Chapter 2560: Chapter 121: The Grand Red Lanterns Hanging High
Given time, the River Valley plains, so fertile and blessed by nature, could well have been a great power!
Yet, the world-shaking River Valley battle erupted at a critical moment.
It was said that Qin and Chu had a falling out and desired the high ground, but the battlefield was chosen in the Valley.
The Central Empire, always willing to uphold universal justice, remained silent throughout.
Without Jinguo’s support, how could Dan Country and Qiao Country dare to make a sound in the face of Qin Chu’s military edge?
They directly discarded the secretly signed pact, turned a deaf ear to the pleas for help from the many small countries on the River Valley plains. They even tightly locked their borders, not daring to let a single citizen of the Valley nations enter.
Because before Qin and Chu selected the River Valley plains as the battlefield, they had already pre-emptively divided it through diplomatic means.
The two powers seized the west and east of the plains respectively. With Dan Country and Qiao Country not even being able to secure their own survival, how could they dare to take on Qin Chu’s private territory?
The final outcome was as recorded in history and witnessed by all — a grand national war between Qin and Chu directly turned the entire River Valley plains into a wasteland. From then on, all Valley nations perished.
In the following days, Dan Country and Qiao Country maintained contact, and their royal families even arranged a marriage two years ago, a kind of comforting embrace among the weak.
But now, those who are about to carve up Dan Country are no longer just one of Qin or Chu.
What about the son-in-law, the blood kin of the former Emperor? How can Qiao Country still mind? They can only repeat their old tricks, lock the gates and feign death.
Not making a sound among the various countries.
In fact, Qiao Country is not too weak, as it once also had a True Man of the Age presiding over it, otherwise, it would not have dared to secretly collude with Dan Country and ambitiously take the lead to establish the River Valley Alliance.
Of course, if the monarch and ministers of Qiao Country had known earlier that the so-called "Red Emperor" True Monarch of Dan Country had long died beyond the heavens, they wouldn’t have dared to agree to any alliance no matter what.
And before the River Valley battle began, Qiao Country’s True Man of the Age unfortunately fell in Yu Yuan.
Qiao Country went silent ever since.
As for Qiao Country’s current most powerful figure second only to the King, the God Arrives known as "Lady of Hundred Flowers" Min Youning, she is already over two hundred and thirty years old. It can be said that she has witnessed too much in her life.
From a fledgling talented girl, growing into a spirited powerhouse, a famed beauty far and wide, to now, with looks unchanged, yet a lingering decay has grown within her soul.
This decay hides in her eyes and brows, seeps into her skin and bones, corroding her life!
She has long been troubled by national affairs and always struggled with the stagnation of her cultivation, knowing well that she has aged.
Now watching Dan Country collapse in storms, she sits alone in the secluded practice on the Hundred Flowers Tower, full of sorrow, unable to see the distant scenery or perceive the future of her home country.
The bitter struggle of Qiao Country now, the painstaking efforts of Qiao’s monarch and ministers for so many years... what does it all amount to?
Still nothing more than a beast nest of the Hegemony Country, still nothing more than weaklings extorting the people above tribute. A country insufficient to be called a country, unable to withstand storms outside.
Speaking of which, such a Qiao Country is no stronger than the Church of Lifeless that was wiped out overnight.
The Son of Heaven is unworthy of being a lord, she too is vainly called "Protector of the Country"!
Having lived through so many years, she sees the world’s affairs clearly, and it is precisely because of this clarity that she suffers.
For example, she understands very well that earlier on the matter of the River Valley plains, the Valley nations originally had an independence demand, Jinguo had a need to wield the knife in the southwest of the current world, and the two sides hit it off.
Of course, looking back now, within the originally intended River Valley Alliance, Dan Country had a plan to use the momentum of the alliance to push out a Yandao True Monarch. By doing so, they conceal the death of their True Monarch Ancestor Yan Renxian, a daring move to seek life in danger.
Eleven years ago, the grandiose Yuanshi Dao Pill meeting held by Dan Country in the name of Yan Renxian played a trick of passing the Dao Pill across generations, fooling many, completely breaking the so-called "rumor" of Yan Renxian’s death.
Thinking back now, the people of Dan Country simply "deceived" their way to the Dao, leading the world in circles.
They deceived Qiao Country and others within the Valley nations. They deceived Jinguo’s support and also deceived Qin Chu’s vigilance.
Regrettably, they could not withstand such vigilance.
The so-called River Valley battle initially began because Qin and Chu detected the alliance of the Valley nations and thus decided to join forces to sever Jinguo’s claws, and hold a grand feast to carve up the River Valley plains.
But Jinguo’s response was very decisive, once it saw that the situation was untenable, it immediately withdrew completely from the southwest of the present world. By this practical action, they indicated they had no influence there, and it must be said it was a strategic retreat, a wise move.
As the hegemons of the western and southern boundaries, Qin and Chu had more demands for the southwest of the current world. After Jinguo’s complete withdrawal, both great powers were unsatisfied with the original partition, leading to a real war to determine the stance of both sides and clarify the final gains. The tension escalated, and eventually, it became an exceptionally fierce conflict.
What is the general trend of the world?
In the end, it’s merely a greater distribution of benefits.
What difference is there between the Valley nations of old and Dan Country today?
If Yan Renxian were alive, the matter of the "Human Pill," with the right maneuvering, could have been resolved with the death of just one True Man, handled rightly, a single God Arrives could bear the responsibility. Without Yan Renxian, the entire Dan Country has long lost its reason to exist. At least it no longer has a reason to hold so many benefits.
The harsh reality is... in this massive chessboard of the present world, from beginning to end, Qiao Country has only ever been part of the divided interests and has forever lost the qualification to wield the dividing blade.
