Chapter 309: Death by Talking Too Much
Lan He wipes the blood splattered on his face by the personal guards, then fights while planning to retreat outside the encirclement; when more personal guards rush to entangle the Wei brothers, he starts shouting to retreat.
This unit has no need to clash head-on; in a direct confrontation they have no advantage, continuing like this will eventually lead them down the same road as the army left in Liangzhou.
He had no time to think further; upon receiving his order, the Xiongnu sounded the recall horn.
The Great King won't let him escape; if he gets away this time, catching him next time will be difficult—he must personally go to the Xiongnu Royal City.
If Lan He isn't stupid, he won't come up with a way to counter the Youzhou cavalry in a short time, so he probably won't return.
The Great King shouted, "Don't let them get away! Don't let a single one escape!"
Given Lan He's status, his personal guards are all elite death warriors who, without regard for consequences, swear to die blocking pursuers to let him escape.
They all fight recklessly; someone even lunged to wrap his arms around Wei Shen's warhorse's neck, and even dead would hang there to block the enemy from chasing his master.
Seeing wave after wave of Xiongnu rushing forward to cover Lan He's escape, the Great King, held outside, grew anxious; he drew the Sun-shooting Bow, aimed, then feared hitting his own men and threw it back.
"Lan He, you coward! From now on, the Youzhou cavalry will be number one under heaven; you Xiongnu are just a bunch of cowards who flee without fighting! Lan He, you are nothing but a defeated subordinate of this king!"
This slight provocation, Lan He heard it but pretended not to; he didn't care about anything, single-mindedly fleeing forward, having a premonition that if he delayed a moment longer, that wicked brat would break his hand!
Seeing Lan He run far away, already behind the Xiongnu troops, the Great King grew truly anxious, not knowing whether to hate himself for not being able to fly or to hate those damned Xiongnu for being too loyal.
He drew the Sun-shooting Bow and began aiming at Lan He; the result was three arrows that, with a sound, felled three passersby beside Lan He...
"I will surely practice archery hard when I return!" Infuriating!
Again, Lan He's figure had already vanished into the cavalry ranks; the Great King's tall steed, even if a head taller than the Xiongnu horses, he could no longer see!
Just as the Great King stepped onto the stirrup to rise, intending to stand on the horse's back if necessary, the Bai Ze that had fallen behind the cavalry finally rose!
A bunch of idiots.
Every single Youzhou cavalryman present would never forget that scene for the rest of his life.
What happened next was a scene they would gleefully recount for a lifetime.
Bai Ze rose, stretched lazily, then leapt into the air; those behind felt something fly past their heads, and upon looking up… the Great King's pet could fly!?
Not really.
That huge white fluff drifted past like a cloud!
The white long fur fluttering in the wind shimmered with a dazzling platinum glow in the sunlight—it was pure ethereal grace!
Such a beast ought to be from heaven!
Elegant, too elegant!
It clearly has no wings, yet a single jump sends it hovering ten-odd meters in the air—this must be flight; the feeling of hanging… the Great King thought the lecturers at the Imperial Academy might not be entirely correct.
Fortunately, after Bai Ze floated a stretch it landed, stepping on a cavalryman's shoulder as if borrowing force?
The Great King exhaled in relief—good, good, good, it still won't fly!
Bai Ze walked past the Great King, glared at him rudely, while those clapping praises waited; the Great King, about to lie flat, instantly fell silent like a chicken.
Actually Bai Ze is very fast; in just two or three leaps it left the melee of the Youzhou cavalry, and in an instant caught up to the Xiongnu desperately galloping ahead.
The Youzhou cavalry in the rear who were shooting arrows stopped, fearing to hit the Great King's pet.
Who would have thought this pet had two faces—it would lightly step on its own people just to prove it couldn't fly, but stepping on a Xiongnu meant instant death!
It leapt past; only then did the Xiongnu react and shoot arrows from behind. The arrow, however, never touched that fluff—it simply fell to the ground… fell…
The Great King stroked his chin, murmuring, "... Could there really be invisible armor? Cousin, this time you'll truly believe I picked him up at Heaven's Gate..."
After a few leaps amid the startled cries of those nearby, Bai Ze slapped Lan He off his horse with one paw!
You, still want Us to pull your cart?!
The Great King stood on horseback, hands on hips, laughing loudly, "Look, how important it is to keep your mouth shut!"
Wei Ke: …
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Bai Ze smacked Lan He to the ground, first looked up at the henchmen flying about cluelessly in the sky, then shook its head at the oblivious Lan He; the henchmen understood.
Covering Heaven Great One descended from high altitude at extreme speed, extending its sharp giant claws; one claw pierced Lan He's spine, adeptly lifting him whole—Lan He, already unconscious, woke from pain with a anguished cry.
Others were still shocked, but the Great King looked at it familiarly.
No wonder—Covering Heaven's pose is just like lifting a Pig Woman Dragon!
Others have lifted Pig Woman Dragons; what's a mere person?
After the Xiongnu recovered from shock, they loosed arrows; Covering Heaven's wing batted down the feathers, its speed nearly vanishing instantly from the spot and reappearing before the Great King.
That creature, smugly pleased, flung Lan He before the Great King's horse; this time Lan He didn't even grunt, and everyone knew that even if he still had breath he was already ruined.
The Xue brothers were especially agitated, particularly the young Xue Ming, who stared blankly at the silent Lan He on the ground, then uncontrollably shed tears streaming down his face.
This man single-handedly caused his father's death on the battlefield, the blood-deep grudge of the 100,000 garrison at Yumen Pass, countless lives across northern Great Jin, and tens of thousands of civilians displaced.
The Great King also looked at the man lying on the ground; the frenzied counterattack of the Xiongnu behind him elicited little response from him.
The Great King seemed to exhale, telling himself that although as a son he couldn't attend his father's funeral, at least he had avenged him, which was enough to repay his father.
Afterwards he just watched from behind; Lan He seemed to hold an extraordinarily high status among the Xiongnu—these people, reckless as moths to flame, would avenge him.
The Great King only wanted to sneer—when you plotted your southern march, you surely never imagined this day!
This was a brutal battle; blood soaked the land, and the corpses of forty thousand piled into small hills.
No, this was a massacre.
Night fell, the grassland where the north wind howled, only the Great King's cavalry and a Xiongnu man he deliberately left behind stood there.
"You are the lucky one chosen by this king from among these forty thousand; go back and tell the Xiongnu chanyu what happened today—dying is simple, if you die the Xiongnu won't know the truth, go back and let your chanyu come find this king for revenge!"
That person's hands were trembling, completely lacking the former arrogance of the Xiongnu cavalry.
Wei Shen snorted, Wei Tai Ping really has eight hundred hearts. That person will only go back to persuade the Xiongnu chanyu not to go south.
The Great King gave him one of the several extra copies of the
Everyone is dead, the Xiongnu still don't know, sending more people south to look for them would just waste the Great King's deterrent purpose. He left a living person, also gave him a horse; all that's missing is some dry rations and a bodyguard to guarantee he returns alive to the Xiongnu royal court with the news.
The Great King didn't want his troops to withdraw and then have the Xiongnu, like Lan He, think there's some inside story and send people south to check; he only wanted to return to Youzhou before the heavy snow blocked the roads.
Now the Jin realm is in chaos, the northern border is almost empty, vast tracts of land lie fallow; having seized such a huge territory, he doesn't know how tight food will be this winter—no matter how you think, it's still not the time for a northern expedition.
Now the Great King just wants the Xiongnu to know what fear is, so they won't dare provoke him lightly.
This battle was also brutal; the Xiongnu who fought to the death inflicted wounds on the Great King's cavalry as well. A gust of wind blew, and the nostrils were filled with the strong smell of blood.
The Great King fell silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke, not knowing whether he was comforting the soldiers or consoling himself: "On the battlefield it's like this—only your own strength can preserve your life. Either the enemy dies, or you perish."
They are criminals of the Jin; today's outcome was heaven's decree. The king still has eight last potent healing medicines, awarding them to the eight most severely wounded warriors. Everyone performed well today; although not flawless, the king is also satisfied, and after returning to Youzhou he will reward according to merit.
As for these Xiongnu, just leave them here; we'll go set up camp ahead and rest tonight.
The Great King unusually abandoned his fastidiousness, leaving those Xiongnu corpses to rot in the wilderness.
After fighting the Xiongnu great army on the grassland, Shuofang City was nothing; the few remaining Xiongnu garrison troops were scarce, and the Great King even had the ten thousand cavalry that the Empress sent come forward to practice siege and capture tactics.
After retaking Shuofang City, everyone was familiar with the subsequent procedures; the Great King went through the Xiongnu garrison's locations once more, but the seized property, after additions and subtractions, still didn't match the reparations. This time the Great King finally gave up— the Xiongnu reparations had indeed been transported back to the royal court.
"We'll eventually take it back; first let the Xiongnu guard it." The Great King said hatefully.
Wei Shen added: "Don't forget to collect interest when the time comes."
"Right!"
Waiting for the newly appointed General Anbei, who brought the fifty thousand troops guarding Yumen Pass, the Great King skillfully drew another big pie for him, saying he'd repair a new pass in a few days.
Don't look at Shuofang now, riddled with holes—those are only temporary.
General Anbei didn't really believe the Great King could come up with that money now, after all the Xiongnu had suffered a crushing defeat and likely wouldn't head south again anytime soon. Having traveled this way, he knew exactly what Liangzhou was like; the Great King had taken on a mess, a hundred neglected affairs awaiting revival—where could he find funds for massive construction?
Nobody would have guessed the Great King was preparing to make a profit by launching massive construction projects…
He had handed over Shuofang affairs to General Anbei, still maintaining military control for now—anyway there weren't many people in the city—and later, when usable officials were found, he would dispatch them here.
By rights this third side quest should have been completed!
At night the Great King hid in his room muttering; Wei Shen came to ask what he was waiting for, why he didn't hurry back to Youzhou, and what would happen if he ran into a heavy snowstorm late.
It turned out to be scorching midsummer; all along they ate bitterness, people roasted until they sweated oil and were almost charcoal. Now that it's over, not hurrying home, if they encounter a big cold snap they'll get another bout of happiness.
The Great King felt bitter inside, but the Great King didn't say it.
He was waiting for side quest three to finish; he needed to claim the reward first to arrange the checkpoints here in Shuofang!
If he left, sending people over again to cause trouble would just freeze everything solid—then this year construction definitely couldn't start!
The Great King anxiously wanted to settle this task before withdrawing troops, also giving the few surviving residents of Shuofang a means of livelihood so they could survive the winter—he had to make sure they could get through this winter!
These people too are miserable; surviving nearly two years of war required exhausting all their luck, and the Great King didn't want them to collapse in this winter.
To be frank, if they had any ability they wouldn't still be lingering in Shuofang without fleeing.
After the third day of handover, the task remained quiet as before; the Great King and Bai Ze crouched in the room staring at the light board in a daze.
Side quest two was done, there were three C‑level spin wheels but the Great King had no mood to spin them; he just wanted his checkpoints to save the emergency.
"What's the problem? Isn't it written? The uniform standard is to have actual control politically and militarily. We've already controlled it, right? Bingzhou already has a map—what's lacking in Liangzhou?"
"Which city have we still failed to retake?"
After a while Bai Ze shifted his posture, prompting the Great King to flip forward: "Could it be here, establishing a North Border State? Whether it's the North Border or North Jin, do these commoners know about this?"
The Great King stared dumbfounded: "Ah?"
Established facts were useless, so the Great King cooked up a situational supplement.
He spent half a day drafting a detailed map of the 'North Border State', referring to the accurate map of Bai Yang, further refining the border line map, which was more thorough and detailed than those passed down from the Jin.
A small stroke on the map might represent a huge tract of land!
The experienced Great King made an especially detailed 【North Border State map】, on which even the Liaodong Commandery that had been hidden away was drawn.
No more pretense, laying cards on the table.
The Great King even took for himself the tract linking Liaodong and Youzhou.
That place used to be a dependency of Liaodong, a small tribe clinging to the Eastern Xianbei; in the Great King's words, the Eastern Xianbei wouldn't dare oppose him.
The new king he supported is still sitting honestly in the royal city to this day, and hasn't even sent anyone to inquire about his parents' fate.
The Great King didn't send troops over, but unilaterally granted them occupancy according to the map—this kind of maneuver was something Bai Ze had never seen before.
Next, following the
The meaning is simple: proclaim to the five great commanderies of the north that from now on you are people of the North Border State, whose capital is Youzhou City.
To celebrate the founding of the North Border State, the Great King granted grace—taxes for all cities affected by war this year are wholly waived.
Furthermore, it was explicitly stated that North Border State refugees who fled south and have not returned to their native places within three years will have their household registration permanently cancelled; if they later return to the territory they will be treated as refugees.
Finally, it was written that the gate of the North Border State is forever open to Jin people; anyone who is Jin and comes to the North Border becomes a North Border person.
It also said that Youzhou possesses the world's strongest Mysterious Armor Cavalry, which sweeps aside the Xianbei and Xiongnu with an undefeated record. Jin people who come to the North Border can avoid the suffering of southern wars, be protected by Youzhou's cavalry, and live peacefully in the North Border.
Finally, they posted the hot‑off‑the‑press North Border State map.
Woodblock printing couldn't be done in time; literate people were summoned to copy this proclamation by hand, and Shuofang City posted it on the streets that very day, with someone specially assigned to give explanations.
End of Chapter
