Chapitre 20: End of an Era, Beginning of a new one

KouRyu PoV

I managed let out a grin as we confirmed our victory at Bayou castle. The troops were celebrating and The generals got together for a drink. I went to see Kyou as I heard she was hurt. I went there only to find her and Ouki hugging each other, to which I excused myself.

Me and the guys threw a party and we reveled like there was no tomorrow. I knew this would be my last time in a while, so I savoured these moments.

We also got news saying Zhuge Liang of all people managed to save a beauty from the Xiongnu and they were planning to get married. The girl's name was Cai Yan apparently.

I smiled reading his request to come back hurriedly so he could get married. I showed the letter to Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao, asking them if they wanted to settle down as well. Zhang Liao gave his usual aloof shrug but Zhao Yun got flustered.

As we pressed him for further information, KaRin showed up and we piped down immediately. I don't want to get married in the next two years as I had some stuff to do. As tempting as it as, I have to prepare for the next wars.

I need to start the recruitment and training process of the hidden army. It would take a lot of time to raise more than 100,000 troops secretly when the area I govern is mostly deserted. That's why I would need to secure the lands first and fortify it to migrate people to get population and army recruits.

Now, it's time to get away from the centre stage and let the others play their moves.

Narration of events

Despite the ups and downs and the two great generals of Qin getting injured, Qin managed to grab the victory due to KouRyu again. Despite him not being a part of the battle initially, He managed to steal the show along with his generals.

The court erupted in cheers at Kanyou upon hearing the news. Not only defending, but even going one step further to claim an important strategic location, this was beyond their expectations.

The King smiled wistfully and thought to himself," If Only I could join him in unifying these lands. Shame I didn't possess the will like my son."

There was another ceremony to award KouRyu and his army. The army was rewarded generously and KouRyu was given the Title of Duke and his territory expanded further. The King then proceeded to invite him to lead the new Qin six greats and KouRyu refused, according to their previous plan and was sent to his territory to defend the border as a punishment.

But the king secretly passed him a decree to raise 100,000 troops and more if necessary. He was given a monthly stipend for this purpose and the amount of grain supply was increased. This kind of authority was never given to someone before so they kept it hidden and only the closest confidants of the king were aware of this.

Sadly, most of them would die throughout the years and only Shoubunkun remained, who was promised not to reveal this until the right time comes.

The Zhao king was furious and wanted to punish the army but Lu Bu's father, Dong Jhuo spoke in favor of letting them defend the northern borders for 5 years. Lu Bu went to seclusion to train himself as Riboku went to Ganmon to take over.

This led to a clash between them and the king. Prince Ka of Zhao managed to bring Dong Zhuo to his side with this and the faction of the King started to see him as a threat.

Ma Chao on the other hand, Destroyed the eastern defense of Yan and defeated Yue Xin to take over the Dai region. This put Zhao at the throat of Yan. Ma Chao also managed the interference from the Gogureyou swiftly and dealy them a great blow in the battle beyond Dai and defeated their 80,000 army. With this, Dai became invincible.

Yan appointed their new minister of the right Fa Zheng to deal with their defense. He finally stopped Ma Chao with the help of Zhang Fei before he could press on further inwards.

Zhang Fei managed to drive back Ma Chao with Fa Zheng's strategy and saved Yan from losing all their southern lands and becoming isolated in Liaodong.

But the damage was already done as Yan was quite weak currently. their terrain helped them defend the state but now they didn't have any room to manoeuvre. Guan Yu and Zhang He also made their names known all over China. That made Zhao declare Them as candidates for the Zhao 3 Heavens.

But the Zhao court was at turmoil. The king eventually wanted to decrease Dong Zhuo's influence but his supporters were many. This led to a power struggle in which Riboku also participated. They used Dong Zhuo's influence to make Riboku the last of the 3 great Heavens as RenPa left. With his help, the prince was gradually gaining power.

Wei, under the Guidance of Jia Xu stabilized their internal affairs and strengthened their army for the first time in a while. Their General Xu Chu trained them personally with General Gokei. RenPa didn't participate in any battle after his defection.

There was also the rise of a new general named Xu Huang who snatched the Jiaoling castle at Chen from Zhao. He was then sent to guard Wei central gateway to their capital, Luoyang. He was then named the guardian of the national gate.

Chu was on full war mode as they quelled any rebellion with an iron fist. All the nanman, Baiyue and Shanyue tribes were under the King's command which bolstered their numbers. For the first time since it's founding, Chu was truly becoming united and was able to utilize their vast territories.

Xiang Yu, son of Xiang Yan( KouEn) subjugated the Nanman tribes on West and had full authority over them. He was in charge of the Western defense while his father KouEn defended the East. With them, Chu had secure borders on both sides.

Sun Ce and Taishi Ci united the central Chu And was stationed in Chibi, Changsha. Dian Wei Wei subdued the ShanYue around the Wu province and became The Guardian general of Chu Capital Danyang like Kochou of Zhao. The King trusted him deeply and put him in charge of the Royal troops.

Qi was quiet as usual but this time, they sold food and grass to other states and earned a lot. Their trade influence expanded even to Qin due to recent conquest of Qin. They accumulated a lot of wealth and other states were eyeing them hungrily.

OuKi and Kyou got married and retired to OuKi's estate. They had a son next year at Summer of 251 BCE. They remained in the territory of OuKi and stopped any military interactions. They lived happily and experienced the joys of family life. They knew the truth about KouRyu and kept communication through letters by hidden messengers.

With all those events, the year 251 BCE came to an end. But there would be another shocking event end the year. Dong Zhuo sent assasins to kill KouRyu and he was injured grievously and poisoned which caused him to fall on deaths door nearly.

The rest of the states didn't know that it was all fake and the assasin's were taken care of by Diao Chan already. The other states decided to try their luck but failed to conquer any Qin territory.

KouRyu's generals proved their strength as they crushed the Xiongnu barbarians at their border and gained Shuofang and Wuwei territories. Lu Meng became famous due to defending the San Pass with only 5,000 man against 80,000 Xiongnu. His army was given the name "Invincible Guardians of the North".

Zhuge Liang also showed his prowess against Wei General Reiou who decided to attack Changan at the end of the year 252 BCE . The battle of Hongnong became famous due to Zhuge Liang defending the Tong Pass with 30,000 troops against Wei army of 100,000. He deployed a new formation never seen before and defeated Reiou utterly.

The formation called " 8 gate golden lock" became the talk of the strategists and many tried to replicate it but failed and eventually gave up.

As Reiou was arrested by the king due to an unknown matter soon after, very few knew how the formation truly loooked like and ultimately it became a myth.

Some new names sprung up among Qin among these era. Ousen and Kanki under General Mougou, MouBu, the son of Mougou and lastly, Xing Daorong, under General ChouTou, an upcoming young general who was quite strong. With the old and new generals working together, Qin managed to defend herself.

Like this, 6 years went by and the fated year of 246 BCE arrived when the Qin king passed away in a sickness and his son, Ei Sei took the throne.

Everyone was pressuring the Young king to control him or take his throne, and His brother Sei Kyo was the prime enemy. The King even had to get a body double in order to protect himself from assassination events.

Meanwhile, the other states were coming out of their cocoon after hearing the rumours about KouRyu finally passing away last year. They didn't know the truth of the matter and decided to verify it further before making any move.

The generals of Qin were all sad due to losing a great general like this. General ChouTou even visited Changan to pay homage. Alongside him however was someone nobody expected to see, the lieutenant of General Mougou, KanKi.

KanKi PoV

there was definitely something wrong about this. That guy wouldn't die like this. Everyone dies someday, that's the truth I had to learn very early in my life. But the few times I met him, he always gave off an aura of mysteriousness. When I met him, it was like he saw through me. He knew things that should not be known to others.

To be honest, I wanted to ditch the old guy after we won that battle in Jiangling . This guy was quite interesting and my instincts told me I would never lack amusement if I followed him.

But he told me if I wished to join him, I have to let go of my anger and look at the world differently. Also, he said something about battling with Mougou would help me become stronger.

When I went to his funeral, my doubts were proven as they didn't display the body saying the poison ruined the body. So I asked to see the guy running the show after the funeral. That Zhuge Liang guy was quite deceptive and tried to divert the topic but suddenly a messenger came in and muttered something in his ears, after which he smiled and replied to me that I should follow the guard.

I went behind him to the back yard where I heard the clash of weapons. The area was totally isolated and hidden from anyone snooping. I came to the yard and look and behold, The dead man was sparring with the Zhao Yun guy like he wasn't sick at all.

He smiled and asked how I've been. I was surprised and asked," Why are you hiding here, spreading rumours of your death of all things."

He replied with a shrug," It was necessary to pave the way for the others. "

I asked again," Do you plan on returning?"

He just gave a mysterious smirk and didn't reply.

I got my answer and said that I would take my leave.

Before I left however , he said something interesting. He told me to let go of the darkness and when the time comes, I could be a part of something incredible. He would see then if I had changed."

I knew what he meant and didn't reply and left.

Narration continues

KouRyu's generals each lead an army and the northern Qin was unbreakable for a while. Han Xin and Lu Meng was praised alongside Zhuge Liang who was known as the current commander of the Northern defenses. KaRin, Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun were not seen much in these years as they rarely participated in any battles.

Qin was unstable and everyone was coveting the throne. The other states were unaware about the crisis going on as the news was kept locked due to obvious reasons.

Ryofui the chancellor, seeing this opportunity decided to take 200,000 troops and went to subdue some rebellions in name. He was eyeing the throne and wanted to see which brother could win. So he went away and let the brothers fight.

His strategy was effective and Sei Kyo managed to drive Ei Sei away as he rose up in rebellion. The King Ei Sei had to flee the capital with a handful of troops and retainers. His right hand man Shoubunkun, recommended that they go towards Changan or Wudu to get help from either generals of KouRyu or the mountain clans.

Although they preferred the KouRyu army, they had managed to seclude themselves beyond Changan and didn't heed any call before saying they are at war with the Xiongnu and couldn't help.

The reply mentioned to seek help from the mountain king and convince them to fight for the King as a test. Shoubunkun understood the meaning and couldn't tell Ei Sei the truth. He then adviced the king to go towards Wudu to seek help. However, he didn't know that KouRyu had already sent one of his generals to Wudu to help them once they pass the test.

The main reason however was to let Ei Sei grow and become the great man he would be in the future . He needs to overcome some obstacles on his own to realize his true potential.

The small army of Qin king was ambushed on their way to Wudu and Ei Sei escaped by himself towards a small area called Fuuri where the next part of our story begins.