It took a long time for Gao Changshou to wake up from his drowsiness.
He shook his head and looked at Asha Yu, obviously afraid of offending this Miao wizard again. He was helpless and vague, but said very perfunctorily: "Xin, okay? Let Feiyu and I talk things over."
Asha did not answer.
"Let's go." Li Xia said, "Let's go look at the terrain again and let you get some fresh air so you can wake up a little bit."
It was the fifth day of April, and the Mongolian army had just concluded its tentative attack. It was almost dusk, and the soldiers of Qingfu Army were scrambling for the last moment before sunset to repair the dilapidated Guancheng.
Kedu Pass is built on the top of the mountain. The mountain is high and the slope is steep. The post roads are winding and zigzag. Looking south from Guancheng, you can see the tents of the Mongolian army at the foot of the mountain.
After walking for a while, Li Xia naturally held Gao Mingyue's little hand.
This has become their habit. At first, when they encountered difficult roads while marching, Li Xia would carry Gao Mingyue on his back or lead her while others did not dare to comment on it. Gradually, they became accustomed to it.
After looking to the south, they saw that the Mongolian army would make no more movements today. They descended from Guancheng, turned to the north, and walked along the post road for a while. They could see the Kedu River at the foot of the mountain.
This place is now almost the junction of Tongchuanfu Road and Dali on the territory of the Southern Song Dynasty, but the Song court was unable to govern it.
When I got here, I saw that there was no one else around, only Li Xia, Gao Mingyue, and Asha. Gao Changshou finally said: "Feiyu must have thought about it for a long time. Planning this territory includes using this as the boundary."
"Temporarily." Li Xia said: "In the future, either Mongolia will fight over, or we will fight over."
"If we can fight there and expel the Mongols from Dali, will there be no hope for Dali to recover?"
"Muru, I'm not joking with you." Li Xia said: "If you ask me about my ambition, I want to found a country. I have thought about it a long time ago. These are troubled times. In troubled times, I don't want to be a slave to the subjugation of the country, and I don't want to be a slave to the deceitful people.
A lackey can only compete in the world. To put it simply, I want to be an emperor. Let’s not talk about whether this is fanciful or not, but that’s what I really think.”
Gao Mingyue raised her head and looked at Li Xia, her expression slightly surprised, but only slightly. She quickly lowered her head again and looked at the hands the two held together.
Ashayu looked like it was natural.
Li Xia's words were not impassioned and said word for word. On the contrary, his tone was ordinary and seemed a bit chatty, as if he was talking about an ordinary trivial matter.
This diluted their surprise.
Becoming an emperor is not a strange thing for the Gao family. Many years ago, their ancestors recruited Duan Siping nearby to form an alliance with the thirty-seven tribes in eastern Yunnan to assist Duan in establishing the country.
The Gao family also proclaimed themselves emperor for a time. After returning to the throne, they still had the status of the Dali imperial family.
Now that Gao Changshou is focused on restoring the country, he naturally does not want to support the Duan family as emperor again.
But Gao Changshou was still stunned after hearing what Li Xia said. What he was surprised was not that someone wanted to take advantage of the troubled times to compete in the world, but that this person was actually such a young and humble Li Xia.
When he thought about it again, he had already guessed this.
With Li Xia's character and ability, how could he be willing to be inferior to others?
"Crazy... do you think you can found a country and become an emperor?"
"I plan to do this." Li Xia said: "If you ask me where my confidence comes from, I can only say... I am the reincarnation of Pluto, seriously."
"Ha." Gao Changshou turned his head and glanced at Asha, not daring to say anything.
He smiled bitterly, seeming to be deep in thought.
Gao Mingyue suddenly said softly: "Get up from among the commoners, use your sword to conquer the world, conquer chaos and violence, clear the emperor's palace, and conquer the sea."
She seemed to be recounting Li Xia's ambitions.
Gao Changshou seemed to have some enlightenment, and suddenly thought of the story in "Historical Records" about Lu Gong marrying his daughter Liu Bang.
"Feiyu is serious?"
"Seriously." Li Xia said: "Although this topic is far away, now that we are here, we should be honest with you. You don't have to worry about us working hard and finally making a wedding dress for Song Ting... If we are lucky enough to succeed in the future,
I am the emperor, Mingyue is the queen, you are the king of Yunnan, and you will rule Yunnan forever."
Gao Changshou looked at Li Xia blankly, his eyes gradually changing from surprise to determination.
…
Night gradually fell.
After chatting with Gao Changshou, Li Xia said: "Ming Yue and I will go shopping for a while."
"Okay." Gao Changshou walked towards Guancheng.
Asha also walked a little further and ran to the mountains to pick flowers and grass.
She was a very strange person, following Li Xia all day long, and most people would not avoid Li Xia when talking to them. But as long as Gao Mingyue and Li Xia wanted to be alone, she was willing to stay away.
Probably because he likes Gao Mingyue and is willing to let this little girl get her wish.
In the shallow moonlight, Li Xia held Gao Mingyue's hand and wandered along the rugged stone path.
"Do you think I'm taking advantage of you?"
"Huh? No."
"I really need Muru to help me recover the thirty-seven tribes in eastern Yunnan. But this is different from me proposing marriage to you."
"Then...why did you propose marriage to me?" spanstyle>谷/spanstyle>
"On impulse."
"ah?"
"Because you are beautiful and easy to get along with, I can't help myself."
It's not that Li Xia doesn't know how to coax girls, on the contrary, he is very good at it, but he subconsciously said a few words and saw that Gao Mingyue was already so embarrassed that he couldn't help himself, and he felt guilty.
After all, it was the difference between girls these days and how he dealt with them in the past.
He then restrained himself a lot and said seriously: "However, even if they are two different things, I have indeed benefited from you. Because you are willing to marry me, your second brother is willing to help me, and only then can the tribes in eastern Yunnan be conquered by me.
"
"No." Gao Mingyue said: "Actually, I understand very well that the Gao family does not have much ability now. On the contrary, it is you who have been saving us... The mountain people in the various tribes in eastern Yunnan are not as powerful as your subordinates.
Qingfu Army. I have been dragging you down all this time."
"That's helping each other."
"You help me more."
Li Xia said: "I want to tell you that you have helped me a lot, so I don't need to be cautious anymore."
Gao Mingyue looked up at Li Xia, as if in a daze.
Li Xia added: "You have watched your family grow and decline over the years, and you feel bitter in your heart... You can be bolder, and it will be fine. You know, I have borrowed a lot of power from your natal family."
Gao Mingyue couldn't help but hugged Li Xia.
She never felt that he needed to borrow any power from her natal family. With his ability, he could definitely find a more helpful woman from her natal family in Song Ting.
I just said this so that she wouldn't have to worry anymore.
"You didn't borrow the power of my mother's family... It was obviously you who saved my brother and me time and time again... I know that you can conquer the tribes in eastern Yunnan without relying on the Gao family. With Asha's help, you obviously can
can do it……"
"Excuse me." Li Xia patted Gao Mingyue on the back and said, "What's more important is that you are worth it. You yourself are very precious... How should I put it, what do you want and what do you want to eat in the future?
If you are unhappy, you can tell me anything you want without having to hide it, okay?"
"Um."
"Of course, I may not agree to all your requests. Sometimes I am very direct. If you refuse, you will refuse. You don't have to take it seriously."
Gao Mingyue said "hmm" again, nestled in Li Xia's arms for a long time, and then asked in a low voice: "Can I make a small request?"
"What?"
"Can you be coquettish to me?"
"Um?"
"Just... don't be so calm and composed, worry about me, be a little bit tempered." Gao Mingyue's voice sounded like a mosquito moaning.
She wanted to occasionally see Li Xia show that he cared about her.
Because she felt that he didn't like her that much.
But Li Xia said: "No."
"ah?"
"I'm too much older than you. I can't act like a baby in front of a little girl."
"You are obviously only a few months older than me."
Gao Mingyue looked up at Li Xia and suddenly smiled, looking very happy.
She saw that he was acting very embarrassed, wondering how to act coquettishly towards her.
This was enough, she had never seen anyone or anything in the world that could make him so embarrassed.
Gao Mingyue then stroked Li Xia's face and said with a smile, "Okay, that's all."
"You are too easily satisfied."
"Hmm." Gao Mingyue took Li Xia's hand and turned to walk further north, muttering to herself: "You don't know that I couldn't sleep for a long time thinking about marrying you..."
The two of them walked north for a while. After all, there was not much time for them to fall in love like this. After a while, they turned back to cross the pass.
By the post road, Asha twirled a flower and stood up, suddenly feeling extremely lonely again.
But when Li Xia and Gao Mingyue passed by her, Gao Mingyue let go of Li Xia and held Asha's arm.
"Let's go back."
…
Gao Changshou stood on Guancheng and watched this scene, smiled, and looked up at the mountains and rivers to the north.
It was only after today that he could better understand Li Xia's intentions.
Only by relying on the Song Dynasty and seizing Zhaotong could we have the power to compete with the Mongols in Dali...