Chapter 1121: then the title translation, then ===GLOSSARY=== with list of named entities appearing in these lines

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said: "I came this time solely to seek Brother Fanqi's own opinion; if Brother Fanqi wishes to return, I will certainly not stop him, and if Brother Fanqi wishes to stay, I will wholeheartedly welcome him."

Chang Fanqi sighed and said: "The world is vast, yet where can I, Chang Fanqi, find a place to stand? If you truly are willing to spare us mother and son, may we be allowed to leave Dongliang Jun? I can promise you that I will no longer oppose you, seeking only to care for my aging mother and let her enjoy her twilight years." Having experienced the battle at Donglo Cang, Chang Fanqi has lost all ambition and grand designs; though he possesses martial skill, he is led by others' scheming, and has lost all spirit.

Hu Xiaotian without hesitation said: "Certainly, to be frank, although I would truly like Brother Fanqi to stay and join me in building a great undertaking, I will not force anyone; if Brother Fanqi wishes to leave, I will certainly not stop him. However, your mother is advanced in years—how could you bear to let her undertake a long journey in the harsh winter of the twelfth lunar month? If any mishap were to befall her, would it not be too late to regret?"

Chang Fanqi said dimly: "You need not waste your scheming on us mother and son; in this lifetime I cannot return to Da Yong, nor will I join your faction. Come next spring, I will depart."

Hu Xiaotian indeed kept his promise, arranging for Xue Lingjun and Qin Yangming to meet. Qin Yangming had been detained for nearly a month; his complexion had turned pallid from prolonged lack of sunlight. Seeing Xue Lingjun come to visit him, Qin Yangming, overcome with shame, fell to his knees with a thud before her: "Eldest Princess, guilty official Qin Yangming begs your pardon!"

Xue Lingjun gazed at the wretched Qin Yangming before her, sighing from the heart; this Commander of Shao Yuan, once a victorious general, appeared to have endured much torment. She said softly: "Rise!"

Qin Yangming remained kneeling on the ground: "A defeated general has no face to stand before Your Highness."

Xue Lingjun, too lazy to bother with him, let him kneel if he wished, leaning back in her chair. She said indifferently: "Exactly how did you fall into Hu Xiaotian's hands?"

Qin Yangming's face flushed with shame, he said dimly: "Your Highness, I, the subordinate commander, failed in troop deployment and fell for Hu Xiaotian's ploy of 'luring the tiger away from the mountain' and 'feigning an attack east while striking west'; I never imagined that Chang Fanqi and Hu Xiaotian had long been colluding, and in my momentary inattention I was seized by Chang Fanqi. Thus I have become a prisoner, and as a subordinate I have no face to meet the Emperor; I beg the Eldest Princess to punish me, willing to die to demonstrate my loyalty." Nowadays, he can only try to shift all blame onto Chang Fanqi, hoping perhaps to preserve himself.

Xue Lingjun said: "Do you think death would settle everything once and for all? Could it offset your guilt for losing Donglo Cang?"

"I, the subordinate commander, never thought so," Qin Yangming said, his face full of panic.

Xue Lingjun said: "Hu Xiaotian has promised to release all detained prisoners; you ought to feel pleased. You will soon be able to return to Da Yong together with me."

Qin Yangming not only failed to feel pleased; instead, he felt an indescribable fear, as Xue Lingjun had said—this matter could not be resolved by death alone. He had led seventy thousand troops to attack Dongliang Jun, only to suffer a crushing defeat and return, and even he himself, the commanding general, had been captured alive; he had already become a laughingstock of the world. Even if Hu Xiaotian released him, the Emperor of Da Yong would not spare him lightly.

Qin Yangming lay prostrate on the ground, kneeling without rising: "Please, Your Highness, grant me death. I, your subject, have no face to return to my homeland, nor to face the Emperor..." As he spoke emotionally, tears streamed down; certainly some were from shame, but part was from fear.

Xue Lingjun visibly grew impatient, shaking her head and saying: "Qin Yangming, how you should be dealt with is for the Emperor to decide; I have come this time only to escort you back, and I cannot manage other affairs." Qin Yangming inwardly sighed, not knowing what punishment awaited him upon return; for now his only plan was to push all blame onto Chang Fanqi.

The two victories Hu Xiaotian won on the Yong River did not stir great waves domestically; it was already the coldest part of the year, and common folk cared more about whether they could eat their fill and stay warm, how to survive this winter, and had no mind for state affairs. Each morning, the roads flanking Kangdu would show many corpses frozen to death; city patrol soldiers had to take on duties beyond their rounds, handling these ownerless bodies that had frozen in the streets overnight.

Li Chenghzhou walked all the way from Yongdu, and after crossing the Yong River he discovered that this once world‑dominating Dakang Empire had lost its former glory and splendor; cries of famine filled the fields, fertile land lay barren, wherever he went he saw utter devastation, and the populace was displaced. In recent years Dakang has suffered successive natural disasters, and Da Yong has adopted a policy of blocking grain shipments to this neighboring state, making Dakang's famine ever more severe.

Upon entering Kangdu, Li Chenghzhou first encountered the morning carts transporting corpses; facing him, five ox‑carts were piled high with the people who had frozen to death the previous night. Gazing at this scene, Li Chenghzhou's heart could not help but rise with sorrow and pity for heaven and humanity. Dakang's fall to this state is due to the court's corrupt rule; compared to Dakang, the recently deceased Emperor of Da Yong, Xue Shengjing, is clearly far more wise—this Emperor Yongqing possessed great talent and strategy, his vision far‑reaching, always aiming to unify the Central Plains and dominate the world under heaven, only unfortunately he died before his campaign could succeed, ultimately unable to fulfill his grand ambition of crossing the river with his troops to destroy Dakang.

The Crown Prince Xue Dahong and Li Chenghzhou had known each other since childhood; Li Chenghzhou had served as the prince's attendant reader from a young age, becoming a close friend of Xue Dahong. During the lifetime of his grandfather, the Marquis Jingguo Li Xuan'gan, he had been a loyal supporter of the Crown Prince's accession, and now that has finally come to pass. Xue Dahong has given him absolute trust, and he will devote himself entirely to repaying that trust.

Li Chenghzhou this time brought his wife Jian Rongxin along; his primary purpose in coming to Dakang was to resolve peacefully the trouble Hu Xiaotian had recently caused on the Yong River, while secretly he also wished to use this opportunity to meet his father, whom he had never seen before, the Grand Preceptor of Dakang, Wen Chenghuan.

Long Xuan'en immediately received this envoy from Da Yong; Li Chenghzhou is a scion of a prominent Da Yong family, Long Xuan'en had met his grandfather Li Xuan'gan several times, and had also heard of Li Chenghzhou's legendary exploits, knowing that this young commander now stands as the foremost favorite before the new ruler of Da Yong.

Li Chenghzhou's identity and background were merely one reason Long Xuan'en was happy to receive him; the more important reason was that Long Xuan'en wished to know Da Yong's stance after the two successive battles on the Yong River. When Hu Xiaotian defeated the NanYang navy, Long Xuan'en had attributed it to luck, but upon hearing the news that Hu Xiaotian had captured Donglo Cang, he realized that this fellow had already slipped out of his control; his actions now fundamentally disregard the court's views, neither intending to be accountable to the court nor planning to report to him. Once released from Kangdu, this fellow is like a horse that has broken its reins, going wherever it pleases, no longer under his control.

Although Long Xuan'en had sent Fan Zongxi to request grain, he was not optimistic about it; the present Hu Xiaotian rather bears the air of a commander in the field who does not heed imperial orders, and his words would likely have little effect. This feeling of being unable to reach and powerless is not new—first it was Li Tianheng's raising of troops to declare independence, and now another Hu Xiaotian has appeared; Long Xuan'en's control over Dakang is waning, and he cannot help recalling that months ago Qiqi had proposed enfeoffing the princes, a proposal he had outright rejected, yet in fact Dakang is moving toward internal fragmentation; once a state can no longer provide its people with the means of livelihood, it must inevitably face the people's hearts drifting apart. Long Xuan'en's worry is not the collapse of the state per se, for he already sees defeat as an unstoppable trend; he merely hopes this moment does not arrive too soon.

Anyone could easily guess Li Chenghzhou's main purpose in coming; although the fighting was done by Hu Xiaotian, responsibility must be traced back to the Dakang court—just as when children fight, one seeks the parents for accountability—and as the Emperor of Dakang, Long Xuan'en cannot avoid involvement.

After meeting Long Xuan'en, Li Chenghzhou did not beat around the bush but went straight to the point, first mentioning the treaty of eternal friendship between the two states, then bringing up how Hu Xiaotian tore up the agreement and twice provoked war on the border, occupying Da Yong's important stronghold Donglo Cang.

Warfare between the two states originally amounted to each side claiming its own righteousness; Li Chenghzhou's starting point naturally favored Da Yong, so he placed all blame on Dakang, accusing it of first breaking the treaty, invading their borders, and forcibly seizing their cities.

Although Long Xuan'en inwardly disliked Hu Xiaotian's conduct, as a sovereign of a state he did not simply yield when confronted with accusations; after hearing Li Chenghzhou out, he could not help but sneer: "What the envoy says does not match the information I possess; according to my knowledge, both battles were entirely provoked by your side, and Hu Xiaotian fought only in self‑defense."

Li Chenghzhou said: "Your Majesty, our positions differ, and the channels through which we receive information are completely different, but the facts cannot be denied—Donglo Cang is now occupied by Hu Xiaotian's troops, and I have been sent on this mission precisely to uphold peace, to let bygones be bygones."

Long Xuan'en nodded and said: "Dakang and Da Yong were originally friendly neighbors; such an occurrence is not what I wish to see, and if we could clear away past grievances, that would be best of all."

Li Chenghzhou said: "Since hostilities have already broken out and there is no turning back, even my sovereign does not wish to add insult to injury or pain to pain; he has therefore proposed that both sides cease fighting, lay down arms, prioritize harmony, first demarcate the borders, then conclude a new treaty—I wonder what Your Majesty thinks of this?"

Long Xuan'en certainly did not want to fight again; given Dakang's present national strength, it also lacked the capacity to wage an all‑out war against Da Yong, and he of course knew that Da Yong's proactive peace overture was not born of fear but a stalling tactic. According to the latest intelligence he had received, the Black Hu peoples were training their forces in Da Yong's northern frontier, poised to invade the Central Plains come spring; although Da Yong is strong, it cannot afford to fight on two fronts, and domestically Da Yong is in the midst of a transition between old and new regimes, with the new ruler Xue Dahong's authority as yet unsteady—these factors together are what prompted him to take the initiative to yield. (To be continued~^~)