Chapter 279:
Xie Wanning had always known that Lu Ziyan had plenty of blood on his hands, but she had never imagined that the general who defended home and country in her memory would become a killer general who slaughtered the common people.
Even, most probably for her sake.
She thought of what he had said, that in his past life after her death, he had gone mad and become a complete madman.
So, was he still normal now?
Before, Xie Wanning had been certain that her leaving was the right choice, and everything would return to the right track with her departure.
But now, she began to doubt herself.
His Majesty the Emperor personally leading the campaign meant almost the entire Great Khan was paying attention to the Northern Frontier Battlefield.
Battle reports continuously spread to every prefecture and commandery.
Soon, everyone realized that the deterrence brought by slaughter was direct and intuitive.
With that blood-drenched chicken from Great Jin right before their eyes, the other monkeys became much more obedient.
The Qiang Tribe on the Southwest Border, and the Wa people on the eastern side who had repeatedly violated bans in recent years, were all shocked by such slaughter, their hearts filled with fear.
Not only that, even within the Great Khan’s borders, the bandits who had risen up with cholera everywhere before, after Lu Ziyan’s ascension to the throne, did not even need troops sent to suppress them; they awoke as if from a dream and reformed themselves.
Many were directly recruited by the court, transforming from mountain bandits who occupied land and called themselves king into official generals receiving the court’s salary.
Xie Wanning could not help but sigh again that brutality also had its benefits.
If the one who ascended to the throne were a benevolent ruler unwilling to commit the sin of killing, how could he suppress such a war-torn era? How could the Great Khan resolve the bandits in various places without expending a single soldier or grain of rice, with them improving by seventy or eighty percent on their own?
Soon, the new emperor’s reputation for brutal murder gradually went unmentioned.
In the second year of the personal campaign, the Jin Kingdom Capital City fell.
The news spread, and every household in the entire Great Khan hung lanterns and tied colorful decorations at their doorways.
The myriad people cheered.
Capital City, Imperial Palace.
Lu Ziyan, who should have been on the Northern Frontier Battlefield, was now appearing in the imperial study.
He was dressed in a black dragon robe, sitting upright at the imperial desk in the imperial study, with his eyes slightly closed in meditation. His originally stern features, after more than a year of baptism in slaughter, had become even more sharp and terrifying.
His gaunt jawline was piercing, his brows unconsciously frowning, as if somewhat impatient, and there was already clearly visible graying at his temples.
It was well known that because of the death of the Xie Clan girl in the past, this stern and brutal emperor had suffered excessive grief, turning his hair white in youth.
Some said that when he was still the Lu Family young lord before, although arrogant and unrestrained with no one in his eyes, he still had some humanity.
But now, His Majesty the Emperor above the Golden Hall had lost his humanity.
Below, several officials were softly reporting something, occasionally carefully lifting their eyes to gaze upward, trying to judge whether His Majesty was listening at all.
After a long while, in the empty hall, the officials finished their reports.
Lu Ziyan slowly raised his eyes and said, “Withdraw.”
The several officials exchanged glances, not daring to ask anything more, hurriedly bowing in salute before withdrawing.
As they exited the hall door, they bumped right into Ming Jian.
With Lu Ziyan’s ascension to the throne, Ming Jian, this follower guard, was now already the Great General Who Conquered the West.
And the other great general Ming Feng was still in the Jin Kingdom Capital City at the moment, waiting to escort those imperial family members back to the capital.
The several officials withdrew, and Ming Jian walked in.
He glanced at his master who had his eyes closed in meditation, and said worriedly, “You have not slept for three days already…”
Lu Ziyan did not lift his eyes, his lips moved, “Speak.”
Hearing this, Ming Jian immediately bowed and said, “Upon investigation, Master Kongjian of Zhenguo Temple has indeed returned from wandering. This subordinate went to invite him per your instructions, but the little novice monk of Zhenguo Temple said that the master is about to pass away, has no strength to leave the temple, and requires you to go there personally.”
