Wei Zhan glanced at him for a while, and only said when his laughter subsided: "When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked; when the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away."
Li Jun reached out and grasped the halberd hanging on the Victory Hook, lost in thought. After a moment, he slowly said, "Since you are so frank, sir, I need not hide anything from you. If we follow the custom of this Divine Continent, if I wish to become emperor, the day I achieve great success will be the day you retire. I will not slaughter meritorious officials, but I will force you to withdraw on your own. Master Feng and my master have repeatedly asked me to study history books thoroughly and learn from history. All the founding emperors of dynasties over the past thousands of years have done the same."
Wei Zhan sighed softly. Li Jun's words were indeed true. The founding emperors of all dynasties always had strategists and warriors serving them when they were conquering the country, but when they were ruling the country, they were either executed on charges of treason or retired in seclusion, claiming illness.
“But my ambitions lie elsewhere,” Li Jun said, each word distinct, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve. “Looking back over thousands of years of history, I’ve seen that the more those in power sought to make the world their own, the less likely that world would last. Did those founding emperors who slaughtered their meritorious officials make their dynasties last longer? What right did they have to ensure that the dynasty of one family or clan would continue?”
Wei Zhan remained silent. These were questions that even a scholar as well-versed in classics and history as him had never raised. Rulers throughout history have always regarded consolidating their power as their primary goal, and for this reason, a learned man like Wei Zhan would take it for granted. Only Li Jun, who had only begun to learn under his and Feng Jiutian's guidance in the past two years, already had ideas in this regard that surpassed his teacher's.
"Therefore, sir, please rest assured that what those monarchs have done is absolutely not what I, Li Jun, wish to do." Although he didn't say much, Wei Zhan still understood Li Jun's meaning deeply.
"Lu Shuai... isn't he just an example of someone who was killed?" Li Jun asked himself deeply in his heart, gripping the halberd even tighter.
As the rear guard officer, Luo Yi knew that he was chosen for this important position not because Li Jun valued his martial arts skills—he was injured and could not fully utilize the speed of the Luo Family Lightning Spear—but because Li Jun valued his composure and hoped he would fulfill his role as the garrison commander of Xizhou.
Unlike Li Jun and Meng Yuan, Luo Yi, born into a noble family, was quite interested in enjoying life. Therefore, in Xizhou City, he stayed in the former prefectural governor's residence, previously occupied by Dai Xi. He readily accepted all of Dai Xi's servants. The only thing he wasn't uninterested in was the large number of concubines; it was simply that Li Jun's military discipline was extremely strict, and the abduction of women was a grave taboo within the Peace Army. If someone robbed civilians of their property, one in ten might escape death depending on the severity of the offense, only to be dismissed and never rehired. But abducting women, whether a general or a common soldier, meant certain death.
"How is Dong Cheng?"
This was the first question he asked each day after getting up from Dai Xi's sandalwood bed. Li Jun had put a lot of thought into Dong Cheng's placement. Placing Luo Yi and Tang Peng, whom he had defeated, in Xizhou was to keep them under close surveillance. But he also repeatedly instructed them not to harbor any thoughts of revenge against Dong Cheng, and that apart from his freedom, he would be given whatever he wanted.
Luo Yi didn't care. Although he was injured by Dong Cheng's spear, he could only blame himself for his lack of skill. Tang Peng still harbored some resentment, so he led his troops out of the city to pacify the counties under Canghai Prefecture, choosing to avoid seeing the situation altogether.
"He's still the same as always. Apart from occasionally exchanging a few words with his wife, he hasn't uttered a single word."
After hearing the expected answer, Luo Yi stretched and a faint smile appeared on his face. He said to a bowed maid, "Xiaoyu, help me get dressed."
The maid was of above-average looks, and her constant cautious demeanor evoked a sense of pity. Luo Yi's hands were injured, and after several days of recuperation, he could barely take care of himself. However, since entering the prefectural governor's mansion, this maid named Xiaoyu had been looking after him for the past three or four days. During these days, Luo Yi naturally used the charming methods typical of a noble scion, but Xiaoyu, seemingly influenced by Dai Xi's accumulated power, remained trembling with fear before this new, rather unimpressive "master," daring not to make the slightest mistake.
“Xiaoyu, why don’t you smile? I’ve said it before, our Peace Army is different from Daixi’s. Someone as beautiful as you, if you don’t smile, it’s a complete waste of your talent. ‘A girl should smile often to be pretty.’ If you don’t smile, you’ll look like an old woman.” He chatted with Xiaoyu casually, but in his heart, he was calculating how much tedious official business he had to handle that day. Although he was just a rear guard garrison commander, he was no different from the governor of Canghai County. After his two days of reorganization, the official business of the various counties was basically in good order. Although the bureaucratic institutions left behind by Daixi were accustomed to official matters, Luo Yi did not trust them. Except for a few necessary people, most of them were dismissed and sent home to be investigated. Now the Xizhou Army in the city has been disbanded and sent home, and those who were willing to join the army have been transferred away by Li Jun. The city is now controlled by five thousand Peace Army soldiers. No matter how unwilling these former officials are, they are powerless. They can only send people to the governor’s mansion every day to wait for news, hoping that the Peace Army will eventually use them again. As for Dai happy, Luo Yi and Tang Peng found him annoying and had long since sent him away from the Canghai County border, letting him leave alive as a reward for his service to the Peace Army.
His teasing only elicited a quick, forced smile from Xiaoyu. The man before her was young and handsome, and despite his injuries, he still exuded a refined and elegant air. But for a girl like her, the more dashing and charming a man was, the more outstanding he was, and therefore the more dangerous he was. Although Canghai County was a relatively peaceful place within the Su Kingdom, the greed and cruelty of its officials and wealthy gentry remained consistent across all times and places.
Luo Yi sighed. This utterly ordinary girl stirred within him a desire to conquer her. Before his aristocratic family, for some reason that couldn't be made public, had somehow expelled him from his home, he had seen far too many vulgar women. They would scheme against each other for money and power, making acquiring a rich and powerful man their primary goal in conquering the world. Beneath their stunning beauty lay a bellyful of scheming. Compared to this timid, somewhat withdrawn maid, their beauty was nothing more than a tool.
“Xiaoyu, you don’t need to be afraid of me.” He put away the smile on his face and put on a serious expression: “Although I have taken you all over, I am different from your old master, Daixi.”
"This servant knows that the young master is a hero on the battlefield," Xiaoyu finally replied briefly, but her expression and words still conveyed a sense of unapproachability.
"You're hardly a hero on the battlefield. You were reduced to this state after only three rounds against Dong Cheng." Luo Yi sighed. This defeat was extremely humiliating. Based on his true abilities, he shouldn't have been so badly beaten. On his first day on the battlefield, he was indeed a bit too eager to win. But he shook off the shadow of this defeat and said, "I am different from Dai Xi because the way I hire you is different from how Dai Xi hires you. To be frank, although I enjoy life, I am not someone who is so dependent on it. The reason I kept you here is because I have investigated, and most of you would have no way to make a living if you lost your positions in the prefect's mansion."
Upon hearing him say this, Xiaoyu's eyes flickered slightly, glancing at him with a mixture of surprise and bitterness, before she quickly looked away.
Luo Yi smiled slightly. Although it couldn't be called a success, it was at least a small step forward. As long as he kept trying, he would eventually gain the maid's trust. Gaining the trust of just one person was already so difficult, let alone the trust of the entire Su Kingdom. Thinking of this, he felt somewhat fortunate. Luckily, it was Li Jun and Wei Zhan who had to worry about this, while he could simply enjoy his life in the prefect's mansion.
Despite these thoughts, when a guard reported that a Mr. Zhou was requesting an audience, Luo Yi immediately interrupted his explanation to Xiao Yu and hurried to the gate. He seemed unaware that his diligence in official duties was actually a way to win the support of the Soviet people for the Peace Army.
The person who came to see him was an old man nearing fifty, dressed in a blue robe and thin as a bony frame. There seemed to be some arrogance between his brows, but the weathered look on his face proved that he was not someone who would enjoy a life of leisure for long.
"Sir, what brings you to see this humble one?" Luo Yi performed the deep bow a scion of a noble family would give to an elder. The old man seemed not entirely satisfied with his respect, stroking his beard as he asked, "So you are Luo Yi?"
The proclamation issued before the Peace Army's departure stated that Luo Yi of the Su Kingdom would remain to guard Xizhou. Luo, Zhao, and Li were all prominent surnames in the Su Kingdom, and Li Jun's deliberate inclusion of Luo Yi's name was, to some extent, an attempt to downplay the Peace Army's foreign origins. Therefore, Luo Yi was not surprised that the old man knew his name.
"I am Luo Yi. Please take a seat and have some tea, sir."
Upon entering the living room, the old man glanced at the opulent furnishings, chuckled coldly, and said, "So that's how it is. Why would Li Jun appoint someone like you as the garrison commander of Xizhou? Is it simply because you come from the Luo family of Su State?"
"Why do you say that, sir? The Luo family of Su is not of any extraordinary origin." Luo Yi secretly groaned in his heart. What he feared most was encountering such arrogant so-called purists. Most of them were famous and cynical. They could not stand anything in the world and would find ways to ridicule and mock them.
"The important matter is not yet accomplished, yet you indulge in such pleasures. Either Li Jun has made a mistake in choosing the wrong person, or you are deliberately trying to sabotage Li Jun." As the maid brought out the fragrant tea, the old man took a sip without any politeness, savored it for a long time, and then exhaled it as a vent of resentment.
"Sir, you may not know this, but these artifacts were originally left behind by the former governor of the Su Kingdom. If I were to destroy them all, wouldn't that be a waste? This is not the way of thrift for our Peace Army. Moreover, Xizhou has just been pacified, and the sea has calmed down somewhat. If I were to be eager to show that the Peace Army is different from others and abandon these precious artifacts, the wealthy people in the city would surely feel uneasy. This is not the way to keep the people at ease." Luo Yi respectfully stood up and said. Although these upright figures did not have any real power, if they could gain his favor, it would be a great help to the Peace Army in winning the hearts and minds of the people.
"Hmm, what about these servants?" The old man took another sip of tea, pursed his lips, and said, "As far as I know, although Commander Lu comes from a wealthy family, he doesn't indulge in pleasure and usually does things for himself. Li Jun has been wandering since childhood and has been with him for several years, and he has never liked being served. So how come you have a mansion full of servants?"
“Marshal Lu is Marshal Lu, Commander Li is Commander Li, and I am me,” Luo Yi shouted inwardly. “Why can’t Marshal Lu and Commander Li use servants, but I, Luo Yi, can’t?” Of course, he couldn’t say it out loud. Besides, his thoughts were just a rebellious reaction to the old man’s aggressive questioning.
“If the servants in this mansion lose their posts, most of them will have no way to make a living. I don’t mistreat them. They can earn their own living through their own labor. Why not?” he explained, but his tone was no longer as refined as before.
The old man remained expressionless, gently shaking the celadon teacup. He watched the floating tea leaves drift like small boats on the water, a reminder of how life's encounters are often like this. One never knows where the hand controlling the teacup of fate will lead one astray.
“Li Jun did not make a mistake in choosing the right person.” The old man finally withdrew his aggressive demeanor and smiled slightly: “I heard that he had entered the Su Kingdom, so I spent eight days rushing here, but I did not expect that I was still three days too late. He had already left Xizhou.”
Luo Yi's heart skipped a beat. This old man wasn't from Xizhou after all. Judging from his tone, there seemed to be more to his story in coming here. So he asked, "Sir, do you perhaps have some past connection with Commander Li?"
The old man's answer surprised him greatly: "Indeed, Li Junmengyuan and I were once colleagues." As Luo Yi was still in shock, the old man raised his head, and a look of pride appeared on his face, which was haggard from suffering: "I am Huang Xuan, the chief strategist under Marshal Lu." As he said this, every word seemed to be showing Luo Yi all the glory and brilliance of his life.
"Mr. Huang Xuan? Is this really true?" Luo Yi was so surprised that he could only instinctively ask this question, and for a moment he had no other words to say. When Lu Xiang was alive, his military and civil officials were the best in the entire army of Su. In military affairs, there were those like Meng Yuan and Li Jun who could take the top generalship with ease, and in civil affairs, there were resourceful and thoughtful men like Huang Xuan and Chen Liang. Huang Xuan's name was indeed like a companion star next to the great star of Lu Xiang. Although it was not as dazzling as the great star, it was still widely known to the world.
What surprised Luo Yi most was that most of Lu Xiang's soldiers and staff, except for Li Jun and Meng Yuan who led over a thousand men on a long march, had perished in the icy wilderness. They were either crushed by the Lan Kingdom's army or hunted down and killed by the Su Kingdom's imperial guards. Figures like Chen Liang and Huang Xuan were naturally prime targets, their reputations even surpassing those of Li Jun and Meng Yuan. Therefore, the rumors of their deaths were accepted without verification. In some households, there was a "deer sacrifice" ceremony during festivals, which was actually a way of paying respects to Lu Xiang and his fallen soldiers, risking severe punishment from the Su Kingdom's officials. Beside the deer statue representing Lu Xiang was an image of a yellow sheep, actually referring to Huang Xuan. But this figure, rumored to be dead and revered as a deity by the people, had appeared before him.
"Someone, please bring Sun Cheng here!" Luo Yi snapped out of his daze and shouted loudly to the Peace Army guards outside. Then he smiled apologetically at Huang Xuan: "Please don't be offended, sir. It is said that you passed away along with Marshal Lu. Commander Li and General Meng are always very sad when they talk about this. I had no choice but to ask someone who knows you to come and verify this."
Of the invincible troops who followed Li Jun on his long expedition, fewer than three hundred remained after years of fighting. Most were seasoned veterans, and many had been promoted to lower-ranking officers in the Peace Army. The core of the Peace Army remained largely composed of them. Although some later recruits were quite capable, they still had to show them deference. Sun Cheng was one of them, holding the rank of 1,000-man commander in Luo Yi's army. Therefore, Luo Yi sent someone to invite him.
"I'm afraid even if he comes, he won't recognize me." Huang Xuan's face showed a miserable expression. As a civil official, it was a miracle that he survived the chaos of war. Afterwards, he had to hide his identity to avoid being captured in his own country, making it impossible for him to return home. He, who was once as handsome as the moon and had a dashing spirit, is now an old man with a withered face and a haggard appearance.
Sun Cheng strode into the living room. Although he was one of the more senior members of the Peace Army, he and his group were deeply influenced by Lu Xiang and Li Jun, and most of them were not very old. Therefore, they still retained some of the sincerity and straightforwardness of young people.
"Brother Sun Cheng, do you recognize this gentleman?"
Luo Yi's question made Sun Cheng stare at the old man for a long time before shaking his head and saying, "This old gentleman looks very unfamiliar; I don't quite remember him."
"I really can't recognize him..." the old man muttered to himself, but then his eyes lit up and he said, "You are Li Jun's subordinate, so you should know when Li Jun met Commander Lu?"
“Everyone under Commander Li knows this; it’s not a big secret,” Sun Cheng shook his head again.