Tag: time travel (page 5 of 5)

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From beginning to end, what Xiang Yu valued most was strength.

He disdained to play political tricks. In his eyes, those were aberrant thoughts, unworthy of a true lord.

Due to his good upbringing, he was willing to address Liu Bang as the Duke of Pei, he was willing to acknowledge the man’s efforts to reach his current power, and he was also willing to respect the talented civil and military officials he’d gathered around him.

But this didn’t mean that he recognised Liu Bang as an opponent comparable to himself.

With his four hundred thousand Chu soldiers, he won a great victory over the Qin army at Julu, made Zhang Han and the other generals surrender to him, and all the lords sincerely supported him as the leader of their alliance.

He made his name with iron and blood, but look at Liu Bang. He relied on just one hundred thousand Han soldiers to simply stroll through Hangu Pass, what a joke!

This was just a monkey playing at king while the tiger was away. To have someone who hardly knew his place take the King of Chu’s words as justification to sit on Guanzhong’s throne, that wouldn’t just be trampling all over his military achievements, it would be the shame of his life.

To put it bluntly, the reason why he so easily believed Xiang Bo about Liu Bang’s willingness to reconcile wasn’t only due to his trust in Xiang Bo, it was also because of the disparity between their two sides.

The gap was so large that it was hard for him to accept that he seriously wanted them to become enemies.

…Unless Liu Bang went crazy, or thought Xiang Yu was retarded.

It was exactly because Xiang Yu had never regarded Liu Bang as an opponent worthy of attention that now, when he realised that Liu Bang might actually have those intentions and may be secretly proud of toying with him in the palm of his hand at this moment that he felt like a tiger being fooled by a monkey, and his anger grew ever higher.

Concluding that he was being made to seem a fool, his face turned dark as the bottom of a pot and he thumped his hand on the table!

“How dare he!!!”

He had the strength to lift a cauldron¹鼎: vessels used throughout Chinese history for ritual purposes, comes in 2 variations: 1) round with three legs, or 2) rectangular with four legs. Known to be heavy (they’re solid bronze), and lifting one was a way of showing off. Wikipedia single-handed. With the addition of his anger, this strike directly cracked the solid wood in two.

Seeing him so angry, Fan Zeng slightly lowered his eyelids to hide the smile in his eyes.

In his view, no matter what intriguing role Xiang Bo played in this, now that Xiang Yu had directed his fury towards the Han army, there was no need to pursue it.

The important thing was that Xiang Yu had recognised Liu Bang’s evil intentions and once again planned to send troops.

How could Lü Bu have known that just choosing a token of guarantee could lead to so many chain reactions.

He couldn’t remember when exactly the Hongmen Banquet would take place, but estimated that it would be around this time.

Right now he could only wait, it was no use for him to be anxious. He happily followed Xiang Yu’s personal soldiers to a ramshackle hut, where he washed himself quickly with the water in the tank, roughly towelled himself off, and changed into a new set of casual clothes.

Although Xiang Yu had kept him, he hadn’t conferred an official position, so he wasn’t given a specific uniform.

After he changed, the soldier politely asked him if he wanted to eat or rest first.

Lü Bu had been too lazy to go hunting after he finished the rabbit leg last night, so with this reminder, he suddenly felt hungry. He chose to fill his belly first without hesitation.

It was already dark, this was the busiest time for army cooks. And the mess tent was right next to the hut.

Youthful and handsome yet not inferior to any general, Lü Bu was also unnaturally tall, and so of course he attracted the attention of all the Chu soldiers.

And ever since eight hundred years ago… or rather three hundred years in the future, he’d long been used to this. He unceremoniously ordered enough food for three people, calmly walked past many curious eyes, and sat his ass down next to Han Xin, who seemed to be isolated in no man’s land.

Han Xin seemed to be concentrating on eating, but in reality his mind had flown far away into his own little world.

He had always been reticent and reluctant to talk to people. After numerous communication failures, the Chu soldiers gave up and no longer stuck their hot faces on his cold butt.

A mere sentry²previously translated as halberd-bearer was so arrogant, why shouldn’t they curry favour with someone else instead?

Lü Bu didn’t care at all about the increasingly strange gazes shot towards him; he hummed a little ditty under his breath, and after sitting next to Han Xin, he only raised an eyebrow and greeted his doubting expression with a “Yo.”

Han Xin couldn’t help hesitating for a moment.

…Should he say ‘yo’ back?

Just when he was hesitating, unsure how to call him, Lü Bu lowered his head and pushed around the food a few times with a disgusted look on his face before gulping down the unpalatable food.

Indeed, it was easy to go from frugality to extravagance but hard to go from extravagance to frugality.

He completely swept away a meal for three. Although his belly bulged by the time he was finished, he felt that it wasn’t as good as the unsalted roasted game he hunted in the wild for the last few days.

That wasn’t even mentioning the delicacies he’d tasted back then.

Never mind, never mind.

Lü Bu quickly adjusted his mentality. Anyways, he didn’t come to the Chu camp to eat or enjoy life, he came only to obtain Liu Bang’s head.

“Thankfully Attendant Han introduced me earlier,” Lü Bu grinned at Han Xin, “in the future, I will definitely return the favour.”

Han Xin paused for a moment, then said coldly, “No need.”

If it were someone else, they might have been dissuaded by Han Xin’s apathetic response, but Lü Bu was different, he was even full of curiosity towards this man. He knew that Han Xin would be known as a ‘god of war’ in the future.

Lü Bu didn’t expect to have a heart-to-heart talk in their first meeting. But by relying on his own knowledge and his understanding of Han Xin’s skilled tactical prowess, he could always hit on a few topics Han Xin was interested in and have a little chat.

It was fortunate that Han Xin wrote military books and not poetry books, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to have a conversation even if his face was as thick as a stone wall.

But talking about marching and fighting? That was his specialty! Whether it was the military books he read or the battles he personally witnessed, he could easily speak for days and nights without end.

And although this Han Xin was talented, he was still young and had little experience — he was by no means the future Han Xin who would command and use soldiers like a god.

Therefore, it was easy for the battle-tested Lü Bu to fool him.

The Chu soldiers who had been secretly watching them from the corners of their eyes were surprised to find that Han Xin, who usually cherished his words like gold, hardly spoke once in a day, and kept people a thousand leagues away, suddenly turned into a chatterbox!

From a cautious beginning to letting go, he was so happy that he gestured with his chopsticks as he seriously discussed something with the newcomer.

Oh gods above and below, the sun really came out from the west!

Lü Bu didn’t care how surprised they were. When he felt that the time had come, he mentioned becoming brothers. “To be honest with you, I’m new to Chu and not familiar with anything here, I can’t help but feel uneasy. Fortunately, both you and General Xiang have taken care of me, so this trip hasn’t been in vain. And after our conversation just now, I feel like we’re old acquaintances.”

Hey, big-eared Liu knew how to use these tricks, and so did he.

It’s just that before, he recognised foster fathers to get ahead, this wasn’t so different!

Han Xin didn’t notice Lü Bu’s thoughts at all.

Ever since he joined the army, no one took him seriously no matter how many enemies he killed or how earnestly he advised the lord; the frustration in his heart was beyond words.

He was surrounded only by impulsive soldiers with shallow thoughts, there were no like-minded people around him.

His deep loneliness and disappointment was what made him so withdrawn.

Han Xin stared at Lü Bu, slightly lost in thought.

This person in front of him had been different from the beginning, he was particularly suited to his tastes.

He was able to come out without a hair out of place after meeting with General Xiang, which indicated that he would be promoted in the future, which meant that the two would likely become colleagues.

The most special thing was that Lü Bu was the only one in the camp who could talk to him on equal footing, and vaguely gave him great satisfaction…

Thinking up to here, Han Xin of course wouldn’t repudiate him. He naturally followed with, “I think so as well. May I ask when you were born?”

This usually unremarkable question stunned Lü Bu.

His birthday was three hundred years in the future, if he said it, it would be stranger if he wasn’t considered crazy.

Seeing his hesitation, Han Xin instantly misunderstood, thinking that although Lü Bu was born a scholar, perhaps his background was rough, or he had some unspeakable secrets, so he couldn’t even name his birth date.

Thus, he considerately gave an excuse. “From a glance, I seem to be a few years older. If you don’t mind, you can call me your foolish older brother.”

Lü Bu originally intended to take advantage of the situation to accept the future god of war as a little brother.

However, he’d forgotten about his newly rejuvenated shell’s tender skin and was pitted.

He had troubles he couldn’t say, but he quickly recovered after a brief moment of awkwardness.

Forget it, anyways, he’d already recognised two foster fathers, it wasn’t too much of a loss to be unable to call Han Xin his little bro.

…No matter who was older, his pillar would always be the bigger one.

After miraculously finding a psychological balance, Lü Bu enthusiastically accepted reality and said cheekily, “I can’t ask for more! Thank you, brother, I hope you can teach me more in the future.”

Although they hadn’t seriously burnt incense and worshipped each other as brothers, only calling each other so, Han Xin still felt that he had invisibly become closer to Lü Bu.

Earlier, he hadn’t asked about the head in order to avoid suspicion, but he was actually very curious.

Now that he was brothers with Fengxian, he took the opportunity to ask while there were few people around them on their way to the barracks.

Lü Bu had no intention of hiding it from him, not to mention that he didn’t consider it a secret at all. “It’s Ying Ziying.”

A calmly spoken sentence struck Han Xin like a bolt of lightning.

The former King of Qin, Ying Ziying?!

“Fengxian really…” Han Xin was dazed and hardly moved for a long while, until he finally murmured, “You have Minister Qing’s talent!”

Minister Qing, that is, Jing Ke.³ lived during the Warring States period, famous for his assassination attempt on King Zheng of Qin, who later became Qin Shi Huang. Wikipedia

Previously, he’d judged from Lü Bu’s healthy body that he should be quite strong.

And now he found that he went into the depths of the Qin Palace alone, slipped through the Han soldiers like a ghost, and brought out Ying Ziying’s head without suffering a single scratch, showing both courage and strategy. He couldn’t help but look at him with admiration.

Lü Bu chuckled a few times, trying to get this topic out of the way.

First he duelled three generals at once at Hulao Pass,⁴a fictitious battle in Romance of the Three Kingdoms; Lü Bu is ordered to defend Hulao Pass from the coalition army, he defeats 4 generals in succession then fights 1v3 for 80+ bouts before retreating. Wikipedia then later defeated the hundred-thousand-man strong Heishan army with only 800 light cavalry;⁵honestly couldn’t find this army, the closest are the Heishan bandits but Lü Bu never fought them. with these two battles that made even him exhausted, he really didn’t think it was much to take care of a weakling like the former King of Qin.

Moreover, he was rebellious to his bones and didn’t like to be compared to Minister Qing or whatever — it would be one thing if Jing Ke had succeeded, but he failed in his assassination attempt and was even executed, that was too inauspicious.

Thinking of this, Lü Bu rubbed his intact neck as he recalled the feeling of being strangled to death.

Seeing that Lü Bu had no intention of going into the details of his infiltration, Han Xin admired his humility and composure even more.

“The former King of Qin has a long-standing blood feud with the general, no wonder you were so confident coming here with his head.” This was why Xiang Yu didn’t mind him even as he was in a bad mood.

Hearing this, Lü Bu proudly raised his chin and humbly didn’t say anything more.

Yes, he was very proud of his skills, and they were why he dared to go alone into the Han and Chu camps.

If they fought head-on, he might lose to the Hegemon-King of Western Chu.

But if he only wanted to escape, and relied on the element of surprise, there might not be anyone who could stop him.

Of course, he couldn’t just say that.

“If I accidentally offend General Xiang, and he orders me to be cooked,” Lü Bu said casually, “I still need to remind you of one thing.”

Han Xin raised an eyebrow and waited patiently for his next words.

“I’m so big that I might not fit in one pot,” he smirked lazily, like a ruffian, “you’d need one with a bigger opening.”

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• 1
  鼎: vessels used throughout Chinese history for ritual purposes, comes in 2 variations: 1) round with three legs, or 2) rectangular with four legs. Known to be heavy (they’re solid bronze), and lifting one was a way of showing off. Wikipedia
• 2
  previously translated as halberd-bearer
• 3
   lived during the Warring States period, famous for his assassination attempt on King Zheng of Qin, who later became Qin Shi Huang. Wikipedia
• 4
  a fictitious battle in Romance of the Three Kingdoms; Lü Bu is ordered to defend Hulao Pass from the coalition army, he defeats 4 generals in succession then fights 1v3 for 80+ bouts before retreating. Wikipedia
• 5
  honestly couldn’t find this army, the closest are the Heishan bandits but Lü Bu never fought them.

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Fan Zeng was already quite elderly, yet he still had to spend his days advising Xiang  Yu who usually refused to listen, guarding against Xiang Bo who had a dark heart, and in the process of the above, he also had to avoid angering Xiang Yu too much… After an entire day, he was both physically and mentally exhausted.

That morning, he personally watched Xiang Bo calm Xiang Yu’s anger with a bunch of nonsense and persuade him to cancel their attack on Han. He had almost spit out a mouthful of blood in anger.

However, this was inevitable. His words definitely were not considered as important as those of the patriarch of the Xiang clan, not to mention that Xiang Bo was also Xiang Yu’s close uncle. It was impossible for him to change the deceived Xiang Yu’s mind.

What’s more, it wasn’t good for a military commander to be indecisive.

After thinking about it, he made another plan to use those loyal to Xiang Yu and able to be moved, such as Xiang Zhuang, to eliminate Liu Bang during that farce of a banquet at Hongmen.

Fan Zeng knew that for this to happen, he had to hide it from Xiang Bo — and to hide it from Xiang Bo, he had to first hide it from Xiang Yu. Not a word was to be revealed unless absolutely necessary.

Of course, it was a serious taboo for courtiers to hide anything from their lord and do things on their own, but in the face of such a great opportunity, he couldn’t care much about it.

So after returning to his tent with a belly full of anger and without even the mind to eat lunch, he rushed out in search of Xiang Zhuang, and after painstaking persuasion they finally came to a secret agreement.

Unexpectedly, Xiang Yu summoned him as soon as he got back to his tent.

The timing was so coincidental that Fan Zeng couldn’t help but be surprised, wondering if Xiang Yu had sent spies to keep an eye on him.

But he soon refuted himself — he was sincere and loyal, and even if he did some things in violation of Xiang Yu’s orders, it was for the Chu army’s greater good.

He had no reason to be frightened even if he was being watched, but it was hard for him to believe that Xiang Yu, who was proud and disdained to play tricks, would suddenly change his habits.

Thinking up to this point, Fan Zeng calmly went to the main tent.

As soon as he entered, he noticed that Xiang Yu’s expression was dark for some reason, even darker than yesterday when he received Liu Bang’s provocations and was about to send troops in his rage.

“General.”

Fan Zeng was about to salute when Xiang Yu raised his hand to stop him. He was evidently trying to gentle his tone as he said, “Yafu, please sit.”

It really was a coincidence. Fan Zeng judged this quickly.

If Xiang Yu was dissatisfied with his small actions, he would definitely choose to attack on the spot instead of being so polite.

He could maintain his demeanour, which meant that the source of his anger wasn’t on himself but something else.

He secretly guessed at the reason for summoning him but didn’t show it on his face, he only sat down in an unhurried manner.

It was at this time that he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a red and black object placed on a table in the corner of his eyes. Upon closer inspection, terror swept through him and he jumped up, exclaiming in horror, “This is–”

How could there be a hideous human head covered in gore here!

Xiang Yu was quiet and seemed to be in deep thought. Only when Fan Zeng recovered his senses and sat down again did he briefly tell the origin of this head and the small gold plate.

Fan Zeng then became stunned.

While he digested that information, Xiang Yu tossed out the bloody jacket — which he received earlier that day, and sent someone to dig out — with a blank face, asking lightly, “What does Yafu think?”

He was currently in an extremely bad mood. Although he did his best to restrain himself, his few simple movements still revealed his fury.

Fan Zeng had long been used to Xiang Yu who was often angry and seldom smiled, and knew for a fact that this anger was not directed at himself this time, so all his attention was on the human head with its terrified expression as well as the small golden plate next to it.

As for the bloodied clothes, this matter started from the incident which occurred at the Qin Palace that day.

Although Liu Bang had been very greedy for the countless treasures and women within the Qin Palace Complex, he listened to his counsellors’ advice regarding the overall situation and, for the sake of his long-term ambitions, controlled himself. Except for sweeping up all the valuables within, he conducted his army peacefully and refrained from disturbing the people.

In order to vent his excess energy, he spent his time either investigating the former Qin ministers or holding military meetings all day long, wracking his brains to think up a way to stand up to the furious Xiang Yu.

How could he have expected that just as he was hesitating about whether to kill Ying Ziying, the former King of Qin, someone would make a move first and decide for him?

When some soldiers told him that not only had Ying Ziying been assassinated in his cloistered hall, he had been cruelly decapitated and his head gone missing, Liu Bang shuddered.

When he hurried to the palace where Ying Ziying lost his life and saw the two guards still on each side of the door with peaceful expressions on their faces — evidently killed by someone crushing their necks before they could react — Liu Bang felt ice slide down the back of his own neck.

He didn’t know who this useless prince had provoked for him to be so brutally assassinated…

But just looking at the results of that decisive, ruthless act gave him lingering fears.

What would happen if such a meticulous killer who dared to penetrate deep into a heavily-guarded palace yet left no trace, and had such excellent martial skills, targeted him instead?

He knew rationally that there were many guards around him and it would be difficult for any assassin to find an opportunity, but Liu Bang still broke into a cold sweat.

Compared to Liu Bang who was secretly afraid, Zhang Liang, who had arrived a step later, also saw the headless body but quickly calmed down after only a brief shock.

Unlike the others who directly identified this headless corpse as Ying Ziying, he was much more cautious.

In order to prevent a possible substitution plot, he first summoned the former servants of the Qin Palace and asked them for Ying Ziying’s physical characteristics, then sent people to check them against the body one by one.

After a lot of tossing around, they quickly arrived at the conclusion — this was indeed Ying Ziying.

Zhang Liang frowned.

He was very clear that there was no meaning to sending troops to chase the assassin now, not when there was nary a trace of their coming or going. The current focus should be to increase protection around Liu Bang, then on dealing with the aftermath.

After all, everyone knew that Xiang Yu, who had shown great power at the Battle of Julu, was barred from entering Hangu Pass by none other than Liu Bang’s army of a hundred thousand men.

If the world was to hear that the seemingly impenetrable Han army was too incompetent to prevent the former King Ziying of Qin from being killed under their own noses… even if it didn’t discredit Liu Bang wholly, it in any case wasn’t a glorious thing.

Since they couldn’t find the assassin, then just let it be known that Liu Bang had heeded the wishes of the lords and kings, and personally cut off the last of the Qin bloodline. 

“Must we admit it?” Liu Bang asked uneasily.

His original plan was to set up Ying Ziying as a puppet prime minister to show his benevolence and also make it easier to absorb the Qin army into his own forces, then quietly dispose of him once his use was exhausted.

And the result? Not only did this plan go up in smoke, he also had to grit his teeth and claim that he killed Ying Ziying. He truly wasn’t reconciled.

Seeing his hesitation, Zhang Liang persuaded him some more. “It has never been appropriate for Ying Ziying to be the prime minister. You must know that after Qin conquered the six kingdoms,¹The Qin’s wars of unification were a series of military campaigns launched in the late 3rd century BC by the Qin state against the other six major Chinese states: Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi. Wikipedia the kings all surrendered, yet which didn’t receive devastation in return? Even King Huai of Chu who is most sympathetic to us would never stand for keeping Ying Ziying’s life. Our ancestors’ blood debts are heavy. If Ying Ziying would live and not pay with his death, how would you pacify the people’s wrath? What’s more, could they accept that this palace — which was built based on the palaces of their homeland, as if in mockery — be used by him?”

“What you say is true.” Liu Bang knew his idea was bad and, embarrassed, he objected softly, “It’s a pity, I originally wanted to use Ying Ziying to provoke Xiang Ji²Xiang Yu’s birth name into making a mistake, but it seems it can’t happen now.”

Zhang Liang frowned in disagreement. “Xiang Yu’s army is powerful. With our current power, we are definitely not his opponent. If we rashly provoke him, it may invite disaster.”

Not even mentioning the fact that Xiang Yu had four hundred thousand men in high spirits while Liu Bang had only one hundred thousand, just their generals’ respective abilities in strategizing and leading the charge were incomparable.

Liu Bang nodded but secretly curled his lips, internally disapproving. 

It wasn’t until three days later when Xiang Bo rushed to their camp overnight and informed them that Xiang Yu was in a rage and intended to send his troops to attack Han that he realised disaster was imminent, panicked, and clasped Zhang Liang’s hands, repeatedly asking what he should do.

Although Zhang Liang was disappointed in him for revealing his ambitions too early and his reckless refusal to listen to advice, he still felt relieved that he was willing to repent in time.

Since that fool Xiang Bo sent himself to their door, he used ‘righteousness’ to pressure him to their side. With Liu Bang also lowering himself and trying his best to cooperate, they finally worked together to muddle through this disaster.

Liu Bang had a flash of inspiration. In order to gain Xiang Bo’s trust and at the same time draw out the spy who leaked the news, he handed Ying Ziying’s blood-soaked robe to Xiang Bo and said, “…As for the matter of establishing Ying Ziying as prime minister, that can only be a traitor’s lies! Sir, your family has a deep hatred for the Qin, how could I reuse him? I had long ordered for his execution. The corpse hasn’t yet been buried, you can see it in the coffin at any time.”

Though if Xiang Yu requested to see the body and they could only hand over a stinking headless corpse, he would definitely be suspicious.

But they would be able to get away with this by relying on Xiang Yu’s arrogance and certainty that no one would dare play him for a fool.

Zhang Liang felt somewhat uneasy as he watched Liu Bang hold out the bloody cloth — the double-edged sword — but he could do nothing but smile thinly.

It should be fine…

After all, he reflected, seeing Chu’s reaction, Xiang Yu is still quite restless. He still sends envoys every day to scold us and continuously mentions Ying Ziying’s murder.

If the assassin was a member of the Chu army, Xiang Yu, as the instigator, should have been very happy to have avenged his ancestors’ grievances, and be even happier to humiliate Liu Bang for having seemingly impenetrable but actually scattered defences.

It was unnecessary for him to pretend to be ignorant on this matter.

Since it wasn’t someone from the Chu army, then with such skill, he feared that it was done by a hermit who only came to the Qin Palace to kill his enemy with his own hands.

“As this is a misunderstanding, I must ask my virtuous brother to clarify things with General Xiang.”

Xiang Bo nodded dazedly and carefully received the bloody clothes. Liu Bang, overjoyed, gripped his hands, then said dejectedly, “I hope you can say a few words for your foolish little brother to the general, don’t let him be swayed by villainous slander!”

Regardless of whether Xiang Bo truly didn’t understand or was pretending not to, upon his return to the Chu camp, he indeed lived up to the expectations of his ‘Brother Liu’, who would also be his in-law in the future.³According to Wikipedia: during their meeting, “[Liu Bang] treated Xiang Bo with respect and expressed his intention to marry his daughter to Xiang Bo’s son. Xiang Bo was touched and promised to help Liu Bang resolve the misunderstanding with his nephew.”

Seeing the bloody clothing and knowing that the descendant of his ancestors’ enemies had been killed, Xiang Yu’s face turned a little gloomy, but under Xiang Bo’s earnest persuasions, he agreed to meet Liu Bang at Hongmen to let him explain himself.

The bloody garment which proved Liu Bang’s ‘innocence’, that he had personally killed Ying Ziying, lay in front of Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng now.

Fan Zeng’s thoughts turned, determined to take advantage of this, and even more than that, he wanted to meet the brave man who dared to go into the Qin Palace alone and easily took a head to use as a token of guarantee.

He raised his eyes, looking at Xiang Yu who was tall, mighty, and was obviously in a bad mood. In a neither hurried nor anxious tone, he said, “As Sir has called for I alone, you must have a conclusion in your heart, only you do not wish to believe it.”

Ying Ziying had only one life, yet it had been claimed by two individuals. The very notion was absurd.

Of the two, one must be false — either Liu Bang was playing tricks, or the wandering warrior was being greedy for profit.

The former had rhetoric on his side, however in reality, he held onto Hangu Pass and refused to allow them passage and could only produce a piece of bloodied cloth which might or might not be genuine; on the other hand, the latter spoke few words but came to the Chu camp alone and brought with him Ying Ziying’s head and identity plate.

It was obvious who was more sincere.

Fan Zeng did not suspect that the man surnamed Lü was a spy sent by Liu Bang. If he aimed to endear himself to Xiang Yu on Liu Bang’s orders, the Han would only be too happy to cooperate with the head in his hands, instead of paradoxically sending bloody clothes as well which instead gave them reason to doubt.

There was a mountain of ironclad evidence testifying to the truth, to the point that even Xiang Yu, who was notoriously insensitive to politics, could no longer be deceived.

In response to Fan Zeng’s words, Xiang Yu only frowned, noncommittal.

He was well aware of the discord between his Yafu and his uncle, so he deliberately ignored Fan Zeng’s hints.

Only, while he didn’t think his uncle knew the truth when he conveyed this matter, and nor did he participate in the deception…

He understood very well that if Lü Bu hadn’t come with the head and become the biggest flaw in Liu Bang’s plan, the man may very well have succeeded in playing his tricks.

Maybe Liu Bang was lounging back and laughing triumphantly right now, laughing that he was so easy to fool!

Thinking of this, Xiang Yu’s double pupils flared with anger.

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• 1
  The Qin’s wars of unification were a series of military campaigns launched in the late 3rd century BC by the Qin state against the other six major Chinese states: Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi. Wikipedia
• 2
  Xiang Yu’s birth name
• 3
  According to Wikipedia: during their meeting, “[Liu Bang] treated Xiang Bo with respect and expressed his intention to marry his daughter to Xiang Bo’s son. Xiang Bo was touched and promised to help Liu Bang resolve the misunderstanding with his nephew.”

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This official named Han spoke lightly, because though he had been with Xiang Yu for over a year, he wasn’t valued highly.

Although this warrior in front of him seemed extraordinary at first glance, in the end he didn’t really know his depths.

He definitely wouldn’t simply lead him to General Xiang, especially as the general had been in a foul mood in recent days due to the issue of entering Hangu Pass. Anything might set him off.

So he turned slightly and instead went towards the tent where Fan Zeng was.

Lü Bu was alone in the unfamiliar Chu camp, but he was still calm and relaxed.

According to his thinking, no matter how many people were in the camp, none of them were a match for him.

Even if they couldn’t come to an agreement, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to break out and leave by force.

He had intended to have a few words with Attendant Han, but unexpectedly, the man not only had a stiff and indifferent face but also cherished words like gold, reminding Lü Bu of Gao Fuyi, that dull-mouthed gourd.

“We’re here,” Attendant Han murmured. If Lü Bu hadn’t had such good ears, he wouldn’t have heard it at all. Then he straightened, raised his voice, and said, “Please announce that a warrior has come to join us with a guarantee, we request to see Yafu.”

Yafu? Fan Zeng?¹advisor to Xiang Liang, then to his nephew Xiang Yu; Xiang Yu respected him greatly and addressed him as his ‘Second Father’ (亞父; Yafu). I prefer to translate everything, including titles, but no matter how I do it Second Father just reads awkwardly. Wikipedia

Lü Bu came back to his senses in an instant. He didn’t object; if he couldn’t see Xiang Yu, he should still be able to achieve his goal by meeting Fan Zeng.

Unexpectedly, the guard immediately replied, “Yafu isn’t in the tent right now, you can come back later.”

This wasn’t a prevarication — just after noon passed, Fan Zeng hurried out of the tent with two others without telling anyone where he was going.

So unlucky?

Attendant Han was quite surprised. He frowned, then shot Lü Bu a slightly embarrassed look.

If Lü Bu had read history books properly instead of just regurgitating dates, he would have been able to deduce that Fan Zeng had gone in search of Xiang Zhuang,²Xiang Yu’s cousin; little is known about him except for his role at the Hongmen Banquet. Wikipedia in order to set up a plot to assassinate Liu Bang during the banquet.

At this moment, he only lamented at his bad luck. It wasn’t hard to guess what Attendant Han was being hesitant about, so before he could chase him away, Lü Bu swung his burden off his back, held it in his right hand, and said bluntly, “To tell you the truth, I really don’t have much funds right now, and this guarantee is probably worthless to many people.”

He nodded slightly and gestured at the attendant, indicating for him to put his hand on the bundle.

Although Attendant Han was sceptical, he followed his words and put his hand forward without hesitation. As a result, his eyes instantly changed.

He had been in the army for over two years and had killed not a few enemies with his own hands. Even across many layers of fabric, it wasn’t difficult to discern that the contours against his palm belonged to a face.

This was a human head.

Lü Bu’s tiger eyes had been staring at his face; after capturing his subtle change, he narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his lips, adding, “But in the eyes of General Xiang, it may be worth ten thousand taels.”

Attendant Han was silent.

“I’ll be troubling Sir to lead the way,” Lü Bu spoke again heedlessly.

His self-confidence came not from recklessness but from careful consideration.

The reason why Ying Ziying’s head caught his eye was because he remembered the deep blood feud between the Xiang family and the Qin dynasty: King Huai I of Chu was held hostage by Qin and died in captivity, and in more recent years, whether it was Xiang Yu’s grandfather Xiang Yan or his uncle Xiang Liang, they all died in battle against the Qin.

As long as Xiang Yu wasn’t a Buddhist-minded person who ate only vegetarian fare and recited scriptures all day long, he must have an inexhaustible hatred for Qin royal blood. Comparing the two of them, Lü Bu deeply hated Liu Bei who cut off his last path of retreat which he threw away his pride to obtain; how could Xiang Yu not feel anything for a grudge accumulated through generations?

Attendant Han only nodded. He didn’t ask more questions before turning and going directly towards Xiang Yu’s military tent.

If this person was just being arrogant, General Xiang probably wouldn’t let him leave alive, at best he would have to pay a heavy price.

And what the warrior said just now was hard for him to refute — if he was making a mistake, Attendant Han would at most get a scolding.

If this person was somehow telling the truth, it would be even more correct to bring him to General Xiang.

In his eyes, it was already worthy of respect to straightforwardly request to see General Xiang.

Fan Zeng’s tent wasn’t far from Xiang Yu’s tent. The two quickly arrived after a short, silent walk.

This time, Attendant Han personally went in to report. He entered with an expressionless face, and when he came out, his face was still expressionless. He only nodded slightly to Lü Bu, “Go in.”

Lü Bu bowed back and was about to enter when he suddenly remembered that he’d never asked for this person’s name.

If everything went well in the tent, they might have to work together for a while, so he casually asked, “Thank you, sir, I wonder if I may have your name?”

Attendant Han, obviously also thinking that they might be colleagues in the future, pulled his mouth into a reluctant smile. “I am General Xiang’s halberd-bearer, named Han Xin.”

After speaking, he bowed, turned, and left.

Yet Lü Bu, whose eyes were previously dull, slowly opened his mouth in shock, and almost couldn’t hold back a burst of swearing.

How could he have guessed that this ash-covered dull gourd with a dejected face was actually a brilliant military strategist who would go down in history!

As expected of the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, he had crouching tigers and hidden dragons all around him, anyone you bumped into might be an amazing person.

Lü Bu clicked his tongue.

At any rate, he had also once been a ruthless master of many — he had beheaded everyone from the former King of Qin to the lowest foot soldier, and now he wanted to take the head of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. Therefore, he quickly regained his composure after his brief surprise.

As he strode into the tent, he couldn’t help remembering his lowborn past. Although he had strong martial skills, he still had to sacrifice his pride and recognise two adoptive fathers to get ahead.

But in Xiang Yu’s case, famous ministers and generals proactively came to his doorstep.

He couldn’t not be sad when he thought of the sharp contrast between them.

The tent was brightly lit, and in the center a person sat quietly with a cup of wine in his hand.

The cup was half full. The liquid within swayed slightly as if they were meditating on something.

This person was at least two metres tall,³至少在九尺开外: specifically, 9 chi, so at least 2.07m; as a reminder, 1 chi is 0.23m and his height was evident even when he was sitting. He wore not armour but a black brocade robe over similarly black inner garments, embroidered with gold thread to show a great roc⁴actually a peng, a mythological bird transformed from a kun (giant fish); linguistically, it symbolises greatness — both great promise and great accomplishments. Wikipedia with outstretched wings. His waist was tied with an ivory belt, and hanging from it was a jade ornament and the Eight Treasures.⁵aka the Eight Precious Things; popular symbols often depicted in art/charm accessories, for things like happiness, a just & upright life, wealth, etc. Wikipedia Looking lower, his boots were decorated with leopards and tigers, and a scabbard made of fish skin sheathed his Longyuan Sword.

Even though he sat there quietly without a word, his neat clothing couldn’t conceal his broad shoulders and waist, nor his powerful muscles and tendons.

What a mighty man!

In the Chu camp, there was only one man who could be described with this temperament and majesty: the one and only Hegemon-King of Western Chu, well-known through the ages.

As Lü Bu approached, his gaze slowly swept upwards.

Xiang Yu’s skin was a sun-tanned wheat colour which looked translucent under the candlelight. Upon looking closer at his face, the most eye-catching thing wasn’t his full forehead, nor his sharp eyebrows or aquiline nose and thin lips, but his pair of mysterious ink-black double pupils.⁶ indeed, Xiang Yu is recorded as having double pupils (polycoria) in one of his eyes, thus he was seen as an extraordinary person because double pupils are the mark of a king or sage in Chinese tradition; in reality it’s a rare condition that results in decreased eye function. Wikipedia

Although it was his first time seeing the famed double pupils, Lü Bu didn’t care much about his appearance and only took a single glance before calmly looking away.

He didn’t have any literary words to describe him. After seeing Xiang Yu’s appearance clearly, he could only sigh that this man was not only born tall and strong but was also strangely handsome.

Thinking of those years, he hadn’t been too shabby either.

Lü Bu, feeling proud, pushed his chest out further.

But what moved him the most was that when Xiang Yu met with a stranger, he left not a single guard inside the tent.

By acting like this, it was obvious that he had confidence in his martial skills, and had no fear that his guest had evil intentions or might be an assassin.

Ha, back then wasn’t I just as cool?

Xiang Yu didn’t get angry at his blatant staring, he calmly let him look.

Since he was a child, he had been very ambitious and wanted to learn from a thousand teachers; after he grew into adulthood, he was very skilled in martial arts, to the point that no one in the camp could compare to him. No one was even close to being his opponent, not even Long Qie, Ying Bu, or Zhongli Mo, whom he favoured.

However, he had always cherished talents and respected soldiers.

Although Lü Bu appeared young, he had a handsome yet imposing appearance and his every move revealed himself as a capable practitioner, which immediately won his appreciation.

Lü Bu bent to salute, and after reporting his name, Xiang Yu — who became more satisfied the more he looked — had more or less decided to keep him.

Commoners had no courtesy names, and neither did kings. Those who had courtesy names were mostly scholars.

Of the old clans, there weren’t many with the Lü surname, but it also couldn’t be said to be a rare name. The only question was which family he came from.

He nodded slightly and motioned for Lü Bu to sit, then immediately asked politely, “Why have you come?”

His was a deep voice, husky and powerful and easily commanding attention.

“I have a blood feud with Liu Bang of Han.” Lü Bu resisted the urge to scratch his ears which were itchy for no reason, sat down, and got straight to the point. “However, it is difficult for me to avenge my hatred alone, and so I am willing to serve General Xiang with my life. I have brought with me a guarantee of my loyalty, and hope to receive a position in the army.” And it would be best to be in the vanguard, so that he could reach Liu Bang faster.

Of course, Xiang Yu had no way of knowing Lü Bu’s inner supplement.

He didn’t mention the specific reason for his enmity with Liu Bang, so Xiang Yu didn’t ask either, he just nodded to show his understanding. Then his gaze moved to the cloth bag that Lü Bu had randomly put somewhere on the low table in front of him. “Open it, then.”

“Yes,” Lü Bu responded seriously as he pulled on the bag’s knot.

…He couldn’t open it.

Neither of the two in the tent expected this.

Xiang Yu silently shifted his eyes to Lü Bu’s face.

Lü Bu didn’t change his expression, he only pulled harder — but maybe because he’d just randomly tied it at the beginning, not only did it not loosen, it even became tighter.

Damn it!

He secretly cursed at the bag for dropping the link at this important juncture but still didn’t move a muscle in his face. Pulling at the bag again, this time he used over half of his strength.

With a sharp noise of tearing fabric, the rough cloth was instantly torn apart, and because of the excessive force, Ying Ziying’s head — open-eyed and terrified — bounced out and fell towards the ground.

Thanks to Lü Bu’s keen eyes and quick hands, he didn’t let it fall. He simply hooked it with the toe of his boot as if it were a ball, and tossed it back into his hand.

Fortunately, the weather hadn’t been too hot these days so it wasn’t rotten, but the smell truly couldn’t be described as pleasant.

“General Xiang, please see,” Lü Bu said solemnly.

Xiang Yu resisted the urge to kick the stench away — after all, it was his first time receiving a head as a guarantee — and slowly blinked his twitching eyelids as he stared at it expressionlessly.

It’s just that although his Xiang family had a bloody feud with the Qin, he had never set eyes on Ying Ziying himself before, and naturally he couldn’t recognise which unlucky ghost this head belonged to.

Sensing some meaning from his silence, Lü Bu took out the gold identity plate he had taken for insurance against just such a situation and proffered it with both hands as he explained concisely, “This is Ying Ziying’s head.”

Xiang Yu breathed deeply.

His eyes stopped on the gold plate for a moment as he said in a tone that was difficult to distinguish joy or anger, “Ying Ziying?”

Lü Bu nodded seriously. “I swear to heaven and to earth, this is he.”

Unless Ying Ziying was even more amazing than he who’d come back to life and travelled to three hundred years in the past, and grew a second head.

However, Xiang Yu’s reaction made him uncertain what was going on.

Xiang Yu stared at the gold plate, pondered for a while, then he looked at the head a few more times. His expression was a little disbelieving, as if he still had doubts…

A while later, he seemingly remembered that Lü Bu was still waiting patiently for a response. “You have come a long way, the journey is hard and you must be exhausted. Please, avail yourself of our baths.”

Lü Bu himself didn’t expect anything to be decided on the spot, besides, he had once also been a lord, he knew that the more cautious they acted now, the more likely he was to succeed in the end.

So he readily agreed, and was led out of the tent.

As soon as he left, Xiang Yu’s expression darkened. With his eyes filled with renewed anger, he shouted, “Come, call Yafu and…” He bit off the word ‘uncle’ before he could voice it, then continued, “Call Yafu for a discussion.”

Author:
Right now not only Han Xin, Chen Ping is also in service to Xiang Yu.

Translator:
Due to the peculiarities of rank in historical China, there’s no good way to translate 王 into English. It literally means king and is translated as such by Wikipedia — but functionally it’s for someone like… a prince of the imperial court and/or lord of a significant area (one or the other or both), who may or may not be related to the emperor and may have been bestowed that title or claimed it for themselves (not the done thing but probably did happen, particularly by rebels). 王 is also used for foreign kings, since the emperor (皇帝) ruled all under heaven this implied the foreign monarch was inferior. A (non-comprehensive) explanation of historical Chinese titles can be found at nyanovels.com.

Using the King of Chu as an example: his personal name is Xiong Xin (熊心), and when the Chu state was resurrected as an insurgent state against Qin imperial rule he was installed as a puppet ruler. During his reign, he was known as King Huai of Chu (楚怀王); people might also call him King of Chu (楚王) or King Huai (怀王) — Chu is his territory and Huai is his title, like how in the British system a Duke of Cornwall wouldn’t be called Duke Cornwall for example. Historically he was later ‘promoted’ to emperor but we won’t get into that here.

Trying to keep a historical tone, not sure if I succeeded. It’s hard because Lü Bu’s self-narration is very casual.

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• 1
  advisor to Xiang Liang, then to his nephew Xiang Yu; Xiang Yu respected him greatly and addressed him as his ‘Second Father’ (亞父; Yafu). I prefer to translate everything, including titles, but no matter how I do it Second Father just reads awkwardly. Wikipedia
• 2
  Xiang Yu’s cousin; little is known about him except for his role at the Hongmen Banquet. Wikipedia
• 3
  至少在九尺开外: specifically, 9 chi, so at least 2.07m; as a reminder, 1 chi is 0.23m
• 4
  actually a peng, a mythological bird transformed from a kun (giant fish); linguistically, it symbolises greatness — both great promise and great accomplishments. Wikipedia
• 5
  aka the Eight Precious Things; popular symbols often depicted in art/charm accessories, for things like happiness, a just & upright life, wealth, etc. Wikipedia
• 6
   indeed, Xiang Yu is recorded as having double pupils (polycoria) in one of his eyes, thus he was seen as an extraordinary person because double pupils are the mark of a king or sage in Chinese tradition; in reality it’s a rare condition that results in decreased eye function. Wikipedia

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Although Liu Bang was far less powerful than Xiang Yu, as a rabble-rousing upstart, he was definitely more glamorous than Liu Bei, his unfortunate great-grandson of however many generations later, who sold straw mats for a living. He used the fact that he entered the city first to take advantage of the King of Chu’s eccentric heart to suppress dissent, controlled an army a hundred thousand men strong, and had a group of loyal and capable ministers willing to help.

Lü Bu wanted revenge, not death.

He’d also considered joining the Han camp then slowly getting in contact with Liu Bang and waiting for an opportunity there.

But he had a rare opportunity to live again. Could it be that for a single moment of joy when he cut off his enemy’s head, he had to endure many years of life and death battle for the sake of his nemesis’s ancestor?

What a joke!

Besides, Lü Bu was self-aware — he was able to bend and stretch, but not nearly as much as that big-eared traitor Liu who put on airs, had a honeyed mouth, and played tricks everywhere.

To make him suffer for several years and pretend to be loyal while hiding among thousands of smart people, it would not only be a great shame but also very hard to do.

If someone connected the clues and took care of him in secret, wouldn’t that be losing both the chickens and the rice!¹lit. wanting to steal chickens but failing and losing the bait as well; a total loss

Therefore, in order to ensure the success of his ultimate goal of killing Liu Bang, Lü Bu had to wrack his brains for a plan.

This was also a last resort for him. He somehow time travelled alone to three hundred years in the past and became a solitary commander, with nary a shadow of anyone to advise him around — wasn’t this forcing him to step up?

He used to think that Chen Gongtai,²courtesy name of Chen Gong, advisor to Lü Bu after defecting from Cao Cao’s camp; executed at White Gate Tower. Wikipedia who used to buzz around him saying can’t do this and can’t do that, was very annoying, not to mention that workaholic Gao Fuyi³probably referring to Gao Shun (couldn’t track down if his courtesy name is Fuyi), known as the most capable military officer serving under Lü Bu, commander of a 700 man unit nicknamed the ‘formation breakers’ for their destructive charges; executed at White Gate Tower. Wikipedia who refused to go away even after being kicked a few times…

But when he really was alone, didn’t know what to do, and was willing to listen to their nagging, no one was there.

Anyway, since he’s already been killed with a single word from that big-eared thief, he hoped that those two old mothers would understand the situation, not make fools of themselves, and quickly submit to Cao Cao.

With Cao Cao’s love of talents, they wouldn’t suffer no matter how much they nagged.

…Hopefully they weren’t stupid enough to throw away their lives.

Thinking like this, even someone like Lü Bu who had always been heartless couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable.

He absently picked up a branch and squatted at a piece of sandy ground, and after messing around a bit, he quickly locked on to the Hegemon-King of Western Chu,⁴西楚霸王: referring to Xiang Yu, a warlord during the end of the Qin dynasty who engaged in a long struggle for power with and ultimately lost to Liu Bang, known as the Chu-Han Contention. Wikipedia who was well-known in the history books for many things but especially for the Hongmen Banquet.⁵鸿门宴: a major inciting incident of the Chu-Han Contention, now used colloquially to mean a trap or a situation ostensibly joyous but in fact treacherous. Wikipedia

In his early years, he had been a Registrar working under Ding Yuan⁶inspector of Bing Province during the late Eastern Han dynasty, killed by Lü Bu who had been bribed by Dong Zhuo. Wikipedia — he definitely wasn’t the muscles for brains illiterate thug some people thought he was.

However, books were precious and rare. He had been willing to study when he was young, but there were few books to be found due to his family’s poverty; later when he became successful, he had countless books to choose from but lost his studious urges.

In any case, he had always been better at military books, and most of his study focused on military logistics and tactics. He rarely touched history books and something like the Book of Songs was even less likely to come into his hands.

It was only because there were ample historical records of the power struggle between the Hegemon-King of Western Chu and Liu Bang, the King of Han, that he was able to read about it a few more times and remember the general gist of it, but if someone asked him about the details, then he would only be able to stare blankly.

But no matter how bad his memory was, it was absolutely impossible to forget the Hongmen Banquet.

If he remembered correctly, Liu Bang only brought a hundred or so guards and four generals.

Wasn’t this a heaven-sent opportunity!

When he thought of this, Lü Bu’s eyes couldn’t help but light up, and he rubbed his hands in excitement.

He couldn’t miss this chance!

After clarifying this point, he knew that the next problem to solve was how to infiltra… join the Chu camp, and it would be best to be of a status eligible to attend the Hongmen Banquet.

However, he was once a commander too, so he knew exactly how suspicious a lord would be upon meeting him.

As a man of unknown origin, no matter how powerful he was in martial arts, he had no background and no friends to vouch for him. Even if he joined using his strength, he could only start as an ordinary soldier and climb up step by step by earning merits.

By the time he reached a level able to attend the Hongmen Banquet, that ship would have long sailed.⁷The specific phrase used here is 黄花菜都得凉透了 (lit. even the daylilies are cold), which is a mocking criticism of people or things that come too late. I won’t go into the specifics but you can take a look on Zhidao.

And while the resurrected Lü Bu wanted his revenge, it wasn’t to the point where he was willing to throw his pride away — maybe if the one standing here was the him of ten years ago, he might have repeated his old tricks, at worst, he would have shamelessly acknowledged a cheap adoptive father to quickly gain their trust.⁸Lü Bu is kinda (in)famous for killing his adoptive fathers (albeit it’s in the fictional Romance of the Three Kingdoms), first Ding Yuan then Dong Zhuo.

It would be best to convince Xiang Yu to take advantage of his strength and quickly get rid of that bastard named Liu!

Lü Bu, who hadn’t yet realised that just persuading Xiang Yu would be as hard as going against the sky, suddenly froze.

How old is Xiang Yu now? Twenty or so?

…With his own tender shell just turning twenty years old, there was no way his face was thick enough to call a kid who barely had any hair ‘foster father’.

This wouldn’t work and that wouldn’t work, so after much deliberation, Lü Bu decided to imitate the style of those bandit heroes and try to get a guarantee before going there.

Thus from that moment on, he had his eye on the head of former King Ziying of Qin.

He thought through all this while leaning against the tree stump, and by the time night fell and it was time to sleep, he had determined his course of action.

He picked some herbs that would repel insects and snakes and sprinkled them around, then slept comfortably all night after extinguishing the fire.

It wasn’t until the first crack of dawn that he opened his eyes energetically.

Now that he rested his spirits, he took advantage of the hazy morning light to rinse his mouth with the remainder of the water in his waterskin and freshened himself up with morning dew.

After casting a leisurely glance towards Hangu Pass, he mounted his horse and continued on his way to the Chu camp.

Compared with Lü Bu, who had a big heart and could sleep well even while hugging a human head to his chest, Xiang Yu — famous for his victory at the Battle of Julu⁹battle between Qin and Chu armies, ended in a decisive victory for Chu; marks the decline of Qin military power. Wikipedia and commander of the coalition army to whom all kings bowed in admiration — had a gloomy face every day, was full of anger, and had none of the vigour of someone who had just won a battle.

Ever since his uncle Xiang Liang died in battle, he had been restrained and troubled by the King of Chu¹⁰referring to Xiong Xin, also known as Emperor Yi of Chu/King Huai II of Chu. Wikipedia who was supported by the Xiang clan, and it had reached a point where he was unable to bear it any longer.

First was his inexplicable decision that ‘the victor is whomever first enters Guanzhong’, then he forced him to go rescue Zhao Xie in the north where he confronted the main force of the Qin army yet left the defenceless Guanzhong to Liu Bang.¹¹As according to Wikipedia: In the winter of 208 BC, another rebel force claiming to restore the Zhao state, led by Zhao Xie, was besieged in Handan by Zhang Han. Zhao Xie requested reinforcements from Chu. King Huai II granted Xiang Yu the title of “Duke of Lu” (魯公), and appointed him as a second-in-command to Song Yi, who was ordered to lead an army to reinforce Zhao Xie. At the same time, the king placed Liu Bang in command of another army to attack Guanzhong, the heartland (capital territory) of Qin. The king promised that whoever managed to enter Guanzhong first will be granted the title “King of Guanzhong”.

He exerted all his effort and braved the gates of hell to wipe out the main Qin army and make all the other lords surrender, but because of this, Liu Bang’s forces faced only a soft target and arrived a full two months earlier, and they even blocked him outside the pass!

Xiang Yu suppressed his anger and immediately reported Liu Bang’s villainous behaviour to the King of Chu, but not only did the king not reprimand Liu Bang, he even replied lightly with just two words: as agreed.

As agreed? Ridiculous, whether it was Xiong Xin or Liu Bang, neither paid effort or price, they just wanted to pick the biggest peach!

What gave them the right!

Xiang Yu used unparalleled martial arts to kill countless opponents on the battlefield and was now a high-ranking nobleman but had been treated unfairly time and time again, how could he swallow this breath?

When he received a secret report from Liu Bang’s general Cao Wushang which stated ‘The Duke of Pei¹²referring to Liu Bang, due to his earlier post as a law enforcement officer in Pei county wishes to be King of Guanzhong and appoint Ziying as chancellor, seizing all riches for himself’, he was angered beyond belief, and declared on the spot that his soldiers would feast every day in preparation for defeating Liu Bang’s army!

Xiang Bo¹³uncle of Xiang Yu, best known for preventing another nephew of his from assassinating Liu Bang at Hongmen Banquet; attempted to reconcile the Chu-Han warring factions. Wikipedia was shocked when he heard this.

While euphemistically persuading Xiang Yu to stop, he had no choice but to take great risks to travel overnight to see his close friend Zhang Liang¹⁴courtesy name Zifang, posthumously titled Marquis Wencheng; a key advisor for Liu Bang; contributed greatly to establishing the Han dynasty. Wikipedia…

Lü Bu had to spend a few more days on his journey as he detoured around Han soldiers guarding Hangu Pass. Once he arrived at the Chu camp, he discovered that it was at a time that was both unfortunate and fortunate.

If one said it was unfortunate, that would be because Xiang Bo had met with Zhang Liang just the night prior. Not only had he revealed the entirety of Xiang Yu’s plans, Liu Bang’s rhetoric was very effective on him and they had even agreed on a marriage between their children. After returning to the camp, he recounted Liu Bang’s nonsensical ‘explanation’ to Xiang Yu, with embellishments.

Xiang Bo has been the patriarch of the Xiang clan since Xiang Liang’s death, and Xiang Yu deeply respected and trusted him. He easily used a sentence of ‘you have recently made great achievements, it is unrighteous to attack others’ to win Xiang Yu’s trust, calmed his anger, and completely eliminated a battle which should have brought Liu Bang to catastrophe.

But fortunately, although Lü Bu had been delayed a few days, he finally arrived four hours before the banquet.

It was doubly good that Lü Bu, who hardly ever read history books, was ignorant of the many things that happened during his detour, otherwise he would definitely beat his chest in hatred.

When he trekked all the way and finally arrived in front of the Chu camp, the poor horse which had brought him through the mountain roads for several days finally couldn’t hold on, and it collapsed on the ground foaming at the mouth.

“Who’s there! Stop!”

Lü Bu — carrying only his guarantee wrapped in cloth — got off the horse, stood lazily, and calmly replied to the vigilant Chu soldiers, “I’m a warrior who admires the majesty of Lord Xiang. I’ve travelled thousands of miles yet receive such a scolding, is this the way Chu people greet others?”

He was slender yet around two metres tall,¹⁵specifically, a bit more than 1.84m tall; raws use 8 chi, which when converted to metric values 1 chi is 0.23m during the Han dynasty. Wikipedia with sharply defined muscles — even his civilian clothes couldn’t conceal his arrogance and strength.

Even in front of the majestic Chu soldiers, he stood out like a crane among chickens. He was absolutely worthy of calling himself a warrior.

The soldiers were suppressed by his aura and took a while to come back to their senses. When they spoke again, their stances weakened a little and their tone became more polite. “If you truly wish to join us, please give your name.”

Lü Bu liked to be straightforward and indulged himself in this after gaining power, but his rough early life did teach him some tact.

The aggressiveness just now was unprovoked, but after all he wasn’t here to find fault but to ingratiate himself. Seeing as the soldiers had softened, he also took a step back and said smoothly, “This one is named Lü Bu, courtesy name Fengxian. I am here with a guarantee, please allow me to see Lord Xiang.”

As soon as these words came out, the expressions on the Chu soldiers’ faces became subtle again.

After years of chaos, many people had been displaced. Not many could afford to read, and even fewer had courtesy names.¹⁶Courtesy names (aka style names) were bestowed at adulthood, typically by their teacher. Almost exclusively a male phenomenon, though some women were given a courtesy name upon marriage. Wikipedia

However, things like giving guarantees was something done by shameless, unscrupulous bandits… it was very contradictory to the impression this person gave.

What was more incredible was that this nameless wanderer actually asked to see General Xiang as soon as he opened his mouth!

Even if he did have some ability, that was too impudent.

What’s more, this wanderer rode in with just a pathetic horse — what rare treasures could he offer!

If it were anyone else, they would have simply scoffed at him for being ignorant and kicked him out.

They didn’t know that if they really did this, they would be beaten on the spot by Lü Bu, who was barely restraining his violent temper.

It’s just that it wasn’t easy to treat this person normally, what with his extraordinary stature, courage, and aura.

Just when they were in a dilemma and didn’t know who to report this to, they caught a glimpse of someone passing by. Feeling overjoyed, they quickly stopped him.

This person’s surname was Han, and he was an attendant.¹⁷郎中: during Qin/Han dynasties, langzhong is a general term for an emperor’s attendants, with duties including guarding, accompanying, advising, etc.; however if you search it up, most results translate langzhong as ‘doctor’, this is because during the Song dynasty people in the south began to call doctors langzhong as a sign of respect. Although he was born tall and strong, and with an extraordinary appearance, he was actually a dull gourd who couldn’t get a word out for half a day. He was very withdrawn and taciturn.

The reason they remembered him was because he was Lord Xiang’s halberd-bearer, and was often sent on errands for the lord.

Halberd-bearer Han was only passing by yet was stopped for no reason, he couldn’t help frowning.

After listening to them, he looked over and met eyes with Lü Bu, who was staring without bothering to conceal anything.

The two looked at each other for a moment. Lü Bu raised his eyebrows and smiled, causing Attendant Han to be slightly taken aback.

For some reason, he nodded and let Lü Bu follow him.

Translator:
I foresee a lot of footnotes, this is based on real historical events after all and most RAW readers would already have the background knowledge. On the bright(?) side, I was obsessed with Three Kingdoms when I was younger and now there’s the perfect excuse to foist useless trivia on unsuspecting readers! This novel takes more from the Romance than true historical accounts.

Note: I often use dynasties as a time reference in the footnotes, the relevant portion of the timeline goes like this: Qin -> Chu-Han Contention (novel setting) -> Han -> Three Kingdoms (Lü Bu’s lifetime)

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• 1
  lit. wanting to steal chickens but failing and losing the bait as well; a total loss
• 2
  courtesy name of Chen Gong, advisor to Lü Bu after defecting from Cao Cao’s camp; executed at White Gate Tower. Wikipedia
• 3
  probably referring to Gao Shun (couldn’t track down if his courtesy name is Fuyi), known as the most capable military officer serving under Lü Bu, commander of a 700 man unit nicknamed the ‘formation breakers’ for their destructive charges; executed at White Gate Tower. Wikipedia
• 4
  西楚霸王: referring to Xiang Yu, a warlord during the end of the Qin dynasty who engaged in a long struggle for power with and ultimately lost to Liu Bang, known as the Chu-Han Contention. Wikipedia
• 5
  鸿门宴: a major inciting incident of the Chu-Han Contention, now used colloquially to mean a trap or a situation ostensibly joyous but in fact treacherous. Wikipedia
• 6
  inspector of Bing Province during the late Eastern Han dynasty, killed by Lü Bu who had been bribed by Dong Zhuo. Wikipedia
• 7
  The specific phrase used here is 黄花菜都得凉透了 (lit. even the daylilies are cold), which is a mocking criticism of people or things that come too late. I won’t go into the specifics but you can take a look on Zhidao.
• 8
  Lü Bu is kinda (in)famous for killing his adoptive fathers (albeit it’s in the fictional Romance of the Three Kingdoms), first Ding Yuan then Dong Zhuo.
• 9
  battle between Qin and Chu armies, ended in a decisive victory for Chu; marks the decline of Qin military power. Wikipedia
• 10
  referring to Xiong Xin, also known as Emperor Yi of Chu/King Huai II of Chu. Wikipedia
• 11
  As according to Wikipedia: In the winter of 208 BC, another rebel force claiming to restore the Zhao state, led by Zhao Xie, was besieged in Handan by Zhang Han. Zhao Xie requested reinforcements from Chu. King Huai II granted Xiang Yu the title of “Duke of Lu” (魯公), and appointed him as a second-in-command to Song Yi, who was ordered to lead an army to reinforce Zhao Xie. At the same time, the king placed Liu Bang in command of another army to attack Guanzhong, the heartland (capital territory) of Qin. The king promised that whoever managed to enter Guanzhong first will be granted the title “King of Guanzhong”.
• 12
  referring to Liu Bang, due to his earlier post as a law enforcement officer in Pei county
• 13
  uncle of Xiang Yu, best known for preventing another nephew of his from assassinating Liu Bang at Hongmen Banquet; attempted to reconcile the Chu-Han warring factions. Wikipedia
• 14
  courtesy name Zifang, posthumously titled Marquis Wencheng; a key advisor for Liu Bang; contributed greatly to establishing the Han dynasty. Wikipedia
• 15
  specifically, a bit more than 1.84m tall; raws use 8 chi, which when converted to metric values 1 chi is 0.23m during the Han dynasty. Wikipedia
• 16
  Courtesy names (aka style names) were bestowed at adulthood, typically by their teacher. Almost exclusively a male phenomenon, though some women were given a courtesy name upon marriage. Wikipedia
• 17
  郎中: during Qin/Han dynasties, langzhong is a general term for an emperor’s attendants, with duties including guarding, accompanying, advising, etc.; however if you search it up, most results translate langzhong as ‘doctor’, this is because during the Song dynasty people in the south began to call doctors langzhong as a sign of respect.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ying Ziying let out a deep sigh.

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

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

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

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

“Yes.”

The servant responded cautiously and slipped out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

…What happened?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swoosh——

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Motherfucker!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Goddammit.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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