Ita Era

Chapter 152 Role Playing
On the third day, the 20-strong army arrived south of Yong'an Pass.

On the first day of the second month of summer, an army of 200,000 launched an attack on Yong'an Pass. Yu Yuan deployed the 2,000 local militia he had recruited to logistical support, placing them under the command of Chu Yu. Two thousand soldiers from the prefectural government joined the defense of Yong'an Pass.

On the first day, the enemy suffered heavy casualties.

At dawn on the second day, the enemy began their tunnel attack, digging underground tunnels. Using these tunnels, large numbers of enemy soldiers avoided arrows and approached the city walls, exchanging fire with the defenders and providing cover for their digging.

This is a playstyle that players have never seen before, not even in TV dramas.

The enemy used shovels and other tools to pry open the gaps in the bluestone bricks of the city wall, digging out large bluestone bricks one by one. However, this triggered Wang Meng's fire attack plan, where burning logs were thrown down to prevent the enemy from approaching the city wall.

On the second night, the enemy diverted water, which seeped into the base of the city wall through the tunnels. Combined with the removal of a large number of bricks, a section of the wall collapsed on the morning of the third day, forming a steep slope.

On the third day, the two sides continued fighting. The soldiers at Yong'an Pass were mostly garrison troops, while the enemy was a regular army. The system determined that the garrison troops were facing repeated attacks from the regular army, and their morale was low. Wang Meng managed to hold out by using kerosene and molten gold.

On the fourth day, the city gates were breached, and the enemy occupied the city walls. Wang Meng ordered the drawbridge on the walls to be removed, and the battle for the barbican began. The enemy lacked supplies and could not build a bridge. To avoid becoming easy targets, they had to retreat temporarily, and the defenders recaptured the city walls.

On the evening of the fourth day, the enemy attacked again, quickly capturing the city wall and continuing their attack on the barbican. The enemy built a wooden bridge with logs, and the defenders pushed the logs down to the barbican. However, the enemy archers used this to kill a wave of defenders, who, in fear, began to retreat, and some deserters appeared.

On the fourth night, the Duke of Huguo personally led 5,000 daredevils to bypass Yong'an Pass and launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp, burning their supplies. The attacking enemy forces retreated, and their camp retreated thirty li.

On the morning of the fifth day, the Duke of Protectorate opened the gates of Yong'an Pass with an imperial edict. Within a day, 50,000 elite troops passed through Yong'an Pass and established a large camp south of Yong'an Pass.

On the seventh day, infighting broke out among the enemy troops, and the commander-in-chief was beheaded by his subordinate general, after which all the enemy troops surrendered.

After the war ended, Yu Yuan and others were given half an hour to talk with the Duke of Huguo.

After Ding Shi reported the Ironclad Army, the Duke of Huguo was feignedly dismissed by the emperor, and his entire family was sent back to their hometown. The Duke of Huguo had commanded the Eastern Pass Protectorate Army for twenty years and enjoyed unparalleled prestige. When the time came, the Duke of Huguo, carrying an imperial edict, led the Eastern Army to the rescue.

This contains a lot of information, among which the most important are:

First, the maternal family of the Second Prince and the royal army of the Third Prince reached an agreement. While outwardly at odds, they were in reality allies. After seizing power, they would divide the country into north and south, with Yong'an Pass as the boundary, and support each other. This decision was made after weighing the pros and cons. Because neither the Second Prince nor the Third Prince could withstand the loyalist armies if they were to usurp the throne alone.

Second: Why did the Duke of Huguo arrive so late despite prior preparations? Because the young master, commander of three thousand elite vanguard troops, had gone missing, causing them to remain holed up in the small mountain village and unable to provide immediate support to Yong'an Pass. The Duke of Huguo questioned everyone, and Su Su, Ding Shi, and the others all denied seeing the young master. Ding Shi stated that he was the chief criminal investigator and requested that the Duke of Huguo entrust him with the investigation of the young master's disappearance.

Thirdly, since the second and third princes were from two different camps, the princess did not immediately deploy new recruits and armored soldiers to help the southwestern army break through Yong'an Pass. According to the princess's plan, the main force of the southwestern army would attack Yong'an Pass for a day, after which the princess would coordinate with the southwestern army to launch a pincer attack on Yong'an Pass.

Fourthly, the greatest credit belongs to Ding Shi. If Ding Shi hadn't discovered the armored soldiers, and if he hadn't truthfully reported them, the court wouldn't have known that someone was eyeing Yong'an Pass. Through this discovery, a conspiracy was uncovered. The great Shrimp King thus realized he had been poisoned, and so he turned the tables, orchestrating this scheme with the Crown Prince.

While instances of monarchs distrusting their crown prince did exist, they were relatively rare throughout history. This is thanks to feudal culture, which established a rule of primogeniture: if there was no legitimate heir, the eldest son should be chosen; otherwise, the eldest son should be chosen. Of course, the authority of the emperor and the support of his ministers also contributed to creating a chain of interests between the crown prince and the emperor.

Minister Wang, Prince Qi, and others were all imprisoned, and a continuous stream of prison carts were sent to the capital.

Summer was spent in war and arrests.

In the autumn, the war-ending plan branch was triggered, with 50% of the remaining funds invested in people's livelihood, including infrastructure construction such as road repairs, bridge building, and village schools. 50% of the funds were used to purchase grain at 10% above market price, and combined with the grain collected after the autumn harvest to offset taxes, many granaries in Yong'an County were filled to capacity.

People will start consuming when they have food and money, and commerce will recover accordingly.

Second round official evaluation: Political achievements A, People's livelihood A, Finance A, Disaster prevention A, Public security A, Reputation A, Law A.

Second round system evaluation: Political achievements S, People's livelihood S, Finance C, Disaster prevention C, Public security A, Reputation B, Law B.

The official evaluation was that he received all A grades because he accurately chose sides.

The system evaluation is quite intuitive. In the second round, Yong'an County invested a lot of money in people's livelihood, properly handled the refugee issue, and defended Yong'an Pass, among other measures, and thus obtained two S scores.

One reason for the fiscal deficit is a lack of funds in the accounts, and another is the limited amount of tax revenue that can be retained.

It is reasonable to improve public security by increasing the income of city guards, regulating their behavior, and gathering refugees to form patrol teams.

Deductions from the law: Ding Tixing knowingly broke the law by failing to report the incident of the student encountering bandits on the road and failing to report the act of burning the body to cover up the crime.

The lawyer's expertise was highlighted when he cracked a case of cheating in the imperial examinations.

In addition, there are many other details that affect the evaluation. For example, accepting refugees and allowing them to settle locally directly increases the population and adds points to the government's performance, people's livelihood, and finances, but deducts points for public security and law enforcement.

Su Su's outstanding performance also contributed to her political achievements and reputation.

In the first round, the Fire Seed completely collapsed and betrayed its foes.

In the second round, the Fire Seed turned the tables and got a new father.

What will the third and final round be?

After the second round of deduction, Xiaotangtang appeared as promised and explained the content of the third round: "Role-playing." The official evaluation of the second round will be included in the score.

Little Sugar: "Only by entering the imperial court can one better understand cultural differences. The first role is the emperor, who is in charge of all affairs of the world. His job is to attend court and make decisions on the memorials submitted by his ministers."

Yu Yuan looked at everyone and, seeing that no one had any objections, raised his hand and said, "After I become emperor, my first imperial edict will confer the title of king upon all of you."

Amidst everyone's laughter and banter, Little Tangtang said, "If the inner palace is in turmoil, the country will be in turmoil. Next, we need to choose an empress. The empress will be in charge of the six palaces, the four consorts, the nine concubines, and many beautiful ladies, a total of 47 people. As empress, you must help the emperor continue his lineage. Your first job is to help the emperor choose concubines and try to get them pregnant. Your second job is to protect the pregnant concubines."

Little Sugar: "The Empress is in charge of the Imperial Prison. The Imperial Prison was originally managed by the chief eunuch beside the Emperor, but now it's been handed over to the Empress. The Empress has absolute power in the harem." Little Sugar looked at everyone, and Ding Shi was the first to raise his hand to volunteer. Little Sugar ignored him, her gaze falling on Chu Yu, the second to raise his hand.

The woman in red frowned: "Based on my experience of watching two hundred palace dramas, Chu Yu won't survive more than two episodes."

Chu Yu corrected: "Rather than saying I'm the empress, I'd say I'm the director of the Censorate."

Little Sugar continued to hand out cards: "The Commander of the Imperial City Guard is in charge of the armed forces of the Imperial City and is responsible for the security of the Imperial City."

Wang Meng raised his hand, and no one objected.

Little Sugar: "The fourth character is the crown prince, who is only 7 years old."

The woman in red immediately stepped in front of Ding Shi, raising her hand and saying, "Me." This is a good role; she can either assassinate the emperor and usurp the throne or simply indulge in eating, drinking, and having fun.

Little Sugar: "The fifth role is a princess, a special role. She can freely enter and leave the harem and the outer court, and also leave the palace at will. There is no specific work assignment."

Su Su and Hua Shan, the herbalist, held hands, trying to grab the right to raise their hands, but the struggle was rather light and looked more like a flirtatious exchange. Finally, Hua Shan raised Su Su's hand, and Su Su gratefully pressed her cheek against Hua Shan's.

Little Sugar: "The sixth character is the imperial physician. The imperial physician runs fast and the world is full of love."

Hua Shan confidently raised her hand.

Little Sugar: "The seventh role is the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Their duties are assigned by the Emperor, and they can freely enter and leave the palace."

Final results: Emperor Yu Yuan, Empress Chu Yu, Commander Wang Meng, Crown Prince in Red, Princess Su Su, Imperial Physician Hua Shan, and Imperial Guard Ding Shi.

Little Sugar explained the game rules: "If you don't pass the second round, the third round is a revival round. If you pass the second round, the third round is an Easter egg round. In the third round, there is no death penalty, no group points, it's purely an individual battle. Everyone has a goal that is not known to outsiders, and some people have a second identity."

Little Sugar: "Except for the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Commander of the Imperial City Guard, other characters will have their Force sealed, but their item slots will not be sealed."

Yu Yuan looked at his system panel; his goal was to weaken the Qi family's power as much as possible. According to the system data, the Prime Minister was the head of the Qi family, the top military general, the General of the Valiant Cavalry, was the Prime Minister's cousin, the Duke of Dingguo, the most meritorious official, was the Prime Minister's in-law, and the Empress was the Prime Minister's daughter. Furthermore, the Prime Minister had people in the Six Ministries and the Censorate, and half of the court officials were his protégés.

Yu Yuan inwardly felt like he was spitting blood, but he calmly shut down the system. He had two pieces of good news: he had four secret guards and twenty imperial bodyguards by his side. The imperial bodyguards would protect his safety, and the four secret guards could help him gather information. The second piece of good news was that he had control over one million taels of silver.

Ding Shi's first goal: to earn 100,000 taels of silver. His second goal: to unconditionally help the princess once.

After everyone had seen their goals, the atmosphere became very strange. Yu Yuan looked at the Crown Prince in red and asked, "My son, is your goal to usurp the throne?"

Red-robed: "Your subject dares not. Your subject's goal is to live a life of ease and comfort, and to strive to survive."

Everyone's laughter was forced and awkward, because they all had something to hide.

Little Sugar broke the awkward silence and began to give a comprehensive introduction to the capital city and the imperial palace.

This round offers a high degree of freedom. For example, the empress cannot leave the palace without permission, but she can sneak out. However, if she is discovered, she will be impeached by officials the next day. If the emperor ignores this, his prestige among the civil officials will decline.

Once the emperor's prestige among his civil officials declines to a certain level, they will collectively demand his abdication, which the emperor must agree to. Similarly, if the emperor's prestige among his military officials decreases to a certain level, the military officials will rebel, and the rebellion will likely succeed.

The emperor could bestow silver upon a civil official. If the timing and amount were right, the official's satisfaction would increase; conversely, it would decrease. Satisfaction, in turn, was related to the emperor's prestige. For example, if an official was a member of the "pure stream" faction and the emperor gave him money for no apparent reason, he would feel insulted. Conversely, if an official was greedy for money and performed meritorious service but received no reward, or a small reward, the official would be dissatisfied.

The crown prince can privately cultivate relationships with ministers to diminish the emperor's prestige. At the same time, he must be wary of loyal ministers or treacherous individuals, as they might report his words and actions to the emperor, causing the emperor's trust in the crown prince to decline. When the trust level drops to 10, the emperor gains the power to depose the crown prince.

Everyone has one day to understand the background and rules. This is a period that combines elements of the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties, where imperial power was relatively weak. The emperor couldn't simply kill any minister he wanted; he had to find fault with them first.

To weaken the Qi family, Yu Yuan needed to obtain leverage over them, and the only person capable of doing so was Ding Shi of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Yu Yuan immediately pulled Ding Shi aside for a heart-to-heart talk. Who was Ding Shi? A traitorous double agent. After a brief conversation, Yu Yuan became convinced that Ding Shi's interests were deeply intertwined with his own, and thus included Ding Shi in his trusted faction.

The others continued eating hotpot, chatting and smiling, their eyes constantly exchanging glances and probing each other, each person harboring countless secrets.

The imperial palace was divided into inner and outer sections. Apart from the empress, concubines and palace maids were not allowed to go to the outer court, and ministers were generally not allowed to go to the inner palace. The Jinyiwei (Imperial Bodyguard) was primarily responsible for arrests, with the emperor's safety being secondary. The Jinyiwei headquarters was located outside the imperial palace.

Ding Shi, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had the right to freely enter and leave the imperial court and could directly meet the Emperor. Ding Shi had eight hundred men under his command. He skipped the positions of Deputy Commander and established eight centurions, each centurion in charge of ten ten-man commanders, and each ten-man commander in charge of nine Embroidered Uniform Guards.

The most famous among them was the Imperial Guard's Brave Guard Battalion, which not only included martial arts masters but also unorthodox experts from all walks of life. The Brave Guard Battalion was directly under Ding Shi's leadership, while the other seven centurions were subject to orders but not to imperial decrees. The so-called "subject to orders but not to imperial decrees" meant that subordinates accepted orders from their superiors but did not accept adjustments to their personnel or organizational structure. The appointment and removal of the seven centurions were decided by the emperor.

However, these seven battalions gradually degenerated into a playground for the sons of nobles. Even so, they remained a very important armed force under the emperor's control.

Ding Shi flipped through the documents and basically knew how many resources he controlled. To put it bluntly, while he lacked the ability to rebel, he possessed a certain capacity for regicide. How to make money? Judging from Emperor Yu Yuan's stingy nature, he probably wouldn't offer much incentivize him; he'd have to earn it himself. But if he did, he'd be betraying the emperor.

Although the emperor considers him a confidant, he has already treated the emperor as his personal treasury. And then there's Princess Susu—what favors would she ask him for?
The preparation time for the third round was one day. On this day, everyone was outwardly friendly but inwardly distant, greeting each other with unusual politeness, except for the clueless Su. Su was tricked into revealing information within the first hour, and everyone already knew her goal: to marry the third-ranked scholar as a prince consort.

It seems simple enough—all it takes is an imperial decree—but the problem lies in the fact that the third-ranking scholar (探花郎) is a Hanlin Academy reader, someone who accompanies the emperor in his studies. He is not only a favorite of the emperor but also a crucial advisor, a vital NPC (NPC-like figure) to him. For example, if the emperor asks, "What is the name of the Vice Minister of Revenue? What rank is he? Who are his family members? What is his character like? Is he a virtuous official or a corrupt one?" the third-ranking scholar not only knows publicly available information about officials but also knows which official to consult for any matter.

Once the third-ranking scholar becomes the emperor's son-in-law, he will only hold a nominal position. To achieve Su Su's goal, Emperor Yu Yuan would have to lose one of his arms.

The system didn't tell everyone how long the dungeon would last, so Yu Yuan couldn't time it and therefore couldn't make promises to Su Su. If Su Su wanted to achieve her goal, she had to take unconventional methods. For example, threatening Yu Yuan, or offering him conditions that would interest him.

After figuring out her predicament, Su Su quickly sought out Ding Shi, her sworn brother whom she had not yet sworn brotherhood with.

(End of this chapter)