487 Temporary Peace

After Liao Hua died, all cataphracts stopped charging. However, Xiahou Yuan thought that they panicked because they had lost their leader.

The archer general calmly sniped cataphracts one after another while the local garrison forces evacuated all civilians from the wall area.

By the time that the gates were closed, Xiahou Yuan already killed 500 soldiers on his own.

"Eh… I don't know if they're stupid or they have a genius plan. I'll just kill them when I can."

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In the end, Xiahou Yuan stopped killing when 5,000 of cataphracts died. He finally noticed that they just waited there, looking back at Xiahou Yuan with blank eyes.

When one of his scouts approached the cataphracts to negotiate with them, the latter did not react. Instead, they fell from their horses as if they ran out of strength.

In reality, all of them had not eaten anything for days because of Liao Hua's selfish leadership. Since they could not voice their opinion or had sentience desire, they ran out of strength and died from exhaustion and dehydration.

Xiahou Yuan was confused. He rushed toward them, but it was too late.

This last batch of created soulless soldiers passed away in peace, which marked the end of Khan's remnants.

Just like that, the storm dispersed.

"Welp! That's anti-climactic!" Xiahou Yuan laughed. He did not have to put more effort into the war anymore.

Xiahou Dun and his army arrived a week later after they forced-marched their ways from Luoyang.

Upon hearing that his brother had taken care of everything already, Xiahou Dun screamed in frustration and took Xiahou Yuan for a marathon drinking contest to vent his anger.

Thus, the last war of this year came to a close.

Peace returned to the Han citizens … temporarily.

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A month later, Lu Bu and Zhang He's units regrouped at Hongnong as planned. The two generals entered Li Feihong's space to visit the prisoners.

When Lu Bu and Liu Bei met, both had a different expression.

Lu Bu felt that it was ironic. In the other world, he was captured while Liu Bei was the victor.

But here, everything reversed. Lu Bu sided with the victors, while Liu Bei was left with nothing.

"How ironic," Lu Bu grinned, "Have you ever dreamed about this day, Xuande?"

Liu Bei did not say anything even though he could remember the other life's events.

"Oh? Playing mute now?" Lu Bu found it amusing, "I wonder what will happen once Tong finds out about your current status."

He put his plan to action right away.

Lu Bu: "Tong, we've captured Lu Bu and Ma Chao. Liu Bei's forces are pretty much done for. What's your next plan?"

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Surprisingly, Tong did not answer.

After 5 minutes of dead chat, Medusa replied.

Diaochan: "As for the matter about the prisoners, we'll lock them up for the time being."

Diaochan: "After Tong finishes his cultivating session, we'll let him decide their fate later."

Lu Bu was disappointed. He wanted to see how Liu Bei would struggle in front of Tong.

Lu Bu: "A pity. Any idea when he will come out?"

Diaochan: "Not any time soon."

Lu Bu: "Any estimation? You once had 8 wings, correct? How long does it take to reinforce one's constitution for the 8 wings?"

Diaochan: "Years. I can't say how long. It depends on the cultivators and their foundations. If it's someone like you, I can say you'll need only five to ten years to get to 8 wings. As for others like Zhang Liao, Zhang He, or Xu Huang, I think they might take 20 years or less with the current assisting systems."

Medusa had not realized this yet. She had just dropped a bomb that might disrupt Tong's peaceful empire forever.

By just saying that Tong would not be in his office for years, it gave many clan members an idea that their boss would not pay attention to their actions for a while.

This awakened the secret desire among Tong's loyal officers. They might have sworn allegiance to Tong, but they never said that they would follow the other colleagues or be at peace with them.

The harmony among Tong's crews began to crack as of today!

Without any demon realizing it, a new curtain had opened, which invited a new conflict among Tong's men.

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By the end of year 198, Li Feihong successfully spread the rumor about Liu Bei's merciless killing to Liang Province and Yong Province regions.

As they had expected, words of mouth from the native locals were more effective than slandering them without baseless rumors. The survivors from the massacre exaggerated the news and made Liu Bei the hypocrite bad guy.

Li Feihong's men ended up being called heroes, who rescued many civilians from the senseless killing. Still, many survivors did not like their forces because they failed to protect Hongnong civilians in the first place.

Polarized opinions spread, but the local peasants cared more about their livelihood over politics. Thus, the trending rumor did not last long.

Nevertheless, the discredit mission was a success. Liu Bei's influence died down.

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Spring, 199 AD

The Monster Legion, the Redhare Legion, and the Ghost Legion marched toward the northwest regions. Each unit occupied different commanderies.

Li Feihong insisted that he wanted Hongnong as his home, so the Monster Legion only helped the other two reclaiming the lost cities from Liu Bei's men before they returned to Hongnong.

Lu Bu took Wuwei and Jincheng Commandery, which ultimately united the Liang Province under his rules by default.

Zhang He chose to pacify Tianshui, Anding, and Chang'an Commandery, the Yong Province since he was familiar with these regions. As someone who squared against Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei, and Wei Yan during Shu's Northern Campaign period, he was confident that his unit could stabilize the cities in this area.

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Summer 199 AD

Cao Cao and his men joined Tong's clan as promised. He conceded Luoyang to Li Feihong, so the latter could become the official overlord of Si Province.

Diaochan appointed Cao Cao as the lord of Xu Province to limit his influence. Meanwhile, she sent Liu Xie to be the new lord of Zhongyuan, the central plain where Cao Cao had once owned. The Demon Legion also moved along with Liu Xie to be to local defense forces.

Zhao Yun's White Horse Legion dispatched to the north and replaced Xu Huang's duty. This former Liu Bei's bodyguard and Sima Yi received a new order from Diaochan.

Take over the Korea Peninsula!

The White Horse Legion relocated to Lelang County, east of Liaodong as ordered.

Xu Huang received a tiring order as well. He and his men had to move back and replace Lu Bu's duty in Jing Province, the territory of Liu Biao. This unit had to convince Liu Biao that it was the right time to officially surrender his territories to Tong, so they could dispatch their officers to the regions.

Gan Ning and Tian Yu also received a new order from Diaochan. They had to hasten their progress on developing their warships and help Zhao Yun taking over Korea.

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Autumn 199 AD.

Sun Quan and others were summoned back from Bing Province to receive their new posts.

Diaochan allowed them to create a new legion using their names, so Sun Quan could have a force to protect his clansmen and his followers.

She also transferred 25,000 elites of the Immortal Legion to Sun Quan's new 'Wu Legion', so they could get adapt to their culture faster. As for their posts, Diaochan wanted them to control their rightful lands, Jiangdong, where Sun Jian gained his fame. However, they had to train at least 50,000 soldiers of their own and become a professional army worthy of Tong's trust first.

This delighted Huang Gai and others as this was their first step to reclaim their influence in Tong's court. Everyone swore that they would not disappoint Tong and Diaochan.

Sun Quan did not return to Jiangdong right away. He stayed in Ye to learn the culture of this new Han Dynasty. Also, he worried about his mother, who still lived inside the inner palace.

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Winter 199 AD.

Diaochan reached the bottleneck of her cultivation, so he passed her duties to Te Langpu, Sima Fang, and Lu Zhi. The trio took over the tasks as usual.

However, after Diaochan shut herself in her palace and entered secluded cultivation to awaken her 8th wing, many officers in the court began revealing their true nature.

Te Langpu immediately proposed all court officials that they should begin distributing lands for nobles and Tong's loyal subjects, especially those that had contributed greatly to the Han Empire as rewards.

This former president bribed Lu Zhi and Sima Fang by offering them the right to had additional land deeds first.

Surprisingly, Lu Zhi and Sima Fang accepted. They thought that it might be a good idea to distribute wealth to their followers and the people under their domain. As the war was over, there was no need to hold back all authority at the central government.

The order immediately triggered corruption. Many officials sought and audience with Te Langpu, so he could distribute some lands for them. All of them offered Te Langpu various kinds of bribery, such as women, gold, and treasures.

And Te Langpu accepted bribes from many wealth seekers, giving away land deeds without Diaochan or Tong's approval!

Dong Bai, the watchdog of Tong and Diaochan, immediately reported this incident to Tong and Medusa using the clan chat, which frightened the Prime Minister.

However, they were too busy cultivating! No one paid attention to the clan chat!

Without a consultant or a way out, Dong Bai reached for Zhuge Liang. She violated Tong's order that she should not give this man a cultivation method until Tong gave her permission.

Dong Bai used her clan authority and gave a soul to Zhuge Liang anyway, hoping to get him to her side, so he could help her deal with these unruly servants.

This action further triggered more chaos…

Moreover, Te Langpu now was watching Dong Bai's action since she was against his ideal.