Chapter 1395: Proclamation

Gu Yuanda's rebel army halted midway to rest, pitched camp, and sent hidden sentries out in every direction.

Inside one tent, Chang Linxian, Sect Leader of Lingxu Mansion; Zang Feng, Sect Leader of Shouzheng Pavilion; and Luo Yanzhen, Sect Leader of Dale Mountain were all present. The Sect Leaders of Wei's former Three Great Sects had gathered here and were speaking in low voices.

By now, Wei's Three Great Sects existed almost in name only. Wei itself was gone. They had been unable to preserve the state, so in what sense could they still be called the Three Great Sects of Wei?

Their strength no longer permitted it either. In the war that destroyed the state, their wings had long since been clipped. The large and small sects that had once served as their vassals and obeyed their commands had either been destroyed, scattered, or fled.

If you could offer no benefits and following you held no future, who would still obey? Only a fool would keep risking his life for the Three Great Sects. Naturally, people ran.

Without wings, they could no longer fly. The true power that allowed a sect to control an entire state lay in controlling the many large and small sects beneath it. Once they lost those cultivation forces spread throughout the regions, they naturally lost the power to control a state.

The Three Great Sects themselves had also suffered severe losses. Their own forces had been devastated during the war of national destruction, with enormous numbers of disciples lost. Their manpower had fallen to roughly thirty percent of what it had been at its peak. They no longer possessed the qualifications to stand as three great sects dividing a state among themselves.

Now they had nowhere to establish themselves and wandered like homeless dogs. Their disciples, from top to bottom, were anxious and adrift.

With no idea what future remained to them, the Three Great Sects had ultimately chosen to seek refuge with Jin. That was why they now formed part of the retainer cultivator contingent accompanying Gu Yuanda's rebel army.

Gu Yuanda's rebellion had gone so smoothly, and the Qi Three Great Sects' cultivators stationed in his army had been eliminated so cleanly, largely because of their help.

Just then, a Lingxu Mansion disciple entered and presented an urgent report. Delighted, he said, "Sect Leader, Jin has issued a proclamation to all beneath Heaven!"

Chang Linxian's eyes lit up. He snatched the report and began reading. Zang Feng and Luo Yanzhen quickly leaned in from either side.

The report said that the Jin court, together with Qiyun Sect, had issued a proclamation promising to carve three prefectures out of Qi and grant one to each of Lingxu Mansion, Shouzheng Pavilion, and Dale Mountain as a place to establish themselves.

Naturally, there was a condition. The three sects had to render meritorious service in the conquest of Qi.

Seeing the proclamation, Chang Linxian finally released a long breath. "Jin did not break its word. Taishu Xiong truly is a man who keeps his promises!"

Zang Feng and Luo Yanzhen smiled and nodded as well.

This had been the condition on which their Three Great Sects submitted to Jin: a place where they could establish themselves.

Jin had agreed long ago, but no public announcement had followed. What use was a private verbal promise? What if Jin denied it afterward? They would have had no recourse.

That was precisely what the three had been discussing. All this time, they had been living with their hearts suspended, afraid Jin might go back on its word.

Now that they saw a promise proclaimed openly to all beneath Heaven, the weight hanging over them finally lifted. At last, smiles returned to their faces.

Times had changed. Thinking back to the past, when they had controlled Wei, losing even a single prefecture would have been unacceptable. Now they were delighted merely to secure one prefecture apiece as a foothold. Their demands truly had fallen low, and their standards lower still.

What they did not know was that Qiyun Sect had originally opposed the arrangement.

Allow Wei's former Three Great Sects to carve out separate territories inside lands Jin had conquered? However Qiyun Sect looked at it, the risk seemed obvious. A centipede may be dead, but it does not stiffen at once. The three sects had declined, but their foundations still remained. How could Qiyun Sect feel at ease?

Qiyun Sect would rather support other sects than tolerate Wei's former Three Great Sects.

It had been Taishu Xiong who exhausted his tongue persuading them. He argued from the larger situation: Jin was expanding too quickly, and its cultivator forces were already stretched thin. There was no need to obsess over possible future risks now. First seize the greater situation; there would still be time to deal with later problems afterward.

Taishu Xiong had genuinely tried every possible way before finally persuading Qiyun Sect and producing this outcome.

...

Bang!

Inside the central command tent, Luo Zhao slapped Jin's proclamation onto the table, slowly closed his eyes, and shook his head. "A pack of fools!"

He truly did not know what to say about Xiaoyue Pavilion anymore.

At the beginning, when Wei's Three Great Sects saw the greater trend was lost, thoughts of self-preservation arose. They no longer wished to remain on the battlefield among the western three states and continue bleeding themselves dry.

But the other states found it difficult to accept them. That was normal. Which state's Three Great Sects would casually allow Wei's former Three Great Sects into their own territory? How could one permit another to snore beside one's bed? Everything had been peaceful, then suddenly three tigers appeared at one's side. Who could sleep easily?

In the end, the three sects saw Qin's weakness and approached Qin, hoping to establish themselves there. They asked Qin to carve out three prefectures of territory for them.

The request was not excessive. They were once Wei's mighty Three Great Sects, yet each now asked for only one prefecture in which to recuperate and rebuild. They knew they no longer had the standing to demand more.

Naturally, they did not expect to eat for free. Qin's situation was precarious, so the three sects offered to defend a region of Qin's territory in return.

Seeing that the three could no longer be kept on the western battlefield, Luo Zhao had repeatedly urged Xiaoyue Pavilion to accept.

Xiaoyue Pavilion refused.

There were several reasons.

First: what right did the three sects have to bargain with them?

They had done nothing for Qin. Why should Qin cut three pieces of flesh from its own body and hand them over?

Another reason was the same concern shared by cultivation powers in every state, the same reason none wished to accommodate the three sects.

But Xiaoyue Pavilion had another calculation as well. It knew the three sects had nowhere else to go and wanted to keep forcing them to risk their lives on the western battlefield.

There was also one important reason: Mr. Yucang was dead.

Xiaoyue Pavilion's new Pavilion Master did not possess Yucang's authority or ability to overawe the people within the sect. He had accomplished nothing yet, and immediately after taking office he was being asked to cede territory. He lacked the internal prestige to force such a decision through.

Luo Zhao had argued again and again that Qin's territory would probably be impossible to preserve anyway. Letting the three sects settle there would be appropriate. At the very least, when another state invaded, the three sects would have to find some way to protect their own land. They could help delay an external enemy and, at minimum, create trouble for the invaders.

But Xiaoyue Pavilion said that if the three sects could submit to Qin, they could submit to another state as well. Once a powerful enemy invaded, they might defect again simply to preserve themselves.

Strictly speaking, Xiaoyue Pavilion was not wrong. Such an outcome was entirely possible, even highly likely.

Luo Zhao had tried to defend the three sects. He argued that an invading state might not necessarily tolerate them either. The three sects would have to consider that consequence, so they would probably help Qin resist first and only think of defecting if resistance truly became impossible. And even if they wanted to defect, the invader might not accept them. The three sects might still fight desperately in the end.

Even if they did defect, and even if the invading state accepted them, they would at least remain a hidden danger planted inside the invader's territory.

It was useless.

Luo Zhao could have talked until his lips split and it still would have been useless. Xiaoyue Pavilion even asked whether he had accepted benefits from the three sects to speak on their behalf.

Naturally Luo Zhao said no. He said that at the very least they could not force the three sects into Jin's arms, and that Huyan Wuhen shared the same view.

Xiaoyue Pavilion replied that if Huyan Wuhen wanted them so badly, why did Qi not take them in?

Xiaoyue Pavilion also said Qiyun Sect would never accept them either, so Luo Zhao could rest easy. He should simply do his own job properly; that would be his greatest contribution to Qin. Everything else was unimportant.

The result was obvious.

The three sects left.

With no benefit at all, why would they stay behind and keep risking their lives against Jin?

Then Gu Yuanda, the Qi general guarding the interior, rebelled—with the forceful assistance of those very three sects. Without their full cooperation in eliminating the cultivators from Qi's Three Great Sects who were supervising Gu Yuanda's army, Gu Yuanda might not even have dared rebel.

And now this proclamation from Jin lay before Luo Zhao.

Jin had announced to all beneath Heaven that the three sects would receive three prefectures of territory. Qin had refused to give it. Every other state had refused to give it. Yet Jin, the enemy that had destroyed the three sects' own country, was the one that gave it.

Naturally, Jin had taken the initiative to contact the three sects and promise them benefits.

What else could Luo Zhao say now?

A promise of only three prefectures had allowed Gu Yuanda to create an enormous catastrophe inside Qi.

He wondered whether Xiaoyue Pavilion would reflect on itself after seeing this proclamation.

...

Inside another tent, Huyan Wuhen had also seen Jin's proclamation, but by now he was almost numb to such things. Some matters could only be blamed on circumstances being stronger than men.

He had tried to keep the three sects.

He had failed.

The three sects had already seen how Qi pushed Wei's troops to the front. Huyan Wuhen's attempt to retain them only made them suspect Qi wanted to treat them as sacrificial troops for desperate assaults.

Most important was still the same point: circumstances were stronger than men.

Qi itself looked on the verge of collapse. Even if Qi promised the three sects three prefectures of territory, the three sects still had to face reality. What would remaining with Qi accomplish except forcing them to keep fighting Jin until they died? Were they supposed to accompany Qi into national destruction?

Otherwise, they would never have gone to Qin in the first place.

Huyan Wuhen had sent word to Luo Zhao with only one demand: stabilize the three sects. At the very least, do not let them fall to Jin.

He had never imagined Xiaoyue Pavilion would actually refuse.

By the time the three sects resurfaced, they were already mixed in with Gu Yuanda and had already helped him rebel.

Could Qin's own territory even be preserved?

Xiping Pass had already been locked down by Jin. Qin's main army could not return. Qin's territory was already meat at the lips of Han and Yan.

Huyan Wuhen truly could not understand what Xiaoyue Pavilion had been thinking. What use was clutching an empty shell? Could those cultivators not possess even a little strategic vision broad enough to survey all beneath Heaven? They had actually managed to force the three sects into the arms of their own enemy.

If Qi fell, could Qin's army survive?

He genuinely wanted to see Xiaoyue Pavilion's reaction to this proclamation. Compared with Jin's boldness, would they finally recognize their own petty narrow-mindedness?

On one side stood Xiaoyue Pavilion, unwilling to part with three prefectures and thereby forcing the three sects into Jin's arms.

On the other stood Qi's Three Great Sects, who had seized power from the Qi Emperor and placed him under house arrest.

And these two sides had joined forces.

Huyan Wuhen truly did not know what to say.

One might even say he had already grown numb.

...

The Huyan family's name still carried considerable deterrent force in Qi. Huyan Ding's requisitioning of troops from the various prefectures proceeded relatively smoothly.

Inside the central command tent, Gu Yuanda stood before a map of the enemy's assembling forces. Weathered by wind and frost, he remained silent, deep in thought.

He had betrayed Qi and submitted to Jin. He knew the name of rebel general would cling to him for the rest of his life.

If he had possessed a real choice, there were things he would rather not have done. But sometimes there were simply very few choices. One could also call it planning a road of retreat for oneself.

Originally, some unease had remained in his heart. But after learning Hao Yuntu had been stripped of power in a palace coup, Gu Yuanda became even more certain his choice had been correct.

Qi's greater trend was already lost.

A Qiyun Sect elder said heavily, "Our agents inside can track Huyan Ding's movements at any time. Why does the Grand General still hesitate? Huyan Ding has already gathered two hundred thousand troops. We should strike before his forces finish assembling, while it is still easy, and decapitate the command by killing Huyan Ding! Once the army loses its leader, that miscellaneous collection will be nothing more than a rabble."

Gu Yuanda finally spoke. "No. Wait until all of his forces have finished assembling before we move."

The Qiyun Sect elder's anger rose. "You refuse to act while it is easy, and instead want to wait until it is difficult. Are you joking?"

[End of Chapter 1395]