The Demon Lords-Chapter 739 - 160: Feeding the Tiger with One’s Own Body_1

The Eldest Prince had been having quite a good time recently.

He visited six tribal leaders and, at the same time, hosted a "Chieftain Conference," inviting even more leaders of the wild tribes.

In fact, the whole meeting was just for show, and the participants were all distracted.

The wild people were currently at a stage where their ethnic fortune was on the rise. Under the leadership of the Wild King, they first overthrew the two fortresses held by the Situ Family on the snowy plains and then broke through Snow Sea Pass. They were close to attacking Ying Capital City.

Although the Yan Army arrived later, they were still significantly defeated by the Wang River.

Many things could be faked, but the hordes of Jin people enslaved and transported back from Cheng State, the countless carts of wealth, and the copious amounts of grain absolutely could not.

With such momentum, it seemed that no one could rival the prestige of the Wild King in the snowy plains.

However, uniting the snowy plains, which had been fragmented for hundreds of years, in a short period was nearly impossible.

Unless the Wild King returned to the snowy plains with his great victory and abundant resources, and then used the deterrence of his personal troops to reorganize and integrate the snowy plains.

The problem was, the Wild King hadn't done this yet. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he didn't have time.

There was too much he wanted to do, one thing leading to another, and one thing triggering another.

The main reason was that when he attacked Cheng State, the Yan people took the initiative to enter the snowy plains and join the battlefield, completely depriving him of the opportunity to calmly arrange his plans.

Therefore, the original great tribal chieftains each had their own little plans. They were like self-made emperors in their own territories and did not wish to have a true "King" or "Emperor" above them.

However, circumstances were more compelling than individual will, and the tribal leaders who hadn't sworn allegiance in the first wave and were still putting on airs were nevertheless prepared to bend their knees.

They would undoubtedly pay their respects upon the Wild King's return, even going so far as to kiss his boots in submission.

But that didn't stop them from meeting the prestigious prince from Yan State at this time.

Of course, the main reason was that the Black Dragon flag of Yan State suddenly flew over Snow Sea Pass. That was the primary reason they were willing to sit down and listen to the Eldest Prince's speech.

They were all astute; their so-called "simplicity" and silence around the bonfire were only their natural appearances. How could the wild people, who had dealt with wolves since childhood, be genuinely naïve?

The Eldest Prince was fully aware of this.

His mission was not to integrate the remaining tribes in the snowy plains but to stall them and prevent them from attacking Snow Sea Pass from the north.

When Zheng Fan tasked him with this mission, the Eldest Prince initially refused.

Because his surname was Ji, some things—trivial to Zheng Fan, the 'rebel'—were sacred and inviolable in his eyes.

As the eldest son of the Ji Family and the prince of Yan, the instinct to uphold the sanctity of royal power was nearly innate to him.

However, the bitter defeat at the Wang River, which he himself had commanded, filled him with guilt, quite apart from the strategic mistakes he had made.

This was similar to the Sword Saint's situation.

To atone, the Sword Saint had been willing to risk his own destruction to forcibly advance his cultivation and kill Geremu.

Similarly, for the sake of atonement, the Eldest Prince was willing to personally go to the snowy plains and fraternize with these wild tribal leaders.

However, it might have been that Zheng Fan had already understood the situation and figured out what the chieftains wanted. So, when the Eldest Prince actually arrived with a blank imperial edict and the great seal intended as an inducement, he found the task much easier than he had anticipated.

Those tribes willing to follow the Wild King, and those motivated by the thought of plundering once Snow Sea Pass was breached, had basically sent out their warriors to follow the Wild King through the pass.

And some of the larger tribes, along with the smaller tribes beholden to them, were awkwardly observing the situation.

On one hand, as leaders of major tribes, they were reluctant to swallow their pride and beg others to let them share the spoils. On the other hand, the battle situation was still unclear, and since they had already missed the first wave of benefits, it was better to wait and see how things unfolded.

Therefore, the tribes the Eldest Prince was liaising with were not stalwart supporters of the Wild King.

As a result, when the Eldest Prince issued the imperial edict, these tribal leaders respectfully received it.

As for how sincere their respect was, well, everyone understood.

It was nothing more than bowing their heads, performing a ceremony, receiving a bright yellow imperial edict, and going through a ritual. For these tribal leaders, this was really insignificant.

However, when faced with the Eldest Prince's pronouncement that since they had been enfeoffed by Yan State, they were now Yan subjects and must band together to suppress the rebellious Wild King, these newly enfeoffed "Princes," "Dukes," and "Marquises" could only play dumb, as if they had instantly achieved enlightenment in Tai Chi Push Hands.

One day they would claim their tribes lacked food; the next, they would say a plague had broken out. In short, every day brought a fresh excuse to stall.

This was the way of bargaining: I set a high initial price, and you slowly haggle it down. I get the price I want, and you satisfy your sense of achievement from bargaining.

You want to sit and wait? Fine. After all, my task is just to make you sit.

This standoff lasted for quite a while.

And it created two starkly contrasting scenes.

On one side, south of Snow Sea Pass, the wild army attacked ceaselessly, suffering heavy casualties. The hostility was irreconcilable.

On the other side, north of Snow Sea Pass, they held bonfire parties every night. From the Eldest Prince down to Jin Shuke, everyone had several wild women share their beds. It was like a model of harmony between Yan and the Wilds.

Sleep? Yes, they were truly sleeping with them. You can't be aloof, or pretend, and you certainly can't show disgust. When people offer you their women in hospitality, it means they hold you in high regard! Especially at such a critical time, you can't afford any notions of spiritual purity. The seemingly friendly relationships were actually incredibly fragile.

Therefore, the Eldest Prince partook in nightly revelries, a new bridegroom every day.

Sometimes, after a session of lovemaking, the Eldest Prince would feel somewhat desolate. Looking at the exhausted wild woman sleeping on the bed, he found it all absurd.

Before his departure, Zheng Fan had told him that while Zheng Fan fought on the front lines, the Eldest Prince was on an invisible battlefield here, one that also required bloodshed.

But what he was shedding was not blood, but…

Every night, after it all ended, this scion of the Ji Family would endure a wave of self-reproach.

A small part of it was for his fiancée back in Yanjing.

Most of it stemmed from the conflict with his values as a soldier.

In his mind, he kept reassuring himself: he was sacrificing for the greater good, striving for the greater good, dedicating himself to the greater good. But if he were to boldly proclaim this, who would believe him? You are galloping on the battlefield, and so am I… Heh. Even the Eldest Prince wouldn't have the gall to say such words aloud.

The more time he spent pondering life, the more convoluted and unbearable his thoughts became.

「As the sun outside began to rise」

The Eldest Prince rose from his bed, pulled back the tent flap, and stepped out. His gaze immediately sharpened.

Outside the tent knelt more than a dozen tribal chieftains, great and small.

Frost and snow still clung to some of their robes, clear evidence they had been kneeling for a long time.

This was partly because the wind outside was quite strong, and partly because the chieftains were kneeling some distance from his tent, as if to respectfully avoid overhearing anything they shouldn't.

Therefore, the Eldest Prince hadn't sensed their arrival in advance.

The unrest in his own mind also played a role in this.

Faced with this scene, the Eldest Prince was momentarily stunned, and then understanding dawned.

Outside, Jin Shuke approached, fastening his belt. This barbarian from the desert lacked the Eldest Prince's complex inner turmoil.

At times, he could be incredibly meticulous, yet at others, he was remarkably straightforward.

When all that was required was to sit and observe the shifting situation south of Snow Sea Pass, Jin Shuke truly ate and slept as he pleased, and had clearly put on some weight.

As the Eldest Prince emerged, these chieftains, who had been kneeling in the wind and frost for a long time, collectively kowtowed,

"We pay our respects to Your Highness."

They prefaced 'Your Highness' with numerous honorifics. For one, 'Prince,' for another, 'Count,' for yet another, 'Marquis'—and preceding them all, the name 'Great Yan.'

Their etiquette, the completeness of their phrasing, surpassed even that of actual Yan State officials.

Their demeanor now showed only reverence, devoid of the previous perfunctory attitude they both knew had been an act.

The woman he had favored in the tent the previous night had also dressed and now peeked out. She gaped in astonishment when she saw these normally haughty chieftains kneeling at the feet of her 'lover from last night.'

And these chieftains, ever the opportunists—or perhaps, at this moment, truly desperate to seize any chance to advance—even cried out to this woman, the tribal slave girl they had presented to the Eldest Prince,

"Greetings to the Princess Consort!"

"Greetings to the Princess Consort!"

The Eldest Prince did not reprimand them, nor did he hypocritically tell them to rise immediately.

Instead, he laughed—a laugh tinged with bitterness, his teeth clenched.

His gaze turned south.

There lay Snow Sea Pass.

The depression that had weighed on his heart for so long finally began to lift.

The Wild King... had lost!

Yes.

Snow Sea Pass released three hundred prisoners. They hailed from many tribes and were allowed to carry their tribal totem flags back to the snowy plains to proclaim the ultimate fate of the wild people's army that had breached the pass.

Yan's iron cavalry had not only avenged their prior humiliation by crushing the main force of the wild people by the Wang River, but they had also pursued them relentlessly, utterly annihilating the last remnants of the wild people's army before Snow Sea Pass!

The Jin people had been defeated.

Jin State was extinguished.

The emperor of Cheng State had also perished.

Cheng State was no more.

But in their place rose a more powerful empire named 'Yan.'

It would assume the former duties of the Jin people, its Black Dragon banner continuing to cast a shadow of deterrence over the entire snowy plains!

「…」

ACHOO!

Atop the north gate tower of Snow Sea Pass, General Zheng sneezed.

He pointed at the ground beneath him and said,

"This is the north gate, right? That Sword Saint said he'd only help me guard the north gate in the future. Fine. From now on, our General Mansion will be built right next to the north gate, and its main entrance will face this north gate too. Hehe."