Reborn In The Three Kingdoms

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His commanders, frantic, diverted troops to the coast, fearing an amphibious assault. They never saw the real threat coming from the east. Shi Xin’s forces marched unopposed through the jungle roads, their advance shielded by the chaos at sea. Scouts reported Champa’s border garrisons half empty, their soldiers pulled back to defend the ports.

Shi Hui grinned. ”Zhou Yu’s plan worked.”

Shi Xin didn’t smile. ”Don’t celebrate yet. Their walls are still high.”

Shi Zhi chuckled, rolling his spear between his palms as the jungle canopy swayed gently overhead. ”Big Brother, you’re too serious. Look at those walls, they’re nothing. I’ve seen village palisades back home stronger than that heap of logs.”

Shi Xin’s head turned sharply, his gaze like a drawn blade. ”Don’t let your eyes deceive your mind,” he said, his voice cold but controlled. ”You see rotting timber, I see a potential trap. What if those walls are reinforced within? What if they’ve built pits or palisades behind them? You’re judging a fortress in enemy land as if it were in our own backyard.”

Shi Zhi’s grin faltered. He knew that tone, when Shi Xin spoke like this, it meant he’d spotted dangers others overlooked.

Shi Hui, acting as the peacemaker between his two brothers, stepped between them, raising his hands. ”Alright, alright. Let’s not argue before the arrows even start flying. Zhi, Big Brother is right, caution has kept our family alive in battles we shouldn’t have survived. And Big Brother, maybe don’t bite his head off before breakfast.”

Shi Xin exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders easing. He turned to his younger brother again.

”You’re right about one thing, Zhi, those walls aren’t as grand as the stone ramparts of the north. But never underestimate the people who built them. They know every tree, every stream, every patch of mud between us and their gates. That’s worth more than height or thickness.”

Shi Zhi nodded reluctantly, then dipped his head. ”My apologies, Big Brother. I spoke without thinking.”

”And mine as well,” Shi Xin said, his tone softening. ”I was harsher than I needed to be. But remember, underestimation has buried many generals.”

The three clasped forearms, sealing the matter. Then, with no more words to waste, they moved.

The attack began at first light. Mist clung to the treetops as the Shi Clan’s vanguard emerged from the jungle, the clatter of shields and armor echoing in the still air. Ahead, the Champa border garrison, half empty after the king had drawn troops to the coast, stood like a startled deer in the road.

The moment the first horn sounded, the garrison’s watchtowers flared with alarm. The Champa commander, a wiry man with a tiger tooth charm at his throat, shouted orders from the ramparts. Though his numbers were thin, his voice carried steel.

”Hold the line! Archers, loose at will!”

Arrows hissed down, rattling against Hengyuan shields. The Champa soldiers fought like men who knew there was no retreat, every spear thrust was backed by a roar, every sword stroke by defiance.

Shi Xin had expected resistance. He hadn’t expected fearlessness. The garrison’s fighters didn’t just hold, they counterattacked, leaping from the walls to drive wedges into Hengyuan lines before retreating back into the gate’s shadow.

”They fight like cornered beasts,” Shi Hui said between orders, parrying a spear and signaling the left flank forward.

Shi Xin’s brow furrowed. ”Not beasts. Hardcore loyalty to their country. That’s more dangerous.”

For the first hour, the Shi Clan’s advance slowed to a crawl. Soldiers hesitated at the ferocity before them, shields buckling under the hail of javelins. But Shi Xin’s voice rang out over the chaos, steady and relentless.

”Forward! Keep your shields high, break their gate before their courage outlasts ours!”

Shi Zhi, eager to prove himself after their earlier exchange, led the push on the eastern wall, smashing through the lighter defenses there. Shi Hui coordinated the center with precision, timing the surges to pull defenders away from weak points. Slowly, inexorably, the tide turned.

The Champa commander saw it too. Between orders, he glanced toward the southern road, praying the messenger he had sent would make it to Kandapurpura. His gut told him they had days, five at most, before the garrison fell. A week if the gods favored them.

Far to the west, the Sun Clan and Ma Chao’s combined forces broke camp.

Yu Hao’s courier bird had arrived the night before with news of the naval raid, Champa’s fleet crippled, more than half its ships at the bottom of their harbor. The report was cause for celebration, but Zhou Yu had ordered only a brief acknowledgment before turning the focus toward the next step which was Funan.

Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Zhou Yu, Ma Chao, and Ma Dai rode together at the vanguard, their horses’ hooves thudding in rhythm against the packed earth. For a while, they moved in companionable silence, the only sounds the creak of leather harnesses and the distant shouts of marching infantry.

Sun Ce rode at the forefront, his usual boisterous demeanor replaced by a quiet intensity. Beside him, Ma Chao kept his gaze forward, his grip tight on his spear. The silence between them was thick enough to cut.

Then, inevitably, Sun Ce broke it. ”General Ma Chao,” he said without turning his head, ”I saw what happened between you and my sister.”

Ma Chao didn’t flinch, but his knuckles whitened around the rein of his horse and a muscle in his jaw twitched. He understood exactly what Sun Ce meant. Behind them, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu exchanged wary glances.

Ma Dai, utterly lost, looked between his cousin and the Sun brothers in confusion. ”Sister? What do you—”

Ma Chao took a deep breath and cut Ma Dai off. ”I’ll speak plainly,” he said. ”I apologize for not observing proper etiquette, especially failing to greet your family formally. But that day, when I thought I might lose her...” He paused, as if weighing the risk of each word. ”I realized I love Sun Shangxiang. And I’ll do anything to protect her.”

Ma Dai nearly pulled his reins in surprise, eyes darting between his cousin and the Sun brothers.

Sun Ce and Sun Quan exchanged a glance, their initial irritation tempered by Ma Chao’s blunt honesty. Zhou Yu, riding just behind, exhaled quietly, he had been expecting this confrontation for days.

”You’ve got courage,” Sun Ce said at last. ”Not for saying you love her, any fool can claim that, but for standing here and admitting it before us rather than making excuses.” His tone sharpened. ”So tell me, since you’ve dared to touch my sister in public, how will you take responsibility?”

Ma Chao’s reply was immediate. ”After this campaign, I’ll propose to her. And I’ll request His Majesty to act as matchmaker, just as Zhao Yun did when he proposed to my sister Ma Yunlu.”

The statement hung in the air for a moment. Then Sun Ce gave a short nod, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. ”Very well. Fight well in this war, and we’ll see.”

Sun Quan, though still protective, allowed himself a small smirk. ”Just don’t get yourself killed before then.”

Ma Dai, still digesting the revelation, muttered under his breath, ”Well... this just got interesting.”

The column pressed on, banners snapping in the wind. Ahead lay Funan and the next turn of a campaign already drenched in fire and steel.

Meanwhile, in the opulent halls of Champa’s capital, King Kandarp sat upon his throne, his face ashen as the messenger finished his report.

”An army from the east?! But the fleet was attacked from the west!”

His advisors murmured in fear. The strategy was clear now, a diversion. They had taken the bait like fools.

”Recall the troops from the coast!” the king ordered. ”Fortify the eastern roads! And send word to Funan, if we fall, they’re next!”

But even as the commands were issued, the king knew the truth. The storm had already come.

On the other hand, back at Xiapi, in the imperial gardens of Xiapi were a rare sanctuary of peace amidst the empire’s relentless machinations. The scent of blooming peonies and chrysanthemums perfumed the air, while the gentle murmur of a nearby stream provided a soothing backdrop.

Lie Fan walked slowly alongside Zhen Ji, their fingers loosely intertwined. She had been quieter than usual these past few days, ever since their conversation about children.

He could tell her mind was occupied, perhaps with hopes, perhaps with worries. Either way, he had made it a point to spend this afternoon with her, away from the endless scrolls and war councils.

But their solitude didn’t last long.

”Husband! Sister Zhen!”

Ying Yue’s voice carried across the garden path, followed by the rustle of silk as the empress approached, her imperial robes swaying gracefully with each step.

Behind her came Diao Chan, her ever elegant presence like a painting come to life, and then Cai Wenji and Lu Lingqi, the latter still adjusting the bracers on her wrists as if she’d just come from the training grounds.

Zhen Ji smiled warmly, though Lie Fan caught the faintest flicker of resignation in her eyes. She had hoped for time alone with him, but she would never deny her sisters.

”Join us,” Lie Fan said, his voice warm as he gestured for them to walk alongside them.

Ying Yue fell into step beside him, her sharp eyes missing nothing. ”You’ve been locked in your study for days, husband. It’s good to see you outside.”

Diao Chan hummed in agreement. ”The gardens are lovelier when shared.”

Lu Lingqi, on the other hand, smirked. ”And here I thought you’d forgotten what sunlight looked like.”

Cai Wenji, the quietest of them, simply smiled, her fingers brushing a low-hanging blossom as they passed.

For a while, they walked like that, Lie Fan surrounded by his wives, their laughter and quiet conversations weaving through the garden like a melody. He listened more than he spoke, content to simply be in their presence.

Then, as they reached a small pavilion overlooking a koi pond, Lie Fan paused. A thought had been nagging at him for days.

Something he had forgotten.

Without any visible cue to them, he opened the hidden system inventory only he could access. Rows of stored items appeared before his mind’s eye, and there, tucked away in the corner like a misplaced keepsake, were three anti aging pills. He had nearly forgotten he had them.

It had been years since he’d last taken these out. Years since he’d given the first two to Ying Yue and Diao Chan, explaining to them how rare they were.

An elixir that could be taken only once in a lifetime, capable of slowing the march of age and fortifying the body from within. He remembered their surprised faces then, their curiosity quickly overtaken by amusement when he’d tried to speak of the medicinal benefits, because all they had really heard was ”slow aging.”

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty

Age: 35 (202 AD)

Level: 16

Next Level: 462,000

Renown: 2325

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)

SP: 1,121,700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 966 (+20)

VIT: 623 (+20)

AGI: 623 (+10)

INT: 667

CHR: 98

WIS: 549

WILL: 432

ATR Points: 0