Feng Yu Jiu Tian - Volume 11 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Seeing how Lie Er was still drinking until his face became red, Lie Zhong Liu told him to take care of himself. Feng Ming also added in that if Lie Er continues drinking, how will they be able depart if he is still not sober?

That was when Lie Zhong Liu asked Feng Ming where they are planning on heading to.

FM: Returning to Xi Lei of course. Ah, I forgot to tell Prime Minister about our plans. From today onward, we will discuss everything with you.

Just like that, Feng Ming informed Lie Zhong Liu about the recent news they discovered about Long Tian’s death. Mian Ya interrupted and stated that ever since the rumors of Long Tian’s death spread, Ruo Yan immediately rushed over to Fan Jia, determined to overtake it.

LZL: The timing is not right. If Ruo Yan headed over there from Yong Yin, then the number of troops he has on hand are not many. Li Kingdom and Fan Jia are like fire and water, according to the people of Fan Jia, Ruo Yan is like an evil nemesis. Even though Fan Jia is like a snake without a head right now, Ruo Yan can also make inside arrangements. However, if he doesn’t have a strong army for support, he will definitely not charge into Fan Jia.

MY: You’re completely right, Prime Minister. According to the news we secretly obtained and the timing of when our campsite was ambushed, Ruo Yan indeed did not return to the capital of Li Kingdom, instead he headed straight to Fan Jia’s borders from Yong Yin after hearing the news of

Long Tian’s death. On the other side, Li Kingdom’s military army quickly mobilized, heading towards Fan Jia’s borders, just in time to join up with Ruo Yan’s troops.

After hearing about politics, Lie Er was somewhat awake and added in his thoughts, “The people of Fan Jia are so pitiful. After a cruel wolf like Long Tian passed away, they attracted yet another ruthless wolf like Ruo Yan lurking at the borders.”

“Once Ruo Yan is in Fan Jia, it’ll be hard for them to protect themselves.” One soldier named Qian Lin also lamented loudly.

LZL: (asking Mian Ya) You said that Li Kingdom’s military army quickly mobilized and headed towards Fan Jia’s borders. Ruo Yan wasn’t in Li Kingdom at the time so who made the decision to send the military army to the borders?

MY: This...we haven’t confirmed who made the decision, but according to our guesses, it must be Princess Miao Guang.

LZL: (shook his head as he laughed) Even though Miao Guang is more intelligent than the average person, she is still a woman who is not accustomed to warfare and would not have the power to control the military army. This decision is something she would not dare to be involved in unless...Ruo Yan had already ordered her to do so. Once Long Tian is dead, she has to quickly send military army to the borders of Fan Jia. However, wouldn’t this conclude that Long Tian’s death was arranged by Ruo Yan?

Feng Ming clarified to Lie Zhong Liu that the death of Long Tian was due to his mother, Lady Yao Ye’s poison and had nothing to do with Ruo Yan. Lie Zhong Liu nodded his head since he also heard a bit about Feng Ming’s background, but he didn’t say anything further.

RT: Does Prime Minister feel something is wrong?

LZL: The mobilization of the army cannot be by Ruo Yan, and definitely cannot be Princess Miao Guang, so who can it be...

MY: Ruo Yan’s closest confidant is General Zhuo Ran. His influence in the military army is just as great, could it be him?

LZL: General Zhuo Ran’s age and influence meets qualification, but he is too calm and cautious to make a definite decision. If he’s in charge, Li Kingdom’s army will not immediately mobilize to Fan Jia’s borders in time to join up with Ruo Yan’s troops.

FM: Who could it be? Not only is this person highly trusted by Ruo Yan, but he can command Li Kingdom’s army. A person who understands Ruo Yan’s mind and is extremely talented.

That year when Ruo Yan imprisoned him, Feng Ming had met all of Li Kingdom’s trusted soldiers and generals, but there was no such person who left that kind of impression.

RT: If you can’t figure it out, it’s fine. No need to worry about it. If it’s an enemy, we will eventually face him, so don’t worry that we might not meet him.

MY: It’s because your subordinate is useless and didn’t look over everything. I will quickly send people to find this out.

LZL: (smiled at him) Yue Zhong is a secluded place. For you to find out about these news quickly is already not an easy thing to do.

Mian Ya’s impression of Lie Zhong Liu immediately raised higher in admiration. Rong Hu quickly drew the conversation back to the main topic of departing for Xi Lei the next day.

Lie Zhong Liu had already thought of an answer, but did not reply immediately. He placed the dishes of food that had gone cold to one side of the table. Chiu Lan picked up the dishes and cleaned the tabled before Lie Zhong Liu pulled out something from his sleeves and asked everyone to have a look.

It was a detailed map of the 11 kingdoms that Lie Zhong Liu drew.

LZL: This is a map that I drew during my spare time today. There wasn’t much time so it’s not carefully drawn. Also, I haven’t traveled to Dan Lin so I only could wrote in the Eastern Sea and Strait since I’m unsure of where Dan Lin is located.

Feng Ming finally realized why he didn’t see Lie Zhong Liu when he went to invite Wei Chiu Niang. Apparently, he hid away to do this instead.

Lie Zhong Liu pointed at Xi Lei on the maps and said, “The southwestern border of Xi Lei faces the sea, and Xi Lei also borders Tong Kingdom, Yong Yin, and Zhao Bei. Judging by the size of Xi Lei’s territory, only Li Kingdom can compare with it.”

LZL: (glancing around at everyone) Do you all know what is the difference between Li Kingdom and Xi Lei?

Lie Er spoke first, “Xi Lei King is talented and benevolent, Li King is ruthless and cruel. Two different kings, of course would have two different kingdoms.”

LZL: Our Xi Lei King is currently wandering in a foreign land, the throne is not even in his hands. At this point, what’s the meaning of being talented and benevolent?

Zi Yan carefully examined the map and replied, “Apart from the territorial differences, the barren and fertile land, along with the distribution of forests, mountains, and wetlands are different. What Prime Minister is trying to say is that Li Kingdom has more plains while Xi Lei has more mountains? If it comes to harvesting, Li Kingdom would be the more powerful one.

Qian Lin added in a few words, “But ever since Xi Lei used the irrigation technique by Duke Ming, the harvesting had greatly increased. This aspect should not be a problem.”

RH: Can Prime Minister give us a little hint? LZL: Just look at the map.

They have already seen the map and did not find anything new. Within a short moment, the whole room was silent.

Lie Zhong Liu noticed that no one was saying anything, he glanced over at Feng Ming and chuckled, “I would like to hear Duke Ming’s take on this.”

“Ha? Me again?” Feng Ming pointed at his nose.

Seeing Lie Zhong Liu’s nod, Feng Ming grimaced. Oh God...are these riddle games still not done yet? He just barely passed one today and was still feeling terrified about these riddle games.

If he...answered incorrectly...he won’t be punished, right?

He looked down at Lie Zhong Liu’s map and thought for a long while but still couldn’t come up with any astounding answer. He glanced over at Lie Zhong Liu and seeing how patient he looked waiting for an answer, Feng Ming knew he couldn’t stall much longer.

FM: I think...um...that...Xi Lei resides at the border of the sea and Li Kingdom does not; instead, it is surrounded by different kingdoms.

No one could blame him for coming up with a casual answer that everyone there already knew about. If he was as great as the rumors, then he would have been Prime Minister already.

However, unexpectedly Lie Zhong Liu clapped his hands and happily smiled, “It really does appear that only Duke Ming can think of this. Haha, the biggest difference between Xi Lei and Li Kingdom is this one point.”

This time, not only was Feng Ming wide-eyed and open mouth, everyone else present were also surprised.

LZL: Those that border Xi Lei are only three kingdoms and within those three, only Tong Kingdom has a tense relationship with Xi Lei. As we speak about Tong Kingdom, there was a wonderful thing that occurred not long ago.

Qian Lin: I know, Prime Minister is talking about the assassination of Qing Ding, the King of Tong Kingdom. After the death of Qing Ding, the situation within Tong Kingdom must be chaotic. Tong Kingdom will definitely not threaten Xi Lei at this time.

LZL: You’re correct. Can I ask for this young general’s name? QL: My name is Qian Lin, I bid my respect to Prime Minister.

LZL: Qian Lin.... (Lie Zhong Liu memorized his name and continued explaining) Therefore, Xi Lei does not need to be concerned about its welfare at the moment.

FM: You’re correct. However, Prime Minister, if the neighboring nations were to invade then would we still not be concerned?

LZL: The problem Duke Ming stated is really good, but I will not answer it at the moment. Speaking of Li Kingdom, it does not border the sea but is a nation completely on land. All four directions are surrounded by nations such as Yong Yin, Bo Jian, Bei Qi, Dong Fan, Pu Rong, Yan Ting, and Fan Jia.

CL: (counting with her fingers) Ah, so there are 7 different nations, right?

RT: Haha, Prime Minister is amazing! Even though the 11 kingdoms have been in dispute for a long time, they would declare war and then stop and then declare war again. Those who are defeated will have to put out a heavy offer or cede their land. There has never been a kingdom that was completely annexed by the neighboring nation. Once Ruo Yan actually overtakes Fan Jia, the other remaining six nations will have a violent reaction.

FM: That’s right! It makes sense! Those six kingdoms will definitely be worried that Ruo Yan will take over them as well so they must try to take action first, joining together and fighting against Li Kingdom, that must be why Ruo Yan is vexed over this. That year, the State of Qin also was like that and therefore created an alliance like...Ah...haha, you all don’t need to pay attention to the last sentence I said.

RT: So Prime Minister believes that once Ruo Yan received Fan Jia in hand, his power will increase, but the consequence will be massive. Just dealing with the strength of Fan Jia will be difficult, but also dealing with the other six nations who are fighting in order to protect themselves will cause Li Kingdom to lose a lot of strength.

After analyzing the situation and coming to the conclusion that Xi Lei is fairly in a safe position, Rong Tian realized that Lie Zhong Liu did not agree for them to head back to Xi Lei at this time.

Feng Ming was shocked as he believed that since Ruo Yan does not have much power to deal with Xi Lei at this moment then they should take the opportunity to retake the throne.

This time the person that Lie Zhong Liu had his eyes set on, Qian Lin answered.

QL: If the Great King does not a hold a position, then the other smaller nations will put Li Kingdom as their priority to defeat. However, if our Great King were to return to his rightful place on the throne, not only will the world be fearful, they will join their forces together to deal with Li Kingdom and also Xi Lei. Does Prime Minister want the other kingdoms to make way for Xi Lei, and diminish the strength of Li Kingdom?

Everyone was mentioning how smarter Rong Tian was in lurking behind the scenes and waiting for the perfect moment until all the kingdoms are tired and worn out from fighting that he will overtake all of them.

Lie Zhong Liu told all of them that they are wrong.

LZL: It isn’t that your Great King is better than Ruo Yan, but he was fortunate enough to meet me. (very prideful, huh?)

FM: Then Rong Tian should not return to Xi Lei?

LZL: If His Majesty were to depart for Xi Lei tomorrow, with his talent in strategizing, sending secret troops to contact those still loyal to him within the palace of Xi Lei, along with my assistance, I believe that within 15 days we can retake the capital of Xi Lei and regain the throne back. If that’s the case, the battle of Xi Lei will lose a lot of troops and will damage part of the city’s defense. Not only that, His Majesty will have to clean up the mess after the battle, appease those who oppose him and have to rely on the remaining troops to defend from the three neighboring nations who will join forces to suppress Xi Lei’s expansion.

“Once that happens, we will be no different than Ruo Yan.”

LE: We’ll spare Tong Er for the moment, since allowing him to sit on the throne for several more days will not be a huge deal. However, isn’t Prime Minister afraid that the longer he sits on the throne, the more stable he will be? Then when our Great King returns, the situation would be more difficult?

LZL: There’s no foreign invasion, but there’ll be worries within. Rong Tong previously occupied the throne, the thing that worries him the most is His Majesty’s return. Therefore, he will rely on the nobles’ power, hoping to gain support from them. But if His Majesty were to disappear out of sight, then he can breathe a bit easier. The first thing he’ll do would be to deal with the nobles and build up a group of trusted men.

CL: That would be bad. If he uses this opportunity to replace the officials in courts with his own group of people, then they will definitely oppose our Great King. Then wouldn’t those who are loyal to His Majesty, who are our informants, be completely gone? At that point, wouldn’t our power be diminished?

CY/CX: That’s right! That would be dangerous! So terrifying!

Lie Zhong Liu loved to tease them and seeing them like that, he chuckled, “Is it really terrifying? Little Beauties, come over here and let me hold your hands a bit then I will tell you a way to avoid this terrifying event.”

Rong Tian already understood what Lie Zhong Liu had in mind, but did not bother to say it aloud.

CY/CX: I don’t want to. You are already a Prime Minister, why are you still bullying a maid? A high status official should act in a dignified manner; you can’t just leave us hanging. Hurry and say it, what is the method of avoiding this terrifying event?

Unexpectedly, Lie Zhong Liu was very compliant as he placed his hands on his hips, displaying a dignified manner but did not say anything.

Chiu Lan saw that so she slowly walked over to Lie Zhong Liu’s side and said gently, “Prime Minister, what you said just now is very interesting, making me very curious. How about if I let you hold my hand, will you continue to explain for us?

Lie Zhong Liu was a bit stunned for awhile, seeing a delicate, white, smooth small hand held in front of his eyes...his heart was trembling...and he felt a bit embarrassed as he quickly laughed in reply, “If you want to hear, I will quickly tell you everything.” He didn’t even bother to touch that small delicate hand.

“Not fair, not fair!” Chiu Yue and Chiu Xing protested loudly.

Chiu Lan withdrew her hand and gratefully smiled at Lie Zhong Liu.

Lie Zhong Liu picked up a cup along with a jug of wine and poured himself a cup, “First off, because of the person sitting on throne, Rong Tong, we’ll give him a toast.”

LZL: If the person sitting on the throne is Ruo Yan or the veteran general Tong Jian Min, then the situation will not be as interesting. But because Rong Tong is the one sitting on the throne, the situation is quite interesting. Rong Tong is still a young noble and will not handle matters with sophistication. With his experience in governing, the people will not be satisfied. I’m afraid that the more involved he is in, the more chaos he will bring.