Chapter 169: Sowing Discord, Internal Conflicts Among the Xiongnu

**Chapter 169: Divide and Conquer – Internal Strife Within the Xiongnu**

"Have you heard? Prefect Bing crushed the Xiongnu!"

"It's said the Xiongnu were planning to raid us. With the New Year coming up, they used to plunder Fengzhou every holiday like it was their holiday loot. But before they could act, Prefect Bing struck first and stormed the Xiongnu royal court!"

"Prefect Bing chased the Xiongnu Chanyu out like a mangy mutt, tail tucked, fleeing in panic from the palace."

Fengzhou’s townsfolk huddled together, all discussing the recent battle.

"What are you talking about? Was the Chanyu really that weak?"

"Have you forgotten how the Xiongnu tormented Fengzhou before? The scars haven’t even healed yet!"

"It’s not that the Chanyu was weak—it’s that our Prefect Bing is just too formidable!"

"My son serves in the frontier army. He told me Prefect Bing is a celestial Marshal reborn—fearless, able to take on a hundred men alone. When he stormed the Xiongnu royal court, Prefect Bing stood like a one-man army. The Chanyu barely exchanged a blow with him before realizing he was no match, then bolted in terror."

A woman suddenly spoke up, "Prefect Bing’s a godsend! I can hardly remember the last time we had a peaceful New Year."

Everyone fell silent. Before this, Fengzhou had suffered annual raids from either the Xiongnu or the Wusun during the holidays.

No one could say who started it, but someone knelt toward the direction of the prefectural office. "Thank you, Prefect Bing, for protecting Fengzhou’s peace. Wishing you joy and prosperity this New Year!"

"Thank you, Prefect Bing, for protecting Fengzhou’s peace. Wishing you joy and prosperity this New Year!"

The people’s spontaneous New Year blessings echoed through Fengzhou’s streets and alleys. In that moment, Wen Gu was their savior—a warrior who routed the Xiongnu, a guardian who safeguarded their peace.

Nan Jinping stood in the street, watching it all. Though it wasn’t the first time, she couldn’t help but be moved.

Ping’an even wiped her tears with her sleeve. "His Lordship always has the people’s back. They know how to cherish him."

Nan Jinping beamed with pride. "Of course. My Wen Gu is the best."

Having just conquered the Xiongnu royal court, Wen Gu stayed behind to stabilize the situation and couldn’t return to Fengzhou for the New Year. The rest of the family couldn’t join him yet, but Nan Jinping couldn’t bear the thought of him spending the holiday alone—nor could Wen Gu himself. So she took Ping’an to the Xiongnu court to celebrate with him.

The Chanyu had stashed away treasures in his palace, including a rare pair of glowing pearls.

Wen Gu gifted them to Nan Jinping as a New Year’s present.

Normally, war plunder like this would be divided—70% to the imperial court, 20% to the commanding general, and the remaining 10% to reward the soldiers.

But Fengzhou was an exception. Its treasury was empty, and the Emperor, knowing its poverty, let Fengzhou keep it all.

Wen Gu didn’t care what Zhan Yu did—he only took his rightful share. He could always earn gold and silver himself, so he kept only the most precious artifacts.

The glowing pearls were among them.

Nan Jinping was thrilled by such treasures, even using them as nightlights.

Seeing her happiness brought Wen Gu joy.

All in all, the New Year was as happy and prosperous as ever—for Wen Gu and Nan Jinping, and for the people as well.

After the New Year, Lady Wu broke wonderful news to Wen Gu: she had successfully improved cotton strains, meaning cotton harvests could grow.

With her experience in hybrid grain cultivation, Lady Wu’s latest experiments went smoothly—once you grasp one thing, the rest follows.

This breakthrough was as significant as increasing food production. Since ancient times, clothing, food, shelter, and travel have been life’s essentials. Cotton, especially, was vital—so many had frozen to death in winter, directly or indirectly, for lack of warm clothing.

What does "indirect" mean? For example, falling ill from the cold, having no money for treatment, or simply being incurable—leading to death. Such cases are far from rare.

So if the price of cotton could be brought down, it would be a tremendous boon for all the people of Dayong.

Now, the Fengzhou treasury was well-stocked, and Bing Wengu immediately awarded Wu Niangzi a generous bonus.

This time, Bing Wengu sold the cotton seeds directly to the people—anyone willing to grow them could do so.

When spring arrived and the ground could be worked, Bing Wengu ordered the Xiongnu people to repair the city walls and build railroad tracks. He wanted to construct a railway linking to the capital, Bianjing.

During this period, Chanyu Feiman and other tribes did attempt attacks, but they were all repelled by Bing Wengu and Jiang Jinghuai leading the Dayong soldiers.

Bing Wengu had never considered turning the Xiongnu into slaves. He sought to annex their territory and integrate their people into Dayong as full citizens.

But he couldn’t just welcome the Xiongnu outright. Without experiencing hardship, they wouldn’t understand how hard-won a good life truly was.

To win over the hearts of the Xiongnu people, Bing Wengu knew kindness alone wouldn't work—he had to mix discipline with rewards.

He ordered Cong Lin to select several Xiongnu individuals of poor character—those who abused power the moment they got it—to act as overseers, supervising the Xiongnu workers repairing the walls and building the railroad.

In terms of food, Bing Wengu didn’t mistreat them outright, but he didn’t let them eat their fill either—just enough to take the edge off hunger. There was no meat at all. The Xiongnu loved beef and mutton, and after going without for a while, they craved it so badly they drooled in their sleep.

Then Bing Wengu began rewarding those who worked fastest and most efficiently with lamb chops.

Of course, who qualified as the best worker was decided entirely by the Xiongnu overseers.

These overseers were given a lot of power. They got private quarters for their families, though their relatives still had to work—though they got easier jobs.

The overseers themselves didn’t have to labor; they only needed to supervise.

Absolute power corrupts—even the Xiongnu were no exception.

Once these Xiongnu overseers tasted power, their true colors showed fast. After bullying others with no consequences, they doubled down on their cruelty.

One afternoon, the moment lunch was over, Erden yelled at the Xiongnu workers under his charge to get back to work.

"Hurry up! Get moving! There’s still so much track left to lay, and you're already slacking off? Is this how you thank the Dayong for feeding you?" Erden shouted, waving a rope whip he’d made himself.

"But the Dayong gave us a half-hour break at noon!" one worker dared protest.

Erden snapped the whip at him. "When I say work, you work! No backtalk!"

The speaker was a twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy named Artan. The blow made him grunt, but he shot Erden a fierce glare.

"Still got a mouth on you, huh!" Erden lashed him repeatedly, whipping Artan until he writhed on the ground.

"Stop! Please stop!" His sister Shana rushed forward, tearfully pleading with Erden. "Artan’s the hardest and fastest worker here. If you hurt him, no one else will do the job right—and the Dayong won’t reward us with lamb chops anymore. You’ll lose your meat rations too!"

"Wrong!" Erden sneered arrogantly. "The Dayong bosses pick the top worker in each crew. If it’s not Artan, it’ll be someone else. But that meat’s mine either way."

It turned out Erden had been hoarding the lamb meant for the best worker and eating it himself.

"You—" Shana wanted to curse Erden for his shamelessness, but remembering his authority over their lives, she swallowed her words.

Erden leered at Shana. "Alright, since our lovely Shana asked nicely, I’ll stop beating him. Now get back to work!"

Shana helped Artan up. "Quick, go before he hits you again."

"Give a rat power," Artan muttered under his breath, "and it plays tyrant."

However, the siblings had no choice but to bite their tongues and continue working.

Altun's whip wounds went untreated, and the whip itself was likely unclean. By midnight, he came down with a high fever.

A high fever could be fatal without medicine. Shana was frantic, weeping bitterly.

"I must go find Erden. You need a doctor."

"Don't go to him!" Altun said. "That old creep is no good—he has ulterior motives toward you. If you go, he’ll surely grope you."

"I won’t let him lay a hand on me, but I must get you a doctor." Shana sobbed. "You’re my only family left. I won’t let you leave me too."

Shana ran to find Erden, who was groggily awakened and displeased. Only after his wife told him it was Shana did he refrain from flying into a rage.

Erden stepped out and leered at her. "Shana, what brings you here so late?"

Shana fell to her knees. "Uncle Erden, for the sake of my and Altun’s late parents, please save Altun. He has a high fever—without a doctor, he’ll die."

Erden paid no heed to Altun’s condition, his eyes fixed on Shana. "No need to beg. You know I like you. If you become my woman, Altun will be my brother too. I’ll naturally get him a doctor, care for him, even assign him lighter work. And you—you’ll get easier tasks as well."

Shana flushed with shame and anger. "Uncle Erden, have you forgotten? When my father was alive, you were brothers by oath! And now you ask me to be your concubine—how can you say such things?"

Erden brushed her off impatiently. "Don’t bring them up. They’re gone now, and it has nothing to do with you marrying me."

Shana glared furiously, but Erden dismissed her rage.

"Shana, you must understand—we’re under the Dayong people now, and I’m their chosen overseer. You all answer to me. What am I now? The equivalent of a Chanyu back when the Hun tribes still stood. A Chanyu takes whichever woman he wants, and you should consider it an honor I’ve taken a liking to you."