Reborn In The Three Kingdoms

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If blood spilled here, it would do so in a storm of motion too swift for the untrained eye to follow. The table between Li Wei and Lord Kaito was simple in form but rich in meaning, a narrow stage where the fate of kingdoms might hinge upon a single breath. Upon it, the tea set gleamed faintly, porcelain as white as a winter moon. Two cups waited, poised like silent witnesses.

Li Wei offered the faintest of bows as he took his seat opposite Kaito. ”Please have a seat,” he said, his tone warm but not submissive. Han Myeong echoed the words in the Silla tongue with perfect neutrality.

Lord Kaito did not return the gesture. He did not even glance at the cups of tea that stood like emissaries of courtesy between them. Instead, his hands came to rest upon his knees, and he spoke in a voice low and steady, the kind of voice a mountain might use if it could speak.

”We did not sail across these waves to share tea,” Kaito said, his voice cutting through the formalities. Jin’s translation was immediate, capturing the blunt edge of his lord’s words.

”The Shaman Queen’s time is precious. So is mine. You have come. I thank you for that. I admit, I thought Goguryeo would lack the courage to face us directly after its... recent expansions. I confess, I doubted you would come.”

The words, for all their polite framing, carried the scent of a challenge.

Li Wei’s lips curved into a shape that was not quite a smile but something close. His chuckle was quiet, like the purr of a blade sliding from its sheath.

”Goguryeo is many things, Emissary Kaito, but cowardly is not one of them. We fight when we must, and we talk when it is wise. Yamatai extended a hand, however it was wrapped. It is only civilized to grasp it and see what lies within.” he replied, his voice smooth, almost lazy. Han Myeong translated with crisp precision, his own expression as unreadable as carved jade.

Jin repeated the words faithfully. Lord Kaito’s jaw shifted, his teeth grinding slightly, but he said nothing at first. A low grunt escaped him, and he leaned forward, his eyes narrowing to slits of obsidian.

”What is this bureau you speak of?” Lord Kaito asked abruptly. ”This... Lie Clan Supervision Bureau.” The syllables of the foreign name fell awkwardly from his tongue, like stones tumbling down a cliff. ”I have scoured the words of King Naemun of Silla. Nowhere did he speak of such a thing. Is it smoke? A phantom? Or do you make toys of names to frighten children?”

For the first time, Li Wei allowed the smallest spark of amusement to show in his eyes. His answer came without hesitation, rolling smoothly like ink across silk.

”It is no phantom,” Li Wei said, his tone even, his poise unbroken. ”It is the will of the King made flesh. Our sovereign, King Jungcheon, has forged a new path for Goguryeo, a path where the royal house will be bound by law as firmly as any minister or magistrate. The Supervision Bureau is the eye that watches the royal blood, that holds it to account.”

Han Myeong’s voice carried the words into Silla speech with solemn clarity.

Lord Kaito listened, his brow furrowing as the explanation deepened, and when Li Wei spoke again, his words were heavier still.

”And as for the name, ’Lie,’” Li Wei said softly, ”it is no toy. It is the name our King has chosen for his line. As a symbol of this renewal. We look to the future, not the past.”

The Yamatai emissary said nothing for a heartbeat, then two. At last, he nodded once, curt and sharp, like the stroke of a sword. ”So be it.”

Then came the shift, the sudden lunge from formality to fire.

”The land,” Kaito said, his voice cutting through the stillness like an arrow through silk. ”The lands of Silla. The lands your King swallowed whole, tearing them from their rightful stewards like meat from bone. Have you reached a decision? Will Goguryeo return what it stole?”

Han Myeong spoke the question aloud, the syllables ringing with restrained steel. Li Wei did not hesitate. He simply shook his head once, slowly, as if delivering a verdict long since carved in stone. His voice losing its earlier lightness.

”My king and his council have contemplated this deeply. The decision, with respect, is no. The peninsula is now whole under Goguryeo. The lands were won in rightful conquest. They are now an inseparable part of our kingdom. They will not be returned.”

The effect was instantaneous. Lord Kaito’s composure cracked. His hand slammed down on the table with a force that made the porcelain cups jump and rattle. ”Then why are we even here?!” he roared, half rising from his seat.

Behind him, his guards’ hands flew to their sword hilts. Across from them, the Oriole Agents didn’t move a muscle, but the air around them grew cold and sharp. ”You waste my Queen’s time and resources with this farce if your answer was already no to our request!”

Beyond the pavilion, the Yamatai guards stiffened, hands twitching toward the hilts of their curved swords. The Oriole agents did not move, but their eyes sharpened, cold as whetted steel.

Li Wei lifted a hand, not in surrender, but in calm command, as though smoothing the ripples of a pond. His voice, when it came, was quiet. Too quiet.

”Our King will not return what was taken,” Li Wei said. ”Because it was not stolen. It was won, by blade and by blood. The earth remembers the tread of our armies. The rivers still carry the reflection of our banners. Those lands are Goguryeo now, as surely as the mountains are rooted in the sky.”

Han Myeong’s voice made the words bloom again in Silla speech. Jin echoed them into Yamatai’s tongue.

Lord Kaito’s fury did not cool, but Li Wei pressed on, his tone smoothing like oil over flame.”Yet,” he said, ”does conquest preclude friendship? No. Though the sword carved the borders, it need not sever the hand that offers peace. My king’s refusal to return Silla’s territory does not mean he desires enmity with the great kingdom of Yamatai.”

”On the contrary. It is because we seek a lasting peace, a new understanding, that I am here. We recognize Yamatai’s power and influence. We wish to show our respect.”

He gestured lightly, and at that signal, one of his men slipped silently from the pavilion. Moments later, the sound of wheels groaning under weight whispered from beyond the canopy. A wagon rolled into view, lacquered wood gleaming, its contents shrouded beneath embroidered silks.

Li Wei turned his palm upward, inviting Kaito’s gaze. ”Gifts,” he said. ”Tokens of respect for Her Majesty, Queen Himiko. And for you, Lord Kaito.”

At his nod, the silks were drawn aside. The first held rolls of silk so fine they seemed woven from cloud, dyed in deep, impossible blues and vibrant crimsons unseen in the islands of Yamatai. The next contained blocks of rare ink, their surfaces gleaming with a gold-dust sheen, alongside brushes made from the finest snow weasel hair.

Another revealed jade carvings of breathtaking complexity, mythical beasts coiled around spheres within spheres, landscapes miniatured on flawless green stone. Finally, there were scrolls of texts, their silk covers embroidered with silver thread.

Lord Kaito’s anger was momentarily checked by sheer avaricious curiosity. His eyes, sharp and assessing, scanned the treasures. He was a practical man, but even he could not deny the staggering value and artistry on display. This was wealth and culture, offered openly.

He slowly sank back into his chair, his fury banked for now, replaced by a deeper, more calculating suspicion. He looked from the gifts back to Li Wei’s composed face.

”Your king is... generous,” Kaito said, his voice still tight. ”But gifts are for children and allies. We are neither. So I will ask you plainly, Lord Li Wei. Goguryeo’s armies have never been so strong, its strategies never so cunning. You crushed Baekje, you swallowed Silla, you betrayed and consumed Gaya.”

”This is not the work of Goguryeo alone. My Queen knows this. I know this. Who was it? What foreign power lent you its strength to your endeavor? Tell me this, and perhaps your gifts will be seen as a token of good faith, not a bribe to overlook an insult to us.”

The challenge rang like steel drawn naked. Jin’s voice carried it, taut with the strain of translating venom into syllables.

Li Wei leaned back, a slow, knowing smile spreading across his lips. He had been waiting for this question. He steepled his fingers, the picture of a man reluctantly sharing a state secret.

”I did not think such intelligence was relevant to building a fruitful relationship between our peoples,” he began, his tone suggesting mild reproach. ”But since you insist... and since we have nothing to hide from a potential friend... I will tell you.”

He paused for effect, letting the silence build. The wind seemed to still.

”They come from the vast steppes to the far north. A collective of fierce nomadic tribes, united under a single, ambitious banner. They call themselves... Mongolia. Their strength is in their cavalry, their endurance, their ruthlessness. Our king, in his wisdom, saw their potential power could help us.”

”We offered them wealth, gifts that would make these before you look like peasant trinkets. We offered them noble marriages, binding their blood to ours. And in return, they lent us their fury. It was their horsemen that broke the armies of Baekje. Their strategies that outmaneuvered Silla. It is their continued... friendship... alongside cooperation... that allows Goguryeo to sleep soundly at night.”

The lie was audacious, brilliant, and utterly unverifiable for the islanders of Yamatai that Li Wei receive from Lie Fan to be told to Yanatai.

It created a shadowy, powerful threat to the north of Goguryeo, a convenient explanation for Goguryeo’s sudden military prowess, and a reason for Yamatai to tread carefully in tho negotiation. Not realizing much bigger player than what’s it the story was the one conducting the board.

As Han Myeong and Jin translated the final words for their masters, the air in the pavilion changed again. Lord Kaito’s face was unreadable, but the arrogant certainty had been replaced by intense, thoughtful calculation. He was no longer just dealing with a regional kingdom, he was, according to this story, facing a player on a much larger board.

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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