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In Wan, Zhang Chao and Zang Feng sharpened the Xuanwu Army into a blade. Lie Fan had chosen well, Zhang Chao, fierce and unyielding, Zang Feng, tactful and just. The Xuanwu would serve as both hammer and shield, a fulcrum upon which the campaign would turn. And Lie Fan himself prepared the Qilin Army to move. Their advance would be precise, their target clear, Xinye.
In Xinye, the sky was overcast. A drizzle fell lightly over the city, cloaking its stone walls in a curtain of mist. Inside the governor's estate, Liu Qi sat behind a long table piled with bamboo scrolls, official dispatches, and local petitions. His face bore the wear of sleepless nights.
"Why must every grain shortage come with a dozen excuses," he muttered, setting down a scroll.
Just then, one of his personal servants entered, looking nervous.
"My lord," the servant said, bowing low, "this letter… it was left anonymously. No seal, no name. I checked for poison or trap. It's safe, I believe."
Liu Qi frowned. "Left where?"
"In the inner courtyard. Beneath the plum tree."
Cautiously, Liu Qi took the letter. The parchment was plain, unmarked save for a modest red thread binding it shut. He cut the thread with a nearby letter opener and unfolded the contents.
His eyes narrowed.
What he found within chilled him.
"The rumors are true. Liu Bei seeks power above all, and he will cast you aside the moment it suits him."
There were records of grain shipments diverted from starving villages to private warehouses. Letters between Liu Bei and wealthy merchants, detailing bribes in exchange for favorable trade permits. A ledger showing tax revenues funneled into a personal coffer rather than the provincial treasury.
Then next was a confession.
Written in the shaky hand of a former clerk named Fan Yi, it detailed how he had been ordered to falsify records, to hide the exploitation of the peasantry, to ensure that Liu Bei's public image remained untarnished.
"I could no longer bear the guilt," the confession read. "The people starve while the granaries overflow for the wealthy. The soldiers bleed while their pay is withheld. I write this knowing it may cost me my life, but the truth must be known."
Liu Qi's hands trembled.
This was no mere rumor. This was proof.
And the most damning, a directive, allegedly penned by Liu Bei himself, planning to replace Liu Qi with a more loyal subordinate once the campaign against Lie Fan that he planned in the future began.
Liu Qi reread them twice.
He leaned back in his chair, lips pursed, eyes scanning the room as if it might give him clarity.
"Could it be?" he whispered. "Have I been nothing but a pawn to him?"
He remembered the kind words, the promises to him like he was his own father. The sense of purpose Liu Bei had offered after his own father's death. But… had it all been an act?
For hours, Liu Qi sat in silence, staring at the documents as if they might burst into flames at any moment.
Liu Bei had taken him in when he had no one else. Had given him a home, a purpose. Had treated him like a son.
But if these documents were real…
Then the man he called god father was a fraud.
Later that evening, Liu Qi summoned his only advisor, Fu Xun, who had been telling him to abandon Liu Bei.
Fu Xun examined the documents in silence. When he finally looked up, his face was grim.
"This just further support what I have said young master," he said, "you stand alone in this matter, and I hope you followed what I suggested. Abandon Liu Bei and let's bring Xinye to Lie Fan's hand."
Liu Qi's jaw clenched after he sigh. "Is this truly the only way? No need to answer me, I know the answer myself."
He looked out the window, toward the distant hills. Toward the rising power of Lie Fan. "This might be the only path."
At this time a knock came. Liu Qu's steward, face pale. "My lord, scouts report movement at the border. There's movement to the north, Lie Fan's armies are gathering. The Xuanwu Army was doing preparation in Wan. And there's words that Lie Fan will personally lead the Qilin Army march from Xiapi and heading toward Wan."
Liu Qi closed his eyes. "Coincidence? Or fate?"
Liu Qi stood by the window, the cool mist of Xinye's evening clinging to his skin. The distant hills were shrouded in gloom, the same oppressive gray that had settled over his thoughts.
Fu Xun, who stood to the side with his hands clenched behind his back, felt a surge of exhilaration ripple through him. His voice trembled not with fear, but with the raw energy of long awaited hope.
"Young master, this is our chance!" Fu Xun insisted, his fingers tightening around the damning documents. "Lie Fan's movements are never without purpose. If his armies are gathering, it means he has already set his sights on Xinye. If we act now, if we surrender willingly, we may yet secure a favorable position under his rule!"
Liu Qi did not turn. His knuckles whitened where they gripped the windowsill.
Fu Xun's face was pale from years of tension, and yet a faint color bloomed across his cheeks now, his relief almost sickening in its intensity.
For years, he had lived in the shadow of Liu Bei's suspicion, his every word measured, his every action scrutinized. He had lived in Liu Bei's shadow for too long.
Always wary. Always one word away from death. And yet here, in the soft drizzle of Xinye and the silence of Liu Qi's solemn gaze, he saw a door swinging open to a better future.
But now? Now, the walls were closing in. The anonymous letter, the damning evidence, the sudden movement of Lie Fan's forces, it was all too convenient. Too perfect.
But Liu Qi remained still. He said nothing, his eyes still drawn toward the window, toward the distant, shrouded hills that whispered of change.
Fu Xun dared not press further. The silence was its own storm, and within Liu Qi, the thunder still rolled.
The next day in Xiapi, the clouds had cleared. The early morning sun bathed the city in golden warmth, casting long shadows over the citadel's walls. Within the Lie Clan residence, the courtyard buzzed softly with the sound of hooves being saddled and steel being strapped.
Lie Fan stood in full battle dress, his majestic armor gleaming under the sun. Each etched line, each polished scale of his cuirass, carried the weight of responsibility. His halberd rested against the wall nearby, its blade recently sharpened and oiled. At his side stood the four pillars of his heart Ying Yue, Diao Chan, Cai Wenji, and Lu Lingqi.
Ying Yue, calm and graceful, adjusted his pauldron as if tucking away her fears with each gesture. Her dark eyes betraying none of the worry that gnawed at her.
"Don't take unnecessary risks," she murmured.
Diao Chan, standing beside her, eyes betraying a rare vulnerability, pressed a small silk pouch into his palm. "A charm for safe return," she said softly, placed a kiss on his cheek and whispered prayers for his safe return.
Cai Wenji offered him a talisman she had woven from red silk and jade beads, a charm for protection. And then there was Lu Lingqi, her belly rounded with child, her usual fiery demeanor tempered by the weight of impending motherhood.
He bent and placed a kiss upon her belly, "Behave for your mother," he murmured, earning a half hearted swat from Lingqi.
"Don't you dare make me worry more than I already am," she grumbled, but her voice lacked its usual bite.
One by one, he embraced and kiss them on the forehead them. Each hug was long and full, as if he could will a part of himself to stay behind and guard them.
When he reached his children, they raced to him, arms outstretched. Chenchen, as the eldest of his siblings, held back tears with boyish pride, though his lower lip quivered.
"Father, come back safe," Chenchen said, his small voice firm.
"Always," Lie Fan replied, ruffling his hair.
Yaoyao and Yanyan clung to his arms, their small faces buried in the fabric of his cloak. "You promised to take us to the river again," Yaoyao said, her voice muffled.
"And I will do so when I come back," Lie Fan answered, kneeling to kiss their foreheads.
Nuonuo, shy and quiet, only nodded as she hugged his waist. He lifted her and spun her lightly, drawing a small giggle.
And last was Xuanxuan, barely two. The child was held in the arms of a nursemaid, blinking curiously at the scene. Lie Fan stepped forward and kissed the boy on his chubby cheek.
"You'll be running the halls by the time I return," he murmured. The boy reached for his nose with his small hand and smiled.
With a heavy heart, Lie Fan took a final look at them, the family he had built with care and love. Then he turned.
One of his Yellow Ghost guards, clad in dull iron armor and bearing the insignia of the Qilin, stepped forward and presented the halberd. Lie Fan took it without a word, the weight familiar in his hand.
He mounted Pangu, his steed tall and black as midnight, with eyes that gleamed red in the light.
Outside Xiapi's gates, the Qilin Army stood in formation, disciplined, proud, loyal. Their standards fluttered in the wind, the sigil of the Qilin army and the banner of the Lie family crest.
The Qilin Army parted before him as he rode to the front.
Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu waited there, their expressions a mix of anticipation and resolve. This campaign would be their proving ground, their chance to gain more merit and step out from the shadow of Lie Fan's more established advisors to stood side by side with them.
Lie Fan then gave the order.
"Star the march to Wan."
Drums thundered. Hooves struck dirt. The march began. The Qilin Army moved like a river, strong, unbroken, flowing toward Wan.
As the army passed village after village, peasants came to watch, some kneeling in reverence, others tossing flower petals along the road. Word had already spread, their lord, Lie Fan, who had protects them and bring prosperity was on the move south.
In Wan, Zhang Chao and Zang Feng received news of the approaching Qilin Army. Preparations quickened. The Xuanwu Army drilled day and night, its veterans ready to act as both vanguard and anvil. Zhang Chao stood atop the battlements, watching the smoke trails of the distant army campfires. "The time have come to end that two faced Liu Bei once and for all," he said.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Overlord Of The Central Plains
Age: 33 (200 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 1325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 951 (+20)
VIT: 613 (+20)
AGI: 598 (+10)
INT: 617
CHR: 96
WIS: 519
WILL: 407
ATR Points: 0