Tag: BL (page 7 of 12)

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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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• 1
  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

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Lü Bu used a single trick to enter Xiang Yu’s inner circle and became a person with notoriety and a certain right to speak. Although he was far from the peak, the way was much smoother.

Since the blame had to be placed on Liu Bang’s head, he could not be openly credited with killing the King of Chu and his sixty guards.

But because Xiang Yu never bothered to covet the achievements of his subordinates, fantastical rumours of Lü Bu overcoming four enemy generals alone still spread along with the sensational news that the King of Chu was stabbed to death by an assassin sent by Liu Bang.

And after Fan Zeng specially sent people to spread the word, everyone from beggars to merchants knew of it, and it also disseminated into the Han camp one step earlier.

In stark contrast to Lü Bu’s success, before Liu Bang — who had fled back to the Han camp alone — could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard a succession of bad news: his four officers were killed, Zifang was captured, the King of Han was assassinated, and Chu would attack them on the grounds that the Han were rebels.

Especially regarding the death of Fan Kuai and Xiahou Ying; cold-hearted as Liu Bang was, even he couldn’t help but shed a few real tears.

They were not only capable officers whom he valued highly, but also companions of his heart and soul, as well as good brothers for many years!

With wave after wave of misfortune beating down on him, not even someone as resilient as Liu Bang could suppress the anxiety, and he fainted on the spot!

His subordinates hurried to help. Liu Bang, who subconsciously knew that the Han army was in deep danger, didn’t pass out for too long. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, after which the breath stuck in his chest was slightly better.

At this moment, he still didn’t know Lü Bu’s role, and also deliberately forgot the way he left the four officers behind on foot as meat shields — all his resentment was directed at Xiang Yu. “Xiang Yu is too vicious!”

Whether it was him or the other resourceful counsellors like Zifang, they had all underestimated Xiang Yu. He normally disdained to use tricks, but once he did, he was more ruthless than anyone else!

How could he have known that the man who had always been upright and acted with a benevolence more suited to a woman would suddenly be enlightened, and seize upon this huge flaw?

It had only been a single moment of greed, and now they had not only made wedding dresses for the enemy, they had also been splashed with a pot of dirty water, to the point that they could only flee in embarrassment… Liu Bang regretted until his intestines turned green, wishing that he could turn back time to slap his smug self.

With a single move, Xiang Yu not only succeeded in getting rid of his lord who had only ever been an obstacle for his Chu army, he also took advantage of Liu Bang recruiting soldiers, privately hiding a horse in the Qin palace, and secretly leaving alone, to — after killing all naysayers and threatening the Chu officials who were greedy for life and afraid of death into compliance — pin his own crime onto him!

It was the first time Liu Bang, who had always been eloquent and quick-witted, tasted the feeling of being unable to explain himself.

Although it was impossible for Xiang Yu to fool all the smart people in the world, everyone had differing hearts, and the common people could hardly recognise a single word so they often believed what they heard on the streets.

What’s more, the powerful Chu army was on the verge of overwhelming them. Who would believe him, and who would be willing and able to uphold justice for him?

“General, the situation is urgent, please give your orders.”

Since Zhang Liang left and never returned, leaving Liu Bang feeling hopeless, Xiao He had no choice but to step out and remind him.

Speaking of it, neither Xiao He nor Cao Can had any less tears on their faces compared to Liu Bang when it came to Fan Kuai and Xiahou Ying’s deaths.

But in the face of great disaster, they didn’t have the time to mourn their fallen comrades.

Xianyang had eight city gates, six of which were guarded by Chu soldiers. Only two were still under Han control.

Nearly half of Liu Bang’s 100,000 Han troops were stranded in the city.

They needed to quickly decide how many they wanted to bring with them, and how many they could bring, before the Chu army was fully dispatched.

Liu Bang sighed sadly, raised his reddened eyes, then said hoarsely, “There are only twenty thousand Chu soldiers in the city with Xiang Yu. If we gather our hundred thousand troops and counterattack instead of running, charging into the palace to kill him by surprise, can we bring him down with us?”

As soon as he said this, the officials rushed to dissuade him.

“This must not be done!” A group of veteran officials — Cao Can, Zhou Bo, and Guan Ying — all bowed one after another. “General, please reconsider!”

They hadn’t personally witnessed the Battle of Julu after which Xiang Yu’s name became renowned throughout the world, but the man’s natural talent for command brought all those proud Qin generals to their knees. Everyone heard of how the entire Qin army was captured then ruthlessly massacred like sheep.

Although Liu Bang also had some ability to lead in battle, he was much overshadowed by Xiang Yu — not to mention that Xiang Yu was best at winning against more with less in quick battles.

Now that the Chu army had an absolute advantage in numbers, how could the Han army ever match them? This wasn’t going down together, this was clearly throwing eggs at a rock face, actively looking for death!

Liu Bang was forced to retract his statement. Although his breath was still short and he panted like a cow, he no longer said anything about attacking Xiang Yu with his 100,000 Han soldiers.

Xiao He had been silent since his earlier reminder. Seeing that he had mostly calmed down, he stepped forward again. “Our current situation is certainly dire, but it is not hopeless. There is still hope to be found,” he said.

“Why do you say that?” Liu Bang asked with a hoarse voice, his expression shifting slightly.

Xiao He answered with a question instead. “If there is delicious wine every day and beauties to hold every night, would General indulge himself and abandon his ambitions?”

“You joke,” Liu Bang smiled wryly, “our lives are about to end, how can there be wine or beauties here?”

Xiao He only observed Liu Bang, saying nothing.

Thus, Liu Bang straightened himself and seriously replied, “Wine and beauties are ephemeral, how can they compare to the world’s great affairs?”

Only now did Xiao He smile and continue his explanation. “Xiang Yu’s army is powerful; it cannot be conquered by force, only outsmarted. To rush forward blindly is to seek self-destruction, like dashing jade upon a rock.”

Liu Bang’s face wrinkled in embarrassment, but he did not open his mouth to refute.

Xiao He changed the subject. “General, do you remember King Tang of Shang, and King Goujian of Yue?¹Both sovereigns of their respective states who are known for enduring harsh circumstances for years before counterattacking. Wikipedia links for Tang of Shang and Goujian. Major events in the world can only progress slowly, they cannot be rushed. Do not charge forward recklessly because of a momentary gain, and do not shrink back because of a momentary loss. Only those who are willing to bend when they see the situation clearly and endure the difficulties until it passes will be able to convince everyone in the future. There is nothing for you here, General. This minister hopes General can give up the burdens around you and go to Bashu to win people’s hearts, gather wise men, and use the two counties as a foundation to build your kingdom. When the situation is right, you can recruit allies and use the strength of both counties to counterattack Guanzhong.”

What Xiao He didn’t say was that there were many worthy people following Xiang Yu like clouds, but the man had a strong bias towards his family members and thus ignored Xiang Bo, the bug slowly eating away at heartwood.

With Zhang Liang’s ingenuity and wit, it was impossible for him to lose his life easily. As long as he stayed alive, and Xiang Bo was there to be used, the day things could turn around might come earlier than expected.

As he listened to Xiao He, Liu Bang heaved a deep sigh, then nodded heavily. “Go according to sir’s plan.”

Although the Ba and Shu counties were barren and remote, they could be said to be vast and full of resources, and the people there had always been comfortably self-sufficient.

This was especially the case after the Qin dynasty’s careful management. The irrigation networks had been repaired, as were the city walls, and law and order were in place. All aspects were on the rise.

Based on all this, Liu Bang had previously decided on Bashu as his last resort.

And most importantly, Bashu was surrounded by natural barriers — towering mountains and narrow, rugged roads made it notorious for being easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Let alone a large army, even a small squadron could hardly make their way through and could not have the slightest carelessness.

With such roads, it would be useless even if Xiang Yu relied on the strength of numbers to chase him.

What’s more, the blame had already been thrown on his head, his goal was achieved. There was no need to insist on killing him. In the future, Xiang Yu only needed to deploy troops to Hanzhong to keep him immobile.

Liu Bang forcefully suppressed his sorrow and, as fast as he could, quietly arranged for the troops to withdraw to Bashu.

He thought, with not a little grim humour, that it was fortunate that he had thought about this before and had a detailed plan, otherwise it would be much harder now.

It was a pity that the road was difficult, so he could not bring many men. But on the other hand, the Chu army was bearing down on them, so in any case he already had to give up most of his army to block them and buy time for his retreat.

By the time Xiang Yu’s fierce generals, Ying Bu and Zhongli Mo, led Chu soldiers to kill their way into the Han camp, they found the Han soldiers leaderless and like pigs to the slaughter. Only then did they realise that they were one step late. The cunning and cold-blooded Liu Bang had run west along a small path, bringing with him only a group of his closest advisors and five thousand elite troops!

Meanwhile, Lü Bu had no authority to command soldiers and could only hang around the palace as he waited for news. When he heard that thirty thousand of the ninety thousand Han soldiers left behind had been killed and the remaining sixty thousand surrendered, but Liu Bang himself and several others ran away, he became numb instead of exploding in anger.

…Well, what could he say?

Lü Bu, who was granted a seat next to Xiang Yu where Xiang Bo usually sat, had his two long legs propped up arrogantly. Compared with Xiang Yu sitting upright and proper beside him, his posture was completely out of line.

However, his eyes resembled a dead fish’s as he fixed a glare full of resentment on Ying Bu, who was excitedly reporting the battle results to Xiang Yu.

He wouldn’t say anything about the way Xiang Yu procrastinated, but all the people surnamed Liu that he met were like rats, they all ran so fast…

If he was allowed to lead the troops to chase instead of this guy who also had Bu in his name, he’d get them easily!

Ying Bu’s attention was entirely on Xiang Yu who was listening silently; he didn’t notice Lü Bu’s burning gaze coming from the side, but Zhongli Mo did.

Zhongli Mo glanced at the chattering Ying Bu, then at Lü Bu who sat next to King Xiang. He couldn’t help showing some confusion at the inexplicable hostility.

Could it be that one mountain could not contain two Bu?²一山不容二布: A play on words with 一山不容二虎, meaning one mountain cannot have two tigers; 布 (bù) and 虎 (hǔ) sound similar

Inspiration flashed in his mind.

Frowning, he began to think wildly. Although he had no deep friendship with Ying Bu, for the sake of being colleagues, he should still mention something to him.

He didn’t know the details of what happened in the palace hall, but the name of ‘Mastermind Lü’ had been spread by the ministers who formerly worked for the King of Chu, who had all been so scared that they almost crawled out, and it hadn’t seemed fake.

Since Yafu also treated Lü Bu so politely, his wisdom must be extraordinary.

Lü Bu, busy glaring at Ying Bu who was evidently incapable of doing things, would never have imagined even in his dreams that he would one day be called a mastermind of any sort.

Xiang Yu’s thoughts were indeed as Liu Bang had predicted.

Although he failed to behead Liu Bang and the world had one more beautiful lie, the man he hated the most was, from beginning to end, the King of Chu, who had insisted on objecting to everything he did.

In his eyes, Liu Bang was merely a jumping clown who was able to make waves only by taking advantage of the King of Chu’s power. Now that the king was dead, he smartly fled to Bashu in embarrassment, and obviously would not be a problem.

In the future, as long as they stationed a sufficient army in Hanzhong, the people in Shu County could be kept there until they died.

This point could be seen by any general worth their salt, and this of course included Lü Bu.

It made him even more anxious — if Liu Bang refused to come out, what could he do to him? It wasn’t as if he could follow him into the mousehole!

No, he couldn’t let this be.

Lü Bu, who had repeatedly suffered setbacks in killing Liu Bang but grew more courageous with each failure, glanced around and suddenly had a new idea.

Having made great achievements that were inconvenient to publicise, with Xiang Yu’s generosity, he would definitely be rewarded some time in the future. Then he just needed to request a position which allowed him to lead troops, and volunteer to guard Hanzhong himself.

With Liu Bang’s wolfish ambition, it was impossible for him to be willing to stay in that tiny parcel of land and retire to a life of leisure — he could simply lure the enemy out of his hole, then give him a head-on blow!

Lü Bu’s inner abacus was clacking away happily when his belly suddenly let out a muffled gurgling noise, making him realise that he was very hungry.

He had always had a thick skin. It had been because of Xiang Bo’s obstruction that he was unable to attend the banquet, and then he killed over seventy people in quick succession. Though he was miraculously unharmed, he was physically exhausted.

But the others in the tent already had full meals during the banquet prior, so now they were only focused on cleaning up and oblivious to the fact that Lü Bu hadn’t eaten for a whole day.

The sound wasn’t loud, but Xiang Yu was close enough to have heard it clearly. He frowned, and after thinking for a while, he realised his neglect. He silently turned and looked at the sentries behind him.

Han Xin seemed to be the only one present who remembered Lü Bu’s hunger. Before Xiang Yu could speak, he had already stepped out of his position first, saying quietly, “This one will go order someone to prepare dinner.”

“Thank you, General Xiang, but you don’t have to bother Han-xiong.” Lü Bu had a keen sense of smell. As Han Xin got closer, he caught the faint but unique smell of meat mixed with spices, and his eyes lit up immediately. He unthinkingly slid a hand into Han Xin’s sleeve and took out a few pieces of jerky wrapped in a clean cloth, then started chomping on them, interspersed with drinking from the bowl of cold soup in front of him. “Thank you as well, Han-xiong,” he mumbled as he chewed.

Xiang Yu silently stared at the rather impolite Lü Bu for a long moment. It was unknown what he was thinking, but when he finally looked away, he didn’t mention anything about calling for dinner.

As for Han Xin, after he recovered from his surprise, he looked at Lü Bu who was devouring the dried meat as if they were full of flavour, and felt a strange sense of satisfaction in his heart… like he was feeding a fierce tiger.

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Translator:

#1: Facts have proven that he isn’t stupid, he’s just lazy. Squeeze a bit and Fengxian can become a mastermind, squeeze a bit more and he can enjoy the world. Although it’s a bit more troublesome at night, and the beauty is slightly bigger, in the end he can rule the world when awake, and lie in the arms of a beauty when drunk.

#2: You can ride King Xiang’s baby day and night, what’s there to be unhappy about (serious)

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• 1
  Both sovereigns of their respective states who are known for enduring harsh circumstances for years before counterattacking. Wikipedia links for Tang of Shang and Goujian.
• 2
  一山不容二布: A play on words with 一山不容二虎, meaning one mountain cannot have two tigers; 布 (bù) and 虎 (hǔ) sound similar

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When Lü Bu asked his question, Xiang Yu was silent for a long time, seemingly thinking about something.

Just as he got tired of waiting and began to wonder if the Brainless King of Western Chu was drunk, Xiang Yu nodded.

To Lü Bu’s satisfaction, although Xiang Yu took a long time to think, his attitude was very clear.

He first nodded slightly to Fan Zeng who was still immersed in shock, then he turned sideways and calmly ordered the Chu soldiers behind him, “Do as Attendant Lü said.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Chu soldiers who had been bewildered for a long time finally had their orders. They responded with deep voices, then stepped forward one after another, swinging their swords at the others in the hall without hesitation.

Blood sprayed throughout the hall, wailing sounded from all corners.

All the followers of the King of Chu who dared to resist had already been cut down by Lü Bu, the few remaining were all huddled together as they trembled.

After they saw that the man who agreed to spread the fictitious sequence of events was spared by this mad god who came out of nowhere, they all rushed to express their loyalty and beg for their lives.

As for the one hundred escorts Liu Bang brought with him, they knew that they could not escape with their lives, so they gathered into a formation and fought to the death. In the end, Lü Bu slaughtered half of them; as for the remaining half, they weren’t opponents of the Chu soldiers at all and were quickly killed on the spot.

 In the blink of an eye, the only one within the hall who could be called ‘of the Han’ was Zhang Liang alone.

Xiang Bo, terrified, thoughtlessly stood in front of Zhang Liang who was like a brother to him as he tried to block the soldiers rushing towards him. “General Xiang please think twice!” he blurted out in a rush. “This cannot be done! That man has only been here for a few days yet has so many evil schemes, since he dares to harm the King of Chu today, he will dare to harm you in the future!”

“Oh?” Lü Bu had disliked him for a long time, so now seeing him standing in front of Zhang Liang protectively, he couldn’t help raising his eyebrows provocatively and say in a meaningful tone, “Even if I get tired of living one day, who knows if I’ll even be able to harm General Xiang, but Minister Xiang, you…”

He wasn’t angry at all with the way Xiang Bo glared at him. He even rubbed his smooth, hairless chin a few times, pretended to think hard, then clapped his hands together. “The way you protect the enemy’s trusted advisor is very much like a female beast selflessly protecting its cub.”

“How audacious!” Xiang Bo was so enraged by these words that smoke almost came out of his ears. He whipped his sword out and pointed its tip at Lü Bu’s nose. “This is unfounded slander! I must kill you today–”

Lü Bu was casually fiddling with the hilt in his hand. Upon hearing this, he sneered and exerted some force with his thumb, revealing the blood-splattered, still-warm blade.

“The Minister of the Left truly wants to duel with me, regardless of life or death?” he asked, eagerly interrupting his ignorant opponent as he narrowed his eyes.

He was very willing to see Xiang Bo taking the initiative to seek death — if that was the case, then no matter how much Xiang Yu disagreed, he would fulfil his long-cherished wish to send his spirit to the underworld.

In his eyes, the ‘remnant of the Han army’ most deserving of condemnation was the traitor Xiang Bo, who was shameless enough to stay in Chu even as his heart was in Han.

If it wasn’t for him being part of the Xiang family, and Xiang Yu’s biological uncle at that, he would have chopped him up long ago.

Xiang Bo grit his teeth angrily, but the hand holding his sword trembled slightly.

Although blood rushed to his head and hatred boiled within, he did not completely lose rationality. He had to admit that he was no match for Lü Bu, who had just gone up alone against hundreds — and won.

Lü Bu’s aggressive provocation made him feel like he was burning up inside, but he still remained silent and even flinched back.

Fan Zeng watched his face change colours as he endured humiliation. “What Fengxian says is true. Is there a reason why our Minister of the Left is so eager to protect Zhang Liang?” he sneered and asked bluntly.

He had been silent until now because everything happened so suddenly.

And seeing Lü Bu act so brutally yet boldly with his own eyes startled and confused him, his mind was too disturbed to react.

After calming down a bit, he concluded that Lü Bu’s way was the best solution. Even if they put him to death now, they would still be blamed for not doing more to stop the assassination due to his status as a sentry in the Chu army, and others would undoubtedly use it as leverage.

Then in that case, it would be better to take things to the end. All the witnesses would either be silenced or forced to take their side, and Liu Bang, who escaped the banquet early and thus would be unable to refute, would take all the blame; although they may not be able to fool all the smart people in the world, they could at least muddy the water.

Others might not know, but Fan Zeng was well aware of Xiang Yu’s intention to kill the King of Chu. They would reach that point sooner or later, so they might as well finish it cleanly to prevent endless troubles later.

It’s just that Lü Bu, who was usually very quiet and low-key, was much more incredible than him.

Fan Zeng had also plotted against Liu Bang, but not only did he also need Xiang Zhuang’s help, he failed to accomplish anything except for attracting the King of Chu’s disdain.

In stark contrast, Lü Bu’s plan was insidious yet effective, and the viciousness of the quick kills shocked him.

He himself supported appeasement, yet he could do nothing for the King of Chu’s insistence on adding stumbling blocks to Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu resented the King of Chu and became more certain on killing him; in the end, he could only acquiesce to his plan to implicate and accuse the King of Chu on false charges then secretly kill him.

The surprising thing was that Lü Bu was not only ruthless and decisive, he seemingly had no fear that he would be unable to carry it out due to a lack of combat power.

But what was even more incredible was that he was afraid of neither Xiang Yu’s jealousy, nor if his commander would be reluctant to cooperate or burn bridges after crossing the river… This precise grasp of Xiang Yu’s temperament vaguely revealed an unfathomable side to him.

The more Fan Zeng thought about it, the more frightened he became, and at the same time, the more confused he was.

It sincerely puzzled him why someone who was both courageous and wise was willing to be a mere sentry for so long.

“Oh?”

After listening to Lü Bu and Fan Zeng’s words, Xiang Yu frowned slightly, and he looked at Xiang Bo with doubt for the first time.

Xiang Bo, having been questioned by Fan Zeng and Lü Bu consecutively, couldn’t help feeling guilty.

However, he had always thought himself righteous. From having a guilty conscience due to accepting bribes, he soon became angry due to embarrassment. “That’s ridiculous! Han has made many great achievements, it is unjust for the general to attack them; and the general is a servant of the King of Chu, it is even more unjust to indulge the kingslayer and reverse black and white! If the master is wrong, his ministers should advise him. What does it matter what relationships are involved?”

Upon hearing this impassioned speech, Lü Bu just picked at his ears in boredom, then he slowly shifted his sword and stepped forward. “Shut your trap!” he scolded. “Squabbling everywhere, we’re all big men, but you mess around more than an old nag. Either get out of the way, or pick up your sword and come at me, or even better, swear on your beloved ‘justice’ that if you and Zhang Liang are friends, you’ll turn into a pig and be struck by lightning… and let’s see if General Xiang believes you.”

Seeing that Xiang Bo’s eyes were opened wide, and he wanted to keep arguing, Lü Bu drew his sword and aimed it directly at his nose. Then he began to spout nonsense. “Although I’m a crude person who doesn’t read much, I know the simple truth that ministers should be loyal to their lord. You yellow-mouthed kid,¹黄口小儿: meaning someone who makes unreasonable decisions due to childishness or ignorance you haven’t done anything great but still want more power, and you ignored the people’s suffering to suppress General Xiang. How is it righteous to support Liu Bang, that vulgar old man who sticks his nose everywhere?!²滚刀肉: lit. hob knife meat; Northeastern Chinese slang, meaning someone who always entangles you and never listens to what you say; named after a kind of meat that’s very tough to cut You’re the Minister of the Left, the general’s own uncle, but you still force the general to allow himself to be bullied by those gangsters every day using your just or unjust, and now you even stand in front of the enemy like you want to die together like a pair of mandarin ducks!”

Speaking of this, Lü Bu took the opportunity to avenge his personal grievances by spitting at his ugly mug.

It’s a pity that the spit didn’t reach Xiang Bo’s face, but this didn’t prevent him from fully immersing himself in the script as he stated loudly, “I only have this one life. Even if it ends here today, I have to give the general justice!”

Xiang Yu: “…”

Hearing these sonorous words, and looking at Lü Bu, who had been so brave and proud yet was now angry for his sake and scolding Xiang Bo…

Xiang Yu, who didn’t know that he had been stamped with ‘Brainless King of Western Chu’, subconsciously felt tiny ripples form in his heart for the first time.

He shifted his eyes without showing a trace and lightly tapped his knuckles on the table, as if meditating, but in fact his mind was a pure blank.

Xiang Bo was already speechless after being repeatedly interrogated by Lü Bu.

Zhang Liang, who had been watching it all helplessly, knew that the situation had completely derailed and that he was powerless to drag it back. He finally chose to end his long silence.

He sighed softly, let go of his worries about Liu Bang, stood, then gracefully walked out of Xiang Bo’s circle of protection. “There are many capable people under General Xiang’s command, who are willing to use their skills to your advantage. Now you are the knife and I am the fish, if you want to kill, you can do as you please. But if I am to die, I beg it to be open and aboveboard, please do not involve others,” he said calmly.

“Zifang!” Xiang Bo cried out.

How could he not know that Zhang Liang taking the initiative to seek death at this time was only in order to protect him, who was under suspicion?

Lü Bu squinted slightly at this touching separation at life and death, looked Zhang Liang’s fair and beardless face up and down a few times, then abruptly changed his mind.

This person looks pretty good!

When it came to men’s appearance, Lü Bu thought he wouldn’t lose to anyone — even Xiang Yu, who was born with double pupils and a heroic face, could only rank second.

But Zhang Liang’s brows were soft and delicate, with a bit of feminine beauty… 

Lü Bu blinked.

…Never mind, this person was wholly loyal to Liu Bang and it was impossible to truly use him, but keeping him as bait would be more than enough to catch a few stupid fish.

So, under everyone’s eyes, Lü Bu neatly returned his sword to its sheath and said, quite hypocritically, “Since the minister has such a deep brotherly bond with the enemy’s advisor, I really… dare not do anything.”

Xiang Bo was so angry at Lü Bu’s hypocrisy that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Damn, this kid’s too shameless! Not a word out of that mouth is humane!

He even dared to smash the King of Chu’s head to pieces with a guqin without blinking an eye, but now he was putting on airs in front of Xiang Yu?!

“Not a problem.” Xiang Yu, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly stepped forward with his right hand resting loosely on the hilt of his longsword and a stony face. His voice was low and cold as he said, “If it’s inconvenient for Fengxian, I’ll do it.”

Despair entered Xiang Bo’s eyes as he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

He dared to speak for Liu Bang in front of Xiang Yu, dared to stand up when he realised that Fan Zeng had sent Xiang Zhuang up to assassinate Liu Bang, and he dared to yell at Lü Bu when he approached aggressively.

But the difference in combat ability between him and Xiang Yu was like the difference between heaven and earth…

He was afraid of Lü Bu, who had superb martial skills, but he was terrified of facing Xiang Yu and his overflowing killing intent.

What’s more, he knew very well that his behaviour of defending Zhang Liang was too obvious, even someone as dense as Xiang Yu would be able to realise it.

To kill Zhang Liang in front of him was also a warning.

Zhang Liang had been a little perplexed by Lü Bu’s inexplicable actions, but now that he knew the dust had settled, he even smiled in relief and made a self-deprecating joke. “I’m honoured to have General Xiang himself do it.”

But to everyone’s surprise, Lü Bu, who had been so murderous just now and wanted to take Zhang Liang’s life with his own hands, became the only person present who dared to stop the angry Xiang Yu. “General Xiang, please wait,” he interjected.

What surprised people was that Xiang Yu really stopped. He looked back indifferently and asked, “What?”

“It’s a secret matter, if General can step here for a moment,” Lü Bu grinned.

At first he only retracted his intention to kill Zhang Liang because of his eye-catching appearance, but after calming down and thinking about it carefully, he realised that keeping Zhang Liang alive would be far more useful than killing him for a momentary pleasure.

Xiang Yu frowned.

Just when everyone thought that Xiang Yu was about to lose his temper, he nodded expressionlessly, turned to walk towards Lü Bu, and leaned closer to listen to his words!

The two of them didn’t pay attention to anyone else, they discussed their secret right there in front of everyone.

Lü Bu understood very well the torment Xiang Bo’s heart was going through at this time, so while he happily talked in Xiang Yu’s ear, he also gave Xiang Bo ambiguous looks. Xiang Bo gritted his teeth, furious but not daring to speak.

“Then do as you say, keep him for now.”

No one knew what Lü Bu said just now. Everyone from Chu was shocked when they heard Xiang Yu’s calm voice give his final decision.

Where was the General Xiang they knew?

As soon as General Xiang went into a rage, he would go on a killing spree which no one could stop.

Lü Bu was so powerful, he was actually able to persuade the furious general. Zhang Liang truly would be kept alive.

Little did they know that Lü Bu, who had never talked that much nonsense at once, also quietly broke into a cold sweat after the turmoil calmed down.

As expected of me! My brains are so smart! 

Since he couldn’t escape punishment, he simply killed the person who could punish him — this trick proved to be quite useful.

---

Translator:
About this chapter’s JJWXC comment, let’s put it this way: Lü Bu’s reputation nowadays is… he’s a great warrior, but not very smart. If you read the RAWs on JJWXC, you’ll find that a lot of the comments are along this theme.

#1: All the counsellors and subordinates whom you commanded are blind from crying, Fengxian. You’ve mastered an emperor’s strategies, but you’re using them to carry Xiang Yu.

#2: Chen Gong: So mad, why weren’t you this clever before?

< Previous | Table of Contents | Next >

• 1
  黄口小儿: meaning someone who makes unreasonable decisions due to childishness or ignorance
• 2
  滚刀肉: lit. hob knife meat; Northeastern Chinese slang, meaning someone who always entangles you and never listens to what you say; named after a kind of meat that’s very tough to cut

< Previous | Table of Contents | Next >

Xiang Yu was in the middle of the banquet yet didn’t say a word, he just drank in silence.

The King of Chu either insinuated things¹指桑骂槐: lit. to point at the mulberry tree and curse the locust tree; meaning to scold indirectly, or to make oblique accusations or gave him orders without a care. He didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids, he just silently signalled the servers to continue pouring wine.

His previous dislike towards Liu Bang and his petty tricks was completely overwhelmed by his hatred for the King of Chu who incessantly jumped on the border between life and death.

However, it was unacceptable for any minister to kill his lord no matter how unreasonable they were.

Xiang Yu had discussed with his staff all through the previous night, and decided on a plan to implicate, migrate, then assassinate.

After this banquet was over, he would control all the cities in Guanzhong, so there was no need for the King of Chu to point fingers everywhere. First promote him to Emperor Yi of Chu, then name himself as Hegemon-King and he would act in place of the emperor.

With the Chu army’s current deterrence power and the fact that this course of action would not shake the interests of the other warlords, he did not expect much obstruction to carrying out these three tasks in sequence.

Xiang Yu, who was busy drinking wine and making plans for after the banquet, didn’t notice Xiang Zhuang performing a sword dance aimed at Liu Bang on Fan Zeng’s instructions; didn’t notice his most trusted uncle Xiang Bo joining the performance and blocking all the strikes; didn’t notice the King of Chu erupting in anger, forcibly stopping the farce, and kicking Xiang Zhuang out; and he missed the eye contact between Liu Bang and Zhang Liang, as well as the suspiciously long time Liu Bang was absent due to ‘answering the call of nature’…

Music and dance intertwined, wine flowed ever on. The palace had many rooms, so the commotion caused by Lü Bu outside wasn’t transmitted in the slightest.

Zhang Liang, who had been entrusted with the heavy task of stalling for time until Liu Bang reached the Han camp, calmly held a cup of wine as he exchanged toasts, not showing a single clue as to what he and his lord were planning.

He knew that it only took a stick of incense’s worth of time²A timekeeping method before clocks, approximately 30 minutes to reach a small group of palaces garrisoned by Han soldiers.

But he also knew that anything could happen on the way. The longer he dragged on, the better it was for Liu Bang, so he tried his best to stabilise things here.

At this moment, the doors to the hall which had been shut tight since the banquet began were suddenly pushed open. A man rushed in, shouting, “Report, something happened!”

This uninvited guest brought an abrupt end to the music and dance.

The King of Chu shot to his feet. “What happened? Why are you so panicked!” he exclaimed.

All eyes fell on Lü Bu, who had suddenly entered the palace hall.

Of those present, there were few who could recognise him, but apart from Han Xin, none were not highly valued in the Chu army.

There weren’t many seated on the raised platform. Among them, the King of Chu had the most honourable seat facing east; Xiang Yu sat facing south, which was the second most honourable seat; Fan Zeng and Liu Bang also had first-class seats, facing north; Zhang Liang faced west, with the least honourable seat of the five.

Their followers and attendants, such as Han Xin, were not qualified to participate and could only stand behind them.

Han Xin looked at Lü Bu’s filthy body and subconsciously pinched the meat he had secretly hidden in his sleeve for his brother who missed the banquet as he suppressed the bewilderment in his eyes.

Xiang Yu was already half drunk, his sight wasn’t clear, but he became slightly more alert when the music suddenly stopped. He cast his gaze to the intruder, but only a double image appeared before his eyes.

Frowning, he secretly massaged his swollen temples and asked quietly, “Who is it?”

Han Xin heard him clearly. Stepping closer, he replied, “General, it is Attendant Lü.”

“Fengxian?” Xiang Yu looked around blankly, and only then did he realise that Lü Bu had never come in. “When did Fengxian go out?”

Xiang Bo coughed lightly, glared at Lü Bu who was the centre of a fuss again, and said in a low voice, “Your horse didn’t have anyone looking after it, so I ordered Attendant Lü to go.”

Although Xiang Yu was only half awake, he still frowned and expressed his disapproval. “How can you force a warrior to do the work of a groom?”

While they had been whispering, Lü Bu hadn’t answered the King of Chu. He only looked at Xiang Yu hesitantly.

This slight delay immediately infuriated the King of Chu, who already hated Xiang Yu — great, even a soldier of Chu dared to listen to a mere general before him, the king!

A courtier immediately stepped out and arrogantly demanded, “His Majesty asked you a question, why aren’t you answering?”

Zhang Liang silently put down his cup and watched with fixed eyebrows.

This unusually tall Chu soldier looked like a mess and had his clothes on backwards for some reason, but his appearance was extraordinary and his face, which some might describe as fair, was… surprisingly clean.

Suspicion suddenly arose in his heart.

But before he could think more, Lü Bu raised his head. “It is a secretive matter of much importance, there are many people here…” he said reluctantly.

Seeing that he was unarmed, the King of Chu let down his guard and said impatiently, “Then I allow you to come closer!”

Lü Bu glanced uncertainly at Xiang Yu again. By the time he slowly shuffled towards him, the King of Chu was so angry that he was about to urge him again.

He straightened and pushed his chest out. On his third step, when he was nearly twenty metres³十丈: 1 zhang = 10 chi; 1 chi ≈ 0.22m away from the king, Xiang Yu finally moved a little as he adjusted his posture.

He only shifted because he was sore from sitting too long, but Lü Bu, who had caught a glimpse of his small movement from the corner of his eye, suddenly burst into action!

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, this Chu soldier who interrupted the banquet swiftly snatched a guqin from a nearby musician and smashed it against the ground!

Lü Bu hadn’t brought any weapons inside in order to lower these people’s vigilance, so he simply made one from local materials now.

After the rather heavy guqin reached his hands, it became as light as a feather. Then before anyone could react, he dragged the broken guqin straight at Xiong Xin, the King of Chu!

He had no intention of playing tricks. Even the already suspicious Zhang Liang was powerless to stop him from the moment the King of Chu ordered him to go closer.

There was only one person in the entire hall who could stop him, and that was Xiang Yu.

However, Xiang Yu was still focused on his plans for the King of Chu after the banquet, and he was more than a little tipsy. How could he have thought that Lü Bu would suddenly attack the King of Chu directly!

Meanwhile, Lü Bu had a clear goal and he had fully learned the lesson from Liu Bang’s escape just now — never talk nonsense before doing the deed, kill first then monologue. He went up with big strides and, before the servants around the King of Chu could do more than widen their eyes, lifted the broken guqin and smashed its jagged edge at the King of Chu’s head!

The guqin, made of nanmu wood,⁴Nanmu wood is from the Phoebe zhennan tree, which is found only in the Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan provinces; in the past, nanmu wood was so rare that only royal families could afford its use. Wikipedia was an instrument which could play exquisite music in the hands of a skilled musician; in the hands of Lü Bu, his strength turned it into a downright lethal weapon.

He used 80% of his strength to greet the King of Chu’s shocked face. Even if his skull wasn’t turned into a smear on the ground, it was enough to cover it in blood.

In the blink of an eye, the King of Chu’s skull was caved in and he died miserably.

Everyone present sucked in a breath of cold air.

Such a brutal method, such strength!

“You!!!”

The official closest to the King of Chu was scared out of his wits. He scrambled backwards as he screamed, “What are you doing, quickly take down the assassin!”

The king’s guards who were a little farther away recovered faster, they angrily drew the swords at their waists and rushed towards Lü Bu!

However, the current Lü Bu was no longer as pathetic as a few minutes ago, he had no need to borrow a guqin to kill.

He ignored the official pissing himself in terror as he leaned down to take the man’s sword.

Although he could handle all manner of weapons, swords and bows were among his most familiar.

Having finally obtained his best weapon in hand, Lü Bu completely regained the ease he felt as he rushed to and fro impetuously on the battlefield.

“Perfect, now I don’t have to catch you one by one myself!” he laughed.

He drew the sword out of its sheath and faced the King of Chu’s guards who surrounded him without an ounce of fear.

While Lü Bu fought one against a hundred and caused blood to run like a river, the Chu soldiers present were first shocked then stupefied.

The man was a blatant kingslayer, but he was one of their own, and even wore the uniform belonging to the general’s sentries…

They were Chu soldiers. According to common sense, they should definitely kill the person who murdered the King of Chu, without question.

However, the King of Chu had always treated General Xiang badly, and the relationship between monarch and minister was not harmonious. They had followed the general for many years, and were also aggrieved by this.

They didn’t know if this was really an assassin, or if General Xiang finally couldn’t bear it any more and privately ordered Lü Bu to do it?

Regarding whether they should cooperate with the king’s guards and take down the assassin, or if they should help Lü Bu… Xiang Yu was the only one who could make the final decision.

And as for Xiang Yu, who had an expressionless face but was actually confused, he couldn’t figure it out either.

While they were still in a daze, Lü Bu had happily fought alone against dozens, and his morale grew stronger as he did so.

A sword that was merely a gorgeous decoration for a courtier became a sharp weapon that felled countless others in his hands.

This decision of his to return directly to the palace and kill the King of Chu had only been a whim, but it was still the most suitable choice.

Although he was pants at strategizing, he had the wit to respond quickly to changes.

As long as the King of Chu was alive for one more day, Xiang Yu would be under the control of someone who favoured that ruffian Liu Bang. Who knew how much Liu Bang would make him suffer, and if that happened, until when would he have to wait for the two armies to openly confront each other?

Just now, he made the decision to ‘kill the King of Chu and blame Liu Bang’ after staring at the four Han officers dressed as ordinary soldiers.

Whether it was the west gate that Liu Bang segregated away, the Han officers pretending to be foot soldiers, or Liu Bang disappearing without a trace or farewell… it was all true anyway, what was a few more buckets of dirty water.

Although he couldn’t remember how long Xiang Yu tolerated the King of Chu in history, he knew that Chu and Han fought for supremacy and Xiang Yu appointed himself as the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, so the King of Chu must have been taken care of.

The world considered it a great injustice for a minister to kill his lord. If he wanted to do great things, he had to grasp the banner of righteousness.

Lü Bu had seen with his own eyes how Dong Zhuo, who killed that unlucky emperor Liu Bian, lost the people’s hearts and was chased by a group of warlords under the banner of eliminating tyranny… Lü Bu would never fall into the same pit a second time.

Instead of letting Liu Bang run wild, he might as well act first and stick the pot of regicide on the person who fled the scene. It would be hard for him to argue even if he wanted to.

Lü Bu’s sword rose and fell without pause and, while the Chu soldiers were still hesitating, he quickly killed two of the King of Chu’s closest courtiers and sixty of his guards.

In the hall which had only recently been filled with singing and dancing, there was now a river of blood and piles of corpses.

The guards who had dared to surround Lü Bu, and the soldiers left behind by Liu Bang, were frightened by his ferocious, god-like might. They pushed and shoved at one another, only daring to lift their weapons but not to step forward.

Lü Bu didn’t care that he was covered in blood. He just strode forward and put his sword below the chin of the man who seemed to be ranked the highest and trembled the most among the King of Chu’s remaining staff, then asked in a deep voice, “Do you want to live or die?”

Seeing his approach, the man couldn’t move an inch as he shuddered and wept bitterly, thinking that he was about to die. However, he didn’t expect Lü Bu to take the time to ask questions instead.

He was taken aback for a moment, then he replied fearfully, “I, I-I will listen to General’s orders.”

“I’m not your fucking general, shut up with the useless flattery,” Lü Bu snorted. He used the chilly blade to pat the man’s cheek, and immediately smelled urine in the air.

He frowned, retracted the sword in disgust, took a step back, and said lazily, “If you want to live, then don’t say things that would get you killed, understand?”

The man stared at him stupidly with his mouth open, not emitting a single sound. Lü Bu cursed him for being an idiot under his breath, then impatiently prompted him. “Liu Bang plotted to rebel in order to monopolise the treasures in the Qin Palace, he has coveted the Chu throne for a long time… His Majesty was aware of this and secretly ordered the Grand General to kill him at this banquet, but the thief was cunning, and sent four generals to enter the palace in disguise to assassinate the king… Fortunately, the Grand General is unparalleled in bravery. Although Liu Bang succeeded in his plan, the assassin was killed on the spot…”

As early as when he was in Luoyang with Dong Zhuo, he understood how eloquent these opportunists could be.

Instead of killing them all, it would be better to keep a few alive. For one, it would save him a lot of effort, and for another, it would be easier to deceive the idiots outside.

They were after all close ministers to the king, their words would be more likely to be believed than some random person’s.

Lü Bu wasn’t at all worried that they would object; these people had only gathered around the King of Chu for their own interests, and had targeted Xiang Yu out of fear. Once those interests disappeared and their lives were in danger, each would only be faster than the last to find another backer.

“Understood?” he asked impassively.

The man desperately nodded.

Satisfied, Lü Bu then looked around and considered the people Liu Bang had abandoned at the banquet… but right now he was no longer a marquis, he was a sentry who couldn’t even get his hands on proper clothing.

He looked towards Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng who had stood up at some point, as well as Xiang Bo who was so incensed that he was about to charge up… He directed a malicious grin at the latter and asked provocatively, “In my opinion, none of the thieves here can be kept. What does the general think?”

Damn, was this stupid overlord doing it or not? If he couldn’t even do this, then Lü Bu won’t do any work either!

---

Translator:
I’m really getting a kick out of trawling the comment section, there are some real gems here

#1: I really want to hear Zhang Liang’s inner thoughts hahahahaha it must be really exciting

#2: It’s probably (???.???)???? and ⊙A⊙! then ⊙?⊙! then 0._.0

#3: Hey #2 why does your kaomoji have nostrils

#4: Zhang Liang: damn, I’m a Hann⁵A different hán (韩) from Liu Bang’s hàn (汉), and romanized differently in academia to make it clear; it’s actually the same hán used for Korea (韩国). Wikipedia person I don’t wanna serve Liu Bang anymore bye bye

#1: It’s great lol, everyone else is scheming, only Yuyu is seriously drinking wine and daydreaming lol

#2: Maybe he’s thinking… did he actually order Bubu to give the King of Chu a knife hahaha

< Previous | Table of Contents | Next >

• 1
  指桑骂槐: lit. to point at the mulberry tree and curse the locust tree; meaning to scold indirectly, or to make oblique accusations
• 2
  A timekeeping method before clocks, approximately 30 minutes
• 3
  十丈: 1 zhang = 10 chi; 1 chi ≈ 0.22m
• 4
  Nanmu wood is from the Phoebe zhennan tree, which is found only in the Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan provinces; in the past, nanmu wood was so rare that only royal families could afford its use. Wikipedia
• 5
  A different hán (韩) from Liu Bang’s hàn (汉), and romanized differently in academia to make it clear; it’s actually the same hán used for Korea (韩国). Wikipedia

< Previous | Table of Contents | Next >

As Lü Bu guessed, the four so-called ‘Han soldiers’ whom Liu Bang ordered to be stationed at the west gate in advance were in fact Fan Kuai, Xiahou Ying, Jin Jiang, and Ji Xin.

These four people had either followed him for a long time or were closely related, they were all very capable and he relied upon them heavily.

But at the moment of life or death, even his loyal subordinates whom he usually called brothers were mere stepping stones for his escape.

The shrewd and eloquent Zhang Liang was left behind at the banquet to deal with the aftermath, while a horse was hidden near the side door in advance. In order to not attract undue attention, there was only one horse, which was only for him to ride.

As for the four officers who had to walk because they had no horses, if all went well, they could get away together. If they were unlucky and encountered obstacles, they would fight to the last in order to give Liu Bang more time to escape.

It was a pity that Liu Bang and his party were truly unfortunate this time, and met Lü Bu face to face.

Liu Bang was well aware of Dapple’s ability to travel hundreds of miles in a day. He knew that his own mount could only barely be considered a good horse, and it was absolutely impossible for him to outrun this unknown yet aggressive Chu soldier.

Therefore, he decisively ordered his officers to kill the horse first; not only to force Lü Bu to dismount and fight on foot, thus losing an advantage, but also to preserve an upper hand in speed during his escape.

“Fuck your grandma stop running away!!!”

Seeing that cunning thief Liu recklessly galloping away after throwing down his command, Lü Bu was so angry that his glare could have torn him apart. After roaring, he wanted to urge Dapple to pierce through the four officers’ encirclement to give chase.

The four Han officers had fought with Liu Bang for many years. They knew in their hearts that Liu Bang had sacrificed them to protect himself, but they still remained loyal.

Although they hadn’t personally witnessed the martial skills of this Chu soldier, they knew they could not underestimate him simply from the fact that he could tame the famously fierce Dapple. They would have to put their lives on the line to stop him.

They were currently dressed as ordinary Han soldiers, but their equipment was by no means similarly inferior. Their swords alone, made of rare materials, were enough to give them a greater reach — Lü Bu might be a sentry, but he hadn’t actually touched a weapon more than a couple of times here and he wasn’t expected to go into battle himself, so no weapons had been issued to him.

And Xiang Bo had prevented him from entering the palace, so he had nothing on him except for the pitiful little broken sword he took off the Han soldier in the beginning.

Seeing that the four men did not betray Liu Bang who flew away like the wind but instead waved their swords to chop off Dapple’s legs, Lü Bu’s eyes reddened as he forced himself to calm down.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!”

He angrily cursed three times in a row!

No matter how much he hated Liu Bang, he couldn’t just ignore Dapple!

Not to mention that he really appreciated such a spiritual horse, even if he really hardened his heart and broke through without a care, he would have no horse to ride and it was impossible for him to catch up with Liu Bang with just his own two legs.

He couldn’t avoid this fight and it would be hard to get away for a while.

Hateful!

Lü Bu cursed to himself for a while.

If he had his partner Red Hare with him and his Sky Piercer¹方天画戟: Lü Bu’s iconic weapon, a dagger-axe polearm; almost certainly anachronistic; see end notes for image halberd in his hand, he could have rampaged as he liked. How could he be blocked by these pathetic fodder in embarrassment?!

But he had only a short sword and Dapple, whom he was riding for the first time. It was hard even for a clever woman to cook if there was no rice, he had to deal with these four first!

Lü Bu took a deep breath. The next moment, like a fish flicking its tail, he kicked out his right leg at a dizzying speed. Not only did this kick push away the man closest to him, it directed Dapple to change direction, narrowly avoiding the densely converged weapons. Then he smoothly rolled off the horse.

“There’s a road to heaven but you refuse to walk it; hell has no gate but you insist on breaking in,”²上天有路不走，那阴曹地府无门，你们偏闯进来: literal meaning is best meaning, but less prosaically it means asking for trouble Lü Bu said darkly, staring straight at them.

He understood very clearly that he had missed his best chance at killing Liu Bang.

A monstrous anger seethed in his chest as he glared at the four men who were in his way. Now, even if they wanted to run, he would not allow it.

Since they successfully stopped him, they had to leave their lives behind as well.

He stood stationary with only a short sword, but gradually revealed the valour within him which had condensed after many years on the battlefield.

On the surface, he had no good weapons, gave up Dapple to fight on foot, and was a single man facing four enemies. On the surface, he was at an absolute disadvantage.

But for some reason, Fan Kuai and the others didn’t relax at all, and their hearts continuously sank.

“I, Lü Fengxian, have never executed unknown people,” Lü Bu said as he smiled contemptuously, his eyes narrowing. He pointed at Fan Kuai, the most muscular and imposing of the four, with his mediocre short sword, and said sternly, “Report your name!”

“Impudent!” Fan Kuai inhaled and shouted back, “I am the Duke of Pei’s aide, Fan Kuai is my name!”

Fan Kuai’s ominous premonition grew stronger. As his words fell, he decided to act first and, together with the other three officers, stabbed their spears at Lü Bu!

In his early years, he made a living by slaughtering dogs, so he had strength on his side. Now they also had weapons and men, so he naturally thought that they could easily capture this unknown Chu soldier if they made an effort.

Unexpectedly, Lü Bu caught his first strike with his short sword, causing a crack in the blade; then he flexibly turned his wrist and struck again, this time the short sword made of inferior metal broke in two; now Lü Bu held only the remaining stump of half a short sword and was about to welcome the third blow–

“For the sake of your loyalty, I allowed you two moves,” Lü Bu sneered arrogantly.

He thought nothing of the other three officers approaching closer as he stared at Fan Kuai without blinking. He took two steps forward regardless of the nearing spears, swung his arm down, twisted his wrist, and habitually spun it around.

“Fan Kuai you coward,” he shouted loudly with his thick brows furrowed, “it’s time to die!!!”

The veins on his arm bulged due to his excessive force, perhaps because he wanted to use Fan Kuai to vent his anger. With his innate strength, he buried the remaining half of his sword into his opponent’s neck!

Although the sword edge was dull, enough force was used that flesh tore and bones shattered.

Hot blood spurted out from the gash. Lü Bu did not dodge, so some of it splashed onto his expressionless face.

The deep, handsome facial features were suddenly dirtied by scarlet blood, which then flowed down his fair skin…

Fan Kuai had been alive and well just a moment ago, but now he was a half-beheaded body writhing on the ground, clutching his neck, tormented by pain.

His eyes bulged open and his mouth opened as if wanting to say something, but his windpipe had also been torn open. He spasmed one last time and soon after, his body distorted at strange angles and he breathed his last.

The area fell into a deathly silence.

Xiahou Ying and the others took in this horrifying scene. Their strongest, Fan Kuai, had just been killed in the blink of an eye. For a moment their jaws dropped and they collectively became speechless, all forgetting to continue their attack.

They had all witnessed Xiang Yu’s supernatural power which was able to break people’s courage with a single roar, making them tremble to the point that they were unable to hold up weapons.

But hadn’t dared to imagine this. Since there was already a Xiang Yu in the world, why must Chu have another brave general in their ranks!

Grinning, Lü Bu dropped the broken short sword without hesitation and picked up Fan Kuai’s spear, weighed it a few times, turned it around, and stabbed its butt into the ground. Then he turned to his strangely unresponsive enemies with a superficial smile and asked coldly, “Who’s next?”

With a more suitable weapon in his hands, Lü Bu was like a tiger with wings. He swung the spear side to side with a whoosh.

He hadn’t fought seriously for a long time. Now that he had opponents who could barely be considered qualified and was filled with anger he needed to vent, he felt very happy to go all out.

First, he got rid of Fan Kuai, who seemed to be the best at fighting. The three remaining were each quite good but they had little experience cooperating with each other, this was just a temporary arrangement.

After all, they were all officers who commanded the lower ranks. If they were only as skilled as ordinary soldiers, they naturally would not be Lü Bu’s opponents.

Though it was impossible to compare them with the Liu, Guan, and Zhang brothers who would advance and retreat with one heart.

After no more than a dozen fierce bouts, Lü Bu quickly saw through their flashy yet insubstantial moves. They often interfered with each other, so he unceremoniously grasped this weakness to stop them from wasting any more time.

The first to die was Ji Xin, the weakest of the three. Lü Bu simply raised his arms to neatly pierce into his neck, leaving him to roll on the ground with life or death unknown.

Xiahou Ying and Jin Jiang still circled him. He swung at Xiahou Ying first and when he dodged backwards, he twisted the spear around to stab at Jin Jiang who took advantage of the gap to attack him from the side.

“Huh?” Lü Bu even had the time to sneer. “Where’re you looking?”

How could Jin Jiang avoid it?

The spearpoint which was still stained with Fan Kuai and Ji Xin’s blood pierced his right eye. Blood instantly gushed out, the pain and blindness was hard for anyone to bear.

He couldn’t help covering his eye and howling, and he could no longer hold onto the weapon in his hands.

A group of four lost three in an instant, leaving only Xiahou Ying.

Being alone, he could only support it for two more rounds before Lü Bu stabbed him through the breastplate protecting his heart. There wasn’t even much blood — after Lü Bu pulled the spear out, he convulsed a few times and died.

Lü Bu then expressionlessly stabbed Jin Jiang, who was still rolling, and Ji Xin, who wasn’t moving but who knew his life or death, again at the neck. He casually wiped off the blood on his face and listened to the sound of approaching footsteps with a serious expression.

The time it took for him to kill four officers in a row might have felt extremely long for Fan Kuai’s group, but in reality it was a quick battle that took only a few dozen breaths, not even enough for other guards to rush over after hearing the commotion.

…The people were killed, so what should he do next?

As his head cooled, Lü Bu fell into reflection.

He originally thought that Liu Bang could be killed at once, so of course he hadn’t worried about how to take care of the mess.

Unexpectedly, that rat slipped away like the soles of his feet were covered in oil. He might have reached the Han army’s camp already.

And after they met just now, he had already startled the snake and lost any chance of ambushing him. If he wanted to deal with Liu Bang, he had to… stay in the Chu army.

Lü Bu stood alone among a pile of corpses, and was racking his brains to think up a way to clean up the mess and explain things to Xiang Yu when Dapple, who ran to who knows where earlier, trotted up to him while nickering coquettishly. He licked at Lü Bu’s blood-splattered face, apparently to help him clean.

Dapple was spiritual enough to be willing to obey Lü Bu’s instructions and rush forward desperately while ignoring the weapons that cut at his legs, so naturally he could also feel Lü Bu’s love and how he was unwilling to let him get hurt.

Lü Bu stood there with a deep expression, and after Dapple affectionately licked his face clean, a sudden flash of inspiration came to his mind.

Taking advantage of the time before any guards showed up, he decisively waved Dapple away and, striding through the side door, he took off his bloodied robe, turned it inside out, then put it back on.

By the time the guards arrived, they only saw four bodies in Han uniforms lying stiffly on the ground with their eyes wide open in death.

Next to them was Dapple, who was ignorantly dazed one moment then disdainful the next, raising his head and snorting at them.

The guards were speechless.

Even though they knew it was impossible, everyone who witnessed this scene still had the same terrifying thought in their minds.

It can’t be Dapple who did this, right?!

---

Author:
Whether it’s leaving behind his 100 escorts, making the four generals go on foot, or Liu Bang riding away on a horse, that all actually happened at the Hongmen Banquet… in fact Ji Xin later acted as Liu Bang’s body double in the Siege of Xingyang to cover his lord’s escape, and was killed after being discovered by Xiang Yu.

Translator:
Sky Piercer, and some of this chapter’s comments on JJWXC.

This chapter’s MVP: little baby Dapple

Dapple: yep that’s right it’s me

Dapple, before: get lost, scram far away from me

Dapple, after: clingy clingy clingy clingy

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• 1
  方天画戟: Lü Bu’s iconic weapon, a dagger-axe polearm; almost certainly anachronistic; see end notes for image
• 2
  上天有路不走，那阴曹地府无门，你们偏闯进来: literal meaning is best meaning, but less prosaically it means asking for trouble

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Dapple usually dominated the Chu camp and few people apart from Xiang Yu, including the stablehands, were brave enough to get close. It was the first time it had been bullied like this.

With its personality, how could it suffer in silence?

The stunned Chu and Han soldiers could only watch with their mouths wide open as rider and mount seemed to blend together like black and white flames and disappear into the wind.

Lü Bu, who was laying on Dapple’s back, was not frightened at all by this divine steed’s revenge; on the contrary, he became happier the more he saw its supernatural power.

At some point, he became unsatisfied with just sticking against the horse.

By tensing his tight but flexible abdomen, he arched his back like a cat and slowly straightened his upper body. He even had the time to casually fiddle with the rein in his hands, making Dapple — who was dizzy with anger — subconsciously follow his commands and go to the hall where the banquet was being held.

When he left, he had walked for almost half the time it took to drink a cup of tea,¹Approximately 15 min but with Dapple enraged and going at full speed, the return journey only took the blink of an eye.

But the steed did not know that its desperate gallop made Lü Bu even happier.

It was indeed a rare mount worthy for the Hegemon-King to consider a treasure, comparable to his own cherished Red Hare!

He very much enjoyed the feeling of riding among wind and clouds which he had not experienced for too long. After seeing the glazed tiles of the main hall not far away, he pulled the reins more forcefully to let Dapple, who was still running furiously, subconsciously circle the palace. At the same time, the guards stationed there went from being on high alert as if facing a big enemy to stunned disbelief after verifying his identity.

In time, Dapple finally became tired from running.

What made the horse fall into despair was that after its almost crazy resistance, the insidious hooligan on its back hardly moved at all!

Dapple, who had fought with the Hegemon-King for many years and was invincible in all that time, never dreamed that it would encounter such a nemesis out of nowhere.

Forceful objections didn’t work, it had no choice but to obey.

The formerly arrogant Dapple gradually lowered its high neck and slowed down. Its dark coat was wet with sweat, its nostrils flared as it desperately took in air, and its angry neighing soon turned into soft chuffs…

Of course Lü Bu, who had the experience of taming Red Hare who had been just as fierce, knew that this meant it had been subdued.

He originally thought that they would need to go a few more laps or use some tricks, but unexpectedly, Dapple was both more spirited in its resistance than Red Hare and more straightforward when accepting defeat.

Lü Bu stroked its sweaty neck with satisfaction — it was smart to know when it was beat.

After once again experiencing riding as fast as lightning, the more he looked at the horse’s undulating solid body underneath its smooth hair, the less he could restrain his love.

For military men, delicious wine and beautiful women weren’t nearly as attractive as a good sword and a divine steed.

Compared with Dapple, who was dejected and resigned to its fate, Lü Bu’s heroic features were almost overflowing with joy.

Looking at things now, although he somehow came to this place three hundred years in the past where even birds didn’t shit, things weren’t too bad.

Not only could he call the god of soldiers his brother, he also saw the Hegemon-King of Western Chu with his own eyes and rode this peerless horse, and he was about to kill his enemy…’s ancestor.

Leaving aside the last point, Lü Bu felt that this trip was very much worth it. Now he only needed to take Liu Bang’s head before he could fly away and live a happy, unrestrained life.

Dapple had suffered a sudden disaster and submitted in humiliation. Despite being comforted and treated to pats on its neck and back by Lü Bu, it was still listless.

It paced forwards in a daze, and before it realised, they came to a side door on the west side of the palace.

The Chu and Han armies were at a sensitive time due to the King of Chu’s ‘mediation’, so they had only completed the handover of Hangu Pass. Xianyang, especially the Qin Palace where the King of Chu was presently located, was still mostly under Han control because the king did not trust Xiang Yu.

Thus, although the two armies ostensibly had no conflict, dark waves surged beneath, and there was a faint implication that they were going tit for tat.

As for this side door, Lü Bu only gave it a glance but soon felt that something was off.

Although the banquet might have been held under false pretences, the attendees were all extremely noble people. Even if it were an inconspicuous side door, how could there be only four Han soldiers guarding it?

…No, wait.

Upon taking a closer look, although the four men were dressed as ordinary Han soldiers, they were all tall, imposing, and had a demeanour more like generals accustomed to giving orders than any foot soldier.

And the longswords at their waists didn’t look like ones an ordinary soldier could afford.

Lü Bu’s eyes were sharp. He couldn’t help but feel suspicious when he saw these flaws, but he didn’t show any emotion on his face; he just gently pulled the reins in his hand, and Dapple understood him.

Not only did it stop moving forward, it also shifted to the side and, relying on its pitch-black coat, hid among the courtyard’s vegetation.

Oh my goodness!

Lü Bu’s eyes lit up.

King Xiang’s little baby was too clever, too lovable!

He became even more fond of the incomparably spiritual horse. If he wasn’t so leery of offending Xiang Yu to death, he would have been tempted to take Dapple with him after his task was done.

Just when Lü Bu was being envious of Xiang Yu and greedy for Dapple, there was a sudden movement at the side door which had previously been stuck closed.

Almost at the same time as the door was gently opened, one of the four Han ‘soldiers’ who were stationed on both sides of the door also moved.

He walked some ten steps away and turned a corner, and after a short while, he led out a big war horse!

Lü Bu’s eyes opened wide.

It had to be said that in the huge Qin Palace, although the Chu and Han soldiers mixed together, there were only two people who dared to bring their mounts into the palace complex.

The first was Xiang Yu, who was domineering, had no scruples, and was powerful enough to get away with it.

The second was none other than his titular lord Xiong Xin, the King of Chu himself.

Even though Liu Bang was named Duke of Pei and later became a grand general, he acted in an extremely low-key manner with everyone stronger than him. He rode to the Qin Palace in a carriage and entered the hall on foot.

Did Liu Bang have someone hide this horse here beforehand, or was it the one that the King of Chu rode?

Lü Bu didn’t have long to think about it. When his gaze followed the Han soldier leading the horse to the man sneaking out from the side door, all his focus narrowed in on him.

Although he had only seen that face three times at most, it was unforgettable when it so easily overlapped with big-eared Liu’s whom he hated the most!

He felt his blood crazily surge up, rushing straight towards his head. Underneath him, Dapple seemed to feel his killing intent and very helpfully took a few steps forward.

The sun glared down behind him, stretching his tall figure until he looked like a god of slaughter descended upon the world.

The Han soldiers, already nervous, were almost frightened out of their wits when they caught sight of Lü Bu’s silent advance.

Not to mention that what he rode was none other than the divine horse Dapple who became famous together with its master after the Battle of Julu!

Previously, after Liu Bang went to the banquet, he hadn’t sat for long before he realised that the banquet was full of murderous intent and the situation was extremely bad.

The King of Chu, after all, lived in safety and had never been to the battlefield in person, so he had no concept of how terrifying Xiang Yu was.

This had been more or less Liu Bang’s intention — if the King of Chu realised exactly how powerful Xiang Yu was, he might lose the courage to fight for control and willingly become a puppet. At that point he might live but Liu Bang would never again have a chance of influencing the world.

He deliberately led the King of Chu to underestimate Xiang Yu’s ability, but now it was his turn to taste the bitter fruit; the King of Chu was as brave as a newborn calf²Full phrase is 初生牛犊不怕虎: lit. newborn calves are not afraid of tigers; meaning young or inexperienced people often have less fear and seemingly did not notice that Xiang Yu’s patience was on the verge of exhaustion as he scolded Xiang Yu in front of all the guests and forced him to reconcile with the Han leadership.

The King of Chu might not have known that he was repeatedly wandering on the boundary between life and death, but Liu Bang could easily detect Xiang Yu’s strong killing intent even if the man was quietly ignoring the King of Chu.

When Xiang Zhuang entered the hall on Fan Zeng’s summons and frequently pointed at him on the pretext of performing a sword dance, only prevented from harming him by Xiang Bo and the King of Chu’s intense protection, Liu Bang’s unease soon approached his limit.

After a period of feeling as if he were sitting on pins and needles, he could endure it no longer. He met Zhang Liang’s eyes, and quickly made the decision to abandon the King of Chu here and leave without saying goodbye. Zhang Liang would stay to take care of the aftermath.

As long as there was life, there was hope.

Liu Bang thought to himself that Xiang Yu was — in name at least — a subordinate minister, and as long as he didn’t lose his mind, he would not openly kill the king.

But it would be very easy to direct his anger towards Liu Bang instead; if Xiang Yu hadn’t bothered to be polite, he could have found any random excuse to eliminate him then swallow his hundred thousand Han troops. Who would be able to protest otherwise?

The Han army would be just a bunch of loose sand without Liu Bang, and even if the King of Chu continued his support, there would be no value in maintaining it.

It would be better to leave Xiang Yu’s sight first to preserve his life, then fight for more when the King of Chu or Xiang Yu distributed land.

As long as he survived this crisis and his future fief wasn’t too remote, there would be more opportunities in the future.

Now that he was facing the imminent threat of death, Liu Bang had no words to articulate how much he regretted not allowing Xiang Yu through Hangu Pass and handing over the blade of his demise with his own two hands.

However, Liu Bang could never have guessed that his bad luck was just beginning.

Although Lü Bu didn’t know the details of what went on in the banquet, seeing Liu Bang’s sneaky posture, even a fool would be able to tell that he was trying to escape quietly!

Since his enemy… enemy’s ancestor was sent straight to his face, how could he let him slip away!

“Liu! Bang! Stop! There!!!”

With his tiger eyes blazing, a domineering aura that regarded the enemy as worthless chaff suddenly exploded.

Following his shout, Dapple raised its head, neighed, and rushed forward, completely sweeping away its prior exhaustion!

His majesty was obvious even when he stood still. Right now, he and his horse were of the same mind and united in facing enemies, even better showing his bravery and strength amid battle!

They were clearly a single man and horse, but their momentum was a hundredfold, bringing to mind the thundering steps of heavy cavalry, making people feel terrified.

Liu Bang never dreamed that there would be a second person in the world who could control that incomparably fierce black horse, and it would be someone who was clearly a hero.

If it weren’t for Xiang Yu’s pair of double pupils being unique in the world, then looking at that vigorous posture rushing at him, he would have thought that the man himself saw through his intention to escape from the banquet and came to intercept him!

But in the end, Liu Bang was a veteran who dared to oppose Xiang Yu even when their strengths were very different.

Realising that the person who came was not Xiang Yu, his heart quickly fell back into his chest after his initial shock and he forced himself to calm down.

He knew that after this person yelled so loudly, although no one else was here to see it yet, the Chu soldiers around them would definitely have noticed it and should be here to investigate soon.

If he was detained, his previous hard work would all be in vain. Being caught sneaking out would be the best excuse Xiang Yu could ever want.

He didn’t have the time to fight. The most urgent thing now was to escape back to the Han army camp while there were no horses in the palace, half the soldiers here were Han, and the gates weren’t yet completely fallen into Xiang Yu’s hands!

Many thoughts flashed through Liu Bang’s mind, but his hands did not delay for a moment.

He quickly swung onto his horse and urged it to leave, while not forgetting to give his four generals a decisive order: “Chop off his horse’s legs first!”

---

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• 1
  Approximately 15 min
• 2
  Full phrase is 初生牛犊不怕虎: lit. newborn calves are not afraid of tigers; meaning young or inexperienced people often have less fear

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Just after noon the following day, after Chu soldiers took over management of Hangu Pass from the Han, Xiang Yu went through the pass to the Qin Palace for the banquet as ordered by the King of Chu.

The King of Chu might have been too nervous, such that he forgot to place a limit on the size of the entourage Xiang Yu brought with him to the banquet.

However, Xiang Yu had always been a proud person and didn’t bother to take advantage of this loophole. He only brought a thousand or so soldiers who would take control of the Qin Palace after the banquet instead of showing off his superior military strength.

As for the remaining nearly four hundred thousand soldiers, they were either entering the pass in an orderly manner under the leadership of various Chu generals, or they were already stationed in the suburbs of Xianyang and awaiting further orders.

A thousand elite Chu soldiers who had gone through countless fierce battles entered the Qin Palace. Every man wore iron-plated armour, and every step was taken in unison. They walked with the momentum of ten thousand men, causing the Han soldiers to have heart palpitations despite having many times their number.

Liu Bang stood on the jade steps of the golden palace where the first emperor once stood, overlooking the dark mass of Chu soldiers who marched steadily closer behind Xiang Yu who, tall and well-built, looked like a god descended from the sky. In his chest, his heart seemed to beat in time with their heavy footsteps.

As a sentry appointed by Xiang Yu himself, Lü Bu was of course among the thousand people who entered the palace.

His eyesight was excellent. He easily saw Liu Bang standing on the jade steps and looking down like a mouse sneaking out of its den across the vast distance, and two clusters of flames ignited in his ink-black eyes.

Despite how the heavens messed with him, in the end he still caught sight of his enemy’s old ancestor!

It was the first time Lü Bu was so close to his target, he instantly felt his blood boil.

However, it was precisely because the hostility in his gaze towards Liu Bang was too scorching that although Xiang Yu was too dense to notice it, Xiang Bo — who was being extra vigilant — did.

Xiang Bo was surprised, and his surprise soon turned to horror.

At first he thought that his eyes had been dazzled, but following Lü Bu’s inexplicably fierce gaze indeed led to Liu Bang. Extreme unease filled him.

Although he didn’t like Xiang Yu’s arrogant nature and how he sometimes acted unreasonably cruelly, he had never questioned his ability to spot talents.

This boy surnamed Lü appeared out of thin air but was able to stand out among four hundred thousand Chu soldiers and win Xiang Yu’s favour, he must have a martial prowess which ordinary people couldn’t match.

No matter why Lü Bu hated Liu Bang so much, for the sake of his safety, he must not be allowed into the banquet hall!

After Xiang Bo made up his mind, he acted decisively.

Once Xiang Yu entered the hall, he deliberately lagged behind a few steps and called for Lü Bu in a low voice. “Lü Bu, come here.”

As he spoke, he didn’t notice the way Lü Bu’s hand which gripped the sword at his waist turned white with restrained force, nor the veins which appeared on the back of his hand.

He knew in his heart that when all three military forces converged in a meeting, it was absolutely not a good time to attack even if the target was in sight — he had to do it elsewhere.

What’s more, if he charged straight at Liu Bang, Xiang Yu might well stop him for the sake of the King of Chu’s face.

He didn’t care if everyone else in the palace came against him, at most he would suffer a little injury in the process of obtaining Liu Bang’s head.

However, he didn’t want to risk personally experiencing the unrivalled strength of the Hegemon-King of Western Chu which resounded throughout the history books.

So although Lü Bu’s heart roared for blood, reason still prevailed and he barely suppressed it.

When the parasite¹吃里扒外: lit. eat outside, cling outside; meaning to accept benefits from someone while secretly helping others Xiang Bo called him over with obviously malicious intent, Lü Bu concealed his killing intent and walked there without a hint of haste.

Han Xin frowned, and couldn’t help casting a glance at Xiang Bo from the corner of his eye before following Xiang Yu inside.

Seeing Lü Bu’s undisguised indifference, Xiang Bo felt both apprehensive and displeased.

As the dignified Minister of the Left of the Chu state, it was the simplest thing in the world for him to give orders to an attendant, and there was no need to give any explanation either. “There are enough people here, you go to the palace gates and bring the general’s horse Dapple²Xiang Yu’s mount is named 乌骓 (wū zhuī), meaning crow piebald; Dapple is as official of a translation as there is and comes from Burton Watson’s translation of The Hegemon’s Lament. Wikipedia here, you’ll be looking after it today.”

Lü Bu narrowed his eyes slightly.

How could he not see through Xiang Bo’s intention to deliberately transfer him elsewhere with a random excuse?

“Yes sir.”

Despite being sent on a trivial task more suited for a stablehand, Lü Bu — to Xiang Bo’s surprise — just looked down and showed not a hint of protest.

But he could not have mistaken the strong killing intent just now.

Xiang Bo had no time to think about it. Seeing that Lü Bu accepted the military order, he no longer wasted any time outside, instead he turned around and quickly entered the hall.

He had no idea that as soon as he turned around, Lü Bu suddenly raised his head, showing a pair of eyes as sharp as blades as he smirked coldly.

It wasn’t a problem, he hadn’t planned on doing anything in the hall in the first place, there were too many people who might get in the way.

Thus Lü Bu, wearing the uniform of Xiang Yu’s personal guards, slowly went towards the palace gate.

His body was tall yet lean and he had handsome features, he attracted attention even among Chu soldiers who were known for their bravery and strength.

Lü Bu was already used to being the center of attention, so he was very calm as he walked towards the gate. There, he was just in time to bump into a black horse with white socks with three men around it holding it down.

It was the first time since arriving in the Chu camp that Lü Bu saw the hegemon-king’s beloved mount. His eyes lit up.

Oh goddamn, what a handsome horse!

Dapple was an extremely tall horse. Its coat was like brocade of the deepest black, and it was without the slightest variation except his four hooves, which were each a shining white.

His skin wrapped smoothly around his long tendons, the strength of his bulging muscles could be seen at a glance. And when the sun shone down upon him, he looked even more extraordinary.

Dapple’s temperament was rebellious and unruly, even worse than his master.

Of the hundreds of thousands of people in the Chu camp, only Xiang Yu, a hero of the world, could make him willingly bow his head and carry him to gallop on battlefields.

As Dapple valiantly struggled against the three soldiers who were trying to lead him into the unfamiliar Qin Palace, his gaze suddenly caught on a pair of ferocious, piercing eyes.

 None of the horses Lü Bu saw since he came to three centuries in the past were any good, only the one he stole in the beginning was half decent. It was only when he saw Dapple, which was known for looking as if it were stepping on snow as it ran, that he found one which could match his own beloved Red Hare.³A famous horse owned by Lü Bu for a time, said to be able to travel 500km in a day; historical records describe Lü Bu & Red Hare like this: “Among men, Lü Bu; among steeds, Red Hare”. Wikipedia

He completely threw Liu Bang to the back of his mind, his thoughts now only filled with Dapple’s heroic figure.

The moment their eyes met, Dapple suddenly felt an unprecedented vigilance against this stranger who was outstanding, majestic, and not at all inferior to his master.

However, Lü Bu’s joyful reaction was much faster than its retreat — just as the three soldiers were about to ask why he was there, he strode up without moving his eyes from Dapple and effortlessly pressed down on the horse’s withers, which were at the perfect height for him but would be too high for most others.

His tightly-muscled waist exerted power for a split second. Everyone around him only saw an afterimage flying by, then heard Dapple — whom hardly anyone apart from Xiang Yu dared to approach — let out an enraged shriek as his whole body reared up!

Everything happened so suddenly that they were all dumbfounded. It wasn’t until Lü Bu and Dapple engaged in a furious battle that they gasped in unison!

Hiss–!

This guy was too foolhardy,⁴吃熊心豹子胆: lit. to eat a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall; meaning to summon up one’s courage (derogatory), typically used in relation to doing a stupidly reckless thing fool enough to die!

The shock in their hearts wasn’t so much because they were afraid of Xiang Yu’s vengeful wrath, but rather because they had never imagined that Dapple, who was arrogant, violent, only willing to obey the general’s orders, and had the strength to back it up, would one day have another person jump on his back!

Lü Bu cared for none of their thoughts.

All his attention was on the horse below him, who was trying to throw him off and trample him to death beneath his hooves.

However, unlike Xiang Yu who had been inexperienced when he first met Dapple and subdued the horse with pure strength, Lü Bu was slightly weaker in strength but much superior in skill.

Dapple bucked again and again but couldn’t remove the rider on his back who was as stable as Mount Tai. Finally, angered to the point of spewing fire, he let out a long squeal and abruptly galloped forth!

Lü Bu was already prepared for this. Just as Dapple’s front hoof landed and he was about to charge, he flexibly leaned forwards to lay on the horse’s back. Not only was he not shaken off by the sudden change of momentum, he didn’t even take in a mouthful of cold wind.

He even took the time to laugh a few times and yelled to the stunned soldiers before Dapple carried him too far, “The Minister of the Left told me to bring Dapple to the front of the hall!”

Anyway, Xiang Bo didn’t specify how he should bring Dapple. Wouldn’t it be faster if he rode there?

Lü Bu’s inner abacus was in full swing.

He would kill Liu Bang as soon as the banquet was over and didn’t plan on staying in the Chu camp afterwards, what would he worry about that for?

One more ride was one more ride!

Dapple was originally a mount with a well-deserved reputation for being able to travel hundreds of miles, there was no need to mention his power when galloping at full strength under the influence of anger.

By the time Lü Bu’s shout came to an end, the Chu soldiers who stayed in place could only see the backs of one horse and one man fading away.

They looked at each other in dismay, and spontaneously showed a bit of respect as one exclaimed, “Were the general’s attendants always this amazing?!”

He even dared to ride the general’s mount whom no one else could touch!

---

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• 1
  吃里扒外: lit. eat outside, cling outside; meaning to accept benefits from someone while secretly helping others
• 2
  Xiang Yu’s mount is named 乌骓 (wū zhuī), meaning crow piebald; Dapple is as official of a translation as there is and comes from Burton Watson’s translation of The Hegemon’s Lament. Wikipedia
• 3
  A famous horse owned by Lü Bu for a time, said to be able to travel 500km in a day; historical records describe Lü Bu & Red Hare like this: “Among men, Lü Bu; among steeds, Red Hare”. Wikipedia
• 4
  吃熊心豹子胆: lit. to eat a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall; meaning to summon up one’s courage (derogatory), typically used in relation to doing a stupidly reckless thing

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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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• 1
  Yuan 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.
• 3
  In Chinese creation myth, Nüwa is the creator of mankind, moulding humans out of clay. Wikipedia

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There was no quota for how many attendants there should be, it only depended on what Xiang Yu wanted.

Thus upon receiving his assignment, Lü Bu — who had just been stuffed into the army — went to collect a few sets of uniforms for Xiang Yu’s personal soldiers, then changed the temporary bunk next to Han Xin’s which he slept on last night into a permanent bunk. With this, he took up his post with a new look, and became a proper Attendant Sentry stationed in Xiang Yu’s tent.

Lü Bu still regretted that the opportunity to take Liu Bang’s head had slipped away, but as he relived his old days of being a personal servant, those emotions faded.

Xiang Yu had well-deserved confidence in his unparalleled martial skills, so except for a few special occasions, he wouldn’t ask his attendants to stay in the tent to add unnecessary ostentation.

Therefore, most of the time, the attendants would walk freely throughout the army and few people dared to call them casually.

Lü Bu — who hadn’t intended to do any real work in the first place — was particularly satisfied with this.

The difference was especially stark when compared with his cheap foster father Dong Zhuo — Chancellor Dong knew that he was hated by many, so he was careful in all things and cherished his life very much. Even when he went to take a dump, he had to call Lü Bu over to be a bodyguard and forced him to stare at his fat buttocks.

Lü Bu was standing next to the training grounds with his arms folded when he was called by Han Xin, who had come up behind him. “My dear brother,” Han Xin said, “you…”

Lü Bu absently turned towards him. “Huh?”

Han Xin hesitated, then said, “Your clothes are a little short, why don’t I take you to find someone to fix it?”

In the Chu camp, Lü Bu at almost two meters tall was like a crane among chickens, the only one who was close to his height was Xiang Yu. None of the uniforms fit him.

Lü Bu nonchalantly spit out the blade of grass hanging from his mouth and waved his hand. “The clothes are fine, Han-xiong doesn’t need to worry.”

He really couldn’t be bothered to deal with it.

It wasn’t as if he had never worn silk or satin in the past, especially after he gained power. However, in the end he came out of the army; those weren’t just chilly, they were so soft that it felt like he wasn’t wearing anything on his body. He didn’t like it nearly as much as tough cotton or iron armour which could at least block a few swords.

Those things were much better suited to little ladies with delicate skin and tender flesh, so he sent it all to them.

He didn’t care if he wore rough, used clothes, why would it matter if his new clothes were made of good materials or not? It was easier to mend like this, and besides, with how hot it was, his exposed limbs were cool enough even if it was a bit rude. Just leave it.

Lü Bu narrowed his eyes with a deep and unfathomable expression, and turned his gaze back to the soldiers who were sweating profusely under the scorching hot sun.

Tsk, tsk.

The more he looked the more satisfied he was, and the corners of his lips slowly curved upwards.

Although the people on the field were working hard, their skills were all mediocre and none of them would be able to go longer than three bouts with him.

Han Xin, whose kindness was rejected, did not leave. After pursing his lips for a while, he asked again, “How many words do you know?”

Although Lü Bu was a bit confused by the sudden question, he still replied frankly, “I’ve never counted, but it’s been enough.”

Han Xin seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then slowly produced from his bosom a scroll of bamboo slips which he usually kept carefully hidden under his bedding. “Have you read this volume before?”

A little curious about this thing he suddenly took out, Lü Bu leaned closer for a look but then he instantly lost interest. “Thank you, Han-xiong, but I have already read it.”

Wasn’t this Sun Tzu’s Art of War? He had read it many times even before he had been appointed as a Registrar. He might not be able to boast that he could recite it by heart, but he was at least quite familiar with its contents.

Han Xin fell silent.

Seeing Lü Bu turn his attention back to the soldiers on the field in boredom, he hesitated for a moment, then asked, “My dear brother, do you want to go a few rounds in the arena?”

As soon as these words came out, Lü Bu, who had been watching for a long time, was indeed quite moved.

It’s just that before he could open his mouth to agree, he suddenly remembered something and turned with raised eyebrows to look at Han Xin’s expressionless face.

He was just wondering why it felt so strange — it was because Han Xin, who usually answered ten sentences with a single word to most people and ten words when speaking to Lü Bu, now took the initiative to chat, not to mention doing it three times!

Han Xin coughed lightly at being stared at by Lü Bu’s searching tiger eyes. “Brother?” he urged.

Lü Bu gave a noncommittal hum, still trying to figure out why he was behaving so uncharacteristically.

Let alone Lü Bu, who had only talked to him once or twice and otherwise only knew him from a few dozen lines in history and military books, even Han Xin himself hadn’t noticed his abnormality at all.

The reason was actually very simple. Han Xin wasn’t someone who was good at socialising — now after spending more than two years alone in the Chu army, he finally met someone who was friendly, had the ability, and wanted to work with him. He couldn’t have been happier.

It’s just that he was more introverted than others, so although his entire body was bubbling with joy and he wanted to take the initiative to talk, he didn’t know how to express himself.

Lü Bu thought and thought but couldn’t reach a conclusion, so he simply set the problem aside.

Anyway, there were so many things in the world that he didn’t know, for example, the inexplicable cancellation of the Hongmen Banquet…

Thinking of this, Lü Bu became even more depressed.

Forget it, what was there to watch here on the training field? When he fought against the Liu, Guan, and Zhang brothers at Hulao Pass, the trio cheekily went up at the same time in clear violation of the rules, but he had still been strong enough to match them evenly for quite a while.

As for the Chu soldiers in front of him, they might not be able to overpower him even if they all came at once.

And Han Xin… no way. Commanding soldiers like a god didn’t mean he had unparalleled martial arts, not to mention he couldn’t grab the cheap brother he just recognised and beat him up, right?

Lü Bu’s mouth cracked open in a wide yawn.

In the entire Chu camp, maybe only the Hegemon-King of Western Chu could give him a strong fighting spirit.

He clicked his tongue regretfully.

…Unfortunately, he couldn’t instigate a fight for the time being.

While he and Han Xin stared at each other, a sudden noise came from the camp’s entrance, which startled several captains and caused them to hurry there.

Lü Bu and Han Xin exchanged a quick glance, and in the next moment they tacitly went to check the situation together.

The one who caused the commotion wasn’t a fourth Han envoy in two days, but rather a gorgeously dressed Han person disguised as an envoy from the King of Chu, carrying a royal edict.

As for Li Yiji who had volunteered for this task, his face was already known to Chu as an important Han minister and it was impossible for him to pretend to be an envoy from Pengcheng, so he had to send another person in his place.

Although this person was also one of Liu Bang’s close ministers, he seldom showed his face, was inconspicuous, and had few achievements, so he was largely unknown to outsiders.

On the one hand, he had the courage to stand up in times of crisis, and on the other, Liu Bang had no other suitable candidates, so he had no choice but to nod and agree, treating a dead horse as if it were living.¹当死马当成活马医: to not give up, to try everything possible to remedy a hopeless situation no matter how outlandish

Once Lü Bu heard that they were sent by the King of Chu, he immediately lost interest.

He lazily watched them being brought into Xiang Yu’s tent, then turned around to keep wandering around.

In contrast, Han Xin, who also saw the scene just now, sighed uneasily.

“Why do you sigh?” Lü Bu asked casually.

Han Xin shook his head, unable to hide his regret. “We should have struck while the iron was hot.²一鼓作气、再而衰、三而竭: idiom attributed to Cao Gui, a general during the Spring and Autumn period; the original quote is “Fighting requires spirit. The enemy force had a great momentum at the first round of drum beating, had a weaker momentum by the second beating, and was exhausted by the third. We attacked when their spirits were exhausted. That’s why we won.” Wikipedia | Week in China It is a great taboo for military commanders to renege on orders, and the general has already done it once. If the attack against Han troops in the pass is successful then the gains would outweigh the loss, but the king’s envoy arrived so suddenly — it is obviously to protect the Han. Regardless of his authenticity, the army most likely will not be able to set off tomorrow as scheduled.”

They had been obstructed time and again, who knew what the long-term impacts might be.

Lü Bu slowly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and asked solemnly, “Is it such a serious matter?”

Han Xin was silent.

“If it is,” he started, unable to sit idly by if the Han army wanted benefits, “brother, why don’t you speak to the general?”

“It’s just an attendant’s words…” Han Xin gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Maybe the general would be willing to listen if my surname were Xiang.”

He didn’t listen to the advice he offered, didn’t use the counsel he gave. This repeated countless times until Han Xin became thoroughly disheartened.

Lü Bu straightened when he heard this and his eyes gradually turned serious.

However Han Xin didn’t notice these subtle changes in his demeanour. He had been used to this state of affairs for a long time and was just about to enlighten Lü Bu of this fact when the latter unexpectedly stretched out an arm, hooked his shoulders, and exerted force, pulling and dragging him towards the main tent.

“Fengxian, what is this for?!” Han Xin asked anxiously as he was dragged several steps, completely unable to resist.

“Of course it’s to go offer advice,” Lü Bu said frankly. He was so powerful that he could easily manhandle someone as tall as Han Xin. “Although I am not learned and have only read a few books, I also know that a wise man will make mistakes if he thinks too much and a fool might gain a lot if he does the same. A mere attendant offering advice is still a pledge of loyalty. Rewards may not be given, but it is impossible to receive reprimand or punishments. As for the strategy itself, the general may or may not use it, but he can only make that choice after hearing it. Han-xiong, you don’t need to be discouraged just because a few strategies weren’t used, you will definitely succeed in the end if you give a few more.”

Unlike Han Xin, who chose to silently give up after suffering repeated setbacks, Lü Bu naturally saw things from Xiang Yu’s perspective… ahem, and also from his past self’s perspective.

In his eyes, Chen Gongtai’s biggest problem was that he refused to speak, didn’t like to explain things, always lost his temper, and spoke sarcastically. As soon as Lü Bu suffered a loss due to not following his plans, he had to suffer passive-aggressive sour words, making him feel annoyed and aggrieved.

In comparison, Gao Fuyi was much better — he didn’t nag if Lü Bu didn’t listen, he only silently helped him clean up the mess afterwards. Then his yielding attitude made Lü Bu feel embarrassed, so he would be more willing to listen next time.

But even so, Chen Gongtai would only be depressed for a short while at most, he would still give advice when it was time to do so.

…From this point of view, Chen Gongtai was much easier to coax than Han Xin, even with his crappy temper.

Since Han Xin saw how important this matter was, especially as it related to the Chu army’s morale, how could he not give a reminder or two? It wasn’t as if Xiang Yu would be able to cook him with a wave of his hand just because he babbled a few more words, and he might even pay attention this time.

The more Lü Bu thought about it, the more he couldn’t help comparing Han Xin’s way of doing things with Chen Gongtai.

He thought that if Chen Gongtai deliberately hid things from him just because he was angry, not reminding him of important things because he would rather they be unlucky together, he would definitely blow his top!

Han Xin didn’t know his mental journey of a thousand miles. He was surprised when he heard what Lü Bu said, then he didn’t know how to react.

Rationally, he knew that Xiang Yu wouldn’t listen, but since Lü Bu was so persistent, he also had some thoughts of not giving up in his heart, so he softened his resistance and let Lü Bu forcefully drag him to the main tent.

---

Translator:
Glossary is live!

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• 1
  当死马当成活马医: to not give up, to try everything possible to remedy a hopeless situation no matter how outlandish
• 2
  一鼓作气、再而衰、三而竭: idiom attributed to Cao Gui, a general during the Spring and Autumn period; the original quote is “Fighting requires spirit. The enemy force had a great momentum at the first round of drum beating, had a weaker momentum by the second beating, and was exhausted by the third. We attacked when their spirits were exhausted. That’s why we won.” Wikipedia | Week in China

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Lü Bu was still unhappy about the unreasonably cancelled Hongmen Banquet and wondering what to do next when he was summoned by Xiang Yu.

After an entire day passed, Xiang Yu didn’t forget about the man who made great merits by bringing with him the means to give the Chu army a major turning point. He arranged everything then called him for an audience.

Han Xin led Lü Bu to the main tent again. Once he entered, he saw that there wasn’t only Xiang Yu this time. Two people sat on Xiang Yu’s left and right; both looked to be seventy or eighty years old, with one of them dressed more like a military officer.

Although they sat close to one another, their expressions were quite sullen. They had probably just argued and likely had a bad relationship.

Lü Bu took his time to glance around slowly.

Though the one on the left was old he could still stay in the barracks, so he could only be the famed Yafu; and the one on the right… it was hard to say, but his features were somewhat similar to Xiang Yu up on the main seat, so Lü Bu guessed that this was Xiang Bo.

As Lü Bu guessed, the identities of these two people were indeed Fan Zeng and Xiang Bo.

In order to buy time and find a way out for himself, Liu Bang had sent three envoys in a row, all bearing gifts and explanations for Xiang Yu.

Xiang Bo didn’t know that Liu Bang still had a hidden trick to move King Huai’s heart, but he did know that the situation was serious and he tried his best to cooperate; on the contrary, Fan Zeng didn’t want Xiang Yu, who had finally recognised Liu Bang’s treachery, to fall into a trap again, so he strenuously objected. Thus, every time a Han envoy arrived, it would be a verbal battle fought tit for tat, which annoyed Xiang Yu to no end.

As Xiang Yu saw it, one was a loyal counsellor, and the other was his trusted uncle. Both of them gave everything for Chu without hiding selfish intentions, but for some reason they just could not get along.

He wasn’t good at speaking let alone mediating arguments. Once he encountered this situation, he was at a complete loss and could only keep a blank face and turn a deaf ear as the two argued.

Lü Bu’s eyelids twitched.

This scene was too familiar to him.

It involuntarily reminded him of when Wei Xu and Gao Fuyi quarrelled, he always had no idea what to do…

“Greetings to the General.”

Lü Bu abandoned those messy thoughts, then saluted with a sonorous and powerful voice.

Although he was bowed, he could feel three pairs of eyes instantly focus on him.

Fan Zeng’s gaze was filled with kindness and the feeling that ‘this child can be taught’, Xiang Bo seemed calm but was in fact full of doubts, and only Xiang Yu’s eyes were full of appreciation as he silently let out a relieved breath.

“No need to be so polite,” Xiang Yu responded in a deep voice as he gestured to a seat, “Sit.”

“Yes.”

Lü Bu didn’t bother to refuse a few times like others might, he very straightforwardly dropped into a seat.

“I am overjoyed that Fengxian has come to me, as for the guarantee he brought…”

Here, Xiang Yu paused.

The title of ‘Attendant’ was already on his lips, but when he looked at the exceptionally heroic, dignified, and eloquent Lü Bu, he once again felt his admiration surge up and his lips inexplicably curved upwards.

Heroes were rare, they should not be constrained by common conventions.

It took only a moment to make up his mind. He didn’t blink an eye as he simply asked, “I’ll make you a lian’ao, what say you?”

Fan Zeng only listened calmly and didn’t react, but Xiang Bo looked at Lü Bu with more inquiry and surprise.

What kind of ability did this person have, what miraculous feat did he accomplish?! How could he get such grand appreciation from the proud Xiang Yu?

It should be noted that the position of lian’ao was a combination of lianyin and mo’ao, and ranked only behind the prime minister, their secretaries, the Grand Marshal, and the Left and Right Majors.¹ a military rank exclusive to the Chu state, specific responsibilities are unclear; no direct translation to English ranks suitable for lian’ao, lianyin, or mo’ao, you just need to know they’re quite high ranking It could only be called a middling position in the grand scheme of things, but for an unknown soldier like Lü Bu, it was practically reaching the sky in a single step.

For example, Han Xin had been in the Chu army for two years. He first followed Xiang Liang then Xiang Yu to participate in campaigns and fought many bloody battles, and only after accumulating merits for a long time was he promoted to Attendant.

His rate of promotion was already considered quite good.

Now Lü Bu overtook him in a single leap!

What surprised Xiang Bo the most was that for the first time, there was a hint of questioning in Xiang Yu’s tone — if this person was greedy and asked for a higher position, would he allow him to bargain or even agree?

Meanwhile, Lü Bu’s eyes were blank.

What’s a lian’ao?

He couldn’t be less familiar with official positions in the Chu state, which had been abolished for a long time during his own lifetime, three hundred years in the future. And although his cheap brother Han Xin gave a brief explanation, he had stopped at Attendant because he didn’t expect Lü Bu to skip so many grades. Lian’ao hadn’t been mentioned at all.

With bright eyes full of anticipation, Lü Bu asked, “May I ask, General, this lian’ao… how many soldiers do they lead?”

Xiang Yu was silent.

The corners of Fan Zeng’s eyes twitched as he kindly explained, “Although lian’ao do not command soldiers, they have the important task of supervising the transportation of grain.”

Lü Bu was dumbfounded.

Although they prettied it up, wasn’t it just a porter!

He refused!

He was used to being a general who gave orders. Although he did come to the Chu army intending to start as a little soldier, his purpose wasn’t to relive his old dream of rising through the ranks step by step, he was here for the life of his nemesis’ ancestor!

Seeing as he somehow lost a perfectly good opportunity to kill Liu Bang at the Hongmen Banquet, his most urgent task now was to find another way to get close to him.

Thankfully he asked about it, otherwise if he really became a little official helping transport food and grass, who knew how many years it would be before he could touch a hair on Liu Bang’s head!

With that much trouble, he might as well join the vanguard as a foot soldier!

Seeing his wide-eyed, dissenting appearance, Xiang Bo who was already very worried about the threat to Liu Bang’s life finally couldn’t contain his irritability. “You’ve just arrived, although you’ve got some good points, you haven’t been to the battlefield and don’t have any merits to your name. You think you could reach anywhere as high as lian’ao without the general’s appreciation?” he ridiculed. “No matter how eager you are, you can’t be so presumptuous.”

He didn’t know what kind of miraculous achievement this little boy named Lü did, but he shouldn’t act so arrogant, he really didn’t know his place!

Lü Bu narrowed his eyes.

People like Xiang Bo, who were so brazen yet had no self-awareness, would inevitably remind him of the mediocre Wei Xu whom he treated favourably because he was his wife’s uncle. Yet in the end, love and hatred intertwined and Wei Xu betrayed him faster than anyone else.

Since it was just a traitor speaking nonsense, why should he care?

He said slowly, “Left Governor has misunderstood, I was only unclear on what a lian’ao is, how could I despise it for being too low a rank? I also know that my merits are few and it would be difficult to convince others that I deserve it… I deeply admire the prowess the general showed at Julu. If General does not mind, please make me your Attendant Sentry, so that I can stay by your side, and also keep Han-xiong company.”

The abacus in Lü Bu’s heart rattled as he said these beautiful words.

Being a sentry by Xiang Yu’s side naturally had its own advantages: he could chat with Han Xin, his cheap brother and colleague, in his spare time, and it would also be easier for him to monitor the Han army’s movements.

Besides, apart from the vanguard troops, the person most likely to meet Liu Bang was Xiang Yu himself.

A vanguard soldier had to kill a bloody path forwards and still may not be able to glimpse Liu Bang. But if Liu Bang’s brain twitched and he wanted to have a meeting with Xiang Yu, it must be a special event where he had little armour and few weapons — it would be far easier for him to act then.

In the past, he was Thief Dong’s²referring to Dong Zhuo, a warlord of late Han/early Three Kingdoms infamous for being a tyrant and all around bad person; it’s said that after his death, his corpse was left on the street with a lit wick placed on his navel, which burned for several days on the fat of his body. Wikipedia godson³义子 (yìzǐ), and its counterpart 义父 (yìfù), are less foster/adoptive/familial relationships and more of a mentorship, as in yizi would respect & revere the yifu as they would their father, while the yifu is responsible as a mentor & moral guide; it’s similar to godparents without the religious connotations. More detail in siumerghe’s Tumblr post. in name but had duties similar to a personal servant so he was very familiar with this job, it would be far easier to handle than moving grain.

Xiang Yu had heard a lot of flattering words lately. Not only were his ears calloused, he rarely took it to heart.

But it was different when the praise and admiration came from this straight-faced young man whom he appreciated.

The corners of his mouth rose slightly and his mood visibly improved.

What’s more, he had originally wanted to grant Lü Bu this position. In addition, he knew when to advance and retreat, and his arguments were well-founded, so Xiang Yu was even more satisfied and nodded without another word.

Hearing this, Fan Zeng labelled the man in front of him with the word ‘clever’. A lian’ao involved in grain transport was indeed ranked higher, but it was difficult to progress further. Instead, it would be better to be a sentry who was at Xiang Yu’s side day after day, where he could more easily be noticed.

Lü Bu was unaware that he had been stamped with an unprecedented ‘clever’ on his head. After leaving the main tent, he reluctantly plucked up his energy and went to get the uniform and seal for an Attendant Sentry.

But in the Han camp was Zhang Liang, a truly clever person. Seeing that the envoys had all returned in failure and disaster was imminent, he had to make some adjustments to his plans — namely, to quickly forge an edict from the King of Chu and send it to the Chu camp with people disguised as envoys from Pengcheng.

At this, Liu Bang was first shocked, then hesitant.

Whether it was the difficulty of forging a royal edict or their fates if it were discovered, this was a much more serious matter than the bloody clothing, not to mention that the clothing had already failed.

“General, please rest assured. As long as the king does not expose it, it will become a real edict,” Zhang Liang said calmly.

They only had two days. Even if the envoys whipped their horses all the way, they would only barely be able to reach Pengcheng.

Waiting for the King of Chu to decide on a response and send his own envoys would take another two days — by that time, the Han army might already have been exterminated and any rescue would only find dregs.

Since they couldn’t delay it, they could only forge a royal edict.

They only needed to send it openly and frankly. Even if Fan Zeng had doubts, determining its validity would take time, time which they could use to prepare. And if Xiang Yu became furious due to this, all the better; his anger would be directed at the King of Chu who was biased towards the Han, giving them some breathing space.

The key to the edict’s authenticity lay in the King of Chu alone.

And if the King of Chu wanted to stop being a puppet of the Xiang clan and to check and balance the powerful Xiang Yu, he couldn’t lose Han support — thus, he could only silently cover things up for them.

Liu Bang wavered at his words. “Then the one who will send the royal edict…”

He was reluctant to send his beloved generals to their doom, but this was a matter of life or death for the Han army and they couldn’t afford any mistake.

Before Zhang Liang could say anything, Li Yiji⁴a political advisor to Liu Bang. Wikipedia stood up. “I request the general to give an order, I am willing to take this edict to Chu.”

---

Translator:
Vote if you would like a glossary/character list, I can put more trivia in there than the footnotes.

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• 1
   a military rank exclusive to the Chu state, specific responsibilities are unclear; no direct translation to English ranks suitable for lian’ao, lianyin, or mo’ao, you just need to know they’re quite high ranking
• 2
  referring to Dong Zhuo, a warlord of late Han/early Three Kingdoms infamous for being a tyrant and all around bad person; it’s said that after his death, his corpse was left on the street with a lit wick placed on his navel, which burned for several days on the fat of his body. Wikipedia
• 3
  义子 (yìzǐ), and its counterpart 义父 (yìfù), are less foster/adoptive/familial relationships and more of a mentorship, as in yizi would respect & revere the yifu as they would their father, while the yifu is responsible as a mentor & moral guide; it’s similar to godparents without the religious connotations. More detail in siumerghe’s Tumblr post.
• 4
  a political advisor to Liu Bang. Wikipedia