“Can a strategist not ascend the throne?”
As for Qiao Yan, this was undoubtedly “the perfect timing.”
Despite the chaotic situation, the Xianbei leaders and their followers had a clear distinction, especially when it came to Budugen right in front of her.
From his attire to the loyal crowd around him, and the calmness he displayed in the face of this crisis, it was obvious he was quite the character.
Such a person could never go unnoticed among the Xianbei tribes.
He hadn’t fled with the group being hunted by Lü Bu, but instead ran toward a place where she could pursue him—what a delightful surprise!
For Budugen, however, this was far from good news.
Back when Tan Shihuai was drinking from the river at Dunhan Mountain, he’d picked up quite a bit of Han language.
While he couldn’t grasp high-level terms like “being jinxed,” he understood that Qiao Yan saw him as a big fish she had just caught.
Being viewed as prey is hardly a comfortable feeling, but given the current circumstances, he had no choice but to follow Qiao Yan westward, effectively becoming a hostage none of his tribe could rescue.
As the campfire lit up in the makeshift encampment on the grassland, Budugen finally spoke up: “What do you mean, Qiao Bingzhou?”
Qiao Yan didn’t answer his question but merely raised her gaze and said, “You seem to have yet to explain your identity.”
It was certainly convenient that this guy spoke Han, saving her a lot of trouble, though there was no need to express that as a compliment.
After realizing he was Budugen and not Quidou, Qiao Yan felt a bit better.
Budugen was stronger than Quidou, but his youth had let Quidou take the position of Xianbei chieftain. More importantly, Budugen had some similarities in style with the Bingzhou people, which meant—
He was willing to submit to stronger figures.
After Cao Cao rose in the north, Budugen had faced several defeats, leading him to show more affinity toward Cao Wei.
No matter how sincere that affinity was, at least he could temporarily shift from raiding the border to confronting Ke Biner, focusing his primary goal on unifying the various factions within the Xianbei.
This was exactly the kind of situation Qiao Yan was pleased to see.
So now there was something to discuss with this Xianbei leader.
But first, she had to wait for some news.
Not revealing her true intentions at this moment, she leisurely rotated the spit over the roasting lamb, enjoying a leisurely day on the grassland to pile on the pressure for Budugen.
Forced to keep still behind Zhang Yang, Budugen could only watch as the young prefect sliced into the food before him.
At that moment, he couldn’t quite tell whether she was roasting a lamb that had strayed because of the earlier chaos or if it was himself, Budugen.
This slow, chopping torment only ended when Lü Bu returned after pursuing Quidou and Qian Man.
Lü Bu met up with Zhang Liao, incoming from the scouts Qiao Yan had sent, and instantly spotted Budugen’s grim expression.
What seemed to embarrass him wasn’t that Qiao Yan had led her 4,000 troops to attack the Xianbei royal court.
Given Lü Bu and his companions’ elite status, it was completely understandable that such a sudden assault could scatter them.
What truly puzzled him was—
Why hadn’t there been any news of such a significant number of Han troops infiltrating the grasslands beforehand?
Could it be that Qiao Yan had some magical skill like General Huo from the Former Han Dynasty, appearing out of thin air?
His gaze briefly lingered on Zhang Liao’s face.
Zhang Liao had served as a Military Officer in Bingzhou for nearly a year, battling alongside Fuluohan at the front lines multiple times.
This young man was notably brave, often leading the charge, making it easy for Budugen to recognize him.
Recognizing Zhang Liao implied he saw the Han troops’ attitude: they could count the Yanmen defense forces among those attacking, unafraid of Fuluohan discovering the vulnerability of the border.
It was likely Fuluohan was already dead at their hands!
In the Xianbei, relationships between brothers were more about partnership than closeness, and Budugen could not remain indifferent to Fuluohan’s death.
In that instant, he thought their royal court’s prestige would certainly be damaged, and his hard-won consolidation of power among the Xianbei would suffer a significant blow.
Just as he was contemplating this, he heard Qiao Yan ask Lü Bu, “What were the battle results?”
Lü Bu sighed, “Let that little brat escape.”
Before Budugen could breathe a sigh of relief, Lü Bu added, “But it’s no big deal; during the charge through their defenses, I managed to chop off one of his arms and shot him with an arrow from afar. Given the treatment out here, there’s no way he’s keeping his life. Even if he hangs on, losing an arm in a power-hungry tribe implies a pretty dire fate, unless he’s one of those thinkers among the Xianbei.”
Lü Bu definitely didn’t think they’d have someone like that.
“It’s a bit disappointing, though; can’t count that as a true achievement, can we?”
Qiao Yan responded, “If his death becomes known, I’ll give you credit for it!”
Lü Bu’s face lit up.
Though he knew that being promoted to the position of a commander from this mission would be quite an achievement—it wouldn’t be likely for him to ascend to general.
But since Qiao Yan was a strict boss about rewards and punishments, and had promised a credit, there should naturally be a corresponding reward.
Thinking about it made him feel a bit regretful.
He recalled seeing another young noble from the Xianbei fleeing during his pursuit, perhaps even younger than Budugen, yet he hadn’t inflicted any damage on that guy due to his fixation on his own goal.
He duly reported this back to Qiao Yan, only to see her face break into an even brighter smile.
For Qiao Yan, no matter the outcome of Lü Bu’s efforts, she didn’t feel she had come out on the losing side from this action.
Letting Lü Bu chase was not about catching a fleeing enemy but rather allowing his prowess to shine through.
After all, no one expected Lü Bu’s bow and arrow to be so powerful, inflicting such long-range damage. As long as that deadly arrow was used at the right time, it was already enough.
And even if they didn’t manage to kill him, a chieftain chased like a homeless dog by the Han troops wouldn’t have much dignity left, would he?
The result achieved was precisely the most advantageous for Qiao Yan.
This made her ponder the luck stat she had assigned herself earlier; perhaps it had indeed manifested now.
The current situation was—
Quidou was injured by an arrow, likely facing imminent death; the previous chieftain had miraculously escaped, along with the young Qian Man; Quidou’s brother Fuluohan had died at Lü Bu’s hands, and now Budugen had fallen into Qiao Yan’s grasp as a hostage.
Qiao Yan glanced at Budugen, noticing his increasingly grim expression.
Quidou had seized the chieftain title from Qian Man due to the previous ruler’s cruelty and the fact that at the time, Qian Man had been quite young. But now what?
Originally, the stronghold built by their brothers had rapidly fallen apart overnight, with death and injury on every side. If Quidou died too, the chieftaincy might very well return to Qian Man’s faction.
The resources controlled by the Xianbei were far too scarce, compelling the ambitious within the tribe to grab power with both hands, which was the very notion Budugen held.
But now it seemed, if he wished to seize the throne and reassemble the scattered Xianbei people post-Quidou’s demise, that would be an exceedingly tough task unless…
“If I were to let you go, what would your reward be?” Qiao Yan asked while directing Zhang Yang to take the roasted lamb off the fire and place it on their platter.
Budugen stared at Qiao Yan in disbelief, struggling to read her calm expression.
All he saw was her motioning for another plate to be placed before her while beckoning him to sit down across from her.
Despite it being such a close invitation, even those few valiant military officers didn’t seem overly relaxed.
Everyone took a few steps back, as if giving them space to talk, while Budugen didn’t feel like he had any chance to challenge Qiao Yan and take her hostage.
For once, this Marquis of Leping didn’t act according to usual logic; she not only personally led troops into the wilds but also demonstrated that her martial skills were no joke.
Though she was judging food on the northern grasslands, she had her two-pronged long spear by her side, as if ready to poke someone at any moment.
“Why would Qiao Bingzhou let me go?” Budugen hesitated for a moment before taking a seat.
For some reason, in this young man’s open actions, he vaguely saw a shadow of Chanyu Tanshihuai from years gone by; or perhaps it was more accurate to say this was the aura of a strongman.
But he remembered that although he was on the losing side, he still had to maintain the dignity of the Xianbei people, which made him approach the discussion with a serious attitude.
Qiao Yan remained laid-back, “Out here on the northern grasslands, with branches all over, to the west are the migrating Northern Xiongnu, and to the east the invading Wuhuan. If I were to kill you, there would only be two outcomes—”
“Either a hero emerges from somewhere, giving birth to a new leader among the Xianbei, or that son of the Han can take on the responsibilities of the tribe, but with ambitions and hatred toward the Han, still fearless of invading again.”
“Or, the Northern Xiongnu will come back around, rebuilding their royal court in Yanran, or the Wuhuan forces to the east will expand further, swallowing you up to create a new foreign dynasty on the northern border of the Han.”
“That would be trouble for me.”
She spoke of trouble, but to Budugen, her face was hardly worried, only a smirk as if she were watching a petty show. True enough, her next line was: “I’ll have to come back here again; what a hassle.”
“…” Even knowing that getting here wouldn’t be so easy, anyone could tell if she managed to pull it off once, doing it again wouldn’t raise any doubts.
Budugen stayed silent for a long time before replying, “What Qiao Bingzhou said makes sense.”
He could roughly guess her thoughts from that line.
If she let him go, it would be a rather fair bargain.
He still held power here; even though she had captured him, it wouldn’t affect his strength when he gathered his truly loyal subordinates to restore order here.
Yet his succession wasn’t so straightforward, and having had a direct encounter with her, he understood what kind of enemy his southern Bingzhou truly was—it set him up not to become her fierce rival.
Even if he tried to convince himself that Qiao Yan was just another one of those Central Plains folks trying to pull tricks, he found he could only come up with a negative answer when he asked whether he had the ability to contend with her and those like Lü Bu and Zhang Liao under her command.
This blade that struck before dawn left a lasting impression in his heart, one that would linger until someone could properly defeat her.
But who would have the need to bring down the Marquis of Leping, the Bingzhou governor appointed by the Son of Heaven of the Han?
Budugen couldn’t help but take a deep breath. In this negotiation, he was undoubtedly the weaker party.
The situation Qiao Yan faced was simply whether or not to send troops again, while he was facing a matter of life and death.
He clenched his teeth and replied, “What do you want in return for letting me go?”
Qiao Yan thought it over and said, “Twenty thousand heads of cattle and sheep.”
She added, “Every year.”
“That’s impossible!” Budugen instinctively shouted.
This kind of heavy expenditure would surely be crippling, making it tough for him to assert authority in the Xianbei for years to come.
But Qiao Yan merely replied calmly, “Let’s do some math. The late Grand Commandant Duan Ji fought against the Western Qiang for twenty years, seizing a total of four hundred forty thousand cattle, sheep, and horses, with forty thousand heads taken down. If we break that down, it’s about twenty thousand a year. My killing more than four thousand of your people this time is actually a bit above average, so next year I can just come to collect some autumn winds.”
“If you’d prefer to have things the other way, that’s fine too. After all, this northern journey could double as training. There are many passes in Yanshan; the Han could build fortifications on the southern slopes while you Xianbei wouldn’t be able to establish an impenetrable defense on the northern side. If I want to come, you can’t stop me.”
“Moreover, the environment in the Western Qiang is obviously not as suitable for grazing as your vast grasslands, yet they still manage to save up like that. What about you?”
“I’m just making you choose: either you give me some of your wealth to avoid disaster, or I’ll regularly come hunting on your grasslands. Isn’t that how it is?”
Qiao Yan’s words caused Budugen’s expression to shift constantly.
She brought up Duan Ji too, which gave him an uneasy gut feeling.
After all, the fierce reputation of this Grand Commandant wasn’t limited to the Western Qiang. He had beaten back the Xianbei when they invaded Jiuquan back in the day!
Rather than saying he was suppressing foreign invasions of the Han, it would be more accurate to say that his policy was one of extermination.
If this similarly martial governor of Bingzhou chose that path after a failed negotiation, then just as she said, given the current shift in power, she could very well go hunting.
It would be better to make a move to spare them some troubles.
He then heard Qiao Yan continue, “You might as well think about it; I need a stable source of cattle and sheep, so I naturally have to support your position as leader. You haven’t chosen to surrender like the Southern Xiongnu, and I won’t meddle in your internal affairs. It’s actually a good thing for you.”
“If you don’t just want to give cattle and sheep, you could also trade for war horses instead.”
Budugen couldn’t help but laugh bitterly; the first offer might be seen as a concession, but the latter hit him square in the face—cattle and sheep are just food, while war horses are resources for war; even a straight trade would still be a loss for him.
But considering the facts laid out by her, this was indeed the lowest offering he could accept.
He spoke up, “I have one condition: if I’m to return to the Xianbei, this expenditure can only be five thousand heads of cattle and sheep. Any more, and my people would rather abandon me and choose another leader.”
“Agreed.” Qiao Yan didn’t reject his condition.
In fact, even if Budugen hadn’t said so, she would have insisted on a staggered payment. Otherwise, given her situation with only four thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry deep in the grasslands, trying to bring back twenty thousand cattle and sheep could easily lead to an ambush from angry Xianbei.
After thinking about another reason she came, she added, “I can actually ease your condition a bit further. You can gather four thousand cattle and sheep, then clear out a thousand cattle and sheep worth of carcasses, load them up, and deliver them to the Yanmen border for a handover. The remaining fifteen thousand cattle and sheep should arrive before winter this year. In exchange—”
Qiao Yan clapped her hands, and Zhang Yang, who had already received her orders, handed her a piece of Mulberry Bark Clothing. “I will provide you with twenty thousand pieces of warm clothing and other winter supplies in exchange. How does that sound?”
Budugen rubbed the clothing in his hands for a moment, then made a decision, “Since Qiao Bingzhou doesn’t intend to cut off our chances, I’ll do this deal!”
This trip to the royal court had indeed cost him a lot of manpower and wealth, but four thousand cattle and sheep, especially with winter over, were still viable as ransom.
Even though he saw those four thousand cattle and sheep blending into Qiao Yan’s cavalry as they swept away, causing a pain in his heart, he had no time to grieve this loss. After all, he still needed to search for the whereabouts of his brother, Quidou.
If he truly dies, then Budugen must establish his position as the leader as quickly as possible! He couldn’t give Qianman any chance to take advantage!
But little did he know, amidst the cheers of victory from the Bingzhou governor and her return, Qiao Yan looked back north one last time, thinking at that moment—
Once we’re back, I’ll have Feng Xiao find a way to contact Qianman or Ke Biner.
She never said she’d only support one leader on this grassland!
As Qiao Yan pondered this, she turned her gaze back to the nearby scene.
Budugen hurriedly gathered four thousand heads of cattle and sheep before noon to regain his freedom, and it just so happened that the sun was shining brightly on the grasslands this spring, making the victorious return feel like a fiery blaze, igniting everyone’s hearts.
She couldn’t help but feel moved and shouted loudly as she spurred her horse, “Let’s go! Once we return to Bingzhou, I’ll personally host a banquet to celebrate your contributions!”
