“Nanhou must be disappointed; all that’s left of Yingdu now are scraps and leftovers.”

Ahead, appeared an old man with white hair and a white beard. He wore a long green robe, with a green snake staff in his right hand and a little girl supporting his left.

Yao Zizhan, the literary sage of Qian, was recognized by all four major countries as a leading figure in the contemporary literary world. His calligraphy, poetry, and essays were eagerly sought after and circulated among literati and dignitaries.

However, Great Chu always had its own literary and cultural heritage, and the family responsible for this inheritance was the Jing clan.

The Jing clan was a large and influential family. Unlike other aristocratic families, they did not raise private armies, because their strength lay elsewhere.

In Great Chu, the Jing clan was undoubtedly a leading authority in matters of education, sacrifices, rituals, and so on.

The Shanyue tribes had always been regarded as barbarians. Jing clan ancestors, with only a few followers, ventured deep into the swamps, civilizing tribe after tribe and bringing them into the fold of the culture and etiquette represented by Great Chu. They made them aware of their own savagery and backwardness, thereby fundamentally negating themselves and eventually submitting to Great Chu.

As the saying goes, to subdue the enemy without fighting.

In the words of the blind man, this was the true meaning of "winning people over with virtue."

Even, “If people from afar do not submit, then cultivate your moral virtue to attract them,” had a different flavor in the blind man's eyes.

This might seem like being a pushover, a fool who is always self-reflecting, but that was not the case.

The blind man said that this was actually the wisdom of their ancestors, because in ancient times, they were equivalent to... the beacon nation.

In this way, everything became easier to understand.

Emperor Xiong once said that the Jing clan was worth a million soldiers.

The Jing clan used literary education to tell the Shanyue people that everything they had was backward, while Great Chu was bright and advanced in every way. This dissolved the Shanyue tribes' resistance, convincing them that the Chu people were there to help them cultivate, teach them to read, and guide them in etiquette, all to help them live a brighter life.

They thus forgot that the vast lands now occupied by the Chu people were actually seized from their ancestors, and that many auxiliary soldiers on the borders came from their ranks. They forgot that the mountain lands originally belonging to their tribes were annexed by Chu aristocrats, and the rivers were occupied by Chu ships. If they wanted to eat, they had to work for the Chu aristocrats.

Of course, all of this was predicated on you being strong enough.

When you were strong enough, you could indulge in playing the "Emperor's New Clothes" game.

The Jing clan's success was also built on Great Chu's continuous suppression of the Shanyue tribes. Because of the Chu army's strength, their lies were more believable.

Just like Fan Li,

he was not articulate,

but when he raised his axe,

you immediately felt that many of his words made a lot of sense!

The opposite example was the Qian Kingdom.

The Qian Kingdom's literary and cultural prosperity was arguably the greatest of the four eastern powers.

But would the Yan people admire its culture?

There was a Third Prince who was like that, and then he died.

Even the lowest Yan commoners spoke of the Qian Kingdom with disdain. When you could not fight, when your army was not strong, your culture was destined to be unable to spread.

The Jing clan head wore a wan smile.

He said,

"Actually, we should have noticed it earlier, we really should have noticed it, but unexpectedly, it was really unexpected.

Your Majesty,

is truly a great leader!"

The Great Chu Regent was trapped in Juyang City for many days by his brother-in-law, the Pingye Duke of Great Yan, causing many troops, officials, artisans, and so on to be transferred from the capital.

These movements occurred under the premise that the Regent was trapped by the Yan army, which could be said to be the most natural cover.

The Jing clan elder said that this Yingdu City has disappointed Nanhou, because only leftovers remain; there is no jade delicacy to entertain guests from afar.

Because,

the real essence,

to be precise,

the essence that the Regent himself valued,

had already been transferred out.

The Jing clan elder was already a seasoned figure, but at this moment, waking up from his dream, he had to admit his admiration for the Regent's skill.

To be besieged by the enemy army as the Son of Heaven, and when the enemy tigers and wolves were all around the city, he could still use this opportunity to remotely control the capital and carry out this deceitful strategy, preparing for his own fresh start.

Admirable,

truly admirable.

The Jing clan elder chuckled,

raised his green snake staff,

and said,

"Nanhou, you really didn't need to come in, no, but you had to come in."

The Jing clan elder raised his head,

and shouted,

"Guests have arrived, how could we Chu people possibly be lacking in hospitality? It's just a pity that this old man's dish can only be tasted by Nanhou alone.

I wonder,

will Nanhou give me the honor?"

"Fall back."

The Prince of Jingnan said.

The Yan cavalrymen in front immediately cleared the way, and the Prince of Jingnan stepped forward slowly.

"Nanhou, it's not too late to retreat now,"

the Jing clan elder said.

"Everything is destined to pass, why step further into the charcoal basin?"

"This Prince has come to splash a spark."

The Jing clan elder nodded,

and said,

"Some despise this dish like worn-out shoes, but it's rare that Nanhou is willing to taste it. This is, this old man's honor."

After speaking,

the Jing clan elder lowered his head,

and said to his little granddaughter,

"Come."

The girl looked at the majestic man in armor standing in front of her,

and began to recite:

"Remember the past, the hardships of our ancestors; the Son of Heaven ordered, bearing the imperial seal to depart..."

This was a Chu folk song, included in Chu music, telling the story of the Chu Marquis's hardships and difficulties in opening up the Chu territory under the order of the Great Xia Son of Heaven.

Accompanied by the girl's crisp recitation,

the Jing clan elder threw the green snake staff to the ground,

and slowly knelt down,

singing as if crying:

"Sincere, brave, and martial, ultimately strong and unyielding. Though the body dies, the spirit lives on, the soul resolute, a heroic ghost..."

Suddenly,

a special rhythm flowed out.

At this moment,

it was as if this city had been revived in another form of life.

It had sat here for hundreds of years, witnessing countless seasons, watching the propagation, watching the labor, watching the expansion, watching the splendor;

it was a witness and a recorder.

Since ancient times, great poets have loved to sing of things to express their ambitions or to express their feelings through scenery. Leaving aside those who force sorrow into their poems, there are truly some people who can, in the darkness, touch upon some souls that should not exist, and communicate with them.

Tian Wujing stood there,

allowing within his vision,

a group of men in Chu robes with flowing hair at their temples to appear. They sang passionately, they drowned their sorrows in wine, they stepped barefoot on the bluestone platform, dancing, cheering, and freely expressing their passion today.

Some were reciting newly composed poems aloud, some were singing newly collected tunes, and some were more direct, using jade pendants as percussion, tapping out the rhythm.

In the height of merriment,

the jade pendants shattered and fell to the ground.

The holder of the pendant squatted on the ground, sobbing in heartache, while the others laughed loudly, and took off their own accessories and handed them over.

Again, again,

catch, catch,

continue, continue!

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

Huge stone steles rose from the ground. In Chu custom, every new territory was inscribed on a stone stele to inform the gods of heaven and earth.

The Chu ancestral temple was divided into three gates: the outer gate was used for sacrifices, the second gate was used for royal ceremonies, such as the enthronement of a new emperor or the establishment of a crown prince;

the innermost gate,

could still not be entered by the ruler unless he had made contributions to opening up new territories!

The ancestors of the Xiong clan knew that establishing a career was not easy, so they established this rule.

Therefore, for hundreds of years, the Chu people had maintained great enthusiasm for foreign expansion, because every monarch did not want to be unable to enter the inner gate of the ancestral temple before his death, fearing that he would become a laughingstock.

Chu territory had many swamps and mountains. Before it was developed, it was actually a desolate place. Sometimes, waging long-term wars with the Shanyue people to occupy those places was actually a losing proposition.

But the Chu people were undoubtedly extremely greedy for land. What every generation of monarchs wanted was more and more of it, so that they could boast of their accomplishments as descendants to their ancestors.

And the aristocratic enfeoffment system was the most suitable political system for governing newly acquired lands and for foreign expansion.

At this time,

these huge stone steles were the achievements of the Chu emperors in expanding their territory.

Today, many of the densely populated and rich lands of Great Chu were originally desolate places a hundred years ago. The pioneering efforts of their ancestors established a foundation for the Xia people to settle down on this land.

The stone steles were engraved with the names of the Chu emperors of that generation, as well as the names of the nobles who had made meritorious contributions in the wars of expansion.

The Du Gu, Qu, and Zhao clans appeared most frequently;

while the Jing clan, which had no private army, followed closely behind.

The first three families expanded through military means, while the Jing clan pacified through literary education.

Many people believed that these four great aristocratic families of Great Chu relied entirely on the merits of their ancestors, but in fact, they had all made great contributions to Great Chu's foreign expansion for hundreds of years.

In addition to words, figures began to appear on the stone steles. They were very blurry, but they all seemed to exist in reality.

The Jing clan elder raised his hand,

and shouted,

"Nanhou of Yan, do you dare to pick up this dish?"

This was not a Qi refiner's technique,

nor a swordsman's sword,

nor a martial artist's physique,

it was not a Dao, nor a method,

but a belief that existed in the past, exists now, and will continue to exist in the future.

It did not belong to any religious sect, because the altars of any sect in the world were not qualified to enshrine them.

It had no lethality,

not even the ability to crush an ant,

but,

the premise was,

that you did not pay attention to it,

once you picked up the chopsticks,

it was equivalent to pulling yourself into that situation,

you accepted the challenge,

and you had to face it directly.

This was a truly grand aura!

The Jing clan elder had read books all his life, written characters all his life, and spoken道理 (dao li, principles) all his life. He was just an old scholar, but at this moment, he had suddenly created a thunderclap out of thin air.

Tian Wujing looked at the scene in front of him,

he could ignore everything else now,

walk up,

kick over the senile old man,

the girl would definitely be frightened and cry,

in this way,

everything presented before him at this moment would be flowers in a mirror, the moon in the water.

But earlier,

Tian Wujing had already shouted: serve the dish.

He could not possibly not pick up the chopsticks.

He stood there,

with his hands behind his back,

and in an instant,

the wind rose.

It was as if at this moment,

countless stone steles, countless imprints, countless ancestors of the Great Chu nobles, countless Chu lyrics and Chu music, turned into a landslide and tsunami, crashing down on him.

This city,

this imperial capital,

after easily defeating the Imperial Guards outside the city,

how could the Prince of Jingnan of Great Yan, the god of the army, not have noticed the problems inside?

But he still came in,

because there were some things,

that he had to come in to do.

The Regent was not deliberately giving him this capital city, he had no choice but to fall back on this alternative;

he gave it up, not because he didn't want it, but because he knew he couldn't keep it.

But whether it was given up or couldn't be kept,

as the Prince of Jingnan of Great Yan,

he had to walk in,

and step on it.

He wanted to trample on the Chu people's pride, the Chu people's history, and the Chu people's self-esteem.

This time,

even if he didn't destroy Chu completely,

what would the Chu people, who had lost their spirit,

use to fight against the rolling iron cavalry under the Black Dragon banner in the future?

A country,

is territory,

is population,

is an army,

is warhorses, is weapons, is armor, is blacksmiths, is rivers, is mountains,

but its foundation,

is belief!

The Jing clan elder laughed loudly:

"Come, Nanhou, this old man is waiting for you to use the heroic spirit of your Great Yan's hundreds of years of fighting with the barbarians to compare the elegance of my Great Chu's eight hundred years,

and see,

who is superior!"

Tian Wujing shook his head,

he didn't intend to do that.

"No matter how brilliant the past is, it is still just the past."

Tian Wujing stood there,

and continued:

"In this Prince's view, valuing the past and belittling the present is just the self-comfort of the weak descendants.

Great Chu has had eight hundred years, that's true;

Great Yan has defended the East against the barbarians since its founding, and successive emperors have personally led expeditions to the deserts, their blood staining the battlefields;

but,

that's all in the past.

What's the point of comparing the past with the past?

People of the present should have plans for the present, and plans for the present should have courage for the present."

...

Yanjing,

the back garden,

the Yan Emperor, reclining on the imperial couch, slowly opened his eyes, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, and threw the memorial in his hand aside.

Wei Zhonghe, who was closing his eyes to rest while His Majesty was resting, immediately opened his eyes, squatted down, and picked up the memorial.

But he did not dare to speak loudly.

...

Beifeng County, in the courtyard of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion.

Li Liangting sat in a reclining chair,

below, a group of newly surrendered barbarian chieftains knelt down.

Suddenly,

these barbarian chieftains discovered that,

the Marquis, who had been listening to their expressions of loyalty, suddenly smiled.

...

Great Chu, Yingdu, Imperial Way.

Two more figures appeared beside the Prince of Jingnan.

One, wearing black armor, propping up a broadsword, with true arrogance in his eyes.

One, wearing a black dragon robe, his eyes containing true magnificence.

You press me with countless people,

I block it with three;

You use the ancients to force me,

I respond with the contemporary;

After seeing this scene, the Jing clan elder's mouth immediately widened. He was shocked, shocked at what the Nanhou in front of him was thinking in his heart.

Revering the ancients, here, the ancients are the ancestors;

and he,

and they,

wanted to create a new pattern themselves,

they wanted to become the true creators of a world.

I do not revere any ancients,

but my descendants will revere me.

This was a completely different belief,

therefore, this person was able to exterminate his own family.

Behind him, there was no road to return to, and the road he was walking on was a new road.

The Jing clan elder was first shocked, then stunned, then ridiculous, and finally, exasperated.

He roared:

"Outrageous, outrageous, outrageous!"

A flush appeared on the Jing clan elder's face. He was even able to stand up without relying on his crutches. He pointed at the Prince of Jingnan standing in front of him,

and shouted again;

"Arrogant, arrogant, arrogant!

This old man wants to ask,

what is the basis of your arrogance!"

Tian Wujing took a step forward, and beside him, the Yan Emperor and the Marquis of Zhenbei also took a step forward together.

At this time, the surrounding stone tablets, culture, and heroic spirits also pressed over again.

Tian Wujing stretched out his hand,

pointed at the exasperated Jing clan elder in front of him,

and said:

"Because this Prince has now entered Yingdu."

"Pfft!"

The Jing clan elder spat out a mouthful of blood, and his face immediately turned ashen.

And after these words fell,

the surroundings,

all illusions, in the hysterical screams, vanished into thin air.

It was as if just now,

it was really just a dream in broad daylight,

unrealistic, untrue, and untraceable.

No matter how many reasons you have, how much foreshadowing you have, how much glory you have, these words are enough to kill everything.

The Jing clan elder could not shout out the words that even if the Great Chu was destroyed, the Great Chu would still be there.

"Because Great Yan has invaded Qian to the south, as if entering an uninhabited land."

"Because Great Yan, with a single imperial edict, the barbarians dare not cross the border on horseback."

"Because Great Yan, with two wars in three years, has annexed the entire territory of the Three Jin."

"Because Great Yan, with the entire country attacking Chu, today's iron hooves have already entered your Great Chu imperial capital."

Tian Wujing slowly walked up to the Jing clan elder,

the girl in front of him had already knelt down and began to sob.

The Jing clan elder raised his head somewhat blankly and with difficulty,

looked at the Prince of Jingnan,

and said:

"Hehe... Actually, I lost a long time ago. If the King thought I was useful, he wouldn't have taken me away, nor would he have abandoned this place."

Even his own ruler had abandoned the past rules, etiquette, and glory;

what,

could he still fight for,

what could he argue?

This was originally a battle that was destined to be lost.

The result had long been determined, and the judge was his own family.

"Perhaps, the King is right. Great Chu needs a new life. Great Chu's totem is the fire phoenix. The phoenix can be reborn."

Saying that,

the Jing clan elder pointed at the Prince of Jingnan and laughed:

"You can't destroy Chu, you can't destroy Chu. Great Chu will be revived."

The Prince of Jingnan squatted down,

looked at this old man who was already at the end of his life and even in his final moments of lucidity,

he did not do anything hypocritical,

because there was no need,

he was the victor,

the victor's mercy was a kind of charity, and he did not want to give charity.

Therefore,

in the face of the Jing clan elder's dying curse,

the Prince of Jingnan just replied calmly:

"This Prince, is very idle."

"Hehe... Is that so... How idle?" The Jing clan elder stared at the Prince of Jingnan, waiting for an answer.

"Idle enough to, destroy it every time I see it."

The Jing clan elder was silent, and then, his head drooped down. The Great Chu literary master, in the center of the Imperial Way, on the road to block the iron hooves of Great Yan, died peacefully.

"Grandpa... Grandpa... Grandpa, wake up... Grandpa, wake up."

The Prince of Jingnan stood up,

stepped over the old man's body, and walked forward.

Behind him,

the Jingnan army knights followed on both sides.

No one paid attention to the old man's body in the center of the Imperial Way, or the crying girl beside the body.

This was a conquered capital, and at the same time, it was an abandoned capital.

Its glory,

will, after today,

be forever fixed in the past.

The Prince of Jingnan's gaze fell on the Great Chu Imperial Palace, which was already in front of him.

There,

was Great Chu's pride, was Great Chu's center, that inside, was once the location of Great Chu's core, was the resting place of Great Chu's ancestral temple.

Dimly,

it seemed that a phoenix cry could be heard lingering above that imperial palace. Great Chu, had long lost its fire phoenix, but, was that really the case?

The Pixiu (mythical wild beast), which had been following behind the Prince of Jingnan, let out a series of low growls in its throat.

The Prince of Jingnan reached out and placed his hand on its head.

The Pixiu immediately became docile,

and even,

stuck out its tongue and licked the prince's palm.

"Don't worry, its turn is coming soon."