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!)
...
"They know they were outmaneuvered and utterly crushed by superior force. They sit in their cells, quiet and brooding, causing no trouble for the guards. They are simply waiting for the victor to decide their fate. If approached correctly, many of them possess the pragmatic mindset required to bend the knee to a new dynasty."
Zhang Liao paused, a deep frown creasing his scarred forehead. "However, the calm does not extend to the inner circle. The absolute core of Cao Cao's military apparatus is rejecting their captivity with extreme prejudice. Specifically, Xu Chu and Xiahou Dun are causing catastrophic trouble."
Lie Fan's eyebrows rose slightly. "Elaborate."
"Xu Chu," Zhang Liao sighed, shaking his head in a mixture of deep frustration and genuine, awe struck martial respect. "The man they call the 'Tiger Fool' does not comprehend the concept of defeat. He believes he is merely temporarily detained from protecting his lord. When he awoke from his battle injuries three days ago and realized he was in a Hengyuan cell, he went into a state of absolute, berserker frenzy."
Zhang Liao leaned forward, emphasizing the sheer absurdity of the situation. "He did not look for a key. He did not ask for a guard. He simply grabbed the solid iron bars of his cell door and began to physically tear them out of the masonry with his bare hands. He completely shattered the hinges, tore the iron from the stone, and severely injured eight heavily armed guards who attempted to subdue him in the corridor."
Lie Fan's eyes widened slightly. Even knowing the legends of Xu Chu's monstrous strength, hearing it confirmed in such a visceral manner was staggering.
"How was he contained?" Lie Fan asked, genuinely curious.
"It required the deployment of our absolute elite," Huangfu Song interjected, his aged face a mask of grim respect. "The standard guards were entirely useless against him. We had to summon General Zhao Yun, General Ma Chao, and General Taishi Ci down into the prison to help simultaneously."
"It was a spectacle I will not soon forget," Zhang Liao confirmed, the memory clearly vivid in his mind. "It took three of the greatest warriors under heaven working in perfect, desperate synergy to bring him down without killing him. Taishi Ci had to grapple his lower body to break his base, Ma Chao used the haft of a spear to leverage his massive arms backward, and Zhao Yun had to apply precise, debilitating pressure points to his neck just to force him to his knees. Only then were the blacksmiths able to apply heavy, industrial grade iron chains."
"He has since been moved to the deepest, most secure subterranean vault we possess," Zhang Liao concluded. "He is tied by himself to a central stone pillar with chains thick enough to anchor a warship. He spends his days roaring challenges at the walls. He is a beast trapped in a pit, Your Majesty."
Lie Fan nodded slowly, taking a sip of his tea. The violent, physical resistance of Xu Chu was troublesome, but it was entirely predictable. The man was a force of nature, driven by a simplistic, unbreakable devotion to Cao Cao.
"And what of Xiahou Dun?" Lie Fan asked, turning his attention to the one eyed general, a man whose sheer, terrifying willpower was legendary across the continent. "I cannot imagine the Half Blind Wolf is attempting to tear down stone walls with his bare hands."
"No, Your Majesty. His resistance is far more dangerous, and entirely silent," Zhang Liao said, his expression darkening with genuine concern. "Xiahou Dun has initiated a total hunger strike. He has refused every single bowl of rice, every piece of meat, and every cup of water offered to him since the day he was thrown into his cell."
Huangfu Song stroked his white beard, his voice heavy with the grim reality of the situation. "He sits perfectly still in the center of his cell, staring at the wall with his remaining eye. He does not speak to the guards. He does not demand his release. He is waging a psychological war against his own body. It has been several days, Your Majesty. His lips are cracked, his skin is taking on a sickly pallor, and his physical strength is rapidly degrading. The prison physicians warn that if he does not consume water within the next forty eight hours, his organs will begin to fail. His stubbornness will lead to his death, and he knows it."
Lie Fan set his teacup down with a soft clink. His brow furrowed deeply, the flickering light of the oil lamp highlighting the intense, calculating machinery turning behind his eyes.
Xu Chu creating physical havoc was a logistical problem; it could be solved with thicker chains and stronger guards. But Xiahou Dun deliberately, silently starving himself to death to deny his conqueror the satisfaction of a formal execution or a recruited submission, that was a profound, deeply philosophical problem. It was an act of absolute defiance that commanded an incredible amount of martial respect.
Inwardly, Lie Fan's mind raced through the geopolitical and psychological realities of the Wei command structure.
He desperately wanted to recruit the former Wei generals. The Hengyuan Empire was vast, and it was expanding rapidly.
To hold the newly conquered central plains, to garrison the turbulent western borders against the League of Northwestern Lords, and to launch a massive, cross oceanic invasion of Yamatai, he needed every brilliant tactical mind and every ferocious vanguard commander he could get his hands on.
The Wei generals were veteran, battle hardened, and intimately familiar with the terrain and the troops of the central plains. Absorbing them would accelerate the stabilization of the empire by a decade.
But Lie Fan was not a naive idealist. He knew the terrifying, unbreakable nature of true loyalty.
He could likely break men like Yu Jin or Yue Jin. They were professional soldiers who fought for glory, wealth, and stability. But the absolute core of Cao Cao's power, men like Xu Chu, Cao Hong, Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan, were a completely different breed.
They were not merely generals, they were more like a family. They were bound to Cao Cao by blood for some, by decades of shared suffering, and by an intense, fanatical devotion that defied logic.
Lie Fan leaned back in his chair, staring into the depths of his teacup. He found himself comparing this situation to his past triumphs in psychological warfare.
He remembered the turning point in the war against Liu Bei. Liu Bei had possessed the two brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, whose loyalty to him was considered the absolute gold standard of brotherhood in the era. They were thought to be completely, utterly unbreakable. Yet, Lie Fan had managed to shatter that legendary bond.
How had he done it? Because Liu Bei's entire foundation was built upon a fragile, hypocritical facade of absolute benevolence and righteous virtue. Lie Fan hadn't needed to defeat Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in combat, he had simply orchestrated the perfect, devastating exposure of Liu Bei's true, ruthlessly ambitious, and manipulative nature.
When the mask slipped, when Guan Yu and Zhang Fei saw the rotting, hypocritical core of the man they had sworn to serve, the illusion shattered. Their honor could not allow them to serve a fraud, and so, they had broken their oaths and eventually aligned with the true, undeniable mandate of Hengyuan.
But dealing with the Xiahou and Cao generals was fundamentally, agonizingly different.
Cao Cao was many things, ruthless, paranoid, terrifyingly brilliant, and utterly merciless, but he was not a hypocrite when it came to his inner circle. He had never worn a mask of saintly benevolence around Xiahou Dun or Xu Chu.
He had showed them his true face from the very beginning. He had embraced their brutal natures, rewarded them with unimaginable wealth, fought in the mud alongside them, and loved them with the fierce, unapologetic intensity of a warlord.
You cannot expose the dark side of a man who proudly walks in the shadows. There was no secret hypocrisy for Lie Fan to reveal to Xiahou Dun. Xiahou Dun knew exactly who Cao Cao was, and he loved him for it.
'Breaking their bond to the Cao Clan will be like trying to shatter a diamond with a wooden hammer,' Lie Fan thought grimly, his fingers drumming a slow, rhythmic beat against the wooden armrest of his chair. 'They are too loyal. They are too closely connected to the bloodline. I can offer them the world, but they will only see the man who destroyed their home.'
"What of Xiahou Yuan?" Lie Fan asked softly, breaking the silence in the room, shifting his inquiry to the other half of the legendary Xiahou duo. "How is 'Miaocai' faring in the dungeons?"
Huangfu Song shifted slightly in his chair, offering a more positive, though still cautious, update.
"General Xiahou Yuan's condition is stable, and improving steadily, Your Majesty," the Grand General reported. "As you recall, during the final, chaotic retreat toward the northern sally ports, he was struck in the shoulder by an arrow fired by Marshal Huang Zhong. It was a devastating shot, designed to incapacitate rather than kill. The arrow pierced his armor and embedded deeply into the muscle, shattering the collarbone."
Huangfu Song nodded toward the door, acknowledging the medical staff. "Our Imperial Physicians have done excellent work. They removed the arrowhead cleanly, cauterized the wound, and fought off the subsequent fever with heavy poultices of willow bark and garlic. The wound is closing, and his strength is returning. However, much like his cousin, his demeanor is incredibly dark. He does not refuse food, but he eats only enough to sustain his life. He speaks to no one."
Lie Fan nodded his head slowly, a cold, absolute resolve settling over his features. The time for administrative avoidance was over. The physical wounds of the war were healing, but the psychological wounds were festering in the dark.
"Good. Ensure the physicians continue to monitor Xiahou Yuan closely. I do not want him succumbing to infection," Lie Fan ordered, his voice taking on the sharp, authoritative edge of the supreme commander once more.
He stood up from his chair, signaling the end of the impromptu council. Huangfu Song and Zhang Liao immediately rose to their feet, snapping to perfect attention.
"You did well to bring this to my attention tonight," Lie Fan commended them, stepping around the tea table to stand before his generals. "A ruler cannot build a peaceful empire if he leaves unresolved fury locked in his basement. The situation with Xu Chu is contained, but the hunger strike of Xiahou Dun requires immediate, decisive intervention before he starves himself into a martyr."
Lie Fan clasped his hands securely behind his back, his eyes narrowing as he mentally prepared for the grueling, psychological battlefield that awaited him.
"Return to your posts, my lords," Lie Fan commanded, his tone brokering no argument. "Ensure the prison guards are placed on the highest alert. Tell the wardens to prepare the subterranean levels for an imperial visitation. Tomorrow morning, I will cancel my administrative audiences. I will go down into the cells, and I will handle this matter personally."
Zhang Liao's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "You intend to meet with them face to face, Your Majesty? In the cells?"
"I do," Lie Fan confirmed, his voice echoing with iron certainty. "A man's true nature is laid bare when he has nothing left to lose. I will meet with these generals. I will look them in the eye. I will offer them the chance to serve the true mandate of this era. I will use every argument, every truth, and every ounce of imperial authority I possess to convince those whose minds are open to the future."
Lie Fan's gaze darkened, the ruthless, terrifying pragmatism of the conqueror eclipsing the benevolent administrator.
"But I will also use this opportunity to filter the chaff from the wheat," Lie Fan concluded, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "I will identify those who are truly, irreparably broken by their loyalty to the Cao clan. Those who cannot be convinced... those who would rather die than see the world change... I will not allow them to fester as a symbol of rebellion. I will grant them the death they so desperately seek."
Huangfu Song and Zhang Liao understood the grim, inescapable logic of the Emperor's words. They bowed deeply, their fists pressed to their palms in absolute, unquestioning obedience.
"We hear and obey, Your Imperial Majesty! We shall prepare the cells!"
As the two veteran commanders turned and strode out of the office, the heavy rosewood doors clicking shut behind them, Lie Fan was left entirely alone in the quiet, flickering light of the oil lamp.
He looked back at the towering stacks of administrative scrolls on his desk, the mundane realities of governance waiting for his seal. But his mind was no longer on grain taxes or wagonways. His mind was descending into the cold, damp stone of the military prisons, preparing for the final, bloody clash of wills against the ghosts of Wei.
______________________________
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