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    Edict of Peace 143

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    Chapter 143: Po Jun’s Three Strategies, Ying Country’s Invitation

    The Emperor Chen’s illegitimate son?

    Po Jun instantly understood many things.

    Including why this grand sacrificial martial competition was so grand in scale, and why a hereditary title of the founding emperor level was being offered. Po Jun pondered, saying, “He wants the Xue family and the civil official, Dantài, to fight each other, then pass the throne to this Chen Yu Yun.”

    “He wants Chen Yu Yun to reap the benefits of being the last man standing.”

    “This is just to build his momentum? Strange, does he not want civil officials and external relatives to hold power, or is the Crown Prince not his son?”

    Li Guanyi found he didn’t need to explain anything.

    Po Jun had already figured it out himself.

    Po Jun tapped his forehead lightly with his finger, lost in thought: “No wonder I said, why was the Crown Prince’s faction in the Eastern Palace implicitly allowed to build its own base, yet he dotes on Noble Consort Xue and has extremely close ties with the Xue family.”

    “Establishing a legitimate heir yet favoring a noble consort is a chaotic political tactic.”

    “I thought he was a fool, but it turns out he is so shrewd.”

    “It seems he has his eyes on General Yue, preparing it for his son.”

    “Tsk, what a huge chess game.”

    “I thought he was a昏庸之主 (昏庸之主 – incompetent ruler), but it turns out he’s a cunning strategist.”

    Po Jun looked at Li Guanyi and said, “He’s about your age. The incident with your parents likely has something to do with him, right? Such murderous intent, did he take something from you? For example, your luck, or something like that?”

    Li Guanyi said, “You don’t have to be so clever.”

    Po Jun smiled slightly: “This is just basic deduction, Master. But if you want to kill him… heh… killing the Emperor Chen, who painstakingly prepared for this, the one who’s about to reap the benefits… the situation in Chen will change again. It’s really…”

    He wore a warm smile, but threads of purple light emanated from his pupils.

    He was happy.

    He almost wanted to laugh.

    Old geezers, you’ve studied your whole lives, and haven’t encountered a master who can stir up the world like this. I, I’ve only been out of seclusion for so long, and I already have such an opportunity!

    Po Jun said crisply: “So, Master, how do you want to kill him?”

    “Do you want to kill him personally, or kill him in front of everyone?”

    Li Guanyi said, “Are these two mutually exclusive?”

    Po Jun looked at Li Guanyi and said, “It depends on your decision.”

    Li Guanyi lowered his eyes and calmly replied: “The source of hatred is Emperor Chen. My opponent has never been him. I must kill him personally, but it cannot involve the Xue family, nor myself. That’s the only requirement.”

    “The rest, I leave to you, sir.”

    This involves the return of luck, and the jade artifacts on that man.

    This involves ten years of hatred.

    Li Guanyi must kill him with his own hands.

    Po Jun thought for a moment and said, “I have three strategies.”

    “First, sow discord. His importance stems from being Emperor Chen’s most important piece. Sowing discord will allow Emperor Chen to shift his attention, then we can kill him; second, to use the momentum of public opinion, before the people, Emperor Chen will have to kill him.”

    “However, I don’t recommend these two.”

    Li Guanyi waited for Po Jun’s explanation.

    The handsome young man sighed softly, saying: “These two strategies confront Emperor Chen directly, their purpose is merely to prevent Emperor Chen from attacking you after you kill him.”

    “Why confront the emperor of the land when your wings are not yet fully formed?”

    “Isn’t it better to avoid him?”

    Po Jun said frankly: “Your enemy is not Chen Yu Yun. Whether it’s sowing discord or leveraging public opinion, you will truly face Emperor Chen, and Chen Yu Yun was just a pawn from the beginning.”

    “Your opponent is the emperor.”

    “And the emperor…”

    “Never reasons.”

    “You speak of public opinion, but public opinion cannot force the emperor.”

    “As long as you kill his illegitimate son in front of everyone, he won’t say anything on the surface, but the next day, you will die. It’s like an ant trying to stop a chariot; the Xue family can’t protect you. Killing the prince in front of everyone is attacking the strong with your weakness.”

    “Ten years of accumulation, all for a burst of anger. You don’t want to know what it’s like when the emperor overturns the table.”

    “Many strategists die not because their strategies aren’t clever, not because their tactics aren’t strong, but because their perspective is wrong.”

    “It’s because they don’t know…”

    “What kind of being the emperor is.”

    Po Jun said word by word: “The emperor kills, without needing to reason.”

    “That’s the sovereign, one angered strike and blood flows like a river.”

    “Emperor Chen is a master of strategy and conspiracy, but he is also the sovereign.”

    “Don’t think that even if you kill Chen Yu Yun, or even if you injure him and he dies unexpectedly; even if Chen Yu Yun and you clash and he dies in disgrace, he will still resent you. At this moment, while you are still a latent dragon, you cannot confront the emperor.”

    “It’s called collective punishment, it’s called killing out of anger. If you must kill him, what I can do, or…”

    Li Guanyi replied: “I don’t care what he thinks.”

    “Torturing him won’t make me happy.”

    Li Guanyi’s back was straight, his tone calm:

    “I just want to kill him.”

    “But I must kill him.”

    So Po Jun said: “Then, my third strategy is…”

    “Kill him directly!”

    “What strategy, what chain, it’s just a matter of a single sword.”

    Po Jun waved his hand: “Just chop him down, like slaughtering an old pig or dog.”

    This answer surprised Li Guanyi. Po Jun laughed:

    “Don’t be influenced by the storytellers. Since ancient times, where are there so many interlocking schemes? The first strategy my teacher taught me is that the human heart is difficult to fathom. Every extra link in a chain strategy, every person involved, reduces the success rate.”

    “The more precise the strategy, the more points of failure during the actual operation, the less likely it is to succeed.”

    “Since ancient times, there’s only one key point to successful strategies.”

    “Precision!”

    “To appear at a time when it’s impossible, at a place where the opponent is completely unprepared, to perform an unexpected action. Like when Emperor Chen Wu led his elite troops into the imperial palace. If he used a chain strategy, one person betraying or being killed would cause the entire plan to collapse.”

    “Often, there are such things. A rebellion in one night, success means nobility, failure means death.”

    Po Jun’s eyes shone with purple light: “I do have a strategy, but my strategy isn’t for killing him.”

    He smiled slightly: “Chen Yu Yun is not worthy of being your opponent, Master, wasting your and my energy; using a strategy to kill him is a waste. Instead, let his death be one link, forming a plan, stirring up the world, how about that?!”

    The young strategist stood up and sat beside Li Guanyi, his left hand holding his right sleeve, then using his finger to sketch on the table, saying: “We still have the corpse of Si Tu De Qing, the tenth assassin in the land, and haven’t you said you understand Si Tu De Qing’s internal energy?”

    “I’ve protected this corpse well. His skills were very strong, his body is incorruptible, the coroner can’t determine his time of death.”

    “And you said he was from the Dantài family.”

    “The most wonderful thing is that the Empress is the daughter of Dantài Xian Ming.”

    Li Guanyi was stunned.

    Po Jun smiled slightly: “How can you ensure your safety? Not by reducing the enemy’s hostility, but by giving a second enemy, winning without fighting.”

    “Ordinary strategists will deliberately frame someone, but I’m different. The real clever move is to point out someone the emperor already suspects, and there’s a point where, once Chen Yu Yun dies, the emperor will definitely suspect him.”

    Li Guanyi pondered.

    Po Jun said:

    “That is, did Dantài Xian Ming know about the illegitimate son’s identity?”

    “This must be the emperor’s biggest worry for ten years! He can’t sleep at night.”

    “The emperor can’t ask this question, and Dantài Xian Ming can’t take the initiative to say it.”

    “They will only suspect each other. Accumulated suspicion is killing intent. The master of conspiracy has the most cunning mind. A person like you, Master, wouldn’t fall for this kind of scheme, but Emperor Chen, he’ll almost certainly fall for it.”

    Li Guanyi thought, and a matter presented itself. Po Jun said gently:

    “The truth is, Dantài Xian Ming knew about the illegitimate son, and guessed that Chen Yu Yun, who showed his prowess in the grand sacrificial competition, is this illegitimate son. Therefore, for the sake of his daughter and grandson, for the sake of his faction’s power…”

    “He sent his assassin, Si Tu De Qing, the tenth in the land, to kill Chen Yu Yun.”

    “This is to ensure the Crown Prince’s authority and his future control over the court.”

    “This is clearly a rebellion of the harem and external relatives, it’s the power ministers controlling the government, it’s another open conflict between the power of the ministers and the imperial power, making the contradictions in the Chen court even more intense.”

    “Such things are not uncommon in the past, and will certainly happen in the future. Chen Yu Yun is just an insignificant, pitiful victim.”

    “But what does this have to do with you?”

    As Po Jun approached, he wore a warm smile, his face slightly dark due to the backlighting, only his eyes glowing with an eerie purple. Li Guanyi said: “So, do it directly like that?”

    Po Jun smiled: “Of course not.”

    “Immediately throw it to Dantài Xian Ming. Such framing is too fake, what’s needed is ‘it seems to be’. Too definitive a strategy will make Emperor Chen suspicious; let him think for himself.”

    “Wait until Chen Yu Yun and Yu Wen Hua confront each other before killing him.”

    “Then let the almost severed body of Si Tu De Qing be discovered somewhere.”

    “Si Tu De Qing’s body has extremely pure and intense White Tiger energy… how could it possibly be done by you, Master, from the Second Heaven? And coincidentally, Yu Wen Hua will be the one who benefits most at that time.”

    “So, who killed Chen Yu Yun?”

    “Was it Dantài Xian Ming, or did Yu Wen Lie frame Dantài Xian Ming.”

    “This is enough to create friction between the three of them…”

    “Let this martial competition be a link in the opening of the chaotic times. As for Chen Yu Yun…”

    Po Jun lowered his eyes and said: “If he knows his death has such significance…”

    “Even if he is killed, he will be proud of it, right?”

    Li Guanyi discovered that he only wanted to kill Chen Yu Yun, to regain his luck to feed his cat and retrieve the jade plate, but under Po Jun’s hand, it had been upgraded into a scheme to stir up the world.

    Li Guanyi was to devise a strategy with the killing of Chen Yu Yun as the end point.

    While Po Jun used Chen Yu Yun’s death as a foundation and starting point, laying out the plan for the world.

    Li Guanyi admired: “Your talent and strategy surpass mine tenfold.”

    Po Jun calmly accepted the praise, then smiled and said: “As for why I suggested killing him directly, well…”

    “You probably don’t want to wait, do you?”

    “Preparing a strategy takes time. A chain strategy takes at least ten days to prepare, ideally several years. But with youthful spirit, such time dissipates. A mere illegitimate son of a country, if you want to kill him, just kill him.”

    “As a strategist, it is to assist you in walking the world, and to complete your strategies.”

    Po Jun said: “You want to kill him personally. I will find the opportunity.”

    “I can create an absolutely safe opportunity for you. The time will be short, but with your strength, you will certainly be able to kill him and retreat safely. For such a person, the best time is when he is most complacent.”

    “When you kill him then…”

    “It’s a complete shattering of his heart.”

    “It’s the greatest humiliation.”

    Li Guanyi watched Po Jun speak eloquently, everything prepared. He suddenly understood why the masters in history placed so much importance on their strategists when they obtained them. He suddenly said: “Why are you so certain that Chen Yu Yun will meet Yu Wen Hua in the semi-finals?”

    Po Jun laughed and said: “It’s a simple matter. Let me deduce it for you, Master.”

    “You are a member of the Xue family. Your first strong opponent will be the grandson of the Jian Sheng (Sword Saint) from the Eastern Palace.”

    “And for the Central Plains, what better way to promote one’s name than for a son of the imperial family of the Central Plains dynasty to defeat a Tie Fu Tu (Iron Float Cavalry) general, a foreign warrior, before the grand sacrifice? Therefore, in Emperor Chen’s calculations, the final battle will definitely be Chen Yu Yun versus Ge Shu Yin.”

    “Then it becomes simple.”

    “The quarterfinals, you’ll be against Xu Hui Yang, to incite conflict between the Xue family and the Crown Prince.”

    “Chen Yu Yun, Ge Shu Yin, and Yu Wen Hua advance to the semi-finals, and the semi-finals will be Chen Yu Yun versus Yu Wen Hua. Yu Wen Hua is a general of Ying Country. This is a grand sacrifice of Chen Country, and Chen and Ying countries have just become friendly. Even when Yu Wen Lie guessed that you also had the White Tiger Grand Destiny, he didn’t make a ruthless move.”

    “Yu Wen Hua is far less courageous than his uncle.”

    “Encountering a member of the Chen imperial family, the crown prince of Ying Country will inevitably let him win beautifully and then concede defeat.”

    “So Chen Yu Yun will definitely win and advance to the finals.”

    “As for the finals, if Xu Hui Yang fights him, then Chen Yu Yun defeats the top retainer of the Eastern Palace when he’s still insignificant, stepping on the face of the Crown Prince to ascend.”

    “If it’s Ge Shu Yin, he will be even more publicized as fighting for the country.”

    “No matter what, it will not be a loss.”

    Po Jun praised: “He’s truly an old schemer, Emperor Chen. Although I dislike him, he is a somewhat intelligent overlord. To ensure Chen Yu Yun’s victory, I suspect Emperor Chen gave him something extraordinary.”

    “It might be some kind of pill, a treasure weapon, or something like that.”

    Po Jun said: “So, my strategy is simply this: using Chen Yu Yun’s death to stir up the world; using Emperor Chen’s ten-year-old heart disease, Dantài Xian Ming, the famous general Yu Wen Lie of Ying Country, to restrain Emperor Chen’s heart, and then to sow discord between the imperial power and the civil officials.”

    “As for Emperor Chen’s preparation for this grand event, which is meant to allow his son to make a stunning debut and shake the world…”

    He bowed: “It will naturally be used by you, Master, to make your name.”

    “I, here, would like to congratulate you, Master…”

    Li Guanyi thought for a moment and said: “Thank you for your immeasurable wisdom, sir.”

    “With your help, I am like a fish in water.”

    Like a fish in water. Such implicit praise and its weight resonated most with a strategist like Po Jun. He smiled slightly, the corners of his lips curving, then raising, finally saying calmly: “Ahem, you flatter me.”

    “It’s nothing.”

    After Po Jun bid farewell to Li Guanyi, he left calmly, turning around a corner.

    Noticing that Li Guanyi wasn’t around.

    Po Jun took a deep breath.

    He clenched his fist hard.

    Good!

    Someone passed by, looking at him strangely.

    So Po Jun coughed, straightened his back, put his right hand behind him, and once again became the handsome and elegant strategist, calmly leaving.

    Over the next two days, the preliminary rounds, the eight-to-four competition, Li Guanyi did indeed face Xu Hui Yang, the grandson of the Sword Saint. Everything matched Po Jun’s description, while Ye Buyi and Zhou Liuying faced Yu Wen Hua and Ge Shu Yin respectively. Only Chen Yu Yun’s opponent was slightly weaker, ensuring a win.

    Zhou Liuying was almost crying: “Yu Wen Hua! How am I supposed to fight him?”

    “He’s several years older than me.”

    “How can I possibly fight him, I might as well just concede defeat.”

    “Ugh, is it still possible to forfeit now?”

    Ye Buyi said: “To surrender without a fight, your father will not have a jade belt, but a Zhan Ma Dao (horse-slaying saber). Then, it won’t just be your father, I’m afraid your mother will also participate.”

    Those who surrender without a fight will be executed!

    Zhou Liuying mumbled: “That’s just talk. If I dare surrender, my grandfather will kill me from the countryside. You, on the other hand, have a tougher time, big brother.”

    “Xu Hui Yang is already number thirty-four on the Famous Heroes List.”

    “This is because he doesn’t often roam the world. He’s only nineteen years old! He’s a monster.”

    “His sword energy is peerless, and he’s at the Third Heaven. Be careful. If we had an army, we wouldn’t worry about this kind of swordsman. But in a martial competition, in a one-on-one duel, we are at a disadvantage.”

    Li Guanyi nodded.

    Zhou Liuying said: “Sigh, I heard that this time, His Majesty said he wants to share the joy with the people.”

    “The semi-final matches will be allowed to be watched by the people. It seems that many martial artists have come.”

    “After today, Xu Hui Yang will rise again on the Famous Heroes List. I heard that many major events in the Jianghu (martial arts world) only invite people from the Famous Heroes List. There are many advantages, such as the Ying Country’s Casting Sword Valley’s assembly. The beauties on the Beauty List also like to find young heroes from the Famous Heroes List to befriend.”

    “Our Tai Ping Gong once held the number one position on the Famous Heroes List.”

    “Yeah, the ten Grand Masters were basically number one on the Famous Heroes List when they were young.”

    “I heard that the Princess once ranked in both the Famous Heroes List and the top ten of the Beauty List.”

    “Is this year’s Beauty List coming out?”

    “It seems so…”

    The young men chatted while drinking, Li Guanyi didn’t care about these things, but when he returned, there was a luxuriously decorated carriage at the Xue family’s gate. A man saw Li Guanyi and smiled happily, saying:

    “Junior Officer Li, long time no see.”

    He smiled and bowed:

    “His Highness, the Crown Prince of Ying Country, invites you to a banquet.”

    (End of Chapter)

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