Chapter 1676 – Conquering Nan Sheng, Killing An Huan (Eighty-four)
In response to Li’s question, Jiang Ji fell into a moment of mysterious silence.
“None of that.”
None?
Li was even more puzzled.
Having been among the earliest to follow Jiang Ji in building their realm, he was well aware of his lord’s aloof demeanor that cleverly masked an underlying warmth and patience. He casually followed up with, “No achievement, no reward. It’s an honor for this humble soldier to receive your praise, but this unclear military honor feels undeserved. Perhaps you could explain its origins so I may understand where this credit comes from?”
Jiang Ji couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Li, jokingly saying, “Can’t figure it out? If you can’t figure it out, then I’ll just retract that honor.”
“Don’t do that, my lord!”
Watching the cooked duck fly away, Li’s expression dropped dramatically, looking utterly dejected.
Jiang Ji knew without looking that the live stream’s comments would be filled with “Han Mei little angel, pat pat,” “Han Mei little angel, don’t cry,” “Aww, how can such a little angel be so cute,” “Streamer, be kind, don’t bully our little angel”…
It had to be admitted that Li really had the capital to leverage his good looks. He perfectly inherited the best features from his parents and had long been a template for the male stars in the idle fish entertainment circle. Even though he was nearing thirty, his face hadn’t changed much since that first breathtaking glance years ago.
While others age and their looks decline, Li seemed to become even more handsome with time.
When he flashes his radiant smile, he’s undeniably the sunlit, healthy boy next door—brilliant in both intellect and martial prowess, capable of being both handsome and adorable.
But when he wears a serious expression, he doesn’t need to force any cold demeanor. His very presence exudes an aura of intimidation, a brooding and aloof god, but it’s worth noting that beneath those baggy robes is a body that would make anyone blush. Such contrasts left a whole group of idle fish head over heels in love with him.
Of course, idle fish are a curious breed; some call themselves Li’s mom fans, some claim to be career fans, and others identify as girlfriend fans… and the most bizarre of all, the toxic romantic fans. Jiang Ji had once encountered a cute fan fiction in the comments about the sunny Han Mei being paired with the cold military general Li. Their rallying cry was that since they couldn’t have Li, neither should anyone else.
Jiang Ji: “…”
Speechless!
Under the strong demand from a swarm of idle fish fans, Jiang Ji raised her hand and decided not to continue teasing Li.
“I was just kidding! Do I look like someone who goes back on their word?”
Jiang Ji had always treated her military generals well. Even if military expenses exceeded budget every year, and she often had to dip into her personal funds to cover it, she had never suggested cutting back on military supplies. She was generous with her capable military generals, and no holiday went by without a bounty.
This habit had continued for so many years; how could she possibly renege on Li’s military merits?
She straightened her face and asked, “Do you know whom you struck with the forces you led, Han Mei?”
Seeing Jiang Ji’s sudden seriousness, Li couldn’t help but straighten up as well, replying earnestly, “I don’t know about that.”
Jiang Ji sighed, “If An had heard your words, he would likely be so furious he’d cough up blood.”
“Why?”
Li asked, confused.
Jiang Ji explained, “You ambushed them by coincidence, not through any prior planning, and An’s side has no clue about this.”
The sheer randomness of it only added insult to injury!
Li’s luck had always been fantastic, and this time, he had dealt a heavy blow to the enemy’s morale purely through a combination of skill and fate—though it was entirely unintentional. If An knew about this, wouldn’t he be fuming like crazy?
In a more serious scenario, he might just blow a gasket.
Li couldn’t grasp Jiang Ji’s twisted sense of humor and bluntly added a knife twist to An.
“Even without this incident, An wouldn’t last long; his failures can’t simply be blamed on bad luck, right?”
To put it plainly, An just didn’t have the ability—why cover it up with luck as an excuse?
Jiang Ji chuckled, “Hmm, Han Mei, you’re quite insightful on this matter.”
An was desperate for military supplies, yet Hua Yuan was deliberately stalling the delivery. With Jiang Ji’s precise strikes, An had faced losses this half-year, barely winning any battles, and getting eaten up by Jiang Ji every few days. Over six months, the loss of territory for An had become quite substantial.
The front lines faced consecutive defeats, and with supplies being erratic, they were eventually left with no choice but to mix human flesh with their rations to drag things out.
What they hadn’t anticipated was that the shipment of grain they had hoped for wouldn’t arrive as expected, and the troops sent to intercept it were ambushed by Li—moral morale took a heavy toll, you can imagine. If not for their differing alliances, even the idle fish in the live stream would feel sympathetic towards An.
【Did a manicure】: Sigh, who named An? This person has spent his whole life interpreting the unfortunate aspects of that name. Even after he changed it to “Duoxi,” he couldn’t escape his fate. Though I’m a staunch supporter of the streamer’s side, when I see a rival like him being so unlucky, I can’t help but almost jump teams out of sympathy for three seconds.
The idle fish had long found An’s name rather unfortunate.
Which ancestor would bestow the name “An”?
“Perturbed, that’s for sure.”
Destined to be jinxed forever.
【Cute little bunny】: An’s name “Duoxi” follows a common naming convention in ancient times, like Liu Guo with the style name Gaizhi. The name and style typically convey contrasting meanings, offering both admonition and blessing. But looking at it now, An’s name really isn’t well-chosen.
【Plentiful Blessings】: Just from naming, you can tell a parent’s level of education. Liu Xi, style name Lan Ting; Li, style name Han Mei; Feng Jin, style name Huai Yu… which one doesn’t sound pleasant, looks appealing, and carries perfect meaning? But An, being unconventional, is doomed to fail.
The idle fish vented their frustrations, as the comments were only visible to them and Jiang Ji—An could see none of it. What was there to fear?
Indeed, An couldn’t see it.
So… was that a sliver of consolation?
“Why! Why hasn’t the grain arrived yet?”
Despite trusting Hua Yuan, when Hua Yuan’s actions endangered his life and empire, all trust crumbled.
“Sure, there are enemy ambushes along the way, but can those little ambushes really stop the grain convoy?”
When An was dissatisfied with Hua Yuan, every little flaw was highlighted, and he nearly wanted to roar at him right in front.
But Hua Yuan was far in the rear; communication between locations was exceedingly inconvenient, let alone questioning Hua Yuan’s responsibility immediately.
An’s anger boiled over, and the civil and military officials under him were at a loss.
It wasn’t that they were incapable, but rather that a skilled cook couldn’t make a meal without ingredients—how could they fight without supplies?
Naturally, when their supplies were plentiful earlier, they hadn’t managed to gain anything from Fu Wang’s group either.
Now that they were short on supplies, they had even more excuses to blame for their defeats.
At this moment, a subordinate who was close with Lü Zheng stepped forward and asked, “My lord, have you ever suspected Hua Yuan?”
An frowned, saying irritably, “What do you mean?”
