Chapter 461

Chapter 461

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Side Story Side Story 8 (5)

Belonging to the book:


Can a Strategist Not Ascend the Throne?

Chapter 461 Side Story 8 (5)

Yes, perhaps in this world, Cai Zhaoji, who holds the throat of the world’s discourse, is not in a position-swapping relationship with her at this moment, but is also watching her other self in another world take action from within this body.

How could she let the other down!

Although she has not experienced the legendary life of the other, she has only heard about the twists and turns of this history and the prosperous era of Da Yong from Jiang Tang’s mouth. She was also inexplicably shaken by the saying “women can also be noble” and was spiritually uplifted by the sense of mission to the western frontier.

In the past she experienced, the Han Dynasty was in turmoil, and the barbarians rose in competition, so much so that she, the daughter of a great scholar, had to suffer from being kidnapped and exiled to the territory of the Xiongnu. But what about in this world?

When the Xiongnu tribes in the north of Bingzhou invaded, His Majesty, who was then only the Marquis of Leping, personally led troops out of the frontier to conquer. In the long journey of recovering the provinces, she almost never neglected the control and governance of the border areas, so that today there is such a situation of using barbarians to control barbarians and all sides coming to pay tribute.

Here, there will never be the hunting of the Hu Qiang with “men’s heads hanging by the horses and women carried behind the horses,” nor the struggle outside the frontier of “wanting to die but not being able to, wanting to live but having no way.” There is only the great nation’s demeanor of turning every inch of frontier land into its own.

This clear victory and the unchanging Chinese spirit made her want to take a step forward even when she was caught up in it.

Let’s just say that this sudden courage was also stolen from another version of herself.

When the letter was sent towards Chang’an the next day, Cai Zhaoji also followed Jiang Tang on the journey west to the Tangmao Kingdom as an envoy.

The special scenery of the Cangyuan Plateau, like the northern frontier, is in an uncivilized state. But this time, she is not a prey that has been robbed and lost its autonomy, but an envoy who will bring the majesty of the Heavenly Dynasty’s Emperor to the Tangmao Qiang people!

Jiang Tang looked at Cai Zhaoji’s face and saw that the initial hesitation had gradually disappeared as she held the reins and rode forward. The reflection of the Cangyuan sky in her eyes added a bit of openness and clarity, which made Jiang Tang feel somewhat at ease.

Because of Cai Zhaoji’s sincerity in mentioning the journey of another world, she chose to believe that the other would make an attempt. Entrusting this responsibility to the other might not be a wrong decision.

Just like His Majesty believed back then that not all of the Qiang people had been affected by the century-long Qiang rebellion, and there were still those who could be used by her to create the foundation of Da Yong together, wasn’t that also a dangerous attempt?

However, the historical development on the other side is truly terrifying.

From what Cai Zhaoji said, because of the personal suffering, Jiang Tang believed that there was no falsehood in it. But it was precisely this other future that made Jiang Tang feel chills.

The wanton plundering of the frontier barbarians does not mean that they can enjoy a kind of freedom when they are rarely bound by the central government. On the contrary, the need to obtain survival materials in this way means that the resources they can generate internally are pitifully small.

In such a situation, those at the top might be able to seize a share of the loot from the fragmented Han Dynasty, but those who could only graze scattered herds might even lose the opportunity to take refuge in the Huangzhong Valley in winter!

How is this any kind of long-term survival strategy?

Fortunately… fortunately, they still have His Majesty.

And now, another scattered Qiang tribe is about to return to the embrace of the Central Plains Dynasty.

“Look! Someone is coming to greet us ahead.” The sharp-eyed Jiang Tang pointed forward.

Hearing this, Cai Zhaoji immediately looked in that direction and saw a line of black dots in the distant snowy grassland, approaching their location.

From their movements, it was not difficult to see that they were not coming to fight, but rather, upon seeing the Da Yong royal flag flying in the air, they reined in their horses. Whether it was because of the artillery that day or the psychological shadow left by their defeat in battle, they, who were supposed to be more skilled in horsemanship, were slower than Jiang Tang’s side.

As the two sides approached, Cai Zhaoji also noticed the lingering fear in their demeanor.

Thinking of this, she immediately urged her horse forward a few steps and spoke the first words of the meeting in a frank tone, “By the order of His Majesty, the Da Yong envoy requests an audience with the Queen of Tangmao!”

At the moment these words were spoken, Cai Zhaoji realized that taking this first step of adaptation was not as difficult as she had imagined.

However, she did not know that she was not the only one experiencing this eye-opening journey and realizing how splendid the life of a Da Yong female official could be.

Because of that accident, not only she but also Zhen Mi appeared in this world.

When she opened her eyes and found herself among the ranks of the female officials in the Shangshu Tai, Zhen Mi felt like she was dreaming.

Who was she? She was Zhen Mi.

Just Zhen Mi.

In this world, she had not first married Yuan Xi and then become a spoil of war for the Cao family due to the fall of the Yuan clan, being taken by Cao Pi. Instead, when Da Yong conquered Ji Province, the Zhongshan Zhen clan provided strong support, giving her the opportunity to join the court.

Her original husband, Cao Pi, who was established as the heir to the King of Wei by Cao Cao, was now just one of the officials about to be sent out by the Da Yong Emperor.

Her original son, Cao Rui, was not born by her, but was the son of Cao Pi and Guo Zhao, a pair of like-minded political ambitious people.

Now she was one of the officials in the Shangshu Tai, with a career of her own.

For some reason, upon suddenly hearing this news, what Zhen Mi felt was not the pain of losing her own child, but an indescribable sense of relief.

Could it not be a relief?

After Cao Pi was established as the heir to the King of Wei, everyone’s attention was focused on the heir’s mansion.

Zhen Mi, who was in it, could not avoid ensuring her and Cao Rui’s position to prevent the three ladies Guo, Yin, and Li from taking her things.

But the Zhen Mi of this world was different.

She did not need to worry about how to win a little care and favor from Cao Pi, nor did she need to try her best to make Cao Rui get enough attention from his father, nor did she need to ease the relationship with Lady Bian through so-called “peace of mind.” All she had to do was to handle the affairs at hand properly.

From the documents on the desk, Zhen Mi could easily see that the self of this world was already familiar with these affairs and even began to plan for further advancement to gain the right to speak as a higher official.

In the correspondence with her family, compared to her brother who was serving as a local official in Ji Province, everyone seemed to be more optimistic about her ability to go further.

And for this Zhen Mi…








For Zhen Mi, the fact that Madam Ding and Madam Bian, who served in the same court, were not her mother-in-law, and Guo Zhao was not a rival in love, meant that the only competition was to see who could win the favor of His Majesty—a situation almost impossible in her life experience.

This completely different life trajectory made it inevitable for her to reveal a flaw when she met the Empress, and she had to honestly admit her origins.

What surprised Zhen Mi was that Qiao Yan did not immediately arrest her, the usurper, but instead ordered her to recount the history of that world in detail, to be recorded by a specialist.

Ren Hong, responsible for recording this, paused her brush countless times and repeatedly glanced at Zhen Mi’s face, trying to discern the truth of her words. However, the details Zhen Mi provided were impossible to fabricate; only someone who had experienced it firsthand could describe the intricate maneuvers so clearly.

Especially the back-and-forth Battle of Guandu.

When Zhen Mi mentioned Cao Cao being enfeoffed as the Prince of Wei with the Nine Bestowments, Ren Hong couldn’t help but glance at their Majesty’s face, only to see Qiao Yan’s calm and steady expression, showing no sign of disturbance by the sudden news.

Indeed, Cao Cao had his capabilities in another world, but that was another world’s affair.

Just like… when Ren Hong heard Zhen Mi recount Minister Wang Yun’s stratagem to sow discord between Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo, her first reaction was—

It felt like listening to a storytelling session.

If Lü Bu knew about this, he would probably rush to His Majesty to defend himself.

How could anyone spread such rumors about His Majesty’s loyal subject?

When Zhen Mi finished her account, Ren Hong heard His Majesty speak, “You said you were confined to the inner chambers, but aren’t you quite knowledgeable about the affairs of the world?”

Zhen Mi was momentarily stunned, not expecting such words from the other.

But she suddenly realized that she wasn’t always like this.

At nine, she loved reading, even secretly using her brother’s brush and ink to learn characters. Her brother said she should learn needlework, not aim to be some female scholar. Back then, she argued that to learn from past experiences, one must read.

But later?

Later, everyone believed that the fortune-teller Liu Liang’s words, “This girl is destined for greatness,” referred to her marriages to Yuan Xi and Cao Pi, not her extensive reading, which might have offered another path to be recorded in history.

Qiao Yan, looking at this somewhat bewildered woman, spoke again, “You will first accompany the Grand Historian. The current situation is still under confirmation, and until a way to switch back is found, I cannot rashly entrust you with the affairs of the Secretariat. Whatever happens in the future, studying there is not a bad thing.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

The Grand Historian’s office had expanded over the past decade, not only recording current events but also compiling the Book of Later Han. Due to Ma Lun leading a group of female officials in studying mathematics, there was a tradition of women in Chang’an “internships” here, making it the perfect environment for Zhen Mi to pick up books and understand the history of this place.

Even guiding her through the introductory studies was Guo Zhao, Ren Hong’s deputy.

She initially thought she might feel uncomfortable, but once immersed, she found the wealth of knowledge so captivating that she forgot about the old stories from another world.

Just as her studies here were getting on track, an urgent message from Qinghai, delivered by both fast horse and carrier pigeon, finally reached Qiao Yan.

“You really know how to pick people, don’t you?”

Upon hearing this complaint, the system wished it could shrink its presence even more.

Indeed… this temporal overlap really knows how to pick people.

By the time this message returned, the three anomalies in Luoyang had already been identified by Qiao Yan.

One was Guo Jia, one was Zhuge Liang, and one was Zhen Mi.

All three were important subordinates to Qiao Yan, yet the first two were still trying to cover up the fact that they had been body-swapped.

After Qiao Ting initiated surveillance on these two, daily reports came in about their desperate attempts to set things right.

If it weren’t for someone covering for them, who knows what kind of mess they would have made.

Thinking about how Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang in this world could see what their counterparts in another world were doing, but couldn’t resist or take over, made Qiao Yan want to sigh even more.

Now, with Cai Zhaoji and Cao Cao added to the mix, what a mess!

Fortunately, in the letter from Jiang Tang, it was mentioned that Cai Zhaoji had been persuaded to continue her diplomatic mission, and with her around, there shouldn’t be any problems. Cao Cao was currently holding off on military action, and she had already stationed people in the military camp to monitor for any unusual movements, ready to report to His Majesty immediately if anything happened.

“Cao Zixiu really isn’t being very smart,” Qiao Yan commented again.

As Cao Cao’s eldest son, Cao Ang couldn’t possibly be unaware of his father’s actions. With the ongoing Tibetan campaign and Cai Zhaoji’s diplomatic mission, he should have had more opportunities to notice Cao Cao’s anomalies. Yet, the letter sent to her was written by Jiang Tang, which was truly disappointing.

Whether it was Cao Cao from another world or not, and whether he intended to use his own means to switch back, for the sake of border stability, he shouldn’t have made such a choice!

For officials, especially those in high positions, the most taboo is such favoritism!

But how to deal with this will have to wait until this matter is settled.

Considering that these people would only stay here for a month, and now only twenty days remained, Qiao Yan, after some thought, issued two orders.

One was to order Cai Zhaoji and Cao Cao to return to Chang’an immediately after the Tangmo affair, where she would meet them in the auxiliary capital.

The other was to have Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang, who were idle anyway, teach some classes to the students about to participate in the imperial examinations.

As she and Xi Zhicai discussed it—

In such a situation, who would benefit more, the ones preparing the lessons or the ones attending them?

Probably the two busy cramming with materials.

However, upon receiving the news, Zhuge Liang and Guo Jia couldn’t help but look at each other.

After a moment of silence, Guo Jia finally asked, “Do you think His Majesty of Da Yong has already seen through our true identities?”

Author’s note:

Alright, these are the last five.

Let’s not bring Sun Quan over (dog head).

See you at 9 PM~ If it’s not at 9, check back in 15 minutes, I still have Double 11 shopping to do.

Spent over a thousand on books yesterday, really enough, still need to buy cat food and cosmetics today and tomorrow.