Chapter 559: The Game, the World, the First Emperor!

The world stirred with wind and clouds; in an instant, the changes in Ying State had unleashed thunderous upheavals, halting even the armies originally slated to march north against the Taiping Army—Generals Yuan Shitong and Xue Tianxing had clashed repeatedly with Ying's border commanders, and now watched as they withdrew to fortify their positions.

Doubt and worry filled their hearts.

They felt their mission to contain the enemy had gone awry; after retreating, they hurried to find Master Wen Qingyu, but could not locate him—only after asking others did they learn that Master Wen Qingyu had gone fishing again.

Xue Tianxing fretted: "At a time like this, how can the Master still have time to fish?!"

Yuan Shitong, however, exhaled deeply, tossed aside his blood-splattered helmet, and shouted for stewed pork with pickled cabbage to be brought at once—he intended to eat well and restore his strength.

This sight made Xue Tianxing laugh bitterly: "Eat, eat, all you think about is eating—how can you swallow food in such a situation?"

Yuan Shitong said: "You're smarter than me. Are you smarter than the Master?"

Xue Tianxing froze.

Yuan Shitong said: "What good is your worry? The Master still has the leisure to fish—that means everything remains under control. Why are you rushing, panicking, rushing?"

"I, at least, know I'm not as clever as others—and so I know how to trust them."

"You've been clever most of your life, and distrusted everyone most of your life."

Xue Tianxing froze, staring at Yuan Shitong, then sighed and threw his helmet aside.

He sat down heavily.

"Fine—I won't worry anymore!"

Yuan Shitong stared at him, grinned, held up two fingers, and said: "Pickled cabbage stewed pork—no wine, extra meat."

"Bring two pots!"

Meanwhile, Yuwen Lie had returned with Qin Yulong.

Jiang Gao went in person to pay respects to Gao Xiang, inviting the world's greatest archer to join the campaign—news of this spread like thunder across the four seas, stirring the once-calm world into swirling turmoil.

In the Jiangnan region.

Master Yan Daiqing's fingers held a go stone, tapping it lightly against the board with a crisp sound, placing each one in sequence as he battled Duan Qingyu—the black and white pieces clashed fiercely, brutally entangled.

They played fast go, moving stones while conversing.

"The world is once again wreathed in smoke and war."

"I never imagined Jiang Yuan would die by Jiang Gao's sword—how strange the turns of fate, truly beyond words."

Master Yan Daiqing's expression was complex: after ascending the throne, Jiang Yuan gradually shed his disguise, his hidden desires expanding rapidly, as in the early days of Chen Dingye—further fueled by certain mindsets and manipulations, he drained Ying State's strength even more severely.

For the people of Ying State, this was certainly not good.

But for Qin, it meant the enemy was weakening itself—something that, for the Tiance Prefecture's Fire Qilin Army, whose foundational strength had never matched Ying's three-hundred-year dynasty, was a direct boon.

A man as great as Hou Zhongyu.

And in these past few years, as Jiang Yuan's desires reached their peak, he died by Jiang Gao's blade—further amplified by Wei Yiwen's deliberate manipulation—Jiang Yuan's earlier reckless cruelty, which had caused countless innocent deaths and widespread suffering, had partially transformed into Jiang Gao's reputation.

Yet, because Jiang Yuan had sworn by incense to spare those who surrendered—then massacred them all—his betrayal had so severely damaged his standing among Ying's court that even now, rebel forces still rose everywhere.

Jiang Su and Wen Qingyu likely never anticipated his actions would reach such extremes.

Duan Qingyu placed a stone and said: "In the past, Wen Qingyu and Po Jun watched the situation and public sentiment like observers on the opposite bank of a river. But now, it's rare to see Wen Qingyu outmaneuvered."

"This time, he misjudged—allowing Jiang Su to use Jiang Yuan's life to temper Jiang Gao, making him sharp and exposed."

"Though it did achieve the desired result—draining Ying's foundations—it's only a minor victory, a major miscalculation. Grand Master Jiang Su is truly the foremost figure of the past several centuries."

"This time, it's eight to two."

"Grand Master Jiang Su gains eight points; Wen Qingyu gains two."

A crisp snap.

Master Yan Daiqing pressed a stone onto the board with a sharp sound; Duan Qingyu fell silent and looked at him. Master Yan Daiqing's expression was calm: "The outcome is not yet settled—how things will turn out remains uncertain."

"That fellow Wen Qingyu has always been cunning—he moves one step, sees three ahead."

"How can you judge his strategy a failure based only on this moment?"

Duan Qingyu chuckled.

He knew that among the Tiance Prefecture's strategists, Wen Qingyu and Master Yan Daiqing, though constantly bickering and even fighting, were in fact inseparable—best friends among all the strategists.

If Duan Qingyu here called Wen Qingyu a scoundrel,

Master Yan Daiqing would nod in agreement.

If Duan Qingyu called Wen Qingyu a schemer who only tricked others, Master Yan Daiqing would drink with him until the cups piled up, eagerly recounting every vile deed of that shameless rogue—enough to talk for three days and nights, his fury boiling over.

But if Duan Qingyu claimed Wen Qingyu's strategy had failed, been crushed,

Master Yan Daiqing would grow displeased.

He would insist on arguing it out.

Duan Qingyu merely smoothed things over, gently saying: "Still, even tigers don't eat their young—Jiang Su used Jiang Yuan as a whetstone, letting Jiang Gao sharpen himself in unbearable conditions until he finally snapped and killed his own brother, thus transforming."

"How many civilians died or were wounded in this strategy?"

"Such a strategy is ruthlessly brutal."

"Even Wen Qingyu, called the Poison Strategist, may not have foreseen Jiang Su going this far." As he spoke, he recalled the legendary Western Regions barbecue master.

Duan Qingyu suddenly felt that last remark was unnecessary.

Ah, no—the one who burned down the Tangxiang royal city wasn't Wen Qingyu.

It was Yan Daiqing from the Western Regions.

Duan Qingyu lifted his teacup, thinking these thoughts, gazing at Master Yan Daiqing—and smiled. He smiled, yet gave no reason for it—but this expression stirred Master Yan Daiqing's suspicion.

Master Yan Daiqing said: "Why are you smiling, Duan Qingyu?"

Master Yan Daiqing sensed sharply:

"Are you thinking about something regarding Yan Daiqing from the Western Regions?!"

Duan Qingyu smiled: "No."

Master Yan Daiqing said: "Then why are you smiling?"

Wen Lingjun's lips curved slightly, then he pressed them down, and said with a smile: "I just thought of that Yan Daiqing of the southwest."

Yan Daiqing's forehead twitched.

He wanted to angrily slam the chess piece in his hand onto the table, then curse bitterly—just how many Yan Daiqings were there in this world, in this Tiance Prefecture?!

Seeing this gentle Mr.'s face, the look of wanting to gnash his teeth in fury, but the target of his anger wasn't by his side, and he couldn't implicate others, so he could only hold it in—Wen Lingjun couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Yan Daiqing gnashed his teeth.

"Play chess!"

"Hahaha, alright, alright, play chess, play chess."

"A word of warning in advance, Daiqing—I didn't go saying anything about that Yan Daiqing of the Western Regions." Wen Lingjun tidied the chessboard as he spoke, still able to tease and jest.

Yan Daiqing only said:

"Let him be."

But just at this moment, a burst of loud laughter came from outside. Yan Daiqing raised an eyebrow, then sniffed the air, and said: "What a strong smell of wine—even the fragrance of Wen Lingjun's sleeves can barely suppress it."

This time, it was Wen Lingjun who was left helpless.

"Feng Xiao, ah, Feng Xiao…"

The man hadn't arrived yet, but that whiff of wine had already come.

Sure enough, after only a few clacks of chess pieces, a burst of loud laughter and a hearty shout were heard, and then a person burst into the place where these two were playing chess. Though his build wasn't especially tall, his bearing was exceptionally free and unrestrained—it was Feng Xiao, one of the Nine Sons of the Academy back in the day.

Even at this point, Feng Xiao was still holding a wine jar.

Yan Daiqing glanced at it; that wine jar had only a small portion left.

One could see that this fellow had been guzzling wine the whole way here.

Wen Lingjun said: "This is within Tiance Prefecture; Feng Xiao should drink less."

Feng Xiao came over carrying the wine pot, laughing loudly: "Great news has arrived! If it weren't for this, how could I be drinking in broad daylight? You two, upon seeing such news, would probably also be unable to contain your joy and drink fine wine heartily."

Feng Xiao set the wine jar down, then took something out from his bosom and placed it on the table.

It was a letter.

Feng Xiao stepped back two paces, cupped his hands in a salute, and said openly: "It's a letter from our very own, the scribe of the Fire Qilin Army's Tiance Prefecture, Mr. Wen He—Master Wen Qingyu."

"A letter from Qingyu?"

Wen Lingjun was surprised and wanted to go look.

Yan Daiqing had already risen, took the letter, frowned, and while opening it said: "Let me see what this fellow has to say now!" Upon opening the letter, Wen Lingjun and Yan Daiqing looked at it together, and their expressions subtly changed.

Master Wen Qingyu's letter rarely carried such a fierce, sharp air.

On the front were only four large characters.

【The Moment Has Come】!

On the back was a simple memorial.

In Yan Daiqing's and Wen Lingjun's eyes, their gazes instantly sharpened.

Wen Lingjun murmured those four characters, looked at this letter, recalled the Fire Qilin Army's strategy during this period, and finally sighed with deep feeling: "Daiqing, I said earlier that Jiang Su's stratagems were ruthlessly sharp and peerless—even someone like Master Wen Qingyu could not see through them."

"Now I was wrong."

"It should be said that someone like Master Wen Qingyu—even if Jiang Su's stratagems were ruthlessly sharp and peerless—could still sense it. He might not have figured out every detail, but he wouldn't be unprepared."

"Ruthless and vicious—perhaps not surpassing Jiang Su."

"But the foremost strategist of the age has truly reached the utmost."

Wen Lingjun's face was full of praise, but Yan Daiqing's lips twitched.

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether Wen Lingjun was offering praise or subtly disparaging him.

The feeling was too subtle.

He simply lowered his head to look at the letter, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

But on the letter, the writing was clear and concise:

【All stratagems have an upper, middle, and lower plan—just like Lingjun. But Pojun is different; he is proud by nature, and what he calls stratagems are all upper plans. I am different—what I call a stratagem is nothing more than two characters—】

【Fear of death】

In front of a lake in the north, Master Wen Qingyu sat cross-legged there, still fishing. One hand propping up his cheek, the other watching the ripples rise on the lake's surface—ever since his elder sister passed away, he had become more afraid of death than before.

In this chaotic age under heaven, if one does not wish to die, what should one do?

Even with Wu Gong invincible in the present age, one can still die from other causes. Only by understanding the thoughts of everyone is it possible to find that single thread of survival among countless possibilities.

Then, let it be said—the realm is divided in two, and the four directions are not yet settled.

Grand Preceptor Jiang Su—what would he do?

Ripples rose on the lake, spreading outward, spreading to the lake's dark depths, spreading to the reaches of the earth, dissipating bit by bit, reflected in Master Wen Qingyu's pupils.

The colors of everything around slowly drew inward, transforming into a deep, heavy ink-black.

The world too became hollow, like a chessboard!

Master Wen Qingyu sat within this ink-black covered by ripples, sat at one point of this chessboard of crisscrossing currents of the world, his gaze calm.

【Will choose Jiang Yuan】

【Will choose Jiang Gao】

【Will choose to establish himself】

【Will choose to fight with no regard for anything, the number of troops】

Each ripple was like a thought; each ripple was like a notion rising and falling. Finally, at last, that possibility surfaced in his heart—【Jiang Su uses Jiang Yuan as a sacrifice, to let Jiang Gao ascend the throne】

Master Wen Qingyu's stratagem was nothing more than exhaustive enumeration.

List everything possible and impossible, and that is enough.

What Master Wen Qingyu had to do was, among these countless notions, choose one path. Since Jiang Su wanted Jiang Gao to grow, but Master Wen Qingyu understood too well—what causes a person to grow, apart from events, is time.

As long as within this period of time, the internal contradictions of the State of Ying are intensified.

"Blades and swords, the smoke of war rising on all sides."

"An emperor can be replaced. Even if it means using one emperor as a sacrifice, so that another emperor, within such a blood-and-tears ritual, successfully awakens the heart of a sovereign—such a trade might be worth it. But, but…"

Wen Qingyu's gaze seemed to see a distant battlefield, to see the Emperor, to see Jiang Su, to see Jiang Gao, to see Jiang Yuan as the sacrifice, to see piles of white bones and all the chaos beneath the heavens.

"The hearts of the people are broken, and they cannot be restored in just a short span of time."

"Jiang Su, Jiang Su."

"In your eyes, there are only heroes and champions, emperors and generals. In your eyes, there have never been the common people, have there? A man like you, a fierce overlord, ruthless, utterly self-righteous—but, what a coincidence."

"Truly too much of a coincidence."

The gentle and serene youth murmured to himself:

"I, too, am thus."

Wen Qingyu had stirred up the internal contradictions of the State of Ying, but even someone as ruthless as he had not truly foreseen the pit-slaughter of starving common folk. Ripples spread across the lake's surface. Wen Qingyu gently lifted his fishing rod and murmured: "The moment of Ying's transformation has come. After this will be the most perfect world in your eyes."

"But the hearts of the people have already fallen."

"You, I suppose, will not Value So Highly this matter as my lord does."

"Even if the policies do not change, as long as there is a wise ruler, things will gradually improve afterward, and will arrive at that Ying Kingdom in your eyes fit to contend for the realm. But at this very moment, it is also when the entire State of Ying is at its weakest."

"You raise a gu with the nation's strength and the common people, consuming the country from within. When Jiang Gao takes the throne, he will naturally set things right, but that too requires time. Once the hearts of men are broken, they are not so easily restored. The moment your gu is fully grown is the moment you are at your weakest."

"You are waiting for Jiang Gao's leopard to change and rise."

"I am waiting for Jiang Yuan to exhaust the hearts of the people."

"People like you and me are all the same. Only you chose to overlook the common people and fix your gaze on heroes and champions, while I do not…"

Wen Qingyu's voice paused.

After a long while, he chuckled softly:

"If I had not met my lord, I should probably have been just like this, shouldn't I?"

"Ah, looking at it this way, I really should be grateful for what happened ten years ago. My fifteen-year-old lord, carrying that Thousand-Day Drunk and the precious rope, brought me here. Otherwise, wouldn't Wen Qingyu have been just like you?"

"Now, Grand Tutor, both you and I should be grateful to Jiang Yuan."

"Jiang Yuan gave you a wise ruler, Jiang Gao."

"He gave my lord a people's hearts turned toward 【Punishing the Oppressors and Saving the People】."

"Ruler, common folk, sovereign, the hearts of the people—in the end, what is most important? Let this final battle decide. But this time, between you and me, it is six-four. The moment of facing each other in battle has finally arrived. You have the better of me, but not by much."

"So-called strategy, between you and me, is merely each taking what he needs."

He raised his bamboo rod, and at last, just as on that day, with General Yuan Shitong and Xue Tianxing beside him, leisurely spoke those words from that day:

"The world is vast, and heroes rise on all sides."

"Do not look down upon the people of this world."

He had finally finished speaking these words.

"Jiang Su."

The fish has taken the hook. My lord, this subject can only do this much.

………………

The State of Qin lacks time.

But since Qin Wu proclaimed himself emperor, four years have already passed. Under the governance of Master Yan Daiqing and Tiance Prefecture, the entire realm of Qin Huang has been rapidly improving its logistical capacity, increasing grain and fodder, and forging weapons and armor.

Four years ago, the State of Qin was as poor as Qin Huang himself.

Without foundation or qualification to launch a great war.

But four years later, they already have full granaries and abundant logistics.

Over these several years, Qin Huang has always led from the front, commanding the Fire Qilin army at the very forefront of the world's conflicts. While holding back Jiang Su, he has also kept the morale of the entire Qin Fire Qilin army and Tiance Prefecture at its peak.

In Jiang Su's eyes, he sees the world, sees the myriad phenomena of heroes.

What he sees is heroes leading this era, fighting as they ride the waves.

Therefore, with the spirit of a fierce overlord, he laid out his pieces and arranged his plans. Using the common people as the price, the blood of sovereigns as the gu worm, he sought to let Jiang Gao grow into a monarch of magnificent spirit amid the chaos; and then use this renowned ruler to reverse the situation, to integrate forces, and to stride toward the finale of the troubled era.

The Tiance lineage, however, has all changed because of one person.

That person walks at the very front. It was also that person, more than ten years ago, who pulled them up one by one, letting them gradually gather around him, and finally become what they are now.

Seeing the common people of the world, seeing where the great tide turns.

One sees heroes and champions as those who open the annals of history.

One sees the hearts of the common people as the foundation of the mortal world.

Jiang Su waits for a gentleman to transform; Qin Huang waits for unity from top to bottom.

The world awaits an ending.

………………

Summer had already arrived.

On that stretch of battlefield where Qin and Ying faced each other, banners fluttered. Li Guanyi stepped onto the simple watchtower in front of the main camp, gazing into the distance. Old Master Siming climbed up huffing and puffing, saying: "Kid, what are you still doing?"

Seeing Li Guanyi lift his gaze, in the first year of Qin Huang, Li Guanyi was twenty-two years old.

Now in the fourth year of Qin Huang, Li Guanyi is already twenty-five.

He appeared much more composed, the majesty and bearing of a sovereign displayed to the fullest. Yet Yaoguang still had the face of a silver-haired young girl. Old Master Siming very much wanted to grab that white-haired Array Spirit by the head and ask what on earth that old fellow had fed Yaoguang.

Back then, Chen Dingye had wanted Hou Zhongyu to refine an elixir of immortality for his palace consorts.

Chen Dingye's Empress had once taken this thing. The old sorcerer, following Hou Zhongyu's pill formula, had managed to refine a few, but the core of it was something Hou Zhongyu had refined only after countless years of tempering with many earth marrows, Fire Qilin blood, exotic beast blood, and the like.

That was a one-of-a-kind item.

It had already been used up.

It could never be replicated again.

Unless one dug Hou Zhongyu out.

Li Guanyi gave this pill to his aunt, and also gave one to the Young Lady and the silver-haired maiden.

To Li Zhao Wen, a life-and-death comrade-in-arms who had campaigned the grasslands together, he also gave one.

Only Nangong Wumeng was left out.

She had only obtained one by being forced, under the shameless and brutal coercion of Qin Huang, to sign a contract of servitude that stipulated she must find a great many gold mines and was not permitted to leave until she did; aside from this first one and several others, Li Guanyi sealed them away for safekeeping.

Aunt Chen Qingyan possessed Wu Gong that could pierce the heavens, so she needed no such thing to preserve her looks.

Li Guanyi left one for Ning'er.

If this child never learned martial arts that could dominate the world, this pill could be put to her use.

As for himself, having achieved the legendary realm of the Martial Dao, still in the prime of his youth, his qi and blood vigorous and abundant, he naturally aged slowly; he did not take it. At this moment he stood in the arrow tower looking outward, and when Master Siming asked, he merely smiled and said:

"To see him off."

"See who off? See who off?"

Master Siming was full of doubts, but then followed Li Guanyi's gaze and immediately understood what was happening—the formation of the opposing Ying country's army had shifted; the Ying army, which had been fighting for nearly two or three years, had begun to retreat.

Master Siming murmured: "Jiang Su... has retreated."

His eyes trembled.

The old Master Siming, who had always been given to jest and invective as a matter of course, now wore not the slightest trace of a smile on his face; every last hint of ease had vanished. Over these years of fighting, Master Siming's habitual refrain had always been:

"Damn it, how much longer must this go on."

"Still going to trap an old man like me here? Shameless youngsters."

"Let's finish it quickly," and the like.

But when this day truly arrived, in Master Siming's heart there was only shock.

And even a sliver of fear.

The final storm and omens of these three hundred years of turmoil had, in truth, converged upon the two men here—the Grand Tutor of Ying, the Emperor of Qin. The two faced each other across their battle lines, and behind them stood the court, Saibei, the Western Regions, the battlefield, the jianghu; civil officials and martial generals, every contested corner of the realm.

Jiang Su had withdrawn his troops and no longer cared about Qin Huang Li Guanyi; and Li Guanyi had already guessed that Jiang Su intended to withdraw, yet he did not press forward to pursue as he once would have, following the principle of "strike when the enemy tires, advance when the enemy retreats."

There was only one possibility.

The coming clash could no longer be resolved by these mere hundred-odd thousand soldiers.

To be entangled here was utterly pointless!

Like drawing back the fist before striking, gathering momentum, then throwing a vicious blow; petty skirmishes could not resolve this vast realm. These small-scale frictions on the border were but a warm-up, and now at last they were over.

These several years of balance.

Both sides had been waiting, waiting at the strategic level.

Qin Huang needed to give the rear time to rest and recover, to plant a little more grain where possible; Jiang Su, on one hand, had to heal the losses from two campaigns launched when Jiang Wanxiang died, and on the other, had to bring about Jiang Gao's transformation.

Now, there was no longer any need to wait.

The next war would be the decisive one.

Within Ying's great encampment, an old man of solemn bearing, draped in a great black cloak, rode forth upon a divine steed. Jiang Su regarded the Qin Huang there with an indifferent gaze; Li Guanyi looked at Jiang Su and said: "Jiang Su, your head shall remain upon your shoulders for now."

Jiang Su replied indifferently: "After Qin Huang's death, I shall offer a proper sacrifice."

The final "greeting."

Xue Shen, who loved this part most of all, was held down.

Elder Guan Shier directly removed the jaw mechanism from this fellow's face for the time being.

Solving the problem at its root.

Jiang Su looked at Li Guanyi, at this final opponent, and said nothing further; he no longer feared Li Guanyi's pursuit. What came next would be large-scale army operations—Qin Huang's present force, if it plunged deep into Ying, would likely repeat the death of the Divine Wu Wang.

Li Guanyi did not pursue either.

He merely watched Ying's final opponent ride away upon his divine steed.

Xue Shen finally struck Elder Guan Shier, repaired his own mechanical jaw, and said: "What, not going to chase after him?"

"Isn't it said one should press the advantage to pursue the routed foe?"

Qin Huang laughed freely and said: "That saying applies to a truly routed foe. In this border campaign, Jiang Su's army withdraws slowly—pursuit is useless. On a battlefield like this, he cannot be killed; besides, leading these troops into the heartland of the empire would be seeking death."

"The strategic objective of this campaign has already been achieved."

"It is time to march the army home."

Qin Huang leapt lightly down from the arrow tower and brushed the dust from his hands.

On this day, there were three pieces of news that shook the world.

The first was that the Qin and Ying sides, who had faced each other for years, had neither erupted into a decisive battle nor rushed to each other's aid at any cost; instead, both sides had withdrawn their troops.

The second was that Jiang Gao ascended the throne, and the Divine General Gao Xiang had returned.

When the Divine General Gao Xiang returned, Grand Tutor Jiang Su marched his army back to court.

At the same time, Qin Huang Li Guanyi, who had led his armies in person for several years, returned to Jiangnan.

Such news, riding the wind, reached Jiangnan a step earlier.

It also reached the ears of the woman in the Changfeng Tower, whose hair had long since grown to her waist.

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