The Dachao Incident

With the oil lamp extinguished—the room's only light source gone—the cramped guest quarters were left illuminated by nothing more than a solitary shaft of pale moonlight filtering through the window lattice. The robin grass woven into the sleeping mat reflected the faint gleam. The Western Regions girl's voice carried a hesitant edge: "As far as I know... that man should have died long ago in that Holy War." "The Holy War..." Hearing the term, Xu Yuan took a moment to process before letting out a soft, dry laugh. "You mean the Dachao Incident back then? That's certainly what the history books record, but a man's life and death can always be faked." Jiayi's emerald-rippled eyes remained still and deep. "Life and death can be faked, but back then, he died right before the battle lines. With so many mighty cultivators and so many soldiers watching with their own eyes, how could anyone fake it?" "......" Xu Yuan instinctively glanced toward Li Junwu. Regarding the Dachao Incident, he had only skimmed a rough outline in the internal reports at the Prime Minister's Manor. A transition on the throne, political turmoil—the Dachao seized the opportunity to invade—the Zhenxi Army feigned defeat and withdrew—the sects were forced to hold the border—the imperial border army stepped in to purge the remnants—and the late King of Dachao died in battle. Nalan Ting's death had marked the end of the Dachao Incident. As for how exactly he had died, Xu Yuan had never looked into the specifics; after all, nearly fifty years had passed since then. Still, just because he didn't know didn't mean his good "brother" didn't. The Zhenxi Manor had guarded the pass for a century. They were firsthand witnesses through and through. Noticing Xu Yuan's glance, Li Junwu draped an outer robe over her shoulders and quietly rose, stepping over to the bed on her long, pale legs. She snatched the sheet of xuan paper from Jiayi's hands, scanned it, and murmured: "I was wondering who you two were talking about. Turns out it's Nalan Ting." After a moment's contemplation, Xu Yuan said in a low voice, "The records state that Marquis Zhenxi personally severed the head of Nalan Ting, the late King of Dachao. But in truth, he's still alive." Li Junwu tossed the paper back onto the bed, folded her arms over her chest, and scoffed dismissively, "Whether he's alive or not, I wouldn't know. But the one who killed him wasn't my father." "Oh? How so?" Xu Yuan asked. In the dim light, the woman draped in the brocade robe appeared tall and shapely. Her slender eyes narrowed slightly. "Nalan Ting died right here at Thousand Thorns Pass—which is now Zhenxi Prefectural City. My old man was over at Jingxing Pass purging the sect remnants. It was simply that both the glory and the scapegoat's burden needed someone with sufficient standing to shoulder them." "A scapegoat's burden?" Xu Yuan asked, somewhat surprised. "It seems you truly know nothing about the inside story back then." Li Junwu casually flicked her long, raven-black hair back over her shoulder and asked in a clear voice, "How much do you actually know about the Dachao Incident?" Xu Yuan kept it brief: "His Majesty pulled back the border army, the sects were forced to defend the country's gate, and then the imperial court stepped in to reap the spoils." Li Junwu tilted her head in thought, explaining in a quiet tone, "That's the gist of it on the surface, and on paper, our Great Yan indeed won that war. "The invading Dachao suffered disastrous losses, and even their king perished within Great Yan's borders. After that single campaign, they didn't dare cross our frontier for thirty years. But in truth, the real winner was the 'heavily crippled' Dachao Royal Court." At this point, she paused briefly, an ambiguous smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Though, strictly speaking, my family was the only other winner besides the Dachao. After all, once that war concluded, my family stood as the sole dominant power in Xize Province. Both the imperial court and the sects had been thoroughly crippled in one blow." Xu Yuan frowned and narrowed his eyes. "The imperial court was crippled too?" Li Junwu nodded with a smile, holding up three slender fingers to Xu Yuan. "During the Dachao Incident, Great Yan's forces in Xize Province were divided into three fronts: our Zhenxi Army, the sect coalition, and the imperial court's border army." At those words, a flicker of surprise crossed Xu Yuan's eyes. "There was an imperial border army as well?" "There was," Li Junwu said briskly. She sat down beside Xu Yuan, lowering her head to lightly smooth his clothes. "Only, that imperial border army had its muster rolls completely dissolved after the war." Xu Yuan reacted quickly. "The scapegoat's burden you mentioned earlier... you meant this?" "Mhm." Li Junwu shrugged, turning to look at him with a smile. "After routing the Dachao Royal Court on the main battlefield, our Yan forces began reclaiming lost territory with a clear division of labor: my old man was tasked with wiping out the sect remnants within Xize Province, while the royal family took charge of pursuing the retreating Dachao. "Up to that point, everything was proceeding according to Di'an's plans. "Problems arose very quickly, however. "While attempting to cut off the Dachao's retreat, the royal commander was caught off guard by Nalan Ting, who fought with reckless disregard for his own life." Li Junwu let out a soft, rueful sigh. "Though one can't truly blame that royal commander for advancing too aggressively in his greed for merit. After all, who could have guessed that Nalan Ting would choose to stake his life in battle when an avenue of retreat was wide open? "In that skirmish, Nalan Ting was slain on the spot, but before dying, he inflicted catastrophic losses upon the royal border army. That bought roughly half a month's time for the remaining Dachao forces, allowing them to withdraw from Xize Province." "......" Listening carefully, Xu Yuan wore a peculiar expression. "That shouldn't count as too massive a failure, should it? Why would His Majesty go to such lengths to find a scapegoat?" Li Junwu gave a soft snort, casting a sidelong glance at the Desert Divine Maiden. "Jiayi, you tell him. You should understand this better than I do." "......" Xu Yuan turned an inquiring gaze toward the Western Regions girl on the bed. Lowering her eyelashes, Jiayi hesitated briefly before speaking. "It was likely because of the personnel and supplies." Xu Yuan's fingertips lightly brushed across the cool surface of the sleeping mat beneath him. "Personnel and supplies?" A complicated look flickered through Jiayi's green eyes. Her bell-clear, crisp voice rang out in the dim, silent guest room: "The late king was a man of great foresight. From the very beginning, he knew that even if we Dachao breached the passes early on, the moment you began raising the stakes, it would become a war destined for defeat." "......" For a colony of wild ants to swallow an elephant required the convergence of the right time, the right place, and the right people. Fifty years ago, even if Great Yan's interior was rotting away—much like the late Ming dynasty of his past life—its martial prowess had remained formidable. The fertile Central Plains granted Great Yan an almost generational gap in combat strength compared to the surrounding foreign tribes. Even if the heavens were to change, it would be the domestic factions of the Central Plains fighting a civil war first; it was never the turn of the surrounding tribes to interfere. Nalan Ting, the late King of Dachao, had indeed been remarkably clearheaded. Thinking this, Xu Yuan roughly guessed the choice Nalan Ting had made back then, and the girl's next words confirmed it. "Therefore, from the moment we crossed the passes, he continually sent men to gather all manner of craftsmen, production implements, minerals, and other supplies across Great Yan. By the late stage of the war, the late king had already stockpiled the wealth and materials of more than half of Xize Province right here in Zhenxi Prefectural City." *He was preparing for the next war...* With that realization whispering in his heart, Xu Yuan asked quietly, "Why stockpile them here in Zhenxi Prefectural City instead of sending them straight back to the Western Desert?" Jiayi cast him a sullen, meaningful glance. "...Because they couldn't be transported. There was simply too much." "......" Xu Yuan fell silent. No wonder the summary history had used the phrase *a myriad things left in ruins* to describe post-war Xize Province. Jiayi pressed her lips together and continued, "Before troops march, grain and provisions must lead the way. Transporting rations and heavy baggage for the army occupied vast numbers of demonic beasts and carts. Even though the late king prepared long in advance, there was no way to transport such an immense sea of supplies. It could only be done upon the army's withdrawal, using the soldiers along with the baggage train to carry it all out together." Having heard her out, Li Junwu smiled faintly and added, "It went roughly as Jiayi said. His Majesty had only recently ascended the throne. His foundation was unsteady, and he couldn't afford to shoulder such a failure, so he struck a deal with my father." "To have your father take the blame?" "Yes." "A failure in such a campaign should have been attributed to the commanding general on the field. Even in defeat, it would hardly trace back to the Emperor's head." "What if that royal commander was the current Crown Prince? And what if the Crown Prince was sent there by His Majesty himself, over the objections of the entire court?" "......" Xu Yuan was struck dumb. In that instant, he suddenly understood why Li Yucheng's position as Crown Prince was so awkward, and why Li Yaoxuan was currently preparing to groom Li Zhaoyuan. From Li Yaoxuan's perspective, the next emperor had to be skilled in both civil and military affairs. Yet just after his father ascended the throne, Crown Prince Li Yucheng had made such a colossal mess of things. Under no circumstances could the throne be entrusted to him. Unaware of Xu Yuan's thoughts, Li Junwu continued in a low voice, "With a bit of maneuvering after the war, we crossed that royal commander's name off the records and folded the surviving soldiers into my father's ranks, concluding the deal." "......" Once she finished, Xu Yuan collected his thoughts and let out a sigh. "So Nalan Ting paid with his life in exchange for stripping away the vitality of more than half of Xize Province..." Halfway through, Xu Yuan instinctively glanced back at Jiayi with an odd look in his eyes. The supplies of an entire province would form mountains, but there were many ways to move them. Forcibly conscripting tens of millions of commoners for corvée labor was hardly impossible in this world. Though countless people would die, doing so would allow those supplies to be hauled back to the desert by sheer human labor alone. Pondering this, Xu Yuan furrowed his brow and asked, "Wait, that's not right. When the Dachao breached the pass back then, they didn't conscript the people of Xize Province for corvée labor?" Li Junwu pondered for a moment before sighing. "When Nalan Ting breached the pass back then, he truly didn't bring much harm to the common folk of Xize Province. As for the exact reason, I'm not entirely clear." With that, she looked toward the Western Regions girl, but Jiayi merely shook her head. "......" Noticing this detail left Xu Yuan somewhat dazed. He couldn't fathom the late king's motive for maintaining such strict discipline. In this era, to these nomadic peoples, the subjects of other nations were little more than two-legged sheep. After a brief silence, Xu Yuan's gaze caught the portrait on the xuan paper. His pupils contracted suddenly. Rubbing the space between his brows, an expression of hesitation colored his face as he murmured: "It couldn't be because of that, could it... Is it a coincidence, or calculated design? If it's a calculated design, this Nalan Ting was looking far too far ahead..." Li Junwu raised an eyebrow, smacking Xu Yuan firmly on the back. "What are you muttering about? Did you figure out Nalan Ting's objective?" "Ouch..." Xu Yuan clicked his tongue in pain and glared at his good "brother." Seeing Jiayi also casting a curious look his way, he sank into thought before saying, "I think I have a rough guess." "What is it?" "Nalan Ting's purpose in doing so was likely preparing for surrender." "Nonsense!" At those words, Jiayi's delicate brows shot up instantly, like a Persian cat bristling its fur. "The late king could never have been that kind of man!" "......" In *Cangyuan*, the Desert Divine Maiden had held immense respect for Nalan Ting; the late King of Dachao seemed to be a forebear she deeply revered. Thus, Xu Yuan wasn't surprised by her reaction. He smiled faintly and asked, "Then explain why he chose to die rather than stoke national hatred within Great Yan's borders?" "The late king's death was him acting as medicine to purge the accumulated ills of a thousand years among the Dachao!" Jiayi narrowed her beautiful eyes, countering swiftly, "If he hadn't done so then, all his plans would have come to nothing, and all those vast amounts of supplies and equipment seized would have remained within Great Yan!" Xu Yuan shook his head, holding up his index and middle fingers. "He left you two paths. The first was to use Great Yan's vital instruments to wage war on Great Yan and contend for the realm." Saying so, Xu Yuan turned around, crossing his legs on the bed, and looked directly into her jewel-like emerald pupils. "Only, it's a pity that the first path Nalan Ting wrung from the heavens was walked into a dead end by you descendants. During those thirty years when you Dachao never encroached upon Great Yan's borders, you were busy fighting among yourselves, weren't you?" "......" Jiayi's green eyes wavered slightly, and she averted her gaze. The immense supplies the late king had bought with his life were hauled into the depths of the desert. What followed was not an era of resurgence, but war after war fought between the clans over the late king's scions. Even with those captured Great Yan instruments, and even with those master craftsmen at work, over the course of fifty years, though the Dachao had grown substantially stronger, they were still far from reaching the prosperous golden age the late king had envisioned. "It seems I was right..." Watching the girl's expression, Xu Yuan smiled, folded his middle finger back, and gently tapped the ruby pendant against her chest with his index finger. "Nalan Ting foresaw that you descendants would fail to live up to expectations, so he left you a second path: to seek survival through compromise and integration. And to walk that second path, he could not allow a blood debt of deep-seated hatred to be forged within Great Yan. "Otherwise, the only outcome awaiting you Dachao would be the same fate as the northern Barbarians today." Silence as deep as the sea settled over the room. After an unknown stretch of time, the Western Regions girl's voice slowly broke the stillness of the dim bedchamber: "You are saying those people came carrying the late king's heart to secretly seize control of the Dachao Royal Court in Linlang's name?" "Yes." "In other words, the late king struck a cooperation with them?" "Most likely." "......" Jiayi contemplated briefly, then gave a slight nod, making her decision swiftly. "I understand. I will give you a keepsake to bring Linlang into the city." "......" Li Junwu smiled at once. Just as she was about to tease them, her brow furrowed slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she had caught Xu Yuan's profound, detached expression. Xu Yuan looked at Jiayi, smiling faintly. "Naturally, that works. But I must warn you: you had best abandon any thought of cooperating with the sects." "......" Jiayi frowned in confusion. Xu Yuan paid no heed to her expression. As one of the world bosses in *Cangyuan*, though Jiayi was still young, her intellect was undoubtedly exceptional. Expecting this woman to blindly follow Li Junwu out of some romantic infatuation was completely unrealistic. She undoubtedly knew the current situation in the Western Desert by heart, and she was surely well aware of which factions held power within Great Yan. Cooperating with them was cooperation; cooperating with the sects was cooperation all the same. Under the girl's gaze, Xu Yuan maintained his smile and said quietly, "As a hegemon who could foresee the course of decades to come, Nalan Ting certainly left behind arrangements after his 'death.' Yet your Dachao still descended into turmoil, and that turmoil lasted thirty years." Jiayi frowned and asked in a low voice, "What do you mean by that?" Xu Yuan shrugged, his eyes curving into a smile. "I only want to remind you that your late king isn't the only hegemon under heaven. Not everyone will dance to his design." With that, Xu Yuan kicked off his boots, climbed onto the bed, pulled over a pillow, and lay down. Gazing sidelong into her emerald eyes, he spoke casually: "You can give my words some serious thought. There's still quite a while before dawn when the city gates open, little Divine Maiden sister~"