Chapter 547: Zhuang Zhou's Dawn Dream

When Zu An heard the name Gongkoufang, he was utterly shocked. He couldn't believe there was a country with such a bizarre name in the world.

Gongkoufang was a nomadic tribe living in what is now the Hetao Plain and northern Shaanxi. Although slightly weaker than the previous Qiangfang, they were by no means easy to deal with.

Pei Mianman personally led the campaigns and it took a considerable amount of time to repel their invasions.

Unfortunately, nomadic tribes were always like that; their high mobility made them easy to repulse but incredibly difficult to completely annihilate.

In recent years, these groups would occasionally resurface, and each time Pei Mianman had to go and extinguish the threat.

Zu An couldn't bear being separated from her for such long periods, so he began selecting generals within the court to eventually take over Pei Mianman's responsibilities.

The wars of these past few years had also allowed many mid- and lower-ranking officers to distinguish themselves. Zu An promoted a large number of renowned generals, including Qin, Yu, and Xiangque.

As he promoted them, he couldn't help but complain that these ancient names were simply too haphazard. They sounded ridiculous, almost as if he were raising chickens.

Among this group of promoted generals was a very unique individual: Ya Chang!

Yes, the mummified general who had guided them in the secret realm.

He was originally a young master of the southern Chang clan. When the Chang clan submitted to the Shang, he was sent to Yindu as a hostage.

However, he didn't content himself with being a mere hostage. Instead, he secretly learned various textile and metallurgy techniques in Yindu, hoping to return and improve his clan's life.

Unfortunately, he was caught by soldiers and sentenced to death. Coincidentally, Zu An happened to pass by and, after learning his name, saved him with a strange expression.

Ya Chang was immensely grateful and offered to fight on the front lines to atone for his past actions and earn merit.

What followed was an unstoppable rise; his military achievements multiplied, clearly surpassing those of other generals and almost catching up to Fu Hao herself.

Zu An had originally hoped to get some clues about the trial from him, but Ya Chang was utterly clueless, like a newcomer. It was clear that he had only been assigned the task of guarding the secret realm much later.

After several years spent pacifying the Gongkoufang and Tufang forces, the Shang Dynasty faced another formidable enemy: the Guifang!

The Guifang were active on the Mongolian Plateau and were likely the predecessors of the Xiongnu. Their fighting strength was even more formidable than that of the Tufang and Gongkoufang.

The only fortunate thing was that, thanks to Zu An's efforts over the years, the Shang Dynasty's internal situation was stable, its national strength had significantly increased, and it now boasted a seasoned army and mature generals. Pei Mianman no longer needed to personally lead campaigns.

This war lasted for several more years, leaving Zu An and Pei Mianman utterly exhausted managing logistics from the rear.

The war was incredibly brutal, with countless casualties on both sides. Even a commander like Ya Chang fell on the battlefield.

The battlefield was chaotic. By the time Shang soldiers recovered his body, it was covered in sword wounds, and his severed arm was missing.

Zu An remained silent, thinking of the bronze hand from the secret realm. He ordered artisans to create an identical one so that Ya Chang could be buried with a complete body. This act earned universal praise from both court and commoners, who clearly wished to serve under such a benevolent king.

Zu An, however, felt a sense of bewilderment. He couldn't tell if he had made this bronze hand after seeing the one on Ya Chang's skeleton in the future, or if he had made this one first and then seen the future one. He felt a profound sense of confusion, like Zhuangzi dreaming he was a butterfly.

Sometimes, he even wondered if this trial was the real world, and the outside world was merely his imagination.

After dealing with the Guifang, the Shang Dynasty, having endured years of warfare, needed time to recover and rebuild.

But not long after, the Bafang from the southwest also began to invade.

Zu An was furious. "Damn it, do they think this is a public latrine, where they can come and go as they please?" he raged.

Over the years, he had been filled with resentment due to the incessant invasions. This time, he finally couldn't hold back. Seeing the stable domestic situation, he decided to personally lead an expedition with Pei Mianman.

The two worked together with telepathic understanding. Zu An drove the Bafang army directly into the encirclement laid out by Pei Mianman, achieving the first ambush and annihilation battle in the nation's history.

Unconsciously, ten years passed. Zu An always felt as if he had forgotten something, but as the ruler of a nation, seeing the country prosper under his leadership, the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment left him no time to think of anything else.

Especially with beautiful women like Xiao Tuo serving him in the harem alongside Pei Mianman, he lived a blissful, almost divine life every day. What more could he possibly be unsatisfied with?

Not long after, joyful news arrived.

Pei Mianman was pregnant!

She should have conceived much earlier over those ten years, but Pei Mianman had been campaigning extensively, leading to their frequent separations. It was only recently that they had found some leisure time together.

Upon hearing the news of the pregnancy, both were stunned. Could souls alone become pregnant?

However, this thought quickly vanished, replaced by overwhelming joy.

They had been in this world for so long that everything around them felt incredibly real. They had long grown accustomed to it, even subconsciously feeling that their previous lives might have just been a dream.

Throughout her ten-month pregnancy, Zu An meticulously cared for Pei Mianman.

Unfortunately, complications arose during the delivery.

When it was time for her to give birth, Pei Mianman suffered from difficult labor!

Midwives of that era knew little more than to tell the mother to push, and doctors were more like shamans or witch doctors, effectively indistinguishable from charlatans.

Although Zu An offered various methods and suggestions, he was ultimately not an obstetrician and had no practical experience with childbirth. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as she died from complications during labor.

The moment Pei Mianman closed her eyes, Zu An felt as if he had been struck by lightning, unable to believe it was real.

Yet, those around him seemed accustomed to such tragedies and offered him words of comfort.

In that era, due to limitations in technology and medical knowledge, human lifespans were short, and each childbirth was akin to walking through the gates of hell for women.

Everyone had long been familiar with similar cases. Although the Queen had a special status and was highly capable, in this matter, she was no different from any other woman; the gods treated everyone equally.

But Zu An was not accustomed to it. He struggled to recover for a long time, while Xiao Tuo gently consoled and comforted him.

Although the King was somewhat despondent, the court continued to function as usual. Fu Shuo and other important ministers began discussing the Queen's funeral arrangements.

Because of the King's profound grief and the Queen's unparalleled achievements, everyone decided to arrange the most solemn funeral and the grandest tomb for her.

Zu An couldn't indefinitely delay the Queen's burial, so he personally presided over the funeral to bid her a final farewell.

Pei Mianman's death left Zu An utterly heartbroken, as if he had lost his soul. He often hid in his palace, drinking and indulging in revelry with Xiao Tuo and other concubines, as if only by numbing himself could he avoid contemplating certain painful matters.

Fortunately, in the years he and Pei Mianman had managed the country, they had forced neighboring powers into submission, and the nation's strength had steadily increased. Furthermore, the court's ministerial team had matured. Even though he now paid little attention to state affairs, the country continued to operate normally.

Time passed like a fleeting shadow; decades went by in a flash. Zu An grew old, his longevity a miracle in that era.

He personally bid farewell to generations of ministers, including Fu Shuo, and even Xiao Tuo had passed away years earlier. Later, he also saw off many other concubines whose names he could no longer recall.

Over these decades, after every indulgence, as he lay alone in the quiet deep palace late at night, he always vaguely felt he had forgotten something. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall it.

Initially, he felt some unease, but as time went on, he even forgot that discomfort.

In recent days, he suddenly had an epiphany, seemingly sensing the breath of death. He knew his end was near.

Yet, his heart was calm. Having been a human emperor for over fifty years, he had enjoyed everything life offered. What more could he possibly desire?

Until one night, unable to sleep, he rose and walked through the palace. Unknowingly, he arrived at a dilapidated building and froze.

He vaguely remembered it was his former residence from earlier years, but he couldn't recall why he had preserved the room.

He instinctively pushed the door open and found the room covered in dust.

Clearly, the palace maids could sense their master's thoughts. In earlier years, he would occasionally return to visit, and no one dared to neglect the room, keeping it spotless.

But as the King gradually stopped visiting, they naturally became lax in its upkeep.

Zu An walked to the bed and sat down. He was utterly quiet, pondering something unknown. After sitting for a while, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a faint light from the corner of his eye.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, reflecting off something.

He instinctively searched and found something seemingly stuck deep in a crevice by the bed. Its position was so obscure that it was no wonder the many palace maids had failed to notice it during their cleaning.

He fumbled for a long time before finally retrieving the item.

It was a pendant with a flame symbol on it.

As the ruler of a nation, he had seen countless rare treasures, so this pendant appeared utterly unremarkable to him.

Yet, the moment he saw the pendant, his entire body trembled violently. He finally remembered what he had forgotten all these years, and he recalled his purpose for coming to this world.

This was the pendant Pei Mianman had given him to protect against the black flames.

Perhaps, during their passionate moments in that room years ago, the pendant had accidentally fallen into the crevice. With pressing state affairs, they had soon forgotten about it.

"Manman…" At that instant, the old man on the bed was overcome with tears.

Immediately after, his vision blurred, the space around him twisted, and Zu An woke up to find himself in another world.