Let Me Explain, Fairy-Chapter 77 - 71 Broadening Horizons

77: Chapter 71: Broadening Horizons

77 -71: Broadening Horizons

Jingjiang Xu Residence, the library.

Xu Yuan sat by the window, quietly perusing the grade-C internal document that Ying’er had just personally delivered to him.

A communication with Aunt Lou Ji two days ago let Xu Yuan know that the internal documents in his family were also graded.

A very strict grading system,

from grade A to grade J, ten grades from top to bottom.

What kind of status and contribution one has clearly dictates what grade of internal documents they are allowed to read.

The complete information on the northern military situation belongs to the third grade C.

Considering the absurd things he had done before, even Lou Ji found it inconvenient to tell him directly, and he had to ask his father for permission.

After all,

if he went out and sold the information again, that would become a big joke.

It took two days before it was delivered, so it must have been approved by his father.

The sunlight was just right, the geese were rising and falling, and a breeze swept through.

Xu Yuan had always liked this feeling since his past life.

A cup of tea, a book, an afternoon.

Leisurely and comfortable.

But as he continued to read the internal document, Xu Yuan found he could no longer relax.

The Barbarian Tribes….

Xu Yuan rubbed his temples.

In Cang Yuan, there was a world line where the final boss players had to face was the Barbarian Tribes coming from the north, but the current conflict had no mention in the storyline.

Now that he looked at it, it really seemed quite troublesome.

Seven years ago, when Marquis Wucheng was still defending the Northern Frontier, these barbarians beyond the border were beaten so badly they could hardly raise their heads, but ever since Marquis Wucheng was recalled to the Imperial Capital for some reasons seven years ago, the situation took a dire turn.

Essentially, internal strife led to a case of fostering a tiger, resulting in lost control over it.

The relationships within the Dayan Border Army are very complex.

Due to the laws laid down by the Great Ancestor of Dayan and the various Sects at the founding of the empire, the Sects are exempt from taxes, but there is a price.

In local governance, they are required to unconditionally assist the Imperial Court in ensuring the safety of the common people.

In the military system, Sects have to send a portion of their disciples to be scattered among various military forces of the Dayan Empire annually to receive orders, and so on.

The initial intent was good, and these laws did play a positive role when imperial power was strong, but as they evolved over a thousand years, with the rise and fall of imperial power, these laws gradually lost their original taste.

Different factions within the Border Army are numerous, and there’s a lot of buck passing between the Imperial Court and the Sects, among the Sects themselves, and between the Sects and the influential families during wars.

The Northern Frontier is the most typical example of this at the moment.

As Marquis Wucheng was called back to the Imperial Capital, the Northern Frontier lost its suppressing force over the various factions, and they scattered like a sheet of loose sand.

It’s common to see an allied force ten miles ahead fighting bloodily alone, while our own army eats melons and supervises from ten miles behind.

That Hanbei City has not fallen is solely because the Dayan Empire has deep reserves; even so, the fighting among themselves prevents them from doing anything but nibble at the Barbarian Tribes.

This was roughly in line with Xu Yuan’s knowledge from his previous life.

Dayan is indeed worthy of the name of an empire.

Be it the Ancient Abyss in the southwest, the Barbarian Tribes in the north, or the Great Desert to the northwest, they generally only dare to swoop in for the kill when the major forces within the Dayan Empire are at each other’s throats.

Then, the protagonist controlled by Xu Yuan in his previous life would defeat them as the final boss.

Gathering his thoughts, aside from the breeze, the only other sound in the room was the rustling of pages turning.

Suddenly,

Xu Yuan’s eyes flashed with surprise, and his fingers paused as they turned the pages.

Wait,

these Barbarians are not human?

Xu Yuan saw an illustration in the internal document sent by Lou Ji.

It wasn’t a photograph, but the ink drawing was very concise and realistic, depicting a scene of a battlefield.

On the shattered city walls, corpses were strewn everywhere, including soldiers in Border Army uniforms, Cultivators in Sect attire, and those Northern Barbarians.

Looking at it, the Barbarians did not resemble humans at all.

After two seconds of silence, Xu Yuan slowly stood up to find a book from the bookshelf.

A quarter of an hour later, Xu Yuan sat back by the window, holding a relatively new copy of “Records of the Northern Barbarians”.

After a quick read, Xu Yuan’s expression became somewhat peculiar.

The Barbarian Tribes are not a derogatory term used by the Dayan Empire for those nomadic tribes beyond the borders.

The Barbarian Tribes are just that, Barbarian Tribes.

Although they are humanoid, they are more akin to humanoid creatures with green or black skin.

This was something he didn’t know in his previous life, or rather, didn’t need to know.

He understood the Ancient Abyss because following it allowed him to play the role of a rustic hero, or even a Dragon Knight.

But as for the Northern Barbarians, they had nothing, no paper-thin wives, so why should he care about them?

The information was sparse, even several of the key bosses didn’t have character portraits, and it was unrealistic to expect a 2.5D pixel-style game to have exquisite monster models, as many of the material textures were simply reused with different colors.

Xu Yuan had always thought that these Barbarian Tribes were just a group of somewhat more robust humans.

Only now did he realize that they were not human at all.

These adult Barbarians all averaged more than ten feet in height, and living in the harsh, cold lands had given them deep brown tough skin, resistant to swords and daggers.

Their fists and vital joints had sharp bone spurs, seemingly born for combat. freēnovelkiss.com

A type of humanoid monster with spiritual intelligence.

Knowing this, Xu Yuan didn’t show any emotions of shock or surprise.

He had seen Stone Buddhas and Seven Lives Pythons, so naturally, he wouldn’t be too surprised by this type of humanoid monster.

However, he did understand why those extraneous forces, particularly the Barbarian Tribes, didn’t have paper-thin wives.

They are just too ugly.

After putting down the “Records of the Northern Barbarians”, Xu Yuan continued to focus on the other internal report.

The internal report ended with the latest weekly dispatches from the Northern Frontier.

Up to the day before yesterday.

After more than a month of fierce fighting, Princess Wu Yuan finally managed to lift the siege of Hanbei City.

Of course, the thirty thousand Imperial Forest Army she brought with her was not enough to break the siege by itself; it was more the result of compromise from various local forces.

That being said, the processes described in the internal report were quite an eye-opener for Xu Yuan.

Damn, there really are people who continue their internal conflicts even when faced with the enemy at their gates.

Before Princess Wu Yuan and her army reached Hanbei City,

the various factions trapped inside Hanbei City by the Barbarian Tribes actually still had the strength to battle the Barbarians, even surpassing them in hard power.

But they just wouldn’t fight; they just stayed in the city fighting amongst themselves.

No one wanted to be the first to go out, everyone wanted to conserve their strength.

After all, with various formations on the city walls, those Barbarians couldn’t possibly break in anytime soon.

And the message had already been sent out, just waiting for the Imperial Court’s reinforcements would suffice.

If reinforcements didn’t arrive, then it would be a contest of who had more military rations.

If your house runs out of military rations, your soldiers at the bottom still need to eat, right?

If you want to eat without doing anything, isn’t that not so good?

As for starting a mutiny within the city?

Heading out to fight the head battle with the Barbarians might give you a chance to live, but starting a mutiny with the big formation inside the city means waiting for death, along with the annihilation of your nine clansmen.

This stalemate didn’t break until Princess Wu Yuan led the Imperial Forest Army to the scene.

Once upon a time, the Ninth Princess was a “hostage” sent by the Imperial Family to the Marquis of Wucheng’s Mansion in the Northern Frontier.

But since Marquis Wucheng was a loyal member of the Royalist Party, this Ninth Princess was treated better than even the heirs within the Mansion.

When the young princess showed interest, Marquis Wucheng, who often went to battle, always took her with him, and even let her lead the troops when she grew up.

Raised in the army by Marquis Wucheng himself.

With such accumulation, Princess Wu Yuan gained high prestige within the army.

Of course,

the main reason those old slicks cooperated so much was that the first thing this crazy lady did upon entering the city was to call everyone together for a meeting and start beheading.

Dereliction of duty leading to a disastrous battle situation, should be executed.

No sooner had her voice fallen than a Third Grade Great Master and seven or eight Fourth Grade Integration Body deputies were directly turned into mush in the Mansion Hall.

It was done using the city’s big formation.

The Imperial Family’s bloodline is always the first priority in controlling the big city formations under normal circumstances.

And so, under the coordination of Princess Wu Yuan, the siege of Hanbei City was lifted, and they have now begun gradually to reclaim lost ground.

Although they may not be entirely united, at least they can be considered as working together grudgingly.