If you want to read 20 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my Patreon!!!
Go to https://www.patreon.com/Tang12
____________________________
The abstract 'cost of war' his tutors had described became a specific, stomach churning reality. The distant figures became sons, brothers, fathers. The metallic scent on the wind became the copper tang of blood.
A violent, helpless shudder wracked his frame, and he turned from the railing, stumbling a few steps before doubling over and retching violently onto the wooden platform, his breakfast leaving him in a bitter, humiliating wave.
Zhuge Jin and Lu Zhi were at his side in an instant, not with reproach, but with a gentle, firm support. Lu Zhi placed a steadying hand on his back. "Breathe, Your Highness. Slowly. In through the nose."
Zhuge Jin offered a clean cloth. "It is alright. You held your composure longer than most seasoned men would have. To see it, to truly see it, and to feel it… this is the burden. To look away would be the failure."
Their words were kind, but they did not sugarcoat his reaction. They treated it as a natural, necessary part of the curriculum. As Muchen wiped his mouth, pale and trembling, he saw understanding in their eyes.
This sickness was not a mark of weakness, but of his humanity being forged in a terrible furnace. The resolve that had sparked in him earlier now settled, cold and heavy, in the pit of his cleansed stomach. He had learned. He had seen. And he would never be able to unsee it.
His eyes were wet, but he did not cry. He straightened slowly, forcing himself to look back at the battlefield.
"I… I couldn't—" he began, then stopped. He swallowed. "I won't look away again."
Zhuge Jin nodded approvingly. "That resolve matters."
The duel of champions was over. The day's battle was done. But the siege, of the city, and of a young prince's innocence, continued unabated.
After that, Muchen was guided away from the command post not as a child being sheltered, but as a prince being preserved.
The walk back from the command post was quiet. Not the awkward quiet of men unsure what to say, but the deliberate silence of those who understood that words, right now, would do more harm than good.
Muchen walked between Zhao Yun and Ma Chao, his steps steady but measured, as though his body was still learning how to carry the weight that had settled inside him. Zhuge Jin and Lu Zhi walked just ahead, their pace slow, ensuring he did not need to rush. No one hurried him. No one pressed him with questions or reassurances.
The battlefield noises had faded into the distance, replaced by the softer sounds of an encampment winding down, low murmurs, the crackle of cookfires, the muted clatter of armor being removed. Even the air felt different here, less sharp, though the scent of smoke and blood still lingered faintly, impossible to fully escape.
For the first time since dawn, Muchen felt truly exhausted.
Not the tiredness of sore muscles or missed sleep, but a deeper fatigue, one that settled behind the eyes and into the chest. The kind that came from watching something irreversible happen to the world, and to oneself.
When they reached his tent, the guards parted respectfully. Zhao Yun lifted the flap himself, allowing Muchen to enter first.
Inside, the space was warmly lit by lanterns, shadows soft against canvas walls. A small brazier glowed in the corner, and a low table had already been prepared. Steam curled gently from a bowl set at its center.
Muchen paused at the entrance, momentarily caught off guard by the normalcy of it all.
After walls slick with blood and men dying in the dust, this quiet, contained space felt almost unreal.
Lu Zhi noticed the hesitation. "Go on, Your Highness," he said gently. "Sit."
Muchen obeyed, lowering himself onto the cushioned seat. A servant appeared silently, bowing as they placed the bowl closer. The broth was rich and fragrant, bone stock, herbs, soft vegetables, bits of tender meat. Nutritious. Grounding.
Zhuge Jin spoke softly. "Drink slowly. It will help steady you."
The broth was warm and savory, a small, deliberate comfort in the stark confines of the campaign tent. Muchen held the bowl with both hands, letting the heat seep into his palms, trying to anchor himself in the simple, physical sensation.
The aftertaste of bile was gone, replaced by the richness of the stew, but the hollow, shaken feeling in his core remained.
The images were burned onto the back of his eyelids, the flurry of steel in the duels, the final, limp forms of the Cao cousins being carried away, and the sprawling, silent horror of the battlefield once the roar had faded.
Zhuge Jin and Lu Zhi soon left him with quiet words of encouragement. Zhao Yun and Ma Chao also leave and now stood guard outside the tent flap, a silent, vigilant presence. He was alone with the echo of the day.
He took a sip, forcing it down. This was the reality. Not the glorious tales, not the strategic maps, but this, the trembling hands, the churning stomach, the weight of witnessing. His father had not just brought him to see a victory, he had brought him to swallow its bitter, bloody truth.
And as the warm broth settled in his stomach, so too did a new, grim layer of understanding. The last vestige of his childhood, the part that still saw war as a grand, distant game, had been ripped away on the winds of Hongnong.
What was left felt raw, exposed, but strangely solid. He had looked into the furnace and had not, in the end, looked away.
Back at the command post, the atmosphere had shifted from the high wire tension of battle to the weary, detailed analysis of its aftermath.
Lie Fan entered, his presence still radiating the day's exertion. The cut on his cheek was clean but vivid, a badge of the close quarters combat. He was followed by his generals, Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong, Taishi Ci, Dian Wei and Ji Ling.
Lie Fan's eyes swept the platform, taking in Sima Yi, Chen Deng, Zang Hong, Xu Shu, and Pang Tong. His gaze paused, noting the absence. The space where his son had stood, flanked by scholars and guardians, was empty.
"Where is Muchen?" he asked, his voice a low rumble. The concern was not anxious, but specific, a commander accounting for an important asset.
Sima Yi was the one to step forward, his hands tucked into his sleeves. "Your Majesty. His Highness returned to his quarters, escorted by Masters Zhuge Jin and Lu Zhi, and Generals Zhao Yun and Ma Chao. The day's… curriculum… was intense. He conducted himself with remarkable fortitude, observing and questioning until the very end of the engagement. However, the visceral reality proved overwhelming once the immediate pressure subsided. He was physically ill."
Lie Fan listened, his expression unreadable. He gave a slow, single nod. "I see." There was a pause, and then a faint trace of something like pride touched the corners of his eyes. "He held until the end. That is what matters. He did not flee the lesson. To witness, to feel it, and to still stand… that is the first step." He wasn't praising a lack of weakness, he was acknowledging a specific kind of courage, the courage to endure the truth.
The advisors around him murmured their agreement. The Crown Prince had passed a silent, brutal test.
Pang Tong, ever the one to cut to the strategic heart of any matter, scratched his chin. "Your Majesty, if I may… the two prizes from today's hunt, Cao Hong and Cao Ren. What is your will regarding them? A public display? Leverage for negotiation?"
All eyes turned to Lie Fan. The capture of two such high-value targets, especially members of the Cao clan, was a significant event.
Lie Fan folded his arms, his gaze turning inward for a moment. "For now, they remain captives. Comfortable, secure, but captive. No interrogation. No mistreatment. They are to be given the respect their skills command."
He looked at the skeptical faces around him. He knew what they were thinking, such men would never bend the knee. "I am aware of the odds," he continued, a hint of that familiar, competitive fire in his eyes. "I know their loyalty to Cao Mengde is iron. To break it would be a task of years, if it is possible at all."
He paused, his voice dropping into a more reflective tone. "But I am not in the business of destroying talent out of spite. Cao Cao and I… we have spent a lifetime collecting the finest minds and blades this fractured land has to offer. It is one of the few things we understood about each other. To kill such men simply because they stood on the other side… it is a waste. A profound waste."
He unfolded his arms, his gesture taking in the vast camp, the empire it represented. "Our ambitions do not end at the walls of Hongnong, or even with the unification of the heartland. There are borders to secure, lands beyond to integrate, administrations to build."
"For that, we need capable people. Many capable people. If there is even a sliver of a chance, however improbable, that men of their caliber could one day see their future aligned with a unified empire rather than a lost cause… then we must leave that door open. It is not about easy victories. It is about building something that lasts. And for that, you need the best stones, even if you have to patiently chip away the old mortar holding them in place."
The logic was cold, long term, and imperial in its scope. It wasn't about today's prisoner exchange, it was about the shape of the empire ten years from now. Sima Yi, understanding this better than anyone, gave a shallow bow. "As Your Majesty wishes. I will ensure their captivity is secure yet hospitable. They will want for nothing but their freedom."
"Good," Lie Fan said. He glanced toward the tent where his son was recuperating. The matters of empire were pressing, but another duty called. "Now, if you will excuse me. The strategizing for tomorrow can wait an hour. I must see to my son."
As he turned to leave, he paused, looking back at Sima Yi. "Oh, one more thing, Zhongda. The men fought hard today. They saw their emperor fight beside them. Tonight, see that their rations are doubled. Extra meat, if we have it. Let them feel the reward of a hard day's work."
"It will be done, Your Majesty," Sima Yi affirmed.
Lie Fan gave a final nod and strode from the command post, his armored figure soon swallowed by the organized chaos of the camp, heading not toward the sounds of celebration, but toward the quiet tent where a young prince was learning the weight of his inheritance.
______________________________
Name: Lie Fan
Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty
Age: 35 (202 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 2325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 966 (+20)
VIT: 623 (+20)
AGI: 623 (+10)
INT: 667
CHR: 98
WIS: 549
WILL: 432
ATR Points: 0