Chapter 468

Chapter 468

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Extra Chapter 10 (1)

The book it belongs to:


Can a strategist not ascend the throne?

Chapter 468 Extra Chapter 10 (1) (The last extra series)

However, saying that Qiao Huan should be sent to study, even though she is only five years old, is still a bit too young.

After some consideration, Qiao Yan kept her by her side for more than two years before finally sending her off.

The current situation is quite different from when Leping Academy was first established. There’s no need to gather more people like in the past, sending Dian Man, Guo Huai, and others early, regardless of the youngest being only five or six years old.

Moreover, Qiao Yan wanted Qiao Huan to enter the academy not as the sole daughter of the Son of Heaven of Da Yong, but under a pseudonym, which required her to grow a bit taller and gain more self-care abilities.

By the autumn of the fourteenth year of Yuan Zhao, Qiao Huan finally set off towards Bingzhou with her luggage.

“Somehow, I feel that Leping Academy will become very lively because of her presence,” Qiao Yan remarked as she watched Qiao Huan’s carriage depart.

“Your Majesty, are you recalling the days when your followers were all young and gathered together?” Cai Zhaoji asked beside her.

Qiao Yan shook her head, “Perhaps.”

But it’s also possible that she just wanted to see some fun.

After all, there are quite a few potential talents currently studying at Leping Academy.

In the original trajectory of the Three Kingdoms history, these names left a significant mark, but with history taking such a turn, it’s hard to say if those people are still the same.

But in any case, interacting with the next generation shouldn’t be entirely her responsibility, right?

Qiao Huan should also have her own team.

And whether she can recruit people to her side depends on her own abilities.

As she returned to the Luoyang palace, Qiao Yan muttered, “Thankfully, it’s not popular to call parents to school these days…”

Otherwise, she might have a headache.

Now, she’ll just wait for the regular reports from there.

——————

Jiang Wei felt that “Mu Huan,” who enrolled with him this year, was quite unusual.

Not because she was the most capable of eating spicy food among the new students, nor because her obviously non-ordinary family background allowed her to recognize so many characters, but because she had a particularly strange hobby—

Writing storybooks.

Writing storybooks isn’t forbidden, as Leping Monthly Report has made several adjustments to its original version, and the literary section is no longer limited to the highbrow language of Cai Yong.

Not everyone can write something like the Kingfisher Poem, and with the increase in literacy, the Leping Monthly Report is trying to cater to a broader audience. It’s not beneficial to keep them reading obscure content.

Thus, the novel genre has taken the stage.

But Jiang Wei had the fortune to read some of her works, and well… it was somewhat beyond his comprehension.

Although the Jiang family of Hanyang had been purged by the current Emperor due to Li Jue’s attack on Liangzhou before Jiang Wei was born, and compared to a few years earlier, it had declined significantly, the Emperor retained the useful among the four major families of Hanyang, allowing them to rise again, maintaining some status.

Jiang Wei’s father, Jiang Jiao, serving under the Emperor, was one of the key figures in the revival of the Jiang family of Hanyang, making Jiang Wei’s status quite special.

No, it can’t be called the Jiang family of Hanyang anymore.

For some reason, the Emperor decided a few years ago that the name Hanyang sounded too much like the north of the Han River and not like a place in Liangzhou. Since the Wei River passes through Hanyang and originates from the peak of the Bird and Mouse Mountain, it was renamed Tianshui Commandery.

So if he were to introduce himself to others, he should say he is from the Jiang family of Tianshui.

As the eldest son of Jiang Jiao, he had already been given a courtesy name, Boyue, before coming to Leping Academy.

Jiang Boyue of Tianshui.

With the Jiang family’s full cultivation of Jiang Wei after his enlightenment, before enrolling in Leping Academy, he had already read the Emperor’s “Quick Mastery,” “Thousand Character Classic,” “Book of Songs,” and other children’s books like “Classic of Mountains and Seas,” “Selected Idiom Stories,” and “Han Music Bureau.” His literacy was no less than that of teenagers.

But when he was grouped with “Mu Huan” for a project and became “friends” with her under the bandit logic of “knowing each other means being friends,” he received a gift from her—

A storybook she wrote herself.

He recognized every word in the storybook, but when combined, they became something he didn’t recognize.

It has been over thirteen years since the Emperor unified the world, and although not everyone has experiences like Cai Yong, who, after compiling the “Records of the Eastern Han,” assisted Ren Hong and others in integrating the “Book of the Later Han” and also wrote “What I Heard in Bingzhou,” it’s probably because the Emperor’s experiences are too legendary. Various strange anecdotes from the past twenty to thirty years are written in various commanderies.

Some wrote about being in the Yellow Turban Army during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, pretending to be an enemy under the Emperor’s command, farming in Yanzhou. Unfortunately, they missed the attack on Changshe, otherwise, they could have seen how the General of the Tooth Gate held Bo Cai in one hand and Liang Zhongning in the other.

Some wrote about being a commoner in Guanzhong, experiencing the reigns of Dong Zhuo, Liu Yu, and Qiao Yan, and proudly participating in the important event of sending the Emperor to the throne.

And others wrote…

In any case, no one writes like Qiao Huan.

If one had to describe what she wrote, it might be called “Mythical Version of the Late Han Struggle for Supremacy.”

Jiang Wei: “…”

What is this!

She wrote about the Emperor’s Zhu Tan horse, also known as the Flaming Zhu Tan, which showed extraordinary ability during the surprise attack on the Xiongnu outside Guyang Pass. The wind was strong outside the pass, and the horse’s hooves came with fire, burning down the Xiongnu camp and city.

The Emperor threw a two-section Three-Section Spear, piercing through a hundred people and nailing the Xiongnu king on the spot.

In the battle of Guanzhong, Xu Huang climbed the city wall in a few steps.

In the distant crossing of Liaodong, Gan Ning personally rowed the boat.

And in the battle of the Western Regions, Lu Yuan waved her hand, stirring up a sandstorm that buried the King of Yutian.

…

Jiang Wei’s brain stalled for a while before realizing that it wasn’t his eyes playing tricks at such a young age, but Mu Huan was just making things up.

But for someone her age, being able to write such an awkward yet coherent storybook is quite impressive.

As a qualified project partner, he shouldn’t directly dampen her enthusiasm.

He said in a gentle tone, “…Don’t you think this is a bit exaggerated?”

The creativity is good, but for the current people of Da Yong, this kind of art is too advanced.

Qiao Huan widened her eyes, “Really?”

She thought it was normal.

After all, she had seen Guo Jia from another world possessing Guo Jia in this world and learned about the different histories evolved in another world.

Her mother didn’t avoid talking about another world with her. Instead, she personally set up a sand table, explaining how the power struggles there evolved into the Three Kingdoms and how it differed from the development of Da Yong.

With her memory, writing the history of that world as a parallel setting for the Romance of the Three Kingdoms would be no problem. But considering that such writing might lead to misunderstandings about her mother’s ministers, she dismissed the idea.

But writing in a conventional way clearly didn’t satisfy her flamboyant personality.

In that case, let’s have a version with fire-breathing, wind-summoning, and spear-piercing clouds!

At least the overall historical development respects the existing reality, just amplifying the combat effects a bit.

Compared to the parallel universe’s Three Kingdoms, this is much more acceptable.

However, what she saw was Jiang Wei nodding seriously, saying, “Leping Monthly Report probably won’t accept such submissions. We’re still in the stage of universal enlightenment, not everyone can believe that what you wrote is just artistic processing based on facts. If someone really believes this is the actual situation and chooses not to strive because of the exaggerated differences, what then?”

“You can consider another reason,” Jiang Wei spread his hands, “I can’t summon wind, I’m jealous after reading it.”

“Ah… is that so?” Qiao Huan scratched her head.

“Perhaps,” another voice came.

The speaker was a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl.

Although the new students of Leping Academy have separate classes and instructors, and group projects to help each other adapt, they also have a senior to answer their questions.

Qiao Huan’s identity is a secret to the students of Leping Academy, but not to the teachers, so the guide assigned to Jiang Wei and Qiao Huan is Cao Jie, Cao Cao’s daughter.

Seeing Jiang Wei and Qiao Huan’s seemingly mature yet childish behavior, Cao Jie suppressed her urge to laugh and said to Qiao Huan, “Perhaps you could try expressing mythological stories in this way, turning them into extended skits, or even compiling them into illustrated manuals?”

If so, this would follow the “Classic of Mountains and Seas” published a few years ago, and there would be an audience for it.

But the problem is, Qiao Huan has no other faults except one: once she decides on something, she must do it.

—Unless her mother stops her.

Now that Qiao Yan isn’t by her side, no one can stop her.

Thus, Cao Jie and Jiang Wei witnessed the destructive power of this Leping Academy freshman, Mu Huan.

According to Qiao Huan…








Their own analysis, both of them felt that their artistic creations were too disconnected, probably because her writing skills were not yet sufficient to depict the majestic demeanor of the generals and the strategic planning of the advisors during the heat of battle. Therefore, she needed to find a partner in the academy to collaborate with her on her creative works.

This person couldn’t be too old, especially not someone about to graduate from the academy and head to Luoyang.

After all, she couldn’t hinder their careers. Moreover, it was uncertain whether their creative drive and imagination had already started to wane.

She also couldn’t find someone too junior, like herself.

People like her and Jiang Wei, who had ample knowledge reserves, were still a minority. What if the helper she found couldn’t even recognize all the characters?

Additionally, this person should ideally have extraordinary military prowess.

Inheriting Qiao Yan’s initiative and practical skills, Qiao Huan quickly listed out her requirements and posted her needs and the commission for finding someone on the academy’s bulletin board. Within half an hour, she identified the most suitable candidate.

Deng Ai, a 13-year-old from Xinye, Nanyang.

Jiang Wei sighed again, thinking that Mu Huan was truly an eccentric. She actually went to approach Deng Ai after identifying him as the candidate.

Due to his stutter, Deng Ai rarely communicated with others, focusing solely on studying the books in the academy’s government storehouse.

Jiang Wei had heard of Deng Ai’s name upon arriving at Leping Academy. It was said that he was a descendant of the prominent Deng clan, but having lost his father at a young age and lacking family support, he traveled to Yingchuan around the age of ten. There, he met Chen Shi, the father of Chen Ji, and upon seeing the inscription “文为世范，行为士则” (A model in literature, a standard in conduct) on a stele, he changed his name to Deng Fan, with the courtesy name Shizai. However, since there was already a Deng Fan in his clan, he changed it to Deng Ai.

Upon hearing that Leping Academy was expanding and offering scholarships to outstanding students, Deng Ai, with his mother’s consent, traveled north to Bingzhou and became a part of Leping Academy. In less than three years, due to his excellent academic performance and rapid progress, he had already accessed the academy’s elite library multiple times. Judging by his level of discourse, once he graduated, he would undoubtedly enter the Luoyang officialdom and become an asset to His Majesty.

In Jiang Wei’s view, Deng Ai must have been out of his mind to agree to Mu Huan’s request.

But to Jiang Wei and Cao Jie’s surprise, he actually agreed?

“How did you convince him?”

Qiao Huan lifted her chin, “Negotiation is all about hitting the right points.”

“If he wants to be a model in literature, why not start with this kind of creative writing? He can earn a fee and hone his literary skills. I told him that while refining his writing, he should read it aloud, immersing himself in the process, which might help him forget his stutter and speak more fluently.”

“If he wants to be a standard in conduct, he shouldn’t leave his mother alone in Nanyang, making her worry from afar. I have a residence in Leping that I can rent to him at a low price, which can be covered by his writing fees. With the current prosperity in various regions and Bingzhou being a thriving hub, there are ample opportunities for self-reliance and mutual support.”

“With these two points, why wouldn’t he agree?”

But agreeing is one thing…

The audience for this work, as Jiang Wei and Cao Jie pointed out, was the upper echelons who could discern right from wrong. Promoting it would be no small feat.

The Leping Monthly Report’s editorial board had already rejected it.

Although Deng Ai had been informed by Qiao Huan at the start of their collaboration that even if they didn’t meet her expectations, she wouldn’t take back the writing fee she had given him, he still felt quite guilty.

But Qiao Huan, acting very mature, waved her hand, indicating that they would scale back a bit and try again.

This initial version, unedited and polished by Deng Ai, was copied and sent in two directions after Qiao Huan’s consideration.

One copy was sent to Luoyang, indicating that she was genuinely making efforts to attract talent and forge partnerships at Leping Academy.

Even if the method of attraction was a bit unconventional, as long as the goal was achieved, it was fine.

The other copy was sent to Suiyuan City in the White Path Valley, into the hands of Lü Bu.

This was the conclusion Qiao Huan reached after observing the reports of her mother’s officials.

If there was anyone who could appreciate her artistic creation, it would definitely be Lü Bu!

And just as Qiao Huan expected, Lü Bu greatly admired it.

Of course, mainly because Qiao Huan had flattered Lü Bu by depicting his absolute bravery in this fantastical battle scene, such as his arrow being able to shoot a hundred miles and pierce the skull of the Xianbei chieftain.

This description, which Qiao Huan’s writing skills couldn’t achieve, was much more vivid after Deng Ai’s polishing, delighting Lü Bu immensely.

In Lü Bu’s understanding, exaggerating his archery skills to such an extent must mean that Qiao Huan held him in high esteem!

It seemed that His Majesty had praised him often in front of this young princess!

As a retired general, he felt his life was complete!

In his joy, Lü Bu felt he shouldn’t remain idle.

After all, it was only a day’s ride from Suiyuan City to Leping Academy. Occasionally, when there were no urgent matters in the White Path Valley, going to mentor promising juniors shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Let’s do it!

“Although we didn’t get the Monthly Report’s approval and the subject matter isn’t very relatable, we’ve secured ourselves a benefit,” Qiao Huan declared confidently. “Jiang Boyue, Deng Shizai, we have a martial arts instructor on contract.”

Jiang Wei: “…”

Deng Ai: “…”

This development was completely unexpected.

And what followed was even more beyond their expectations.

Although Qiao Huan wasn’t like Lü Lingju, who enjoyed being the academy’s big sister, if someone provoked her, she wouldn’t take it lying down. Especially if the provocateur was someone aspiring to be the grade leader, she had even less reason to endure.

By the time Jiang Wei and the others received the news and arrived, they saw Qiao Huan pinning an eight or nine-year-old girl in martial attire to the ground.

“I find it quite amusing that you, seeing my special treatment and exclusive martial arts training, still dared to provoke me.”

“Isn’t it too presumptuous of you to show off with such limited skills?”

Qiao Huan pressed her head down and asked, “By the way, your moves seem familiar. What’s your name again?”

The pinned girl, furious, replied, “I already introduced myself. I’m Sun Luban.”

Sun Luban, the eldest daughter of Sun Quan, the Prefect of Nanhai Commandery in Jiaozhou!

Qiao Huan: “…”

Oh, no wonder she looked familiar. Not only did this girl resemble Sun Ren, but some of her moves were similar too. So, they were aunt and niece.

Remembering that her martial arts were taught by Sun Ren a couple of years ago, Qiao Huan felt a twinge of guilt.

But, having already fought, and since the other party had initiated the provocation, wanting her to follow their lead, she couldn’t be blamed for fighting back fiercely.

It was just a bit unfortunate—

She enjoyed the fight, but afterward, she had to explain the situation to the grade supervisor responsible for the academy’s new students. After all, public brawling wasn’t something normal students should engage in, as it set a bad example, and the teachers had to address it.

Coincidentally, it was someone Qiao Huan had met before.

Two years ago, because Cao Ang failed to report that Cao Cao had been replaced, Qiao Yan stripped him of his position as the Prefect of Hanzhong and ordered him to teach at Leping Academy.

Having gained some experience by then, he naturally ended up in charge of the new students.

However, upon seeing that the fighters were Qiao Huan and Sun Luban, Cao Ang suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Sun Luban’s grandmother, Madam Wu, was the vice-president of Leping Academy.

So, the incognito young princess had fought the granddaughter of the academy’s vice-president.

What a… nightmare!

“Can anyone explain to me what exactly happened here?”

The next moment, Qiao Huan, the victor of the fight, looked up at him and said, “Teacher, we weren’t fighting. We were rehearsing a new play.”

“Rumors say that when His Majesty was in Bingzhou, General Dian Wei chased a tiger across a stream, displaying unmatched bravery, earning him the nickname ‘Ancient Evil’. So, this play is called ‘Dian Wei Fights the Tiger’.”

“Last time, I wrote about a fire-breathing Zhu Tan, and they said it was too outrageous. This time, I’m going for something more acceptable.”

Although there aren’t many people who can wrestle a tiger, it’s still a plausible scenario, making it sound much more normal.

Hearing this, Sun Luban’s eyelids twitched.

The nickname Sun Quan gave her was “Big Tiger”!

This girl wasn’t just making up excuses!

But just as she was about to refute, she saw Qiao Huan mouthing something to her.

She vaguely recognized it as something like “We’ll settle this next time.”

Next time?

When Cao Ang asked if it was indeed as Qiao Huan had said, Sun Luban wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and replied loudly, “Yes, that’s right! It was just a performance. No need to make a big deal out of it.”

Cao Ang: “…”

He rubbed his forehead, “Do you two think I’m an idiot?”

Do I really look that easy to fool?

Author’s Note:

Leping Academy is in chaos.gif

Little Qiao Huaixu’s cadre of officials starts from Leping Academy (dog head)

Sun Luban definitely needs to be subdued from the start. This one… truly lives up to the nickname “Big Tiger” given by Sun Quan. The political struggles in Eastern Wu in its later stages were largely stirred up by her, leading to Sun He’s deposition, Sun Liang’s ascension, Sun Jun’s dictatorship, and Sun Luyu’s wrongful execution, mostly orchestrated by Sun Luban, who was eventually exiled after a coup.

She’s a useful political talent, but it depends on how you use her.

No worries, our little Taizong is very clever.

Anyway, she’s still young now, so… let’s have a fight first. (Jiang Wei: I don’t understand, I’m just shocked)

This generation’s academy side stories will include some elements from the previous generation. It’s definitely not that I glossed over things and didn’t write them (assertive).

See you tomorrow at 9:30 AM.