If you want to read 20 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my P-Tang12!!!
______________________________
(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
...
"We proudly give the baby the name Ma Yuan," Sun Shangxiang announced softly, yet her voice carried the unmistakable, underlying strength of a woman born to the Tiger of Jiangdong.
Lie Fan let the name roll through his mind. Ma Yuan.
It was an incredibly powerful name, rich with historical and philosophical resonance. Lie Fan instantly understood the depth of the choice. It was a name chosen to specifically showcase the parents' deep, burning hope that the boy will reach far beyond the boundaries of their current world.
It was a name that commanded destiny, projecting the absolute belief that this child would possess great ambitions, transcend the brutal, warlord legacy of his ancestors, and become someone truly great, influential, and honorable in the future of the unified empire.
"Ma Yuan," Lie Fan repeated aloud, nodding his head in profound approval. "It is a name fit for a pillar of the dynasty. He will grow up in a world of peace, Mengqi, but he will have the blood of tigers and dragons in his veins. He will be unstoppable."
Ma Chao bowed his head, deeply moved by the Emperor's blessing. But the reality of the war still weighed heavily on his broad shoulders.
"Your Majesty... the western vanguard," Ma Chao began, his voice laced with the heavy guilt of a soldier torn from his post. "My brothers and cousin have departed, but my place is at the head of the Liang Province cavalry. I should be riding with them to—"
Lie Fan raised a hand, silencing the general immediately.
During the visit, Lie Fan wanted to ensure that no shadow of guilt tainted this joyous day. He looked at Ma Chao, his expression shifting into one of warm, brotherly understanding.
"I have already dispatched General Pang De to take command of the western prong alongside your brothers," Lie Fan told Ma Chao gently. "The flank is perfectly secure. You do not need to choose between your sword and your son today, Mengqi."
Lie Fan placed a reassuring hand on Ma Chao's armored shoulder.
"I decree that you may stay behind in the capital. You will remain here with your newborn child and your recovering wife for now," Lie Fan stated, offering the general a priceless, invaluable reprieve. "Watch him open his eyes. Be here for Shangxiang while she regains her strength. The steppes have waited a thousand years, they can wait a few more weeks for the Splendid Ma Chao."
Tears pricked the corners of Ma Chao's eyes. For a man who had known nothing but the harsh, unforgiving brutality of war and betrayal for his entire life, this act of supreme, empathetic grace from his sovereign was entirely overwhelming. He dropped to one knee, pressing his fist to the floor, his loyalty to Lie Fan permanently forged into something harder than diamond.
However, Lie Fan was still the Emperor, and the war to end all wars was still looming on the horizon.
Lie Fan leaned in slightly, his voice dropping into a firmer, undeniable register, carrying the absolute, uncompromising weight of the impending northern apocalypse.
"But hear me clearly, Mengqi," Lie Fan firmly reminded him, ensuring the warrior knew his duty was only delayed, not dismissed. "Enjoy this time. But you will have to come to the campaign when the main imperial army finally marches out from the capital of Xiapi. When the central anvil moves, you will ride at its head. You will march under my direct command."
Ma Chao looked up, his eyes burning with a fierce, terrifying martial fire that promised absolute devastation to the enemies of the throne. "When the Emperor marches, my spear will pierce the heavens for you. I swear it upon the life of my new son."
"Then rest," Lie Fan smiled, standing up from the stool. He offered a final, warm bow to Sun Shangxiang. "Recover well, little sister. The empire rejoices with you today."
After that incredibly touching, deeply emotional family visit, Lie Fan left the Ma Clan estate. The sun had fully set, and the massive, sprawling capital of Xiapi was illuminated by thousands of glowing paper lanterns, creating a breathtaking sea of golden light.
But as Lie Fan's carriage rolled smoothly through the paved avenues, returning back to the towering, heavily fortified walls of the imperial palace, the warmth of the birthing room slowly faded from his mind. It was replaced entirely by the cold, calculating, and heavily burdensome reality of the crown he wore.
He had granted Ma Chao a reprieve, but there was no reprieve for the Emperor. The lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers rested squarely upon his shoulders. The monumental logistical gears were turning, and the time for words was rapidly coming to an end.
Upon entering the inner sanctum of the palace, Lie Fan did not go to his private study to review the evening dispatches. Instead, he went straight to the Harem Palace.
He knew that the massive declarations made in the Imperial Court that morning had not remained contained within the administrative halls. The walls of the palace had ears, and the eunuchs and maids were efficient carriers of rumors. He knew his wives would be waiting for him, and they deserved to hear the truth from his own lips.
As Lie Fan stepped through the intricately carved moon gate and entered the opulent, expansive primary lounging chamber of the Harem Palace, the atmosphere was incredibly thick with a quiet, palpable tension.
He found his beloved wives, Empress Ying Yue, Diao Chan, Cai Wenji, Lu Lingqi, and Zhen Ji, all already gathered in the room, waiting for him.
The usual sounds of musical laughter, the soft strumming of a guqin, or the lighthearted chatter about court fashion were entirely absent. They were seated around a low, intricately carved rosewood table, their faces reflecting various shades of profound anxiety and deep, unwavering concern.
Diao Chan was unconsciously twisting a silk handkerchief in her flawless hands. Cai Wenji stared blankly at a rolled bamboo scroll she had not opened for hours. Lu Lingqi paced near the window, her martial instincts recognizing the scent of an impending, massive war. Zhen Ji looked uncharacteristically pale, her ethereal beauty shadowed by worry.
As soon as Lie Fan's heavy boots echoed into the room, the silence shattered.
Ying Yue, embodying the strength and the absolute devotion of the inner court, immediately stood up. Her crimson and gold phoenix robes rustled softly in the quiet room. She did not bother with the formal, courtly greetings. She stepped forward, her beautiful, intelligent eyes locking directly onto her husband's.
"Husband," Ying Yue said to him, her voice trembling slightly, betraying the intense emotional turmoil hiding beneath her regal composure. "The palace is vibrating with the whispers of the morning court. We have heard the loud, terrifying rumors about the matter of the northern campaign. The scribes say the army is mobilizing to march out, far beyond the safety of the Great Wall, deep into the frozen steppes of the nomadic confederations."
She stepped closer, reaching out to gently, desperately grasp his hands. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
She looked up at him, her eyes searching his stoic face for any sign of a denial. She asked him directly, her voice dropping to a terrified whisper, "Is it true? Are you truly going to lead this massive, dangerous campaign yourself? Must you go into the freezing grass, so far from the capital, when the warlords are already dead?"
The other four wives stood up slowly, moving closer, forming a tight, anxious circle around the Emperor. They hung on his every breath, praying that the rumors were an exaggeration, praying that he would send his brilliant generals to do the bleeding while he remained safely upon the golden throne.
Lie Fan stood in the center of his family, the absolute most precious people in his two lifetimes. He looked at the five women who had anchored his soul through the bloodiest, darkest years of the unification wars. He saw their fear, their love, and their desperate desire to finally enjoy the peace they had suffered so much to achieve.
Hearing her direct, heart wrenching question, Lie Fan looked deeply at his worried wives. He slowly raised his hands, gently cupping Ying Yue's face, his thumbs softly brushing away the tension near her eyes.
He did not lie to them. He did not offer them false hope or political misdirection.
He gently, but with an absolute, unshakeable finality, firmly nodded his head.
"Yes, my love," Lie Fan answered them, his voice incredibly soft, yet carrying the profound, heavy resonance of inescapable destiny. "The rumors you have heard are entirely true. I will indeed be leading this northern campaign myself. I will march at the head of the central column."
A collective, stifled gasp echoed from the women. Diao Chan covered her mouth with her hands, tears instantly springing to her beautiful eyes. Lu Lingqi bit her lip, her hands clenching into fists at her sides, wishing she could put on her armor and ride with him into the snow. Cai Wenji closed her eyes in silent sorrow, while Zhen Ji turned her head away, unable to mask her profound fear.
"But why, husband?" Ying Yue pleaded, a single tear escaping her eye and rolling down her porcelain cheek. "You have given them the wagonways. You have given them the cannons. You have Zhuge Liang, Xun You, Sima Yi, and a dozen peerless generals! The empire is unified! Let them fight the barbarians! Why must the Emperor risk his life in the frozen wasteland?!"
Lie Fan pulled Ying Yue into a tight, secure embrace, wrapping his strong arms around her trembling shoulders. He looked over her head, making eye contact with Diao Chan, Wenji, Lingqi, and Zhen Ji, drawing them all into the protective, terrifying truth of his logic.
"Because, my beloved wives, this is not merely a border skirmish or a punitive raid to steal horses," Lie Fan explained to them, his voice vibrating with a visionary intensity that transcended their current era. "This is a very important, highly specific outward campaign that will fundamentally alter the trajectory of human history. The nomadic tribes may seem fractured now, but if left unchecked, if allowed to breed and unite in the shadows of the steppes, they will eventually become a storm that will swallow this entire continent in fire and blood."
Lie Fan gently pulled back, looking deeply into Ying Yue's tear filled eyes.
"I cannot simply send my generals to fight a war of this magnitude. To ask hundreds of thousands of men to march into the freezing, uncharted grass, to face the absolute harshest conditions this earth has to offer... they must know that their Emperor bleeds with them," Lie Fan stated, outlining the brutal necessity of his presence. "If I sit comfortably in this warm palace while they freeze for my ambitions, the spirit of the army will shatter."
He reached out, taking Diao Chan's hand, and then Lingqi's, physically connecting himself to all of them.
"But more importantly," Lie Fan whispered, his dark eyes burning with the fierce, protective instinct of a father looking centuries into the future. "I must lead this campaign because I must ensure the eradication is absolute. I must see the threat neutralized with my own eyes. I am not fighting this war for the glory of the Hengyuan Dynasty today. I am fighting this war to secure the future borders of our dynasty for generations to come."
Lie Fan thought of Muchen, of Yaoyao, of little Sima Min running his messages, and of the newborn Ma Yuan taking his first breaths in a peaceful capital.
"I am going into the freezing steppes," Lie Fan vowed, his voice filled with an unbreakable, terrifying love, "so that our children, and our children's children, will never, ever have to look toward the northern horizon and feel the terror of the approaching horde. I will break the world one last time, so that they may inherit an eternity of peace."
The five wives looked at the man standing before them. They saw the terrifying warlord, the brilliant scholar, and the supreme sovereign. But above all else, they saw the man who loved them and their children enough to walk into hell to guarantee their safety.
Slowly, the panic and the tearful pleas faded from the room. They were replaced by a heavy, sorrowful, but incredibly profound and resilient acceptance. They were the women of the Black Dragon, and they understood the heavy, bloody price of holding up the heavens.
Ying Yue wiped her tears away, her expression hardening into the fierce, regal composure of the Empress of the world. She stepped forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, resting her head against his chest, listening to the steady, powerful beating of his heart.
"Then go, my husband," Ying Yue whispered softly into the quiet room, her voice echoing the unified, unbreakable support of the inner court. "Go and shatter the north. But you must swear to us... you must swear that you will return to us when the snow melts."
Lie Fan held his family close, the warmth of the Harem Palace a stark contrast to the freezing winds that awaited him. "I swear it," Lie Fan murmured, his eyes looking past the silk walls of the palace, toward the dark, looming expanse of the northern horizon. "When the grass is burned and the shadow is gone... I will come home."
______________________________
Name: Lie Fan
Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty
Age: 36 (203 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 2325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 11)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 1,010 (+20)
VIT: 659 (+20)
AGI: 653 (+10)
INT: 691
CHR: 98
WIS: 569
WILL: 436
ATR Points: 0