Chapter 87, Chapter Eighteen: A Heartbreaking Dissection

At the end of the eighth year of Jianxing, a piece of news came from the front line in Dingxiang, which shocked the whole country.

Previously, all that was known was that Shi Le had taken Liu Kun as a hostage and demanded an exorbitant price, but no one expected that Liu Kun had already been beheaded and the people of the world had been deceived by this Jie barbarian.

As for Liu Jun's long journey to rescue his father, his night raid on the enemy camp, and his great victory in a bitter battle, only to return with a broken body and his head in his hands, no matter how heartbroken the person involved was, this became a story of loyalty and filial piety praised by the court.

At this moment, Liu Jun was not concerned about inheriting the title and receiving rewards; only one thought was churning in his mind—to kill.

On New Year's Eve in Linzhang, Liu Jun, dressed in mourning clothes, led 100,000 soldiers in a swearing-in ceremony under the city walls. The battle cries shook the already desolate wilderness and reached the heavens.

Immediately, the cooks they brought began slaughtering chickens and sheep, and the aroma of roasting wafted into the city along with the madman.

Shi Hu had been besieged for over three months, and his entire army had been surviving by cannibalism. Now, the smell of cannibalism was causing their morale to waver. The soldiers on the city gates suffered even more, having to watch the Jin army not far outside the city enthusiastically toasting and feasting.

Liu Jun did not feast with his soldiers, but instead stayed up all night with Liu Yin and Liu Dan beside the four coffins.

“Jingdao, you don’t need to suffer like my brother. Why don’t you go out and join the soldiers for some fun?” Liu Yin advised, seeing that Liu Dan was also observing a vegetarian diet.

Before Liu Dan could speak, Liu Jun said in a low voice, "Jingdao is our own brother. Father had thought about forming a clan alliance when he was alive. Let him do his part."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yin immediately stood up and said, "I just had a few sets of Qi Cui made. Why don't I give two sets to Jingdao?"

Liu Dan bowed and said, "If I could fulfill the proper respect due to a son or nephew, I would be more than willing to accept it. Thank you, Zi'an."

“I have sent a letter to all my brothers,” Liu Jun said softly, “but unfortunately we are all separated by great distances, and neither Ashu nor Aqi can personally bury our two elder brothers.”

"Shall we proceed with the attack tonight as planned? Should you rest for a few days, my lord?" Liu Dan asked with concern, noticing his pale complexion.

Liu Jun shook his head. "Tonight's timing is perfect—to strike by surprise. If we don't kill a few Jie slaves, what will we offer as sacrifices to our ancestors tomorrow?"

"only!"

On New Year's Eve of the eighth year of Jianxing, the Jin army of 100,000 broke through Linzhang City. Shi Hu escaped through a secret gate. Liu Jun personally led more than 10,000 cavalrymen in pursuit for 40 li. Finally, at Gushan, he seriously wounded and captured Shi Hu alive. He then sent a proclamation to Shi Le, demanding that he exchange the two prefectures of You and Ji for Shi Hu, or else he would have Shi Hu torn apart by chariots and sacrificed to the flag.

As a result, Shi Le was overwhelmed with problems and had no time to help Liu Yao. Liu Yao was defeated by Qu Yun and withdrew his troops in resentment.

After careful consideration, Shi Le withdrew his troops thirty li and sent envoys to sue for peace.

On the fifteenth of January, the imperial edict and Shi Le's envoy arrived in Linzhang almost simultaneously.

At that time, Liu Jun was collecting the remains of his subjects. Shi Le was fond of massacring cities, and Shi Hu was even more tyrannical. Originally, the Jin people in Linzhang, regardless of age or gender, were almost all dead. Those who escaped into the desolate mountains were like starving corpses, a truly tragic situation.

"It would be a pity to kill these Jie slaves. Let's keep them as slaves and use them to repair the city wall, so that we brothers won't have to work so hard." Liu Jun was giving these instructions when he saw that the Attendant Bi Gong had personally arrived in Ye City.

"Greetings, General." Bi Gong first performed a deep bow, then took out the imperial edict from his hand.

Liu Jun knelt down to receive the imperial decree, which indeed ordered him to inherit the title of Duke of Guangwu. This was not unexpected, as the next decree immediately followed by the appointment of him as Minister of Works and Governor of Bingzhou.

In other words, Liu Kun's original title was completely taken over by Liu Jun, and he became a candidate for one of the Three Dukes at the age of twenty-five.

After the ceremony, Bi Gong glanced at Liu Jun, who was dressed in mourning clothes, sighed deeply, and took out another letter. "This is His Majesty's secret edict, along with a secret letter from the Director of the Imperial Secretariat. Furthermore, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and the Director of the Imperial Secretariat are currently drafting the posthumous title for Your Excellency, but His Majesty has not yet made a selection, saying that it will be decided after the Minister of Works returns victorious. His Majesty has instructed the Minister of Works to accept the loss and preserve his precious life."

Liu Jun nodded and, in front of everyone, opened Wen Qiao's secret letter. Skipping the first half of the letter's lament and warnings to be vigilant and not underestimate the enemy, Wen Qiao casually asked three questions: First, why did Shi Le, who considered himself a hero, suddenly renege on his promise to kill Liu Kun, who had been kind to him, and who had been negotiating peace with his army? Wasn't he afraid of being ridiculed by the world? There must be more to the story. Second, Liu Kun had previously arranged for the Duan Xianbei to provide support, but the Duan Xianbei failed to show up, leading to their defeat and capture. Why did Duan Pidi suddenly renege on his promise? Third, during the Battle of Guanzhong, Pu Hong did not send troops, which aroused Liu Yao's suspicion. Pu Hong, following a plan, shifted the blame onto Shi Le.

"Good, good, good!" Liu Jun ordered someone to bring over the official seal of the Minister of Works. "Since I have nothing to do and it's a festival, I should write letters to everyone and make some friends. We can't let things become estranged after my father's passing!"

He sat upright in his tent and wrote three letters in one go—the first to Shi Le, with a piece of flesh cut from Shi Hu's body attached, urging him to make a decision soon; the second to Duan Pidi, questioning him about why he broke his promise and whether someone had sown discord between them; and the third to Liu Yao, telling him that since they had not been able to fight this time, he would be ready to fight if Liu dared to invade.

After venting his grief and anger to the point of exhaustion, and dismissing all his trembling officials, he finally mustered his strength and opened Sima Ye's secret letter. The letter was stained with tears, and while the writing wasn't particularly elegant, every word was sincere, vividly expressing the heartache of losing a worthy minister and general. It then advised him to eat more, not to overthink, and to try to sleep well, otherwise how could he uphold his late father's will?

After writing several pages of text, judging from the ink dots, Sima Ye seemed to pause for a moment before carefully listing several proposed posthumous titles. Liu Jun's gaze swept over a series of beautiful posthumous titles such as "Zhen," "Zhuang," "Jing," "Su," and "Mu," and then settled on the character "Min." As if moved by something, tears welled up in his eyes.

He suddenly remembered Cui, who had died of illness, Liu Fan and Guo, who died by sword, and Liu Kun and Liu Zun, who died under mysterious circumstances. He belatedly realized that, apart from a few young children he rarely saw and could hardly remember their faces, his grandparents, parents, and elder brothers were no longer among his blood relatives in this world.

Just ten years ago, in Luoyang and Bingzhou, families were enjoying themselves and guests were everywhere. But ten years have passed in a blur, and all of that has vanished like smoke.

As his heart was breaking, he vaguely heard Lu Jing speaking in a low voice to Ding Yi, a newly arrived personal guard. He suddenly remembered that many of the new recruits gathered in Ye City had lost their entire families, just like Ding Yi.

In this chaotic world, like an overturned nest, how can anyone remain unscathed?

Even someone as noble as Sima Ye and as powerful as Liu Kun were like this.

He was the same.

Despite his grief, Liu Jun wrote a letter to Sima Ye, but all his words, though seemingly endless, were summed up in just two words: "loyalty and compassion."