Battle Royale of the Sinners

Lu Bu escaped into Li Feihong's dimension. On the other side, Khan stopped chasing after Lu Bu.

The battle of Henan came to a conclusion as Khan regained the county from Tong's troops. Still, he had to abandon it since they had to flee back to Chang'An.

'Hu, now I know why Dong Zhuo razed the Luo Yang to the ground that day.'

Khan recalled his past life memories. His cringe smile and his frown were bitter, yet he felt better.

…

Meanwhile, the red knight Lu Bu entered Li Feihong's dimension as the last man. Blood spurted from his mouth as he was at his limit.

The Double Accel had many side-effects as it damaged his internal organs and his body circulation system to the point that it could cripple him for life.

Practicing this skill without life-saving skills or a physician nearby was fatal. By using this space-and-time law twice, Lu Bu had a delayed injury within his heart and blood vessels.

'Tong … Did you go through all of these when you fought me?'

Lu Bu collapsed, causing all soldiers to panic. Li Feihong and Zhang Liao came to bring him to this world's infirmary afterward, which this god of war would be treated there for some time.

…

Zhang He's Ghost Legion's 50,000 men and Ding Yuan's 10,000 cavalries arrived at Henan two hours after the siege at Henan had ended.

Unfortunately, Khan swiftly retreated from the county and marched through Hangu Pass already, leaving nothing for Zhang He and the others to find.

"A pity. We are too late."

"Well, Feihong said they are alright, so we're still in good shape."

Zhang He gazed toward Hangu Pass at the horizon, analyzing all reports they received from the clan chat. He wanted to consult Ju Shou, but the strategist was on the other side of the river at the moment.

The general took off his knight steel helmet, revealing his face. Zhang He was wearing a ninja robe and mask beneath his armor as he had prepared for any battle in the middle of the night.

He took off the mask, breathing in clean air.

"Let's guard Henan County and wait for our Lord."

Ding Yuan nodded, "Agreed. Well, my son is injured, and I don't think I have the right mentality to continue fighting."

"You have a good son, Lord Ding."

"Hahaha. Well, he's good as long as he doesn't have that temper."

…

…

…

The alliance army occupied Hulao Gate within two days. Because these clone troopers of Khan did not fear death, the siege was more difficult than everyone had predicted.

The shameless Yuan Shao claimed the credit of being the first to breach the gate when all forces from the first wave were exhausted from the battle.

"Put our banners on top of the wall! The Yuan Family is the victor! We are the one that occupies Hulao Gate!"

Yan Liang bellowed with a smile. It was Tian Feng's plan to boost the credibility of the Yuan Family.

Cao Cao and Tong shook their head. They had more important tasks to do rather than fighting for the credit, so they left Yuan Shao alone.

On the other hand, Kong Rong did not like what Yuan Shao was doing. While Tong and his troops were marching through the gate, Kong Rong went to Tong's side and gave his opinion.

"Grand Commander Zhang, we should correct Yuan Shao's attitude before it's too late. If he kept boasting like this, the commoners would believe in his words, and it would look bad for you."

Tong turned around and whispered to Kong Rong, "Leave him be. The cockier he becomes, the more pain he will suffer once he falls. Instead of worrying about me, I want you to take your troops and return to Beihei. Go home and protect your city from the future possible struggle against Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, or Tao Qian."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Yuan Shao and I will solve this enmity soon, and your territory might get caught in it during the process. For now, go home and protect your clan and your city. I see that you're loyal to her Majesty, so I'm willing to help you in her place. Will you trust me?"

"O-Of course, Grand Commander! I will inform my men at once!"

Kong Rong ran back to his men.

A few minutes later, Gongsun Zan did the same with Kong Rong by coming to give Tong a piece of advice.

"Little Zhang, about Yuan Shao, shouldn't you correct him? He's taking your credit even though he barely did anything."

Tong sighed and said the same thing to his senior brother. As a result, Gongsun Zan also prepared to withdraw from this coalition.

"By the way, senior brother. I wish to ask you for a favor."

"Oh? What's wrong?"

"About her majesty the Empress, can you escort her along the way to Ye City when your troops return to the north?"

"No problem! It will be my honor protecting your wife, your majesty! Hahaha!"

The corner of Tong's mouth twitched as he was not familiar with Gongsun Zan's laid-back personality. On the other hand, Gongsun Zan laughed as he went back to his troops.

After dealing with two ally lords, it was Xun Yu's turns to come.

Different from the other two, Xun Yu's did not care about Yuan Shao's shamelessness. Instead, he loved what he saw.

"My lord, I have a humble thought that I need your approval."

"What is it?"

"I hope that you can give Yuan Shao the control of Luo Yang."

"Huh!?"

"I would like you to bribe him 100,000 tons of provision and 100,000 gold to develop the capital city and reconcile with them. I hope you can reform the alliance between you and Yuan Shao again."

"Won't my reputation sink to the mud with your move? Heck, I've already ordered the Silver Axe to attack Pingyuan. He will know that I backstabbed him!"

"No, no. It's necessary for you to be shameless this time. Let me explain. First, Zhang He and Li Feihong reported in the clan chat that Khan and his men got away from our net, so our plans have failed."

Xun Yu continued to explain what he had in mind.

Initially, they had planned to corner Khan in Luo Yang by Li Feihong's favorite sneak attack tactic. Unfortunately, Khan and Hua Xiong were smart enough to flee from Luo Yang's territory within three days.

It foiled Tong's plan, which he had aimed to end the life of this Xiongnu King in one attempt.

Since everything was similar to how Dong Zhuo fled to Chang'An in the other world's history, Tong and Jia Xu came to a conclusion last night that this coalition had served its purpose and had become a burden. Aside from Gongsun Zan and Kong Rong, everyone else could be considered as Tong's future enemies.

It was the right time to turn around and get rid of the potential rival lords here.

Different from Tong and Jia Xu, Xun Yu had worries.

Tong could have used his spirits to decimate all armies here, but it would leave a nasty reputation. The surviving soldiers could have recognized Tong as a demon or an evil shaman, and they could spread rumors to discredit Tong.

From the point of view of the gullible commoners, they could see Tong as a king of monsters!

As a result, the foundation of his future country would be fragile, and any ambitious noble could claim this reason to recruit soldiers, governors, and other ambitious lords to form a rebellion army against him.

Xun Yu knew that Tong did not want that. Thus, he told Tong about his alternate plan.

He wanted Tong to pretend to bootlick Yuan Shao and use his forces as a buffer at the central plain.

By giving Yuan Shao the control over Luo Yang and feeding them food and gold, they would start looking at their neighbors for an expansion.

From Xun Yu's perspective, he predicted that they would avoid confronting with Tong's forces since it was the sources of their tributes. Instead, Yuan Shao would aim at Cao Cao's Xuchang or his own brother's territory, Wan Commandery.

Cao Cao's stance was also ambiguous, and Xun Yu was not confident that they would surrender to Tong in the future. Therefore, letting Yuan Shao and Cao Cao duking it out was a better choice than killing the lords and fight with their angered subordinates later.

Tong's deep frown almost became permanent from listening to this absurd suggestion.

Xun Yu could read Tong thought. He cupped his fist and bowed, "After this battle, I evaluate that we are not ready for another rapid expansion. Please be patient and let your sworn enemies loose this time."

Tong groaned in his throat, "Do you realize that we won't get a good change to assassinate all lords like this gathering? We have already shown them our hands, and they will be prepared the next time we confront them on a battlefield."

"I'm aware. But I'd rather waste the lives of our soldiers than allowing you to sabotage your kingdom's foundation. For the sake of a prosperous dynasty to last a thousand years, your reputation must be impeccable!"

"I've already soiled my hands with the people of Liyang. Am I still impeccable in your eyes?"

"Winners write history. That event will be nothing but a story of your greatness once you unify our country!"

"You contradicted yourself. Since winners write history, won't I be a winner if I kill everybody here and eliminate all the future threats?"

"It's different. Let me give you an example. The first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, unified our country and formed the Qin Dynasty in the past. I ask you this, he was the winner of the unification war, but why people are still calling him a cruel emperor?"

(Qin Shi Huang was the first Emperor of China of the Qin Dynasty in the year 221 BC.)

"That's because he's not the last winner. Xiang Yu took his throne, and Liu Bang snatched that from Xiang Yu. In the end, Liu Bang was the last winner, and he established the current Han Dynasty."

"That's half-correct, but you overlooked one fact, my lord. If Qin Shi Huang was the winner of the unification war, why do you think his dynasty was so short-lived?"

"He's … not benevolence enough."

"Correct! Qin Shi Huang used every mean necessary to eliminate all threats of his kingdom. He kills all scholars who criticized him, he burnt all books that discredited his rules, he forced many people to die for his ideal. As a result, commoners saw him as a tyrant emperor even though he unified the country. You cannot follow his footsteps, my lord! One mistake at Liyang is enough. You must not resort any further cruel method to get things done. This is the time that your patience must be as firm as a mountain!"

"…"

"Your first step of being an emperor is not the unification of the land but the unification of the people's heart. Peasants and nobles must love you from the bottom of their heart. You must ensure them that you're not a warmonger or a ruthless young master that flaunt your power as you see fit. You have to ensure that your kingdom is more advanced and more prosperous than the other dynasties. This is how you can ensure that your legacy will last a thousand years!"

Xun Yu attempted to steer Tong from the path of a ruthless emperor. Although he loyal to Tong, he did not want him to walk the road against the ideal of the Xun Clan.

As a minister who worked for the people, he did everything he could to tame this future young emperor.