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Lü Bu dragged Han Xin to the main tent, but he didn’t rush in.
After openly eavesdropping for a while, he realised that Xiang Bo was also inside, and he was probably the one who was ruining everything.
That fellow had been haunting Xiang Yu recently, obviously still thinking of the Han army and wanting to protect Liu Bang.
Lü Bu curled his lips in displeasure.
Xiang Yu’s heart must be blind, he thought, otherwise where did his double pupils come from?
It was the only explanation for being so stupid that he couldn’t see the big traitor hiding beside him.
Complaining was complaining, but he still decided to wait a while.
After all, although he came purely for the purpose of Liu Bang’s death, Han Xin still had to stay in the army afterwards.
He could speak rudely, or even respond violently in a fit of anger, because he could just run away after offending people.
But in that case Xiang Bo would continue to use his status as the general’s family member to throw his weight everywhere. He couldn’t let his cheap brother Han Xin be cheated of his dues.
It was already rare for Lü Bu to be so kind, he didn’t bother to explain further. He dragged the confused Han Xin around the tent a few times, waiting for the King of Chu’s envoy to finish spouting nonsense and Xiang Bo to escort him away, before slipping into the tent together.
Hearing the tent flap’s movement, Xiang Yu, who had already noticed their footsteps, looked up indifferently and asked impatiently, “What?”
Tall and burly, he wore under-armour robes, and bright candle lights reflected his mighty figure behind him, making him even more majestic and awe-inspiring.
Anyone who had made a decision to take down an enemy yet was arbitrarily prevented from doing so by a puppet king would be in a terrible mood, not to mention someone as high-spirited as Xiang Yu.
Lü Bu wasn’t afraid of his unhappy appearance at all. Taking advantage of Xiang Bo’s temporary absence, he responded loudly, “General, I have something to offer!”
“…” Xiang Yu’s eyes were doubtful but he didn’t say anything to contradict him, he just nodded slightly.
He admired Lü Bu’s excellent skills and his ability to enter the palace alone to assassinate Ying Ziying, however he didn’t expect that this man was also a wise scholar who could plan and strategize.
His curiosity made him interested enough to listen carefully.
But unexpectedly, after getting his consent, Lü Bu instead took half a step back behind Han Xin, as if saying, he wasn’t the one who thought of the strategy and he wasn’t someone who would steal credit, so Han Xin should be the one to speak.
Seeing that Han Xin — who loved to argue on paper, played word games, and had mediocre achievements on the battlefield — was the one who wanted to speak, Xiang Yu suddenly lost interest.
His eyelids drooped down as he absently watched Han Xin’s mouth open and closed. When he seemed to be done, Xiang Yu nodded lightly. “I already know, you can go.”
This cold response clearly announced the result of his proposal.
Although Han Xin had long given up hope, his heart still sank.
However, it had happened so many times that he had become used to it. After the disappointment which welled up only briefly, he quickly restrained his emotions and calmly withdrew together with Lü Bu.
On the other hand, what surprised Han Xin was Lü Bu’s placid non-reaction.
He was in a trance thinking who knew what, and only when he sensed Han Xin’s probing gaze from the corner of his eye did he come back to his senses.
His eyes were full of energy and determination, with not a hint of dejection or annoyance that his suggestion wasn’t heard.
Lü Bu misunderstood why Han Xin was staring. After holding himself back for a while, he tried to comfort him, saying, “Han-xiong, you don’t need to be discouraged. Even if the general doesn’t use your strategy, we don’t need to just wait for death.”
He really didn’t take this little defeat to heart.
After all, Xiang Yu had such an eye-catchingly smooth life, yet he ended up committing suicide on the banks of the Wu River — apart from being supremely unlucky, his brain probably wasn’t very smart either.
From what he saw now, that was indeed the case.
It was a pity that he had superb martial skills, but only had air inside his skull.
Tsk tsk.
Lü Bu showed a pitying smile.
Although he himself occasionally insisted on going his own way, he still listened to his counsellors’ advice most of the time.
Never mind.
Since the Hegemon-King of Western Chu stupidly refused to listen to reason, he would do whatever he wanted.
Whether it be fleeing Luoyang or leaving Yuan Benchu1Yuan Shao, courtesy name Benchu, was one of the most powerful warlords of the Three Kingdoms period and leader of a coalition of warlords against Dong Zhuo. Wikipedia in the middle of the night, what prompted Lü Bu to suddenly abandon everything or change his decision for seemingly no reason was a mysterious intuition similar to a wild beast’s.
It was a pity that although his instincts were accurate, it didn’t happen often.
But every time it did appear, it would save his life from a crisis.
It just so happened that at this time, Lü Bu felt something vaguely similar… that when the King of Chu came, it would be time for him to ‘do his own thing’.
And Xiang Bo, who had taken the initiative to escort the King of Chu’s envoy out of the camp, had been excluded from the false edict plan despite being devoted to Liu Bang — he was completely in the dark.
He had no idea that the envoy was a Han soldier in disguise, however he was happy for his arrival from the bottom of his heart. With the King of Chu’s mediation, even if Xiang Yu’s temper burst, it would be impossible to openly flout orders; he could only obey the edict and stay in place for the time being.
The distance between Pengcheng and Xinfeng wasn’t very far. If the king was already on the road, he could be expected to arrive in another four or five days.
Fan Zeng, who heard of this later, was extremely dissatisfied, but he never thought that the Han army would be so bold as to forge a royal edict to save themselves. The King of Chu was already unforgivably biased. He could only forcibly restrain his anger as he watched Xiang Yu — accompanied by Xiang Bo and his unconcealed joy — once again cancel his plans to conquer the Han army in order to wait for the King of Chu’s arrival.
Among the Chu army, except for Lü Bu who deliberately used this event to carry out his own plans, only two people guessed the true details regarding this envoy from the King of Chu.
One was Han Xin, who offered advice which wasn’t used. The other was Chen Ping, one of Xiang Yu’s many advisors.
But for some unknown reason, Chen Ping also kept silent as if he hadn’t noticed anything, and he was quite leisurely, only caring about his own daily life.
In contrast, Lü Bu was much busier.
He had been secretly observing for the past few days, both admiring and envious — although Xiang Yu ordered for an expedition twice and cancelled his orders twice, causing the Chu camp to prepare for battle twice with nothing to show for it, the atmosphere wasn’t sloppy in the least and there hadn’t been even the faintest hint of doubt.
It had to be said that the army Xiang Yu led was at least four hundred thousand men strong, and the most elite hundred thousand included the Jiangdong soldiers who followed him across the river. If they were the only ones who had strict military discipline, regarded General Xiang Yu as their single pillar of strength, and obeyed orders to the letter, Lü Bu would not be surprised — it was like when he heard that the rebel army was approaching back then, he immediately jumped over the wall and fled to Gao Fuyi, whom he trusted.
But it was inconceivable that the remaining three hundred thousand soldiers who had been incorporated into the Chu army later were also convinced that Xiang Yu was their god.
It stood to reason that the more people there were, the messier things would become, and similarly, the harder it would be to maintain discipline. The Hegemon-King of Western Chu was indeed amazing, but how did he manage to attract so many people who were willing to follow him to the end?
Xiang Yu, who was focused on the increasingly arrogant King of Chu, naturally had no way of knowing that one of his sentries was attentively observing his every move, trying to dig out the mysteries behind him.
Amidst this strange atmosphere where the lower ranks of the Chu army were full of foolishness and the upper ranks were full of subtlety, the King of Chu and his procession finally arrived at Xinfeng.
Two agonising days had passed for Liu Bang. It was only now, when he saw that the Chu army still had not moved, that he finally dared to believe that Zhang Liang’s plan had worked.
That idiot Xiang Ji had really been deceived!
He let out the breath he had held for the entire two days and, as he watched the King of Chu’s carriage drive into the Chu camp from afar, finally admitted that the Chu army would not ambush them in the night and that he truly was safe.
Grabbing Zhang Liang’s hands, he said gratefully, “It’s all thanks to Sir’s ingenious plan that our soldiers’ hundred thousand lives have been saved from Xiang Ji’s cruel hands!”
However Zhang Liang’s expression had not relaxed in the slightest. “I don’t dare, General. Besides,” he smiled wryly, “our dangers are not over yet.”
Liu Bang’s nerves tightened again in an instant as blood drained from his face. “Why?!”
“The presence of the King of Chu can at most make Xiang Yu a little more wary, so that he does not dare to kill you,” Zhang Liang analysed calmly. “However, Xiang Yu’s military achievements are great and he is known throughout the world. Many have submitted to him; in practice, he is subject to few constraints. Based on this alone, it would be as hard as ascending to heaven if you want to force him to abide by the pledge that ‘the victor is whomever first enters Guanzhong’, you might as well give up now.”
Having just experienced Xiang Yu’s wrath, Liu Bang no longer dared to rely purely on King Huai’s promise to become the King of Guanzhong.
He sighed deeply, then said sorrowfully, “It is indeed as you say. When King Huai arrives, I will open Hangu Pass and give up Guanzhong.”
Since he couldn’t keep it, he might as well hand it over, so that it would at least look a bit better.
Zhang Liang nodded. “As long as you back down a step and the King of Chu appeases Xiang Yu, then in the subsequent fief distribution, General’s fiefdom will not be anywhere as far away as Bashu.” They could also return to their fertile homeland using reunion as an excuse, which just might receive Xiang Yu’s approval.
While Han plotted against Chu, Xiang Yu was currently facing his arrogant, conceited ‘master’, who had started ordering him around as soon as he arrived.
He was seemingly indifferent to this, but inside him was a calm which only came about after settling on a decision to kill.
Although the King of Chu sat in the main seat and Xiang Yu sat in the second, anyone could tell that the latter wielded great power and his aura completely suppressed the king.
In truth, Xiang Yu really didn’t pay much attention to the so-called King of Chu.
Xiong Xin, the King of Chu, was originally just an ignorant cowherd with delusions of grandeur. He became unsatisfied with being a figurehead used to rally soldiers and eventually thoughts grew of burning bridges after crossing the river.2卸磨杀驴: lit. unload the mill and kill the donkey; meaning to kick away those who have done their best for them after their use is exhausted.
It was ridiculous. If not for the Xiang clan, who would remember the noble blood of a lowly cowherd, and if they did, who would care?
And even apart from the ignorant King of Chu, of the many ministers who surrounded him with nonsense, which one wasn’t appointed by a Xiang?
When the King of Chu gave Xiang Yu orders yet received no response, he could hardly bear it, but at the same time he inexplicably felt that he was facing a silent tiger, and that his situation was very dangerous right now.
So after resolutely stating that there would be a banquet in the Qin Palace after they entered the pass where Xiang Yu would apologise and resolve the rift between he and Liu Bang, he left the tent stiffly while surrounded by his guards.
Xiang Yu spoke nothing from beginning to end. It was only when Xiang Bo, who had been waiting outside the tent yet had not heard anything for a long time, grew impatient and went in to inquire that he said lightly, “Then as according to the king’s wishes, go send a messenger to the Duke of Pei to prepare a banquet.”
No matter how insensitive he was to political machinations, even he knew that the King of Chu had only asked for this ridiculous farce of a banquet to tear their faces apart, throw it on the ground, and stomp on it, and to give Liu Bang a helping hand by the way.
It was supposed to be that Liu Bang — who had rudely refused them entry through Hangu Pass — would come as a guest to a banquet hosted by the Chu camp in order to explain things personally. Yet at the request of the King of Chu, in an absurd turn of events, it had become Xiang Yu who had acted arrogantly towards allies and ‘needed to apologise’.
He couldn’t bear it any more, and there was no need to bear it any more.
Bloodlust flashed in his double pupils.
Let him be arrogant for one last time.
Author:
Lü Bu (disappointed): The entire army is full of idiots, I’m the only one who can save them.
Translator:
Not essential to the story but I found a hilarious thread in the comments for this chapter. Also, reminder that the glossary is live.
#1: Sigh… Every time I read history, I wish I could pry open Xiang Yu’s skull and see why someone who’s so good at fighting and leading armies is so useless at politics, he’s so easily deceived… Didn’t expect that reading a historical fiction on JJ can also make me experience this anger… Why is the majestic overlord of Western Chu such a naive idiot? What’s the use of being that tall or that powerful… Aaaahhhh… Why is he such an idiot… It’s like there’s a sign stuck to his head saying ‘come and trick me!’ Although the consequences of being found out are terrible, it’s not as if it’s hard to hide it… I’m speechless…
It makes Lü Bu look smart#2: Comparing the two, Lü Bu does seem smarter
#3: Maybe when Nüwa3In Chinese creation myth, Nüwa is the creator of mankind, moulding humans out of clay. Wikipedia was making Xiang Yu, she used muscles instead of brain cells
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- 1Yuan Shao, courtesy name Benchu, was one of the most powerful warlords of the Three Kingdoms period and leader of a coalition of warlords against Dong Zhuo. Wikipedia
- 2卸磨杀驴: lit. unload the mill and kill the donkey; meaning to kick away those who have done their best for them after their use is exhausted.
- 3In Chinese creation myth, Nüwa is the creator of mankind, moulding humans out of clay. Wikipedia
suiruo says:
Thank you for the chapter!
17 August 2023 — 04:06