Chapter 0118 Suffering

Chapter 0118 Suffering

Two days ago in Zitong Prefecture...

Yuan Baifu had been locked in a stalemate with Shen Yangrui over the number of troops he would leave behind, his future direction, and the kind of official position he would accept.

He was dissatisfied with every condition offered by Southern Yong. The only thing that provided him any solace was Sun Renluan’s promise of the throne—Jiangyang King. Just thinking about those three words made him feel invigorated.

However, Jiangyang's territory was roughly the same size as Dongyang, and He Tingzhi’s throne was given to him by Sun Renluan. This Jiangyang King title was no different.

Yuan Baifu was unaware of this; he felt he should not settle for being a marquis. He wanted to be a king outright. If that was not possible, then at least a governor of a province, not some mere military overseer. A governor truly governed a province, while an overseer only held military power and had to follow the governor's orders during critical times.

In essence, another second-in-command.

This infuriated Yuan Baifu, but the problem was that even within the Northern Pacification Army, he was not the second-in-command. Gao Xunzhi held that position, and his own status was barely higher than that of Gongsun Yuan and Jian Qiao.

After a night of deep contemplation, Yuan Baifu realized what he truly desired. Thus, he remained steadfast, and when he first met Shen Yangrui, his initial frustration seemed to vanish. He understood that it was not just he who needed Shen Yangrui, but Shen Yangrui also needed him. Whoever had more troops had the final say. Compared to Shen Yangrui's less than five thousand, closer to four thousand troops, Yuan Baifu believed he could kill Shen Yangrui and seize his troops if he wished.

In theory, it might have worked, but the key was whether his subordinates would stand united with him. Rebellion was like a mudslide; once the floodwaters receded, there were still landslides and falling rocks. At such times, morale was especially unstable.

Once he displayed his stance, Shen Yangrui indeed found himself powerless against him. After several outbursts, seeing that intimidation did not work, Shen Yangrui began to compromise gradually.

After so many days, Yuan Baifu finally felt things were getting back on track. His choice was right; he would never rise above his station staying with Qu Yunmie. In the chaotic Southern Yong, he could emerge victorious and obtain what he truly desired.

His mood improved, and the atmosphere in the camp became less tense. Those secretly observing him sensed he had let down his guard and decided to act.

The two deputy generals in the rear army could no longer tolerate Yao Xian's behavior, always saying they must endure and wait for The King to rescue them, waiting for the right moment. But they were proud men with fists and sharp swords; why should they wait for others to save them?!

Moreover, when would that time come? It had already been ten days, and Yuan Baifu was close to reaching an agreement with Shen Yangrui. Once Yuan Baifu moved the rear army into Zitong City, what fate awaited them?!

Thus, they could no longer endure and planned to act that very night!

When Yao Xian learned they had been caught, his heart sank. He rushed out but was harshly stopped by Yuan Baifu's men. They threw him to the ground, with a dozen knives pointed at him, forcing him to stay still. Yuan Baifu glanced at him but did not order his men to bind him. Instead, he waved, and a strong man stepped forward, forcefully twisting Yao Xian's hands and holding him in place, making him look ahead.

Soldiers, whether asleep or awake, were summoned. When Yuan Baifu's troops suddenly gathered, the Shen's Army in the city thought they had changed their minds. The guards watched for a long time before realizing they were conducting an execution in the middle of the night. Everyone was utterly bewildered.

Was the Northern Pacification Army like this? How eerie in the dead of night! Truly fitting for a band of refugees, completely lacking in decorum!

From a distance, it was difficult enough to discern what they were doing, let alone hear anything. Thus, the walls of Zitong Prefecture were silent except for breathing, while Yuan Baifu's side was filled with piercing shouts.

Even with ropes around their necks, the two deputy generals continued cursing Yuan Baifu, yelling, "Yuan Baifu! You shameless traitor, you will face your retribution!"

As the ropes tightened, they kept shouting until the cords choked their voices, leaving only gasps. Yet, they persisted.

Finally, they could only move their lips silently. Yao Xian watched them, trying to decipher their words, but they had lost their voices.

With sufficient strength, hanging did not take long; a minute was enough to end a life.

Yao Xian stood there, stunned, for a minute. Although these two had not followed his advice and had been hostile towards him for the past ten days, he never blamed them. What wrong had they done? Wanting to avenge their general and fight for their soldiers' survival—was that wrong?

That's right, but they're still dead.

Yao Xian's arm was still being twisted by someone behind him, who suddenly frowned because he felt Yao Xian's arm trembling.

It wasn't the tremble of fear, but the tremble of rage, where every muscle and every vein was tensed to the breaking point.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Yao Xian's voice was shrill and deranged, as if he were about to shed blood tears: "Yuan Baifu! May you die a horrible death! I will kill you, I will kill you!"

He struggled frantically, and his words acted like a signal. Nearby, people with twisted expressions charged forward with their swords, but anyone who approached met their end. Yuan Baifu was surrounded by his personal guards, and he looked at these people, actually curling his lips into a smile.

The ordinary soldiers were too far away to rush over, so the disturbance was suppressed after dozens of people died. The generals loyal to Yuan Baifu shouted from outside, asking who wanted to die and who wanted to live should stay put!

Without a general leading them, these ordinary soldiers would naturally choose to obey orders. Besides, it had been more than ten days already. Even if they were angry, they dared not show it in the face of Yuan Baifu's cold-bloodedness and the corpses strewn on the ground.

They were willing to bow their heads for survival. Yuan Baifu knew this loyalty was fake; given the chance, they would surely defect to others. But he didn't care. To Yuan Baifu, these rear troops were merely tools to bolster his reputation in Southern Yong. If there was a need to dispatch troops in the future, he would send these men out. Otherwise, he would gradually disband the thirty thousand or so soldiers, extracting their last bit of value before replacing them with new troops.

He despised using other people's soldiers; he preferred to build his own army.

He couldn't estimate how long this process would take, but he felt it wouldn't be too long—three or four years would suffice. Even Huang Yanjiong, that useless man, managed to gather fifty or sixty thousand troops. Yuan Baifu was much stronger than Huang Yanjiong, and those in Southern Yong should know who was worth following.

After executing all those who dared to rebel, Yuan Baifu walked up to the still struggling Yao Xian. It took three strong men to hold him down. Sensing Yuan Baifu's approach, Yao Xian suddenly lunged forward, trying to tear a piece of flesh from him.

But Yuan Baifu dodged. Yao Xian thought he came to kill him personally, but Yao Xian was not afraid of death. Even if Yuan Baifu pierced his throat with a sword, he wouldn't beg for mercy.

However, Yao Xian was wrong. Yuan Baifu didn't want to kill him. He came over for this.

A punch landed on Yao Xian's face, sending blood spurting from his nose and momentarily stunning him. Yao Xian stared at Yuan Baifu in shock.

Then another punch, and another.

Pain swept through his body. Yuan Baifu hit his face and his stomach. Without armor, his internal organs felt as if they were shifting, but no matter how much pain he endured, he wouldn't cry out. He simply bent over, gasping for breath.

Seeing Yao Xian kneeling on the ground, pitiful and humble, the anger in Yuan Baifu's heart subsided a little. He said to Yao Xian, "This is what happens when you don't know your place. Want to kill me? Look at yourself first. Don't worry, I won't take your life just yet. Wang Xinyong is dead, but I still need you to trade with the emperor for some benefits. Captain Yao, I hope you fetch a good price."

With that, Yuan Baifu laughed and turned to leave. ...

In Yuan Baifu's eyes, he did nothing wrong. As the commander, anyone who threatened to kill him deserved to be destroyed, and no one should pity them. His rewards and punishments were fair; he only punished the ringleaders without involving others. Even the scholars couldn't criticize him. As for the rear troops, hah, they were no threat. Soon, he would lead these people to Zitong City. Once inside, the ten thousand rear troops would be taken away by the court, leaving only twenty thousand or so. Those daring to cause trouble would be fewer than ten thousand, incapable of stirring any significant unrest.

So Yuan Baifu left with a clear conscience, but he didn't notice the looks in the eyes of the people behind him, Qu Jin and the generals supporting him. Their eyes flickered.

Yuan Baifu was becoming increasingly unstable.

His moods changed day by day, and his actions grew more impulsive and cruel. Killing Wang Xinyong might have been necessary, but what about publicly hanging other generals? And beating Yao Xian?

This wasn't strategy; it was pure venting.

Qu Jin suddenly regretted his decision. After the uprising, Yuan Baifu seemed like a different person, far from the calm demeanor he once had. Qu Jin followed him for high office and wealth, not to die alongside him.

Clearly, they had initially agreed that if the situation turned unfavorable, they would delve deeper into Southern Yong and establish themselves as kings. While Qu Yunmie was engaged with Southern Yong, they could absorb Southern Yong’s wealth and troops, gradually developing their own strength. If the timing was right, they could even attack Southern Yong to gain more territory.

This was the original plan, which convinced Qu Jin. The balance of power in the world was already showing signs of chaos. If they seized the opportunity, they might divide the land into three parts. Once they grew stronger, even Qu Yunmie wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

However, while this was the plan, Yuan Baifu only listened to himself when it came to execution. He altered the plan without authorization, changing the initial idea of observing Shen Yangrui and the Southern Yong court's stance to insisting on obtaining official positions and titles from the Southern Yong court. If he questioned Yuan Baifu about this, Yuan Baifu would angrily rebuke him after just a few words.

Qu Jin sensed something was wrong with Yuan Baifu. He seemed constantly nervous and eager to prove something—whether his current status or his ability to lead an army. He had no patience, as if he knew something was chasing him.

Qu Jin roughly understood what made him so afraid. Realizing he had followed the wrong person, Qu Jin felt very regretful. But at this moment, he needed to think about how to secure a way out for himself; he didn’t want to follow Yuan Baifu to certain doom. ...

After executing those who tried to harm him, killing dozens of disobedient rear troops, and personally beating Yao Xian, Yuan Baifu should have felt relieved. And indeed, he did feel some satisfaction, but beneath that, he also felt a growing sense of unease.

He subconsciously knew that the army was unstable, and his actions were exacerbating this instability. Things weren’t going as smoothly as he imagined, and the situation might worsen.

But he refused to acknowledge this subconscious awareness. He behaved as if he were on drugs, swinging between extreme joy and anger every day, refusing to think about any negative outcomes.

What good was refusal? What was bound to happen would still happen. The world didn’t revolve around him alone. Even if he left, others wouldn’t stop moving. While he enjoyed the brief thrill of power over the past ten days, others outside were gradually taking action.

Qu Yunmie returned victorious. The news reached them, and Gao Xunzhi rushed over, followed by Qu Yunmie.

The news that the Northern Pacification King had arrived in Hanzhong spread quickly. Shen Yangrui summoned Yuan Baifu, ordering him to immediately move all troops into the city. Naturally, Yuan Baifu didn’t want to comply; he hadn’t yet secured everything he wanted. Upon hearing that Qu Yunmie had arrived, Yuan Baifu was taken aback, and his attitude of equality with Shen Yangrui began to wane. He nodded hastily and went out to arrange the transfer.

A day later, news arrived that the Northern Pacification King had captured Hanzhong.

Hanzhong couldn’t hold out, Shen Yangrui knew this, but he didn’t expect its fall to be so swift. He continuously sent scouts to investigate and found that Qu Yunmie had brought only about thirty thousand men, with less than ten thousand actually fighting. Shen Yangrui’s face darkened instantly.

Qu Yunmie was too formidable. He didn’t know what to do anymore.

If Ningzhou, which they had fought hard to capture, fell, Yizhou, with fewer troops, would likely be lost too. Losing a newly captured city so quickly would make his position in Jinling precarious.

And this was the better outcome. He feared more that Qu Yunmie wouldn’t stop here and continue attacking other cities.

Shen Yangrui called all his generals together, including Yuan Baifu. Previously, he had met with Yuan Baifu privately, but standing among so many people, Yuan Baifu realized they all treated him indifferently. They subtly pushed him towards the door, and one tall, muscular general glanced back at him with undisguised contempt.

Yuan Baifu recognized this look. Ten years ago, officials in Jinling looked at him the same way. Without saying a word, their gaze made him feel humiliated and ashamed, even though he didn’t know what he had done wrong. ...

Qu Yunmie was heading towards Zitong with two to three thousand troops, advancing rapidly. This news made everyone tense, and they began discussing what to do.

"In my opinion, we should launch a full-scale attack."

"Are you crazy? The Northern Pacification Army is five times stronger than ours. How many troops do we have?"

"Well, now we have the Northern Pacification Army too, don’t we?"

Some looked at Yuan Baifu, but another scoffed, "It’s the same as not having it. After so many days, he still hasn’t brought them under control. All he does is kill to intimidate, but it doesn’t seem to work. It’s still a mess."

Yuan Baifu clenched his fists. At this moment, Shen Yangrui angrily said, "What’s the point of arguing? We need to think about what to do next. We can’t launch a full-scale attack. Qu Yunmie returned with the entire Central Army. He must have rushed here, but the rest of his forces haven’t caught up yet. They should arrive in a few days."

Someone muttered, "He wasn’t in such a hurry before. He must be rushing to catch the traitors."

This comment carried resentment, and Shen Yangrui remained silent because everyone felt the same. Yuan Baifu’s face burned hotter, and he started to hear a high-pitched ringing in his ears, making him frown. He raised a hand to cover his ear, and others found his gesture strange.

One nearby general even stepped away, as if being close to him would contaminate him.

Yuan Baifu noticed but had no time to care. He struggled with the ringing until it subsided, allowing him to hear again.

"If only we had followed Chancellor Yang’s plan and attacked Chenliu, capturing Qu Yunmie’s niece to threaten him. That would be better than our current predicament!"

"... Qu Yunmie’s niece?"

Several arguing voices paused, finding the voice unfamiliar, almost never heard before. Turning, they saw it was Yuan Baifu speaking.

He smiled at them, "Qu Yunmie barely speaks to his niece once a month. Using her to threaten him won’t be effective."

They blinked, then one of them wanted to curse him, “Who do you think you are to speak?”

Even within Shen’s Army, there was class suppression and isolation of outsiders. The guards in Jinling were worse.

This could have been a chance for Yuan Baifu to realize the kind of new master he had chosen, but Shen Yangrui suddenly stopped others, sensing Yuan Baifu had a better suggestion.

Shen Yangrui asked, "Who do you think could threaten Qu Yunmie?"

Yuan Baifu smiled, "There is indeed someone. If I’m not mistaken, he’s not in Chenliu but has come to Ningzhou with Qu Yunmie."

Shen Yangrui’s eyes sharpened like an eagle’s, "You mean he’s with Qu Yunmie?"

That would be hopeless, wouldn’t it?

Hearing Shen Yangrui’s question, Yuan Baifu pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "No, I know Qu Yunmie well. He wouldn’t let that person stay with him."

After all, he had just killed Wang Xinyong. Qu Yunmie was someone who remembered kindness but forgot grudges. When someone close to him was harmed, he would be extra cautious about protecting the remaining people and wary of potential traitors. But after a while, he would relax again, trusting anyone and not worrying about those he should worry about.

Truly, he never learned his lesson. ...

Unfortunately... Yuan Baifu was right.

Qu Yunmie refused Xiao Rong’s company and chose to fight alone, precisely because of this. Yuan Baifu could brutally kill Wang Xinyong, and he could do the same to others. Although he knew Yuan Baifu wouldn’t meet Xiao Rong, he still wanted to be cautious.

Xiao Rong shared similar concerns. Though Gao Xunzhi wouldn’t try to persuade Yuan Baifu alone anymore, who knew if this madman might suddenly snap and ignore everything to kill Yuan Baifu? Xiao Rong didn’t want to risk it. He chose to keep Gao Xunzhi behind and watch over him personally.

As for Qu Yunmie... Xiao Rong carefully analyzed the situation and concluded that what happened in Sheng Le wouldn’t repeat.

Firstly, this was Ningzhou, where Shen Yangrui couldn’t obtain skeletons. Secondly, although Qu Yunmie appeared furious, he hadn’t acted impulsively.

Even when he learned Yuan Baifu had killed more rear troops, he merely threw a teacup. In the past, he would have smashed the entire room. Whether Qu Yunmie had cultivated self-control or Yuan Baifu’s actions no longer affected him deeply, it was good that he could remain calm.

Moreover, Xiao Rong repeatedly warned Qu Yunmie, from the previous night until morning, using threats, pleas, and inducements. Xiao Rong used every method possible, leaving Qu Yunmie exasperated.

Xiao Rong could be infuriating, but when he softened hearts, he truly did.

The incident in Sheng Le had cast a shared shadow over both of them. Qu Yunmie didn't know how to make Xiao Rong believe that he wouldn't repeat his mistakes, at least not with regard to Yuan Baifu.

In the end, Xiao Rong watched as Qu Yunmie left and returned to the city. Gao Xunzhi was about to offer some comfort when he saw Xiao Rong suddenly turn around: "Reclaiming Hanzhong this time is a good opportunity. Ningzhou is vast and populous, while Yizhou is renowned for its fertile lands. We should take this chance to properly reorganize these two regions."

Gao Xunzhi: "...Alright."

He thought Xiao Rong was feeling uneasy and needed something to do. Little did he know that Xiao Rong wasn't finding work for himself but for Gao Xunzhi.

Xiao Rong buried Gao Xunzhi under a mountain of books and official documents, enough to keep him in the room day and night for seven days.

After those seven days, Xiao Rong would find another way to confine him in the room.

Gao Xunzhi was drowning in paperwork, unaware that Xiao Rong had stationed heavy troops outside the small courtyard to ensure his safety. Xiao Rong was truly exhausted from trying to protect him.

But who could understand the mind of a madman?

Historians speculated that Gao Xunzhi was killed because he angered Yuan Baifu or because Yuan Baifu wanted to make an example of him, severing ties with Qu Yunmie to clarify his stance to his subordinates.

But the truth was far simpler.

He killed Gao Xunzhi simply because he wanted to. He wanted to assert his power and cause Qu Yunmie pain. The moment Gao Xunzhi appeared before him, he had this idea.

Why did he want to cause Qu Yunmie pain? There was no reason; he just wanted to, very much so.

The people of Southern Yong thought he was helping himself by capturing someone important to Qu Yunmie, using it to threaten him into withdrawing his troops. Even if Qu Yunmie didn't withdraw, a chance for peace talks would suffice. However, Yuan Baifu's plan was to capture someone important to Qu Yunmie and then kill them in front of him.

Wasn't this a path to self-destruction? Yes, but once Yuan Baifu embarked on this path, he felt his blood boiling and his heart pounding almost out of his chest. He realized that what he truly wanted wasn't to be king, nor to expand his power, nor to gain a share of the realm's authority.

He just wanted to see Qu Yunmie suffer, to watch him break down, to see the look of regret on this arrogant fool's face. And for that, he would do anything.

Yuan Baifu kicked his horse fiercely, and it sped up. As he rode up a hill, he glanced down at the plain below and saw a large army heading toward Zitong. These people formed a massive arrowhead, and the person at the forefront must be Qu Yunmie.

Yuan Baifu should have been afraid of him, but now he wasn't. He smiled at the indistinct figure and kicked his horse again.

Tonight, he would reach Hanzhong City.