Chapter 144 'Han' 56

King Huai of Chu felt that Xiang Liang was dead, and that he had managed things fairly well these days. Although he couldn't compare to Xiang Liang, he couldn't easily become someone else's puppet.

He was naturally unwilling; being the emperor wasn't necessarily easier than being the King of Chu.

Most importantly, he was promoted in name only, but in reality, his power remained unchanged or even decreased. The power struggle between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu dragged him into it, and the King of Chu lamented his bad luck.

"The title of Emperor was only given after Qin Shi Huang unified the world. I know in my heart whether I am worthy of it or not."

There's no need to go on here; if this person is intelligent, they will naturally understand what he means.

"Your Majesty certainly deserves it!"

Fan Zeng also insisted that anyone with bright, piercing eyes could tell lies.

The King of Chu's lips twitched. He looked at Fan Zeng and realized that Fan Zeng didn't seem to be old and blind. How come he could lie more fluently than a blind man?

He rolled his eyes inwardly. If he were comparable to Qin Shi Huang, Xiang Liang wouldn't have needed to support him; he would have already swept across the land and become the Emperor of Chu.

Ultimately, Qin was overthrown under the guise of a tyrannical dynasty, so the King of Chu couldn't afford to belittle himself further and simply remained silent as if he hadn't heard anything.

Fan Zeng didn't care; he simply described the scene in Xianyang that day and also told the King of Chu something.

“General, your men have already investigated and found that the fireball that fell from the sky that day was not divine punishment,” King Chu pricked up his ears, and Fan Zeng continued with a smirk, “it was a kind of weapon used by Liu Bang’s army.”

"If that weren't the case, how could Liu Bang's 100,000 men have defeated the general's 400,000 troops?"

The King of Chu nodded subconsciously. Although he disliked Xiang Yu, he was also aware of Xiang Yu's abilities. It was precisely because he was aware of them that he was even more wary of Xiang Yu.

Now, however, it is unclear who should be wary of.

"Your Majesty is a wise man; it is time to help the general."

There's no need to say more; intelligent people will understand. If the King of Chu didn't even understand this, he wouldn't have made that gesture before.

Fan Zeng didn't mention the alliance, because saying it would be tantamount to admitting that Xiang Yu and the King of Chu were of equal status. He lowered his eyes, still giving the King of Chu some face.

It's best if everyone knows about the status; it wouldn't look good if it were said out loud.

After Fan Zeng's persuasion and the King of Chu's own weighing of the pros and cons, he finally frowned and agreed, issuing an edict as Xiang Yu had planned to enfeoff Liu Bang as the King of Hanzhong, with his fiefdom being the remote Ba, Shu, and Hanzhong regions, without mentioning Guanzhong at all.

Seeing this, Fan Zeng was satisfied. He did mention the general a few more times, but the King of Chu changed the subject and clearly did not take the bait.

Fan Zeng was not surprised by this attitude. The King of Chu did not want to make Xiang Yu a king. Moreover, the promise made before the battle was that only those who entered Guanzhong first could be called kings. The King of Chu's refusal was justified.

After several attempts to bring it up yielded no results, Fan Zeng took his leave. In any case, the objective had been achieved, and the general's later plans did not require the King of Chu. As long as the King of Chu appointed Liu Bang as the King of Hanzhong, they could handle the rest themselves.

Even if there is such a thing as destiny, he believes that they have the strength to fight back.

====

When Li Shiqi received the silk scrolls of investiture, he was not surprised. Liu Bang had instructed him that as long as he received the decree of being made a king, it didn't matter what kind of king he was made a king of; having the title was enough.

No matter what kind of king he is, do you think those people would make him give up the territory he has already acquired?

In the past, Li Shiqi would have thought Liu Bang was putting on a show, but now it was different. He smiled gently and kindly like an ordinary old man, thanked the King of Chu, and then left with the imperial decree.

Along the way, they even encountered Fan Zeng, exchanged pleasantries, and then parted ways, without any exciting scenes of mutual ambushes or killings.

After a safe journey back to Xianyang, Li Shiqi immediately handed over what he had obtained to Liu Bang.

Liu Bang couldn't wait to open the silk scroll and see what was written on it. The beginning was all nonsense, the middle was all nonsense, let's go straight to the end…

The forty-one counties of Ba, Shu, and Hanzhong were his fiefdom. The King of Hanzhong... not bad, I suppose...

Liu Bang smacked his lips. As he had expected, with Xiang Yu around, he had no chance of getting any good fiefdoms from the King of Chu.

But it doesn't matter. He conquered the territory himself. If he doesn't leave Xianyang, can Xiang Yu forcefully take Guanzhong from him?

He touched the Imperial Seal of the Former Qin Dynasty reluctantly, then picked up the smaller, unengraved seal next to it and touched the Imperial Seal of the Former Qin Dynasty again with reluctance…

"One day, you'll need this!"

His eyes flickered, and he coughed: "Wrap up both jade seals. Send the smaller one to Zhang Liang and ask him to think about what to carve. The larger one... send it to my palace."

Liu Bang was delighted; he too had finally come to be a solitary ruler.

Then, Liu Bang suddenly remembered something, immediately packed up the silk scroll, and rushed out of the palace. Zhang Liang, who had just entered, couldn't stop him. Instead, he asked Li Shiqi, who was standing still, "How was the trip?"

"Things are going relatively smoothly; Liu Bang is already the King of Hanzhong."

"Hanzhong..."

Zhang Liang had anticipated this, and calmly nodded.

====

Liu Bang hurried into another palace. He was covered in sweat from running all the way. He wiped his face with his sleeve and knelt down in front of 'Qin'.

Qin, looking in a bronze mirror: ?

She glanced at Liu Bang, then quickly drew a few strokes on her face.

Liu Bang asked instinctively, "Ancestor, do you wear makeup too?"

He added another stroke to the character 'Qin', his voice cool: "If you reunify the world, I won't need to paint it anymore."

She slammed down her paintbrush, her voice tinged with displeasure: "A fake is a fake, it can't be real."

She turned her head to look at him: "Is something the matter?"

Liu Bang then saw clearly the patterns on the 'Qin' face. The fine lines were drawn with gold powder as ink. Liu Bang recognized that the lines were very similar to the landscape patterns he had seen on her face when they first met.

Liu Bang chuckled awkwardly, realizing his question had been unnecessary. He composed himself and then said with delight, "Having received the title of King of Hanzhong, and with the kingdom of Han to come, I wish to honor you as the national spirit of Han, and from now on, it will be called 'Han'!"

He presented the silk scroll with both hands, hoping that 'Qin' would accept it.

Zhu Qing'ai raised an eyebrow. She hadn't expected that Liu Bang would still be the King of Hanzhong after all the twists and turns. She thought that maybe he would become the King of Guanzhong in the future, and the Han Dynasty would be renamed Guanzhong.

As I was thinking about it, I couldn't help but chuckle softly.

As she smiled, Liu Bang felt uneasy for a moment, but then firmly pushed the silk scroll forward.

'Qin' raised his hand and gently placed it on the silk book, his fingers, as white as marble, slowly stroking the book.

Just as Liu Bang was holding his breath and staring intently, she finally picked up the silk scroll. Liu Bang breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized that her fingertips were still solid, and she still had a physical form.

Why not?

With a new name, she still appears before people and exists in the world.

How could this be, how could this be...

Yes, she said it all, so why did he believe it all...?

Liu Bang kept questioning in his heart, but he also thought that maybe he should admit it himself. So when would she finally open her mouth and really agree?

Qin lowered his eyes to look at the silk scroll in his hand, then lazily lifted his eyelids to look at the person kneeling in front of him. A knowing smile appeared on his lips. After enjoying Liu Bang's uneasy expression for a while, he slowly said, "Alright."

“From now on, I will be the ‘Han’.”

"..." The sound of the silk book falling to the ground was almost imperceptible.

Liu Bang seemed to have just regained his voice. Just now, she hadn't let go, and the silk scroll had fallen straight through her palm to the ground.

It turns out she wasn't lying; for a spirit who survives a lost kingdom, a name is indeed a shackle.

Liu Bang was stunned for a moment before he seemed to wake from a dream and quickly bent down to pick up the silk scroll.

By the time he straightened up again, intending to say a few more words to the newly-born 'Han', the 'Han' had already turned back to look in the bronze mirror.

"Tsk, what a hassle. I can't even see myself in the bronze mirror. I should have finished drawing the other side before agreeing to your request."

Liu Bang smiled sincerely and said earnestly, "Ancestor, a country cannot be without its spirit for a single day. I'm sorry to have troubled you, but rest assured, you won't need to draw the auspicious patterns on the mountains and rivers in the future. I will present them to you!"

'Han': "Oh?"

'Han': "You'd better do that."

Liu Bang was in a good mood and his expression was beaming, but after a short while, he was kicked out by the Han people with disdain.

He only realized something was wrong when he went outside. Wasn't that his bedroom?