Conqueror Chapter 8

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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