The allied forces, which had been brimming with high morale, nearly fell apart in an instant. Large numbers of troops were hastily retreating here and there at every moment.
Almost at the same time, the roar of battle cries rang out, and dust clouds rolled in from the distance—the retreating Jin border troops had turned around and were charging straight at them!
By now, no one doubted the accuracy of the information any longer. This had to have been planned by those Jin border troops all along!
Having rested for several full days, the entire border force mobilized and lunged madly at the retreating steppe coalition. The general had decreed: merit would be counted by heads! Everyone would get a share! Soon they discovered that these fierce steppe horsemen had already lost all will to fight—they were only thinking of fleeing.
The former victors had suddenly become the defeated side. The scattered coalition, fleeing in every direction, could barely put up any resistance against the pursuing Jin army, and suffered heavy losses in no time.
Seeing that he was about to achieve a feat of unparalleled brilliance, Wang Hui also grew excited. But just as they stepped onto the grassland, a military order arrived from the rear—Fang Zhiyi ordered the troops to withdraw.
"What? Why?!" Wang Hui was baffled once again. This pursuit alone could have kept the steppe quiet for a decade!
But why...
A phrase suddenly flashed through his mind.
To nurture the enemy to keep oneself indispensable.
"What?!" In the capital, the emperor, who had just returned from admiring flowers with He Yinqing, had his head full of He Yinqing's complaints about her younger sister. He was somewhat dazed, but when he heard Prince Min's words, he jumped straight to his feet.
"The commander of Longnan has fallen in battle, and the commander of Huangguan has also fallen..." Prince Min gritted his teeth as he read out the list. "In order to maintain an effective counterattack, Fang Zhiyi appointed several new men to fill the vacancies. In addition... the Black Chess Regiment was completely wiped out, and the Xuanjia Camp was completely wiped out..."
Each sentence struck the emperor's heart like a heavy blow.
These men—these border troops—were the elite forces his father had left behind! They were the brave warriors of the Great Jin!
Prince Min continued: "Fortunately, Fang Zhiyi managed to hold off the steppe coalition's attack in time and temporarily drove them back to the grassland."
"In his memorial, Fang Zhiyi also said that he did his best, but these men refused to listen to him and charged out on their own, which is why..."
"Outrageous! What did the spies report?"
"What the spies reported is not much different from what Fang Zhiyi said. Only, the spy said that Fang Zhiyi led the troops in pursuit to the riverbank and stopped advancing, citing insufficient grain supplies..."
The emperor stared at Prince Min: "What is your view?"
Prince Min was silent for a moment: "Your subject believes... it is possible. After all, everyone knows that Yilibu and the others never accepted Fang Zhiyi's authority."
"I am asking you how to deal with Fang Zhiyi! He cost me tens of thousands of brave warriors! And then he let those steppe barbarians escape with his own eyes, leaving endless troubles behind!"
The Minister of War suddenly spoke up from the side: "Your Majesty, we must not act rashly against Fang Zhiyi at this moment."
"Why not?" The emperor's eyes nearly blazed with fury. And how could it be such a coincidence that all eleven original border defense commanders had died in battle? Only a fool would think there wasn't a problem!
The Minister of War took a deep breath: "Your Majesty, Fang Zhiyi now holds sole military command. He cannot be touched."
"Moreover, now that he has driven off the steppe barbarians, his prestige in the army is extremely high. If he were punished at this point, both Your Majesty and the court would earn a bad reputation."
The emperor was stunned.
"Most critically, the steppe tribes have only temporarily retreated—they have not been gravely wounded. If Fang Zhiyi were recalled, I fear complications would arise."
The emperor sank into thought. Wait—by all rights, he should be the one holding Fang Zhiyi in his grip, so how did it suddenly feel... as if he were the one being held hostage by Fang Zhiyi?
"Your Majesty, Fang Zhiyi has submitted a memorial requesting grain supplies, saying that if the steppe coalition comes again, the border troops will be powerless to resist." Prince Min spoke.
The emperor gnashed his teeth: "Approved! Approved! Give it to him!"
Meanwhile, Fang Yunlan also received another letter from her superior. She was beginning to understand Fang Zhiyi's intentions—if you can't rely on the system to survive, you have to adapt to the environment.
For instance, the moment the emperor learned of Fang Zhiyi's victory, she found out right after.
It had to be said, the feeling was quite nice. It was just that she always felt like she was playing the villain.
The content of this letter was simple—just idle chatter. But Fang Yunlan, long accustomed to her leader's tricks, quickly pieced together the message.
"The wind has passed. Do whatever you want to do."
She turned it over and over, reading it several times.
"Leader's meaning is... I can spread my wings now?"
Before she could decide what to do, someone arrived. It was the emperor.
His words were stiff, merely telling her that because Fang Zhiyi had rendered meritorious service, her house arrest was lifted.
Fang Yunlan thanked the emperor with a bright smile, deliberately ignoring his sour expression.
"If you're going to be a villain, you've got to be arrogant and domineering." Fang Zhiyi lounged comfortably in his chair, watching the soldiers training in the distance. Wang Hui stood beside him: "Yes, yes. General, what do we do next?"
"What to do?" Fang Zhiyi glanced at him, somewhat amused. "Why, consolidate our power and defy the court, of course!"
Wang Hui felt awkward. Was that the kind of thing you could just say out loud? In the past, no. But now, Fang Zhiyi could stand in the middle of the parade ground and shout it out loud if he wanted.
The generals planted by the court were all dead, those with ambiguous loyalties had all been suppressed, and almost every spy had been buried. Yet here he stood, safe and sound.
"But General, you only have a little over a hundred thousand border troops... The court still has several hundred thousand soldiers. You should still repair your relationship with His Majesty..." Wang Hui, for the sake of survival, could only side with Fang Zhiyi and think for him.
Fang Zhiyi shook his head: "You don't understand the emperor."
He stood up and stretched.
"When he took over, it was already a golden age. Being a peaceful emperor suits him just fine—chasing women, playing at incognito excursions to show off, and even cultivating his reputation for good governance, hoping for a good name in the history books."
"But I'm different. I don't have that many thoughts. If he doesn't let me be comfortable, he won't be comfortable either. Honestly, if I were in his shoes, I'd have this general called back and executed even if everyone cursed me for it. It's a pity—he cares too much about face."
"But General, if so, what will history say of you?"
Fang Zhiyi said in a deep voice: "To borrow a saying from the founding of the Great Jin—there will always be great scholars to speak on my behalf."
Wang Hui was taken aback. Was there such a saying?
"Pass the order: have Fatty Liu take some men out to the steppe and cause some trouble. Bring back some cattle and sheep!"
"Yes!"
Fang Zhiyi turned back to look at Wang Hui and said with emphasis: "Do you know why you're still standing here?"
"Because... because I must help the General cover things up..."
"Nonsense. What would I need you to cover up? Do you really think they're all fools?"
"Then..."
"I hear that Deputy Commander Wang's family has quite the connections at court. Your father is still the Vice Minister of Personnel, isn't that right?"
"Ah?" Wang Hui's eyes were full of panic.
"Don't panic. Do the tasks I assign you well, and I guarantee your life is safe—and you'll have wealth and honor to boot." Fang Zhiyi's laughter only made Wang Hui's heart beat faster with unease.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
