Chapter 128 Do you know why it's necessary to unify the world?
The dozen or so people on horseback were border patrol guards from Linxian City. They came over because they saw the group of villagers in the drone footage.
The leading guard looked the villagers up and down for a moment, but could not tell from their appearance, clothing and accent whether they were from Xuan Kingdom or Yu Kingdom.
The seven major vassal states in the Central Plains are all of the same Chinese origin. They differ slightly in various aspects only due to regional differences. However, the villagers of the two countries located on the border of Yu and Xuan are no different in terms of regional customs and lifestyles.
"Where are you from?" the leading guard asked warily.
Fearing their identities would be exposed, the villagers claimed to be from the Xuan Kingdom and lived in a remote area near the border with the Yu Kingdom.
Seeing that these people were emaciated and looked miserable, the leading guard thought for a moment and said, "Since they are people of our Great Xuan, we should take care of them. Come with us into the city."
After saying this, he not only gave his water bottle to the villagers, but also asked the other guards to bring out some water as well.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
The villagers were extremely grateful and quickly got up, drank some water, and followed behind the soldiers.
After the guards led these people into the city gate, they gave each of them a compressed biscuit and told them to eat it while they waited.
"What kind of rations are these? I've never seen them before!"
The villagers looked at the compressed biscuits they had received with puzzled expressions.
"It smells especially sweet..." someone said. "Who cares, let's eat it first."
Although everyone was nervous and confused, they couldn't resist their hunger, and after a moment's hesitation, they all began to wolf down their food.
The compressed biscuits entered their mouths, giving them a taste they had never experienced before, and their eyes widened in amazement.
"Mmm! It's delicious!"
"These rations are so delicious? And they don't look like the kind of food we know... What are they made of?"
"Do the people of Xuan Kingdom eat so well?"
"Shh... watch your mouth, don't give it away..."
After everyone finished the compressed biscuits given to them by the guards, they still felt they hadn't had enough.
Even the crumbs that fell to the ground in haste were carefully picked up and put into their mouths, then they kept smacking their lips, savoring the taste.
"It's a pity they only gave us one piece each; I wasn't even full."
"Yes, it would be great if we could have a few more..."
"Be content. They probably don't even have much of this kind of dry rations."
"No way, if it's a rare treat for them, why would they share it with us? Are they really that kind?"
...
Just as they gathered together and whispered among themselves.
Duan Wu came over with the patrolling guards from earlier.
"Where do you think you're from?" Duan Wu stared intently at the crowd.
Everyone felt uneasy under his sharp gaze, and dared not meet his eyes, keeping their heads down timidly.
“Answer me,” Duan Wu warned, “or I will kick you out!”
"General, spare our lives!" Some of the bolder ones had no choice but to step forward and say, "Reporting to the general... we are... we come from a very remote village, a poor and desolate place... the general certainly wouldn't know."
"I heard you say you are from the Xuan Kingdom?" Duan Wu's eyes held a cryptic look.
The man stammered, "Yes...we...are all from the Xuan Kingdom."
The patrolling guard beside him said, "General, didn't I already tell you? They live in a place relatively close to Yu Kingdom..."
“You’ve been fooled by them!” Duan Wu said coldly.
The patrolling guards were immediately stunned.
Duan Wu suddenly drew his sword and held the blade to the neck of the villager who had stepped forward to answer. "How dare you! You dare to lie to this general?!"
The other person turned pale with fright, and their legs went weak, causing them to collapse.
The other villagers were terrified when they saw this, and they all knelt down on the ground.
The cries of frightened children could be heard from the crowd.
The patrolling guard, feeling a pang of pity, whispered, "General...don't you trust them?"
Duan Wu sneered, "You were unaware and fell into their trap, but I know everything perfectly well. In the past two months, I have been ordered by the fairy to send out scouts to explore the surrounding area many times. All the villages outside Linxian City that belong to my Great Xuan territory have been searched. Every single person who can still breathe has been brought back to the city. There is absolutely nothing left out!"
"Now so many villagers claiming to be from the Great Xuan Kingdom have suddenly appeared, saying that their village is closer to the Yu Kingdom. It's obviously nonsense!"
"They must all be from the Yu Kingdom!"
Upon hearing this, the patrolling guards frowned, their eyes sweeping over the villagers, a murderous glint appearing on their faces.
Duan Wu stomped on the chest of the man under the knife and roared, "The people of Yu Kingdom are truly cunning scoundrels, daring to deceive their way through and infiltrate my Linxian City! Speak, what exactly are your intentions!"
The villagers, having had their identities exposed, were terrified and disoriented.
After being reprimanded by Duan Wu, he was even unable to speak.
Duan Wu's eyes darkened. "You're all still pretty stubborn. It seems you're most likely spies sent by the Yu Kingdom to gather intelligence. You're really ruthless. You even brought your child along to try and fool us."
"Men, take them all away."
"Lock the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, women and children in the house first. As for the rest, torture them severely!"
At his command, the soldiers who followed him were furious and ready to attack.
“General…General!” An elderly man with gray hair crawled over and hugged his leg. “We…we are indeed all from the Yu Kingdom…”
Duan Wu quickly waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to halt.
Then, he squatted down, squinted, and stared at the old man. "Finally willing to admit it?"
The old man wept bitterly, “But we…we really didn’t come to spy! We’re just ordinary people…our village was hit by a disaster, and we had no choice but to flee to survive…We had no choice but to deceive you, sirs! We…we just wanted to live! Please, general, spare us!”
Duan Wu's face turned ashen. "If you're fleeing famine, why don't you run to your own border? Why do you have to come to the territory of Da Xuan?"
The old man, his face full of helplessness, wiped away his tears and said, "Although our village is within the territory of Yu Kingdom, it is closer to Xitun Pass. If we go the long way instead of the closer one, we will surely die on the way..."
"Are you really not people sent by them to gather intelligence?" Duan Wu asked suspiciously.
The old man kowtowed repeatedly, "General! If this old man dares to utter even the slightest lie, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"
After kowtowing, he turned back and shouted to the other villagers, "You all hurry up and swear your oaths! Quickly promise this general!"
Under his influence, a group of villagers also took the lead in making solemn oaths.
Duan Wu frowned and slowly stood up, looking down at the villagers kneeling in front of him, crying and wailing.
"General, what should we do?" a soldier beside him asked in a low voice.
Duan Wu's face tightened. "I observed them carefully. They were all dressed in rags, without even shoes, their hands and feet were calloused, and they were all emaciated from hunger... Even the most skilled spy couldn't fake that..."
The soldiers frowned. "Do we really have to rescue them?"
"Of course not!" Duan Wu said coldly, raising his head. "Even if they are ordinary people, they are still people of the Yu Kingdom! The Yu Kingdom border troops that used to harass my Xitun Pass were all fed with grain and fodder handed over by the people of the Yu Kingdom! Every drop of blood shed and every life lost by every soldier at Xitun Pass was inextricably linked to these people of the Yu Kingdom!"
"And another thing!" Duan Wu said, his voice filled with rage, "I will never forget the blood feud of the Yu Kingdom's monstrous Yue barbarian soldiers who slaughtered Xitun Pass! Every single one of these debts will be settled on the heads of every single Yu Kingdom citizen! No one will escape!"
His words, filled with overwhelming hatred, brought tears to the eyes of all the soldiers present, who clenched their teeth tightly.
General Duan hasn't forgotten, and they certainly won't forget either!
The bodies of those soldiers who died tragically a few months ago are still buried next to the Fairy Temple!
Duan Wu's face twisted in a ferocious grimace. "On my command, kill them all!"
"And...where is the child?" a soldier asked.
Duan Wu paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Infants can be spared, but those that can walk... kill them all! We must nip this in the bud, don't leave any future trouble!"
A complex expression appeared in the eyes of the soldiers.
Even with their deep-seated hatred for the Yu Kingdom, they couldn't bear to kill even a child as young as a few years old.
But General Duan's words were not without merit.
If you kill others but leave behind children who are already old enough to remember things, they might cause trouble in the future.
"I'll kill the younger ones," Duan Wu said in a low voice.
He knew that targeting those children would put immense psychological pressure on his soldiers.
If word gets out, they might even be criticized.
He then made the decision to take responsibility for everything himself.
"General..." Several soldiers hurriedly stopped him, "General, you can just give the order. We will handle the matter."
"Please rest assured, General, we will not mess this up."
Duan Wu shoved the men aside, grabbed his knife, and charged into the village to kill the children himself.
Seeing General Duan's eyes, which were now bloodshot with murderous intent, the villagers were plunged into despair.
"Duan Wu! Stop!" A clear and loud voice suddenly rang out.
At this moment, even if Xiao Qidi came, Duan Wu wouldn't pay any attention to him, but this was Ning Jinli's voice.
Duan Wu froze, forcibly suppressing his emotions, and stood still, saying with a sorrowful tone, "Fairy... do you intend to protect them?"
Ning Jinli strode over, and the soldiers saluted her.
She walked behind Duan Wu and said softly, "General Duan, I know you are very angry, and I will never forget the soldiers who sacrificed their lives at Xitun Pass. Can you please let me say a few words first?"
Duan Wu slowly turned around, bowing his head, "Fairy...please speak."
"Who are you?" Ning Jinli asked.
"Huh?" Duan Wu looked up in surprise.
Ning Jinli looked into his eyes and asked softly, "Who are you?"
Duan Wu was bewildered. He scratched his head and tentatively asked, "Great Xuan soldiers?"
Ning Jinli continued, "What do the Great Xuan soldiers do?"
Duan Wu looked puzzled. "Isn't it obvious? It's obviously to protect the Great Xuan. Why are you asking such a strange question, Fairy..."
"Besides protecting the Great Xuan, what else is there?"
"And... oh, and also, we must unify the world for the Great Xuan!"
"Okay, you're right."
Ning Jinli turned to the other soldiers present and asked, "If the Great Xuan wants to unify the world, shouldn't it annex the other six kingdoms?"
The soldiers were also completely bewildered. They looked at each other, then answered the obvious question in unison, "Your Highness, that's right!"
Ning Jinli said, "Yu Kingdom is the first one we're going to annex, right?"
One soldier responded, "Judging from the current situation... that's not wrong either."
Ning Jinli nodded. "Then let me ask you, if you indiscriminately direct your hatred towards every single person in the Yu Kingdom, will you kill all the millions of Yu Kingdom people once you annex the Yu Kingdom?"
"This..." The soldiers were stunned.
Ning Jinli continued, "After annexing the Yu Kingdom, wouldn't the common people who originally lived in the Yu Kingdom become citizens of the Great Xuan?"
"Duan Wu, you just said that the soldiers of Da Xuan are to protect Da Xuan. So, are the people of Da Xuan not within your protection?"
Duan Wu was stunned for a long while, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, his face turning red from holding it in, but he didn't know how to answer. He could only grit his teeth and say, "Fairy...aren't you...digging a pit for me? I can't argue with you. If you insist on protecting these people, this humble general...this humble general will listen to you!"
“I know you’re still not convinced,” Ning Jinli said softly, “but you have to understand that no matter where they are, the people can only obey their king’s orders. If he tells them to hand over grain to the army, they have to; if he tells them to serve in the army, they have to. Do they have a choice? Aren’t they also suffering people? Do you really want these ordinary people to bear the burden of their king’s mistakes?”
"I..." Duan Wu's eyes trembled, and his expression became extremely complicated.
Ning Jinli patted his shoulder and asked softly, "Let me ask you another question. Do you know why the Great Xuan Dynasty wants to unify the world?"
Duan Wu immediately replied without hesitation, "Of course it's for..."
He was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly realized that he couldn't make sense of it at all.
From childhood, he had heard his father say that unifying the world was the long-cherished wish of emperors throughout history, and that the emperors of the other six kingdoms had more or less the same idea.
It seems... this is a question that doesn't require thinking about why.
"Do you know?" Ning Jinli looked at the other soldiers.
One of the soldiers thought for a moment and said, "Because... if the Great Xuan does not unify the world, it will be annexed by other countries."
Ning Jinli smiled and said, "That's true, but it's not the key point."
The soldiers stared at each other, wondering what kind of answer the fairy wanted.
Moreover, does this have anything to do with her protecting these people of the Yu Kingdom?
Isn't she going off on a tangent?
Duan Wu and the soldiers present couldn't figure out what Fairy Jinli was up to, and the Yu Kingdom citizens who were lying on the ground on the verge of death were even more confused.
Ning Jinli walked among the people, squatted down, and gently asked, "What is your greatest wish?"
These people only knew they were about to die, so they had no mind to answer such absurd questions. Their faces were ashen, and they remained silent.
Ning Jinli looked at the old man from before, "Tell me, what is your greatest wish in this life?"
Her large, bright, and clear eyes gave the old man a sense of peace and security. After thinking about it carefully, the old man said, "My biggest wish is... to always have land to cultivate, to always have food to eat, and clothes to wear."
Even though Ning Jinli already knew in her heart that the wishes of the most suffering people in the world were so simple and pure, she still felt a lump in her throat when she heard it.
She gently wiped her eyes, stood up, looked at Duan Wu and the soldiers, and said earnestly:
"Whether it's the Great Xuan or any other country, the common people all share this wish. Do you understand why the greatest wish of all the people in the world is simply to have enough to eat and clothes to wear? Do you know how to help them realize this wish?"
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