Chapter 306

…

Zhao Yu has reason to be “angry.”

Xiao Duoli Lan is the Empress of Liao, a genuine, undisputed Empress.

Even Xiao Guige, as Yelu Yanxi’s primary consort, was nearly the second-most powerful woman in Liao, in the absence of an Empress Dowager.

These two crucial women, Xiao Puxian and Xiao Fengxian, conspired together and presented them to Zhao Yu.

If Zhao Yu says nothing, it would be utterly unjustifiable—especially given the proposed “alliance” between Song and Liao.

Hearing Zhao Yu say, “You are forcing me into immorality,” Xiao Puxian did not call him “hypocritical, taking advantage then pretending to be offended,” nor did she accuse him of “wanting to be a whore and still hang up a virtue plaque”; instead, she spoke solemnly:

“Liao is on the verge of collapse; only by sincerely uniting with our great Song can we secure a sliver of survival.”

“The urgent task is to send someone capable of influencing Liao’s politics to mediate in Liao, preventing internal strife between Song and Liao due to mutual suspicion, so our alliance may proceed smoothly—who but Xiao Fengxian fits this role?”

“But Xiao Fengxian is a minister of A Guo; if he does not prove his loyalty, how can our great Song trust him?”

“That is precisely why yesterday’s events occurred.”

“The Liao Empress and Primary Consort are women of great principle; they fully understand this matter concerns the very foundation of both Song and Liao, especially Liao’s survival, and thus willingly conceal their identities to serve Your Majesty.”

Upon hearing Xiao Puxian’s sophistry, Cai Jing and Su Shi immediately understood: what Xiao Puxian truly cared about was not how to coexist with Liao in the future, but to first, without bloodshed, reclaim Yan’s Five Prefectures, Pingluan and Yingzhou’s Three Prefectures, and strategic passes like Juyong.

This is the highest priority; what harm is there in planting a thorn deep in the Liao people’s hearts?

In other words, Xiao Puxian felt that one bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.

Of course, Xiao Puxian was also using this to demonstrate her hardline political stance: “I’ve already schemed against and sacrificed your Liao Empire’s Empress and Yuanfei—others mean nothing. From now on, everyone in Liao will obey me, or face my merciless methods!”

Undeniably, Xiao Puxian’s strategy revealed a deep understanding of human cunning and the cold brutality of power politics. As a woman, she wove a complex web of politics within the squeeze between Song and Liao—her methods were masterful, her heart ruthless, truly breathtaking.

Seeing Xiao Puxian achieve this, Zhang Chun finally understood why Zhao Yu had chosen Xiao Puxian to become Liao’s Eastern Empress Dowager instead of her.

To be honest, before this, Zhang Chun had resented Zhao Yu’s decision to send Xiao Puxian instead of her; she had even grown passive and negligent, expressing her discontent—and hoped to prove to Zhao Yu that he couldn’t function without her.

But Zhao Yu ignored Zhang Chun’s tantrum entirely, continuing to govern the Zhao Song Empire and pushing forward the plan for Xiao Puxian and Xiao Sesè to serve as Liao’s Eastern and Western Empress Dowagers, forcing them to exhaust Liao against Jin.

Seeing this, Zhang Chun realized: disaster. Zhao Yu’s wings had hardened—he didn’t need her at all. Worse, if she kept causing trouble, she might truly be cast into the cold palace, permanently removed from Zhao Song’s center of power.

Zhang Chun quickly seized an opportunity, knelt before Zhao Yu, and submitted to him.

Only then did Zhang Chun return to Zhao Yu’s side, resuming her role as his core advisor, helping him govern Zhao Song and manage foreign affairs.

Yet though she had returned, Zhang Chun still resented that Xiao Puxian had been chosen to execute the “Ci’an, Cixi” model she herself had proposed.

After all, becoming Empress Dowager had always been Zhang Chun’s greatest dream.

In Zhao Song, she felt that opportunity was gone.

Letting her fulfill it in Liao would’ve been enough.

But Zhao Yu had unhesitatingly chosen Xiao Puxian.

Zhang Chun refused to accept it—she wanted to see what exactly Xiao Puxian had that she didn’t.

Only when she witnessed this scene did Zhang Chun understand: Zhao Yu’s choice of Xiao Puxian over her was justified.

Xiao Puxian’s strength lay not in clever schemes, but in a near-cruel political pragmatism—every move she made carried the resolve to burn everything down, leaving no room for sentiment.

Xiao Puxian’s ruthlessness lay in daring to strike at those others dared not touch. Xiao Duoli Lan and Xiao Guige were Liao’s face—but she sacrificed them without blinking. To her, they were not Liao’s Empress and Yuanfei, but pieces to be weighed and moved; if they served her desired outcome, she would strike.

And her? Her dream was to become Empress Dowager—essentially, she still sought the honor that power brought. She calculated for gain, but inwardly could not bear to “destroy her own foundation.” To ask her to sacrifice the controversial Xiao Duoli Lan and Xiao Guige? She simply couldn’t do it.

From forcing Xiao Fengxian to submit his loyalty oath, to offering Xiao Duoli Lan and Xiao Guige to Zhao Yu, to executing every detail flawlessly, Xiao Puxian showed no hesitation. She wanted “one bird in the hand,” and would never waste time chasing “two in the bush.” No matter how vile or cruel the act, if it achieved her core goal, she would decide—and act.

Zhang Chun’s earlier passive resistance over not being chosen as Liao’s Eastern Empress Dowager was fundamentally mixing personal emotion into political decision-making. She weighed options, sulked, hesitated out of resentment.

In politics, hesitation is suicide.

Xiao Puxian never did this—once her target was locked, she pounced like a starving wolf, regardless of who the target was or what others thought—first, she seized the meat.

Xiao Puxian understood: power isn’t earned through titles—it’s seized through deterrence.

Zhang Chun wanted to be Empress Dowager, valuing the glory of the title. Xiao Puxian didn’t care about titles—she wanted real power to control Liao’s politics.

To this end, Xiao Puxian would spare no means to pave her path.

Every step Xiao Puxian took was to grip real authority, not to win a good reputation.

In short, Zhang Chun wanted to be the star on the political stage; Xiao Puxian was the one who could build the stage—and burn it down to rebuild it.

One still frets over gain and shame; the other has long trampled shame underfoot, recognizing only results.

This is Xiao Puxian’s most terrifying trait—her ruthlessness and decisiveness weren’t born of temperament, but of a fundamental belief: politics is a fight to the death—win utterly, or die completely. There is no middle ground.