Chapter 372: The addition of Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian

After the affairs of the Yongle Dynasty were concluded, Gu Shanhe took the nine of them to the Sui Dynasty.

In the Daxiang Palace, Yang Jian was dining with Dugu Qieluo.

Before they could finish their soup, nine people appeared out of thin air at the palace entrance.

The bowl in Dugu Qieluo's hand dropped, the soup splashing on the table, but not on her.

Yang Jian stood up, his hand pressing on the armrest of the dragon throne; he didn't call the guards, didn't retreat, just looked at the group of people before him.

Gu Shanhe took a step forward: "I am Gu Shanhe, the one who issued the Sky Screen."

Yang Jian's pupils contracted.

Sky Screen.

The list of emperors through the ages.

He remembered it clearly.

He stared at Gu Shanhe for a few breaths, then glanced at the eight people behind him—

Six dragon robes, two phoenix robes.

He adjusted his attire, walked down the steps, and bowed with cupped hands: "Immortal Master Gu, I failed to welcome you from afar."

Gu Shanhe waved his hand: "No need for formalities."

"I came this time to bring you into the team."

Yang Jian was stunned: "Into the team?"

"To travel the heavens with us, practice immortal arts, and see the rivers and mountains of all time."

Gu Shanhe turned to look at Ying Zheng behind him, "Brother Zheng, introduce yourself."

Ying Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, expressionless: "I am Qin Shi Huang."

Yang Jian's bowed hands lowered a bit more.

"Han Gaozu, Liu Bang."

"Han Wudi, Liu Che."

"Han Guangwudi, Liu Xiu."

"Tang Taizong, Li Shimin."

"Song Taizu, Zhao Kuangyin."

"Ming Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang."

"Ming Taizong, Zhu Di."

With every name reported, Yang Jian's hands lowered an inch.

Nine emperors, nine founding or stabilizing emperors through the ages, stood under the same roof, looking at him.

He felt his neck grow heavy.

"Sui Wendi, Yang Jian."

Gu Shanhe introduced him to the group behind him, then turned to look at him.

"I will help you resolve the affairs here."

"Then you will come with us."

Yang Jian didn't hesitate: "Thank you, Immortal Master."

That very night, the separatist forces in the south were all pacified.

It wasn't Yang Jian who fought them; it was Ying Zheng who flew a lap on his sword, hovering over the Southern Chen palace for a quarter of an hour.

The next day, the Southern Chen's letter of surrender was delivered to Yang Jian's desk.

The Turkic Khan brought his tribe to surrender.

He didn't see Ying Zheng, only a fireball suspended in mid-air above his head, conjured by Gu Shanhe—

The heatwave could be felt from ten li away.

……

Before leaving, Yang Jian called the Crown Prince Yang Yong over.

"I am going on a journey with the Immortal Master; you will supervise the state."

"Remember, do a good job, be kind to the commoners."

Yang Yong bowed his head: "Your son will certainly not fail Father Emperor's trust."

Yang Jian walked to the door and looked back: "If there is any slack, I will come back to deal with you."

Yang Yong bowed his head, sweat on his palms, but his voice didn't shake: "Your son understands."

Yang Jian left.

A system notification rang in Gu Shanhe's mind.

He stood in place, silent for a while; the emperors around him didn't disturb him.

【Congratulations to the host for completing the hidden mission; reward: one portion of Nascent Soul cultivation.】

A surge of heat rose from his dantian, traveling along his meridians to his whole body, finally stopping at the center of his eyebrows.

Gu Shanhe closed his eyes to feel it—Nascent Soul.

The Golden Core in his body had shattered, and a miniature version of himself sat cross-legged deep in his sea of consciousness, eyes closed, breathing slowly.

Then a new mission popped up.

【Please lead the eight emperors to the period of the Five Barbarians' Chaos to save the Han people.】

【After the mission is completed, a random reward will be obtained based on the rating.】

Gu Shanhe opened his eyes and looked at the eight emperors before him: "A new mission has come."

Ying Zheng: "What is it?"

"The Five Barbarians' Chaos."

"In the late Western Jin Dynasty, the north of China was occupied by the Hu people, and the Han people were slaughtered until fewer than two million remained."

"The Han people were called 'two-legged sheep' by them."

The teacup in Ying Zheng's hand shattered.

Fragments pierced his palm; he didn't look down, nor did he loosen his grip.

Blood dripped onto the floor through his fingers.

Liu Bang stopped cracking melon seeds and stuffed them into his sleeve: "I'm going."

Li Shimin: "Going."

Liu Che: "I'm going."

Liu Xiu: "I will go too."

Zhao Kuangyin: "I'm going too."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "I'm going too."

Zhu Di: "I'm going too."

Yang Jian: "I'm going too."

With a wave of Gu Shanhe's hand, eight space-time gates opened simultaneously.

Golden light gates lined up on the wilderness plain, different lights shining from within the frames—

Some whitish, some yellowish, some greenish.

"Go back and mobilize your troops, one hundred thousand from each dynasty; meet here in three days."

Ying Zheng was the first to walk into the light gate returning to the Qin Dynasty.

Liu Bang was second; before entering, he turned back to say: "I'm taking Fan Kuai with me."

Liu Che, Liu Xiu, Li Shimin, Zhao Kuangyin, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, and Yang Jian walked into their respective light gates one after another.

Three days later, the eight gates opened again.

The Qin flag came out first.

A golden "Qin" character was embroidered on the black battle flag, the corners of the flag fluttering in the wind.

When the first row of soldiers walked out, their armor reflected cold light in the sun, their steps uniform, stepping on the ground as if one person were walking.

The Han flag followed.

A "Han" character was embroidered on the red battle flag; the style of the soldiers' armor was different from the Qin army, but their stride was just as uniform.

Immediately after were the Sui, Tang, Song, and Ming flags.

Eight battle flags fluttered over the wilderness simultaneously.

Eight hundred thousand men filled the entire plain, with three zhang between each phalanx, each phalanx having its own flag, its own generals, and its own weaponry.

Looking down from a height, the iron armor was like a vast ocean, and the banners were like sails on the sea.

Ying Zheng stood at the very front, with Wang Jian and Meng Tian behind him.

Liu Bang stood beside him, with Fan Kuai carrying his sword behind him.

Behind Liu Che were Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

Behind Liu Xiu were several of the Yuntai Twenty-Eight Generals.

Behind Li Shimin stood Li Jing.

Behind Zhao Kuangyin was Cao Bin.

Behind Zhu Yuanzhang was Xu Da.

Behind Zhu Di was Zhang Fu.

Behind Yang Jian was Yang Su.

Gu Shanhe took a palm-sized ship model from his sleeve and threw it into the air.

The ship model rotated in the air, growing larger and larger: three zhang, ten zhang, one hundred zhang, three hundred zhang.

The entire ship was shimmering, cloud patterns carved on both sides of the hull, and a dragon-head mast protruding from the bow.

"Board the ship."

The eight emperors boarded first, followed by the famous generals of each dynasty.

The soldiers looked at the giant ship suspended in mid-air—

Some opened their mouths, some swallowed their saliva, some didn't dare to make a sound.

Gu Shanhe stood at the bow and waved his hand; the portal opened.

It wasn't eight small doors, but a huge light gate, eight hundred zhang wide and four hundred zhang high, with yellowish sunlight shining from within.

The spirit ship moved first, slowly sailing into the light gate.

The eight hundred thousand troops, led by their generals, formed up and walked into the light gate.

On the other side of the light gate, the wind was fishy.

A smell mixed with burning, blood, and dust rushed toward them.

Late Western Jin Dynasty.

The old village chief of Huaishu Village had been fleeing with the whole village for three days.

Seven had died on the road: two starved to death, three killed, and two scattered.

The remaining fifty or so were mostly old people and children, women and half-grown teenagers.

Not many able-bodied men were left—they had all been captured as soldiers or taken as "two-legged sheep".

The seventeen-year-old boy in the village carried the last half-bag of millet on his back, clutching a sharpened wooden stick in his hand.

He didn't know if he could protect this, but whether this half-bag of millet could be eaten depended on his luck.

The sound of hooves came from afar.

A dozen Qiang cavalrymen emerged from behind the hillside; the horses were small but thick-legged, running very fast.

Seeing this group of commoners, they were like wolves seeing a flock of sheep, letting out strange cries and circling them on horseback. ===== CHAPTER 373 =====