Chapter 1137 - 1079. The Execution Of The Five Wei Generals
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(A/N: Don’t forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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"Then we shall not keep them waiting," Lie Fan decreed, his voice heavy with the burden of his crown. "We will proceed to the eastern yard. We shall oversee the beheading of these top tier generals first." He looked toward the eastern wing, his eyes narrowing slightly as he articulated the philosophical necessity of the act, speaking not just to his advisors, but to history itself.
"It is a sad, tragic thing to strike down men of such unparalleled martial brilliance," Lie Fan murmured, his words hanging in the crisp air. "But there is absolutely nothing else we could do. I descended into the dark. I offered them the heavens, and they chose the earth. They would never, under any circumstances, pledge their allegiance to me or the Hengyuan banner. Their loyalty to Cao Mengde is a sickness that cannot be cured by reason, gold, or glory."
Lie Fan turned his gaze back to Chen Gong. "And letting them rot away for decades in a damp, sunless cell... that would be an insult. It is a fate entirely unbefitting of their towering stature and the magnificent things they have achieved on the battlefield. They lived by the sword, and they shall die by it. A private beheading is a brutal end, yes, but it is a warrior’s end. It finalizes their legend."
Chen Gong nodded his head in absolute agreement. "The law demands closure, Your Majesty. To leave them alive is an administrative and legal paradox."
Before taking the first step toward the execution grounds, Lie Fan’s mind shifted from the condemned men to the innocent bloodlines that he had sworn to protect from the fallout. The geopolitical logistics of mercy were often far more complicated than the logistics of execution.
Lie Fan turned slightly back to Chancellor Jia Xu, his brow furrowing with sudden, sharp inquiry.
"And what of their families?" Lie Fan asked, ensuring no loose ends remained to poison his future. "The wives, the young children, the extended households of the generals? Have they already been secured and sent across the eastern sea to Taipei? Have they been received by Yang Hong and Yan Jun as I commanded?"
The plan to exile the innocent remnants of the Wei command structure to the distant, heavily fortified island of Taipei had been a masterstroke of Lie Fan’s modern strategic foresight.