Conqueror Chapter 1

Table of Contents | Next >

In the vast, splendid Qin Palace, there wasn’t a single person who was calm, whether that be the formerly noble Ying Ziying* or the many palace servants.

Ying Ziying [嬴子婴]: Ziying of Qin, the last emperor of the Qin dynasty who ruled for a total of 46 days; some give him the posthumous title 秦殇帝 Qin Shangdi, meaning Qin Emperor Who Died Young (poor guy). Wikipedia

Even though the doors were tightly closed, Ying Ziying could clearly smell an extremely strong rotten stench mixed with cinders.

This scent had never really dissipated ever since he opened the city and surrendered to Liu Ji.* It wasn’t the least bit unexpected that Liu Ji, who promised that his army would not hurt the common people, wouldn’t refrain from cleaning up the Qin ministers within the palace.

Liu Ji [刘季]: Liu Bang, founding emperor of the Han dynasty; Bang is his given name, while Ji is his courtesy name, so both names refer to one person. Wikipedia. For a more detailed explanation of how ye olden times Chinese names worked (not that old, names were like this until about the cultural revolution early/mid-1900s), see ChinaKnowledge.de or Wikipedia.

Upon hearing the pained cry of a palace attendant from afar, Ying Ziying could only close his eyes and rub his tightly-locked brows, helplessly turning a deaf ear.

–It was difficult for him to protect himself right now, how could he have the ability to take care of others?

From the day of his surrender, he was politely invited to temporarily live in Huayang Hall* but was in reality placed under house arrest, and all the palace servants and slaves were also taken away.

Huayang Hall [华阳宫]: IRL, it’s a Taoist temple (founded in 1220) at the foot of Hua Hill (which is in another province altogether), so obviously not the one mentioned here unless the author got something mixed up

The only one left behind who was willing to risk death to inquire into some news about the Han army for him was his loyal servant surnamed Li.

Thanks to this, Ying Ziying knew that although he abdicated cleanly in exchange for Liu Ji’s promise to appoint him as a puppet prime minister, there were many voices in the Han army clamouring for his life.

This meant that he was in a very awkward situation with no good solution, and could only wait for his final sentence.

Ying Ziying let out a deep sigh.

It would undoubtedly take something extremely tortuous to survive this, but… he still wasn’t willing to just die here.

Seeing his honourable master in such pain, Servant Li also felt uncomfortable in his heart.

“My Lord, please remain calm. Your servant will go out and see if there has been any progress.”

In the face of his initiative, Ying Ziying only nodded tiredly, urging him, “Be circumspect in your actions.”

“Yes.”

The servant responded cautiously and slipped out.

As soon as he left, the hall returned to silence, and Ying Ziying’s complexion darkened again.

Don’t look at the fact that there weren’t that many soldiers guarding him, a former Qin prince, outside the hall — most of them were concentrated by Liu Ji’s side, but the guards at the palace gates were extremely strict.

Even if he could take advantage of a gap and break out of this hall, he would never be able to escape the many soldiers guarding the greater palace complex. And once caught, he would surely die.

One path was an inevitable death, and the other had a chance of life. Ying Ziying would naturally choose the latter.

Time passed by in a crawl. Except for the slightest of movements in his chest, Ying Ziying was like a motionless ice sculpture.

After an unknown period of time, there was a commotion outside the hall, followed by the sound of chaotic footsteps gradually receding.

…What happened?

Ying Ziying couldn’t help being surprised, and his whole body instantly went on alert.

Just as he was hesitating, unsure whether he should go and take a look or continue to wait inside, the doors were violently pushed open.

The suddenly opened doors revealed the silhouette of an extraordinary figure dressed in light armour as they strode in. Against a backdrop of dazzling sunlight, they became even more majestic and awe-inspiring.

The man had a clear goal. He strode in front of the dazed Ying Ziying, looked down slightly, and asked shortly, “King of Qin?”

When he got closer, Ying Ziying, who was frozen in his seat, raised his head stiffly and finally saw the appearance of the person who came.

The man had sharply defined facial features, a fair complexion, and a pair of elegantly curved sword-like eyebrows.* His ink-black eyes were a mysterious abyss, while his thin lips pressed against each other below a high-set nose. Although he wore crude light armour, it couldn’t hide the broad shoulders and narrow waist of his strong body.

Sword-like eyebrows [剑眉]: a type of eyebrows characterised by being straight, slanted and coming to a point at the ends; according to traditional Chinese face reading, sword eyebrows are a sign of good fortune

At this time, he stared at Ying Ziying without a blink. His eyes evidently showed his youth, but his aura was so strong that it shocked Ying Ziying into speechlessness for half a day.

It wasn’t long before he became impatient and coldly asked again, “Are you the King of Qin?”

–Since he was willing to call him as the King of Qin and not by name, he obviously wasn’t from the Han army.

Upon returning to his senses, Ying Ziying had such a guess in his heart and suddenly saw a way out.

It wasn’t hard to guess that the chaos among the guards just now was more than likely due to this person.

Such a heroic warrior, who was willing to pierce deep into a Qin Palace crawling with Han soldiers alone, and recognise him as king… he could only be a life-saving straw reserved for their bloodline through the previous king’s foresight!

Feeling buoyed by fortune at last, Ying Ziying’s eyes lit up, then he stood proudly and announced, “I am–”

Ying Ziying probably never dreamed that what followed wasn’t the respectful salute of a loyal subordinate, but the glint of a sword accompanied by the sound of sharp metal flying through the air.

Even if the weapon he held was only a pitifully small sword ‘obtained’ from the guards at the door, when it was used by Lü Bu — who was born with great strength and possessed superb swordsmanship — it was a simple matter to deal with someone as unsuspecting and weak as the former King of Qin.

Lü Bu infiltrated into Qin Palace after meticulous planning and investigation, all to reach Ying Ziying.

In order to avoid disturbing the guards who would raise the alarm in front of Huayang Hall where Ying Ziying lived, he also deliberately set fire to Pingyang Hall, where Liu Bang temporarily stored the treasures he plundered from Qin Shi Huang’s* storehouses. Indeed, this successfully lured away most of the guards around Huayang Hall.

Qin Shi Huang [始皇帝]: Ying Zheng, the founding emperor of the Qin dynasty, first emperor of a unified China, and first to use ‘emperor’ as a title rather than ‘king’; the author actually used Shi Huangdi (meaning First Emperor), which is another of his titles. Wikipedia

The two guards left behind weren’t able to take a single blow from him, of course they couldn’t prevent him from going straight in.

…After all, in the eyes of the Han soldiers, the life and death of this former King of Qin who ruled for only 46 days depended on a mere word from their General Liu Bang. The palace was filled with Han forces and they only needed to defend against remnants of the former Qin army making trouble; how could anyone be idle enough to assassinate such an insignificant person? It was naturally unnecessary to assign elite troops to protect him.

Lü Bu successfully took advantage of this loophole, and saw the man wearing traditional robes within the hall at a glance.

Even if he was the only person within the hall who could be the former King of Qin, Lü Bu still decided to be prudent and ask about his identity before making a move.

As soon as Ying Ziying said this, his conjecture was confirmed, so he no longer hesitated. Lü Bu swung the short sword strapped to his waist without a blink and neatly cut off Ying Ziying’s still-joyful head.

Swoosh——

Almost at the same moment that the blade cut through flesh and blood spurted, Lü Bu grabbed Ying Ziying’s head by his hair ornament, kicked out with his right leg, and took two steps back. He calmly kicked away the body which lost its head and turned into a blood fountain, not allowing even a drop of blood to sully his clothing.

Poor Ying Ziying suffered for so long for a chance to survive, yet died silently at the hands of this great evil omen who should have appeared centuries later before he could even let out a scream.

However, for Lü Bu who’d spent more than ten years galloping on the battlefield and killing countless enemies, why would he care about the resentment of a single Ying Ziying?

—Using this as my guarantee* should be enough, right?

Guarantee [投名状]: an item or task used to show loyalty to a group, to show that you conform to their ways; for example, murdering a person to join a criminal organisation

He hefted Ying Ziying’s dripping head and wrapped it with a nearby tablecloth, then bent down and searched his body until he found a small gold plaque which could probably prove his identity.

This way, even if the head wasn’t recognisable later, this gold plaque would be enough to identify him.

After completing his goal, Lü Bu smoothly left the way he came, easily escaping from the Qin Palace which, in his eyes, was full of security holes.

A quarter of an hour later, the Han soldiers finished extinguishing the fire of unknown origins and came back.

Upon being greeted with the bodies of two of their comrades, they were frightened into a cold sweat. They hastily sent someone to notify their general, while also hurrying into the hall.

As soon as the doors opened, they were completely stunned.

They’d thought that the former King of Qin was perhaps rescued by a spy, but his body was unexpectedly still there — only, it lacked a head…

While all hell broke loose the Qin Palace, Lü Bu, the initiator of it all, leisurely changed into a Han soldier’s outfit that he’d stolen in advance.

With his tall figure and unusual features, he didn’t bother trying to blend into the army. Instead, he swaggered into the home of a peasant who’d closed his doors in fear, and ‘requisitioned’ some clothing and a piece of fabric.

He went into an alley. Inside, he tightly bundled up his blood-stained guarantee and threw the whole thing over his shoulder.

Who would have thought that this seemingly ordinary package held a cooling human head?

Lü Bu observed the situation for a while before finally taking advantage of the chaos to steal a horse, mix into a merchant convoy, and follow the crowd to the city gates.

The flow of people into the capital was currently strictly controlled. However, because Liu Bang wanted a reputation of benevolence and righteousness, he didn’t keep as strict of an eye on the people going out of the city. Lü Bu only needed to conceal his sharp aura to blend into the convoy to smoothly leave the city.

Instead of taking the main road, he turned to smaller mountain trails with a clear purpose — Xiang Yu’s army, currently encamped outside Hangu Pass.*

Hangu Pass [函谷关]: a mountain pass separating the upper Yellow River and Wei valleys, and also a chokepoint shielding the capital

Although Lü Bu wielded power and, for a period of time, lived an extravagant life, he’d spend more time among military men, eating in the wind and sleeping in the wilds. Hunting for food and foraging for water was only reliving an old dream, he wasn’t unfamiliar with it at all.

And after a few days of rushing, when only a single day lay between him and his destination…

Lü Bu laid against a tree stump with his legs crossed, nibbling on the remnants of a roasted rabbit. Though he was looking at the bright stars above, what came to his mind was the scene from below White Gate Tower* which he could never forget.

White Gate Tower [白门楼]: a tower/viewing platform at the south gate of Xiapi, so named for the white construction materials used; famous for being where Lü Bu was defeated and executed by Cao Cao

First Hou Cheng, Song Xian, and Wei Xu defected, taking Chen Gong captive along the way… Then, when the situation went past the point of no return, he asked his subordinates to cut off his head and hand it over to Cao Cao in exchange for their lives, but they were loyal and unwilling to do it, so he opened the city and surrendered…

Lü Bu swallowed the last two bites of rabbit meat and clenched his teeth.

He’d always been able to bend without breaking. Since his subordinates refused to hand over his head, he’d resigned himself to working for Cao Cao like an animal as long as his life was guaranteed.

Who knew that just when he took the initiative to ask to be a general under Cao Cao and he seemed to be tempted, that big-eared traitor Liu,* whom he’d treated well in the past, would deliberately send him to death…

Big-eared traitor Liu: refers to Liu Bei, one of the three major warlords the Three Kingdoms is named after; according to Records of the Three Kingdoms, the nonfiction official, authoritative historical text for the period, Liu Bei is described as approx. 1.74m tall, with long arms that “extended beyond his knees” and ears so large that “he could see them”. Wikipedia

Motherfucker!!!

Lü Bu bit into the rabbit bone until it cracked as his eyes burst into flame.

This world was originally one where the winner took all, so he held no resentment against Cao Cao when he was the one whose skills were lacking.

The one who cut off his last way of life was that despicable big-eared Liu!!!

He died with endless hatred towards big-eared Liu. Then, for some unknown reason, the heavens — whether it was playing with him or it pitied a hero’s unfulfilled ambitions — turned him into a youth and threw him to this damnable place three hundred years in the past.

Why couldn’t it have sent him back only a few years, so he could make the first move and cook up that big-eared Liu when he fell into his hands back then?!

Lü Bu threw the bone away in anger, then carelessly wiped his greasy hands on his clothes.

He only had to think of the loss of his painstakingly cultivated muscles and the calluses between his fingers which flew away, and of his young, weak body to…

“Goddammit.”

Cursing under his breath, Lü Bu smacked the wrapped head for lack of anything else to vent his anger on.

Forget it, since he didn’t know the specific reason, then he was too lazy to work it out.

Although a great fortune like a second life smashed him on the head, he’d already experienced a life of fame and didn’t intend to chase after it again.

His biggest obsession was to kill his enemy with his own hands. Since it would take hundreds of years for big-eared Liu to exist, then since he was a descendant of the Liu family, Lü Bu would simply trace his eighteen generations of ancestors and collect his debt from the one living now.

Without Liu Bang, the original sinner, would there still be a big-eared Liu in the future?

It was a pity that Liu Bang was heavily guarded, so he couldn’t act rashly.

Otherwise, Lü Bu thought unwillingly, I could’ve simply wiped out that guy’s roots, why would I still need to use such a troublesome circuitous route like joining Xiang Yu!

---

Translator:
I’ve got a hundred more productive things to do, half of which are on a time crunch, yet I chose to do this. But I read this and really liked it, so I’m doing a few teaser chapters to get it out of my system. Although it’s historical fiction set in real history during late Qin/early Han, I wouldn’t say you need any knowledge of the time period to enjoy it — I certainly didn’t.

Also, you might notice I’ve used in line translator notes instead of footnotes in this chapter. Which do you prefer?

Please support me at Ko-Fi.com if you can spare anything!

Table of Contents | Next >