Chapter 419: Are You Coming In?

The previous Zimo.

Alu Tuoba.

He was already a Zimo who had inherited the position for over a hundred generations. Alu Tuoba—one could tell just from his name—was a Zimo who yearned for the culture of the Zhongyuan.

He could also be considered a formidable ruler.

At that time.

Shama Zhuoyi, Huobu Quli, Headman Aze, and so on and so forth—the people gathered here at Qionghai today were all, without exception, the house generals of Alu Tuoba.

But there was nothing to be done.

The Zimo clan truly had too few people.

They only accounted for one ten-thousandth of the population in the Liangshan region. The other Black Yi grew stronger by the day, and as interests became entangled and internal conflicts and contradictions arose, the ambitions of the Black Yi house generals sprouted, and thus, the infighting began.

Everything seemed, on the surface, to be a matter of course.

But Liu Zheng shook his head and said, "That's not right!", interrupting Huobu Quli's narrative.

The other few people looked at each other in dismay.

What was not right?

Since ancient times, throughout the changes of history, wasn't it always like this?

Liu Zheng insisted, "It's not right. The Alu Clan has ruled Liangshan for a thousand years; inherent class concepts are not easily changed. Moreover, Headman Huobu also said that this Alu Tuoba could be considered a formidable ruler; the Alu Clan's empire should not have been lost in his hands. There must have been a flashpoint for Shama Zhuoyi to dare to rebel!"

Upon hearing this, the three of them felt that things should indeed be like that.

Liu Zheng stood up and paced back and forth.

He suddenly stood still and continued to ask, "When the Zimo were wiped out, what was the reaction from the side of Longyan?"

Huobu Quli smiled bitterly: "The Chuan Shu side only issued a warning and did not send troops. At that time, the Old Shu King was in a military standoff with the Jingchu side over a dispute regarding Yong'an."

Coincidence.

Another coincidence.

Liu Zheng took a deep breath.

There were too many coincidences in this matter.

But he did not believe that these were all coincidences!

All these coincidences were concentrated on this flashpoint? Was all of this someone's premeditated plan, or was it truly just an accidental event that Shama Zhuoyi happened to seize upon?

"But..."

Huobu Quli's eyes suddenly lit up: "My lord, I recall that at the time, the Chuan Shu side sent a Crown Prince to mediate!"

"Oh?"

Liu Zheng turned around abruptly, his eyes burning.

The annihilation of the Zimo clan happened over a dozen years ago. The current Xie Zhen is in his thirties... he came to Liangshan over a dozen years ago?

However.

He would set this aside for now.

He was thinking about what that flashpoint really was. Chuan Shu being unable to spare the attention could not be called a flashpoint.

Suddenly.

He took a deep breath.

Could it be that the Poppy was the real flashpoint?

What exactly had happened in this mysterious Liangshan region? And what should that past have been like?

He remembered expounding on a principle earlier.

In this type of lord-based country, if one wants to break the status quo and change the monarch, there is only one possibility: foreign invasion!

The Chuan Shu side...

That was not possible at that time.

Then...

Liu Zheng looked at the map again, his eyes slowly moving toward the Nanzhao Kingdom below.

He asked, "Did the Nanzhao Kingdom participate back then?"

Huobu Quli thought for a moment and smiled bitterly: "My lord, even if the Nanzhao Kingdom participated, they would have disguised themselves as Liangshan people. But... the strength of the middle-leg-wraps was indeed unexpectedly powerful at the time. However, it was too chaotic, and others did not notice."

Liu Zheng nodded.

He wanted to know.

Where Shama Zhuoyi's confidence lay today!

At the beginning, he really thought he was coming to Liangshan for a "vacation," but today he discovered that the complexity of the matter completely exceeded his imagination.

Poppy.

Such a thing.

It was impossible for war not to occur.

Huobu Quli replied: "My lord, the Nanzhao Kingdom has 300,000 usable troops, but in the Jiannan lands, there are also Dali and the Jiaozhi Kingdom, and the situation is equally complex. If the Nanzhao Kingdom were to support Liangshan, they could use at most 50,000!"

Liu Zheng nodded: "Send out Scouts to lie in wait on the necessary routes. If there is any sign of movement, send word immediately! I must receive intelligence of the enemy no later than three days before arriving at Qiongdou!"

Huobu Quli was stunned for a moment.

Why was this lord so certain that the Nanzhao Kingdom was involved in this?

But since Liu Zheng had said so, he could only accept the order and go down.

"Zhangfeng!"

Liu Zheng took a deep breath.

Qin Zhangfeng responded.

"Within two days, find out for me where their poppy production base is!"

"Yes!"

After giving these instructions, Liu Zheng stepped out of the command tent once again.

Those torches were still burning; the Liangshan People, who seemed to have inexhaustible energy, were still eating meat, drinking alcohol, dancing, and performing sacrifices.

He scanned the surrounding environment.

A single poppy.

Had suddenly made the situation complicated.

A great battle seemed to be secretly brewing in the darkness.

His fifty thousand troops, and Huobu Quli's one hundred thousand tribesmen.

But what they might have to face was likely a massive army formed by the alliance of the Middle-Trouser-Legs, the Big-Trouser-Legs, and other tribes. There was even a possibility of reinforcements from the Nanzhao Kingdom—at least two hundred thousand!

He believed.

In the face of poppies, human greed and ugliness would be displayed to the fullest.

Now.

He had only one chance to turn the tables.

God!

Religion!

Only if the Middle-Trouser-Legs successfully won the top prize in this Torch Festival would they have any hope of turning the tables. The appeal of a god, in a place like Liangshan, could even cause those tribes that had allied because of poppies to fall apart.

Only then would it be possible for him to achieve total victory.

As Liu Zheng walked, he naturally arrived at a high point, wanting to look at the terrain around Qionghai; this was his habit—before a battle, look at the terrain first.

"It's you!"

But suddenly, at this moment, a voice of surprise rang out from behind him.

Liu Zheng looked over accordingly.

He heard the rustling of bushes behind him.

And then...

A young man and woman actually crawled out from a small tent in the bushes.

This...

Liu Zheng felt it was a bit of an eyesore. Please, if you're going to come out, could you at least put your clothes on first? The man was clearly a Yi person with dark skin, while the woman had fair, delicate skin that looked like it could be broken by a touch; she was none other than the daughter of the Buyi chieftain who had sung folk songs to Liu Zheng during the day...

"Ah, sorry, I'll leave right away."

Liu Zheng felt a bit annoyed; he said this and turned to leave.

"Don't go!"

Who would have thought, the woman waved her hand to let the man leave, and then smilingly pulled Liu Zheng: "My guest! My guest!"

"What?"

Liu Zheng was left bewildered.

The woman then laughed in broken Chinese: "Wait for me, wait for me..."

Then, she went to the side to tidy her clothes.

Huh? This...

Liu Zheng felt a bit awkward; he had just been walking around and had accidentally stumbled upon someone else's romantic tryst, which really shouldn't have happened... But then again, the customs between men and women in Liangshan were quite open. He knew that during the Torch Festival, it had become a tradition for Liangshan men and women to slip into the bushes or the woods.

It was just that he hadn't expected...

That after failing to flirt with him during the day, she had turned around and found someone else?

He was just wondering if he should leave.

Suddenly, the woman hugged him from behind, her breath as fragrant as orchids: "Man, do you, do you want to come in?"

Pfft...

【Author's Note】

Chen Ran's character design was wrong. In his first appearance, he was said to be from Zhongyuan; I have changed him to a Prince of the Nanzhao Kingdom.