Chapter 984 – Battle of the Northern Border (21)
Feng Zhen suddenly asked, “What if Zixiao oversteps?”
Qi Guanrang glanced at Feng Zhen, his eyes seemingly swirling with invisible currents.
“If he dares to overstep, even our Lord might not be able to protect him.”
A lord is a lord, and a subject is a subject.
If a subject forgets their place, relying on a previously close relationship with their superior to act imperiously and do something out of line—like transgressing their authority or flipping the power dynamic—then even if the lord is willing to indulge, those below won’t just sit by idly.
Qi Guanrang lowered his voice; despite it sounding regular, an unfounded chill sent shivers down one’s spine.
“Ah, don’t be so serious, Wen Zheng, I was just asking casually,” Feng Zhen chuckled, “Zixiao will know his limits.”
Qi Guanrang said, “I hope so.”
Over the years, he’d watched coldly, and it seemed his lord was indeed serious.
Based on her temperament, the more one tried to prevent her from doing something, the more she liked to be stubborn, and resisting her was futile.
Conversely, if the lord and Wei Ci were to develop anything, there would be no worries about the Young Master in the future.
In the battle of Chishui, the Northern Border lost quite miserably.
The Dai Wang led his troops in person, but it didn’t yield the expected results; instead, he brought a bunch of defeated soldiers to the Mai Nu tribe.
Though they were remnants, after multiple rounds of rest, there were still around sixty thousand troops left, and the Mai Nu tribe was no match.
The Third Prince quietly observed the Dai Wang; seeing his arrogant façade, he couldn’t help but want to throw out a little mockery.
Isn’t the Ninth Prince quite the capable one?
He defeated a bunch of brothers and became the Dai Wang, yet now he was losing so badly he might not even keep his pants intact?
However, saying these words would bring temporary satisfaction but might lead to a fatal crisis for the Mai Nu tribe, so he held back.
The Northern Border troops had fled in a hurry, leaving behind all military supplies, and now sixty thousand mouths depended on the Mai Nu tribe for sustenance.
The Third Prince nearly exploded with anger when he heard the Dai Wang brazenly demand food and wine from him.
“This old Ninth—”
The Third Prince seethed with pent-up frustration, taking it out on the decorations in the room.
“Your Highness, someone has sent an invitation.”
“Who sent it?” The Third Prince grabbed it casually and opened the invitation, his eyes landing on the signature, “Teacher Wu Libai?”
What did he want with him?
The Third Prince felt suspicious, but he didn’t dare be careless, tidying himself up before secretly meeting Wu Libai.
When he first laid eyes on Wu Libai, the Third Prince could hardly believe his eyes.
Is this… his teacher?
In the Third Prince’s memory, his teacher Wu Libai was in his middle years, and although a man of the Northern Border, he always emanated an inexplicable scholarly aura.
No matter the time, he always appeared calm and collected, as if everything was under control.
He had once been attracted to his mentor’s charisma, willingly learning about Central Plains culture from him.
Now, seeing him again, he could barely recognize him.
Due to injuries and repeated anger, Wu Libai’s complexion was far from good.
His brow was deeply furrowed, graying hair, and wrinkles that betrayed his true age made him look haggard and weary.
Regardless, the Third Prince respectfully called out to him, pulling Wu Libai out of his reverie.
“Get up—” Wu Libai glanced at the Third Prince, who, unlike him, seemed to be thriving in his maternal clan’s tribe, “I actually wanted to discuss something with you today—this matter requires your opinion.”
The Third Prince felt puzzled but replied, “Please speak, teacher. If there is any way I can be of help, I won’t decline.”
“Do you want to be Dai Wang?” Wu Libai asked bluntly.
The Third Prince’s heart skipped a beat, nearly biting his tongue.
What is his teacher saying?
Asking him if he wants to be Dai Wang?
Of course, he does! He dreams about it!
If he could replace the Ninth Prince as Dai Wang, who would dare show off in the Mai Nu tribe anymore?
However, he wasn’t sure why Wu Libai was asking this; he knew Wu Libai previously loathed the prince’s infighting.
Why suddenly ask him if he wants to争夺 the Dai Wang position?
The Third Prince couldn’t read Wu Libai’s thoughts and decided to test the waters.
Little did he know, his thoughts were transparent to Wu Libai, who gruffly asked, “I’m only asking if you want it or not!”
The Third Prince forced a smile, “Teacher, you know me well. How could I hide my thoughts from you? Who wouldn’t want the position of Dai Wang?”
Wu Libai sighed, “Had I known Ninth Prince was like this, I would have helped you ascend back then.”
The Third Prince inquired, “Teacher, what exactly happened?”
Wu Libai, looking exhausted, recounted the events of the night raid and the Chishui battle, expressing, “I let my guard down, resulting in over ten thousand elite troops being wiped out; that was my fault. But the Dai Wang won’t heed advice and acts arbitrarily; eventually, he will lose the entire Northern Border—”
The Third Prince was stunned to hear this.
He saw the Dai Wang and the defeated troops and guessed the Northern Border had lost the battle badly, but he hadn’t expected it to be this disastrous.
At this rate, Liu Xi was definitely not an easy opponent but rather a fierce beast instead.
“Does that mean… Teacher wants to find a way to dispose of the Dai Wang?”
Wu Libai sighed, saying, “To prevent chaos in the army, if we want to dispose of the Dai Wang, it can’t be done openly. We need a plausible excuse. I still have some connections in the military; with some good maneuvering, it can definitely be done—”
The Northern Border army had just suffered a colossal defeat, and morale had plummeted.
If news broke that the Dai Wang had died suddenly, it would panic the troops.
According to Wu Libai’s plan, he wanted the Dai Wang to “suffer a stroke,” becoming incapable of managing state affairs, and then push the Third Prince up.
The Third Prince held back his wildly beating heart, excitedly saying, “I’ll leave everything to you, teacher.”
After the battle of Chishui, Jiang Pengji’s army not only didn’t pursue victory but instead chose to camp on higher ground.
This action relieved Wu Libai yet also birthed other worries; he had an uneasy feeling that Jiang Pengji was plotting something.
It turned out that Jiang Pengji indeed was up to something.
As for Wei Ci, all he could do was sigh—
His majesty truly harbored an irreconcilable enmity with the Northern Border.
In a past life, when his majesty attacked the Northern Border, he really went all out.
At that time, the Northern Border was prosperous, with a population nearing two million, and they fought bitterly for a year and a half, reducing the Northern Border’s population to less than five hundred thousand.
Such fierce achievements caused many to secretly call him “the Butcher.”
Once Jiang Zhao unified, his majesty specifically ordered the relocation of the eligible foreign populace from the Northern Border to various places in the Central Plains, while relocating the impoverished Central Plains populace to the Northern Border for grazing and planting trees, providing each household with government subsidies.
Compared to the densely populated Central Plains, these Northern Border foreigners were quickly diluted and assimilated.
Wei Ci might not live to a ripe old age, but looking back at the situation from Jiang Zhao’s time, there wouldn’t be any worries of foreign forces dominating and threatening the Central Plains in the next two hundred years.
【Only by thoroughly crushing these hard-headed Northern Borders will they behave obediently.】
