Three Kingdoms: Madam, I am a decent person

Chapter 792 Unifying the World | A Nighttime Extra Meal (The End)

Zhang Sui stayed in Qu'a for five days.

During those five days, he appointed Xu Kun as commander-in-chief and Gu Yong and Bu Zhi as strategists, leading an army of 50,000 men straight to Jiaozhi.

During these five days, Zhang Sui met with the heads of all the prominent families in Jiangdong.

Even on the last day, Zhang Sui held a grand banquet at the entrance of the Marquis's residence, inviting all the officials and patriarchs of prominent families in Jiangdong.

In the distance, a huge crowd of people watched the spectacle from afar.

They also wanted to see what General Zhang Sui looked like.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, it is unlikely that they will see General Zhang Sui come here again.

In the crowd, several teenagers were also surrounding a woman wearing a veil.

Several teenagers, like slippery eels, darted in and out of the crowd, pulling the woman all the way to the front.

A young man pointed at Zhang Sui, who was standing at the very front of the crowd and being watched by countless eyes, and exclaimed, "That's the Great General! So young! Truly a prodigy!"

Another boy said, "If I could just lead the general's horse, my life would be worthwhile!"

Someone said, "I really envy the Xu family! That girl from the Xu family, she's clearly Sun Yi's wife, yet she became the Great General's woman and even bore him children!"

Beside the woman, a young girl whispered, "The general is no good person; he's a lecher. I've heard he goes around drawing portraits of naked women, and he draws them so realistically. His behavior has corrupted many scions of noble families."

The woman's eyes, visible through her veil, looked somewhat surprised.

She didn't pay much attention to the matter of General Zhang Sui.

Rumors circulated that the second son of the Sima family was influenced by the general and had drawn many obscene portraits, which were then leaked out. She thought it was just a rumor.

Who would have thought it could be true?

But what kind of lifelike portraits can people of this era create?
When Sun Ren was in Qu'a before, she had the opportunity to visit him a few times.

She was a little powerless to complain.

It can only be said that it has artistic conception, but no tangible form.

She didn't quite appreciate it.

At this moment, watching Zhang Sui chatting and laughing with the officials and scions of prominent families from afar, the woman was so engrossed that she was almost in a daze.

Beneath the veil, her expression dimmed slightly.

It couldn't be his.

Just as the woman was staring blankly at Zhang Sui, the crowd surged, and the woman stumbled forward a few steps before being quickly pulled back by several young men and women who said, "Sister Lian, be careful!"

"Sister, don't just stand there!"

"Sister, come with us, let's get closer!"

The day after Zhang Sui held a banquet in Qu'a, he led his army and civil and military officials north from Guangling, and then traveled to Xuchang.

On the 20th day of the 11th month of the sixth year of Jian'an, Ma Chao, who had already wandered to Hanzhong, and Zhang Lu of Hanzhong surrendered, and Zhang Lu agreed.

On the fifth day of the twelfth month of the sixth year of Jian'an, Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou, sent an envoy named Zhang Song to Xudu to request the return of the capital to the imperial court.

On the fifth day of the second month of the seventh year of Jian'an, Wei Duan, the governor of Liangzhou, returned to the court after being persuaded by Zhong Yao, the Commandant of the Capital Region.

On the tenth day of the third month of the seventh year of Jian'an, Shi Xie of Jiaozhi surrendered, but Zhang Sui refused the surrender offer on the advice of his staff.

On March 20th, a battle report came from Jiaozhi: Xu Kun, Gu Yong, and Bu Zhi's army had captured the capital of Jiaozhi Commandery, killing three clans including Shi Xie. Other places in Jiaozhi surrendered again, and Zhang Sui agreed.

On the fifth day of the ninth lunar month, the immortal monument built by Ju Shou in Ye City was officially completed.

Zhang Sui led his civil and military officials to Ye City and personally inscribed the first name on the immortal monument: Shen Rong.

On the eighth day of the eleventh month, Emperor Liu Xie conferred the title of King of Ji upon General Zhang Sui, placing him above all other princes. He was not to address the emperor as "your subject" when presenting memorials, nor was he to bow when receiving imperial edicts. He was to wear the emperor's crown and robes, carriages and clothing, flags and banners, and to perform the rites and music for suburban sacrifices to Heaven and Earth. He was to be accompanied by an imperial procession when going out and about. His ancestral temples, ancestral rites, and winter sacrifices were all conducted according to the Han dynasty system. The capital was Ye City.

His sons were all marquises.

On February 19th of the eighth year of Jian'an, Emperor Liu Xie requested to abdicate the throne, and Zhang Sui submitted three memorials declining the offer.

On March 22, Zhang Sui ascended the abdication platform and proclaimed himself emperor, changing the era name to Tai'an, signifying peace and prosperity for the country and its people.

The dynasty was named Daqian.

Qian, first appearing in the Book of Changes, is the first hexagram in the Bagua system, representing "Heaven".

In the "Explanation of the Trigrams" in the Book of Changes, Qian is interpreted as "strength," symbolizing the upward vitality of all things.

Zhang Sui and his officials all hoped that the chaos would end, and that the people could live a good life, live in peace and prosperity, and thrive.

The capital was established in Ye City.

Zhang Sui bestowed titles and honors upon his officials.

On the first day of the fifth month, Zhang Sui organized civil and military officials and the people of the land to select the civil and military officials who had made the greatest contributions to the Great Qian Kingdom, and finally twenty people were selected.

These twenty people were ranked from highest to lowest based on their contributions, and each of them selected a memorable scene.

First, Ju Shou, a famous scene: sitting in Ye City, overseeing the overall situation.

Second, Tian Feng, famous scene: guarding Xuzhou, stopping the northward advance of Jiangxi, and resisting Cao Cao in the west.

Third, Zhao Yun, famous scene: the fall of Xiling City and the pursuit of Sun Ce.

Fourth, Xu Rong, famous scene: Battle of Guangling, leading 700 Flying Bear Army soldiers to cooperate with Zhang Liao to sweep away 100,000 naval troops in Jiangdong.

Fifth, Zhang Liao, famous scene: Battle of the Three Commanderies of Wuhuan, where he killed the Wuhuan king Tadun in the remnants of Yanshan.

Sixth, Chen Deng, famous scene: defeating Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and Xu Kun's army at Guangling.

Seventh, Chen Gong, famous scene: the night raid on Cao Cao's camp with a white horse, which led to Cao Hong being killed by Zhang Sui.

Eighth, Liu Ye, famous scene: the thunderbolt chariot defeats Shouchun.

Ninth, Guo Jia, famous scene: Yi Jing devises a plan to destroy Gongsun Zan and his White Horse Cavalry.

Tenth, Li Ru, famous scene: in Jingzhou, he devised a plan with Zhuge Liang and Guo Jia to annihilate Zhou Yu's 20,000 elite naval forces.

Eleventh, Zhuge Liang, famous scene: setting up an altar in Lujiang to borrow the northwest wind, scaring away Zhou Yu and Pang Tong.

Twelfth, Zhang He, famous scene: training the new army.

Thirteenth, Yan Liang, famous scene: annihilating 10,000 Xiongnu cavalry on the left wing and beheading Liu Bao, the Xiongnu Left Wise King.

Fourteenth, Gao Shun, famous scene: the chaos in Ye City, fighting against Gao Gan's Bingzhou army.

Fifteenth, Xin Pi, famous scene: Battle of Ye City, confronting Gao Gan.

Sixteenth, Xi Zhicai, famous scene: plotting to kill Xiahou Yuan in Xingyang.

Seventeenth, Sima Yi, famous scene: the Wuhuan of the three commanderies forced Liucheng to open the city gates and surrender.

Eighteenth, Zhong Yao, famous scene: infiltrating Cao Cao's ranks and capturing Cao Cao alive. Nineteenth, Gan Ning, famous scene: the Battle of Xiakou, shooting Sun Ce in the face.

Twentieth, Huang Han, famous scene: the Battle of Guangling, where he ambushed Sun Quan and shot and killed Ling Cao.

In the third year of the Tai'an reign, the capital was moved to Luoyang, where the Yunxiao Palace was built. Zhang Sui personally painted famous scenes for the twenty meritorious officials.

On the fifth day of the fifth month of the third year of Tai'an, Zhang Sui formally saw off the five armies at the south gate of Luoyang.

These five armies include:
The First Army, commanded by Ma Chao, with Sima Yi as strategist and Pang De as deputy general, consisted of 20,000 men.

The Second Army, commanded by Xu Rong, with Lu Su as strategist and Zang Ba as deputy general, consisted of 5,000 cavalry.

The First and Second Armies opened up the Hexi Corridor to the west and continued to expand westward.

The Third Army, commanded by Yan Liang, with Xin Ping as strategist, and Zhen Hao and Wang Hao as deputy generals, consisted of 10,000 cavalrymen.

The Fourth Army, commanded by Tian Yu, with Chen Jiao as strategist and Huang Han as deputy general, numbered 20,000 men.

The Fifth Army, commanded by Zhang Liao, with Chen Zhen as strategist and Gan Ning as deputy general, numbered 10,000 men.

The Third Army, the Third and Fourth Armies, and the Fifth Army marched north to the Xianbei in three separate routes.

At this moment, Zhang Sui stood at the forefront of the five armies and issued military orders to their commanders: each to proceed to their respective target locations and draw maps.

The imperial court provided a year's worth of provisions.

We'll have to figure out how to get supplies a year from now.

Once a country is conquered, the commander is appointed as a king of that country, and the land is distributed among the generals and soldiers who have made meritorious contributions.

As a king of a different surname, he was required to pay tribute to the court annually, guarantee trade between his country and the court, establish offices, and obtain the court's consent before succeeding to the throne.

The five commanders each received their military orders and took wine bowls from Zhang Sui. They each drank a large mouthful of strong liquor before leading their armies away from Luoyang.

Zhang Sui watched the five armies depart before returning to the palace, escorted by the Tiger Guards.

Walking through the vast palace, Zhang Sui felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness for the first time.

For him, the throne seemed to be nothing special.

Zhang Sui went to the Imperial Study to handle official business.

It wasn't until late at night that he came out of the imperial study and stared blankly at the night sky.

He thought of a line of poetry: "The people of today do not see the moon of ancient times, but the moon of today once shone on the people of ancient times."

I wonder if the moon can still shine on the world before I traveled there.

He remembered everything that happened before he traveled through time.

I thought of the last girl I saw before I traveled back in time.

Looking back now, it feels like the time travel before was a dream, and I can never go back.

Perhaps I didn't time travel at all, but rather had a dream in which I lived on Earth in the 21st century.

This feeling left Zhang Sui with an indescribable sense of disorientation.

There was also a hint of loneliness.

Zhang Sui shook his head and chuckled to himself.

Now that I am the master of the world, why do I feel a sense of emptiness?

What's there to feel empty about?
He had both power and women.

This life has been worthwhile.

Under the protection of the Tiger Guards, Zhang Sui headed towards Empress Yuan Mi's residence.

As they rounded a corner, the Tiger Guard suddenly shouted sharply, "Who's there!"

Zhang Sui looked in the direction of the Tiger Guard's gaze with suspicion.

Not far away, under a peach tree, a figure carrying a wooden box was looking in their direction.

It is Zhen Mi.

Zhang Sui gestured for the Tiger Guards to stop, and he walked over alone.

Seeing Zhen Mi standing under the tree, Zhang Sui laughed and said, "You saw your mother today? Why aren't you asleep? Why are you here in the middle of the night?"

"Although this is the palace, it's still late at night, so it's better to be careful."

Zhen Mi did not answer, but squatted down, placed the wooden box on the ground, and opened it.

Inside were plates of food.

The dishes were wrapped in clothing, emitting a fragrant aroma.

Zhang Sui also squatted down, his expression somewhat complicated, and asked, "Did you make this yourself?"

These were all dishes he had taught Mi Zhen to make before: twice-cooked pork, chicken feet with citron, braised pork, and the like.

Now, he no longer does these things himself, nor does Mi Zhen.

Although Mi Zhen was unwilling, she still moved into the palace and was served by palace maids.

The Mi family caravan was distributed among the various branches of the Mi family.

When Zhang Sui asked this, Zhen Mi nodded and said, "I stayed at Mother's for a while. I heard that you often stay in the Imperial Study until very late. I was thinking that when you were in the Zhen family, you often ate the food that Fifth Sister sent you at night, so I came to see you."

Zhang Sui smiled.

It feels like so much time has passed that he's almost forgotten about it.

Suddenly, Zhen Mi paused.

However, as she opened the wooden box layer by layer, her right index finger touched the food inside a layer of the box, and the food juice got on her fingernail.

Zhen Mi's face paled slightly. She quickly put the dish down and said, "This dish is fine, it's dirty. I'll make you a new one—"

Zhang Suiyi grabbed her wrist.

To Zhen Mi's astonishment, Zhang Sui grabbed her wrist and put her fingers, which were stained with vegetable water, into his mouth.

It took her a while to come back to her senses.

After glancing at Zhang Sui, Zhen Mi lowered her head, staring blankly at the ground, letting Zhang Sui do as he pleased.

Under the bright moonlight, a blush crept onto her pretty face.

(End of book)

(End of this chapter)