Chapter 476

Chapter 476

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Side Story Side Story 10 (9)

You are doing well…

These three simple words of praise unexpectedly made Qiao Huan feel her eyes warming up.

It also made her vaguely recall the various things Ren Hong had mentioned to her in the early years.

She also remembered her mother once saying that the elder’s resume should not be viewed within the context of a political game or a battle. However, when the completion of the “Qianxiang Calendar” finally turned the page of history and the Gregorian calendar was gradually introduced, her name would exist in a more profound way.

But now, this woman who unexpectedly stepped onto the stage from the inner chambers will also be frozen in the 17th year of Yuanzhao, no, the 17th year of the Gregorian calendar.

It wasn’t until Qiao Huan was sent back by Qiao Yan along the original path and sat back on her bed in the dormitory that she slowly came to her senses.

For her, this farewell still felt somewhat blurred by the generational gap, but it seemed she had some hidden understanding in her heart.

At dusk three days later, she suddenly heard the bell in the academy ring twice in succession.

And at dawn the next day, she heard it a third time.

These elders who were sent off one after another had witnessed the collapse of the Han Dynasty after it was on the verge of collapse, with no room for recovery, and also witnessed the rise of the Da Yong Dynasty in an incredible way amidst the support of the people.

Now, they will also rest in peace in this new land.

“Although, considering the age at which they passed away, they could all be considered to have lived long lives, and I don’t know any of them, but for some reason…” Zhang Changpu sighed as she watched the white-clad funeral procession on the hillside, “I also feel particularly sad in my heart.”

“Perhaps because this is truly the end of an era,” Qiao Huan replied.

At the end of the Guanghe era, Qiao Xuan was buried with the Yellow House Left Banner, escorted by the Northern Army Five Divisions to Bingzhou.

However, no matter how glorious the ceremony, it probably could no longer cover up the stench of corruption from the declining Han Dynasty.

Today, with white banners covering the mountains and students watching, although the formality is not as grand as before, she thought that these elders must have felt comforted in their hearts when they passed away.

Through the crowd, Qiao Huan could clearly see her mother’s figure.

Lu Zhi had been her mother’s teacher, Huangfu Song had recognized her talent, and Ma Lun was like an elder to her, so no one was surprised that she was dressed in white today, accompanying the funeral procession up the mountain.

The passing of these three elders was a pity and sorrow for their juniors, but for her mother, it must have been an even greater blow. Yet, at this moment, Qiao Huan could still sense an indomitable imperial majesty from her upright posture, making people realize in this sorrow of a falling star that as long as she stood here, Da Yong would still have a bright and glorious future.

So Qiao Huan added at this moment, “However, although it’s the end of an era, Your Majesty will not become a lonely person.”

It’s just that the torch has been passed from the hands of the previous generation to the next.

After the funeral, Qiao Huan, who was at the back of the crowd, heard from the disciples of Lord Lu and Lady Ma at the front about the new inscription that Your Majesty had erected at the entrance of the Taihang Cemetery.

On it were written four words:

【My Path Is Not Lonely】.

These four words, personally carved by Your Majesty, like the words “Chang’an” on the new road of Chang’an in the past, were deeply engraved in everyone’s hearts.

Yes, whether it is the “path” that brings peace to the world or the “path” that women can also take, Your Majesty will not walk alone.

As her daughter, she should also shoulder the banner of this century-long foundation.

And as a member of the Leping Academy students, she will not lag behind.

In the first month of the 18th year of Yuanzhao, Qiao Huan did not stay long in the Luoyang Palace but traveled south with Bu Zhi, who was sent by her mother to Jiaozhou, to tour Jing Province and Jiaozhou.

The governor of Jiaozhou had changed twice after Lu Kang stepped down and was now handed over to Bu Zhi.

Qiao Huan was a bit curious. Bu Zhi’s sister married Sun Quan, who was now serving as the prefect within Jiaozhou. Why wasn’t her mother worried that Bu Zhi and Sun Quan would collude, but instead allowed both of them to serve in such remote areas.

Qiao Yan’s explanation was that she would be happy to see Bu Zhi and Sun Quan join forces because, compared to their alliance, she was even less willing to see Shi Xie, who still had some insight in Jiaozhou, grow old and the Shi family making some restless noises.

Moreover, the vigorous development of maritime navigation was not just about finding new species in the other states beyond the oceans.

The naval forces of Xu and Yang Provinces could become the combat power to attack Jiaozhou at any time, it just depended on whether she wanted to do it.

Now, first, the Donghai Mi Clan, relying on the business of planting rubber trees in Jiaozhou to conduct other commercial trades, gradually encroached on the living space of local tycoons. Later, Shi Xie and Sun Quan formed an alliance, exerting control over the other prefectures of Jiaozhou to achieve her goals with as little loss as possible.

More than a decade of stability in the Central Plains was enough for her to extend her reach further south.

This might not be a plan that would be widely implemented in a short time, and due to the barbaric habits of Jiaozhou in the early years, it would require education and might only be completely accomplished in the hands of Qiao Huan’s generation. But as a winter vacation tour for Qiao Huan, it was enough.

How to put it, this could be considered going south for the winter, right?

But having just witnessed Ma Lun’s legacy, although Qiao Huan was still young, she dared not treat this trip as a simple tour.

When she returned to Leping a month later than the start of the school term, her group of friends noticed that she seemed to have undergone significant changes.

“Didn’t you say you were on sick leave?” Sun Luban’s mouth twitched.

Compared to Jiang Wei and Deng Ai, Sun Luban obviously had more say, because no matter how she looked at it, Qiao Huan’s tan was exactly the same as her father’s, who had come home for two days this January.

Qiao Huan replied very frankly, “I have a kind of illness that will catch a cold if I don’t get sun, so my mother took me to the south for treatment.”

Sun Luban: “…”

If she could believe that, she would be a three-year-old child!

Unfortunately, since Qiao Huan clearly didn’t want to talk about it, there was no need for her to ask more.

In the second semester of the fourth grade in the 18th year of Yuanzhao, their curriculum included many discussions on local policies and their pros and cons, leaving her with little time to pay attention to Qiao Huan’s activities during the vacation.

For this part of the content, Qiao Huan had an almost innate sensitivity, even reciting the situations of Sili and Bingzhou fluently, making the time she missed seem to have no impact on her at all.

But Sun Luban couldn’t, she had to invest more time.

After all, she had made up her mind to make others proud to follow her lead, how could she fall at the very beginning.

Indeed, she did not choose the path of a military general like her uncle and aunt, but that of a civil official.

To be precise, a frontier official who could take up arms to fight and also step back to manage the people’s livelihood.

Perhaps it was because she had been hanging out with Qiao Huan for so long that Sun Luban inexplicably had some trust in Qiao Huan’s judgment.

Qiao Huan said that she indeed had the talent for judging government affairs, coupled with a competitive nature. If she were only placed in the Luoyang officialdom, there was a possibility of offending people. If she were only a military general—

Not to mention that she didn’t seem to have the talent to become one of the top, the current vacancies were not many.

It would be better to really strive for the position of a frontier governor.

At first, Sun Luban thought this was a big, round pie in the sky, but the more she delved into local policies, the more she felt that she really had the talent to understand all these things.

The career plan proposed by Qiao Huan was not bad!

“If that’s the case, what do you plan to do?” Sun Luban asked.

Zhang Changpu planned to transfer to the art academy, which had been decided months ago.

Cao Jie had already stayed on for further studies, developing towards becoming a teacher at Leping Academy.

Kong Yu, needless to say, was to continue following Lu Ji in maritime astronomy research.

Jiang Wei, Deng Ai, and others were likely to first participate in the new trial appointment activities jointly held by Leping Academy and the frontier prefectures, and then go to the central government to take the imperial examination.

…

These people’s directions had been told to the others early on, only Qiao Huan had not said.

Previously, Sun Luban had once thought that Qiao Huan was from the Donghai Mi Clan, but this possibility was denied by Qiao Huan herself.

After several years of contact, perhaps others in the academy still only thought she was a top talent with balanced development in all aspects, a benchmark-like existence. No matter how slow Sun Luban was due to preconceived notions, she now sensed something was off.

But all she saw was Qiao Huan raising a finger in front of her, replying, “You’ll know later, in any case, I’m going to take a position in the central government.”

This time, Sun Luban did not laugh it off as before, but suddenly had an absurd guess.

When this thought appeared in her mind, she was almost startled to jump.

But if this identity were matched with Qiao Huan, it didn’t seem too out of place.

There was just one problem…

Which royal family member is so interested in writing storybooks!

Don’t think she didn’t know, “Mu Huan” this guy, even if he had slightly given up the idea of continuing to develop a side business, or perhaps was a bit stimulated by the passing of the three elders, was still itching to pick it up again.








What their Majesty left behind were things like the “Proclamation Against Dong Zhuo,” “Ascension Declaration,” and further back, the “Letter of Apology to Emperor Ling of Han.” Looking ahead, there were also the proclamations against the Yuan Clan, which could somewhat be considered her compilation. Then there were the decrees issued in the name of the Son of Heaven, establishing the official calendar and various exhortations to study.

If her successor left behind a pile of these… these storybooks, what would happen?

But just as Sun Luban thought this, she couldn’t help but want to slap herself.

Why should she care about this?

She hadn’t even finished this week’s homework yet, and she was far from securing a stable position in the court. She shouldn’t be worrying about such things here.

Yes, that’s right.

What made Sun Luban feel somewhat relieved was that in the coursework of Yuanzhao Year 19, she actually found something Qiao Huan wasn’t good at.

One was basic engineering, an elective course.

Normally, this was a course chosen by those who needed to stay at Leping Academy for further study. It was unclear whether Qiao Huan chose it out of interest or for some literary creation convenience, but she included it in her study list.

Ironically, as much as she seemed to be a genius in political theory, she was equally… inept in this course.

Jiang Wei happened to pass by the classroom a few times and heard the teacher inside roaring, calling out Qiao Huan’s name.

Their friends tried to subtly inquire, but all they got from Qiao Huan was that she was indeed struggling with the project she wanted to present because the topic was too vast and somewhat challenged the teacher’s mental resilience.

But since this was just an elective course, and given Leping Academy’s encouragement for students to try various things, even if she didn’t pass this course, it wouldn’t lead to public criticism or affect her heroic image in the minds of the younger students at the academy.

It wasn’t until the end of the semester that they saw Qiao Huan’s attempted creation in the course’s exhibition.

It was no wonder the engineering professor wanted to rage.

Because the work was titled—The Never-Opening Tomb (Unfinished Version).

“What were you thinking?” Sun Luban, representing the group of curious onlookers, asked.

“I just thought that there are too many students coming and going at Leping Academy. If someone with ill intentions happened to join and wanted to steal some burial items from the tombs of the great scholars buried in the mountains, the current guarding force of the cemetery seems a bit lacking. It would be better to undertake a major project to protect these tombs with mechanisms.”

“Unfortunately, I overlooked one thing,” Qiao Huan reflected with a heavy expression. “I only needed to understand the general idea of such problems; the rest should be left to professionals.”

Actually, she also thought that if she had talent in this area, she could design something for her mother in advance, right?

As it turned out, elective courses were just that, and she indeed lacked the talent for this.

But it didn’t matter; she had money and would have power in the future, so she could leave this task to others.

Through this semester’s study, little Qiao Huan had reason to believe that she would be a very qualified supervisor in the future!

Jiang Wei: “…”

For some reason, he had a strange premonition that this girl would cause a big stir in the future because of this.

For now, at most, the course teacher would remember her.

An unfinished version couldn’t be considered as submitted homework, especially since some of Qiao Huan’s ideas in it seemed more like something out of a myth.

Since existing mathematical knowledge couldn’t verify her ideas, Qiao Huan couldn’t provide a reasonable explanation and could only receive a participation grade for the elective course.

Along with a comment: This student has an outstanding talent for imagination.

Although the teacher often lost his temper, judging from this comment… he was quite nice.

“Maybe because the purpose of my design was quite earnest,” Qiao Huan explained.

Whether others believed it or not was another matter.

Another thing that even the genius Qiao Huan found challenging was a project that required a height of over 1.6 meters by modern standards to participate in—

Equestrian archery.

Horseback riding, Qiao Huan had been training for two years.

The sweat-blood horse gifted to her by the Donghai Mi Clan, named Chasing Light, had fully recognized her as its master after two years of磨合.

Qiao Huan’s talent in horsemanship was not low, allowing her to maximize the horse’s speed.

Archery, Qiao Huan had received some training from Sun Ren before coming to Leping Academy.

In terms of accuracy, although she couldn’t compare to those specialized students who could hit a target at a hundred paces, she was still quite skilled.

But strangely, when she was on horseback, her accuracy in drawing the bow and shooting arrows dropped to an appalling level.

Qiao Huan was troubled by this for a long time until the end of Yuanzhao Year 19, when, as usual, a military officer came to lecture, and Wei Yan saw her performance and asked a question.

“Is it because you find it hard to disregard life and death that every time you draw the bow on horseback, you don’t dare to fully focus on the bow and arrow?”

Qiao Huan was shocked.

“Did I hit the mark?” Wei Yan pondered for a moment before saying, “Although I know that as a top talent at Leping Academy, you should value your life, but in this kind of equestrian archery, which isn’t real combat, you don’t need to have so many concerns, unless… you don’t trust your companion enough.”

The companion Wei Yan referred to was the horse that had been with Qiao Huan for two years.

Qiao Huan: “…”

Wei Yan was indeed right.

She valued her life. She was very afraid of death.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone through so many protective measures when she first started learning to ride.

She also deeply understood that to fulfill her mother’s words of “My path is not lonely,” she must take good care of her life.

But as Wei Yan said, what she faced now wasn’t a life-threatening situation, but whether she could trust her partner!

And if she didn’t dare to give this trust, didn’t dare to face this challenge, what qualifications did she have to become her mother’s successor, or even to face the challenge of ascending to the throne and ruling the world!

Qiao Huan’s gaze became several times firmer at this moment.

Wei Yan wouldn’t know that by saying this at this moment, he might have seized an opportunity more actively than when he participated in the Emperor’s military officer selection exam. He only knew that this young person soon ran away from him, galloping towards the riding field.

This time, when she galloped past the target, the moment she drew the bow and arrow, she was several times more relaxed than before.

This didn’t mean that when the arrow in her hand was shot, its speed would be any slower.

On the contrary, it was precisely the beginning that an equestrian archer should have.

“Good talent,” Wei Yan murmured, watching Qiao Huan’s figure from afar. “I wonder if she has chosen which province to serve in after this.”

Who would complain about having more talent under their command?

Zhuge Ke, who had come with Wei Yan as a returning outstanding student, had just made a round to the cafeteria when he heard Wei Yan’s dangerous remark.

The abnormality on his face didn’t escape Wei Yan’s eyes, and Wei Yan immediately asked, “What do you mean? If I remember correctly, this is indeed a sixth-year student, right? Although a bit younger than her peers, making an exception wouldn’t be a big problem.”

Zhuge Ke thought for a moment but didn’t reveal Qiao Huan’s identity, only saying, “That’s true, but next year’s graduation ceremony will be attended by His Majesty. If she has any arrangements and is affected by the general抢先截胡, it wouldn’t be a good thing.”

Wei Yan: “…That’s also true.”

Then let’s leave it at that.

We’ll see the situation after His Majesty’s arrangements are over next year.

Qiao Huan didn’t know that while she was galloping, these two people below had such a conversation.

She only knew that her arms, and even her body, felt several times lighter after shooting this arrow, and she seemed to be able to hear Chasing Light’s breathing at this moment, along with the wind in her ears…

Lifting her straight to the clouds.

——————

“Hey, what are you spacing out for? We’ve graduated.”

Qiao Huan snapped out of her momentary daze and refocused her gaze on the present.

Time is a very fast thing; it seems like just a blink, and more than half a year has passed since the end of Yuanzhao Year 19.

This is the end of their sixth year.

The person standing in front of her and speaking is Sun Luban.

Six years may not seem long, but it has brought earth-shaking changes to her companions.

A growth change that is about to become the backbone of the new generation!

Who would have thought how they met six years ago?

Qiao Huan smiled, “Yes, we’ve graduated.”

Author’s note:

Well, because I can’t mark it as completed while on the list, the last chapter will be posted at 0:00 on the 2nd (none on the 1st).

Anyway, there’s only the last chapter left, so I’ll take my time to wrap it up.

See you at 0:00 the day after tomorrow~