The Demon Lords

Chapter 469 1 On Achievements_1

"Well, followers of Daoism fancy using 'sixty years' as a time frame, but us common folks prefer round numbers like fifty or a hundred. And as the saying goes, a hundred years is a cycle of life—reflection proves that it's true. Listen well!

"A hundred years ago, right here in our very own Yinlang County, the first Earl of the North Border crushed the Qian people's half-a-million-strong army with his thirty thousand cavalrymen. Such glorious achievement! It's thanks to the Earl that the fate of our great Yan State could be preserved. He deserves the foremost credit.

"Who would have thought? Hey, it's truly strange, as if destiny ordained it.

"A century later, that's today, our present Earl of the North Border, leading two hundred thousand cavalrymen, marched into Qian State. Our great Yan cavalry stormed South Gate, stabbing the Jin people from behind. The Jin people were still enmeshed in battle with us at Horse Hoof Mountain when, with a mighty roar, our brave Yan Tiger Guards under the Black Dragon flag charged out! Tsk, tsk, tsk, that battle was terrifyingly ferocious. The earth rebelled, mountains crumbled, rivers flowed backward!

"Hey, weren't those Jin people always unconvinced? They said our Great Yan cavalry's claim to be the best under heaven was an undeserved reputation, that the true finest cavalry in the world was theirs. Well, this was a perfect opportunity to settle the score. As they say, let's see who's a mule and who's a horse—actions speak louder than words! Those paper tigers, they were all show and no substance. Under the command of the two Lords, our Great Yan cavalry swept a thousand li in ten days, chasing the Jin army until they were wetting their pants in terror.

"The Earl of the North Border personally beheaded the Helian Family's patriarch on the battlefield. It's said that the patriarch had an exotic beast by his side, a hundred feet tall—taller than the walls of our Nanwang City! It could swallow the sun and the moon, yet our Earl decapitated it with a single stroke. With his second stroke, he cut down the Helian Family's patriarch, and with his third, he plunged his sword into the ground. Someone asked the Lord, 'Lord, why did you stop killing?' He said, 'I was afraid I'd wipe them all out if I kept going. I had to leave some heads for my boys to share.'"

SMACK!

The storyteller snapped open his fan, fanning himself in the dead of winter. He deliberately paused at a critical point, and a young girl with a bamboo sieve began circulating among the listeners, soliciting tips.

Siniang tossed a handful of copper coins in, then looked at Zheng Fan and asked, "My lord, is the Earl of the North Border really that formidable?"

Zheng Fan shook his head. "I've heard from Li Fusheng that the Earl was severely injured when he was young, and his vitality has long since faded. The one who killed the Helian Family's patriarch was Qingshuang."

"Ah, no wonder." Siniang asked again, "My lord, something seems off. I heard that the commander-in-chief leading this attack on the Jin people is Lord Jingnan."

Logically, Lord Jingnan commands the Jingnan Army. Its soldiers are primarily from Yinlang County, essentially their native sons; their own army. Yet this storyteller in the Nanwang City teahouse only speaks of the Earl of the North Border's deeds, completely forgetting Lord Jingnan, and the audience is the same. Although the Earl of the North Border's family, the Lis, also originated from Yinlang County a hundred years ago, that was a century past. How could they be dearer to the people than their own local soldiers?

Zheng Fan shook his head. "Lord Jingnan annihilated his own family. In the eyes of the common people, he's regarded as a demonic figure. Tian Wujing wiped out his entire clan and proclaimed, 'The fall of the great Yan clans begins with my Tian Family.' In reality, it was he who pushed forward and triggered the wheels of the great Yan clans' destruction, and in doing so, he also created the conditions for Yan's current wars against Qian and Jin. Furthermore, he is the commander-in-chief of this campaign into Jin, with his fifty thousand Jingnan Army soldiers participating. By all rights and reason, he should be credited with the primary achievement. But the eyes of the masses are, for the most part, blind. The common folk only know that this man is too ruthless, wiping out his entire family—it's simply devoid of humanity, worse even than a beast. Storytellers also adjust their tales to suit the market, so naturally, they wouldn't feature Tian Wujing prominently."

Siniang quietly munched on sunflower seeds and said, "That's truly frustrating."

To give the most, to sacrifice the most, and in the end, not even to gain a good reputation.

"Yes, it's frustrating. That's why I don't want to be like Tian Wujing."

These were Zheng Fan's heartfelt sentiments. In life, if one could avoid being wronged, it was best to do so. After all, this current life was a bonus, so naturally, he intended to live it as freely and unrestrainedly as possible.

At this point, Zheng Fan turned to A Ming and asked, "Is Blindman still busy?"

"The Wen Family is large, with over a hundred members from top to bottom. He certainly has his hands full," A Ming replied.

When the Yan Army retreated, Qian State mistakenly believed the main Yan force was still lying in wait, ready to strike. Consequently, the Qian Army on three fronts made no attempt to intercept them, continuing to hide in their shells. When they passed Chuzhou City en route, at Li Fusheng's signal, they allowed anyone in Chuzhou City willing to go with the Yan people to Yan State to accompany them. Wen Sutong was a die-hard traitor to Qian, so naturally, he had to go. Additionally, some Qian civil and military officials who had committed irredeemable acts recently could only follow the Yan people north. It's true that it's hard to leave one's homeland, but they knew in their hearts that if they stayed, once the Yan people left, they would inevitably face a reckoning, one with no chance of escape. Therefore, the entire Wen Family headed north, and Blindman, as the family's "grandson-in-law," naturally had to busy himself with arrangements. Upon entering Yan State, he also had to arrange accommodation and sustenance for such a large group. Fortunately, Wen Sutong, as a representative of Qian's "surrender faction," would surely be treated with great courtesy by the Yan Emperor. So, it shouldn't be long before an imperial edict summoned Wen Sutong to Yanjing, where he would be granted a prestigious, though perhaps largely ceremonial, official post.

"However, I heard that Elder Wen is only taking his immediate family members to Yanjing. The adult males of the clan, about thirty of them, aged sixteen to forty, are all to remain here with us."