Xiao Feng kills the Prince of Chu and captures Yelü Chongyuan-An Action in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils | Readify Wiki: A Better Way to Explore Books

Xiao Feng kills the Prince of Chu and captures Yelu Chongyuan in a decisive intervention during the Liao rebellion. Faced with Yelu Hongji’s intention to surrender and the danger of a vastly larger rebel force, Xiao Feng turns a daring attack into a means of ending the fighting: he kills the Prince of Chu, takes control of Yelu Zhongyuan, and persuades the rebels to disarm. His actions preserve his sworn brother’s rule while redirecting the outcome from continued battle toward surrender and pardon.

Political Background

The crisis grows from a contested succession and a transfer of military authority. Yelu Zhongzhen, the eldest son of the Holy Emperor, had been designated to succeed him, while his younger brother, Yelu Zhongyuan, was favored by their mother, the Empress Dowager. Zhongzhen learned of her plan and thwarted it; grateful for his brother’s loyalty, he made Zhongyuan the royal emperor brother and next in line to the throne. Yet after Zhongzhen’s death, the throne passed instead to his son, Yelu Hongji.

As emperor, Hongji acknowledged his uncle’s standing and granted him exceptional honors, the succession position, and supreme command of the army. He also placed Zhongyuan’s son, the Prince of Chu, in charge of the Southern Chancellery’s military affairs. This arrangement concentrated enormous authority in the hands of uncle and son. When Hongji went hunting, he entrusted military affairs to Zhongyuan; the rebellion, however, was announced in the Prince of Chu’s name, with an edict declaring Hongji a false emperor and Zhongyuan the rightful ruler. The earlier acts of familial loyalty and accommodation had not prevented a crisis in which inherited claims and military command became weapons against the reigning emperor.

Hongji at the Point of Surrender

After hearing the rebels’ appeal that Hongji surrender or die, Hongji acknowledged the apparent hopelessness of his position. He said he would yield the empire to Zhongyuan rather than sacrifice Khitan warriors in a struggle between relatives, and raised his sabre toward his own neck. Xiao Feng stopped him and insisted that an honorable hero should die fighting rather than by suicide. Hongji explained that he could not bear to see the soldiers who had followed him lose their lives for his sake.

The exchange frames Xiao Feng’s intervention as both personal loyalty and an attempt to prevent further deaths. Hongji’s willingness to relinquish power arises from concern for his troops, not confidence that he can win. Xiao Feng answers by refusing to let that concern end in the emperor’s death: he asks Hongji to distract the Prince of Chu while he tries to reach him with an arrow.

The Attack and Capture

Xiao Feng takes a hard bow and arrows and approaches the enemy position concealed beneath a riderless horse. As he nears the Prince of Chu, he draws and fires from beneath the horse; a guard blocks the first shot. Xiao Feng then mounts and charges forward, firing again. The Prince of Chu deflects one arrow with his whip, but the force behind it carries it into his shoulder. A subsequent arrow strikes his side and passes through his chest, and he falls from his horse.

The death removes the rebel leader, but it does not immediately end the danger. Xiao Feng is deep within the rebel ranks, surrounded by a force numbering more than ten thousand. He has used most of his arrows, and the guards surrounding Yelu Zhongyuan form a dense barrier of shields. Instead of trying to shoot his way through, Xiao Feng leaps over the shields, lands at Zhongyuan’s horse, and lifts him into the air. With the uncle in his grasp, Xiao Feng demands that the soldiers lay down their weapons. The rebels hold back from attacking, uncertain how to proceed while their commander is captive.

From Capture to Surrender

Xiao Feng calls out that the emperor orders the soldiers to put down their weapons and promises that they will be pardoned. Recognizing that fear of punishment could keep the army fighting, he repeats that the emperor will hold no one accountable and that the soldiers will retain their former positions. The first weapons begin to fall; the sound spreads, and more than half of the soldiers lay theirs down. Xiao Feng then carries Zhongyuan toward the hillside, while the crowd parts rather than block his passage.

The rebels have not all surrendered yet, so Xiao Feng gives Zhongyuan a role in completing the transition. He lets him sit securely in the saddle and announces that he has something to say. Zhongyuan tells the soldiers that the Prince of Chu caused the disaster, that the emperor will forgive them, and that they should cast down their weapons. With their leader dead and Zhongyuan’s instruction before them, the remaining rebels disarm. The capture thus serves not merely to restrain a powerful opponent: it creates the conditions for a public order that the army is willing to obey.

The Settlement and Xiao Feng’s Refusal of Office

Xiao Feng brings Yelu Zhongyuan back to the hillside, where Yelu Hongji receives him with relief and embraces his sworn brother. Zhongyuan kneels and asks the emperor’s forgiveness. Xiao Feng urges Hongji to pardon his uncle, arguing that the rebels’ overwhelming numbers make restoring the soldiers’ confidence the immediate priority. Hongji accepts this counsel and announces that Xiao Feng is to become Prince of Chu and Lord of the Southern Chancellery, taking command of the rebel army on its return to the capital.

The appointment turns Xiao Feng’s battlefield intervention into a formal grant of state power, but he does not seek the honor. Astonished, he tells Hongji that he acted to save his brother, not to gain rank, and asks him to withdraw the order. The moment complicates the apparent triumph: Xiao Feng has helped preserve the emperor’s rule, yet the office offered as a reward binds him to the very political and military responsibilities he would rather refuse.

Rebellion’s Political Background

The crisis rests on a succession history in which family loyalty and imperial legitimacy pull in different directions. The Holy Emperor had designated his eldest son, Yelu Zongzhen, to succeed him, although the Empress Dowager favored her second son, Yelu Zhongyuan. Zongzhen learned of her plan and told his brother, helping to thwart it. In gratitude, he made Zhongyuan the royal emperor brother and placed him next in the succession. Yet when Zongzhen died, the throne passed not to Zhongyuan but to Zongzhen’s son, Yelu Hongji.

Once enthroned, Hongji tried to honor his uncle’s position. He restored Zhongyuan’s place as next in line, made him commander of the entire army, and granted him exceptional privileges at court. Zhongyuan’s son, the Prince of Chu, received control of military affairs in the Southern Chancellery. Together, these arrangements left the emperor’s uncle and cousin with immense political and military authority. When Hongji went hunting, he entrusted military affairs to Zhongyuan; the rebellion was then proclaimed in the Prince of Chu’s name, with an edict calling Hongji a usurper and Zhongyuan the legitimate emperor. The earlier history of trust had not prevented the succession dispute from becoming an armed challenge to Hongji’s rule.