Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 3: Galloping through Bingzhou, Troops Depart from Hedong Chapter 72: The Momentum Like Fire

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Can a Strategist Not Ascend the Throne?

Chapter 72: The Momentum Like Fire

Marquis of Leping, Qiao Yan?

That’s the Marquis of Leping!

The house arrest decree issued in the ninth month of the second year of Zhongping has now reached the ninth month of the fourth year of Zhongping, exactly two years, and it is indeed time for the ban to be lifted.

But perhaps no one expected that the Marquis of Leping, who two years ago used arrows to force the Governor to establish his authority first, would appear in such a bold manner at this very moment when he could finally move around.

Or perhaps…

In this world, someone like Qiao Yan, who chose her own style name, truly expressed her will, and it is absolutely impossible for her to make a mistake!

It was already foreseeable that she could have such a blazing momentum!

This particularly special double-pointed spear was held in her hand, and the archer’s thumb ring on her right thumb was the only touch of crimson in the black-clad, iron-speared, plain-colored attire.

This item was also favored by the setting sun’s glow, almost like a flame rising at her fingertips.

At the moment the spear was drawn, the blood splattered from the bandits could not overshadow this bright color.

In the next moment, that burning red suddenly shifted to the other side, along with the fine Bingzhou steed she rode and the long spear with a wooden shaft and iron tip, it was like thunder striking again!

In this somewhat wide river valley, dozens of cavalrymen were enough to cause significant damage to hundreds of bandits, especially with Qiao Yan’s three arrows that seized the initiative and the aggressive attack that clearly showed the commander leading by example.

This is the momentum to break the formation!

The Hedong bandits gathered in Baibo Valley and rose up, but this year they were repeatedly thwarted by the Marquis of Leping’s subordinates in their plans to raid Bingzhou, so they were somewhat wary.

Now, suddenly seeing Chu Yan and Zhao Yun leading the charge, even though she was only a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, it did not prevent them from feeling fear and losing their courage upon hearing the news.

The five words “Marquis of Leping, Qiao Yan” spoken by Qiao Yan further tied her to the strange land of Leping, making them share weal and woe, and it was clearly another way of seizing the initiative.

Is this a patrol or a hunt, or is it a declaration of her return after two years of house arrest with this attack?

This is obviously not so important.

From the perspective of Guo Jia and Mi Zhu, what they saw was not just the Marquis of Leping’s display of martial prowess, but—

As she turned her horse to charge into the densely populated area of the bandits, the other cavalrymen behind her also followed her left hand’s command, forming a sharp arrowhead of attack.

This is not one person fighting in and out of the enemy, but clearly a disciplined war cavalry taking advantage of the momentum created by the previous three arrows!

In addition to the spear flowers raised by Qiao Yan’s long spear, the long knives used by the cavalry also showed their might.

The stark contrast between the two sides made Guo Jia have no doubt that her side would definitely win, so he decisively extinguished the flame he had just lit and focused on watching this battle that had the momentum of a victorious pursuit.

He had come to observe Qiao Yan’s situation.

So after narrowly escaping death, his first consideration was not relief, but to see what else the Marquis of Leping could show.

She certainly did not disappoint this observer.

The front line of the cavalry, the closest few to her, were also the most skilled in archery and horsemanship.

Therefore, the charge into the formation was just right to share the impact she faced.

This clever support gave her more power to break through in this dragon-like spear thrust than if she were alone.

She certainly did not waste this protection.

From the perspective of true elite cavalry, Qiao Yan’s own strength is somewhat lacking.

She had just been released from house arrest and clearly did not have enough experience to cooperate with her subordinates in killing the enemy.

At her age, she could only rely on martial arts training, slightly taller than the average thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, and her muscles were tighter.

But what is called “one breath, one momentum”!

This is it!

One side wanted to avoid the patrol of Leping, while the other wanted to use this to show their might, so the two sides were not in the same mindset.

Now that the more aggressive side had caused enough damage, how could the ragtag side not falter in the face of the sharp attack.

Even the bandits who had seized the merchant’s horses first were not thinking of charging forward to fight, trying to kill the enemy leader in return, but of using the speed of the horses to escape first.

As long as they escaped faster than the others.

But what is the difference between this idea and the merchants who were killed by their random arrows.

As soon as they turned their horses, they heard Qiao Yan speak again.

This time, it was not as wordy as before, just one word.

“Bow!”

Not only Qiao Yan responded by sheathing her sword and raising her bow, but also the front-line cavalry who cooperated with her.

The bowstrings sounded, and several arrows were shot at the same time.

In the next moment, these arrows had pierced through the heads of the fleeing bandits.

And the most striking one was still the white-feathered arrow.

It maintained its previous accuracy, piercing through the center of the forehead, as if the previous spear-killing action had not made Qiao Yan’s hand shake at all.

The coordination of the bow and arrow was also a decisive and resolute cooperation!

Without Qiao Yan needing to give more orders, when she turned her bow towards the bandits fleeing up the hillside, the cavalry who had shot arrows with her also maintained a high degree of unity in action.

With such arrows pointing, how could the bandits who were left with only the instinct to escape have any chance of survival.

Guo Jia shook his head, deeply feeling the huge difference between the two sides.

But thinking about how these bandits could run rampant in the Hedong area, it was probably not because they were too incompetent, but because this Marquis Qiao…

Her performance was too astonishing.

The three debates, the Governor’s statement, suppressing the locusts—these were all the work of civil officials.

But in the river valley interception battle, she showed the skills of a cavalry general.

Even if her opponent had pulled some points, her performance should be described by ability rather than potential.

When Guo Jia looked at her again, the long spear in her hand had no target for attack for the time being, and the flame on her thumb seemed to calm down a bit as she walked slowly with the spear.

She kicked the horse’s belly, making it move towards the surviving merchants who had been attacked.

From a distance, the Marquis of Leping’s sharp eyebrows and eyes were distinctive, but when she approached and restrained her fighting spirit, she appeared more refined, with only a few traces of the authoritative aura lingering between her eyebrows, contrasting with the dripping blood at the end of the spear she held.

She first said to Mi Zhu, “Please check the losses.”

The so-called standing out like a crane among chickens is obvious at a glance.

She stood out in the cavalry, and figures like Mi Zhu and Guo Jia also stood out in the panicked merchant group.

However, Guo Jia’s position and the extinguished branch in his hand, compared to Mi Zhu’s state of being surrounded by attendants, made it easy to see who was closer to the merchant identity.

Mi Zhu, hearing this, bowed to her and said, “Mi Zizhong from the Eastern Sea, thank you, Marquis, for saving my life. I had heard of Marquis Qiao’s reputation in Xuzhou before, and today I finally see it.”








“Truly, the reputation is well-deserved.”

Not to mention how the surrounding crowd was shocked by Qiao Yan’s actions and fell into silence, even someone as composed as Mi Zhu couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.

Qiao Yan’s literary talent and political skills were hard to gauge in this brief encounter.

But her martial prowess was the most immediately apparent thing to Mi Zhu at this moment.

In the territory of Bingzhou, no, in the current chaotic state of the world, this was definitely a plus.

Mi Zhu was not just a merchant.

When a merchant reaches a certain level, the Donghai Mi Clan inevitably becomes a target for the prefects of Xuzhou to win over.

He previously couldn’t understand why the prefect of Guangling would turn pale at the mention of Qiao Yan, but now, seeing her performance, Mi Zhu felt she truly lived up to the praise of “a young phoenix with a clear voice, a talent to assist a king.”

Although this “talent to assist a king” seemed to have a rather high martial prowess, giving the impression that if you couldn’t win an argument, you could always win a fight.

Though he thought this, he didn’t show it on his face and instead agreed to Qiao Yan’s request to assess the losses of the merchant convoy.

But as he bowed again and turned to approach the surviving deputy leader of the convoy, he didn’t notice the surprised look Qiao Yan cast his way.

Mi Zhu, Mi Zizhong?

This was the man appointed by Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou during the resurgence of the Yellow Turbans in Xuzhou in the fifth year of Zhongping, as the Deputy Chief Officer of Xuzhou.

Later, after Tao Qian ceded Xuzhou to Liu Bei, he became one of Liu Bei’s advisors.

The wealth of the Donghai Mi Clan provided immense support to Liu Bei during his most destitute times.

He even married his sister to Liu Bei after Liu Bei’s wife was captured by Lü Bu, becoming the famous Lady Mi.

This was no ordinary person; he could be considered Liu Bei’s important financial backer.

If it were just an ordinary merchant traveling to Bingzhou, it might be plausible, but—

Why would Mi Zhu appear here?

Even though it was far from the time when Liu Bei would be stationed in Xuzhou, his purpose for being here couldn’t be too simple.

But now was not the time to dwell on this.

She disassembled the two sections of the Three-Section Spear and hung them back on the strap behind her, then heard the system hesitantly ask: […Are you a strategist or a warrior now?]

In the past two years, while she was under house arrest in Leping following Emperor Liu Hong’s decree, it was manageable.

Exercising, practicing archery and spear techniques could be explained as maintaining her mental health and physical fitness. Developing fishing, pig farming, planting, and cooking in Leping could also be justified.

But the day before yesterday, after Zhao Yun returned to Leping to report, Qiao Yan temporarily took his position under the guise of getting some fresh air, and today she fought such a battle, which made her seem less like a strategist.

Her current attribute panel, with intelligence not being actively increased, while her physique and martial prowess improved through training, also didn’t look like that of a strategist—

[Name: Qiao Yan]

[Faction: Han (Initial Faction)]

[Occupation: Strategist (System Setting)]

[Age: 13]

[Physique: 74 (100), Martial: 61 (100), Intelligence: 80 (100), Luck: 65 (?)]

[Remaining Attribute Points: 0]

[Skills: History lv7, Eloquence lv7, Artifact Appraisal lv4, Archery lv7, Horsemanship lv6, Painting lv3, Calligraphy lv4, Field Archaeology lv5, Numismatics lv3…]

[Remaining Skill Points: 3]

[Strategist Points: 140] (Every 10 strategist points automatically grants 3 attribute points and 1 skill point)

In the two years, no, three years in Leping, her strategist points had decreased significantly compared to the Yellow Turban Rebellion period.

If it weren’t for the fact that her handling of the locust plague had solved a major problem for Emperor Liu Hong and gave him an opportunity to intervene in court affairs, triggering the achievement [Assisting the Lord in Balancing Internal Power], she wouldn’t have even gotten those extra 40 points.

Under house arrest, although she had proposed many suggestions to Cui Lie to stabilize Bingzhou, the system determined that she was essentially in a blackout period, and aside from decisions approved by Liu Hong himself, she couldn’t earn any strategist points.

Fortunately, she was now released just as the Xiongnu and the White Wave Bandits were becoming restless, a perfect time to make a big score.

Even better, her physique had improved to such an extent with the system’s help, greatly aiding her mastery of the “Broken Mountains and Remaining Waters” Lethal Spear Technique and her horsemanship and archery skills. Her martial prowess didn’t need additional points to reach its current state.

With subordinates to assist in battle, her lack of strength wasn’t as noticeable as everyone saw.

She could even be considered a low-budget version of a versatile warrior!

But while she was proud of her progress, she still had to fool the system.

She pretended to look at her cavalry cleaning up the battlefield, but in her heart, she replied to the system: “This was a necessary move.”

“The Xiongnu invasion of Bingzhou starting in the fifth year of Zhongping reduced Bingzhou’s territory to half by the time of Cao Wei. If it weren’t for Liang Xi’s strategies after he took office, the devastated Bingzhou would have been even worse. But even so, by this point, some territories were already lost.”

Later, Liu Yuan’s invasion and defeat of Sima Teng completely handed Bingzhou over to foreign tribes.

“For future rulers, reclaiming the lost territories of Bingzhou would still require strategists like Liang Xi to devise plans. Rather than that, it’s better for me to achieve this now.”

“A top strategist must have a long-term vision, foreseeing future troubles, don’t you think?”

[That seems to be the case.] The system calculated and felt that her reasoning wasn’t wrong.

Maintaining territorial integrity and strategizing against the Xiongnu were indeed what a competent strategist should do.

Thinking about how its host had even trained in martial arts to achieve this goal, getting hit countless times by those two short spears, it actually felt… quite inspiring!

Having figured this out, the system decided not to ask about her next plans, which were likely to be quite warrior-like.

With still a year and nine months before Liu Hong’s death, there was no rush to choose a lord.

Just as it thought this, it noticed someone approaching Qiao Yan and alerted her.

Qiao Yan turned to see the young man she had noticed earlier, searching for a way to break the enemy’s formation.

Perhaps because he was at the borderline between youth and adulthood, he still looked quite harmless, but the calm and ease in his demeanor showed something special.

And to maintain such composure in the face of such sudden changes and battles, even finding a way to escape, even if he hadn’t approached her, Qiao Yan would have wanted to ask his identity.

But when he spoke, the name he gave truly surprised Qiao Yan.

This was someone, like Mi Zhu, she hadn’t expected to appear in Bingzhou.

He said: “Guo Fengxiao of Yingchuan, greets the Lord.”