Yang Jian?
How could Chen Cuo not know that name?
After all, throughout the history of China, it was a name no one could avoid.
The founding emperor of the great Sui had laid the foundations for the glorious Tang that followed.
From the sound of it, Yang Jian must have risen to prominence by now, Chen Cuo mused. That means the Sui Dynasty is almost upon us. I'm afraid my status as a member of the Southern Chen imperial family won't last much longer.
He knew that although he had stirred things up in Southern Chen, he had soon entered the Immortal Sect. He had barely influenced the two kingdoms of the Northern Lands, especially Northern Zhou. Its course should therefore have followed history as he knew it.
By that reasoning, learning more from Pei Shiju will help me judge the situation in the Central Plains.
Though he had watched him only briefly, Chen Cuo could already tell that Pei Shiju merely appeared to be studying at home. In truth, he had friends everywhere, heard news from every quarter, and had ties to nearly every faction. He could sit at home and still know the affairs of All Under Heaven!
At that moment, Pei Shiju was discussing the situation in Northern Zhou with a friend.
"Yuwen Hu of the Zhou Kingdom is quite a figure, but in the end, he's only a powerful minister. He has neither a rightful claim nor a convincing pretext—especially after finding an excuse to execute Dugu Xin early this year." Pei Shiju spoke with the easy assurance of someone well informed. "There were signs long ago that he meant to kill Dugu Xin. Dugu Xin wanted to protect the emperor and had been secretly rallying the ministers. He'd long been a thorn in Yuwen