“Can a strategist not ascend the throne?”
Chapter 87: Schemes and Calculations
When Zhang Liao first heard about Qiao Yan’s plan, he was momentarily taken aback.
But he quickly realized that compared to the raids by the Xiutu tribes on the Bingzhou border, where they slaughtered and cooked people while etching their names into stone, Qiao Hou was merely suggesting a separation of heads and bodies, hanging the corpses above Shouxiang City. Now that was truly an act of mercy!
What’s the harm in that!
The only problem was—
He couldn’t sing!
Two years ago, as a military officer, he teamed up with Guo Yun to defend Yanmen County. After defeating the old soldiers who thought he was an easy target, they all gathered by the fire to feast, and someone suggested he sing an uplifting battle song.
The result was Guo Yun patting his shoulder, saying seriously not to create such indiscriminate attacks in the future.
This subtle implication was enough for Zhang Liao to realize that maybe his singing talent wasn’t exactly shining; at best, he could shout a slogan.
But when Qiao Yan, having noted that none of them killed the Xiutu King, made the argument that they all contributed, and handed him the telescope, Zhang Liao felt he shouldn’t let Qiao Yan down… right?
While he was tangled in his thoughts, Zhang Yang had already reported his situation to Qiao Yan, prompting her to assign him an additional task.
The people of Guyang, who had earlier been used as sacrifices by the Xiutu King, had now been rescued. Although they were terrified of returning to Guyang, they wanted to find their family members’ bodies to give them a proper burial.
So Zhang Liao was tasked with helping the residents of Guyang, and it felt fitting for him to finish what he started.
Zhang Liao couldn’t really say whether this counted as a kind of alternative relief, but at least Zhang Yang felt his ears were safe now.
Now, all that was left was to instill fear.
However, before passing through Xihe Commandery, they had to go back through Yunzhong and Wuyuan.
Yunzhong didn’t have many residents along this route, but passing through Wuyuan would inevitably draw some onlookers.
After all, a marching army of over three thousand people was quite a spectacle, especially with a significant cavalry contingent that had obviously just been through a battle.
And if almost everyone in those three thousand was carrying a Xiongnu head?
Wrapped in dirt and barely recognizable, the severed heads still oozed blood from the cracks in the mud. Even though they were coated in grime, it was clear those weren’t Han people but rather those Western nomads.
Initially startled, the people of Wuyuan were soon reassured that this was merely a triumphant return from an expedition against the outskirts, and they clustered around to watch the valiant soldiers march past.
Nearly three thousand Xiongnu heads! Now that was a sight to behold.
Recently, there had been concern after the Guyang massacre, and people rushed to see the situation, which had put everyone on edge. But, seeing the Bingzhou warriors win made many ask to join the fight.
Only, unexpectedly, before they could even ask for enlistment, the culprit had already been eliminated?
Among the soldiers carrying Xiongnu heads, the most striking was undoubtedly Qiao Yan, riding her striking red horse.
While she commanded the others to carry back the Xiutu heads, she had no intention of getting too close to any of them herself. She simply left the heavy lifting of the Xiutu King’s head to Dian Wei.
As they marched proudly, she appeared rather graceful amid the chaos.
But that didn’t mean she was out of place.
No one could overlook the long bow and quiver resting on her back, or the two long spears hanging at her side!
It only made her seem like the unique commander of this troop.
On a clear autumn day, she gazed ahead with a look that carried a chilling sharpness.
In Bingzhou, the only person who could show such poise was the one and only.
“Marquis of Leping…”
This was the Marquis of Leping!
Having just been let out from house arrest due to her handling of the locust plague two years ago, it was surprising that she was now bringing back such startling news, facing the nomads beyond Bingzhou.
She was still doing tangible work for Bingzhou!
To the excited townspeople, they didn’t see Qiao Yan’s large troop as an outrageous show of force, but rather, they felt with her around, they could at least sleep peacefully.
In the crowd, there was one person whose thoughts were slightly different from everyone else’s.
He was remarkably tall, appearing unusually strong among the crowd.
He kept watching Qiao Yan’s party until the last person vanished from his sight, then he snapped out of it only after being nudged by someone.
“What is Fengxian thinking about?”
Coming back to reality, he sighed, “A real man should be like this!”
Ever since the state policy against locusts was announced two years ago, he had considered using his might to carry hundreds of pounds of locusts for glory during the exchange, hoping to snag a position. Who knew that Qiao Yan’s later orders would make him give up that plan?
But he didn’t plan to just sit and wait for opportunity to drop into his lap. Instead, he went to the Wuyuan county magistrate to recommend himself.
Due to his formidable strength, the magistrate let him start as the county captain of Jiuyuan, which was a decent start.
But county captains couldn’t really fight in wars, and Lü Bu often felt he could take on more responsibility.
So, when he saw Qiao Yan leading her troops galloping by today, others might have seen those Xiongnu heads as scary, but he looked at the fear frozen on their faces and felt excitement stir in him.
A real man should be like this!
No, it should be said—people should be like this!
What a thrilling and free experience!
“You’re wrong; this Qiao Hou is a woman, not a real man.”
“What do you know?” Lü Bu snorted, “We Bingzhou folks only care about ability, not gender. Can you deny that this Qiao Hou is indeed a remarkable hero of the age?”
Who knows when he might achieve battle feats like the Marquis of Leping, with such flair?
He found himself contemplating his future.
But thinking about it, why hadn’t this Qiao Hou tossed the heads of the Xiongnu out into the wild? Instead, she brought them in as trophies of war. Was that a little unusual?
This action, if nothing else, would likely give Wuyuan’s magistrate a fright.
After all, he had seen that Wuyuan magistrate before and knew a bit about him.
Lü Bu’s guess turned out to be right.
The Wuyuan magistrate was startled when he first got word; by the time he saw Qiao Yan’s troop pass by the state office, his face nearly turned white.
Considering he had been selected to be the Wuyuan magistrate, he must have had some guts to start with.
But with Guanglu Pass guarding the Gaoque Mountain pass and cutting off Guyang Road, he could sit pretty unless Guyang was attacked, and during his time in this position, he mostly only heard of skirmishes on the borders.
With the court not appointing a general to pacify the area lately, it showed that things weren’t that turbulent.
After all, with the Northern Xiongnu moving west, the most aggressive among the nomads were the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Western Qiang, which had nothing to do with Wuyuan.
But now, he was suddenly faced with such a heady threat…
If it weren’t for the county lieutenant supporting him, he might have buckled at the knees.
But he reminded himself he was a magistrate representing Wuyuan County, how could he act weak? He straightened up.
“What is the meaning of this from Qiao Hou…?” he asked cautiously.
Although Qiao Yan got off her horse and greeted him respectfully, not pressing him from her mount, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed whenever he looked back at the two heads they were carrying.
Qiao Yan smiled, “Just killing the chicken to scare the monkey. Doesn’t the magistrate want a good night’s sleep?”
As she spoke, she pointed southward, where it was clear to anyone with half a brain that she was referring to Xihe Commandery.
Recalling some whispers he had heard these past few days, he suddenly realized Qiao Yan’s action was quite reasonable.
It wouldn’t hurt to squash those security threats first!
Thinking of this, the Wuyuan magistrate immediately felt steadied. As he saw Qiao Yan off, he even asked, “Do you need me to round up some strong warriors to bolster Qiao Hou’s troop?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Qiao Yan replied, looking at him with a certain affinity that reminded him of Cui Lie, “Don’t you think, with three thousand against three thousand, our losses being so minimal, it’s the perfect intimidation against the Southern Xiongnu?”
But clearly, what would intimidate them wouldn’t only be a soldier carrying a Xiongnu head; it was also… the deaths of the conspirators.
Within the Xihe Commandery, the Southern Xiongnu tribes, based in Meiji City, including the leader Qiang Qu and those restless Southern Xiongnu aristocrats, resided there.
The Protector-General of the Southern Xiongnu was in Dongsheng County on the west side of Meiji City.
Normally, this Protector-General didn’t involve himself much in the internal affairs of the Southern Xiongnu, often performing standard inquiries without stepping into Meiji City.
Unlike his predecessor, this new Protector-General might have been due to Qiang Qu’s evident allegiance to the Han court and didn’t like to undertake leader replacements. He even frequently made concessions in deals for their cattle and sheep.
If it weren’t for the Han’s conscription alarms, the Southern Xiongnu aristocrats wouldn’t have felt the impending doom.
But today… today was different.
Riding together with Qiao Yan into the city, surrounded by a troop of fierce soldiers, clearly displaying the Xiongnu heads made it impossible to ignore.
Merely three days into their march, those heads were still mostly recognizable; the smell of decay hadn’t set in yet.
Qiao Yan thought they all looked rather similar, but some in the city recognized the severed head of the Xiutu King slung over Dian Wei’s shoulder.
The folks in Wuyuan felt relieved and impressed as they marched through, but the Southern Xiongnu in Meiji City felt quite differently.
It felt as if a murderer had just killed a loved one and then paraded their head before them.
Before the Southern Xiongnu Left Guli Wang even caught sight of this scene, his subordinates had already reported the news to him, causing his expression to darken.
As Qiao Yan suspected, the Xiutu tribes, although surging, didn’t fully grasp the situation inside the Han territory. If it weren’t for the dissent against the Han among the Southern Xiongnu, providing support and spreading notices, the Xiutu tribes wouldn’t have succeeded.
The one passing messages was this Left Guli Wang.
Upon first hearing about the Xiutu’s raid, resulting in the massacre at Guyang, the Left Guli Wang thought the Han were clearly weakening in military defenses.
He thought about how this mobilization didn’t just involve Southern Xiongnu forces but also units from Guanglu Pass, the conscription of the relevant armies, and the looming Protector-General of the Southern Xiongnu, feeling their fetters had indeed lessened significantly.
So once the Xiutu tribes made contact with him, it meant Southern Xiongnu would claim Xihe!
However, instead of an invasion after the Xiutu’s claims of valor, he was met with the grim reality that both the King and his followers had become corpses at the hands of the Han troops.
“What does this mean? Are they declaring war?”
With a grim expression, the Left Guli Wang immediately reached for his weapon but was held back by a general beside him.
“Calm down. The Han army is attacking the roving Xiutu tribes. What does that have to do with us?”
The general thought a moment before adding, “Do you really believe that they would venture into the city with just these three thousand men, unprepared, and not fear our immediate retaliation?”
The Left Guli Wang fell silent for a moment. The general seized the opportunity to continue, “And let’s not forget, that Qiang Qu fellow is a loyal dog chosen by the Han court. We aren’t without compete!”
What the general said was indeed accurate.
But the sudden death of a potential ally hit hard, especially when presented with a severed head. The Left Guli Wang struggled to maintain his composure.
However, he could not just ignore the situation.
As the Protector-General of the Southern Xiongnu held a unique status among the Southern Xiongnu, calling an important assembly couldn’t be avoided, even if the Left Guli Wang had grievances.
After all, “to participate in litigation and investigate movements” contained too much information!
When he finally trudged to the plaza in front of the Chanyu’s residence, it was time for him to face the music.
Looks like everyone around here is just about gathered up.
He missed the chat between Protector-General of the Southern Xiongnu Wang Rou and Qiao Yan before his arrival.
Counting it all up, apart from Qiao Yan sending over the Hero’s Wine recipe and Wang Rou’s cheeky response about not daring to reward her with just five thousand stones, the two haven’t really exchanged words directly.
Wang Rou never expected to meet Qiao Yan in such a situation.
Compared to the rumors of arrows aimed at the governor two years back, what she’s doing now is way more shocking.
Wang Rou doesn’t fit his name “Rou” (meaning soft); he’s definitely got more guts than that Bingzhou governor.
Still, when he heard that Qiao Yan was leading her troops to ambush Shouxiang City and just happened to run into the Xiutu Tribes preparing for an attack, he couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat for her.
But then, realizing what “preparing for an attack” implied, he found himself feeling a bit uneasy in his heart.
Thank goodness… thank goodness the Xiongnu’s great wall inside and outside was broken by her swift and thunderous tactics, otherwise, he might end up punished for neglecting his duties as Protector-General.
And more critically—if the defense line near Guanglu Pass fell and the Southern Xiongnu inside Xihe Commandery rebelled, the consequences would outweigh even the Black Mountain Bandits and the White Wave Bandits!
“Do you think we can make an impression this time, Qiao Marquis?”
Wang Rou watched Qiao Yan’s troops exuding an air of fierce determination, shouting loudly while stacking Xiutu heads in the square, and under her orders, some surrounding the area stood still, giving off a vibe reminiscent of the banquet of Hongmen. He then asked aloud.
To Qiao Yan, his question didn’t seem filled with uncertainty; it almost sounded like he was asking if they could reap enough rewards.
Looking back, some Protector-Generals forced the Southern Chanyu to commit suicide, while others simply exchanged their positions through military action. Wang Rou came from the Wang family of Jinyang, backed by noble connections, so he wasn’t one to fear such scenarios.
Having such an ally—especially the one best suited to challenge the Southern Xiongnu—was indeed the most advantageous thing at the moment.
“Don’t you think some people showing up late already speaks volumes?”
Wang Rou chuckled, “Exactly so, but I must trouble you, Qiao Marquis, to show a bit more authority here.”
While there wasn’t any “good cop, bad cop” situation right now, to Qiao Yan, Wang Rou’s words felt pretty much like that.
They had reached a consensus before coming to Meiji City—mere intimidation wouldn’t be enough to teach these fickle-minded folks a lesson; they needed to flay a layer of skin from them.
In simpler terms, extortion.
It’s a fifty-fifty deal; Qiao Yan wouldn’t be the one losing out.
Thanks to their strategy, when that Left Guli Wang caught sight of the mountain of Xiutu heads piled up in the square and asked “What’s with this?” he suddenly felt a cold light flash before him.
A short spear, only half its length, stabbed right in front of his foot, barely an inch away.
“…” The Left Guli Wang blinked.
If the opponent’s aim had been a bit off, that spear would’ve either pierced his foot or his chest.
This sudden twist caught him off guard, making him instinctively step back, and then, one misstep, he fell right on his backside.
While he was trying to support himself, he caught sight of a familiar face among the heads piled nearby, one that looked just like the Xiutu king’s.
He jumped back in shock and turned around, only to find another arm of the short spear being pointed right at his throat.
“How dare you! What are you doing?” he shouted in a fit of rage.
Just as his voice left his mouth, he looked up to see Qiao Yan’s calm face, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the soldiers surrounding the square all raised their weapons.
This display, ready for battle, instinctively made him shut up.
Then he heard Qiao Yan casually say, “I am the Count of Leping, the highest ranking among the five counts. Given your position as the Left Guli Wang of the Southern Xiongnu, can you still speak to me like this?”
The Count of Leping?
The Left Guli Wang, suspicious, glanced at Wang Rou, who showed no sign of disputing her claim, leading him to speculate that what she said might indeed be true.
If she truly was a Count, her status surely trumped his.
After all, the Southern Xiongnu surrendered to the Han Dynasty as allies, and under such circumstances, even the Southern Chanyu was just a subject of the Han, needing to heed Wang Rou’s command. The title “Lord” in the Count’s designation really held him down.
But while the reasoning made sense, wasn’t it a bit too cocky to first kill Xiutu heads and then aim a gun at him, the Left Guli Wang?
However, before he could express his outrage, Wang Rou stepped forward, her expression neutral but soft, saying, “Qiao Marquis, please hold back for now; let’s not ruin the harmony between the Han and the Southern Xiongnu.”
The Left Guli Wang let out a sigh of relief.
At least her words sounded somewhat human.
“Harmony? Since the Southern Xiongnu and the Han are allies, then the Xiutu attacking the Han borders should be our common enemy.” Qiao Yan responded coldly, “I brought these Xiutu heads here simply to ask for an explanation—it has nothing to do with any collusion.”
Her half-spear might not be very long, but at such close range, it was enough to be a deadly weapon.
And what she said made this senior figure of the Southern Xiongnu, now sitting on the ground, tremble inside.
He wanted to hold Qiao Yan accountable for her pompous attitude, but she had made it abundantly clear; she was here to cut ties. If he insisted on pursuing matters, he would find himself implicated.
Facing the armed threat and the usual aggressiveness of the Han, he had no choice but to stick to his guns and deny any involvement with the Xiutu.
Suppressing his frustration, he carefully pushed Qiao Yan’s spear away from his neck and replied, “Of course not. The Xiutu are a branch of the Northern Xiongnu, what do they have to do with our Southern Xiongnu? Even the Protector-General can vouch that we have remained peaceably in Meiji City since arriving, with no intention to offend the Han.”
Qiao Yan raised an eyebrow, “Is that so?”
Wang Rou continued playing the mediator, saying, “Just as the Left Guli Wang has stated.”
Once the spear was moved from his throat, the surrounding soldiers also lowered their weapons, and the Left Guli Wang finally let out a breath of relief.
But no one told him that after declaring they had nothing to do with the Xiutu, they still needed to contribute a bit of grain and horses as military assets, did they?
Ironically, the Protector-General’s arguments were quite reasonable.
He claimed that two years ago, Qiao Yan had seized the governorship of Bingzhou and only got penalized with house arrest—she had the Han Emperor backing her. Even if she mobilized the Bingzhou army to crush the Southern Xiongnu, she’d probably only face house arrest for another year or two.
Besides, the main force of the Xiutu was annihilated; wouldn’t it be a good thing to rid their Xiongnu kindred of a cannibalistic scoundrel? Offering some military supplies was just a reward.
This whole “clean and upright” rationale was basically a big bleed-out.
The Left Guli Wang barely managed to suppress his urge to spit blood when he saw Qiao Yan have someone pack up the Xiutu king’s head in a brocade box and present it to him. A feeling of impending doom crept over him.
Sure enough, he heard Qiao Yan speak in a tone that seemed somewhat apologetic, “I’ve heard that among the Xiongnu, it’s customary to use the skulls of brave warriors as wine cups. This Xiutu king was slain by my arrow; it’s perhaps befitting to present it to you, Left Guli Wang, as a gift to ease your mind.”
“…” Those words were impossible to respond to, making the Left Guli Wang holding the brocade box feel as though there was a deeper meaning behind her words.
He then heard her shift the conversation, saying, “But I hope you don’t end up becoming a wine cup for someone else someday.”
Before she finished, a knowing smile flashed across her face.
This Count was no older than thirteen or fourteen; everything she did sent a chill down his spine.
With that, Qiao Yan smiled faintly before bursting into loud laughter, yanking the spear from the ground, and with a twist, hopped onto her horse, riding off with a swish. Following her lead, the surrounding soldiers quickly followed suit under the command of Zhao Yun, Zhang Yang, Dian Wei, Xu Huang, and others.
This scene was powerful enough to make up for their lack of training, leaving the Left Guli Wang dumbfounded for quite a while.
Just as he snapped back to reality, he suddenly realized that most of the military supplies given away came from his own stock!
He almost cursed Qiao Yan under his breath but then glanced at the mountain of heads piled nearby.
“…” The Left Guli Wang’s heart raced as he turned away from another familiar face and decided to push back his plans for rising to power.
At least this loss would keep Qiao Yan from bothering him about the Xiutu matter again.
He thought to himself that his exchanges with the Xiutu shouldn’t have exposed his identity, finally letting out a breath.
Even Wang Rou said before parting ways with Qiao Yan, “This time the Southern Xiongnu delivered quite a few horses. If there was any thought of rebellion, they probably wouldn’t have the capital to confront us. Not to mention that with Qiao Yan’s troops on the side, even my forces could suppress them. This matter appears to be coming to a close.”
He thought so, yet failed to notice the subtle change in Qiao Yan’s expression when she heard the phrase “coming to a close.”
Coming to a close?
Qiao Yan murmured the words, shaking her head in her heart.
If she truly thought that their battle against the Xiutu was enough to assert Bingzhou’s might and that the compensation from the Southern Xiongnu would be sufficient to arm another cavalry unit, then she was entirely mistaken about what she had given up.
She always liked to leverage her resources for maximum effect, and this occasion was no different!
In fact, whether it was deploying troops to the He Dong region to subdue the White Wave Bandits, or rallying forces to strike at the Xiutu, or even creating such a scene upon returning to Bingzhou, if not for the governors and officials in various regions taking into account special situations, permitting or tacitly allowing her, all her actions would have violated the law.
But if—
What if she held the command over marching in Bingzhou?
Or rather, if she could use this situation to exploit her way from just holding a ceremonial noble title to actually grasping real power in a commandery or state?
All these would no longer be issues.
During the prior rapid march or when she witnessed the horrific scenes in Guyang, besides feeling heart-wrench for the people, part of her calm side was also pondering such possibilities.
If she could seize the title of Marquis of Leping through maneuvering, mitigate the negative impacts from the governor, and even gain Liu Hong’s approval, then now she certainly could pull another play.
After this act, she could quietly await the news of Liu Hong’s demise.
But before that, she still needed to meet him once more.
A vitally important encounter.
Once back in Leping, she instructed Lu Yuan to prepare some things.
The next day, Guo Jia, looking like he just rolled out of bed, showed up. When he saw Qiao Yan stepping out the door, he was taken aback.
“What have you brought?”
Qiao Yan, seeming oblivious to his astonishment, asked in a casual tone.
Despite his shock, Guo Jia instinctively replied, “Qiao Marquis, you entrusted me with the tasks of deterrence, assimilation, and deception concerning the Bingzhou border, even wanting to adopt my proposition of killing the Hu to ransom the dead. Therefore, you need to provide the central authority with an account of this operation.”
“So I lingered for an extra couple of days in the regions of Yunzhong and Wuyuan to record the grievances of the people troubled by border issues.”
He clasped his hands, presenting the scroll to Qiao Yan.
While this should have been seen as a strategic preparatory move ahead of orders, when he looked back up at Qiao Yan, he felt a jolt as if she suddenly impressed upon him all over again.
This Count’s demeanor—this Count’s demeanor—
Truly made him feel like he hadn’t misjudged her!
She was clad in a white mourning outfit!
And despite the white, it seemed to emanate layers of bloody energy.
This was the killing intent she had carried from her expedition beyond the pass.
As she flipped through the scroll, she gradually spoke, explaining her actions: “As the Count of Leping, with my grandfather buried in Leping, I must regard myself as half of the people of Bingzhou.”
“The tragedy of Guyang is but a microcosm of this situation in Bingzhou. If there aren’t any strong hands to restrain and govern, one day, today’s Guyang could become tomorrow’s Bingzhou.”
“With no one mourning the dead and the living barely hanging on, only I, the Count of Leping, having received the Emperor’s grace to be conferred this title, am compelled to don white and conduct mourning rituals for my grandfather and parents three years ago, and now bear the white for Bingzhou!”
She set down the scroll and looked at Guo Jia, “What do you think? Is this reasoning sound?”
“What you say is indeed correct, Qiao Marquis.”
Knowing full well the intent behind her gesture was far less about the people’s needs and more about power play, Guo Jia couldn’t help but think, if she really could maintain stability in Bingzhou, who would dare speak against her?
As long as the outcome was achieved, wasn’t it a magnificent feat of saving an entire region?
As he was lost in thought, he heard Qiao Yan ask, “Feng Xiao, are you willing to accompany me to Luoyang?”
