Dalinghe City.
After Gao Qiqian's death, the capital's pampered young troops who had once followed him were quietly reassigned under the command of Lu Xiangsheng. No ceremony marked the shift. Orders simply changed hands, and the soldiers adjusted with surprising ease, as if authority itself mattered more than the man holding it.
Lu Xiangsheng spent several days reviewing the battle reports.
The results unsettled him.
The earlier assault on Dalinghe.had been loud enough to shake the heavens. Explosions chained one after another, smoke swallowing the skyline, the kind of spectacle that should have demanded a heavy price in blood.
But the casualty lists told a different story.
Almost none.
The real losses had come later, during the final resistance led by Ajige, when distance collapsed and the fight turned into something personal, something that no amount of preparation could completely suppress.
Lu Xiangsheng set the report down, exhaled slowly, then let out a low hum under his breath, half song, half sigh.
"Ajige… capable in both offense and defense… truly a reliable fierce general…"
Before he could finish, footsteps approached.
Yang Guozhu, General of Xuanfu, hurried over. Even surrounded by forces he still instinctively regarded as rebels, he lowered his voice out of habit when speaking to the Minister of War.
"Lord Lu," he said, "shouldn't we advance now? This is a rare opportunity. A chance to strike straight toward Shenyang. Why has the army stopped here? We've been sitting in this city for days."
Lu Xiangsheng nodded slowly.
"I also believe this is a rare opportunity," he replied. "If they could eliminate Ajige and take Dalinghe so easily, advancing toward Shenyang should not be difficult. Yet they have chosen to remain here. I find it… puzzling as well."
Yang Guozhu leaned closer.
"Then perhaps you should ask them. They may be rebels, but they respect you. They're willing to speak with you. It's completely different from how they treated Gao Qiqian."
Lu Xiangsheng could not deny that.
It was a strange feeling.
Men who showed no regard for imperial authority, who ignored the weight of the throne itself, somehow treated him with a measure of respect that felt both genuine and inexplicable.
He let out a quiet breath.
"Very well," he said. "I will ask."
He walked across the camp until he found the man everyone called "Master Li."
Li DaoXuan was seated casually, a bowl in hand, thoroughly enjoying a steaming dish of pork stewed with vermicelli. He ate with visible satisfaction, as if the ongoing campaign were nothing more than an extended journey with good food along the way.
"Traveling all the way to Liaodong and not eating the local cuisine would be a waste," Li DaoXuan said between bites. "What's the point of going somewhere new if you insist on eating the same food as back home?"
He shook his head as if recalling something distasteful.
"Some people travel and still hunt down their hometown dishes. Completely backwards behavior."
Lu Xiangsheng paused for a moment, unsure how to respond, then decided to ignore the comment entirely.
"Master Li," he said, "there is something I wish to discuss."
Li DaoXuan gestured to the seat across from him.
"Sit. Let's talk while eating. Discussing matters at the table is one of our great traditions."
Lu Xiangsheng sat, though not without hesitation.
"After taking Dalinghe City, our forces suffered almost no losses," he began. "With such momentum, we could press forward immediately toward Shenyang. Why has the army remained here for so long?"
Li DaoXuan swallowed his food, then smiled.
"I'm waiting for an opportunity."
"An opportunity?" Lu Xiangsheng frowned slightly. "Even ordinary civilians who know nothing of warfare can see that this is the best moment to attack Shenyang."
Li DaoXuan shook his head.
"That kind of opportunity is for dealing with the Qing," he said. "For me, the Qing are only a military problem. And military problems are the easiest to solve."
Lu Xiangsheng felt a faint unease rise in his chest.
"Then what opportunity are you waiting for?"
Li DaoXuan set down his bowl.
"I'm waiting for the right moment to change how people think."
Lu Xiangsheng's brows drew together.
"I don't understand."
Li DaoXuan looked at him, the smile still there, but quieter now.
"Tell me," he said, "if even ordinary people can see that this is the best time to attack Shenyang, what happens when someone uses their authority to stop that attack?"
Lu Xiangsheng froze for a brief moment, then his expression shifted.
"You mean… if the Emperor suppresses this opportunity, it will cause dissatisfaction?"
Li DaoXuan nodded.
"Zhu Youjian does not take criticism well," he said. "The more people say he is wrong, the more he will insist on being right."
Lu Xiangsheng felt his heartbeat quicken.
"And then you take advantage of that dissatisfaction to overthrow him? That is the opportunity you are waiting for?"
Li DaoXuan laughed softly.
"Overthrowing an emperor is easy," he said. "I could do it at any time. But it would not change anything."
Lu Xiangsheng said nothing.
"I am not trying to remove a person," Li DaoXuan continued. "I am trying to remove the idea that one person should decide everything."
The words settled heavily between them.
"If the system remains the same," Li DaoXuan said, his tone turning serious, "then replacing the emperor changes nothing. It only gives the illusion of change."
Lu Xiangsheng's fingers tightened slightly against his sleeve.
He understood.
Too quickly.
Too clearly.
This was not the first time he had heard such thoughts. Sun Chuanting had once spoken of similar ideas, of governance shared rather than concentrated, of shifting away from a single will controlling the fate of all.
At the time, Lu Xiangsheng had listened.
Now, he felt it pressing against him.
Everything he had learned since childhood told him that loyalty to the emperor was absolute.
Yet everything before his eyes told him something else.
If the emperor was wrong, and that error harmed the state, then what did loyalty truly mean?
His thoughts tangled together, pulling in opposite directions.
Loyalty… or the greater good?
He lowered his gaze, unable to answer even himself.
…
At the same time, in the imperial study of the capital.
"Your Majesty!"
A young eunuch rushed in, breathless.
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened. In Luoyang, Henan, a large group of scholars has jointly submitted a petition, urging Your Majesty to immediately order an attack on Shenyang. They say the opportunity must not be wasted."
Before the emperor could respond, another eunuch rushed in.
"Your Majesty, in Puzhou, Shanxi, the streets are filled with scholars openly criticizing the throne."
Another followed.
"Your Majesty, reports are coming in from multiple regions…"
Messages arrived one after another, piling up like falling snow.
Across the country, voices were rising.
In contrast, the capital itself remained quiet.
The officials of the court did not speak.
No one stepped forward.
No one offered advice.
Only one scholar, Liu Maopao, had made a brief statement before disappearing without a trace.
Beyond that, there was nothing.
Silence.
Zhu Youjian slammed his hand against the table.
"Outrageous!" he shouted. "A group of rebellious fools dares to call me a foolish ruler. This is treason. This is defiance of the throne. They have a death wish!"