254 BCE
STATE OF ZHAO: ????
"Military advisors must stay calm. It is only when you are calm that you can be blind to an enemy's fierceness and deaf to the cunning tricks." In a clearing in the mountains, an elderly man sat facing a group of younger men and women, all of them paying him their utmost attention. Even as people walked around and behind the group, none of the men and women seemed to care in the slightest.
The old man was famed both in the mountains and in the central plains; if by chance a minister or courtier of Chu would see this man, they would recognise him as the famed strategist, but here, away from those of the central plains, he was just an old man who gave teachings on strategy and schools of thought.
"For a Kingdom to stand and truly succeed, both the ruler and military advisor must understand the people. Their plight and pain must be felt by both unless a repeat of the Shang dynasty would be seen." Amongst the many students there was one with distinctive blonde hair; his face was that of a young man, and since the last time he'd been seen, he looked a lot healthier.
Li Mu/Ri Boku, a year into his travel with Houken was slowly starting to find his purpose in life, from having seen his family members being slaughtered and wanting nothing more than to give up and join them in the underworld, to now sitting and studying alongside those pathseekers who didn't believe that it was only martial might that could set the wrongs of the world right and bring an end to the Warring States Period.
Ri Boku had followed Houken to see these people; he'd truly been at the end of his rope and close to allowing himself to wither away in the woods that day, but fate had other plans, and Houken healed him. It was after that they had journeyed into the mountains, and Ri Boku opened his mind to seeing how the path seekers lived their own lives.
"As aspiring strategists and military advisers, you must believe in the facts and not the flight of fancy. There are many who deceive and use cunning trickery to get ahead, but it is only those who hold the belief of seeing a better day who will truly receive blessings from heaven." The old man said. He'd been teaching advisors and strategists for years. At first, he would only sit in a clearing and give speeches like he was doing now; some of his students stayed, but others left.
Those that had stayed decided to build him a small school in the mountains, and helped him run it. Though there were days like today, he took his students out to study under a sunny sky.
The school taught everything from warfare to astrology, to accounting and finance, to schools of thought. The headmaster, as the people had started calling him, wanted nothing more than to set all of his students on the right path with all the right tools to help them succeed; no one, whether he was of Zhao, Qin, Qi, Yan, Wei, Han, or Chu, was ever turned away. Even when he knew they would leave and head back to their Kingdoms, the headmaster only wanted to teach and help people in his own way.
As the lesson started to come to a close, Riboku stood up and bowed with the rest of the students, before heading back to where he had lived for the past year. A small one-person tent, with many military manuals and scrolls stacked neatly in the corner. A sword, spear and his old rusty Zhao soldier armour were placed on the ground. It had been a long time since he had placed it on, or felt the desire to do so.
"It's only a matter of time." Ri Boku said to himself, looking at the armour. It was inevitable that he would one day leave the mountains and return to the central plains. Returning to his homeland, even if he didn't want to join the war effort and simply continue his retirement, Ri Boku remembered what his family had given their lives for and did not want it all to be in vain.
However, "Now is just not the right time." The future famed strategist was waiting for three things to happen before he returned to Zhao; he already knew the right place, and that was his family home, Ganmon, but he didn't yet have the right time and right people. As he went about his day studying, in the corner of his eye Ri Boku spotted a rolled-up parchment that had not been there when he'd left for his lesson.
Unfurling it and reading, he stood up and made his way with haste back to the school grounds. There he found the old headmaster and a few of the older former students who'd stayed behind to help the teacher, and many of the students' learning strategies. Entering the headmaster's strategy room, there was a large map spread across a table, with every Kingdom and the updated borders displayed on it.
Small clay figures depicted each Kingdom's troops; messengers came and went, giving accurate reports of various army movements. While others tried to predict the upcoming moves and strategies that would be used by the Generals and Great Generals in the battle. Riboku heard of Chu's army moving towards the Zhao border, and having a clash with Great Heaven Ren Pa's army.
However, there was another battle that interested him. "Newly appointed Great Heaven Sei Chou and the Sei Chou army have moved towards Kanrin!" Announced a messenger in the courtyard outside, before another announced moments after him. "Wei Fire Dragons, Go Kei and Shi Ei have continued their invasion of Zhao; their army movements have them on the path to Kanrin! They've taken two cities!"
"The Wei want to try their hand at taking on Zhao again?"
"This is remarkable; it's no wonder the headmaster knows the world events without leaving his home."
The newly made Great Heaven Sei Chou interested Riboku, as Riboku knew warfare and understood just what it meant to become a Great Heaven; since before Sei Chou's appointment, there were only three others who had held such a rank. Riboku had paid much attention to the career path of Sei Chou, and once he'd heard what had happened at the battle of Nanan, Riboku was struck by how similar he and Sei Chou were.
In Riboku's eyes, the Great Heaven had fought a flawless war given the circumstances; the battle had lit a fire under Riboku. The desire to leave the mountains and fight alongside Sei Chou had increased, and now that he heard the Great Heaven was going to fight against two Wei Fire Dragons again. Riboku wanted to see if they would agree once again, or if it was only a fluke.
"Riboku, do you want to predict what will happen in the war between Zhao and Wei?" The headmaster said, staring intently at a painting of seven mountains, with seven people standing atop them.
"Yes, teacher," Riboku replied respectfully.
"Then go ahead, let's see just how much progress you have made."
Riboku stepped forward. "Firstly, we will start at Kanrin and the Sei Chou army."
….
254 BCE
STATE OF ZHAO: KANRIN
SEI CHOU POV
"He asked Earl Shi to wed Shikika and the man refused?"
"Yes, the Earl was furious and rebuked their marriage completely. Swearing that he would never allow the two of them to ever get married."
I raised a brow, slightly confused by the information Yuu Sui brought me, "But why? The two of them are not blood-related, and it is not like that sort of thing has never happened before?"
Yuu Sui shrugged, slightly confused by it as well, "The two of them are in love, but the Earl sees them both as eye sores and does not want either of them to have any happiness, and with the Lady Shikika turning into such a beautiful woman, it has only increased his hate towards the two."
"Wow…" I didn't quite know what to say to that, in all honesty, sure I could see why Earl Shi would be slightly irked by having his two foster children be wed, but his reasoning didn't align with my own. In fact, I could only think it would be a good thing if the Shi Ei and Shi Kika were married, as it meant no outside influence would be held over his heir. Shi Kika had no extended family that could try to sway Shi Ei and rule through him. In my eyes, the situation was a win-win.
"From the reports, how did Shi Ei feel about this?" I asked.
"As expected, he was angered, but he kept his composure and didn't do something rash." Yuu Sui said. Hmm, meaning his anger is simmering under the surface and waiting for a moment to explode… "No wonder he decided to join the war effort," I replied.
"That guy's going to take out all his anger on my army." I said before sighing; he was already a threat before, but now that he was just barely keeping a lid on his anger… "I'll need to deal with this guy personally." Gyou'un and Chou Garyuu were more than enough to handle Go Kei, and that would give me the time and opening to handle Shi Ei.
Yuu Sui hummed as she sat in my lap. This time she had joined me on this campaign; Chun Li was originally meant to come, but it was good news that stopped her from joining us. My wife and my joint hard work had resulted in her getting pregnant, and there was no way I would be stupid enough to allow my pregnant wife to join me anywhere near the battlefield.
Instead, Chun Li would stay in Chuuzan, receiving many gifts and well wishes. Since the announcement, there had been many influential men of Zhao who'd come to pay their respects to my wife and me, and those who had sent gifts; even Uncle Ren Pa had sent a gift of some expensive herbal plants that were meant to help with birthing a healthy child or something of the like.
Thinking back to the Shi Ei situation, I wondered what the Earl's angle was, because Shi Kika was not getting any younger and soon enough she would have to be married off to someone, and that person could not just be anyone. "He plans to marry her off.. The Earl, but who could it be?" Thinking about it, the person would need high standing, and with the fierce nature in which Shi Ei loves Shi Kika.
"There's also some more," Yuu Sui said, "The Wei Fire Dragons are not as courteous as is to be believed; Shi Ei, Gaimou and Rei Ou have been at odds with Ba Tou, Shou Sen and Tai Ro Ji for some months now. Apparently it all started after Ren Pa had defeated Ba Tou, Tai Ro Ji and Shi Ei; the former two had blamed the latter for the loss, and the King of Wei had Shi Ei punished for it."
"I can see why; to be honest, I never liked Tai Ro Ji's face. The way his eyes are so hollow is sickening." I said, thinking of the time when I had come face to face with the man; just by how he looked and the way he carried himself irked me ever so slightly. But then again, looks could be deceiving. Yuu Sui turned to me, and her green eyes caught mine before she kissed my jaw. "Let me finish, Tai Ro Ji is also known by some in Wei as the Wife Killer Tai Ro Ji."
My brow shot up as I quickly added the dots, seeing me clue on Yuu Sui continued, "According to some, he has a very strict code of conduct for his wives, and should his wife break that conduct, he would immediately kill them and- though this was sceptical- he has already executed around twenty of his wives."
I felt my face frown before I knew I'd done it, "This Earl is truly despicable; he knows Tai Ro Ji will definitely execute her. Then when he does, Shi Ei will become rageful, and possibly go for Tai Ro Ji's head, with the Wei Fire Dragons being so fractured it would not be out of reason to think that they will fight. But that is none of old Earl's concern; actually, he might want that."
Resting back against the seat, I stayed silent for a moment before seeing an opportunity, "I want you, Fu Jin, Kai Kou and a few of your men to infiltrate the House of Shi. Take Shi Kika; she is the prize, but leave the Earl. Don't use force on the woman, but anyone else act as you please." Yuu Sui listened intently to my words.
"After securing Lady Shikika and getting her to somewhere safe, inform me, and I'll take it from there. Should things go well, this war may end quicker than predicted." I finished.
"Since it has become apparent that the only thing tethering Shi Ei to Wei is Shi Kika, you want to remove her from the equation and have him choose." Yuu Sui said.
I placed a kiss on her nape before whispering, "A talent like Shi Ei can not be sent to rot away in a place like Wei." I replied.