanshi and his wife understand the Empress Dowager's good intentions, but the prince is still young. If he goes to the Jurchens, he will likely become poor and suffer hunger and cold. Can the Empress Dowager bear to do that?"

Empress of the Khitan - Empress Dowager of the Khitan Chapter Ninety-Two: Entrusting the Child (Part Two)

Updated: 2008-09-23 16:32:29 Word Count: 1396

“How could I bear to do this? Every child is the apple of my eye. Right now, Zheng is still young, so I entrust him to you to take away immediately. If it were a few years later, when Zheng grows up and can call me ‘Mother,’ even if I still had the thought, I would not do it.”

Empress Dowager Taligan Naiwanshi and Dawa'er pounded their heads on the ground repeatedly, then cried, "Empress Dowager, you are devoted to our Khitan people. How could we, your husband and I, be so heartless and unreasonable? Please, Empress Dowager, rest assured and entrust the prince to us."

"My daughter, Xiaoxuan, cried, 'He is still my flesh and blood; you must treat him well.'"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, Targa Naiwanshi and Dawa'er will treat the prince as their master. If Targa Naiwanshi and Dawa'er break this oath, may they be struck dead by lightning."

With teary eyes, Xiao Xuan looked at the two kneeling before her and said, "Talganaiwanshi and Dawa'er, I believe in you. Talganaiwanshi, I spared your life for the sake of the prince, you should know that. I made you swear to heaven that you would never drink again, because I was afraid that you would talk nonsense when you were drunk and reveal your identity as a prince. Do you understand my good intentions?"

"Your Majesty, I, Tarbagan Naiwanshi, am also a renowned Khitan man. You are worried that our Khitan bloodline is about to be lost; few in the world can match your concern. You have entrusted this important task to me, and I will certainly not fail Your Majesty."

"Dawa'er, you have been by my side all these years, and I have treated you well. Now I entrust Brother Zheng to you two, so you must treat him well."

"The Empress Dowager treats Dawa'er like her own son. How could Dawa'er forget her? Please entrust the prince to Dawa'er with peace of mind. Dawa'er will certainly live up to the Empress Dowager's trust."

After hearing their confident declaration, Xiao Xuan stopped crying and said, "Go to the carriage outside the palace immediately. I have prepared everything you need to take with you. I will send you out of the city now."

"yes!"

Watching Tacigan Naiwanshi and Dawa'er leave the house, Xiaoxuan returned to Zheng Ge's room and picked up the swaddled Zheng Ge.

"Brother Zheng, I'm so sorry. It's not that I'm heartless, I just wanted to do something for your father. Brother Zheng, please don't blame me, I can't bear to part with you." With tears in her eyes, she looked up at the eaves and said, "Heaven, please bless my son with a peaceful life, and let him carry on the Khitan bloodline. I'm willing to give half my life for my child's safety." She then looked at Brother Zheng with lingering affection and finally burst into tears.

After a while, Xiao Xuan picked up the child and walked out of the palace.

They boarded the carriage and, escorted by guards, traveled out of the city gate with Xiao Xuan, Zheng Ge, Ta Cigan Naiwan Shi, and Dawa'er inside.

"Stop the car!" Xiaoxuan ordered.

The carriage stopped, and Xiao Xuan looked at Tacigan Naiwanshi and Dawa'er and said, "Remember what you promised me. I have placed all the money and items you need in this carriage. The money is not something to be displayed. Once you have found a safe place for Brother Zheng, bury the money underground and take it out whenever you need it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Xiao Xuan gently kissed Zheng Ge's forehead and said, "Zheng Ge, it is your mother who owes you this fortune. If we are destined to be together, I will repay you in the next life." After saying that, she gently placed Zheng Ge into Dawa'er's arms, picked up another fake swaddled baby that had been prepared in advance from the carriage, and got off the carriage.

"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself." Dawa cried softly as she looked at Xiaoxuan outside the carriage.

Tacigan Naiwan was also heartbroken. Unable to bear shedding tears in front of the Empress Dowager and the guards, he quickly wiped away the tears from his eyes and said to Dawa'er, "Hold Zheng Ge and sit down. We're setting off." After saying that, he climbed out of the carriage, sat in the driver's seat, bowed respectfully to Xiao Xuan, and then whipped his horse to gallop away into the distance.

As the carriage drove further and further away, Xiaoxuan's tears fell in torrents. In her heart, she kept calling out: "Xian, if you have a spirit in heaven, you must bless Brother Zheng."

That night, news arrived from the palace that Zheng Ge had died young. The Empress Dowager, who deeply loved Zheng Ge, personally prepared his coffin and meticulously handled all his funeral arrangements. On that night when Zheng Ge's death was announced, Xiao Xuan, only thirty years old, saw her black hair turn white overnight. Those few striking white strands amidst her full head of black hair were particularly jarring. From that moment on, everyone in the Liao Dynasty knew that the Empress Dowager's posthumous child had died, and from that day on, no one in the palace dared to mention Zheng Ge's name again.

Empress of the Khitan - Empress Dowager of the Khitan Chapter Ninety-Two: Rumors (Part 1)

Updated: 2008-09-23 16:32:49 Word Count: 1272

You can sense her sorrow without having to consciously notice it.

By day, she was always radiant and spirited in court, chatting and laughing with her ministers, discussing matters of state. At night, however, the sound of weeping would emanate from her room, a low, mournful cry that pierced the hearts of everyone who heard it. Han Derang patrolled every night, and after checking on the children's safety, he would quietly come to her chambers to listen to her sorrowful sobs. Yan Yan, how can I heal the wounds in your heart, so that you may forget Zheng Ge, who now lies buried in the ground?

He knew she was desperately pretending to be strong, and he gradually noticed that her behavior was becoming increasingly strange. Every now and then she would run to the city gate, stand there in a daze, and stay there for more than an hour, or she would go to Yelü Xian's tomb and stay in front of Yelü Xian's grave for a whole day.

Are you really going to spend the rest of your life with a dead person? Why are you treating yourself like this? You can find someone else to rely on. This is Khitan, and Khitan customs allow you to find someone else to rely on. Even if that man isn't me, as long as you're happy and can laugh joyfully, I'll be content. Han Derang would think these words to himself whenever he saw Xiao Xuan's distraught appearance.

Preparing her with a variety of lavish meals failed to rouse her appetite. In desperation, Han Derang remembered the Empress Dowager who had once protected Xiao Xuan from the Tanguts. Since Xiao Xuan assumed power, to ensure the stability of her nephew and sister's rule, she had led the 30,000 troops of the Qi Prince's residence, traversing the Khitan lands. Wherever there was a rebellion, she was the first to rush there. Now that there was no major unrest within Khitan territory, the solitary Empress Dowager returned to the Qi Prince's residence and settled down.

Han Derang went to the Imperial Concubine's residence to see Xiao Hulian and told her elder sister about Xiao Xuan's recent situation. Upon hearing this, Xiao Hulian felt a pang of sorrow and said, "Lord Han, I understand. I will try to comfort my sister when I have time." After seeing Han Derang off, Xiao Hulian gave a bitter smile and muttered to herself, "Yanyan, I never thought my sister and I would suffer the same fate."

The next day, Xiao Hu Nian arrived at the palace and, after requesting an audience, met Xiao Xuan. Looking at her sister before her, she was overcome with grief, grabbed Xiao Xuan's shoulders, and choked out, "Yan Yan, we've only been apart for a few days, when did this white hair appear on you?"

Looking at Xiao Hu Nian, Xiao Xuan's eyes filled with tears. She buried her face in Xiao Hu Nian's arms, and the two sisters embraced and wept bitterly.

"Yan Yan, you still have your elder sister. I know you're suffering, but don't be so hard on yourself. Look at me, I've managed to get through it all alone, haven't I? Why are you like this?" Xiao Hulian looked at the glaring white hair, feeling extremely distressed. He was several years older than his sister and didn't have any white hair yet, but hers already had white hair hanging at her temples. He could only imagine how much suffering his sister must have endured. She became empress at such a young age, and besides attending court and handling state affairs on behalf of Yelü Xian, she also had to raise the children she had given birth to. Now, Yelü Xian had left without a word, leaving the Liao Dynasty and the children to her. Thinking about the heavy burden on her shoulders, it was truly a hardship for her.

"Yan Yan, tell your sister, has Han Derang treated you badly? Tell me, and if he dares to treat you badly, I'll kill him." Xiao Hulian couldn't bear to look at the striking white hair anymore. She hadn't expected that such a short time would have tormented her sister like this. Seeing Xiao Xuan's blank gaze, Xiao Hulian took a deep breath and said, "I thought that after Emperor Tianzan's passing, Han Derang would treat you well out of consideration for our past relationship, but you've become so thin. He must have mistreated you, hasn't he? How dare he come to my residence to see me! If I had known he would treat you like this, I would have killed him last night!"

"Big sister, what are you talking about? What happened between Han Derang and me?" Xiao Xuan was dizzy from Xiao Hulian's words and didn't understand what she meant at all.

Empress of the Khitan - Empress Dowager of the Khitan Chapter Ninety-Two: Rumors (Part Two)

Updated: 2008-09-23 16:33:24 Word Count: 1466

"Hey, even now, you're still keeping it from your elder sister." Xiao Hulian looked at Xiao Xuan with affection and said, "Your elder sister knows you're living with Han Derang. At this time, you're a widow and your child alone, without a pillar of support. How can that be? But this Han Derang, I thought he was honest and reliable, and that he still had some feelings for you. That's why he came to my residence to beg me to come to the palace to keep you company. Look at you, you're definitely two-faced." "Sister, what are you saying! Xian has been so good to me, how could I bear to betray him?" Xiao Xuan cried, "Besides, what will the officials say? What will they think?"

"What betrayal? He's already dead, what else can you do? You're the one living your life, not someone else saying nice things to you and you'll actually live well. Besides, Emperor Tianzan's last words are there; he said no matter what you do, he won't blame you. What are you afraid of? Yan Yan, are you keeping this a secret from your sister?" Xiao Hu Nian said, "In this capital city, everyone knows you've brought back your old lover, and to make him devoted to you and the child, you even specially ordered someone..."