Chapter 462

Chapter 462

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Side Story Side Story 8 (6)

Zhuge Liang felt that if he wasn’t stupid, he wouldn’t say “no.”

Could it really be a coincidence that allowed him and Guo Jia to come together to discuss, giving them the opportunity to cover up the fact that they weren’t the original owners under the guise of working together, and even allowing them to freely gather information under the pretext of preparing for lectures?

In the past few days, Huang Yueying had hardly returned home, and if she did, it was only to pass by him. Guo Jia had repeatedly managed to dodge invitations from Xun Yu, Xi Zhicai, and others.

But are there really so many coincidences in the world?

Probably not.

The Da Yong dynasty has only been established for twelve years, not a long time. The capital was moved from Chang’an to Luoyang just a few years ago. If there were any lapses in management, allowing the two of them to take advantage, it wouldn’t be unreasonable.

But they couldn’t even help their original lords reach the highest position in their own worlds, reuniting the realm. What confidence do they have to think they are the smartest?

Qiao Yan’s directive, rather than allowing them to make the most of their talents while things aren’t too busy and help her with more work, seems more like a final ultimatum.

Hiding things has no meaning and only makes them look like clowns in front of this emperor.

Coming clean as soon as possible is the right path.

Realizing this subtext, Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang couldn’t help but sigh.

Their previous worries had indeed become reality.

But considering all their attempts to return to their original world had failed, they thought that receiving such a potentially troublesome invitation might be a good thing.

After all, things couldn’t get worse.

It’s just… if they could avoid meeting the little princess before seeing the emperor, it might be more comforting for Guo Jia.

Because the child immediately said, “I told you there was something fishy about you! Next time, remember, after I make a guess, you can’t just agree.”

She thought for a moment and added, “No, you probably won’t have another chance to respond like that.”

“Speaking of which, you really underestimated my mother’s abilities, repeatedly entering and exiting Luoyang’s city gates, trying to recreate the scene where the carriages swapped places? That’s not something Governor Guo would do.”

At this point, Qiao Huan muttered, “I’ve noted that this isn’t a viable strategy.”

Guo Jia coughed heavily, interrupting Qiao Huan’s monologue, “Swap?”

He thought the emperor might at most suspect something was off with him and Zhuge Liang, but never expected such an accurate description of a swap.

Qiao Huan clapped her hands, “Oops, I misspoke. My mother just said she could tell from your reaction to Guo Yi that you might also be Guo Jia, but not the Guo Jia who experienced the founding of Da Yong with her. Anyway, I don’t really understand, so you’d better talk to my mother.”

Zhuge Liang glanced at Qiao Huan. Although the child said she didn’t understand, her exceptionally intelligent expression suggested otherwise.

The Da Yong emperor, bearing a child at such a high position, was extremely risky, but given the current situation, the decision wasn’t wrong.

Part of the cohesion in the Da Yong court must be due to this little princess.

The more she shows her talent for inheriting power, the more stable the new dynasty’s foundation becomes.

In this regard, Qiao Yan’s luck is much better than his lord’s.

But now is not the time to dwell on this. After Qiao Huan stopped at the door, claiming she wasn’t old enough to participate in discussions, he and Guo Jia entered the imperial study in Luoyang’s North Palace, where Qiao Yan was waiting.

Since the time-space swap incident, Zhuge Liang had only seen Qiao Yan during court meetings, unable to make a comparison. Guo Jia, however, could clearly see that Qiao Yan’s commanding presence was much stronger now than before.

Even though the emperor, in his thirties, still looks quite young due to his robust physique, the authority of ruling the world for over a decade is indescribable in just a few words.

What made this aura even more palpable was her gaze, unlike during court meetings where she showed some warmth towards old and new ministers, now completely viewing them as strangers.

Beside her were two others.

One was Ren Hong, the Grand Historian, perhaps to record this event accurately.

The other was a young girl, about twelve or thirteen, dressed in Taoist robes.

The girl, holding a horsetail whisk, stood with a pale face, showing almost no expression.

But when she looked up at Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang, her gaze was sharp as lightning.

This sharpness was fleeting, and she soon returned to her composed stance.

Qiao Yan seemed not to notice the girl’s scrutiny and said, “You two are smart and understand my meaning. You must have heard what Huaixu said on your way here. Let’s be frank and clear up everything.”

“Although I don’t know why only you two among Luoyang’s officials were replaced by versions from another background, or why you happened to come together—”

Zhuge Liang inwardly sighed; not only did the Da Yong emperor not know, but he and Guo Jia didn’t either.

“Anyway, it’s happened, and avoiding the issue isn’t the way to handle it.”

“Moreover, there are two others in the same situation.”

When Qiao Yan mentioned “two,” Ren Hong’s eyebrows twitched.

But she didn’t interrupt, as most eyes were on Qiao Yan, and her subtle movement went unnoticed.

They only heard the emperor say, “The Governor of Qinghai, General of the Chariots and Cavalry Cao Mengde, and the Imperial Secretariat’s Huangmen Shilang Cai Zhaoji are the same as you two.”

Qiao Yan didn’t miss the subtle expression on Guo Jia’s face when she mentioned Cao Cao’s swap but continued, “In the twelve years since Da Yong’s founding, such anomalies have never occurred. I want to hear about your situations before coming here to find similarities.”

Hearing this, Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang exchanged glances, and Guo Jia replied, “To be honest, Your Majesty, we’ve also been looking for similarities, but there’s a big problem.”

Guo Jia spread his hands, “He came here alive, while I came back from the dead. There’s really no comparison.”

“I died in the twelfth year of Jian’an, corresponding to the twelfth year of Yuanzhao here, while Kongming is from the twenty-third year of Jian’an. Even the timelines are different.”

Perhaps it’s because Guo Jia, in any world, has a carefree and unrestrained nature, allowing him to talk about his “death” without any regret or restraint.

He even had the leisure to ask, “May I ask, Your Majesty, when did the other two arrive?”

Qiao Yan replied, “One is also from the twenty-third year of Jian’an.”

“That’s just too much,” Guo Jia sighed, “Digging me up eleven years after my burial.”

“Cough…” A loud cough suddenly came from outside the window.

Guo Jia turned to see a small head peeking through the half-open window.

It was none other than Qiao Huan.

The so-called “not old enough to participate in discussions” was clearly a flexible rule for Qiao Huan.

Not entering the hall was fine; she could eavesdrop from outside the window.

From Qiao Yan’s expression, it was clear she condoned this flexible approach.

But Guo Jia’s statement, even though Qiao Huan had already heard the general situation from her mother, was still too shocking.

How could someone talk so calmly about being dug up after death!

Perhaps because of Qiao Huan’s interruption, Guo Jia’s remaining frustration was temporarily suppressed.

He turned to Qiao Yan, who was looking at the young Taoist girl. “What do you think?”

The girl looked up at Guo Jia, her sharp gaze meeting his briefly before replying, “Your Majesty need not worry. It’s just a temporal overlap. It will return to normal in at most one to two months.”

“Really?” Qiao Yan asked.

The girl, calm and composed, still had an ethereal air even in the palace hall.

Facing Qiao Yan’s doubt, she nodded slightly, “Your Majesty is the primary, the other is secondary. The secondary cannot override the primary. There will be a higher power to restore order.”

“Your Majesty’s two ministers are still here. Even if they can’t return to their original positions, a soul-summoning ritual can awaken them.”

This statement was indeed confident!

If not for the girl’s calm demeanor and unchanged expression in front of the imposing emperor, Zhuge Liang would have almost thought it was a lie.

He wanted to ask, based on the records he’d seen here, Qiao Yan once pushed Zhong Changtong’s theories to counter the “red qi piercing the purple palace” prophecy, suggesting she didn’t believe in fate or gods. But then he suddenly realized that with the soul-swapping incident, which defied human effort to overcome fate, there was no point in quibbling.

Thus, he wasn’t surprised to see Qiao Yan suddenly relax, “That’s good.”

But… what’s good?

That the temporal swap would return to normal in one to two months, or that if they couldn’t swap back, a soul-summoning ritual could be used?

Unfortunately, before they could discern anything from Qiao Yan’s expression, they heard her say, “You’ve heard this. One month isn’t too long or too short. I hope we can cooperate for mutual benefit, rather than continue this… mutual suspicion and disguise. What do you think?”

Since everything was out in the open, there was no need for further disguise.

In the subsequent conversation, they further discussed Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang’s origins.

Guo Jia, seeing Ren Hong’s frantic note-taking from the corner of his eye, couldn’t help but think mischievously about how future generations might speculate on this record.

In this way, even though he had died in another timeline, leaving a record in this unified dynasty was not a loss but a huge gain!








However, before Guo Jia could feel proud for long, he heard Qiao Yan add after defining the scope of his and Kongming’s actions in Luoyang City, “What I said earlier about having you two give a lecture to the students about to participate in the imperial examination, although it was a reminder for you, I have no intention of withdrawing it.”

Guo Jia: “…”

What the hell? Why do they still have to let these two outsiders teach after everything is laid out?

Qiao Yan, however, said righteously, “I think, since you two are still outstanding figures in another late Han world, you wouldn’t want to be inferior to my subjects. With the imperial examination approaching, I originally intended for the students to witness the demeanor of Da Yong’s key ministers, and it’s better for you two to take on this role.”

Guo Jia was one of the youngest strategists who followed Qiao Yan in the early years, and Zhuge Liang was one of the first batch of students from Leping Academy to be heavily entrusted by Qiao Yan, making them perfect role models before the imperial examination. How could they be canceled just because their cores have changed?

“Of course, if you don’t want to go, that’s fine too.”

Qiao Huan, who was eavesdropping outside the door, was curious why her mother suddenly became so accommodating, only to hear Qiao Yan say, “Disobeying the imperial decree is no different from dereliction of duty for officials, so I’ll just deduct your salaries for this year.”

“At most, when these two remember this period in the future, they’ll have to say, ‘Another me? The one who caused me to lose a large amount of monthly salary? Indeed, different life experiences cultivate a hundred different people.'”

Guo Jia: “…”

Zhuge Liang: “…”

Qiao Huan once again let out a cough-masked laugh.

Her mother’s move was truly brilliant.

It must be said, as these two gained a deeper understanding of Da Yong’s situation and the various performances of their other selves over the past few days, aside from the feeling of inadequacy, they inevitably developed a competitive desire to outdo them.

Even though Guo Jia could be considered a dead man and theoretically shouldn’t care about this, he still couldn’t help but get caught up in it.

The expressions of these two changed for a moment before they bowed to Qiao Yan, “We respectfully obey Your Majesty’s decree.”

Just as they were about to step out, they suddenly heard Qiao Yan add from behind, “After this matter is settled, I will have someone send you two via Mengjin to board a ship, go down the great river, and see more of the scenery outside Luoyang. However, how much you can see along the way depends entirely on how much time is left.”

“Please also ensure that my key ministers are well protected, to fulfill this misplaced fate.”

This “key ministers” obviously refers to their counterparts from another world.

When this last sentence came from the previously solemn Da Yong Emperor, the two looked back and actually saw a hint of gentleness on Qiao Yan’s face, making it sound more like a normal discussion.

This bond between ruler and subject was enough to tell them why they couldn’t disguise themselves as their counterparts from another world with their own abilities.

Fortunately, they originally had no intention of taking over the lives of their counterparts here, so there was no need to envy them.

Seeing these two pause slightly before continuing to walk out and disappear from sight, the little girl in Taoist robes, who had just changed from her previous serene demeanor, curiously asked, “Your Majesty, why did you ask me to say that we could return to normal within a month?”

She had never been to the capital before and had hardly appeared in public, making her the perfect candidate to stabilize Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang as a “successful cultivator.”

Her ability to appear so mysteriously convincing wasn’t because Qiao Yan had set up any undercover acting classes at Leping Academy, but because she was the daughter of Zhang Lu from Hanzhong, raised as a successor of the Taishi Path.

Although in Hanzhong, the Taishi Path had almost become a tool for Qiao Yan to govern Yizhou, this did not prevent this initially somewhat obscure sect from evolving its doctrines as the world became more stable.

Seeing that Qiao Yan did not stop his actions, Zhang Lu carefully operated within the limits of the Emperor’s tolerance. When he suddenly received the order to send his daughter north to Luoyang, he sent her over without hesitation.

Although Zhang Qiying was young, she was raised under the joint cultivation of Lady Lu and Zhang Lu, and with the story Qiao Yan concocted for her, she really managed to fool Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang.

Facing the child’s question, or rather the question also held by Qiao Huan eavesdropping outside the door, Qiao Yan replied, “If we don’t stabilize these two first and prevent them from causing more chaos, making my subjects unsure of where they are trapped, it’s better to give them some hope first. In the meantime, I will have others think of other solutions.”

She couldn’t reveal the existence of the system and the mistake caused by unnatural forces, so she could only set a time for them to stay here peacefully.

Perhaps by then, the explanation to her subordinates would be that this inexplicable accident coincidentally had a limit with the time she set.

Ren Hong, who was beside her, thought for a moment and asked, “Then why did Your Majesty only mention that Zhaoji and General Cao are in the same situation as them, but not mention the last person?”

Qiao Yan lowered her eyes and thought for a moment before replying, “I want to keep an insurance.”

Seeing that Qiao Yan had no intention of further explanation, although they were slightly puzzled by the term “insurance,” the people present did not continue to ask.

Ren Hong just had a feeling that the Emperor’s words were not casually spoken, but her true thoughts.

Qiao Yan thought to herself, insurance… why not insurance?

If we ignore Cai Zhaoji, who held no official position in that world, ignore Guo Jia, who was already a skeleton in the ground by the 23rd year of Jian’an, and remove Zhen Luo, the remaining two are Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang.

This selection is somewhat subtle, but it’s still better than involving people from Eastern Wu.

If the Three Kingdoms historical world without her existence could see, through these people’s journey to Da Yong, how low-level their current struggles were, and even possibly give foreign tribes a chance due to the decreasing population, quickly deciding a winner between Cao and Liu, promoting the construction of the world and even maritime ventures, it might be considered a good thing.

Zhaoji’s photographic memory and her current state of awakening due to her diplomatic duties might allow her to act as a knowledge medium, becoming an important link in advancing productivity during the Little Ice Age.

But without a female emperor dynasty like Da Yong as a backing, even though Qiao Yan somewhat believed in Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang’s magnanimity, she couldn’t guarantee that the knowledge conveyed by Cai Zhaoji would allow her to enjoy sufficient reputation even a hundred years later, or to bestow the power of establishing oneself to more people.

Then she might need to keep a backup, to plant another seed of hope for that world.

According to the information confirmed in her communication with the system, when these people return to their original world, they won’t really have a month’s time disappear, but it will be like a long dream.

This undoubtedly gives Zhen Luo the opportunity to hide her experience.

With this experience of coming to Da Yong, her intelligence, and her various experiences at Lingtai, she should always be able to seize a suitable opportunity to escape her doomed fate.

And her status as Cao Rui’s birth mother might also give her a better position to bring some changes to that era.

Even if it’s just the beginning of the butterfly effect, it’s enough.

But these words don’t need to be explained clearly to others.

The history spoken from Zhen Luo’s mouth is already completely unimaginable for those who have long been accustomed to life in Da Yong.

And coming into contact with such a history undoubtedly makes them cherish the current world even more and hope to bring greater changes to Da Yong.

There’s no need to let them bother deducing the future of another world.

Da Yong itself still has a basketful of things to do.

Now the only thing left is—

Before the month is up, quickly bring the other two to her!

No, to be precise, three people.

Cao Ang’s concealment of Cao Cao from another world might have its own considerations.

After all, Qiao Yan successively suppressed the Yellow Turban Way, Buddhism, and the Taishi Path, and promoted the prosperity of heavenly principles and human affairs, making it hard to say whether she would be greatly wary of such soul-swapping events, even eliminating Cao Cao.

But when she was the Son of Heaven, if he couldn’t make a choice between being a Da Yong subject and Cao Cao’s eldest son, she could no longer entrust him with heavy responsibilities!

This is a matter of principle in ruling the world, and it absolutely cannot be muddled through just because Cao Ang is considered her nephew.

When the Tangmo and Fa Qiang tribes decided to surrender to Da Yong during Zhaoji and Jiang Tang’s diplomatic mission, Zhao Yun, who arrived urgently at Qinghai County under Qiao Yan’s decree, and Zhang He, who was already in Liangzhou, quickly mobilized a group of troops not under Cao Cao’s command, intercepting Cao Cao and Cao Ang as they led troops back to Qinghai.

Cao Cao from another world certainly recognized Zhang He, who had defected to him after the Battle of Guandu from Yuan Shao.

He certainly also recognized Zhao Yun, whom he had encountered in battles against Liu Bei, and deeply regretted why such a talent couldn’t be used by him.

But now these two were following the orders of the Da Yong Emperor, not his subordinates.

What made Cao Cao feel even more uneasy was that the posture of these two leading elite troops was not support, but restraint!

The strength of Da Yong’s military was fully displayed in this show of strong bows and powerful crossbows.

The Emperor, who rose to power with the troops of Liang and Bing provinces, clearly never forgot her foundation and would never give anyone any chance to take advantage!

Although she did not appear in person here, her imperial majesty was already felt without words.

It was at this moment, even without extra words, that Cao Cao understood that the confidentiality agreement between him and Cao Ang, no matter how vast the territory, would never be a secret for the Emperor who ruled the world!

Zhao Yun and Zhang He did not make any offensive moves at this moment, only to avoid making the newly surrendered Tangmo people laugh and to prevent any unrest in the remote Qinghai County.

But Cao Cao had no doubt that, despite Cao Ang’s description of “himself” and the Da Yong Emperor as peers, confidants, and discussing heroes over milk tea, any unusual move from him at this time would surely be dealt with directly by Zhao Yun and Zhang He.

He had underestimated the person who unified the world too much!

After the troops set up camp, Cao Cao heard Zhao Yun say, “The Emperor has ordered General Cao to return to the capital as soon as possible to discuss important matters. The affairs of the western frontier will be temporarily handed over to General Zhang.”

After speaking, Zhao Yun turned to Cao Ang, “Prefect Cao, you should come along too.”

“This is also the Emperor’s intention.”

Author’s note:

Continuing to chop hands~

See you at 9:30 tomorrow morning~