“My lord, what do you think of An Cui?” Wei Ci privately asked Jiang Pengji. He wanted to hear her evaluation of An Cui to make it more convenient for them to carry out the next step.

Jiang Pengji looked at the flames burning vigorously, her elbow on her knees and her palm supporting her head.

“An Cui? What special opinion could I have on him? If I must comment, I’d say that he seems pretty vengeful, and I don’t really like him.” Jiang Pengji tsked and said, “He isn’t on the same path as us. He’s ambitious. Surely you aren’t thinking of getting him to join us?”

Wei Ci almost choked because of her guess.

He quickly said, “No, I just wanted to know your evaluation of him, my lord.”

Jiang Pengji huffed softly through her nose. “I’m surprised to find that you actually such moments of curiosity. I don’t really like An Cui. He neither reflects on himself nor learns from his mistakes. People like him won’t achieve anything else throughout their lives if their luck is bad.”

Wei Ci was surprised. “My lord, you said… An Cui neither reflects on himself nor learns from his mistakes?”

She said, “Just now, I fished for information, and more or less got to know his background. He can be considered a half-member of the royal family, actually. House An soared to brilliant success after his grandfather’s generation, and they enjoyed mortal riches. Moreover, An Cui was a young nobleman who enjoyed a privileged life. He spent the first half of his life living in a honeypot. The four factions of Nanman invaded and rampaged, destroyed his home, killed his family, and seized his country’s territory. He has fair reasons to hate them and seek revenge.”

Wei Ci listened with a serious attitude. He certainly knew that his lord had a very different way of thinking compared to ordinary people and could always come up with fresh opinions.

As expected, Jiang Pengji’s tone changed abruptly.

She said, “… But, Zixiao, I feel as though there’s nothing wrong with the four factions of Nanman attacking Nansheng.”

Wei Ci’s expression stiffened. He had definitely not expected his lord to say something like that.

Jiang Pengji lifted a hand to stop him from responding, then explained in detail, “An Cui wants to take revenge on the four factions of Nanman because of national enmity and family hatred. Can’t the four factions of Nanman seek blood revenge on Nansheng for their nation and family as well? Think carefully about what the four factions of Nanman did along the way as they invaded, their actions. They raped and rampaged, slaughtering women and children, beheading any male taller than the shaft of a cart, consuming human flesh when they ran out of grain… Their various sins are too numerous for an exhaustive list to be inscribed on all the bamboo strips in the world. They are total barbarians, cruel and violent… But! Zi Xiao, do you know what Nansheng did to the four factions of Nanman?”

Wei Ci read widely, and the books he had read in his past and present incarnations were as endless as the ocean. As she asked the question, Wei Ci remembered something.

Jiang Pengji snickered and said, “Judging by your expression, Zixiao, you do know. Back in the times of the Xia Dynasty, the four factions of Nanman submitted to Xia, presenting tributes and proclaiming their loyalty every year. The people of the Central Plains and the barbarians coexisted in peace. The last emperor of the Xia Dynasty was dumb and incompetent, and all the warlords had intentions of rebelling. At the start, when Nansheng was founded as a nation, the situation was not stable. Nansheng captured countless Nanman people to be their laborers and soldiers. More than 200,000 died from working or in battles.”

When the capital of Nansheng was built, within the city were luxurious buildings, and outside the city were piles of bones. Other than a small proportion of prisoners of war and slaves, the rest were Nansheng men who had been abducted. No matter how Nansheng tried to cover up the history, impartial historians would not yield easily.

She continued, “… Furthermore, after Nansheng was founded, they claimed to be the suzerain of Nanman and forced the other party to present tributes every year. The amount they required increased every year. Moreover, the farm tax was unbearably heavy. Nanman rebelled a few times, but they were no match. Nansheng suppressed the rebellions with force a few times, killing no less than 100,000.”

The four factions of Nanman were indeed uncultured barbarians, but weren’t those from Nansheng just beasts in human clothing?

Human trafficking was a serious problem at the start when Nansheng was founded. The trafficked could be roughly grouped into three categories: prisoners of war, slaves, barbarians. Barbarians had the most strength and were the cheapest.

Among the three, barbarians were trafficked the most. From where were the barbarians sourced? They were forcefully captured by the armed forces to be sold!

Countless nobles in Nansheng filled their pockets with the blood and tears of several generations of barbarians!

Would An Cui dare to say that every single penny he’d spent since he was young had come from legitimate sources?

She said mockingly, “The way I see it, people of the Central Plains and the barbarians are all human, and all humans have an ugly side. Back in its prime, Nansheng claimed to be the orthodox descendants of Xia, but did they dare to publicize the unconscientious things they had done? How much land from the four factions of Nanman did Nansheng seize with excuses? Conspiracies and schemes, rampaging and pillaging, killing enough people to fill the wilderness with their corpses. While the factions of Nanman are considered beasts, Nansheng can’t claim to be upright either. The difference between the two is that Nanman shows its brutality and cruelty outright, while Nansheng is pretentious enough to try to cover it up.”

Having said this, Jiang Pengji softened her tone and said, “Do you know why I don’t like An Cui? It isn’t that I think that it is wrong for him to seek revenge. Actually, I too like to revenge wrong with wrong and requite injury with injury. One can kill to consume their enemy whole when it comes to enmity between nations and families. However, An Cui is a noble and not a commoner. He should undertake as much responsibility as the privileges he has enjoyed. His hatred originates from the fact that Nanman has destroyed his house, family, nation, and social standing. His anger is for them causing him to fall from his favored state to his current state of being a homeless stray dog, not for the people still suffering in the fallen nation!”

Was he still thinking of using the civilians’ flesh and blood to seek revenge at this time?

Shouldn’t he be thinking of ways to protect the civilians and stabilize the situation? Or thinking of how to unite the people to expel the barbarians of the four factions of Nanman from the country?

In simple words, An Cui was selfish, and Jiang Pengji didn’t like it.

Everyone was more or less selfish. She was no exception.

She understood how An Cui felt, but she couldn’t approve of his actions.

Hearing what she said, Wei Ci stood where he was for a moment, stunned.

Jiang Pengji thought that Wei Ci felt bad, and added on, “At the moment, the civilians of Nansheng are meat on Nanman’s chopping block. Surely one couldn’t let those civilians await their deaths at the hands of Nanman because of the enmity several generations back. I just feel that An Cui didn’t reflect on the cause and effect of the enmity between Nanman and Nansheng. Based on his temperament, the four factions of Nanman won’t be far from being wiped out if he really succeeds in getting his revenge.”

It was impossible to wipe out a race of people completely. There would always be a few who escaped.

Every dog would have his day. Who could say that the descendants of the escaped few wouldn’t stir up even more trouble?

Wei Ci said, “My lord, your thinking is very different from the majority of people, and I feel somewhat enlightened.”

Jiang Pengji secretly rolled her eyes and asked directly, “Zixiao, why did you suddenly ask me about An Cui?”

Wei Ci was initially hesitant about whether they should “free the tiger back to the mountains or not,” but he no longer had any qualms about it.

“Previously, Zishi discussed something with me, and I think that it is feasible,” Wei Ci said. “An Cui wants to make use of the manpower of the Red Lotus Group, and you want to take back Chengde County, which the Red Lotus Group has occupied. Why don’t we make it a win-win situation? We can ask him to coordinate with our actions, and both sides can work together, one from within and one from outside.”

Wanzhou consisted of Shangyang County, Fengyi County, and Chengde County. Shangyang County was already in the bag. Fengyi County was thriving under her rule. If someone could help them from within, it would be much easier for them to conquer Chengde County as well. Jiang Pengji was quite tempted.

But…

“The Red Lotus Group has plenty of manpower. You want me to give more to An Cui for free?” she asked.

After the Red Lotus Group was defeated, the captured civilians would all be hers. Why should she give anything to An Cui alone?

Wei Ci said, “The Red Lotus Group brainwashed the people with their doctrine. Ordinary civilians are still fine, but cult members with slightly higher positions are quite affected. Their thinking is stubborn and extreme, and they will only be a source of future trouble if we let them stay. It would be cost-effective to use these people to do An Cui a favor and make him sign an acknowledgment of debt. Then he will owe us a favor and some money.”