Chapter 1156: 1097. Information Of Qinghai Plateau

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(A/N: Don’t forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)

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"Lords Yan Xing and Cheng Li," Chen Deng began, his voice smooth as polished jade, dripping with a diplomatic courtesy that barely concealed his underlying command. "Welcome. We have summoned you here to formally commend you. You have both done a truly magnificent job. By choosing the path of wisdom and siding with the Hengyuan Dynasty, you have saved tens of thousands of lives and secured a prosperous, peaceful future for your commanderies. The Emperor is deeply pleased with your swift integration."

​Yan Xing kept his head bowed, his eyes flickering toward Cheng Li for a fraction of a second before looking back at the desk. He forced a wide, utterly fake smile onto his face, adopting the posture of a devout sycophant.

​"It was not a difficult choice, Master Chen Deng," Yan Xing lied smoothly, his voice dripping with forced reverence. "It was entirely because of the Emperor’s profound, divine enlightenment that we decided to accept the offer. When we saw the brilliance of Your Majesty’s vision for a unified world, our eyes were opened. We realized that our previous alliance was foolish, and we eagerly sought to bathe in the glorious light of Hengyuan."

​Cheng Li, unwilling to be outdone in his display of loyalty, immediately chimed in, bowing slightly deeper. "Indeed! The sheer majesty of His Imperial Majesty’s grace reached us even in the deep mountains. We were compelled by his righteousness. It is our greatest honor to serve the true mandate of heaven, and to bring order to this province in his glorious name."

​Behind the mahogany desk, Fa Zheng and Chen Deng maintained perfectly composed, serene expressions.

​Internally, however, both strategists were rolling their eyes in profound, cynical amusement. They knew exactly how Chancellor Jia Xu had operated.

They knew that ’Emperor’s enlightenment’ translated directly to ’the sheer, suffocating terror of being crushed by trebuchets and heavy cavalry while an assassin whispered threats in the dark.’ Yan Xing and Cheng Li were proud desert wolves who had been beaten into submission, and now they were wagging their tails simply to keep their heads attached to their necks.

​But in the game of empire, maintaining the polite fiction was essential.

​"His Majesty’s enlightenment is indeed a beacon for all wise men," Chen Deng replied without missing a beat, smoothly ignoring the blatant, desperate lie. "And because you are now trusted servants of that enlightenment, we require your specific, specialized expertise."

​Fa Zheng leaned forward, pushing the topographical map of the Qinghai Plateau toward the center of the table. He tapped the parchment sharply. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

​"Lu Kan, Mang Xing, and Yang Qiu have survived the rout," Fa Zheng stated, his tone shifting instantly from diplomatic pleasantries to cold, hard military pragmatism. "They have been pushed out of Liang Province entirely, but they have scurried up onto the Qinghai Plateau. They are currently fortifying the high ridges and the primary access ravines."

​Fa Zheng looked directly at the two former warlords. "We have the manpower to storm the plateau, but a frontal assault up an icy cliff face into thin air is a foolish waste of Hengyuan blood. As men who have lived, fought, and hunted in these territories for decades, you know the topography of this land better than our cartographers."

​Chen Deng picked up the thread, his eyes sharp and demanding. "We need to know the specific vulnerabilities of the three lords. Their logistical limits. More importantly, we need to know the weak points of the Qinghai Plateau. The hidden goat paths, the dry riverbeds, the smuggler routes that bypass the main fortifications. We want to enter the plateau and eradicate their remaining forces without losing too much of our own strength to the environment."

​Yan Xing and Cheng Li stepped closer to the table, looking down at the map. The prospect of finally wiping out their former allies, and thereby securing their own positions with the Emperor by proving their utility, eclipsed their mutual hatred for the moment.

​"The plateau is a fortress, yes," Yan Xing murmured, his finger tracing a faint line along the western edge of the map. "But it is a fortress that starves its occupants. The air is thin, and the earth is barren. Lu Kan and Mang Xing do not have the supply lines to feed thirty thousand men up there for more than a few weeks. They will be relying on the hidden freshwater springs located here, in the Qilian valleys."

​"If we cut off those springs," Cheng Li added eagerly, pointing to a narrow pass leading toward the water sources, "thirst and the altitude will break their army before we even draw our swords. And there is a way up that bypasses their main barricades. A narrow, highly dangerous smuggler’s route known as the Serpent’s Spine. It is too steep for heavy infantry or supply wagons, which is why they will leave it lightly guarded."

​"But it is perfectly viable for light, unarmored mountain infantry to scale under the cover of darkness," Yan Xing finished, a cruel, tactical light returning to his eyes.

​Fa Zheng and Chen Deng listened intently, taking meticulous notes as the two turncoat warlords spilled the absolute, fatal secrets of the northwestern geography.

The grand hall of the citadel grew heavy with the suffocating, meticulous tension of absolute strategic extraction. Having secured the initial, vital weaknesses of the Qinghai Plateau, Fa Zheng and Chen Deng did not simply pat the two turncoat warlords on the back and send them on their way.

They were master strategists of the Hengyuan Dynasty, they operated on a level of exacting, microscopic detail that left no stone unturned, no shadow unexamined.

​For the next two hours, the two strategists subjected Yan Xing and Cheng Li to a grueling, relentless interrogation dressed in the polite silk of a tactical consultation. Fa Zheng leaned over the sprawling topographical map, his sharp eyes practically piercing the parchment as he fired question after question.

​"You mentioned the Serpent’s Spine," Fa Zheng pressed, the tip of his wooden pointer resting on a jagged, unmarked cluster of elevation lines. "How wide is the path at its narrowest point? Can two men walk abreast, or must they proceed single file? What is the rock composition, is it loose shale that will betray our advance with falling stones, or solid granite?"

​Yan Xing swallowed hard, a bead of cold sweat trickling down his temple despite the chill in the stone hall. He was a seasoned warlord, a man used to giving orders, not answering them like a frightened scout. But under the combined, crushing intellectual weight of Fa Zheng and Chen Deng, he felt entirely outmatched.

​"It... it is single file at the throat of the pass, Master Fa," Yan Xing answered, his voice tight. "The rock is solid, mostly frozen basalt, but it is perpetually slick with black ice. If a man slips, he falls a thousand feet into the gorge. There are no handholds."

​Chen Deng smoothly took over the line of questioning, his tone deceptively gentle but his demands absolute. "And the hidden freshwater springs in the Qilian valleys, Lord Cheng. How are they guarded? What is the rotation schedule of Mang Xing’s sentries? When the sun sets, do they retreat to the caves for warmth, or do they maintain perimeter fires?"

​Cheng Li wiped his brow with the sleeve of his fine silk robe. "Mang Xing’s men despise the cold. They will keep fires burning near the water’s edge to prevent the pools from freezing over completely, but their patrols will be localized around the heat. If your vanguard moves through the blizzards without torches, they can bypass the outer pickets entirely."

​They dug deeper and deeper. They demanded the names of Lu Kan’s most cowardly lieutenants, the exact grain rationing limits of Yang Qiu’s reserves, the frequency of avalanches on the northern slopes, and the specific wind patterns that battered the plateau at dawn.

They wrung the two former warlords completely dry, extracting decades of hard won, localized survival knowledge until Yan Xing and Cheng Li were practically swaying on their feet from mental exhaustion.

​Finally, after every conceivable tactical variable had been mapped, analyzed, and recorded by the scribes standing in the shadows, Chen Deng gracefully set his writing brush down onto its jade rest.

​"You have been immensely helpful, my lords," Chen Deng stated, offering a polite, dismissing nod. "Your profound knowledge of this harsh terrain will undoubtedly save thousands of imperial lives. You may return to your quarters and rest. The Dynasty thanks you for your service."

​Yan Xing and Cheng Li simultaneously let out long, shuddering breaths of relief. The psychological pressure of the room had been agonizing. They bowed deeply, eager to escape the piercing, calculating gazes of the Hengyuan strategists.

​"We exist only to serve His Imperial Majesty," they chorused once more, before turning and hastily exiting the grand hall, the heavy oak doors closing with a resounding thud behind them.

​The moment the latch clicked into place, the polite, diplomatic facade vanished from Fa Zheng’s face. He scoffed, tossing his wooden pointer onto the map. "Proud desert wolves reduced to sniveling lapdogs. I would almost pity them if they hadn’t caused us so much grief over the past month."

​"They are survivors, Fa Zheng," Chen Deng murmured, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples. "Do not underestimate the danger of a man who will sell his own brothers to save his skin. We have their knowledge, but we must verify it. Paranoia is a double edged sword."

​As if summoned by the very mention of verification, the shadows in the far corner of the grand hall seemed to detach themselves from the stone wall.

​There was no sound of a door opening. There was no footstep. One moment, the corner was empty, and the next, a figure clad entirely in dark, unadorned, non reflective garments was kneeling on the floor, perfectly still.

​It was an Oriole Agent.

​Fa Zheng flinched slightly, his hand instinctively dropping toward the ornamental dagger at his belt before he caught himself. No matter how many times he interacted with Jia Xu’s intelligence network, the sheer, supernatural stealth of the Orioles always set his teeth on edge.

​The agent kept his head bowed, his face obscured by a dark cloth mask. "Master Chen. Master Fa," the agent spoke, his voice entirely devoid of inflection, a flat, professional whisper that barely disturbed the air. "The Chancellor sends his regards. I have been monitoring the interrogation from the rafters. Yan Xing and Cheng Li are not lying. The topographical intelligence they have provided regarding the Serpent’s Spine and the Qilian valley springs matches our own preliminary, deep cover scouting reports. It is the absolute truth."

​Chen Deng let out a quiet sigh of relief, tension leaving his shoulders. "Excellent. That validates our primary infiltration vectors."

​"However," the Oriole Agent continued smoothly, pulling a small, tightly rolled slip of dark paper from his sleeve and holding it forward. "In their desperation to please you, they have provided even more operational information regarding Lu Kan’s internal troop morale and specific defensive troop numbers. This secondary intelligence is highly detailed, but it has not yet been corroborated by our embedded assets within the plateau camps. It still needs to be thoroughly checked before you commit men to those specific coordinates."

​Chen Deng leaned forward, taking the dark slip of paper from the agent’s gloved hand. He unrolled it, quickly scanning the incredibly dense, coded shorthand written within. "Understood. Inform your operatives on the plateau to prioritize the verification of these specific troop concentrations. We will base our feints on this data, but we will not commit the vanguard until the Orioles confirm the numbers."

​"It will be done within the hour," the agent replied.

​"Thank you. Your diligence is the shield of this army," Chen Deng said, offering a sincere nod of profound respect.

​The Oriole Agent did not reply with words. He simply bowed his head a fraction of an inch lower. Then, in a sudden, explosive burst of kinetic motion that defied human anatomy, the agent launched himself from a kneeling position. He sprang backward, his boots hitting the stone pillar behind him.

Using the pillar as a springboard, he vaulted upward with terrifying speed, grabbed the edge of the high, open ventilation window near the vaulted ceiling, and slipped out into the cold night air.

​He was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving behind absolutely nothing but the faint rustle of the wind.

​Fa Zheng stared up at the empty window, slowly shaking his head. He let out a long, heavy breath. "By the heavens. I have commanded armies of tens of thousands, I have seen men cut in half by cavalry charges, but I swear to you, Chen Deng, I still cannot get used to how the Orioles work. They move like mountain ghosts. It is unnatural."

​Chen Deng looked at the empty window and smiled, a look of profound, historical reverence settling over his aristocratic features.

"It is not magic, Fa Zheng, though it certainly appears to be," Chen Deng explained, his voice softening as he reflected on the deepest, most heavily guarded secrets of the empire. "The sheer physical capabilities of the Orioles, their stealth, their lethal efficiency... the training regime and the foundational program were not developed by Chancellor Jia Xu."

Fa Zheng turned from the window, his brow furrowing in genuine surprise. "Not Master Jia Xu? But he is the master of the shadows. The entire network answers solely to him."

"He commands them flawlessly, yes," Chen Deng nodded. "But the original doctrine? The brutal, unprecedented training methods that forge these men and women into living weapons? That was created entirely by His Imperial Majesty himself, long before he ever wore a crown."

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty

Age: 36 (203 AD)

Level: 16

Next Level: 462,000

Renown: 2325

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 11)

SP: 1,121,700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 1,010 (+20)

VIT: 659 (+20)

AGI: 653 (+10)

INT: 691

CHR: 98

WIS: 569

WILL: 436

ATR Points: 0