Chapter 1157 - 1098. Plan Of Attack On Qinghai & March
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(A/N: Don’t forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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"He commands them flawlessly, yes," Chen Deng nodded. "But the original doctrine? The brutal, unprecedented training methods that forge these men and women into living weapons? That was created entirely by His Imperial Majesty himself, long before he ever wore a crown."
Fa Zheng’s eyes widened. He had joined Lie Fan’s cause later in the game, bringing the wealth and strategic depth of Yi Province into the fold. He knew the Emperor was a peerless military commander and an unrivaled administrative genius, but to hear that Lie Fan had personally designed the empire’s shadow network was staggering.
"It is a truth known only to the oldest blood of this dynasty," Chen Deng continued, his tone taking on the cadence of a historian recounting holy scripture. "It is said that only Master Jia Xu and Master Sun Qian truly know the absolute, unvarnished origins of the Orioles. Because those two men are the longest serving pillars to His Majesty. They have stood by his side since the very beginning, when he was just a fiercely ambitious young man navigating a world that was falling apart."
Chen Deng stood up from the desk, walking slowly toward the dying embers of the hearth fire in the grand hall.
"Think of the history they have shared, Fa Zheng. They served His Majesty during the chaos of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, when the fields were choked with millions of starving, desperate zealots. They were with him in the capital of Luoyang when the political rot finally consumed the Han. They survived the bloody night when General He Jin was assassinated in the courtyards. They navigated the apocalyptic purge of the Ten Eunuchs, when the palaces burned and the rivers ran black with the blood of the nobility."
Chen Deng turned back, the firelight casting long, dancing shadows across his face. "And when the tyrant Dong Zhuo rode his heavy Xiliang cavalry into the capital, plunging the entire continent into a nightmare of absolute tyranny and slaughter, it was Jia Xu and Sun Qian who helped Lie Fan forge the foundations of his own independent power. The Orioles were born in that fire. They were created to survive a world where the laws of men had been entirely erased."
Hearing the sheer, unimaginable weight of that shared history, Fa Zheng let out a long, deeply humbled sigh. The political landscape of the court suddenly made perfect, crystal clear sense to him.
"So that is why," Fa Zheng murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That is why His Majesty trusts those two men with the absolute, unquestionable keys to the inner and outer workings of the palace, essentially handing them the lifeblood of the empire. It is not just a matter of their competence. It is a matter of absolute, unbreakable loyalty forged in the worst crucibles this world has ever seen."