Conqueror Chapter 16

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He was, after all, holding up the banner of ‘restore righteousness, kill the traitor’, so Xiang Yu still sent Zhongli Mo and thirty thousand cavalry to chase Liu Bang as he fled all the way west, in order to exterminate the roots.

Although Zhongli Mo delayed for half a day before setting off again, the Han army was familiar with neither people nor land in Bashu, so they got lost several times amongst the rugged mountain roads and Zhongli Mo soon caught their tail.

So these five thousand carefully selected elite soldiers were reduced by another thousand men under the wolf-like Chu army’s attack.

Liu Bang fled at his army’s forefront without hesitation. Zhongli Mo persevered in chasing him all the way to the border of Ba County, but in the end failed to capture him.

And the rest of the Han army also melted away into the myriad mountain roads. After careful consideration, he decided to follow Xiang Yu’s prior military order of ‘stop when appropriate’ — he stabilised his own soldiers and began to turn back in an orderly manner.

Zhongli Mo’s cautious behaviour soon paid off. They had retreated barely a mile when their rear guard, personally commanded by Zhongli Mo, encountered a thousand cavalry led by Guan Ying.

It turned out that Liu Bang, who had been chased by these wolves for his entire journey and lost more than a thousand soldiers to them, could not so easily discard his hatred. He wanted to take advantage of the negligence the Chu army would inevitably show when they chose to give up the pursuit, so he ordered his most trusted cavalry commander Guan Ying to lead a counterattack.

In his earlier years, Guan Ying had made a living by selling textiles far and wide. Not only did he develop good riding skills, he also had the habit of staying vigilant.

He first sent a dozen or so riders to scout ahead; seeing as the Chu army showed not a hint of returning, he guessed that there must be a reliable general in the rearguard, perhaps even Zhongli Mo himself.

“What a pity,” Guan Ying muttered to himself.

He couldn’t do much if Zhongli Mo was on guard.

Guan Ying knew that the Han were no longer as strong as before, and it would not be easy to gain a firm foothold in Bashu, where everything was unfamiliar.

It did not matter if Liu Bang could vent his grievances or not. The important thing was that they could not afford to lose more soldiers.

Although he was returning empty-handed, Guan Ying wasn’t worried about being blamed — he knew that his brother could distinguish what was and was not important.

He decisively turned his thousand-man cavalry around before Zhongli Mo could react and went to rejoin Liu Bang.

Lü Bu hadn’t had much confidence in Zhongli Mo’s ability in the first place, but after an impatient half month’s wait in the former Qin Palace, he was still very disappointed to hear that Liu Bang successfully escaped.

Because he was in an extremely bad mood, he made up his mind to torment Xiang Bo vigorously to comfort himself.

——If I’m unhappy, Xiang Bo has to be even more unhappy.

Xiang Bo had no idea that he was being targeted by a black-hearted tiger named Lü Bu. He had been only slightly slower than the people in the main hall in receiving news that Liu Bang had evaded pursuit and entered Bashu — upon hearing this, he had breathed a big sigh of relief.

Lucky, very lucky, he thought.

He had been feeling deeply ashamed for almost failing to protect Zhang Liang from Xiang Yu’s murderous sword, and for letting Lü Bu stir up trouble even when he had clearly sensed that the man had evil intentions, thus giving Liu Bang endless troubles.

Thankfully Liu Bang had escaped successfully, so they could still plan things out slowly.

As for the matter of being trapped in Bashu, he could only deal with it after Xiang Yu calmed down; Zhang Liang was imprisoned but it wasn’t difficult for him to take care of him. He would secretly release him when the dust settled.

If things were handled properly, he could even blame Lü Bu for neglecting his duty and letting Zhang Liang escape, so that Xiang Yu would value him less.

Thinking of Lü Bu’s despicably smug face in the palace as he spewed lies, which caused Liu Bang to be in such a mess and resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Han troops, Xiang Bo felt his chest tighten and his breath come short.

Compared with how Lü Bu ruined Liu Bang’s life work, his little revenge was nothing.

Xiang Bo, who had made up his mind, paced in his tent with gloomy eyes. After what felt to him like a very long time, he found an excuse to go to the prison where Zhang Liang was detained while Xiang Yu summoned his ministers once again.

In the early days when rebel armies rose everywhere and the Qin army was short of men, Zhang Han was named a general and when he needed to recruit soldiers from Guanzhong, he used imprisoned convicts.¹Zhang Han was a military general of the Qin dynasty who surrendered to Xiang Yu at the Battle of Julu; see glossary for more details; Wikipedia

When the Qin Palace was taken over by the Han army, then subsequently the Chu army, people all focused on the gold, silver, jewels, and other shiny dead things in the treasury. And so the other prisoners who were old, weak, or crippled, who had not been recruited into the army, were overlooked and eventually starved to death.

They were valued less than weeds. By the time they were discovered, their corpses already stank of rot, and people had to pinch their noses as they were dragged out, wrapped in threadbare mats, then thrown into a mass grave.

And so, Zhang Liang became the only prisoner in the Qin Palace dungeons.

Although Xiang Yu did not deliberately mistreat him, nor did he torture him for information on Liu Bang, Zhang Liang still lost weight quickly after a few days in prison.

However his heart was tenacious and he wasn’t shaken by outside events, so even though he never bathed or ate enough, his bearing was still magnificent.

Yet his haggard appearance still made Xiang Bo cry on the spot.

Zhang Liang was resting his eyes when he heard footsteps get closer to him before stopping, but he did not react until he heard quiet sobbing sounds. Opening his eyes, he said in surprise, “Xiang-xiong.”

“Your foolish brother is incompetent, I’ve made you suffer.” Xiang Bo’s voice was filled with bitterness. He originally wanted to wait a while longer before taking action, but seeing that Zhang Liang was so thin, he didn’t want to wait a moment more. “Liu-xiong has successfully reached Shu County, just wait–”

Zhang Liang did not let him continue. “The walls have ears, don’t speak carelessly,” he said softly, gesturing sharply.

“My dear brother, no need to worry,” Xiang Bo sighed. “Although your foolish brother isn’t as cunning as that villain, I haven’t reached the point where I can’t even control a little prison guard.”

He had his servants bribe the greedy jailor with pearls long before he stepped foot here, the area was under his control.

Moreover, Lü Bu killed the king. Although those present at the scene had all been dealt with — those who should have been silenced were silenced, and those who should have been threatened were threatened — the matter could not be concealed from the higher ranks of the Chu army.

Those who reacted most radically were Chen Ying, who had served under Xiang Liang and was later strongly promoted by the King of Chu, and the father and son pair Lü Qing and Lü Chen, of whom the former was the prime minister and the latter the Minister of the Household, who had both been greatly favoured by the King of Chu.

After receiving the King of Chu’s trust, they were determined to loyally support the young monarch. Although they would not openly scold Xiang Yu for his part in the terrible events, they all left their seals behind as they silently departed with their families, expressing their decision to sever ties with action.

Xiang Yu valued friendship very much — although he was a little unhappy at their departure, he did not stop them. But filling the sudden vacancies left would give him headaches for quite a while, naturally he had no time to monitor any movements in the prison.

But Zhang Liang still felt that Xiang Bo’s behaviour was too high profile, so he shook his head and refused to indulge him. “It’s not suitable for Xiang-xiong to be here, please leave.”

He closed his eyes after he spoke, despite Xiang Bo’s stiff face. Xiang Bo could not force a conversation, so he had to go back in a dispirited mood.

Since Zhang Liang objected to his plan, he could not act on it himself. He could only bribe the jailor with pearls to keep his silence and make him take better care of Zhang Liang, before leaving dejectedly.

Little did he know that as soon as he left, the jailor, who had been extraordinarily flattering, instantly changed his face and went to speak with Han Xin.

After Han Xin received the item, he promptly handed it to Lü Bu and praised, “It really is as you said.”

Lü Bu squinted his eyes. When he confirmed that the pearl was stamped with the seal of the Qin Palace, he immediately became satisfied. “Thank you for your help, Han-xiong!”

No matter how reticent Han Xin was, he had been in the Chu army for two years and had a few contacts.

Lü Bu didn’t ask him to help for nothing, he had already made up his mind to remember this cheap brother of his in the future. He wasn’t an ungrateful cur who forgot favours, he truly treated this god of war as his brother now, especially after Han Xin sneaked him meat after the banquet which he could not attend.

Within the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the gold and pearls which Xiang Bo used to bribe his cronies fell into Xiang Yu’s hands.

With an unclear expression, Xiang Yu played with a pearl clearly engraved with the seal of the Qin Palace’s treasury.

It had only been half a month since the Chu army took over the Qin Palace, the gold and valuables that Liu Bang had confiscated still sat untouched.

So from where could Xiang Bo get anything from the treasury?

Only from Liu Bang’s hands.

How could Fan Zeng give up this opportunity to add insult to injury? Although he didn’t agree with Xiang Yu’s decision to kill his sovereign lord, he hated Xiang Bo’s despicable behaviour — betraying his master, yet still insisting that he was justified — even more.

However, just as he was about to speak, Lü Bu opened his mouth and said lazily, sarcastically, “The Minister of the Left is truly… This is what people call holding great generosity and love, right? I’ve never seen someone so good at rationalising their actions, I feel deeply ashamed.”

Xiang Yu’s expression instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

At this, Fan Zeng surreptitiously wiped away his cold sweat, thinking that this warrior surnamed Lü was remarkable, he even dared to disregard the general’s face like this with a straight face.

It’s just that Xiang Yu, whose face was hurt, didn’t get angry and neither did he make a sound. He just stood and sullenly stalked out.

Fan Zeng did not get up and chase — he had followed Xiang Yu for several years, and knew of his temper by now. Although he was notoriously violent, he seldom did anything to his subordinates. He was actually quite polite most of the time, and would not punish people merely for saying a few unpleasant words.

When he heard something that made him upset and didn’t know what to do, he would take Dapple and gallop outside the city for a while to vent his frustration.

But Lü Bu did not know this. He only thought that Xiang Yu didn’t want to accept the fact that Xiang Bo was a traitor, and intended to cover it up.

He still had another trap waiting for Xiang Bo to jump in, there was no way he would allow Xiang Yu to muddle his way through this. He followed him out without another word.

He saw Xiang Yu narrow his eyes slightly, put his right index finger and thumb against his thin lips, then blow, letting out a long and pleasant whistle.

Lü Bu’s eyes widened.

It didn’t take long before the sleek, black-coated Dapple trotted over majestically.

Xiang Yu waited for a while, and when Dapple was close enough, he was about to press against the horse’s back and leap into the saddle.

Unexpectedly, Dapple, who had just been full of arrogance, caught sight of Lü Bu standing guiltily nearby and its eyes lit up.

Without the slightest hesitation, it left its master — whom he could see at any time — and rubbed affectionately against Lü Bu, sticking its tongue out as if it wanted to lick his face like last time.

Xiang Yu: “…”

Lü Bu, who had his face enthusiastically washed with saliva by Dapple, stood dumbfounded.

Fearless as he was, when he saw the shock written across Xiang Yu’s face, who hadn’t even twitched at the King of Chu’s death, he felt a chill in his heart.

Damn… it was obviously just a short moment of greed which made him secretly ride someone else’s prized horse for a while, why did he feel as guilty as if he had slept with their wife?

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  Zhang Han was a military general of the Qin dynasty who surrendered to Xiang Yu at the Battle of Julu; see glossary for more details; Wikipedia