The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 485 May Your Life Be Long and Prosperous (Part 1)

The first year of Guangqi in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the second year of Qianhua in the Great Liang Dynasty.

That year, chaos reigned. First, war broke out in the northern deserts. Yelü Lage, who had been driven out of the grasslands by Qin King Xiao Yan three years earlier, returned with the secret support of the Jin state, sweeping across half of the grasslands and his army marching straight towards Dading Prefecture. Meanwhile, Li Cunxu led 20,000 elite troops from Hedong on a personal expedition beyond the Great Wall to compete for control of the grasslands and seize control of the northern deserts.

Subsequently, Li Xingyun of Jiangnan declared himself emperor, and proclamations from both the north and south rained down. The Jin state, which had originally submitted to the Central Plains, changed its mind and allied with the Southern Tang to jointly attack the Central Plains.

While the Jin state conquered the grasslands, the Southern Tang state mobilized 100,000 naval troops to launch a three-pronged attack on the Yangtze River in support of the Jin state. Bianjing (Kaifeng) was thrown into turmoil and urgently dispatched 30,000 imperial cavalry and infantry to reinforce Huaibei and Jingxiang. The Southern Tang state's prestige soared, and it even brazenly issued an edict to confer the title of "King of Jing" upon Gao Jixing, the military governor of Jingnan.

At that time, the war raged in the northern deserts, and the Central Plains issued a policy of recuperation. The Southern Tang was more powerful than ever before, and although Gao Jixing angrily refused the title of king, his attitude became ambiguous and unclear. As a result, the imperial guards in Bianjing stopped at Xiangzhou, and the navy in Kuizhou also hesitated at Yiling without receiving orders from the central government.

The north and south faced each other across the river. From early spring to early summer, there were constant skirmishes and conflicts, large and small. The Southern Tang, relying on its naval advantage and large number of troops, even managed to land on the north bank at one point. Although it was no match for the Bianliang Imperial Army in land battles, it still greatly boosted its national prestige for a time.

Meanwhile, news of victory also arrived from the northern deserts. Prince Li Cunxu of Jin personally led an expedition out of the grasslands, defeating Zhu Youwen and Wang Yanzhang along the way, annihilating thousands of troops from Youzhou, and advancing a thousand miles from Taiyuan. Prince Li Cunxu was invincible, winning battle after battle. The princes of Southern Tang were greatly encouraged by this news, and proclamations flew like snowflakes, denouncing the Central Plains.

However, Bianjing remained silent throughout. The Prince of Qin, Xiao Yan, who had stirred up the world, was even more silent, as if he had concealed his brilliance ever since issuing that "Proclamation to All Subjects."

Until the very next instant, the Battle of Liuhe erupted like a thunderclap. The King of Qin personally led the charge and annihilated the Jin army and the 20,000 to 30,000 rebel troops from the northern deserts. Reports of Li Cunxu's retreat from Tanshan and then from Yehuling came one after another, and the world was momentarily speechless, then focused all its attention on Yehuling, a natural barrier that connects the northern deserts to the west and the Central Plains to the south.

The *Strategies of the Warring States* states that Yehu Ridge was once the site of a diplomatic liaison between King Xiang of Zhao and the state of Dai. The city's borders were sealed off and named "Gate of Infinity." This formidable terrain indeed halted the Qin king's relentless offensive, allowing the Southern Tang to breathe a sigh of relief. Gao Jixing, who was struggling with whether to go to the capital to pay homage to the Empress and prove his innocence, hesitated once again because of this.

However, Gao Jixing's last-minute retreat immediately made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles in Jiangling City, trembling day and night.

In mid-June, the city of Yunzhou in Daibei fell, Yehuling was lost, and the last elite force in Hedong was wiped out. Li Cunxu died at Baideng Mountain. The remaining tribes of Yinshan, including the so-called Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Tatar, Shiwei, Uyghur, and Tubo, as well as the counties of Lingqiu, Anbian, and Feihu in Weizhou, and Jincheng and Hunyuan in Yingzhou, almost all surrendered without resistance.

Upon taking control of Yunzhou, Prince Qin, Xiao Yan, immediately ordered Li Ting's army, which had rushed to the aid of Feihu Pass, to join forces with the newly surrendered troops of the Mobei and Yinshan tribes and march south to the Yingzhou line. Tens of thousands of iron cavalry pressed on, causing not only Zhou Dewei, who had previously retreated to Mayi in Shuozhou, to hastily retreat to the state capital of Shanyang, but also the southern regions of Daizhou, Yanmen, Xinzhou, and even Taiyuan Prefecture, as well as the kingdoms of Jiangnan, to feel the earth shake.

Not to mention the prefectures and counties of Jin that were eager to surrender, the entire army of Hebei province marched through Weizhou and stationed troops at Yanmen Pass. Tian Daocheng's troops from Zhenzhou also advanced to the passes of Taihang, threatening Taiyuan Prefecture across the mountains.

Immediately, envoys from Bianjing (Kaifeng) went directly to Taiyuan, clearly stating the deadline and demanding that the Jin state's officials surrender to the Central Plains. At the same time, Bianjing dispatched its imperial guards again, divided into four routes led by Wang Zongkan, Kou Yanqing, Wang Tan, and Dai Siyuan. One route was stationed in Xiangzhou, and another in Yingzhou. Yu Zhong's troops, originally stationed in Xiangzhou, advanced directly south, reaching the walls of Jiangling; while Wang Zongkan's troops in Yingzhou reached the walls of Shouzhou in Huainan.

In less than a month, the world was turned upside down! More than 100,000 troops were deployed in the north and south of the Central Plains, as if the so-called tax exemption policy in the Central Plains and the feeling that the national treasury was empty were just an illusion.

For a time, Jiangnan was shaken, and almost everyone was in danger, worried that Taiyuan would surrender, and even more worried that after Xiao Yan pacified the Jin Kingdom, he would take the opportunity to go south and sweep through Jiangnan!
Thus, after the world was shaken, although the Southern Tang increased its troops along the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, it tacitly ceased its offensive and launched no further attacks. The world was instantly plunged into an eerie silence.

"The commander has been operating in Hedong for many years, and his gang of scoundrels are all over Taiyuan and the army. Why not leave them behind?"

In Wenshui County, Taiyuan, on the banks of the Wengu River that runs alongside the county seat, inside an inn, Fake Li, in front of several people, slammed down an empty water bag, then glared angrily at the small-statured Mirror Heart Demon among them. He didn't even have time to wash off the sour, smelly clothes and sweat stains on his face from his disheveled escape.

"With the Bad People controlling the Jin court, we can continue to deal with Xiao Yan. Even if we can't win, we absolutely cannot let him easily take Taiyuan! This long journey to Jiangnan not only hands over the Jin state, but also leaves us with an uncertain future. What if we run into Liang's spies...? Putting all that aside, I only ask one question: why should I go and rely on that Li Xingyun?!"

In the devastating defeat that swept across hundreds of miles at Yehuling, the fake Li was far better than Li Cunxu. However, as a commander-in-chief, he was nothing short of a walking hero to the Yinshan tribes who had recently submitted to Xiao Yan.

So even if it was the fake Li, he was chased like a stray dog ​​by thousands of Hu people. If it weren't for Jingxinmo's decisive action in persuading him to abandon his troops and travel light, he probably wouldn't have been able to escape from the encirclement and pursuit of those Yinshan barbarian cavalry who were eager to make a name for themselves in front of Xiao Yan and were like wolves and tigers to all Jin troops.

He, along with Jing Xinmo and Quinn and other rogues, barely managed to escape the battlefield, taking a long detour through Shuozhou to flee back to Hedong, hoping to catch their breath. However, along the way, news of Li Cunxu's suicide, the fall of Yunzhou, and the surrender of Ying and Wei prefectures spread like a plague, even faster than their escape, directly throughout the entire Hedong region.

Suddenly, chaos erupted throughout Hedong.

Both Li Keyong and Li Cunxu, the two Jin kings, were warmongers who exhausted the country's resources for a long time. With the death of the Jin king and the invasion of Xiao Yan's army, the grassroots administration at the county level collapsed. Countless county officials abandoned their posts and fled. Not to mention the rampant banditry, even the Tongwen Academy's branches scattered throughout Hedong were in chaos, and they began to follow suit, taking advantage of the chaos to commit robbery.

In this situation, let alone taking a breather, they couldn't even get any information from Taiyuan. After all, Wild Fox Ridge had suffered a swift and devastating defeat, catching even Mirror Heart Demon, the intelligence chief, off guard, and cutting off all their escape routes.

Along the way, the prefectures and counties were in a state of panic, and the network of communication among the Bad People was in disarray. After finally sneaking back into Taiyuan, they were met with the devastating news that the envoy from Bianjing had entered the city and ordered them to surrender within a specified period.

So at this moment, as the group paused briefly at the Wenshui Inn, the huge divergence in their path naturally and instantly erupted. Jingxinmo stood with his hands in his pockets, his face devoid of any smile, simply watching the water bag that the fake Li had thrown roll a few times on the rammed earth, remaining silent for a moment.

Quinn and the other two members of the Bad Guys stood silently to the side, their breathing extremely low, without uttering a word.

The inn was run by the Bad Guys, who had arranged a nice courtyard by the river for everyone. The dull sound of the Wen Gu River flowing in could be faintly heard, adding to the restlessness. Fake Li's face was covered in sweat and dust. His once handsome face was now full of anger and a hint of barely perceptible humiliation. His clothes were tattered and he looked disheveled, completely lacking the demeanor he usually maintained.

After a long while, Mirror Heart Demon finally raised his hand, wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and managed to force out his usual smile:

"Your Highness, please calm down. Taiyuan is indeed the stronghold that our Bad People have painstakingly built up over many years. Under normal circumstances, with just a secret order from the Commander-in-Chief, it would not be difficult for us to secretly manipulate events, support puppets, or even stir up trouble again."

But he immediately sighed helplessly: "However, things are different now. After the Battle of Yehuling, the national forces were overthrown. Li Cunxu died on the battlefield. Not only were the elite troops wiped out in one day, but the morale of the people in Hedong collapsed like Mount Tai. Yunzhou, Yingzhou, and Weizhou fell one after another. With only Shuozhou and Yanmen, it is really difficult to stop Xiao Yan. At this time, Luzhou in the south no longer poses any threat to Xiao Yan. With troops stationed under Yanmen, Taiyuan has become an isolated place."

Seeing that the fake Li was about to retort, he quickened his pace, but then interrupted, saying:

"Your Highness, please consider this carefully. Who is Xiao Yan? His military strategy is divine, and he also understands people's hearts! He returned Li Cunxu's body and gave him a grand funeral according to royal rites. This is not only magnanimous but also a ruthless act! He combines outward benevolence with the substance of military might. Who among the soldiers and civilians of Taiyuan is not grateful for his 'kindness'? Who is not afraid of his might? The Liang envoy's demand for surrender within a time limit is a death knell. At this moment, Taiyuan must be in a state of panic, and the morale of the army has already collapsed! Even if our Bad People have hundreds or thousands of spies, what can we do? Are we supposed to jump out and incite those frightened birds to fight against Xiao Yan's ferocious army?"

Seeing the fake Li's face turn pale with resentment, and then fall silent, Mirror Heart Demon continued slowly, "This is not maneuvering, but a mantis trying to stop a chariot. It is throwing away the Commander-in-Chief's years of hard work into this doomed situation. Your Highness, Taiyuan is already a dead end. Staying there will not only fail to help the Commander-in-Chief's grand plans, but will also make us, including Your Highness, all... the Commander-in-Chief's pawns!"

Upon hearing the words "abandoned pawn," the fake Li's face instantly turned deathly pale. His lips tightened, and his eyes were filled with humiliation and resentment. But he only managed a low growl: "Even so, I will never submit to Li Xingyun! What's wrong with living under someone else's roof and depending on their whims? But let me live under this man's thumb, forget it!"

Upon hearing the fake Li's words, Mirror Heart Demon was not angered at all; instead, a glint of light flashed in his eyes. He took half a step forward, his voice unconsciously lowering slightly:
"Your Highness, please be careful with your words. Don't forget your identity. Your Highness was carefully groomed by the General to replace the useless Li Xingyun. Your Highness is not going to Jiangnan to live under someone else's roof, but to join my Bad People system, to lurk in the abyss and wait for the right time to make your move."

He looked directly into the suddenly narrowed eyes of the imposter Li Xingyun and continued, “Your Highness, although the General cherishes Li Xingyun, he possesses only the blood of the Tang dynasty, lacking the heart of an emperor. He is indecisive and easily swayed by the likes of Ma Yin of Chu and Xu Wen of Wu, becoming their pretext for opposing Xiao Yan. His ascension to the throne and establishment of a reign title appear powerful, but in reality, his foundation is weak; he is nothing more than a clay figure made of loose sand. The various towns in Jiangnan each harbor their own ulterior motives, ostensibly protecting the Tang, but in reality, each pursuing their own selfish interests. How can such a situation, such an emperor, last long? How can he truly achieve great things?!”

Fake Li's breath hitched, his eyes flashing intensely, but he pressed on, "These words... are they your intention, or the Commander's?"

Jing Xinmo's lips curled into a meaningful smile. He gestured for the fake Li to sit down and then said, "At this moment, does it matter to Your Highness whether it is the Commander-in-Chief's will or my humble opinion? It is true that the Commander-in-Chief values ​​Li Xingyun's bloodline, but we, the Bad People, walk in the shadows and are insightful about the world. Can we really not see that Li Xingyun... is definitely not a ruler who can be supported?"

Fake Li shuddered and subconsciously looked up at Quinn and the others. The latter were also stunned for a moment, but then simply nodded and remained silent, as if silently confirming the words of the Mirror Heart Demon.

Mirror Heart Demon, seizing the opportunity, immediately added, "But Your Highness is different. You were personally raised and taught by the Commander-in-Chief. Although you lack the empty title of Emperor, you have endured humiliation and hardship for many years, and are well-versed in the ways of power and strategy, as we have all witnessed. Compared to Li Xingyun, who only possesses bloodline, you have more the qualities of a hero. If we are talking about opposing a peerless hero like Xiao Yan, you are the true choice for emperor. Li Xingyun simply cannot handle this chaotic situation in Jiangnan. His so-called Southern Dynasty is destined to be short-lived, a victim of the power struggles between various factions. It needs a stabilizing force, a truly enlightened ruler who can turn the tide!"

Fake Li's pupils contracted sharply, and the ambition that had been suppressed for too long by his substitute identity ignited like a raging fire. He stared intently at the Mirror Heart Demon's drooping head, his chest heaving violently.

But then the Mirror Demon rose and bowed deeply, his posture extremely humble:
"Your Highness, we, the Bad People, all know that you are the pillar of strength, the wise ruler who can save the day. If Your Highness trusts me, I can assure you that your trip to Jiangnan is not to attach yourself to Li Xingyun, but to remain behind the scenes, observing the tides. You will exploit the conflicts among the towns of Jiangnan, exploit Li Xingyun's weakness and incompetence, secretly accumulating power, controlling the Bad People's plans in Jiangnan, and waiting for the opportune moment. When the Southern Dynasty is driven to the brink by Xiao Yan, when Li Xingyun's tattered banner can no longer unite the people, when all forces are disaffected and chaos reigns..."

Mirror Heart Demon abruptly raised his head, his gaze piercing, meeting the burning ambition in Fake Li's eyes, which had been completely ignited, and said decisively:

"That will be the time for Your Highness to emerge out of nowhere and turn the tide. As the true successor of the Li Tang dynasty, you will use swift and decisive means to integrate the remaining forces in Jiangnan and take up the banner of the Southern Dynasty. At that time, Jiangnan will not be a dead end, but rather the cornerstone for Your Highness's rise to power. It will be the final trump card in the Grand Marshal's plan to reverse the tide. Only Your Highness has the courage and the means to clean up the mess left by Li Xingyun and ignite the prairie fire that is enough to shake Xiao Yan's foundation!"

"Your Highness, Taiyuan is a lost cause; to remain is to discard a pawn. Although Jiangnan possesses Li Xingyun, it is precisely your greatest opportunity for transformation. This journey will only involve enduring temporary humiliation. Yet, Your Highness has endured humiliation and carried heavy burdens for so many years; why fear this final step? The Commander-in-Chief's plans are far-reaching; we hope Your Highness will prioritize the nation and the great cause, and accompany us south. The stage in Jiangnan awaits your arrival, the true protagonist!"

Inside the inn, there was a deathly silence. Mirror Heart Demon remained in a deep bowing posture, saying nothing, simply waiting quietly.

The two thugs beside Quinn even held their breath, their eyes darting nervously between Mirror Heart Demon and Fake Li, while Quinn simply crossed his arms over his chest, as if deep in thought.

The initial anger and resistance on Fake Li's face vanished completely after Mirror Heart Demon's earnest words.

The ambition buried deep within his heart for years, suppressed for far too long by his substitute identity, began to rise again, thread by thread. Fake Li stared intently at the Mirror Demon's lowered head, his chest heaving violently. After a long silence, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through clenched teeth:
"After setting off for Jiangnan... specifically, how should we proceed?"

"Your Highness, do not worry. Once you arrive in Jiangnan, you will know what to do."

(End of this chapter)