A pretty emotional chapter. Moving in the original, I hope I didn't mangle it too much.
The red herrings are obvious but I'm a sucker for angsty, self-loathing ZZS.
Thank Emma P and Christina H for proofreading!
Notes
1. 蒋征 The surname Jiang evokes to Chiang Kei Seik by allusion, and the character "zheng" suggests moral righteousness and military background at the same time.
2. 蒋雪 lit. "Jiang snow". Evocative of purity.
3.Death without descendants is a terrible fate by Chinese standards.
4. 高辉 lit. "high splendour".
5. From Caocao's 观沧海. I'm impressed the author quoted a poem by a general in a passage about how to manipulate troop. Add depth to the text.
6. 华青松 lit. "magnificent pine tree".
7. 群龙无首 idiom translated literally, meaning a group left without a leader. Probably should have cut it but "a thunder" being the group name for dragon is nice, so I left it in.