Chapter 986 The Strategy for Pacifying the Nation

The morning sunlight streamed into the courtyard of the Prince's mansion.

Da Niu crawled out of her small tent and rubbed her eyes.

Then, while yawning, she formed hand seals:

"Little brother, I'm awake..."

Behind the large iron gate, Zheng Lin, whose skin still bore traces of fading bruises, opened his eyes, looked at the ground, and replied with hand seals:

"Mm."

At that moment, a maidservant came forward, offering washing utensils.

Da Niu began to wash up, and the maidservant helped her comb her hair.

Then, breakfast was served. The Prince's mansion consistently adhered to the tradition of refined but not extravagant meals. Sometimes it was a traditional morning tea assortment, and other times, like today, it was a bowl of *saozi* noodles (noodles with a meat sauce).

Da Niu added a lot of chili sauce to her noodles, a trait she inherited from her father.

After finishing a large bowl of noodles, drinking even the broth, Da Niu gently patted her stomach, sat on the ground, and re-formed hand seals:

"Little brother, I've finished breakfast..."

Behind the large iron gate, Zheng Lin blinked, subconsciously looking towards the coffin, but ultimately chose not to approach it, responding with hand seals:

"I've eaten too..."

Time,

slowly passed.

When it was noon,

a new line of words appeared:

"Little brother, I've finished lunch..."

Zheng Lin sighed and looked at the coffin again, but still didn't move, responding with hand seals:

"Me too..."

…

"Little brother, I've finished dinner..."

Zheng Lin really didn't want to reply anymore. He even believed that if she weren't afraid of exhausting too much energy, his silly older sister would tell him in great detail what she had just eaten, what it tasted like, and how the new chef in the Prince's mansion was doing.

But, he couldn't help but reply because if he didn't, the people outside might think he had starved to death, and then they would definitely mobilize a large number of people to excavate this place.

Zheng Lin could only endure his helplessness,

replying with hand seals:

"Me too..."

Two more hours passed,

and a new line of words appeared:

"Little brother, I've finished my midnight snack..."

Zheng Lin replied with hand seals: "Me too."

Then, he propped himself up and actively walked to the coffin.

A ball of dense *sha* energy (evil aura),

representing love from Grandpa,

appeared before Zheng Lin.

Zheng Lin opened his mouth and swallowed the ball of *sha* energy, then turned over ahead of time, embedding his ten fingers into the gaps between the floor tiles, with the tips of his toes on the ground.

A painful tearing sensation swept over his body, the *sha* energy seemed to be impacting his blood vessels and muscles, even his nerves.

He gritted his teeth,

allowing the cold sweat to flow continuously, allowing his skin to turn dark green again, but still not uttering a sound.

The pain lasted for about half an hour.

Zheng Lin crawled to behind the large iron gate,

and discovered a new line of words had appeared:

"Little brother, don't be afraid of the dark, big sister is lying next to you, good night."

A smile appeared on the corner of Zheng Lin's mouth,

as he replied with hand seals:

"Good night."

…

Late at night,

two hours had passed, and a new line of words appeared. Because of the sword qi used to write the words, the person on the other side sensed the appearance of the sword qi, so it was impossible to ignore the message.

Zheng Lin looked over,

and discovered it was:

"Little brother, you should get up to pee..."

"..." Zheng Lin.

Zheng Lin sighed,

and responded:

"Okay."

…

Two messengers returned to the Prince's mansion.

One messenger had gone to chase after the First Princess Consort, and the other had come from the front-line command tent.

The first brought back a reply from Si Niang, or rather, an "oral decree."

The messenger solemnly repeated her words:

"Oh, serves him right if he starves to death, ignore him."

Without a stamp or sealing wax, hearing these words, Xiong Liqing was certain they were from her sister's own mouth.

With these words, Xiong Liqing finally felt more at ease.

Although her daughter had been guarding outside the iron gate, responding to the inside every two hours as she had instructed, and the young master inside hadn't cried out that he was hungry again, consistently saying he had eaten.

At least it meant that inside, he didn't seem to be starving.

Furthermore, Xiong Liqing knew that her sister never seemed very concerned about her son, but she didn't think her sister would really watch her son starve to death.

Well, even if she could let it go, the Prince wouldn't agree.

Since her sister had said it with such certainty and hadn't returned, it meant that the young master shouldn't be in any life-threatening danger inside.

The second letter,

came from the command tent.

But it wasn't from her husband. Her husband did indeed take the time to write letters home when fighting wars, writing to the women and children of the family.

But this one was from the command tent, and signed by Bei Xiansheng (Teacher Bei).

The content of the letter was very simple, summarized as:

"Madam can go home and take a look now."

Xiong Liqing held the letter, lost in thought.

For a long time,

she murmured:

"Can… go home now?"

Xiong Liqing threw the letter

into the charcoal basin, watching it burn to ashes.

…

"Giddy up!" "Giddy up!"

"Halt!"

A team of traveling knights was blocked by another group of knights.

"Long time no see."

Among the interceptors, one person wore a cyan Chu-style robe, with long sideburns. In the context of both sides being clad in black armor, he seemed somewhat out of place.

A masked man rode out, his voice somewhat shrill,

saying:

"We aren't old friends reuniting. The only person who could stand with me back then was your father."

"In front of my father, you could only call yourself a servant."

The masked man deliberately flicked the dust off his cuffs,

saying:

"It's a pity, Yan people don't have the habit of calling themselves servants."

The man in cyan let out a sigh, saying:

"It's actually quite ridiculous for us to be saying this here."

"It is."

"I've prepared a pot of wine and two side dishes to welcome you. Behind us is the military camp. According to the Jin East military law, without special permission from the command tent, alcohol is forbidden in the army, regardless of rank.

Humor me, General."

"Alright, I'll give Young Master Qu some face."

…

It was deep winter, and the wind felt like knives.

Fortunately, the sun was good today. The warm winter sun was definitely the cheapest and warmest enjoyment in the world.

Nian Yao picked up the wine cup, took a sip,

and then,

"Ptooey!"

The sour and spicy taste instantly filled his mouth and nose, almost sending him to heaven.

"Oh, it seems like you've been living well these past few years, you can't even drink douzhi (fermented bean drink) anymore."

Qu Peiluo picked up his wine cup, took a small sip, his expression also very interesting, but he quickly suppressed it.

"Wasn't this supposed to be wine?" Nian Yao asked.

"I mixed some wine in it."

"Heh."

"Got it from the military doctor, top-quality strong liquor."

"Aren't you wasting it?"

"Not really, that stuff is for treating wounds, it's easy to die if you just drink it straight."

Nian Yao irritably put down the wine cup and reached for the dishes, there were indeed only two.

A plate of fried soybeans, a plate of dried tofu, paired with douzhi…

"In the capital, I heard a poem that Regent Prince made, called 'Cooking beans to burn beanstalks, beans weep in the pot,' and finally, 'Born from the same root, why be so eager to harm each other?'"

Qu Peiluo was somewhat surprised. Clearly, he hadn't heard this poem, and it was made by his own Prince. He laughed:

"How could the Prince have time to run to Yanjing to write poems for no reason."

"It came out of the imperial study, and it's very popular in the capital."

"Since it's credited to the Prince, then that's inevitable," Qu Peiluo laughed.

Neither of them were ordinary people, and had once stood at extremely high positions.

The Prince, as the largest and strongest vassal in Great Yan, writing such a poem was actually declaring his intentions.

Regardless of whether this was what his own Prince truly meant, it didn't prevent the imperial court from praising the poem to the highest degree.

After all, what the imperial court feared most was Jin East rebelling, and what it least wanted was Jin East rebelling.

From the imperial court's perspective, naturally it hoped that everyone would be under the banner of Great Yan, brothers born from the same root.

However, one could also see from this the change in the imperial court's own position. It was no longer purely a matter of sovereign and subjects, allowing the imperial court, representing the orthodoxy, and the emperor, representing the Son of Heaven, to bend down, no, to carry a small stool and take the initiative to sit on an equal footing with you. To a certain extent, this was already very telling.

Moreover, this situation wouldn't diminish or disappear. As this Yan-Chu war came to an end, the Regent Prince, who had almost single-handedly crippled Great Chu, would see his personal prestige further increase.

This situation, placed in any other dynasty, would be a nearly unsolvable dead knot.

The large faction in the military, relying on continuous victories in foreign wars, accumulated personal prestige while further consolidating and developing the power of the military group, reaching a multiple degree of joint expansion, and this expansion would inevitably squeeze the authority of the original center, thereby achieving a inevitable cycle of backlash and competition for the cake.

The Blind Man (Xia Zi) had once said that, often, the so-called "discarding the millstone after it has done its work" or "making those close to one grieve and those who hate one rejoice" was something people liked to attribute to the emperor himself being wary of threats to his throne.

But in reality, the emperor was only a representative. Many times, he would passively become a representative. "Discarding the millstone after it has done its work" was more of a "self-help" and "risk avoidance" behavior carried out by the central imperial court as a whole, out of its self-preservation instinct.

The Blind Man also used Du Juan's matter as an example. The late emperor most likely really didn't know about this matter, and, with the late emperor's temperament, it was impossible for him to make a move to "discard the millstone after it had done its work" at that time, because what maintained the framework of Great Yan in the previous era wasn't any political or military balance, but the relationship between the Iron Triangle.

The Jingnan Prince's hair turned white overnight, but ultimately he didn't choose to directly raise troops to quell the rebellion, clearly because he had already made a cognitive decision.

And Zhao Jiulang, who repeatedly said that he was pulling out the nails in advance and preparing for the future for the sake of Great Yan's long-term stability, was actually right. To a certain extent, he succeeded.

But what he represented was the interests of the Great Yan imperial court, not the emperor's will, and not even the interests of the imperial family.

Everything was a double-edged sword. The threat of the vassal states to the central imperial court was obvious to the naked eye, but one couldn't ignore how the three emperors of Yan had used the vassal states to whip the imperial court in reverse.

The old emperor relied on the help of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion to regain the throne, the late emperor relied on the two major vassal states to trample the aristocratic families, and Ji Chengjue relied on threatening to call for the "Prince of Pingxi" to lead troops into the capital, completing several rounds of purges against the imperial court with near-unrestrained recklessness.

Without the ability to overturn the table, even if you are the emperor, you can't make all the chess pieces listen to you.

"It's just that this is ultimately dancing on the tip of a knife," Qu Peiluo lamented, "My Great Chu, didn't make it."

Nian Yao smiled dismissively,

saying:

"No, it danced too slowly."

The two former Chu people, with the "three brothers in the bean," lamented the changes in Great Chu.

The funny thing was, what they were doing now, and what they were about to do, was also "why be so eager to harm each other."

"His Majesty will not accept the demand to lower the country's status," Qu Peiluo said, "It's impossible to choose to nominally submit to Great Yan."

Nian Yao shook his head, saying, "You might think it's impossible, even the Regent Prince himself might think it's impossible, but I, on the other hand, think there's a possibility."

"Oh?"

"The Emperor of Great Yan let me come back, nominally to recruit old subordinates, but in reality, whether this matter is done by you, Qu Peiluo, or me, Nian Yao, makes no difference.

When Great Chu was strong, it was useless for any of us to go.

When Great Chu is declining, any of us can go.

My old subordinates were probably cleaned up after I had my accident. Besides, people move on, it's been so many years since I left, how many loyalists are left?

The Emperor of Great Yan is young,

but to be honest, I'm very afraid of him."

Qu Peiluo teased, "Isn't it natural for a eunuch to fear his master?"

Nian Yao wasn't angry at this taunt, but instead said:

"The two spheres below me are gone, and the spheres in your heart have also long been gone. We're both eunuchs, what's the point of mocking the other's crotch smelling like shame?"

Qu Peiluo chuckled.

"I want to see the Regent Prince," Nian Yao said.

"You should know that if I can stop you here, it means that the Prince, in his old age, simply doesn't want to see you."

"Matters of military importance."

Qu Peiluo pulled a lock of long hair from his left sideburn, saying:

"It's not as important as the Prince being happy."

Nian Yao took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

"There's a chance of success. This servant of mine actually understands my master better than any of you. It's nothing more than lowering the country's status externally, calling oneself a subject to Yan. This way, the Yan people can be prevented from continuing to pursue and attack Yingdu relentlessly, and the Yan people can turn their eyes to other places.

It can also borrow the Yan people's deterrence to consolidate the domestic fragmentation caused by this great defeat in the war with the Witch God.

The one who laughs last, laughs best."

"But do you think His Majesty will still have a chance to reach the end?"

Hearing this question, Nian Yao shrugged,

saying:

"At least His Majesty can smile more."

"Hahahaha..."

"Hahaha..."

The two Chu people laughed out loud together.

"I want to see the Prince, please help me pass the message," Nian Yao said.

"I can introduce you to Teacher Bei."

"That's fine too."

Qu Peiluo picked up the wine bowl again and took a large gulp.

"How can you drink that?"

Qu Peiluo glanced at Nian Yao, saying:

"Only after drinking a large gulp of this, can one find a little sweetness in this life."

…

"General, you've had a hard journey."

"This humble general wouldn't dare."

"Sit."

"Thank you, Teacher."

Nian Yao sat cross-legged in front of the Blind Man.

The Blind Man held red dates in his hand, putting them in his mouth, while the other hand was constantly flipping through memorials.

The war was over, but the post-war matters were equally complicated.

However, no matter how busy he was, he could still make time to see someone, and not be so "indifferent."

Essentially, it was because the Blind Man didn't think Nian Yao was worth his attention.

If it were before the start of the war, Nian Yao's arrival would probably have been much more important than it was now, and he would have been much more useful.

But now, in the Witch God War, the Chu people had been badly hurt. It was the two boys on the western front, Chen Xianba and Tiantian, who had each led a cavalry force and gnawed Xie Zhuyang until he was covered in wounds.

Although they hadn't managed to intercept and kill Xie Zhuyang, the main force of the Xie family army had basically been wiped out.

Looking at the entire Chu Kingdom now, it wasn't impossible to gather troops, and even to stir up a large army again, but this kind of large army was really no different from barbarian auxiliary soldiers. On the snow plains, the Prince's mansion's army of three thousand could chase after twenty thousand barbarian soldiers.

In the short term, the Chu people had lost the ability to create a threat on the main battlefield.

Therefore, with the main contradictions having been resolved on the battlefield, minor details could naturally be overlooked.

"This humble general intends to go see the Chu Emperor and persuade him to lower his country's status."

The Blind Man was stunned, truly stunned.

His first reaction was that Nian Yao felt that the war was over and he had no chance to earn merit to return to the capital and exchange for what he wanted, so he had to take a risk and try to complete that almost impossible mission.

But the Blind Man was best at reading people. Nian Yao wasn't the kind of person who easily went to extremes when faced with problems. A person like that wouldn't be able to sit in the position of Great General.

"The Chu Emperor has nothing left to lose except his throne and this nominal country. What do you think can make him choose to give up his last remaining dignity?" The Blind Man asked.

A smile appeared on the corner of Nian Yao's mouth,

saying:

"What Teacher means is that since he's not afraid of breaking the pot, what else would he care about, right?"

The Blind Man nodded, saying, "Right."

"Actually, when I set off from Yanjing, this humble general didn't expect the Regent Prince to win so easily, and Chu to lose so thoroughly.

But what I'm clear about is that continuing to entangle with Chu doesn't conform to Great Yan's current interests. Great Yan needs to consolidate and develop its newly occupied lands and newly incorporated population, and re-accumulate for war, instead of engaging in wearying guerrilla warfare and attrition with the Chu people in the depths of the marshes.

In other words, from the perspective of ultimately unifying the Xia, what Great Yan needs now is Chu's stability and peace, in order to free up its hands to do other things, such as... Qian."

"A piece of paper is not enough," Nian Yao continued. "It's best to have the Chu Emperor and the entire Chu state nominally submit and bow their heads."

"If so,

then, in the history books, in righteousness, it can actually be considered a legal occupation of the entire Chu."

"Get to the point," the Blind Man reminded.

"Since the pot is broken and it doesn't matter, then we can fix it up a bit, repair it, and even pour a little wine into it, so that it can make some noise when it shakes.

Similarly, if the conditions can be changed, this humble general thinks that my old master might agree."

"For example?"

"For example, let Chu lower its national status to the Prince Regent's mansion of Jin East, instead of to... Great Yan."

---

There will be another chapter tonight.