Chapter 1023 – Rooting Out the Weeds (Part One)
“Please—please don’t kill me! I’ll give you whatever gold, silver, and jewels you want—just please don’t kill me!”
“I’ll give you anything—just don’t kill me—!”
Despite their endless pleas for mercy, the Grim Reaper before them remained unmoved.
Under the threat of death, these people crumbled, their emotions spiraling out of control.
“Liu Xi—may you have a miserable end—”
“Liu Thief! I curse you to never find peace in this life or the next! May your daughters become prostitutes and your sons become thieves—we’ll watch you suffer in hell!”
“Mother, I’m so scared! I don’t want to die, Mother—”
“Father, where are you—I’m so scared—”
…
The piercing curses echoed in Fu Wang’s ears, though he was already far away, yet he felt the haunting whispers of sorrow nearby.
If they were ordinary people, they might feel heartbroken right now, but Fu Wang retained his composure.
“Sigh—General, do you think our Lord is going too far with this—?”
The Vice General, following Fu Wang’s execution orders, showed signs of reluctance; his resolve far weaker than Fu Wang’s steely demeanor.
It wasn’t surprising he felt soft-hearted; the Northern Border’s savages deserved death, and he wouldn’t blink at killing a few.
However, those old, weak, women, and children should be innocent, right? He even spotted infants and pregnant women among them.
Even if he felt sympathy, military orders were like mountain laws. He had no choice but to command a barrage of arrows, executing everyone.
After the execution, he still had to inspect each corpse, stabbing any who showed signs of life one last time.
After all this, the Vice General felt utterly worn out.
Fu Wang let out a cold chuckle, asking indifferently, “If your wife were defiled by the Northern Border savages, your daughter humiliated to death, your elderly mother unable to escape their claws, and your brothers and fathers brutally slain, leaving you as the only survivor—would you still think they’re innocent?”
The Vice General appeared stunned, seemingly caught off guard by such a possibility.
“If that were the case—naturally, I would wish for the entire Northern Border to be buried alongside them—”
Fu Wang continued, “Then that’s that. Why are you overflowing with sympathy? You think the children of the Northern Border are innocent, yet according to my military orders, they’re the least innocent of all. I’d rather spare ten adults than let even one child of Northern Border nobility live.”
“Why?” The Vice General shook his head in disagreement, “The children are small, know nothing, they can’t be the same—”
Fu Wang drove his axe into the ground, leaning against the ramparts of the camp, letting out a long sigh.
“Wartimes are different from peaceful times; during chaos, there is no distinction between young and old.” Fu Wang chuckled, saying, “Young children are far more dangerous than adults. Adults are either dragons or insects—they’re set in their ways and can’t stir up much trouble. But the children? Who knows what they will become? It’s precisely because they are children that they can be manipulated more easily. We will all grow old, and if a young noble from the Northern Border becomes something extraordinary, won’t that leave a hidden danger for the future?”
Though Fu Wang seemed rough and reckless on the outside, he was meticulous as dust on the inside.
He had the instincts of a wild wolf and eyes that could penetrate the fog, revealing the truth.
“However—those are merely some possibilities—”
The Vice General was a nice fellow, honest and loyal, fortunately not delaying military affairs, so Fu Wang didn’t correct him with harshness.
“Not even a hint of possibility should be allowed—” Fu Wang glanced sideways at the area where the screams were dying down, saying coldly, “If our Lord wishes to bring peace and prosperity to the world, then she cannot allow the slightest threat to that peace to exist. Do you think she wants to exterminate the entire Northern Border nobility, even sparing not their relatives? It’s because the nobility hold connections and wealth that surpass the Common People; they can do what the Common People cannot, and thus pose a greater threat, which must not be tolerated.”
Though the Northern Border was a wild place, the nobility had clever individuals. If the nobility were the brain, then the ordinary herders were the limbs; once you remove the brain, how much battle power could the limbs wield without its direction?
“If these people are left alive, in twenty years at most, the Northern Border would regain its strength and become a significant threat. By then, with new grudges and old hatreds, how many innocent lives do you think would be lost? Definitely not just fifteen thousand.” Fu Wang stated with certainty, “War not only harms the Central Plains people but is also a burden for the Northern Border people. If their deaths can buy more lives in the future, then they die with purpose.”
The Vice General stood there, stunned in place for a long while.
After a moment, he shamefully said, “Your level of understanding surpasses mine, General. I feel ashamed.”
Fu Wang replied candidly, “What level of understanding? Just fooling you.”
The Vice General had a blank expression: “…”
Fu Wang pulled his weapon out of the ground, sneering, “The victors are kings; the losers are thieves. If this were in the jungle, which wolf would spare a pregnant prey? If you don’t eat, it’s yourself who starves. I really don’t understand how you have so much sympathy—”
The Vice General: “…”
After all, it was a task assigned by Jiang Pengji, so Fu Wang meticulously checked the identity and age of each corpse, examining them repeatedly.
You can’t be careless—
If any that slipped through the cracks came back for revenge eighteen years later, sparking a war between the savages and the Central Plains, how many people would die?
Fu Wang yawned while keeping a close eye on the task at hand.
To prevent anyone from feeling sympathy, Fu Wang sent out his trusted aide, who was as cold-hearted as they come.
Even if among the culprits were stunningly beautiful individuals, they wouldn’t bat an eye before stabbing multiple times until the victims were lifeless.
“Wei Ci?”
While Fu Wang was busy, unexpectedly, a visitor arrived at the military tent.
“Last night, I gazed at the heavens and found the star patterns in the night sky peculiar—there seems to be a hidden leader in the Northern Border—”
Fu Wang was immediately alert, shaking off all sleepiness.
“What? A hidden leader?” Fu Wang exclaimed in shock, “Wei Ci, you’re not joking, are you?”
Wei Ci’s gaze fell as he replied, “If you don’t believe me, General Fu could investigate it.”
Fu Wang inquired, “Investigate? How?”
“The Left Minister, in his youth, attended a bonfire night meeting, where he had an affair with a shepherd girl and she bore a daughter. This daughter was secretly raised by the Left Minister, later becoming the legitimate wife of a fallen branch of the royal family. This girl’s son is the future leader of the Northern Border’s resurgence.”
Fu Wang was taken aback and stuttered, “The Northern Border’s Left Minister is—”
“Wu Libai.”
“Wu Libai?” Fu Wang quickly checked the roster, locating Wu Libai’s family page, yet finding no mention of the illegitimate daughter, let alone any “hidden leader,” “Wait—I’ll send someone to check—General Wei, please wait a moment—”
Wei Ci remained patient, quietly awaiting, his thoughts drifting back to his past life.
With peace in the world, ministers worried about their offspring, and the Emperor wished to make his eldest daughter, Changsheng, the heir, frequently facing opposition from the officials.
Not long after, the Emperor became pregnant for the second time, later birthing Fushou.
When Fushou was born, remnants of the Red Lotus Sect, led by an individual, resurfaced, even spreading their doctrines into the officials’ households.
This person seized the opportunity created by the disputes over succession among the ministers and the Emperor, scheming to assassinate.
