Unhappy couple
When Tuoba Hong was brought to Minyou Hall again and knelt on the cold gold bricks, it had been more than a year since he last saw her, or was it two years? He couldn't remember.
All the past and future are like dreams.
In a trance, he seemed to have trouble remembering her face.
The Ning Lingyi in his memory who dealt with him in Shanshan City and fought with him on the battlefield, and the empress in front of him whose aura was as calm as the sea, have overlapping outlines, but they are completely different people.
She was an emperor with an even greater aura than before, like the snow on the top of a mountain, awe-inspiring and inviolable.
And he, crawling on the ground, like an ant, looked like a beggar. After more than two years of inhuman torture, he had already lost all his pride, and his backbone had been buried in every dark night.
Ning Lingyi put down the red brush and looked at him, still calm, just like when she watched him farming in Guitianyuan.
"Khan," she began, her voice echoing clearly throughout the hall, "Do you know the answer?"
Before coming here, he was forced to drink a bowl of medicine, and a burning sensation flowed through his throat, and the voice that had been sealed away seemed to return. But he had not spoken for so long that he had long forgotten how to speak.
He listened to her question, slowly raised his head, and just looked at her, silent.
Ning Lingyi was not surprised and said calmly, "It seems that the Khan knows."
She then asked, "Then, will the Khan be willing to serve me?"
Tuoba Hong remained silent, like a piece of stone that had been corroded by time and suffering, but still refused to break.
Ning Lingyi examined every subtle expression on his face and nodded.
"It seems he is unwilling."
She didn't ask any more questions, but picked up a memorial from the desk and signaled the eunuch to hand it to Tuoba Hong.
Tuoba Hong took it with his stiff fingers and unfolded it.
The above is a clear military plan, with detailed plans for the allocation of food and fodder, the route of advance, and the division and attack on the various tribes in Beishuo. It is a complete strategy for destroying the country.
However, it was his Beishuo that was destroyed.
Yes, it has been a few years, and Ning Lingyi has had enough time to recuperate. She can start another war.
He looked for a long time, so long that the candlelight in the hall seemed to be stagnant, so long that Ning Lingyi almost thought that what she saw was just an empty shell.
Finally, a dry, hoarse, almost inhuman voice came out of his throat:
"No."
Ning Lingyi raised her eyebrows slightly: "No? Are you unwilling to be of use to me, or are you not allowing me to send troops to Beishuo?"
"No...don't send troops." He spoke each word with a broken voice.
Ning Lingyi leaned forward slightly, seeming genuinely confused. "Why? Those people betrayed you and pushed you into the abyss. Don't you want them to die?"
Tuoba Hong remained silent for even longer, so long that one began to wonder if he had lost the ability to speak again.
Then, he raised his head, looked straight at Ning Lingyi, and asked, "Back then... you were forced to marry me... by the Southern Dynasty... and you hated the Southern Dynasty. If... you became my Queen Consort... and I were to send troops south... would you... stop me?"
Ning Lingyi was startled at first when she heard this, but then she burst out laughing, with a complex and indistinguishable meaning in her smile: "I will naturally stop it."
"But," Ning Lingyi looked at him again, "Will the Khan stop because of my interference?"
Tuoba Hong did not answer, but the two of them knew the answer.
He won't.
He would only occupy the Xin Dynasty, and perhaps comfort Ning Lingyi, who became his queen, but how pale would that comfort be? Because he didn't care about the lives of the people of the Southern Dynasty at all.
The strong prey on the weak, and the winner takes everything. This is the law he believes in.
So now that the positions have been reversed, it is natural that Ning Lingyi doesn't care about the lives of the people of Beishuo.
The logical loop closed at this moment, crushing his last shred of self-deception. The laws of the world he had always believed in rebounded at this moment, dealing him a fatal blow.
He leaned over and banged his forehead heavily on the gold brick. He lost, lost his country, lost his dignity, and in the end, even the very concept of survival on which he relied was completely crushed by the other party in the way he most approved of.
He really didn't want to cry, but his tears still flowed on the gold bricks.
There are millions of people in Beishuo, but how many of them can be called human beings?
Just tens of thousands.
What's left are not people, but things!
Something that could be discarded at will, worse than even an animal! But now, they didn't even have a chance to survive?
He cried for Beishuo's national destiny and for those millions of "things".
The law of the jungle is so cruel and ruthless.
It turns out that living is not so easy.
But I kept crying.
He stopped.
wrong.
Ning Lingyi...she cares.
She is different from him.
She was willing to risk her life for the people in Shanshan City, she distributed land and redeemed captives. She cares! She won't massacre all the people of Beishuo!
The crying stopped abruptly.
He raised his head, his face streaked with tears, and looked at Ning Lingyi: "The nobles of Beishuo... can be killed! The common people of Beishuo... cannot be killed!"
On the throne, Ning Lingyi finally raised her eyes and looked at him seriously. A faint curve seemed to flash across the corners of her lips.
"It seems," she said slowly, "the Khan is willing to be used by me."
Tuoba Hong was silent.
He thought of the countless nights in Beishuo and his fellow slaves.
Live, live like a human being.
*
Soon, a shocking decree was issued from the palace of the Xin Dynasty: Ning Lingyi, the Taichu Emperor of the Xin Dynasty, will marry Tuoba Hong, the Khan of Beishuo, in accordance with the old decree of his father Emperor Xuanxi, and enthrone Tuoba Hong as the Emperor of the Xin Dynasty!
To show sincerity, the wedding will be held at the border, and the new Khan of Beishuo and leaders of various tribes will be invited to attend the ceremony to discuss the specific rules of demarcation and trade. If any tribe fails to attend, it will be deemed to have given up its rights and interests, and the new dynasty will consider it separately.
When this decree reached the Beishuo royal court, the new Khan and his confidants engaged in a heated debate.
"This must be a trap! Ning Lingyi is very cunning and Tuoba Hong is already a disabled man, how could she really marry him?" An experienced prince firmly objected.
"But if we don't go, it will be a blatant violation of the peace treaty and give the Xin Dynasty an excuse to go to war. How can we resist the Xin Dynasty's thunder then? What's more, demarcation and trade are related to the livelihood of each tribe. If we are excluded, how can the tribe survive?" Another chief in charge of trade was worried.
Finally, under immense pressure, the new Khan of Beishuo and more than half of the tribal leaders and princes decided to take the risk and make the journey. Nearly half of the tribes still chose to wait and see, either citing the long journey or claiming illness.
They set out on a journey to the border with their most elite guards.
The dinner on the eve of the wedding was hosted by Tuoba Hong for his clansmen, and the atmosphere was subtle.
Tuoba Hong was dressed in gorgeous clothes and sat at the table with an expressionless face.
The new Khan of Beishuo raised his glass cautiously with the other leaders with a scrutinizing look.
"My brother," the new Khan said with a forced smile, "now that you are the emperor of the new dynasty, you should think of your homeland in Beishuo."
Tuoba Hong looked at him silently, looking at these faces, some familiar and some unfamiliar, with greed, suspicion, and a hint of fear in their eyes.
He slowly raised his glass and drank it all.
Seeing him drink it, some leaders who were a little less vigilant also drank it.
But soon after the wine entered his throat, something strange happened!
The new Khan and six or seven leaders who drank the wine suddenly covered their throats and fell to the ground with purple faces!
"The wine is poisonous!"
"Guards!"
The banquet hall was in chaos in an instant!
The Beishu people who were not affected by the poisoned wine stood up in horror and drew their swords, but saw the sound of killing outside the palace, and the ambushed elite of the Xin Dynasty were fighting with the Beishu guards.
Fire and blood intertwined.
Tuoba Hong stood there, watching the chaos, motionless.
When the last ray of resistance was suppressed, dawn came.
Tuoba Hong changed into the imperial robe embroidered with dragons and phoenixes. The convoy behind him was loaded with dozens of heads of Beishuo nobles.
This was the "dowry" he brought, which was nearly half of Beishuo's ruling class. Although he did not achieve complete success, this blow was enough to severely damage Beishuo's vitality and it would be difficult to recover within decades.
The convoy crossed the border and entered the territory of the Xin Dynasty.
He finally reached the temporarily arranged "bridal chamber", the palace servants left, and the palace door closed.
The room was filled with bright red, which stung his eyes.
The fallen faces flashed before his eyes. Some he hated with all his heart, while others simply disagreed with him politically. They died, Beishuo was crippled, and he, wearing this robe stained red with the blood of his people, became the husband of the emperor of an enemy nation.
He clutched the front of his shirt tightly. Did he win? He survived, he killed the traitor, and he even "saved" the civilians of Beishuo.
But what was the price? He dismembered his own people with his own hands, and sold his soul to the conqueror in exchange for this gorgeous robe that was like a yoke.
His knees went weak and he fell heavily to his knees, curled up on the ground. He was the eternal sinner of Beishuo.
He will not die a good death.
The flickering red candles stretched out his lonely figure, which was trembling violently in the festive new house, very long.
The palace door was pushed open, and Ning Lingyi stepped into the room full of bright red. She saw him curled up on the ground like a dying animal, his gorgeous clothes disheveled and his shoulders shaking violently.
She looked at him quietly for a moment, a trace of regret flashing across her eyes.
She walked over, squatted beside him, and reached out to hold his arm.
He raised his face, his face covered with tear stains. He looked at her blankly, like a lost child, completely devoid of his former self.
All his pride was completely shattered by her.
She took out a silk handkerchief and carefully wiped away the wet marks on his face. Her fingertips occasionally touched his skin, which was cold. He did not resist, but just stood there stiffly, letting her do whatever she wanted.
Helping him sit down on the edge of the bed, she turned to the table and picked up the pair of golden cups.
She came back and held one of the cups to his lips.
Tuoba Hong shuddered and turned away. At this moment, was she still going to use this cup of wedding wine to complete the final humiliating ceremony?
Ning Lingyi's hand stopped in the air, looking at his resistance. She said nothing and did not force him. She just quietly withdrew her hand and gently placed the two wine glasses back on the table.
The wine in the glass swayed slightly, and finally calmed down.
She sat down beside him, at a perfect distance from him. The red candle burned silently, illuminating the dazzling joy in the room and the unbridgeable gap between them.
She understood that some knots could not be untied and some roads could not be traveled.
From the moment they first met, the relationship between them was filled with confrontation and calculation, with their country, mountains and rivers between them, and the blood and lives of countless people piled up in between.
In the end, they couldn't drink the glass of wine that symbolized perfection.
That's it.
In this world, not all couples can achieve a happy marriage.
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