Better Off Without Them

Several carriages pulled up before an unremarkable grand manor. A few men, plainly dressed yet sharp and capable in demeanor, stepped down and knocked at the gate. When it swung open, the lead man produced an item and showed it, and within moments, they were standing in the main hall. The Sixth Princess emerged from the rear courtyard. The men all dropped to their knees, their bodies forming an array that sealed off the main hall from the outside. The leading man said, "Sixth Princess, by order of the Great King, we have come to escort the Princess back to Zhao, departing immediately. We also ask that the dozens of young masters and young mistresses accompany us." The Sixth Princess looked somewhat surprised. "Is Imperial Father passing away?" The lead man's face grew a bit awkward. "That is not for the likes of us to know. Please pack your belongings at once, Sixth Princess, and depart immediately. Once back in Zhao, you will naturally understand the reason." The Sixth Princess shook her head. "I am not leaving. Go back." No matter how the men pleaded after that, she only shook her head; invoking Immortal Zhao Li proved just as futile. The two lead men exchanged a glance and said under their breath, "Sixth Princess, we bear the King's decree. Forgive our offense!" He clapped his hands together, and a dazzling violet light flared in his palms. The moment the Sixth Princess saw the light, a hidden array inside her sea of consciousness was triggered. Her entire body stiffened instantly, and all her Dao power and cultivation shrank back into her apertures, rendering her unable to move. A look of grim determination crossed the man's face as he waved his hand. "Move! We only have the span of an incense stick! Kill everyone unrelated in the manor, but remember not to harm the young masters and mistresses!" The men leapt like thunder leopards. In the blink of an eye, screams and the frightened cries of children rang out across the compound. Moments later, dozens of children were rounded up and herded into the hall. Several boys bore distinct handprints on their cheeks, clear consequences of defying their captors. The leader threw the Sixth Princess over his shoulder and ordered, "To the carriages!" They drove the children into the carriages. Any child who resisted received a slap across the face; those who remained defiant were hauled straight into the compartments, followed by the wet smacks of palms striking flesh. Evidently, according to the orders these men had received, these children held no great standing. Just as the carriages were about to pull away, a massive facade stone appeared at the end of the long street, blocking the way. Both startled and furious, the men saw an exceptionally burly man step out from behind the door-sized boulder. The "facade stone" even had a grip—it was actually a gigantic stone blade. The burly man glanced toward the carriages and asked, "Where do you gentlemen intend to take the Sixth Princess?" The lead man barked, "This is our private business! Mind your own affairs if you don't want to throw away your life for noth—" Before the words left his mouth, his vision blurred. The door-sized blade seemed to flash, and then he knew nothing more. The burly man in the street swung the giant blade as if it were a feather. Lightning-fast, the strike instantly flattened the man into paste, before the blade returned to its original position. Out and back, it was so rapid it seemed he had never moved. To the other men, it was nothing more than a blur; only in retrospect did they realize what had just happened. The men could scarcely believe their eyes. An elite cultivator of the late dharma idol realm, wiped out just like that? The burly man on the street offered an innocent smile, pointed at the second-in-command, and asked, "I'm Wang Hu. My hearing's been a bit poor lately, so I didn't catch what he said. How about you say it again?" The second-in-command dropped his weapon on the spot and fell to his knees. A short while later, Wei Yuan sat upright on a high seat, looking down at the kneeling black-clad men in the grand hall. "Did the King of Zhao order this directly?" "It was an oral decree." Wei Yuan nodded and turned to his attendants. "Any news regarding the letter I sent to the King of Zhao?" Cui Yu replied, "No response yet, though there are still ten days before the deadline." Wei Yuan nodded. "No matter if the deadline hasn't arrived. We will wait no longer. Issue an order: starting today, enforce a total embargo on Zhao. Not a single scrap of paper, not a single grain of goods is permitted to enter Zhao!" "Could this... affect your relationship with the children in the future?" Cui Yu hesitated. Wei Yuan said coolly, "Cut Zhao's grain first, and let us see how they distribute next month's welfare. Since the King of Zhao is so omnipotent that he could plant a hidden mechanism in Little Six, he can surely conjure up grain, oil, and supplies out of thin air. "As for those children of mine, if they cannot even understand this much and insist on holding a grudge, they are not worthy of being my children anyway. There are plenty of them regardless. If one proves impossible to teach, I will simply raise another." Cui Yu said, "After all, there are over a dozen enfeoffments over there. Perhaps we could wait for the King of Zhao's reply?" Wei Yuan shook his head. "You saw that list as well; there is no longer any need to wait. Li Fugui's Dao path requires mortal fortune. By choking off Zhao's supply of goods, I strangle their welfare, thereby severing his mortal fortune. "I would like to see how Zhao sustains its welfare and maintains its luxurious lifestyle without our low-priced provisions. Within three months, the people of Zhao will realize just what a bowl of meat is supposed to cost! And they will realize who they ought to thank for being able to eat meat every day." Wei Yuan turned back to Cui Yu. "Deploy patrols along the border and thoroughly inspect any merchant caravans attempting to smuggle goods into Zhao. If caught, execute the head and deputy managers on the spot." Cui Yu was taken aback. "Is that really necessary? Prices in Zhao are currently comparable to Qingming's. Hauling goods over offers no profit whatsoever." Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "Soon, it will be a tenfold windfall." Finally, Wei Yuan said, "Take these men down and lock them up. Try them according to the law." *** In the royal palace of Zhao, the Crown Prince was holding forth with fiery indignation: "Wei Yuan sending a letter instead of submitting a formal memorial was already gross disrespect! That he dared set a deadline for a reply in that letter makes him utterly lawless—a man who acknowledges neither sovereign nor father! "By marrying Little Six, he is at best equivalent to a commandery prince of our Great Zhao. Yet now he does not even remember order, rank, and seniority! An imperial decree must be issued to severely reprimand him!" Several princes and princesses echoed his words, all agreeing that they should denounce his misconduct directly so Wei Yuan would understand where he had erred. Some even suggested stripping the titles of two commandery princes along the border first, to show Wei Yuan his place. One princess even volunteered to lead an elite force to wipe out several fortified outposts along the Qingming border, to test Qingming's mettle and see if they were truly as formidable as the legends claimed. In short, passions ran high throughout the hall. Led by the princes and princesses, civil officials delivered impassioned speeches one after another, while young military commanders chafed at the bit, convinced that Zhao's newly forged guns and artillery were remarkably potent, not a bit inferior to Qingming's. These young officers were all recent promotions. The few veteran generals who had previously clashed with Qingming looked visibly troubled, but they stood in the back corners of the hall, with no standing to speak. When the King of Zhao finally asked for their opinions, an old general carefully weighed his words and said, "At present, Southern Jin's offensive is fierce, and they still occupy over twenty thousand li of our territory. Provoking Qingming at such a time would mean fighting on two fronts, which may put us at a disadvantage." A young princess dismissed this scoffingly: "It's not as if we're waging a full war against Qingming. I'll just lead troops over for a few skirmishes. If they're truly powerful and we really can't beat them, I'll just pull back!" Two other princesses chimed in: "Exactly! Could he actually invade us?" "Wei Yuan is a junior after all. If he attacks, he'd be defying his elders and betters!" "Let Sixth Sister put him in his place!" The old general said nothing more. A century of commanding armies and sixty years in the imperial court told him that whatever he said now would be useless. Having suffered demotion twice, he was only willing to keep holding this post so that when matters concerning military pay and soldier welfare arose, he could speak up for the rank-and-file troops. *** Half a month later, while Wei Yuan was busy finalizing the new version of the Expedition Realm and organizing the logistics for the campaign against Song, an urgent military report arrived. Zhao forces had encroached across the border, overrunning two fortified border outposts. Several hundred defenders had fought fiercely for an hour before being wiped out to the last man. The Zhao forces had suffered thousands of casualties, ventured merely several dozen li across the border to probe, and then retreated. Wei Yuan flew into a fury on the spot, demanding to know what the border garrison commander was good for and why he hadn't trapped and wiped out this contingent of Zhao troops. It was Cui Yu who brought the report. He explained that a Zhao princess had led the incursion, reportedly claiming she was on very good terms with the Sixth Princess. Not daring to act on his own authority, the border garrison commander had no choice but to report it first and await Wei Yuan's decision. Hearing this, Wei Yuan was even more enraged: "He still needed to report such a matter?! If some relative of mine comes to cut off his head in the future, will he just stretch his neck out and let them swing? Besides, what kind of relative is a Zhao princess supposed to be to me? Instead of commanding his troops properly in battle, he spends his time fretting over personal ties and social etiquette! Qingming has no need for such a general! "Pass my order: strip him of his command immediately and dispatch him to the northern border armies to start over as a common soldier! Since he likes researching who my relatives are, let him research to his heart's content and see if I have any relatives on the snowy peaks of the steppes!" Cui Yu had rarely seen Wei Yuan so incensed. He dared not offer words of persuasion, and even less dared to utter "what if you actually do have relatives there?" He cautiously asked, "Then what of Zhao...?" Wei Yuan's expression was grim and chilling. "The lives of several hundred soldiers cannot be lost in vain. Send an ultimatum to the King of Zhao demanding he deliver the head of the princess who led the army! At the same time, dispatch three columns of troops to campaign against Zhao. Only when the princess's severed head is delivered will the army withdraw; otherwise, we will march all the way to the Zhao capital!" Cui Yu replied out of habit, "Understood. I will immediately prepare for the relocation and reception of refugees." "Wait," Wei Yuan called him back. Cui Yu started, thinking Wei Yuan had had a change of heart. A trace of hesitation surfaced on Wei Yuan's face, but after a moment, he said, "In this campaign, take only cities and seize only land. The people... we will not take for now." "Why?" Cui Yu was puzzled. In the past, Qingming seized populations in every battle. Wei Yuan said, "These Zhao folk have fed off lavish welfare for too long. They possess no skills, only a mountain of vices—they are already ruined. Bringing them in would only be a burden. We are better off without them."