He changed Tiwat

After the war, she would personally take care of the wounded soldiers, and then reward and punish her subordinates for their merits.

This is Sara's philosophy—the general is the soul of the army.

A general must set an example for ordinary soldiers in everything he does, and his words and actions must be exemplary so that his subordinates can follow suit.

Previously, she had no liking for strategists like Xin Hai, who always remained hidden in their own ranks, viewing it as a sign of weakness. She actually found it hard to understand how someone who dared not go to the front lines could lead such a strong army.

But having witnessed firsthand what Xin Hai had done these past few days, she had to admit that this "human god priestess" of Haiqi Island was far stronger than she had imagined... No wonder Xin Hai was so beloved by the resistance.

Although Xin Hai did not go to the front line, her presence was the source of morale for the resistance army.

As long as Xin Hai doesn't fall, the resistance won't fall—even some of Sha Luo's soldiers have been moved by Xin Hai and have voluntarily joined the resistance in the past few days, and the same is true for the soldiers under other generals.

Although the shogunate army was well-equipped, the rebels won the hearts and minds of the people.

—A military treatise states: "If a soldier sucks the sores of a wounded soldier, the soldier will be willing to die for him."

Sara was already the most responsible general in the shogunate army, but after all, she was the eldest daughter of the Kujo family, and it was impossible for her to share the same food and clothing with the soldiers and share their hardships like Kokoro.

Actually, a long time ago, Sara had also tried to learn the theories in military books and trained and lived with the shogunate soldiers. At that time, she was still young and not very big, and the soldiers even thought she was a boy and would crawl and play with her.

However, the soldier who was playing with her was severely punished by the head of the family, and Sara herself only received a cold reprimand: "Disobedient, ignorant and incompetent... I didn't adopt you to do these boring things."

Since then, Sara has carefully maintained her distance from others, always demanding of herself the understanding of the adopted daughter of the Kujo family.

"Be General Thunder's helper, be a role model for the Heavenly Realm, and be the pride of the Master of the House."

These three identities constitute Salo's entirety.

But along with this mission and identity come the constraints of being an adopted son and the loneliness of being an outsider...

Seeing Xin Hai so beloved, Sara couldn't help but wonder, "Could my father... the head of the family be wrong?"

A true general should not only be respected by his soldiers, but also loved by them.

"The shogunate might actually lose to Kaigishima"—this was the first time Kujo Sara had this thought, which she herself would condemn as a disruption of morale.

The Evil Eye incident was completely quelled by the end of August.

Recently, Sara, who had stopped trying to contact her former subordinates and had fled, received a notice—Koro-gyo Shinkai invited her to meet at the camp—not for interrogation, but to see her off.

Is Coral Palace preparing to release her?

This surprised her more than anything else.

Doesn't Coral Palace Xin Hai know that sending her back would only make them enemies of the resistance?

Kujo Sara also had something she wanted to say to Kokoro—although as a “prisoner of war,” she was ashamed to say these things, but this was what she truly thought—as long as Umijima could return to the Shogun’s rule, she was willing to risk her life to speak to the Magistrate and the Shogun on behalf of Umijima, and would not hold the rebels accountable afterward.

She truly felt that Xin Hai should be her friend, not her enemy.

With a heavy heart, Kujo Sara followed the rebel soldiers to the command center that had once belonged to her.

However, as soon as she entered the room, Sara's face immediately turned cold.

The person waiting there was not Xin Hai, but the despicable villain who had used underhanded tricks to ambush her—Han Fulai.

Chapter 154 Soldiers are all simple-minded; they are all born to serve their country loyally. [4k]

At this moment, only Han Fulai and Shaluo were in the combat command room of the Tasha camp, which was of course at Han Fulai's request.

"Miss Kujo, you've arrived. Please have a seat."

Ignoring Saro's cold face, Han Fulai casually pointed out a seat to Saro.

He himself sat in the main seat where he usually sat in Xinhai, with pen, ink, paper and inkstone beside him, and even a lot of official documents piled up—it looked as if he were the commander of the resistance army... well, in fact he was.

The previous owner of this position was none other than Kujo Sara.

Saro completely ignored the usurper and stood there straight, a hint of disdain in his eyes.

Sara consistently adopts this condescending attitude towards those she looks down upon. If it weren't for her still-healing injuries and the absence of the Eye of God, Sara would have even considered retaliating on the spot.

—On the battlefield between the two armies at Meishida, she was first ambushed by Han Fulai, and then bound in such a shameful manner, displayed like an exhibit for everyone to see... That sense of humiliation will stay with Sara for many years.

Han Fulai didn't mind. "If you want to stand as punishment, then stand."

He couldn't care less what Sara thought of him; after all, he wasn't there to be friends with Kujo Sara.

Kujo Sara saw him as a "despicable villain," while he saw Kujo Sara as nothing more than a "foolish tengu."

"Letting you go was my suggestion to Miss Xinhai, and she agreed. But before you leave, I have a few words to say to you. By the way..."

He waved his hand, and a purple Eye of God was thrown back into Sara's hand.

"Here are your things."

Sara clenched the Eye of God, and a small bolt of lightning burst from her palm, flashing like fireworks—the Eye of God seemed to be overjoyed to be returning to its master.

No one else knew the significance of this Eye of God to her.

The Tengu clan's method of training their offspring is quite harsh: young Tengu who are not yet of "Yuanfu" age will be driven out of the secret realm of Shadow Mountain by their families and forced to survive alone in the wild—unless they can comprehend the Tengu's supernatural powers on their own and gain the recognition of the clan elders, they will never be allowed to return to the clan.

At that time, young Sara didn't yet have the name Kujo Sara; she was merely an unnamed tengu dwelling in the forests of Mount Kagehira. One day, evil spirits wreaked havoc in the mountains, and demons attacked Sara. Sara's wings were still immature, and even normal flight was fraught with stumbles. During that battle, the demons happened to injure her wings.

Sara fell from the sky, her injured wings unable to open...

Just as she was about to fall to the ground, Sara reached out to the sky and recited the only spell she knew, "Raven Feather Tengu Thunder Summoning Incantation".

"Praise be to the great power of Narukami..."

A drowning person will try to grab even a straw floating on the water. At the last moment, Sara prayed to the gods, hoping to receive their protection.

Then she lost consciousness.

When she was rescued by the kind mountain people, she found herself at the foot of the mountain. Although she looked a bit disheveled, she was completely unharmed, and even her wings, which should have been badly injured, were completely healed. At that time, she was holding the Eye of God in her hand.

Salo firmly believed that the reason she was able to fall from the mountain unharmed was because God saw her at that moment.

One glance from her gave her the strength to live a lifetime.

Everything she enjoyed could be attributed to the general's favor.

To her, this Eye of God was the General's gaze and proof of her complete loyalty.

It could be said to be something more precious than her life.

She glanced at Han Fulai again, somewhat puzzled.

Could this person really be so kind?

Or was letting her go part of a conspiracy?

If it's a conspiracy, shouldn't she have stayed?

After thinking for a moment, Sara finally spoke: "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I wanted to ask you about the 'Eye Hunting Order'." Han Fulai didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "I heard Wan Ye say that you are the executor of the 'Eye Hunting Order', and that you personally confiscated most of the divine eyes on the 'Thousand-Handed Hundred-Eyed Statue'..."

"When you confiscated the 'Eye of God,' did you feel the reality of depriving others of their 'wishes'? Did you question the 'Eye Hunt Order'? Did you ever consider that it was this order that led to the war and the devastation of Inazuma?"

"Ha, is Vice Minister Han trying to 'turn them'?" Kujo Sara said with disdain. "Serving the General faithfully is our duty. As a subject, I should be loyal to the General. As a warrior, the General's level of understanding is what I have always strived for. The General's orders are absolutely correct. How could you mortals possibly comprehend the General's foresight?"

Han Fulai looked at Saro and said slowly, "But... your divine eye will be taken away sooner or later, and it will be embedded in a cold idol."

Kujo Sara proudly puffed out her chest: "'The Eye Hunt Order' was the shogun's decision, and I have no complaints."

Han Fulai shook his head: "Blind loyalty."

Saro immediately retorted: "Loyalty has no distinction between the wise and the foolish."

The atmosphere of the conversation instantly turned cold.

Han Fulai changed the subject: "You just mentioned that the general's level of martial arts is what you have been pursuing all your life... Do you remember that a samurai challenged you to a 'duel before the emperor' in order to defy the 'Eye Hunting Order'?"

“I remember.” Sara nodded without hesitation. “Former Inazuma Castle Town Corporal, Okudaira Tsuyoshi.”

“I’ve heard that for martial artists, the way of martial arts is the way of being a person. You can tell what kind of person someone is from their martial arts. So what do you think of this samurai who challenged you to a ‘duel before the emperor’?” Han Fulai stared into Sara’s eyes.

“…His swordsmanship was excellent; it was a fierce battle that left a deep impression on me.” Sara paused, then added, “If possible, I also hope to serve the General alongside someone like him.”

For Kujo Sara, this was the highest praise she could give to a person.

"So you think he shouldn't have died?" Han Fulai continued to ask.

Sara paused for a moment: "I... do feel it's a pity. But in a 'duel before the emperor,' the loser must take a blow from the general. This is the price to pay for a 'duel before the emperor,' and the general's prestige cannot be desecrated."

"If you lose, will the general also raise his sword against you?"

"of course."

"If you catch that first blow, will she strike a second time?"

Han Fulai's series of questions stunned Kujo Sara.

After a moment, she replied, "As far as I know, no one in history has ever been able to withstand the General's first strike, and the General has never made a second strike."

Han Fulai nodded. "Okay. I've finished asking. You can leave now."

After saying that, he continued to bury himself in the documents, and didn't even glance at Sara.

Saro grew increasingly puzzled. After staring at him for a moment, seeing that Han Fulai showed no intention of looking up, she couldn't help but ask, "You came to me just to say this?"

Han Fulai raised his eyelids slightly: "Well, that's all. Thank you for your cooperation... Oh, I'm sorry, I have official business to attend to, so I won't see you off."

The more he acted this way, the more Sara felt he had a conspiracy, and the less she wanted to leave.

"Then can I ask you a question?"

Although it was a question, Sara had already found a chair and sat down, making it clear that she was not going to refuse.

Why is Liyue participating in the war?

"After the death of the Geo Archon, did the Seven Stars of Liyue develop ambitions to conquer Inazuma?"

"Or is it just your own arbitrary decision-making?"

Her series of questions were so direct that Han Fulai felt an urge to educate her on diplomatic terminology... Of course, Kujo Sara was not a diplomat; she was simply a soldier.

Well, soldiers are all very simple-minded; they are born to serve their country loyally.

Putting everything else aside, Kujo Sara's loyalty is indeed beyond question.

That's why I fell into his trap.

Han Fulai still didn't look at her, and answered in a low voice, "To save the common people of Daozhi."

"Huh? What did you say?" Kujo Sara was surprised once again.

She thought she had misheard.

Han Fulai calmly repeated: "Liyue is participating in the war to save the people of Inazuma, to save Inazuma—and also to save your Thunder General."

"..." Kujo Sara was completely speechless.

She felt a rare sense of absurdity, like a villain in a Kabuki performance who misreads the script and righteously utters the lines of the main character—why is this despicable Liyue person saying such things?

and……

"What do you mean by saving General Thunder?" she finally asked.

"The 'Eye-Hunting Edict' and the 'Land Lockdown Edict' were both conspiracies by the foolish masses of Shiyu Province and the Nine Filial Piety Executioners of Tenryo Province, with the Hiiragi family, the Kansei Executioners, also involved. They conspired to deceive the Raiden General, causing him to issue these two 'chaotic edicts.' Moreover, they planned to go further and seize power from the shogunate, completely sidelining your Raiden General, and even plotting to murder him," Han Fulai replied.

"Aha……"

Kujo Sara was momentarily unsure whether she should laugh—murder the Thunder General? Do you know what you're saying?

"You don't seem to believe me?" Han Fulai finally looked up.

Kujo Sara shook his head: "Your accusation is not only dangerous, but also ridiculous. The three magistrates have served the shogun since ancient times, without any disloyalty. Since I was adopted by the Kujo family, I have been influenced by what I have seen and heard. Everyone in the Tenryo Magistrates is loyal to the shogun, especially the head of the family, Lord Takayuki... His worship of 'Musou Ittō' surpasses that of everyone else. My respect for the shogun is not even one ten-thousandth of his."

"How could the patriarch possibly do anything detrimental to the general?"

"Heh." Han Fulai chuckled. "He admires 'The Blade of No Thought,' not 'General Thunder.' In other words, he only fears power. If someone could give him power equal to, or even greater than, 'The Blade of No Thought,' his loyalty to General Thunder would probably be less than one ten-thousandth of yours."

“That’s slander!” Sara shouted angrily.

Han Fulai's smile carried a hint of disdain: "People only believe what they want to believe, and you're no exception. Even if the evidence were right in front of you, you'd probably pretend you couldn't see it, wouldn't you?"

Sara couldn't help but stand up, glaring angrily: "If you have any evidence, then show it to me!"

Hooked.

Han Fulai laughed even more heartily.

As he said, people will only believe what they want to believe. Even if you put the evidence in front of them and explain the truth to them step by step, they will only "not listen, they won't listen, they'll just keep talking nonsense."

When you provoke them and make them beg you for evidence, they will want to see the "evidence" themselves—and because they are nitpicking and fault-finding, they will often look at it more carefully.