Mythical Three Kingdoms

From the fact that the Han Dynasty truly used eight dynasties as a wager, all that Brack and the others could feel was the almost boundless confidence of the Han Empire. This was a vassal state, not an occupied territory. Reasonably speaking, these are good places that can generate yearly revenue without needing support.

At the moment the letter was received, it was read aloud in Chinese by the translator, and the Kushan generals and officers used telepathy to hear the original meaning. From top to bottom, all the generals who came to fight fell silent!

A terrifying shadow, this almost boundless confidence, they clearly felt the immense pressure transferred from the ancient empire through time and space.

”Everyone, speak up.” Brack, pressing his temples, deeply felt the pressure transmitted by another empire. ”What is the Han Empire thinking?”

”I think they probably want to impose heavy psychological pressure on us.” Leiblalei said somewhat lacking in confidence, because he also couldn’t understand what the Han Empire meant. The only thing he could feel was the terrifying majesty conveyed from the letter.

”Hirilah, what do you think?” Brack closed his eyes.

To be honest, although the situation in the Kushan Empire has been deteriorating over the past ten years, it was still an empire. Although Vasu Deva’s first five years on the throne were terribly bad, an empire is still an empire, and before encountering opponents of the same level, they had not suffered losses.

In every battle Brack fought, he never felt any pressure, even for the Baisheng Dynasty, which occupied most of the South Asian Subcontinent; for Brack, it was as easy to destroy as if snapping fingers. Apart from an equal existence, no dynasty could stop the empire’s vehicle.

It is precisely for this reason that Brack had never fought a war of such pressure. Even before any engagement began, the Kushan Empire had already wavered several times due to the opponent’s aura.

”Maybe it’s about face. In the historical records passed down in my family, the Han Empire is an extremely powerful empire, and many things that seem common to us are of great importance to them because it concerns their honor.” Hirilah spoke with a hint of speculation. However, since his family had a wealth of historical records, the direction was not wrong.

”Face?” Sulapri repeated and then frowned, ”If it’s about honor, then what is it they are doing now?”

”Hirilah, speak in more detail.” Brack said to the other, as Hirilah was the only one within their group who had a relatively deep understanding of the Han Dynasty; after all, their family was a family that recorded history.

Speaking of which, the older the times, the higher the status of families that recorded history. Initially, only the feudal lords did this. Later, it became ministers, and even later, Dai Fu...

”Because our family’s records are from a hundred years ago, I can’t guarantee how accurate they are now. Speaking of honors, there is actually a major reason why Emperor Yano Gaozhen was defeated by Ban Chao back then.” Hirilah scratched his head and said.

Then, through Hirilah’s detailed introduction, the group of Kushan finally understood the situation.

”So, even though Emperor Yano Gaozhen had the qualification to request a Han Dynasty princess, there was a misunderstanding in his wording? And because of the language issue, Ban Chao took it as an insult, leading to the Battle of Onion Ridge?” Brack felt a bit dull, wondering exactly which verbal slip had led to it.

”My ancestors researched for a long time and concluded that it was likely an issue of the princess. In the Han Empire, a ’princess’ is completely different from a ’princess.’ Given His Majesty’s status back then, he was qualified to request a princess, but perhaps he requested the wrong one...” Hirilah said awkwardly, as he also didn’t know the difference between the ’princess’ and the ’princess.’

”My ancestor believed the root cause of the Battle of Onion Ridge was not Ban Chao’s belief that we Kushan were a threat that needed quashing, but rather because His Majesty’s request for a princess was taken as an insult to the Han Empire.” Hirilah said with some uncertainty.

”Just because of one sentence, we fought a war that affected our national destiny, and for this, we even gave up large areas of land east of the Caspian Sea?” Brack said incredulously.

All the Kushan generals present also wore expressions of disbelief.

”As difficult as it is to imagine, the research my family has conducted shows this to be the case. For the Han Empire, sometimes an inadvertent act on our part might be considered an insult and result in an attack.” Hirilah spread his hands and said.

”Does the Han Empire have a problem?” Brack pointed to his own head, somewhat exasperated.

”Even if there is a problem, as the strongest empire in history, Mr. Brack, are you planning to argue with them? It’s impossible. For a nation like ours, as long as we are strong enough, then nothing is an issue.” Sulapri shrugged.

”For a nation like ours, being weak is the only mistake.” Yano Lipu said in distress, ”So, did we inadvertently insult the other party?”

”Probably.” Hirilah sighed, ”And what’s troubling is that we still don’t know where we offended them.”

”What’s the point of thinking so much? Maybe the other side simply thinks they should match our wager of millions of acres of fertile land. Oh, Hirilah, what’s that saying again?” Sharuk, seeing everyone silent, spoke out without much thought, relying on sheer guts without fear.

”What Sharuk says makes sense; maybe the Han Empire is just concerned about saving face.” Hirilah forced a smile but the furrow on his brow did not ease.

”What’s there to be afraid of? We’re bound to fight this war anyway. Whether they wager eight kingdoms or not has nothing to do with us. If they bet, we fight; if they don’t, we still fight. Why let them affect us?” Monnari stood up, smiling at everyone.

”It’s true what Monnari says.” Albaz agreed, ”Why care about what the Han Empire does? We have already decided to fight them, so why bother about what spoils of war they are preparing for us? We Kushan do not need the Han Empire to prepare spoils of war for us!”

”Yes, what do we Kushan have to fear from the Han Empire? If we win, we can just keep pressing forward, why do we need them to prepare spoils of war?” Amir pounded his chest and said.

With these three raising morale, the Kushan officers, initially worried due to Brack’s demeanor, became agitated. They, too, had fought their way from the west. Though the Han Empire was formidable, the Kushan were not weak, how could they let one small letter diminish their momentum.