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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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Lie Fan reached out, resting his hand lightly on the pommel of his unadorned iron longsword. His eyes darkened with the absolute, grim reality of what lay ahead. "Now," Lie Fan murmured, the chilling weight of a conqueror settling fully over his features. "We descend to the third level. Prepare yourselves, my generals. It is time to speak with the wolves."
They walked toward the heavy, iron bound doorway at the end of the second corridor seemed to swallow the flickering torchlight.
As the guards stepped forward with a massive ring of iron keys to unlock it, the damp, frigid air of the third subterranean level seeped upward, carrying the unmistakable chill of absolute confinement.
Huangfu Song, stepping carefully down the first few uneven stone steps, paused and looked back at his Emperor. The veteran commander's face was etched with a profound, pragmatic skepticism.
"Your Imperial Majesty," Huangfu Song began, keeping his voice to a low, respectful murmur so as not to echo down the stairwell. "You have performed a miracle on the second level. But as we descend to face the likes of Xu Chu, Xiahou Dun, and the blood relatives of the Cao Clan... what is our recourse if they simply say no? Are they to be executed immediately?"
Lie Fan paused on the landing, his hand resting lightly on the pommel of his longsword. He met Huangfu Song's gaze with a look of cold, uncompromising clarity. He nodded his head slowly.
"Yes, Grand General. If they refuse, they will meet the executioner's blade," Lie Fan confirmed, his voice devoid of any hesitation. "I harbor no illusions about what lies down there. They will be incredibly hard to persuade. Their loyalty exists on an entirely different spectrum compared to men like Zhang He or Yu Jin."
"The men we just recruited were loyal to the state, to the law, or to their own professional pride. But the men on the third level are loyal to the blood. They are tethered to Cao Cao by familial bonds and decades of unbreakable brotherhood."
Lie Fan looked past the veteran general, staring into the descending darkness. "Once they hear the inevitable truth, that Cao Cao and his sons are sentenced to the poisoned cup, they will not even entertain the thought of saying yes. They will choose to join Cao Cao in the Yellow Springs. They do not possess the psychological distance required to serve the man who ended their family."
"Then why risk the descent, Your Majesty?" Ma Chao asked quietly from behind, his fierce eyes narrowing in confusion. "Why not simply send the executioners and be done with it, rather than waste your breath on dead men?"
"Because, Mengqi, I am not just a conqueror, I am the Emperor of a nascent era," Lie Fan answered, turning his gaze to the young, fiery general. "If, by some miracle of rhetoric, I can persuade even one of them to bend the knee, they become an asset of immeasurable value to the Hengyuan Dynasty."
"A general of Cao Ren's defensive brilliance or Xiahou Yuan's swiftness is worth a hundred thousand ordinary soldiers. I owe it to the future of this empire to at least try. And if they do surrender, they will, of course, live the rest of their lives under the strictest, most absolute secret supervision Jia Xu can devise. I will trust them to fight, but I will never trust them to sleep unguarded."
Huangfu Song, Zhang Liao, and the others listened to the cold, flawless calculus of their sovereign. They nodded their heads in unanimous agreement. The Emperor was not driven by naive mercy, but by the exhaustive, ruthless pursuit of every possible strategic advantage.
"Lead the way, Your Majesty," Zhao Yun said softly, his hand resting casually on the hilt of his own sword, ready to intercept any sudden violence.
They descended the stairs, their boots echoing heavily against the slick stone. The third floor was noticeably different from the level above. The cells here were fortified with double layered iron grating, and the torches were spaced further apart, leaving long stretches of the corridor draped in heavy shadows.
"The first block holds the direct blood relatives of the Cao family," Zhang Liao informed Lie Fan in a hushed tone, pointing toward two adjacent cells near the center of the hall. "Cao Ren and Cao Hong."
Lie Fan nodded, adjusting the cuffs of his dark crimson martial tunic. He stepped forward, leaving his formidable escort a few paces behind, and approached the first cell.
Sitting perfectly upright on a bare stone bench, his posture radiating the impenetrable, unyielding aura of a fortress wall, was Cao Ren. The Main Marshal of the Wei Dynasty, a man renowned for his unparalleled defensive genius, looked older and infinitely more tired in the dim light. His armor had been stripped away, but the sheer, imposing gravity of his presence remained completely intact.
As Lie Fan's shadow fell across the iron bars, Cao Ren slowly opened his eyes. He did not flinch. He looked at the supreme ruler of the world with a calm, almost detached curiosity.
"Why does the Emperor of Hengyuan descend into this filthy place?" Cao Ren asked, his voice a deep, gravelly baritone that echoed softly in the damp cell. "Why sully your imperial boots to meet with this lowly self?"
Lie Fan let out a warm, genuine laugh, the sound entirely devoid of mockery. He rested his forearm against the cold iron bars.
"How could the former great Marshal of the Wei Dynasty ever refer to himself as 'lowly'?" Lie Fan countered, a smile playing on his lips. "You are a man of towering talent and immense historical stature, Zixiao. You held the southern lines against overwhelming odds time and time again. It is only fitting that I visit a commander of your absolute caliber personally."
Cao Ren's expression did not soften. He stared intently at Lie Fan's face, reading the underlying geometry of the conversation. "You do not visit a defeated enemy merely to flatter him, Emperor Lie Fan. You are here to persuade me. You want me to surrender my pride and pledge my allegiance to the Hengyuan Dynasty."
Lie Fan nodded his head, his smile fading into a look of profound, martial respect. "Since you prefer to be direct, Zixiao, then I shall afford you the exact same courtesy. Yes. I am here for your sword."
Lie Fan stood tall, projecting the full, undeniable weight of his vision. "The central plains are bleeding. The people have suffered through decades of endless war. Cao Mengde sought to end the chaos, but his foundation fractured. I have succeeded where he failed. But holding this vast empire, defending its borders against the northern barbarians and the western warlords, requires walls. It requires men who know how to protect the innocent and hold a line against impossible odds."
"There is no greater defensive mind in this land than yours, Cao Ren. Swear your allegiance to Hengyuan, and I will place you on the northern frontiers. You will not fight your former comrades, you will fight the barbarians who threaten our shared homeland. Serve the realm, if not the man."
Cao Ren listened quietly, his hands resting on his knees. It was a magnificent, highly logical argument. It appealed to his sense of duty to the people and offered him a way to preserve his honor by fighting foreign threats rather than internal ones.
But Cao Ren slowly shook his head, a sad, resolute finality settling over his features.
"Your words make sense, Emperor Lie Fan. They are the words of a true sovereign," Cao Ren admitted softly. "But you misunderstand the nature of my foundation. I am not like Yu Jin or Zhang He. My loyalty is not a cloak I can simply take off when the weather changes. My name is Cao. The blood running through my veins is the exact same blood that runs through the veins of the Emperor of Wei. You broke the outer walls of Chang'an, Emperor Lie, but you cannot break the walls of my heart."
Cao Ren looked up, his eyes meeting Lie Fan's with absolute, unwavering conviction. "If I serve you, I spit upon the graves of my ancestors and the legacy of my cousin. A shield cannot protect two different houses. I am a man of Wei, and I will die a man of Wei."
Lie Fan looked at the unmovable mountain before him. He felt a profound sense of regret, mourning the loss of such a brilliant mind, but he completely understood. He had anticipated this.
"I cannot fault a man for loving his family," Lie Fan said softly, dipping his head in a gesture of profound respect. "I will not press you further today, Zixiao. Think about what I have said. You still have a little time left before the final judgments are enacted."
Without waiting for a response, Lie Fan stepped away from the bars, moving immediately to the adjacent cell.
If Cao Ren was an unmovable mountain, Cao Hong was a raging forest fire.
The moment Lie Fan stepped in front of the second cell, Cao Hong was already on his feet. He lunged toward the bars, his hands gripping the iron so tightly his knuckles turned white. His face was contorted with a fierce, aggressive fury.
"Save your breath, tyrant!" Cao Hong spat, his voice echoing loudly down the corridor, causing Zhao Yun and Ma Chao to instinctively step forward, their hands tightening on their swords.
Lie Fan raised a hand, signaling his generals to stand down. He looked at Cao Hong with absolute, icy calm.
"I have not spoken a single word yet, Zilian," Lie Fan noted evenly.
"You don't have to!" Cao Hong snarled, rattling the iron bars. "I heard everything you said to my cousin! You come down here wrapped in your fancy new imperial silks, acting like a benevolent god handing out pardons! You think you can buy us? You think because you stole our lands and seized my wealth that I will crawl on my belly and beg for scraps from your table?"
Cao Hong was famously wealthy and notoriously protective of his fortunes, but his loyalty to Cao Cao was legendary. He had once given his own horse to Cao Cao during a disastrous rout, declaring, 'The world can do without Cao Hong, but it cannot do without my lord!'
Lie Fan knew this history perfectly. He knew he could not appeal to Cao Hong's greed, nor his sense of abstract duty to the realm.
"I do not want you to crawl, Zilian," Lie Fan replied, his voice a steady, grounding force against Cao Hong's explosive rage. "I know your wealth is gone. I know your estates in Yan Province have been seized by my treasury. Swear fealty to me, and I will return it all. I will restore your lands, your gold, and your titles. You can ensure the Cao name survives in comfort and prestige under the new dynasty."
"To hell with your gold! To hell with your prestige!" Cao Hong roared, his eyes wild. "My wealth meant absolutely nothing without the family that built it! You think I care about estates when the man who gave me my purpose is locked in a cage above us? You are a usurper, Lie Fan! A thief who stole the heavens! I would rather choke on the dust of this cell than ever call you Emperor!"
Lie Fan stared into the burning, hate filled eyes of the brash general. The reaction was exactly as he had calculated. The sheer, fiery intensity of Cao Hong's rejection left absolutely no room for negotiation. There was no crack in this armor, it was entirely consumed by the flames of devotion.
"Your loyalty is fierce, Cao Hong. I will give you that," Lie Fan said, his voice dropping to a cool, detached whisper. "But fire eventually burns itself out. If you choose the ash, then the ash you shall have."
Lie Fan turned his back on the screaming general, entirely unfazed by the curses Cao Hong continued to hurl against his back. He walked purposefully down the dark corridor, his generals falling in silently behind him. The Cao cousins were a lost cause. He needed to test the Xiahou.
They approached a cell slightly further down the hall. The unmistakable, pungent scent of crushed willow bark and garlic, heavy medicinal poultices, wafted from behind the bars.
Sitting on his cot, leaning heavily against the stone wall to favor his heavily bandaged shoulder, was Xiahou Yuan.
'Miaocai', the man renowned for his lightning fast marches and peerless archery, looked pale. The wound delivered by Huang Zhong's arrow had nearly shattered him, but the Imperial Physicians had done their work well. Despite his pallor and his captivity, Xiahou Yuan did not look angry, nor did he look stoic.
He was actually smiling.
It was a laid back, almost mocking smirk that danced across his lips as Lie Fan approached the bars. Xiahou Yuan lazily raised his good hand in a half hearted, entirely disrespectful salute.
"Well, well. The Emperor himself graces my humble abode," Xiahou Yuan drawled, his tone dripping with a relaxed, sardonic amusement. "Forgive me if I don't bow, Your Majesty. I seem to be short one working arm at the moment. Compliments to your old archer, by the way. He has a hell of a draw weight."
Lie Fan could not help but let a small, wry smile touch his own face. Xiahou Yuan's sheer audacity in the face of death was remarkable.
"Huang Zhong's aim is true, Miaocai. You are lucky he was ordered to incapacitate, rather than execute," Lie Fan replied smoothly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I am glad to see the physicians have pulled you back from the brink. You have recovered your strength."
"Enough strength to sit here and wait for the end, yes," Xiahou Yuan chuckled dryly, wincing slightly as he adjusted his posture against the cold stone. "So, what is the play here, Emperor? I saw you recruiting the others upstairs. Are you here to offer me a shiny new bow and a spot on your borders?"
"I am offering you a future," Lie Fan said, matching the general's relaxed tone, though his eyes remained piercingly sharp. "You are the swiftest commander of cavalry this continent has ever seen. Your logistical marches are the stuff of legends. I am building an empire that will stretch thousands of miles. I need men who can cross that distance before the enemy even knows they are coming. Pledge your allegiance, Miaocai. Ride for me, and you will see the edges of the world."
Xiahou Yuan let out a soft, genuine laugh, shaking his head slowly. He looked down at his bandaged shoulder, and then back up at Lie Fan. The mocking amusement faded from his eyes, replaced by a deep, unshakeable sorrow.
"You paint a pretty picture, Lie Fan," Xiahou Yuan murmured, leaning his head back against the wall. "But you missed the fundamental truth. I didn't ride fast because I loved the wind. I rode fast because Cao Mengde needed me to be there. He was the target my arrow was loosed for. Without him..." Xiahou Yuan shrugged his good shoulder casually. "...what is the point of the bow?"
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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