CHAPTER 1464: CHAPTER 1381: YOU HAVE TO LEAVE

"There’s no way to forge an identity for you. The more people involved, the greater the chance you’ll be exposed. So we don’t really have a good solution either." Outside Wangdu City, in a farm, the room was warmed by a wood-burning fire, crackling with pops. A man was speaking while another person sat in front of him.

The listener by the fire absent-mindedly nodded slightly, "I understand! I know you’ve done your best."

His tone made the man who had just spoken feel uncomfortable, as he heard that ’done your best’ as being filled with sarcasm.

Rather than saying they’ve done their best, it’s more accurate to say they’ve chosen the plan with the least responsibility. The ones who truly exerted themselves are the ones sitting by the fireplace, praising the fire.

So, he awkwardly explained, "Don’t put it that way. Your Majesty knows your contribution to the Empire. We want to help you too, but you know, the intelligence department of the Great Tang Empire is no joke."

The intelligence department of the Great Tang Empire is truly a nightmare for the intelligence department of the Qin Country. Or rather, the intelligence department of the Great Tang Empire is a nightmare for all other countries’ intelligence departments.

The other side is almost omnipresent and can even establish semi-public offices in many places. To many countries’ intelligence departments, these people are like grandparents in that every action of theirs is worth studying like a textbook.

Even more frightening is when such an intelligence agency becomes your opponent, that is terrifying to the extreme: those damn guys have almost no information they can’t discover, no secrets they can’t uncover.

Bringing up the Great Tang Empire’s intelligence agency, the speaking man felt his teeth itch with hate, "They have the Imperial Security Bureau, and some other departments... We don’t know how many spies they have internally."

"I understand." The man by the fireplace added two more pieces of firewood and spoke again in a very sarcastic tone.

"General Liu Zhian... I know you feel our intelligence work isn’t great, but you have to understand, all our textbooks are procured from the Great Tang Empire’s Military Academy... modern spycraft was originated in the Great Tang Empire, and there’s nothing we can do about it."

He saw a hint of contempt and disdain in Liu Zhian’s eyes, which made him very annoyed, but ultimately there was nothing he could do because sitting in front of him was indeed a respectable general of the Empire.

The problem is, he was genuinely considering Liu Zhian: fabricating someone’s identity isn’t hard; what’s hard is making it foolproof.

These identifications are managed by civil departments on a daily basis. Nobody knows to what extent Tang People have infiltrated there, but who dares to risk the life of General Liu Zhian’s entire family?

The Great Tang Empire is openly searching for Liu Zhian; this is public knowledge. Just casually ask around for reward money, and one could tell that personnel handling these affairs in the civil department aren’t all that reliable.

Any of those people might sell any file or information for a few hundred Gold Coins, and the intelligence personnel of the Tang Country, like bloodhounds, could pounce on it as soon as they catch the scent.

The order from Emperor Qin Ying Duo is to protect Liu Zhian and his family, so he, as the executor, must think things through thoroughly. If he screws up, he’ll be the first to be implicated.

Thus, the solution he thought of was to send Liu Zhian to another country to live out his remaining years under a new identity. The country he chose for Liu Zhian is on another continent and is called Dorne.

The reason for choosing Dorne is actually because it’s an ally of the Qin Country, and it’s naturally opposed to the Great Tang Empire, plus Sofia’s influence is considerable, so it’s easy to protect Liu Zhian’s family there.

In summary, this choice isn’t bad, but Liu Zhian obviously doesn’t want to leave the Qin Country. His ancestors are here, and he’s spent his whole life here.

No matter how much he doesn’t want to leave, he must admit that the current state of the Qin Country can’t protect him, a "Tang Country fugitive."

The other side just needs to add some demands to the ceasefire agreement and they could gain virtually unrestricted access to investigate within the Qin Country. At that time, with the tactics of the Great Tang Empire’s intelligence department, merely asking around could reveal the whereabouts of his entire family.

And only by avoiding contact with any formal departments, by directly sneaking out of the Qin Country, might he avoid the hawks and hounds of the Great Tang Empire and live out the remainder of his life in obscurity.

"General! I’ve heard of what you’ve done for the Empire and I admire you very much, that’s why I took on this task to send you to Dorne..." the man spoke again.

"I still feel the same, I don’t want to leave! I am still needed here, at least I can still lead troops to fight the Tang People for a while longer!" Liu Zhian also expressed what was in his heart.

He has spent his life in battle and does not wish for a life of merely existing in his later years. He would rather die on the battlefield, wrapped in a horsehide, than die of old age in some unknown little shack.

But his thoughts do not represent everyone’s, at least as far as the Qin Country is concerned, no opportunity will be given for him to lead troops again.

The Great Tang Empire has already employed conventions and laws to officially list Liu Zhian as wanted. This is already giving the Qin Country face, by not pursuing further consequences. If the Qin side continues to let Liu Zhian lead troops to battle, it would be like slapping the Great Tang Empire in the face.

Such actions might feel satisfying, and indeed many within the Qin Country hope for this, but in reality, Qin can’t act this way.

The situation dictates that, now that the war is unfavorable, the Qin side must try every means to negotiate peace with the Great Tang Empire. Additionally, because the situation is passive, the post-war settlement will surely be led by the Great Tang Empire, so the Qin side can’t show any flaws.

Slapping the Great Tang Empire in the face with the Liu Zhian case will, no matter how it ends, result in a retaliatory slap from the Great Tang Empire afterwards. This kind of thing is not worthwhile.

Of course, if the other side only retaliates with one slap, that’s still manageable. But if they get embarrassed and angry, retaliating with dozens of slaps against Qin, then it would be much uglier.

Hence, Liu Zhian cannot continue to lead troops; this is the consensus at all levels of the Qin Country. Liu Zhian’s personal thoughts do not matter at all.

"General! You can’t lead troops anymore... if you insist, it would be like announcing to the world that it was Your Majesty’s order for you to use landmines..." The Qin Country intelligence department head persuading Liu Zhian explained with difficulty.

Liu Zhian also knew this was true, but he just had strong emotions, a very aggrieved, inexplicable emotion.

The silence in the room lasted a long time. Finally, Liu Zhian let out a sigh. He resigned himself because he did not want to harm the interests of this country.