Chapter 371: The Fourteenth Day in the Struggle for Supremacy World

Chapter 371: Day Fourteen in a Hegemony Novel

Inside the carriage, the chess game between An Yi and Bai Ji had never once been interrupted.

Bai Ji, holding the black stones, pondered for a moment after An Yi's move, then placed a stone that cut off the path of one of An Yi's large dragons.

As he set down the stone, he said softly, "The Lord is merciful."

An Yi was studying the suddenly shifting situation on the board. Upon hearing this, he casually placed a white stone elsewhere: "It's not mercy."

He looked up and glanced at Bai Ji: "Killing them does no good. These are nothing but desperate starving people. Killing a few would only add more souls to the dead, stir up trouble between refugees and the rich landowners, and invite more unnecessary trouble. What's the point?"

He paused, picking up a white stone and twirling it gently between his fingers: "Giving them a sliver of hope, a bit of grain and coin, might calm their hostility. Let them know that not every passing caravan is out to slaughter them all. When chaos looms, people's loyalty can be stronger than swords. A good reputation is hard to build but easy to destroy."

Bai Ji looked at the board and placed another stone, smiling: "The Lord has thought of everything."

He paused, his gaze shifting from the board to An Yi's face, which was focused on the game.

The last rays of the setting sun filtered through the gaps in the carriage curtains, illuminating half of An Yi's face, outlining his delicate, flawless profile. His long, thick lashes cast deep shadows beneath his eyes, his nose was straight, and his lips were a pale pink.

Bai Ji's fingers unconsciously tightened on the stone, feeling the cold, smooth surface.

He looked at An Yi, his voice dropping to almost a whisper: "It's just... Lord, sometimes being too soft-hearted, showing mercy—could that look like a weakness to others? Or even... become a weakness of your own?"

An Yi's hand, about to place a stone, froze mid-air.

He raised his eyes to look at Bai Ji.

His gaze was calm, showing no emotion, yet it made Bai Ji's heart skip a beat, as if something cold and sharp had pierced him.

"Soft-hearted?" A slight smile curved An Yi's lips. The smile stayed gentle, even softer than usual: "Ruzhi, do you think... I'm soft-hearted?"

Bai Ji was taken aback.

He looked into An Yi's eyes—the calm and coldness were so real, completely without pretense.

Soft-hearted? No. An Yi just had his principles and limits.

Bai Ji's smile slowly widened, but a more complex emotion stirred in his eyes—a mix of admiration, excitement, and a shiver.

"I misspoke," Bai Ji said lightly.

He raised his hand and casually tossed the black stone back into the bowl, with a crisp "clack."

"The Lord's skill is superior, and the strategy is far-reaching. Ji..." His gaze swept across the board. Though the white stones had not achieved a great victory, they had firmly secured the upper hand, turning his seemingly fierce attack into nothing: "I've lost."

He admitted defeat openly.

An Yi glanced at him, said nothing, and just smiled faintly.

The smile was faint and fleeting.

Then, his gaze shifted to the swaying gap in the carriage curtains.

Through the gap, he could see the injured refugees by the roadside, helping each other up, gathering the grain sacks and copper coins from the ground, and stumbling away into the gathering dusk without looking back.

The last light of the setting sun stretched their stooped shadows long.

An Yi watched silently for a few seconds, then looked away.

His face was expressionless, but his eyes, usually warm and smiling, now seemed especially grim.

He pressed his lips together, his jaw clenching slightly.

Inside the carriage, only the rumble of wheels on the road remained.

The sun dipped below the horizon, and twilight closed in.

Comment section:

"...Honestly, if An Yi were a woman and the male lead's love interest, I'd be all for it! But he's a man!"

"The comment above, tone down your creepiness. Gross!"

"An Yi is well-written, very charismatic. It's not strange that he attracts people. Why can't they just be soulmates (in a platonic way)? Why must it be romance?"

"Falling for An Yi is like breathing. Male lead, I understand you now."

"Wait... I have a question? When did they start dating? Isn't it just the male lead pining by himself?"

"Maybe he's not into guys? Based on current developments, I predict he'll become emperor later, maybe even have a harem! The male lead is just the gay guy who can't have him!"

"Isn't that even more heartbreaking? We readers are projecting onto the male lead!"

"Yeah, An Yi, just accept him! Even if not as empress, a consort would do!"

"You guys are way too desperate! I, Zhang San, am officially warning you! I'm saying it! Not a consort—empress or nothing!"

"Wait, you guys? Can't he just be, like, a prime minister or something?"

"That'd be so boring!"

"..."

An Yi: "..."

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Time passed.

It had been over two years since An Yi left Yuncang and returned to Sique.

Over seven hundred days and nights—just a blink of an eye. Yet for Tongzhou, especially Sique County where the An ancestral home stood and the surrounding Yangyi Commandery, it was anything but normal.

The changes were slow and steady, creeping in quietly. By the time people noticed, the foundations were already solid and the atmosphere was already fresh.

When he first arrived in Sique at sixteen, An Yi had shown no sign of eager ambition.

He first returned to the An ancestral home, performing the full rituals to honor his ancestors.

Then, with the humble attitude of "coming home to rest and study," he visited the clan elders one by one.

He wore simple, elegant scholar's robes, his manner was respectful, his words sincere. With his exceptionally good looks, a warm, refined personality, and elegant speech—along with his reputation as a "famous scholar" and "child prodigy"—this attitude won him unanimous approval from the whole clan.

The elders stroked their beards and praised him: "Chuwei is truly the pride of our An family—extraordinary talent with no hint of arrogance." His peers and juniors looked at him with even more awe and admiration.

With the local officials, gentry, and powerful families of Tongzhou and the surrounding areas, An Yi likewise visited them all with proper courtesy, as the eldest legitimate grandson of the An clan and a young great scholar famous across the land.

He came with gifts, hosted banquets, traded poems, chatted about refined topics, discussed the classics, and judged calligraphy and paintings—never once bringing up sensitive politics, nor showing the least bit of youthful arrogance.

Before long, from state officials to rural scholars, everyone in Tongzhou was singing his praises: "Young Master An Da is as gentle as jade, a true gentleman with noble bearing!"

Eventually, a saying even spread: "If you've never met An Chuwei in your life, calling yourself a renowned scholar is all for naught."

Yet beneath this gentle, humble, and nearly flawless exterior, a vast web had long been woven by An Yi's own hand, quietly unfurling to cover the entire Tongzhou and extending toward even more distant regions.

It nourished all things, silently and imperceptibly.

The An clan had been established in Tongzhou for generations, with farmland and estates spread across every prefecture and county.

An Yi gathered experienced farmers and farmers' sons, improved tools and cultivation methods, using his own estates as testing grounds, gradually promoting new-style plows, water wheels, crop rotation, and fertilization techniques outward.

Farmers and commoners who got wind of the news An Yi had deliberately spread began secretly adopting these methods, and later, upon hearing that the An clan's young master, An Chuwei, sympathized with the hardships of farmers and was willing to open up the techniques for anyone who wished to learn, their doubts quickly vanished.

For his own experimental grounds, he instructed his stewards that any tenant or independent farmer willing to try the new tools and methods would receive a partial rent reduction in the first year along with subsidies, and any lingering resentment among them vanished at once.

Soon, these practical techniques spread with Si Que at its center, radiating outward across the entire Yangyi Commandery and even to other suitable agricultural regions within Tongzhou.