All Heavens: Starting with Yang Kang playing Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King

Chapter 46 The Storm After Guo Jing's Departure, The Conflict Between Ögedei and Tolui

The next day, Genghis Khan, waking from a hangover, eagerly summoned the immortal Qiu Chuji.

Genghis Khan treated Qiu Chuji with the highest honors.

Genghis Khan was always very polite and humble towards wise elders.

Although Qiu Chuji frankly told him that there was no way to achieve immortality, only methods to maintain health, Genghis Khan was not too disappointed.

He didn't have high or unrealistic expectations for this matter. As long as he could get some health tips from Qiu Chuji and live a few more years, it would be an unexpected gain for him.

Qiu Chuji used Taoist methods of health preservation as a guide to persuade Genghis Khan to refrain from some of his brutal killings.

Genghis Khan seemed to be moved by the memory of Guo Jing asking him to pardon the innocent people in the city after he had captured it.

Therefore, an official decree was issued announcing that there would be no more massacres of innocent civilians in the city.

When Tolui excitedly took Genghis Khan's decree to tell Guo Jing the good news, Guo Jing had already left a letter and departed without saying goodbye.

Without saying goodbye to anyone, he and Huang Rong left the Mongol camp.

Inside the main tent, Torre opened the letter left by Guo Jing with a puzzled expression.

When he read the letter that said he was going back to his hometown with his mother and the woman he loved, and that he would never set foot on the grasslands again in his life.

Tolui was immediately horrified and took the letter back to report to Genghis Khan.

Genghis Khan was deeply shocked when he saw the letter written by Guo Jing in the Mongolian script he had just learned.

He couldn't understand why Guo Jing would abandon everything he had given him and leave.

In his letter, Guo Jing explained the reasons for everything: he was unwilling to become a person who indiscriminately killed innocent people, nor was he willing to abandon Huang Rong, whom he had chosen for life, to marry Hua Zheng.

But the clearer his explanation, the more confused and shocked Genghis Khan became.

Because Guo Jing's choice was something completely outside his understanding.

As Yang Kang said, Genghis Khan's favor towards Guo Jing at this time was a rare honor in the entire history of mankind.

Whether from the perspective of interests or emotions, Guo Jing had no reason to leave. He left the grassland with a woman simply because he could not accept Guo Jing's cruelty and bloodthirstiness.

To Genghis Khan, this was no different from a fairy tale.

"Does that Han Chinese woman possess some kind of sorcery?"

"My golden-sword prince consort, the Left Wing Commander of my Mongol Empire, has been abducted by a vixen?"

Genghis Khan was too stunned to be angry at this moment; he just stared blankly at the people around him and asked.

All the Mongolians present were also caught in a mental standstill.

No one could understand Guo Jing's actions; like Genghis Khan, they all had only one thought.

What kind of sorcery did that Han woman use to bewitch Guo Jing?

"Go, have Zhebie lead men to search for me. We must bring Guo Jing back and prevent him from being bewitched by that witch."

Genghis Khan finally realized what was happening and immediately ordered Jebe to lead his men in pursuit in a fit of rage.

At this moment, the attendant reported on what Yang Kang and Guo Jing had done at the camp the previous night.

Genghis Khan was immediately enraged.

"Bring Yang Kang up here too. I want to ask him, my Golden Knife Prince Consort, who has fought so many battles in the western expeditions and conquered cities and territories without any problems, how come he ran off with a demoness as soon as he arrived?"

Genghis Khan said with a terrible headache.

Yang Kang followed Tolui to Genghis Khan and saw the letter.

Yang Kang remained silent for a long time. He hadn't expected that because of his words, Guo Jing would choose to leave Mongolia ahead of schedule.

"What did you say to Guo Jing? Why did he suddenly abandon everything in Mongolia and leave with a Han Chinese woman?"

Genghis Khan said in a cold voice.

Yang Kang told Genghis Khan about his words to Guo Jing the previous night, and Guo Jing's reply.

Of course, some parts that are not suitable to be told to outsiders have been omitted.

Among the crowd, Qiu Chuji couldn't help but stroke his beard and admire Guo Jing inwardly when he heard that Guo Jing adhered to the way of chivalry, willing to give up wealth and honor, and even leave behind the possible throne in the future.

Genghis Khan remained silent for a long time after hearing Yang Kang's words.

He finally realized that Guo Jing's repeated advice against indiscriminate killing of innocent people was definitely not just empty talk.

"Just because I killed some enemies, my most valiant and skilled marshal is going to abandon everything and leave me?"

Genghis Khan looked at Yang Kang in disbelief and asked.

Qiu Chuji stepped forward and spoke loudly.

There is an old saying in the Han Dynasty: "When the state is without virtue, it is shameful to be rich and noble."

"This means that it is an honor to be an official when the country is well-governed, but it is a disgrace to enjoy wealth and honor when the country is poorly governed."

"If Guo Jing'er stays, it would be tantamount to admitting that the slaughter of innocent people was the right thing to do, which is something he cannot accept."

Qiu Chuji sighed and said.

Those Han Chinese officials who had long since pledged allegiance to Genghis Khan, such as Guo Baoyu, all lowered their heads in shame.

A Han Chinese who grew up in Mongolia was even more devoted to Confucianism than they were.

"I have heard an old Mongolian saying: 'If the pasture is bad, the cattle and sheep will leave on their own.'"

"Great Khan, the principles of the world are the same; it's just that the Han and the Mongols express them in different words."

Qiu Chuji continued his admonition with neither arrogance nor servility.

Genghis Khan fell silent once again.

Although he couldn't understand how his most powerful young general could abandon him simply because he indiscriminately killed innocent people, he seemed unable to refute it.

No matter how unbelievable this thing may seem, it seems quite reasonable that it happened to Guo Jing.

Genghis Khan suddenly recalled the first time he met Guo Jing.

That stubborn child doesn't know how to lie.

At that time, they were hunting down Jebe, and he could have easily claimed ignorance.

But that stubborn and ignorant child kept saying, "I won't say, I won't say," instead of "I don't know."

Genghis Khan's expression shifted between anger and confusion, eventually culminating in a long sigh.

"So, what I've pursued for half my life is ultimately worth less than a piece of sheepskin in the eyes of this brat Guo Jing?"

"Never mind, send someone to tell Jebe that he doesn't need to pursue him."

"Don't you Han people say, 'If it's going to rain, it's going to rain; if it's going to be a woman, she's going to remarry'? Let it be."

"It's a pity for my daughter Huazheng. My kindness and wealth couldn't keep Guo Jing. Huazheng's tenderness couldn't keep Guo Jing either."

Genghis Khan shook his head and sighed, then turned and left without looking back.

Everyone stood there dumbfounded, still reeling from the news that Guo Jing had relinquished power and left.

Yang Kang shrugged.

The shock he felt when he witnessed Guo Jing make his choice was no less than that felt by Genghis Khan.

But by now he had regained his composure. Everyone has their own path, and Guo Jing was simply pursuing the same path as him on a completely different one.

Everyone makes different choices, and there's no question of who is more wise.

The crowd dispersed, and fear and confusion quickly filled the entire Mongol camp.

Guo Jing's left-wing army was shrouded in an indescribable panic and confusion.

Being abandoned by their own commander was something unimaginable for the Mongols.

Guo Jing has left. To whom should his army be handed over, and to whom should his vast fiefdom and immense wealth be given?

Both Ögedei and Tolui wanted a piece of this pie, and they both subtly expressed their desires to Genghis Khan.

When Genghis Khan saw that his other two sons immediately started fighting after Guo Jing left, he felt powerless.

However, there are priorities. Torei is Guo Jing's sworn brother and has always maintained close ties with Guo Jing's subordinates. Therefore, it is more appropriate for Torei to appease those people at this time.

He assigned this task to Tolui, but overlooked Ögedei's desire for Guo Jing's battle-hardened army.

Batu was a centurion in Guo Jing's personal guard. He followed Guo Jing from the grasslands all the way to Khwarezm and had more scars on his body than on his fingers.

He knelt on one knee in front of Guo Jing's empty tent, holding his curved sword across his neck with both hands, without the slightest hesitation on his face.

Behind him, more than thirty guards knelt in unison, their scimitars flashing in the morning light.

"When Guo Jing, the commander of ten thousand households, left, he didn't take us with him. It wasn't because he disliked us, but because he was afraid we would go with him."

"He won't let us die at the hands of our own people, and we can't live to disgrace him."

Batu's voice was calm, as if he were talking about something ordinary.

They were Guo Jing's imperial guards, and their lives belonged entirely to Guo Jing.

Guo Jing is gone; for them, living is more shameful than dying.

More than thirty curved swords were raised at the same time, their blades gleaming coldly in the morning sun.

Torre arrived just in time and snatched the scimitar from Batu's hand.

"Stop! Father Khan has decreed that Guo Jing's army will henceforth be under my command!"

"From now on, you will be my guards. I am Guo Jing's sworn brother, and also your master."

"Guo Jing entrusted your lives to me; without my order, who dares to die?"

Torre raised the imperial edict in his hand and shouted sternly.

Thanks to his friendship with Guo Jing and his status as the fourth prince of the Mongol Golden Family, Tore managed to persuade the guards who were on the verge of suicide because of Guo Jing's departure.

More than thirty guards knelt on the ground, neither crying nor laughing, but blankly and silently sheathing their scimitars.

Soon, cries of weeping rose and fell throughout the camp.

The sorrow of being abandoned by their own commander permeated the military camp.

This made Torre, who was already mentally exhausted, even more frustrated.