Chapter 153 Haunted? 65

Cutting-edge technology isn't something you can easily create by hand; instead, turmoil has already broken out in Xianyang.

The reason is simple: it's the same group of people who were sent to their deaths by Xiang Yu's army a few days ago.

There were Xiang Yu's men in the city, and the two sides might not have been communicating, but any savvy insider knew that this was the best time to do something.

Fortunately, not many people were incited. Under Liu Bang's deliberate propaganda, the target of hatred had shifted to Xiang Yu and his troops. Chaos was inevitable, but it was still within a controllable range.

This situation was somewhat expected, since Xianyang was not Liu Bang's territory before, and it was normal for there to be some people from other forces in such a mixed environment.

However, Zhu Qing'ai didn't take this to heart. If it really mattered, her host would find a solution. She herself was also giving Lü Zhi some suitable lessons according to her own plan.

As a pre-modern person who deeply understood the principle of not putting all her eggs in one basket, and a qualified master of balance, she wouldn't rely entirely on Liu Bang. Besides, if Liu Bang couldn't even handle such a small matter, he shouldn't even be thinking about becoming Emperor Gaozu of Han.

In the past few days, besides going to see Lü Zhi, she has been personally keeping an eye on Xiang Yu.

She wanted to see what kind of trouble the other side would cause. As for Xianyang City and the nearby Ba Shang, there were scarce artillery installations available, so there was no need to worry about security for the time being.

It's just that current productivity is inadequate. Otherwise, Xiang Yu wouldn't have had the right to be so arrogant. Just because you have more people doesn't mean you're invincible. You'd be easy prey in the face of modern weaponry.

After regretting the weapon issue, Zhu Qing'ai wandered around the Chu army's camp.

It's strange, I saw Han Xin last time I came, but I didn't see him this time.

After much thought, Zhu Qing'ai concluded that Han Xin must have fled.

Even the historical Han Xin did not hesitate to flee from the Chu army. Now that there have been such major changes, it is not surprising that Han Xin fled ahead of time. Nobody is stupid.

After touring the Chu army camp, Zhu Qing'ai did discover a lot of useful information. For example, Xiang Yu, seeing that he could not force Liu Bang to leave the city and abandon Xianyang, and not wanting to delay any longer, made an excuse to discuss the matter of becoming king with Fan Zeng.

Of course, appearances had to be maintained, so Fan Zeng suggested that the current King of Chu be honored as emperor, which would give him, as a subordinate of the King of Chu, a reason to be promoted.

As for whether the King of Chu agreed or not, at least after looking around at the attendees, Zhu Qing'ai realized that no one cared whether the King of Chu agreed or not.

Previously, the King of Chu's decree was merely a pretext to bestow upon Liu Bang the title of King of Hanzhong.

Their idea was simple: it was the King of Chu who said that whoever entered Guanzhong first would be king, but he didn’t say what kind of king. If the King of Chu then issued an edict to enfeoff Liu Bang as the King of Hanzhong, they could force Liu Bang to go to Hanzhong to take up his post.

Liu Bang's right to become king now lies in the promise made by the King of Chu. If he did not obey the King of Chu's orders, he would lose his right.

As for them... well, King Chu hadn't promised to make Xiang Yu a king before, so they were already in the wrong. What difference would it make if they did it now?

It was somewhat expected that Liu Bang would not withdraw from Xianyang. Some people had previously advised Xiang Yu that since Liu Bang had captured Xianyang first, it would be unethical for them to attack him.

By this point in the meeting, no one was mentioning the matter anymore; they had all agreed on a unified front.

Even the most oblivious person would chime in with a few words from their colleagues: "The King of Han doesn't know what's good for him."

"Since he was personally appointed King of Hanzhong by the King of Chu, he should have gone to Hanzhong to take up his post. Why did he forcibly occupy Xianyang and refuse to leave?"

What is your intention?

Xiang Yu glanced around at the people in the tent. No one dared to object, and he decided to stop pretending. He gave Fan Zeng a wink.

Fan Zeng also understood that some things were not suitable for the lord to say himself; they were the ones who should say them.

He coughed lightly: "The King of Han has been staying in Xianyang for a long time and has forcibly occupied Guanzhong, which does not belong to Hanzhong. His ambition is great and his plans are not small."

"But he is, after all, the King of Han, and his status is equivalent to that of Your Majesty. However, if all of Your Majesty's subordinates have declared themselves kings, then Your Majesty..."

Fan Zeng paused for a moment. Everyone present knew who he was referring to: the current King of Chu.

It couldn't possibly be Xiang Yu, could it? Although they all knew Xiang Yu's plans and ideas, no one actually called them out on it. Even if they did, it was because they were the ones who volunteered for him to become king.

Since they were all in the same group, Fan Zeng didn't keep them in suspense for long and spoke his mind smoothly.

"Your Majesty has devoted himself to quelling the chaos in the land, as all of you have witnessed. Since the passing of Prince Chen and Prince Wu, no one has been qualified to sit in that position."

"Your humble servant proposes that Prince Huai be enthroned as emperor."

Of course, that's not the point. As everyone here knows, whoever has the troops has the most power. This was one of the reasons why the King of Chu was reluctant to let Xiang Yu go on the expedition. It wasn't just because he disliked Xiang Yu as a person; the biggest reason was fear. When a general is leading troops in the field, some things are no longer up to the King of Chu to decide.

Xiang Yu's identity alone was enough to gather a group of people to follow him, in addition to the connections left by his uncle.

Fan Zeng confidently proposed: "General, you have contributed greatly to overthrowing the tyrannical Qin Dynasty. There is no reason why you should not be rewarded. It would be unreasonable if you were not rewarded."

"Moreover, to punish the traitor Liu Bang, one needs a respectable identity, and those who join in the fight against the tyrannical Qin should naturally also be rewarded."

Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng's idea was quite simple in a way: since King Huai of Chu wouldn't grant them titles, they would support the King of Chu as emperor, and the remaining feudal lords would be granted according to their own discretion.

Whether the King of Chu acknowledges it or not is no longer within Xiang Yu's consideration. Now, those who have troops in their hands have the greatest say. Even if they bypass the King of Chu and enfeoff the feudal lords, the King of Chu will not dare to say anything in the end.

The reason for enfeoffing so many vassal kings was not only to win people's hearts and check others, but also to annoy Liu Bang.

Look at you, you have to work hard to conquer Guanzhong if you want to be made a king, while others can become kings and nobles just by following him.

Everyone in the camp agreed with this, and some who had been with Xiang Yu for a long time even thought that even if they hadn't made any great contributions, they had still worked hard and might be able to get promoted and make a fortune now.

With the potential profits dangling in front of them, these people became even more enthusiastic.

Soon someone spoke up with a sense of justice: "It is completely unreasonable for Liu Bang, the King of Hanzhong, to occupy Xianyang. It would not be an exaggeration for all the feudal lords in the world to join forces against him."

They quickly reached a conclusion and sent people to inform the King of Chu and the feudal lords of the world, inviting those of sufficient stature who had not yet been granted the title of king to come to Guanzhong to discuss the matter of granting the title of king.

Zhu Qing'ai calmly recorded the entire meeting and also made a list of names.

At Fan Zeng's urging, Xiang Yu planned to later divide the land among the various feudal lords and generals, then enter Xianyang City, take away what he wanted, and then distribute the territory to the former Qin generals who had surrendered.

It's one thing that they were both generals of Chu, but he didn't believe that there were any Qin people. He thought the Qin people would choose Liu Bang, an outsider, and that would cause trouble for the King of Guanzhong.

Therefore, Xiang Yu personally proposed: "I intend to enfeoff Zhang Han, Sima Xin, and a few others as kings, with their territories located in Guanzhong."

None of the people in the tent objected; they all could see that this bestowal of a kingship was not a good thing. How could someone have good intentions when they were enfeoffing someone else with territory they hadn't even conquered yet?

"General, you are wise and treat the Qin people so well. They will surely be very grateful to you."

Zhu Qing'ai's lips twitched. After a moment's thought, she understood Xiang Yu's intentions. He did want to stir up trouble, but she didn't believe that Xiang Yu, with his personality, would let the wealthy and powerful in Xianyang City go...

The thought of burning, killing, and looting made her feel dizzy. Fighting outside the city was one thing, but fighting for territory was human nature, and she really couldn't understand why the conquered city had to be desecrated like this.

Building is much harder than destroying. She smiled and extinguished all the lights in the tent; she was no longer capable of doing anything.

After all, her connection to this world rests entirely with her host and the two fish she keeps. It wouldn't be good to rashly take action and attract the attention of the main system. She currently has no intention of going to the law enforcement department for a chat.

However, she can't physically harm people, but she can still scare them.

For example, right now, in the windless tent, all the lights suddenly went out.

These oil lamps, while not guaranteed to burn for a thousand years, can certainly last through the night.

Moreover, there was no wind in the tent, and no one went out of their way to blow out the lamps, so the fact that the lamps went out was even more unusual.

This was clearly not a normal phenomenon. Just as the flame on the lamp went out, someone shouted, "Who?!"

For a moment, the camp was filled with the clanging sound of swords being drawn.

"Who's playing tricks?!"

Xiang Yu did not stipulate that weapons could not be brought to the meeting, which was also due to his trust in himself. No one present could defeat him, so what if he let these people bring swords?

There isn't a single one who can fight!

Xiang Yu also drew his bronze sword, and soon a fire appeared at the entrance of the tent, and everyone looked in that direction.

But all that could be seen was a servant standing tremblingly at the doorway, holding a lamp. With so many people watching, he stammered, "I...I saw...I saw that the candle inside the tent has gone out. I suppose there wasn't enough oil..."

Because of this fire, the camp was also lit, but not enough to illuminate all areas.

In this situation, the scene inside the tent was even more frightening. A group of generals, large and small, were hidden in the dark shadows, with only a sliver of light shining on their faces. Everyone was looking towards the light coming through the doorway.

Even someone with a strong constitution would be startled by such a scene.

Xiang Yu looked at him coldly: "Put down the lamp and get out."

The servant's hands were trembling. He was a little overwhelmed to see so many important people staring at him all at once, but he didn't freeze in place. He put down the lamp and quickly retreated.

As soon as the servant left, someone immediately suggested, "Should we deal with that servant? The lights had just been turned off, and he just happened to show up."

This approach seems reasonable; it's better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free, and it has quite a few supporters.

However, some people disagreed, their minds wavering, and they dared not agree with such a suggestion.

It wasn't out of sympathy for the attendant, but simply out of consideration for themselves. Really speaking, that person had come in from outside the tent, so shouldn't those of them inside the tent be the most suspicious?

They knew perfectly well that no one dared to speak up. No one wanted to draw attention to them. The death of a servant made them feel a little threatened, but it wouldn't really matter. After all, he was just a servant.

There are plenty of people like that in the army; they are the last thing we need.

Fan Zeng objected, saying, "No, who knows if this wasn't the work of that charlatan."

“If we replace that servant, will we need to bring in someone else from elsewhere? Will we need to be wary of that person? Who knows if this is exactly what the other side wants? It’s better to keep him by our side than to bring in a new person.”

"If it turns out that the other party really did it, then it's not too late to deal with it. If not, that's even better. We didn't fall into that person's trap too easily."

Fan Zeng spoke in a loud voice, perhaps intending to let anyone who might be listening.

This will also make that person back down; they are not people who can be easily provoked.

Zhu Qing'ai stood beside them, listening to Fan Zeng's analysis. She thought he was right, but she felt that he had overestimated her abilities. She really didn't have any intention of sowing discord; she was just trying to scare people and vent her anger.

Let's vent our frustrations a little now, and then we'll unleash a big one later.

She really did not place any spies in the Chu army.

It's such a pity that she didn't have any spies working for her.

She's really not prestigious enough to be a queen. I'll ask Liu Bang to arrange something for her when we get back.

But that's just wishful thinking. Seeing how tense they are, searching for enemies in the air, and trying to outwit each other is quite funny. That's how I had some fun for the day.

I didn't originally plan anything, but now she's thinking of causing trouble. It's just extinguishing the candle out of thin air, nothing too difficult.

So when Xiang Yu ordered the lamps in the tent to be relit, Zhu Qing'ai casually extinguished them again.

The tent fell into dead silence. This time they saw clearly that no one had actually made a move.

After what just happened, not to mention everyone holding their breath, they didn't move at all. Everyone stayed in their positions, and no one would touch the candle.

But the flame that had just been lit went out.