Chapter 214

I'm afraid the Xia Kingdom won't want her as a sinner. She'll find it hard to move an inch. Besides, the journey back to the Xia Kingdom is long, and she doesn't have that much money.

There was nothing she could do but stay for now and make plans later.

"Mother, have some water."

A sweet voice instantly pulled her back to reality. Xia Chaohua weakly looked up at Tao Tao, whose face was full of worry.

It overlapped with the little girl who was so scared that she ran into her arms.

Her heart softened immediately, and she was about to say something when a sharp pain shot through her neck, snapping her back to reality.

Tao Tao saw that the warm expression on her face when she woke up turned cold and wary in an instant. She frowned and pretended to be nonchalant.

"Mother, come and have some water."

She sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to help her sit up and give her water, but Xia Chaohua turned her head away, her face full of resistance.

Seeing this, Tao Tao looked calmly at the person in front of her.

She really didn't have much patience, and her throat was sore. If she wasn't afraid the girl would faint, she would have left long ago.

She can't die yet. Although she has the token, it's still an inanimate object and can't compare to a person.

If this new emperor really has a relationship with her, wouldn't it be better to take her back with him?

"Mother, it pains me to see you like this. If you hadn't tried to kill me, how could I have laid a hand on you? Besides, my little brother is still so young. He's finally able to live a life free from want and even have the chance to go to school. How can you bear to let him go back to the hardships he used to suffer?"

Her tone was earnest and sincere, and she meant nothing by it but to show her concern for them.

However, Xia Chaohua keenly sensed a hint of threat in it, and his heart ached as if it were being torn apart.

"You should rest well. I'll have Zhu Xia come in and take care of you in a little while."

After saying that, she turned and walked out, when suddenly a weak voice called out to her from behind.

"You...you really can help me go back?"

Hidden in the shadows, Tao Tao smiled slightly, turned around, and looked at her with her eyes crinkling: "Mother, of course it's true, when have I ever lied to you?"

"However, this matter needs to be carefully considered, and we must ensure that nothing goes wrong."

She thought what he said made sense, swallowed hard, and immediately a teacup was brought to her. She reached out, took it, and took a sip.

Seeing that she was about to launch into a long speech, Tao Tao took a stool and sat down on the edge of the bed to listen attentively.

"My name is Xia Chaohua. I am the youngest daughter of the late emperor of the Xia Kingdom. I also have a brother from the same mother. Back then, he went to war to defend against foreign enemies. Unexpectedly, my second brother chose to rebel..."

The night was long and the candlelight flickered. The chaos, the fighting, and the desperate escapes of yesteryear seemed as if they had just happened yesterday.

As she recounted the story, Tao Tao quickly pieced together one image after another in her mind.

The Royal Palace of the Xia Kingdom.

Emperor Xia pinched the bridge of his nose wearily, looking at the memorials piled on the table. None of the messages handed to him contained any clues about his sister.

Seventeen years ago, the second prince conspired with the fourth prince to rebel. In the ensuing chaos, the Empress Dowager sent someone to help her sister escape from the palace, but they were never heard from again.

For so many years, he has been searching for her, which has indirectly become a source of worry for his father. Before his death, his father and mother kept telling him that he must find his sister.

The world is so vast, and among the vast sea of ​​people, even though he was the emperor of the Xia Kingdom, he could never find anyone.

Seeing this, the chief eunuch beside him quickly brought over a cup of refreshing tea and said softly, "Your Majesty, if you are tired, please take a rest. These memorials cannot be reviewed in a short time."

"I'm not troubled by these memorials. I can't sleep or eat in peace until my sister is found. So many people have been sent out, but they haven't brought back any useful information. They're all useless!"

Emperor Xia angrily grabbed the teacup beside him and smashed it on the ground, where it shattered with a mournful sound.

The palace servants present were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.

Seeing his anger, the head eunuch was somewhat uneasy. After thinking it over again and again, he cautiously stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, perhaps, perhaps Princess Chaohua is no longer in the Xia Kingdom."

It's even possible that they're already dead, otherwise how could there have been no trace of them for so many years?

But he dared not say it that way; instead, he used a more euphemistic way of putting it.

Emperor Xia did not understand the implied meaning and sighed, "I have thought of this before, and I have sent people to search in other countries, but we have still found nothing."

Moreover, finding people in other countries is not such a simple matter. People sent to other countries were exposed and were identified as spies of enemy countries and executed.

Fortunately, none of them revealed that they were from the Xia Kingdom, otherwise it might have caused war and brought even greater trouble to the Xia Kingdom.

He is now the emperor of the Xia Kingdom, and cannot act recklessly. He must also consider his subjects.

Hearing this, the head eunuch could not say anything more and could only stand quietly behind him.

Just then, a young eunuch strode in from outside the door, quietly approached the head eunuch, and after speaking, his eyes widened in surprise.

Then he waved for him to leave.

"Your Majesty, General Zhenyuan has sent someone back from the border with something to report. He is right outside the gate. Would you like to summon him immediately?"

Emperor Xia frowned. "Let them in."

"yes."

Then he went out and brought the people in as well.

The weary soldiers knelt on one knee, clasped their hands, and said, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live ten thousand years."

"Get up, but what has happened at the border?"

He took out a letter from his sleeve and said, "This is a battle report sent by the General on my orders. Please take a look, Your Majesty."

The head eunuch hurriedly went down and presented the letter to him.

Emperor Xia took the letter with suspicion, opened it and read that the letter said that the Celestial Empire was currently engaged in battle with the Turks, so it would be better to take advantage of the situation to attack the Celestial Empire, thus putting it in a vulnerable position and expanding the territory of the Xia Kingdom.

The Celestial Empire was the strongest nation, ruling the Central Plains for over a hundred years. Apart from the Liao Dynasty, no one else could rival it.

Taking advantage of a weakness is a good option, provided that one is confident and it is done when the other is at its weakest. The Liao Dynasty had recently formed a marriage alliance with the Western Xia, which led to some changes in the Liao Dynasty's power structure.

It turned out that a son born of a concubine seized the throne, and with internal troubles raging, he had no time to harass the Celestial Empire. He had caused some losses to the Celestial Empire before, but none of them were serious.

But for some reason, the Turks chose to attack the Celestial Empire at this time.

General Sun Zhong, the Great General of Zhenyuan, is a warlike man. Perhaps it's because he's too idle. Hearing that the Celestial Empire is fighting against the Turks, he couldn't resist the urge to fight and wanted to expand the territory of the Xia Kingdom.

"Go tell Sun Zhong that the strength of the Celestial Empire should not be underestimated. Even if that evil god is not here, we must not act rashly."

The fearsome figure he was referring to was none other than Duan Gan, the young general who had once cleaved through armies of various nations. He not only wielded a silver spear that instilled terror in his men, but he was also adept at leading troops and deploying troops.

Fortunately, when the Xia Kingdom was embroiled in internal strife, this man was fighting against the Liao Kingdom and had no time to attend to them; otherwise, the Xia Kingdom might not have existed by now.