Liu Hao was a generally well-liked person, so his invitation to a banquet wasn't surprising to those who received it.
Except for a few individuals with prior commitments, everyone readily accepted Liu Hao's invitation.
Meanwhile, under Liu Hao's command, his personal guards and private soldiers were quietly mobilized.
Although evening had already descended, all the personal guards and private soldiers, under Liu Hao's orders, remained armed and armored, ready to kill at any moment.
Thus, everything proceeded according to Liu Hao's plan, in an orderly fashion.
By the time the sun had set, all preparations were complete.
In the darkness of night, under the lamplight, sounds of fighting continued.
Liu Hao, having made all his preparations, annihilated all the high-ranking military officers who had been invited, leaving none alive. He then used gold, silver, treasures, beautiful women, and fine wine to secure the loyalty of the lower and middle-ranking officers.
Having seized control of all the military power in Jingzhou through a coup, Liu Hao became the most powerful figure in the region.
He forcefully replaced most of the civil officials in Jingzhou, including his former superior, the Governor of Jingzhou, and installed his own trusted confidants.
Those who dared to oppose him met their end by the sword.
From then on, Liu Hao effectively controlled the military and political affairs of an entire province.
One year later, Liu Hao led an army of 100,000 soldiers to attack Yangzhou, and effortlessly captured the new imperial palace recently established by Emperor Zhao Gou of the Song Dynasty.
After placing Emperor Zhao Gou under house arrest, Liu Hao then resolved the issue of the last of the southern three prefectures, Xuzhou, through diplomatic means.
Having unified military and political power in the south, Liu Hao proclaimed himself Great General. After five years of consolidating his strength, he raised an army of 350,000 and launched a counter-offensive against the Jin state in the north.
Following fifteen arduous years of war, he finally conquered the Jin capital, Yanjing, driving the Jurchen foreigners out of Jiuzhou.
In the same year, Liu Hao ascended the throne, establishing the state of Chu, historically known as Emperor Taizu of Chu.
The following year, the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou, drank poisoned wine and died.
...
Thirty years later.
A beautiful young woman named Wanyan Yanran, in her early twenties, walked into the capital city of the Chu Kingdom.
She passed by the Chu imperial palace, gazing from afar towards the direction of the main hall.
Finally, she whispered to herself.
"Sooner or later, our Wanyan clan will return and reclaim this fertile land."
As the sky gradually darkened, Wanyan Yanran walked step by step towards the imperial palace, her figure slowly disappearing.
As the foremost assassin of the Jurchen tribe, she evaded one guard and sentry after another, directly infiltrating the heavily guarded imperial palace.
Finally.
She arrived at the innermost core of the palace, the hall where the emperor resided.
She brazenly made her way to the sleeping quarters of the Chu Emperor.
Outside the deserted sleeping chambers stood a few imperial guards. As a patrol squad moved away, the guards on duty saw a figure suddenly appear.
"Who's there?"
"An assassin!"
"Quick, capture the assassin!"
Outside the sleeping quarters, the guards on duty shouted loudly and charged forward.
By then, Wanyan Yanran held five throwing knives in her hand.
All five knives flew out simultaneously. The speed of the knives wasn't exceptionally fast, but their efficiency was superb.
Five kills with five knives! From her cunning to her calculations, and even the timing, Wanyan Yanran had reached the pinnacle of perfection.
After achieving five kills with five knives, Wanyan Yanran moved without hesitation, cleanly dispatching several eunuchs.
She understood that at this moment, the tens of thousands of imperial guards within the palace were all her enemies.
Within a breath, the surroundings fell silent. More than a dozen bodies lay in pools of blood.
Wanyan Yanran pushed open the tightly shut doors with her hands and walked directly inside.
On the bed.
The aged Liu Hao leaned on the dragon bed, covered by a golden-yellow quilt.
Just as the rumors suggested, the founding emperor of the Chu Kingdom had fallen gravely ill and was now on his deathbed.
"Who are you?"
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Liu Hao looked with imposing authority at the stranger who was walking in from outside.
His demeanor was so calm as if he were facing not someone who could take his life at any moment, but a minister coming to pay his respects.
"The founder of the Chu Empire, compared to the divine figure you are rumored to be, you seem rather pathetic and weak right now."
Liu Hao smiled upon hearing this and replied, "Everyone grows old, and I am no exception. Furthermore, I am seventy-five years old this year, long past the age of seventy. I have lived more than my due."
As Liu Hao spoke, he observed Wanyan Yanran. From the unique calluses on her fingers and her broken Central Plains dialect, he guessed her identity.
"Are you from the Jurchen tribe?" Liu Hao asked.
Wanyan Yanran pressed forward, replying, "My name is Wanyan Yanran."
...
"Your surname is Wanyan?"
"Oh, I remember now. Isn't 'Wanyan' the imperial surname of the Jurchen tribe?"
"Haha, how interesting. The royal family of the Jurchen tribe has come all the way to Jiuzhou to assassinate me, and it's a woman."
"The men of the Jurchen tribe have indeed become far too degenerate. They lack the spirit of conquering the world and being invincible that they once possessed, actually sending a woman to assassinate me."
Although Liu Hao didn't know how the other party had managed to infiltrate his chambers so silently without any commotion outside, he knew that with her reaching this point, a certain outcome was inevitable.
Wanyan Yanran drew her soft sword and said to Liu Hao in an ice-cold voice,
"Emperor of Chu, the greatest enemy of our Jurchen tribe, you will surely die today. Do you have any last words before you die?"
"Hahahahahahaha..."
Liu Hao couldn't help but burst into laughter. His aged body could barely support him as he roared with laughter.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..."
His extreme agitation caused him to cough incessantly, and he only stopped after spitting up a mouthful of blood.
Liu Hao's cloudy eyes suddenly became bright, devoid of any weakness or fear.
"The race that emerged from the desolate and bitter lands of Liaodong, conquered Mongolia, pacified Shaanxi and Gansu, destroyed the Great Song, has long since vanished into the river of history."
"The Jurchen saying 'Ten thousand Jurchens cannot be defeated' has now become a colossal joke."
"Even more laughable is your attempt to revive the Jurchen race of memory through my death."
...
Wanyan Yanran listened, her face turning red with anger, her body trembling uncontrollably. She shouted furiously, "You're spouting nonsense! If you dare to utter one more word that insults our Jurchen tribe, I will kill you immediately."
"Kill me?"
"Isn't your purpose here to kill me? Why should I yield to you just to live a few more moments?"
"Come, come and kill me!"
Liu Hao struggled to stand, unfastened his robes, revealing his chest, and said loudly, "Thirty years of peace have made me and my country forget the deeply ingrained hatred of the past."
"Today, let my death ignite the lost flame of hatred in the hearts of the people of Jiuzhou."
"The war between nomadic and agrarian peoples will never cease unless one side is completely annihilated."
...
With this, there was nothing left to discuss between them.
Liu Hao feared no death, and Wanyan Yanran also feared that the old man before her would continue speaking and shake her resolve to kill.
Wanyan Yanran raised her soft sword and thrust it towards Liu Hao's heart.
With a "bang," Liu Hao fell back onto the bed, his blood staining the golden-yellow quilt.
By this time, a large number of imperial guards had completely surrounded the hall, making it impossible for even a fly to escape.
As Wanyan Yanran had no intention of leaving alive, she knocked over an oil lamp from a candlestick with her soft sword.
Soon, a fierce fire spread throughout the entire hall, reducing everything within to ashes, including Wanyan Yanran and Liu Hao.
Half an hour later, a group of people dressed in opulent robes arrived outside the hall, which had now become a ruin. Among them was the Crown Prince of Chu.
He had rushed over from his princely residence and saw the hall, which had turned into a scorched ruin, and several unrecognizable corpses.
"Father Emperor?"
With red eyes, the Crown Prince of Chu, upon hearing Wanyan Yanran's identity from the imperial guards, roared in fury, "Damn Jurchen tribe! I, Liu Yang, swear that if I do not destroy the Jurchen, I will not be human."
No one had expected that a Jurchen would so brazenly invade their capital and kill their emperor within their imperial palace.
However, this act thoroughly ignited the fury of all the people of Chu.
The new emperor ascended the throne, using the death of the previous emperor to unite everyone against a common enemy, channeling internal instability and conflict into hatred for foreign tribes.
On the hundred-zhang high city walls of the capital.
The new generation emperor, wearing his imperial crown, raised his son of heaven's sword and roared.
"Filthy Jurchens, you assassinated my father, your hero, with despicable means. We will make them pay a bloody price."
"Blood for blood, tooth for tooth."
"Kill all the Jurchen, level the grasslands and Liaodong."
"Let their blood be an offering to our king."
The soldiers below immediately responded in unison.
A new war had begun.
...
Inside a scripture repository, a young man sat quietly, his eyes closed, his entire being radiating no aura, as if he were asleep or perhaps cultivating.
After a long while, Wu Tao suddenly awoke from his enlightenment, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"A thought creates a world!"
Recalling the seemingly real yet illusory, long life he had experienced, his heart trembled. For the first time, he felt terror.
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