Chapter 45

A moment later, a piercing scream was heard from not far away, and it sounded like pigs being slaughtered.

“Dear two sisters, please be a little gentler. Be a little gentler.”

“Pain, pain, pain. My skin is peeling off, peeling off.”

“Hot, hot, hot. I’m going to be cooked soon! Going to be cooked soon!”

Jing Zhongyue turned a deaf ear to Yun Zhonghe’s miserable cries and simply said, “Lady Cold Jade, come in!”

Lady Cold Jade walked in and got down on one knee.

Jing Zhongyue continued to stare at the map in a dazed state.

This was the map of the entire Land of No King, and there was a certain patch on this map that had been painted red. It was a relatively large patch that spanned over nearly a hundred miles.

This was the pain of the Jing Clan!

Once upon a time, the master of the Jing Clan was too negligent and lost a vast majority of his territory. Even his ancestral family estate was seized from him. As a result, the family serving the Jing Clan, which was the An Clan, became the masters of the Valley of Torn Gust.

Then, Jing E, an extremely outstanding character, appeared to make a very commendable contribution. Not only did he reclaim the position of castellan of the city, he even repossessed the majority of the Jing Clan’s territory and expanded this territorial land to span over an area of 13,000 square kilometers.

But this was the only part of the entire territory that was never reclaimed.

The Fallen Leaves Territory!

A few decades ago, the Jing Clan fell while the An Clan rebelled.

At that time, in order to quell the rebellion staged by the An Clan, the then castellan, Lord Jing Yan, who had no soldiers for military support, had borrowed an army from his in-laws, the Mo Clan, as a force for his counter-insurgency efforts.

There was no knowing whether it was due to a concussion he had after being kicked in the head, or if someone had coaxed and fooled him into it, but he actually signed a contract.

And so, the Fallen Leaves Territory was leased to the Mo Clan for fifty years in exchange for a loan of an army of five-thousand soldiers from the Mo Clan.

After he had the Mo Clan’s army of five thousand soldiers, Castellan Jing Yan launched a decisive battle to counter the An Clan’s rebellion.

In the end, he suffered a crushing defeat. His family estate at the Valley of Torn Gust was seized, and practically the entire Jing Clan was killed. The An Clan became the new masters of the Valley of Torn Gust.

Later on, with the rise of Jing E, the Jing Clan continued to expand and gain power in an awe-inspiring manner.

But this Fallen Leaves Territory that had been ceded was always a pain that Jing E could not forget. It was the same for the Jing Clan.

In order to reclaim the Fallen Leaves Territory, Jing E had made use of both soft and hard approaches. He had also waged at least three wars.

But the Mo Clan’s City of Washed Jade was simply too strong. The three wars were all inconclusive towards the end.

There was a loss of soldiers, and the army suffered heavy casualties, but he had not managed to reclaim the Fallen Leaves Territory.

In the Land of No King, in terms of territory, food provisions, and weapons, the Mo Clan’s City of Washed Jade was well above that of the Jing Clan.

Of course, in terms of money, the Jing Clan was still richer. This was because the Jing Clan monopolized the salt trade.

But what use was great wealth alone? The Jing Clan did not have the two most important things. One was iron ore, and the other was food provisions, both of which needed to be bought with money.

And the Mo Clan’s City of Washed Jade, though not as rich as the Jing Clan, had an immeasurable supply of food.

There were dozens of clans in the entire baronage of the Land of No King. The Mo Clan’s City of Washed Jade was also ranked above that of the Jing Clan’s.

And what was even more ridiculous was that this Fallen Leaves Territory was itself a large granary.

The strategic location of the Jing Clan’s Valley of Torn Gust was extremely crucial, but it was situated in treacherous terrains, and land cultivation was extremely sparse. The amount of grain produced in a year was not even enough to supply food for half a year, with most of the remaining supply relying on trade.

However, just one Fallen Leaves Territory alone spanned over near to 132,000 acres of fertile farmland, and it was still in the midst of being cultivated. Every year, the amount of grain produced was enough to feed millions of people.

This was why the greatest pain in Jing E’s life was that he had never been able to reclaim this large granary, the Fallen Leaves Territory.

This also became a pain in Jing Zhongyue’s heart.

Now, the lease contract between the Jing Clan and the Mo Clan was about to expire.

Fifty years of time was soon coming to an end.

But the Mo Clan had no intention of returning it at all.

Both sides had gone through dozens of rounds, but still, nothing came out of their negotiations.

What was certain was that, once the fifty-year period was up, if Jing Zhongyue still did not manage to reclaim this Fallen Leaves Territory, it would cause fatal harm to the City of Torn Gust.

The lease is coming to an end, and you are still unable to reclaim the land. Is that not incompetence? How can you still have the face to be the Castellan of the City of Torn Gust?

The other lords would also be able to see the weakness of the City of Torn Gust. By that time, a pack of wolves would pounce and bite, splitting up and devouring the entire City of Torn Gust.

In particular, a very frightening signal had appeared in the recent Baronage Assembly of the Land of No King.

The Mo Clan was in the midst of forming allies with the other lords, where it had plans to impose trade sanctions against the City of Torn Gust, which meant stopping all sales of grains and iron ores to them.

The reason was that the Jing Clan had waged an unjust war against the City of Autumn Waters, which was under the jurisdiction of forces comprising the southern lords.

However, that was a war that had to be fought.

Because after Jing E lost consciousness and collapsed, the City of Autumn Waters in the South had taken advantage of the situation to make its move and instigated the Wild Boar Territory, which was located at the southernmost end of the Valley of Torn Gust, into staging a rebellion.

If Jing Zhongyue had not done anything to quell the rebellion and put the City of Autumn Waters through a complete round of pain, the entire Valley of Torn Gust would most likely have become a land beset by war.

In less than a month, the war was over.

Not only did Jing Zhongyue stamp out the rebellion, but she also destroyed five thousand troops of the City of Autumn Waters and seized one of its territories that was close to a thousand square kilometers. She had then integrated this territory into the Wild Boar Territory.

At that point, though the Wild Boar Territory was still the most impoverished territory of the City of Torn Gust, it was, nonetheless, one of the biggest, with a land area reaching two thousand square kilometers.

And that was also the battle that gave full play to Jing Zhongyue’s prowess and might.

At present day, a considerable mound formed by piling up several thousands of heads still remained at the southernmost end of the Wild Boar Territory. Internally, it was a deterrence directed at the lords who owned territories; and externally, it was a deterrence directed at lords who were busy sharpening their knives and readying themselves with the threat of waging war.

***

“Lady Cold Jade, you have indignation in your heart,” Jing Zhongyue said, “because I’ve been focusing a lot on Chu Zhaoran, putting him in a very important position.”

Lady Cold Jade knelt down and said, “Your humble subject dared not think as such.”

Jing Zhongyue said, “Everyone says that I’m playing some mind trick of kings and emperors, and don’t want to leave all the intelligence forces in your good hands, so I have brought Chu Zhaoran into the picture and split the power between the two of you to serve as a check and balance system for each other. Then I can also gain a firm foothold and watch the subjects under my command fight each other.”

Lady Cold Jade still repeated the same thing, saying, “Your humble subject dared not think as such.”

Jing Zhongyue said, “You’ve done an excellent job. You’re extremely outstanding in your position countering espionage activities in the City of Torn Gust. Even your existence alone can make the spies of the Great Ying Empire and Southern Zhou Empire shudder in fear. Over the past few years, you’ve killed no less than a thousand people. That can be said to be a meritorious contribution.”

Lady Cold Jade continued to kneel without moving.

Jing Zhongyue said, “But you’re too focused on the intelligence forces of the Great Ying Empire and Southern Zhou Empire. And at present, the most dangerous situation that we are facing is that the lords and barons of the Land of No King have the intention of making our Valley of Torn Gust the first sacrifice.”

“Do you know what the discussion topics of the Baronage Assembly are at this time?”

Lady Cold Jade said, “Your humble subject doesn’t know.”

Jing Zhongyue said, “The first is unity. In the face of the aggressiveness of the Southern Zhou Empire and the Great Ying Empire, all thirty-seven lords of the Land of No King have to stay even more united. Someone proposed putting together an allied army, or even to establish a united kingdom in the future.”

Lady Cold Jade said, “Is this the will of the most prominent lord in the Land of No King, the Tantai Clan?”

Jing Zhongyue said, “Of course it is the Tantai, but the thing is, Tantai definitely won’t say it out explicitly. It was proposed by Li of the Wandering City.”

It was known by all that Li was just a lackey of the Tantai Clan.

To unify the entire Land of No King.

This was a very tempting ideal, indeed.

The Land of No King spanned over 500,000 square kilometers of land and was home to tens of millions of people. It was definitely more than enough to build a kingdom out of it.

The head of the Tantai Clan, being the most prominent lord in the Land of No King, had been holding the position of the head of the alliance for three consecutive terms.

According to the rules set by the Assembly of Alliance of the Land of No King, any one lord could only serve a maximum of three terms as head of the alliance.

Now, the deadline of twenty-one years was almost coming to an end.

Jing Zhongyue said, “There’s also another topic of discussion. Our arch-enemy from the south, the City of Autumn Waters, has proposed imposing sanctions on our Valley of Torn Gust, cutting off all trading of our food and mineral products and completely shutting us out. And now, there are already a few lords responding to its call. Even the head of the alliance, the Tantai Clan, seems to be warming up to it.”

“Our City of Torn Gust may seem to be so rich and prosperous, so influential and powerful, yet in fact, danger is lurking all around us.”

“If we are unable to reclaim this great granary, the Fallen Leaves Territory, this time, and even have to face a joint blockade by all the other lords of the Land of No King, then we will be facing a calamity that threatens us with a total wipeout of our City of Torn Gust.”

“And this crisis cannot be resolved by war. It requires the use of diplomacy and intelligence.”

“This is why I am entrusting Chu Zhaoran with such heavy responsibilities. Next up, your job is still with the countering of espionage, and your targets are still the spies of the Southern Zhou Empire and the Great Ying Empire, while Chu Zhaoran’s attention will be more focused on the other lords of the Land of No King. Your duty is to defend our home while his duty is to explore and develop.”

“We have to reclaim the strategic key location, the Fallen Leaves Territory. We have to crush the enemies’ conspiracy to blockade the Valley of Torn Gust. This is the foremost strategic step we have to take next. Do you understand?”

Lady Cold Jade kowtowed and said, “Yes, your humble subject understands.”

“Jing Wubian is indifferent. You are my sworn sister, and Chu Zhaoran is my senior brother. Both of you are my right-hand man and woman, the people closest to me. We must all be united as one and not be suspicious of one another. The hundreds of years of foundation of the Valley of Torn Gust still depends on the both of you.”

Lady Cold Jade maintained her kowtow and said, “Your humble subject will not hesitate, even if my limbs are torn apart, and my bones are crushed into bits.”

Then Lady Cold Jade asked, “Then what about this man, Yun Zhonghe?”

Jing Zhongyue said, “I would like to see for myself. Is he really as handsome as the legends said? If he is, then I also have to make great use of him.”

And just then, the lady servant outside said in a slightly trembling voice, “My Lady, Master Yun AoTian is here.”

Eh? That’s not right.

Just now, you didn’t call him Master Yun AoTian. Rather, your attitude was so cold and violent. Now, your voice is actually trembling with a hint of bashfulness.

Yun Zhonghe said to that lady servant, “Auntie, after you saw my true appearance, your face is flushed, your ears are red, and your legs have gone soft. For this, I am very grateful to you. Because this is a full acknowledgment of my beauty. But… I have to tell you that it is impossible between us. I, Yun Zhonghe, already have someone in my heart. I’ve fallen in love with that bright moon in the sky.”

Was this a confession to Jing Zhongyue?

Lady Cold Jade cast a glance towards Jing Zhongyue, wanting to ask if she should break both of Yun Zhonghe’s legs.

Jing Zhongyue paid no heed to her and was instead looking at the screen with great anticipation. She was waiting for Yun Zhonghe to appear, as she wanted to see exactly what that man, who was described as a peerlessly handsome man in the intelligence report, really looked like.

A gust of wind blew, and the hem of Yun Zhonghe’s robe fluttered.

Aye! I have been waiting for this gust of wind for such a long time!

Then, he slowly walked out from behind the screen.

Suddenly…

Both Jing Zhongyue and Lady Cold Jade’s beautiful eyes widened.

The intelligence report was not exaggerating. This Yun Zhonghe was really so handsome that he was one in a million. His beauty was really peerless, and it simply made everyone else in this world seem like a tragedy.

Really, truly so handsome that his looks were blinding.

Especially when he had always been displaying that ugly appearance of a beggar, to suddenly become this handsome man with unrivaled good looks now, the contrast was just too great.

After a moment of silence, Jing Zhongyue said, “You’re more beautiful than a woman, and your looks themself are indeed a sharp weapon. I will make good use of you.”

***