Peace Order
Chapter 307 - 139: Fortune is False, Destiny is for Me to Decide!

Chapter 307: Chapter 139: Fortune is False, Destiny is for Me to Decide!

"The Taiping Army..."

Li Guanyi looked at these three characters, his expression faltered briefly, then he continued reading, seeing it recorded on the scroll: "The Taiping Army under the Taiping Duke is peerless in the world."

"The current Taiping Army is nothing but a band of traitorous rebels!"

"Xue Tianxing fled into the distance, taking refuge outside the border, in the land of divided warlords, to establish a city, seeking out someone claimed to be the son of the Taiping Duke, crowning him as king, and self-proclaiming as Great General, displaying a commanding presence all around, in the name of avenging the Taiping Duke, recruiting soldiers and buying horses."

"Another man, named Yuan Shitong, a War General under the Taiping Duke, rugged and unruly, audacious."

"He also rallied a youth, proclaimed as [the son of the Taiping Duke], raising an army in the territories of warlords beyond the border, with a dark gold mask patterned flag, nicknamed the Taiping Army, self-styled as the King-supporting Taiping Army, also firmly positioned outside the borders, both parties fighting bitterly and fiercely against each other."

Li Guanyi flipped through the scroll, silently bowing his head, unaware of the truth in the record.

On the scroll, there was an evaluation recorded by an official of Chen Country.

This historian’s tone was quite contemptuous.

"A bunch of wolves devouring a tiger."

"Not all those from the Military School are noble and righteous, while the Taiping Duke was alive, he could keep these wolves and tigers at bay; after the Taiping Duke died, they all drew their weapons, their hearts surely having the intention to avenge the Taiping Duke, yet beyond that, they likely harbored thoughts of establishing their own legacy of fame."

"Human nature is so complex."

"In the name of avenging the Taiping Duke, they refused to settle in Great Chen; yet, they raised their flags, using the fall of the Taiping Duke to divide the land, what loyalty or valor can be spoken of?"

"Fierce and brave as tigers, yet they end up inferior."

"Looking at their soldiers, there are indeed those with loyal hearts, both sides believing that they belong to the Taiping Duke’s comrades-in-arms, still fighting for the General who shared gold with them, yet both thinking that the other is the traitor who stole the name of the Taiping Duke for their own gain."

"Hence, the two sides engage in a fierce and bitter battle."

"The allure of being the fifth-ranked General in the world is too tempting."

"The heroes of the world are just bloodthirsty beasts after all, at a critical moment, not to mention the Main General who once led them forward, even their own parents can be abandoned."

Yet below this line of text, there was another line written in red ink.

"Too one-sided."

"Do not measure the hearts of these Generals with your own thoughts."

"Their loyalty to the Taiping Duke is admirable, but their loyalty is built upon their own judgments, although the twenty-four Generals were under his command, you all overlook one thing, these renowned Generals would not truly submit to other Generals."

"The Taiping Duke is dead."

"But neither Yuan Shitong nor Xue Tianxing are willing to accept this outcome, they both still yearn to see on the battlefield the figure dressed in Mo Armor, holding a Divine Weapon, riding a Qilin wearing a mask, charging at the forefront."

"They all long to raise that standard once more amidst the chaos of war."

"For this, they do not hesitate to take actions which others cannot comprehend, where orders from the Court and the Main General conflict, with the possibility of the army revolting, they needed a banner—a claim to the legacy of the Taiping Duke’s offspring."

"Only then could they give those low-ranking soldiers a backbone, even if it were false."

"Their conflicts with each other are also based on their own confidence in their judgments, while questioning the loyalty of the others, leaderless, their fate was to scatter and fight among themselves, for these beasts of the chaotic world, they would believe in their judgments and follow this path until the end."

"Just let them fight among themselves to the death."

And then there was a reply on this scroll.

[Thank you, Prime Minister, for the enlightenment]

Afterward, there were many flattering words, and this also let Li Guanyi know who had written those red-inked notes—Tantai Xianming, Xue Daoyong’s friend in his younger years, but now an enemy, the leader of the scholar-official aristocratic family, the father of the Empress.

Li Guanyi gazed at the scroll.

Two renowned Generals fought outside the borders, both supporting [the son of the Taiping Duke].

Both leading [the Taiping Army].

Xue Tianxing, ranked fifty-seventh on the Divine General List.

Yuan Shitong, ranked fifty-fourth on the Divine General List.

Among warlords unable to stir up large-scale wars without the backing of a major nation, they stood as absolute top-tier existences.

The complexity of the situation and human hearts rendered Li Guanyi speechless, after a long while, he continued reading, other Divine Generals, some died in battle, two fled to Ying Country, now serving as Generals in the Ying Dynasty’s military; one went to Western Regions Dazi Village, the rest scattered and disappeared, their whereabouts unknown.

Excluding those who died, rebelled, or dispersed.

Two more Generals survived.

Li Guanyi looked through the record:

"Gu Daohui, upon the rebellion of Zhuge Qingkong and three other Generals, reported to the Court in advance, led the troops to surround and kill, personally beheaded Zhuge Qingyun and the three Generals, presented their heads before the Monarch, who was pleased, quelling the rebellion, appointed as Jinwu Guard General, a second-rank martial officer, ennobled as Marquis Wei Wu."

"Gong Zhaoqi, appointed as Military Governor General, ennobled as South Guardian Marquis."

The twenty-four Generals, either fled, rebelled, died, or raised their own banners, and there were traitors among them.

In a decade, the shifting tides changed too rapidly.

Li Guanyi steadied his spirit, he had come to understand the effect of the Dark Gold Mask in his hands, as naturally there was a description of the armor used by the founder of Chen Country in the records, the Dark Gold Mask dignified and hard, difficult to be harmed by sword or blade.

Of course, if smashed atop one’s head, the Dark Gold Mask may not harm the blade, but not necessarily the skull.

Perhaps what was left would be a crushed head and an intact mask.

Its real utility lied in concealing one’s own aura.