TGDS Chapter 84.1

The Good Dad System (Arc 12) Chapter 84.1: (Ancient Times) The People Around My Daughter Have All Been Reborn (1)

Upon re-entering the dark space, Pei Naochun was momentarily disoriented. Due to the suppression of his emotions, he didn’t actually have a clear sense of reality. Yet, upon counting, he realized he was already halfway through the journey. After a brief moment of distraction, he refocused his attention. The man before him was quite distinctively dressed, captivating his gaze.

Standing in the center of the dark space was a middle-aged man. He didn’t appear very old, but his temples were already streaked with gray. His long hair was wildly disheveled around his face. He wore a tattered set of white armor, presumably made of some kind of metal. Pei Naochun had seen similar armor in ancient documentaries; this must be an ancient soldier or general. He was burly and imposing, exuding authority without anger. However, the torn sections of the armor revealed mottled wounds beneath, occasionally oozing blood—a gruesome sight. Even his face bore similar marks.

Pei Naochun was already familiar with the place, and he calmly asked, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

The man glanced at him lightly, as if carefully looking him up and down, but didn’t examine him closely. After pondering for a while, he smiled bitterly and said, “I’ve asked you for help quite a few times.” He was extremely confused. “I still don’t understand why things turned out this way.”

He slowly recounted his rather “legendary” life, but from beginning to end, confusion remained in his eyes.

…

The original owner of this body was born into a general’s family in the Great Xia Dynasty. His family, the Pei family, was the guardian of the entire Great Xia Dynasty, protecting the borders that were often invaded by foreign enemies.

His grandfather, great-uncle, 2nd great-uncle; father, uncle, aunt… the entire family, regardless of whether they were from the main or collateral branches, had all fought valiantly on the battlefield, never to return. By the time of the original owner’s generation, he was the only heir left in the main branch. Perhaps because of this heavy burden, the original owner grew up extremely quickly. At the age of fourteen, he went to the battlefield, and at sixteen, he became a general leading the entire army, defeating the enemy one after another. No one could stop him, and he used his own blood and tears, along with those of the Pei family army, to maintain stability on the frontier for more than ten years.

Because the men of the Pei family were known for “early death”—this was not a curse, but rather because in ancient times, the frontier was a battlefield where swords and spears had no eyes, and medical care was not as advanced as one might imagine. Even if they were wounded, many would die from their injuries, not to mention those who were killed on the spot. To the enemies on the frontier, the men of the Pei family were thorns in their side, walking lights. Whenever they led a force, they were fearless and would fight to the death, determined to subdue the Pei family army. If they managed to kill even a few Pei men, they would go so far as to tear them apart by four horses and hang their heads as a warning. The Pei men didn’t just die; they died without proper burial, many only having cenotaphs erected for posterity to pay their respects.

Emperor Renzong of the Great Xia Dynasty valued the royal family’s reputation among the people. He knew that what the common people couldn’t bear most was not a change of dynasty, but the death of a general without an heir. Therefore, he arranged for the Empress’s sister to marry the original owner of this body and bestowed many beauties upon him. However, the original owner was principled, adhering to the tradition of not taking concubines passed down from his ancestors. He sent all the beauties back, stayed at home for less than a hundred days, and then returned to the battlefield.

His wife soon discovered she was pregnant, and after ten months of pregnancy, she gave birth to their daughter, Pei Yuzhuo, but tragically died in childbirth.

Although the original owner of this body was away fighting, he never forgot his family. After learning of his wife’s death, he entrusted his mother to take care of his daughter. Even though he was far away on the frontier, he always remembered to send gifts on holidays and his daughter’s birthday, and they exchanged letters.

Fourteen years passed, and his daughter grew up. However, his life, which was about to become a smooth one, was about to be disrupted.

Emperor Xia Ren, who had always insisted on not interfering in frontier affairs, suddenly issued three imperial edicts, sending the Crown Prince and the Second Prince to the frontier as co-supervisors of the army to oversee the daily operations of the Pei family army. Although the original owner and his brothers were very uncomfortable with this, none of them had any thoughts of treason. They accepted the two princes who came and treated them with great respect.

Then— for some unknown reason, the Second Prince went hunting on horseback, got caught in enemy lines, and was captured alive by the enemy general. Using him as leverage, the general ordered the army to move the boundary markers, ceding ten cities and demanding tribute of beauties, fine tea, and silk. He even used the Second Prince as a shield, hanging him on a chariot, and used him as the vanguard to charge the army, forcing the previously fearless original owner to lead the army in a desperate retreat.

Pei Naochun was extremely hesitant. On one hand, he knew clearly that in the emperor’s heart, the lives of the princes were more important than those of the common people on the frontier; but on the other hand, these people on the frontier were people he had personally protected and cared for. Once they returned to their homelands, there would likely be widespread suffering, given the enemy’s history of massacres and the abduction of women. Faced with this dilemma, he was tormented and repeatedly visited the Crown Prince, but the prince remained silent, saying he couldn’t make the decision. The original owner had no choice but to send his vanguard, riding the fastest horse in the army, on an urgent journey of eight hundred li to the capital to get a response before making a decision.

But the message never came back. The Second Prince grew thinner and thinner. The enemy army carried him and began to attack the city.

In ancient siege warfare, methods were often limited: archery, fire, hot oil, boulders, wall sieges… But with the Second Prince as a target, they dared not use any methods that might cause friendly fire. The original owner stood atop the city wall, holding a long sword, hesitating whether to give the order. This time, it would be either the Second Prince’s death or the surrender of ten cities, with countless soldiers sacrificing their lives in vain… But imperial power was paramount, so what should he do?

Seeing that he still hadn’t made a decision, the enemy general ordered his soldiers to remove the towel stuffed in the Second Prince’s mouth, held a knife to his neck, and cut a bloody gash. They wanted the people of the Great Xia Dynasty to see their own royal family members losing their lives here. They pushed the Second Prince, demanding that he speak, beg for mercy, and give orders.

“General Pei, are you here?” From afar, the pale-faced Second Prince spoke. Days of torture had left him covered in blood and sweat, his hair plastered to his face, obscuring his features and making it impossible to recall the dashing scene of him riding in with his elder brother.

“This humble general is here.” The original body’s hands were bulging with veins from the exertion. He knew that once the Second Prince spoke, he had no choice but to obey, as the other was the Commander-in-Chief, capable of temporarily leading the entire army.

“In the name of the Commander-in-Chief, I command you.” Many enemy soldiers around him began to sneer. The Second Prince continued, “My capture in this battle is a disgrace. The army need not consider my status; treat all enemies with utmost righteousness.”

His words caused an uproar. The enemy soldiers who had been laughing rushed forward and stuffed the cloth back into his mouth, but many who needed to hear him had already heard clearly.

The original owner of this body looked at the young prince, who was about the same age as his daughter, and felt a pang of pain in his heart. Hesitantly, he raised his sword, about to strike, when someone shot an arrow that pierced straight through the second prince’s chest, killing him instantly. Pei Naochun looked around in shock. To defend the city, many soldiers were holding bows and arrows, but in the army, orders were always strictly followed. He hadn’t given the order. Who was so bold as to do this?

But it was too late to find out. The war had officially begun. This great battle was fierce and exhilarating. Blood could be seen everywhere. The Great Xia Dynasty won a great victory, and the enemy army fled in ruins. But at the same time, the second prince’s body had vanished without a trace, and no matter how hard they searched, it could not be found.

Then, the Crown Prince, who had remained silent in the rear, suddenly appeared. Holding the military command token, his expression solemn, he ordered his guards to immediately take the original body to the capital and hand it over to the Emperor. The army was in an uproar. In this battle, the Pei family army had won a crushing victory, and every soldier was wounded. Unless another battle was fought, and many more died, it seemed impossible to snatch the original body back from the Crown Prince.

The original body felt guilty—he guessed that the archers were probably from the main army. After all, many of the archers in the army had grown up on the frontier or settled down there and started families. They simply couldn’t accept that these ten cities were given up so easily—besides, he couldn’t accept that his brothers, who had barely survived the battlefield, would fight each other and lose their lives.

He took the initiative to persuade many of his brothers, and then followed the Crown Prince to the capital.

Upon arriving in the capital, he didn’t even have a chance to meet the emperor. He was immediately imprisoned. In the dungeon, he was subjected to various forms of torture by unknown assailants, who tried to force him to sign a confession admitting to ordering the killing of a prince. How could he dare to confess? Confessing would mean the execution of nine generations of his family. The reason his family hadn’t been arrested was probably because the Pei family had paid the price for the Great Xia Dynasty over the years and enjoyed a high reputation among the people.

Lying in prison, covered in wounds, he recalled many things from the past. He regretted that in this life, he owed nothing to the Great Xia Dynasty, nothing to the people, only to his family. But this was the fate of a general. Of course, he couldn’t complete this cycle; he didn’t die on the battlefield.

Not long after, he was interrogated by Emperor Xia Ren. When he knelt in the hall, he looked down and was momentarily dazed. Officials beside him read out dozens of his crimes, such as disobeying the imperial edict, disobeying the supervision of the military supervisor, murdering a prince, and plotting rebellion. Only then did the original owner realize that his letter had indeed been delivered that day, and that the emperor had issued an imperial edict as quickly as possible, ordering him to protect the second prince. However, for some reason, he had never received this edict from beginning to end. The crown prince also never mentioned his seclusion, only saying that he could not persuade him to stay at home. General Pei had a very high reputation in the army, and no one listened to his words. Even if he wanted to go out and fight the enemy, he was blocked by the closed city gates.

Having fought for many years, the original owner of this body was no fool. He smiled bitterly, wanting to list witnesses, but found that he couldn’t even provide evidence. After all, His Highness the Crown Prince had already testified on the spot that he was very famous among the soldiers and civilians on the frontier, and that he could command a large following and wanted to establish himself as king. Even if he found a hundred people, he couldn’t prove his innocence.

EmpressYue Corner

Welcome to Arc 12….