Chapter 156 The Scheme Comes First 68
This time, Zhu Qing'ai set off for Xianyang with Lü Zhi. Lü Zhi brought just the right number of people, leaving enough manpower and garrison commanders for the surrounding cities, and she did bring a large amount of provisions. Thanks to Wei Sheng Jiu Shi Jiu's previous efforts, there was no shortage of provisions here.
By the time Lü Zhi led her troops to Ba Shang and detoured to join the Han army stationed there, the Chu army had already had a round of arguments.
Xiang Yu summoned various lords under the pretext of enfeoffment, and Liu Bang's strategists could naturally use the same pretext to sow discord among them.
Even if Xiang Yu had his own selfish motives in the matter of enfeoffment, there would still be people who felt dissatisfied even if he had done so fairly and justly.
Human nature is forever greedy; it is never satisfied.
The human heart is the hardest thing to grasp, and it is also the easiest to manipulate.
When Lü Zhi arrived nearby, she first asked Cao Can, who was still on Ba, about the situation in the vicinity.
The provisions they brought were temporarily stored in Ba Shang. Since they couldn't enter Xianyang City yet, having a place to stay in Ba Shang was already a great help.
On the way here, she also clashed with a small group of Chu soldiers, but she led her men to repel them.
She could probably understand why the other side only sent so many people to block her; they probably looked down on her, a mere woman, and didn't care at all about her coming to 'seek refuge' with her husband.
As a result, there were too few people coming from the other side, and she completely dominated them.
When Lü Zhi entered Ba Shang wearing armor stained with blood, she could see obvious surprise on Cao Can's face when he came to greet her. It was perfectly normal for the Chu army to look down on her.
However, having the ability is one thing, but going head-to-head is another.
Unfortunately, Cao Shen was in Ba Shang and was not very clear about how the negotiations were being conducted in Xianyang.
Empress Lü did not ask him about the plans in Xianyang. It was clear that only Liu Bang and the executor knew about the secret dispatch of people to sow discord.
As for how she knew, she had to thank Him who came with her.
He seemed to have nothing to do along the way, spending his days either admiring the natural scenery or lamenting the hardships of humankind. His concluding remarks were often about how the war between several countries was bad and that it would be better to unify the country as soon as possible.
Upon arriving at Ba Shang, Lü Zhi didn't need to think about how to inquire about the details of each faction without offending Him; He took the initiative to tell her.
"The people Xiang Yu chose were all from forces that obeyed him, and there were also some foreign generals from other vassal states who granted him the title of king, bypassing their own rulers. It goes without saying what their intentions were."
"He never intended to bring peace to the world; he only wanted to incite conflict between the generals stationed abroad and the monarch of his own country."
"To be generous with other people's money and exchange other people's interests for one's own."
"His desire to distribute fiefs was not out of generosity, but rather to manipulate the political situation and create turmoil for his own benefit."
"Regarding the matter of Emperor Zunyi enfeoffing the princes, he did indeed send someone to inform King Huai of Chu."
It was merely an announcement, not a request for opinions, and then nothing more.
Empress Lü Zhi had a plan in mind and said with a smile, "He's not even going through the motions; he's just too impatient."
"Have you got an idea?"
Lü Zhi said, "When I heard you say that Xiang Yu intended to honor King Huai of Chu as the Righteous Emperor, I sent someone to see King Huai of Chu. I suppose King Huai of Chu's envoy is not far from Guanzhong by now."
She didn't let anyone say anything unnecessary, but simply sent someone to ask King Huai of Chu a question.
Liu Bang spared Zichu's life even after destroying Qin, but Xiang Yu was not one to care about such things. If he really accepted the title of Righteous Emperor, would he really have a chance to survive?
Zhu Qing'ai chuckled upon hearing this: "I know about this matter, and there's no need to offer any further advice. King Huai of Chu himself understands what Xiang Yu will do."
"And E'xu had already informed Xiang Yu of King Huai of Chu's movements."
Lü Zhi was confident that King Huai of Chu would definitely send someone over. If he didn't, it would be tantamount to admitting that he had lost his last bit of pitiful power, or even admitting that he had handed his life over to Xiang Yu.
As for Xiang Yu, King Huai of Chu must have made his own decision.
Even if King Huai of Chu didn't love power, he should have valued his life.
Most people in the world value their lives, and Lü Zhi did not believe that King Huai of Chu would be an exception.
The person she arranged arrived even two days earlier than them. It could be said that her scheme had already left Pei County before she even left the county.
She didn't intend to hide it anymore; it was just a game of wits, and there was nothing suspicious about it.
So after listening to His account of the recent undercurrents between various forces, she took an opportunity to inform Cao Can of the arrangements she had made, which was simply a notification.
And let him cooperate occasionally, like now... arrange for people from Ba Shang to gather information from all sides.
She learned the details from Him, but she couldn't just say it out loud. Pretending that she guessed it from existing information was one of her reasons.
The information previously revealed to Xiang Yu was merely an attempt to incite him to kill. The person who would truly force Xiang Yu to kill King Huai of Chu was the envoy sent by King Huai himself.
King Huai of Chu and Xiang Yu were too busy guarding against each other to verify their respective sources of information, so she would not easily reveal herself before the matter was accomplished.
After considering all the arrangements, Lü Zhi instructed her trusted subordinates to carefully monitor the movements of the Chu army before settling down at Ba Shang for the time being.
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As expected, the envoy sent by King Huai of Chu arrived soon.
On the surface, King Huai of Chu and Xiang Yu's side were on good terms and had not yet broken off relations. The envoy sent by King Huai of Chu only politely declined the title of Emperor Yi when he met with Xiang Yu in private.
However, this apparent improvement in status didn't seem like a bad thing, and Xiang Yu didn't feel any pressure to persuade him. On the other hand, the envoy of King Huai of Chu had already exhausted all his excuses.
In the end, he only clung to one point: that the title of emperor was respected by all the feudal states under heaven, and that with all other monarchs still around, King Huai of Chu felt he could not sit on that throne with a clear conscience.
Xiang Yu had been arguing with the visitor for so long that he was already impatient, and now he felt that King Huai of Chu was no good.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with supporting the emperor. King Huai of Chu was able to become king because his uncle supported him. Now he was just imitating his uncle and supporting him to become emperor again. Such evasiveness was really annoying.
It was impossible for Xiang Yu to kill the envoy on the spot. Under the watchful eyes of Fan Zeng, Xiang Yu barely managed to suppress his temper and said coldly with a sour face: "There is no need to say anything more. King Huai has the world in his heart. No one in the world is more suitable to ascend the throne than him. If you continue to refuse, this general will suspect that you have ulterior motives towards the State of Chu!"
Xiang Yu's imposing manner was like that of a wolf or a tiger, almost suffocating the envoy. King Huai of Chu's men dared not say anything more. They were willing to risk their lives for their king, but they could not die because of Xiang Yu's momentary anger. They still thought they could persuade him slowly, since Xiang Yu had not yet done anything outrageous.
However, before he could even feel better, he heard the next day that Xiang Yu had summoned many generals.
Those people included not only Xiang Yu's subordinates and those who had surrendered before, but also generals from various vassal states who came in response to the call.
Just as the man stood up, intending to argue his case and stop this enfeoffment that had not been agreed upon by the monarchs of the various states, a servant hurriedly entered.
This attendant had come with the envoy and was considered one of the envoy's confidants.
The attendant simply relayed the information he had gathered, and the envoy sent by King Huai of Chu turned pale.
Xiang Yu had already told many of the generals who came that he had honored King Huai of Chu as the Righteous Emperor, so that was fine, and there was still room for maneuver.
However, Xiang Yu had already conveniently enfeoffed eighteen princes, so even if the people present were acting in their own interests, there was no need for them to pay any attention to King Huai of Chu, a monarch who was only in name.
The envoy collapsed in his tent, utterly exhausted. He was already contemplating fleeing; he hadn't even considered the possibility of switching sides. He had clearly seen Xiang Yu's expression when he tried to persuade him, and he wasn't confident that Xiang Yu would overlook the fact that he had once served King Huai of Chu.
"...Let's go back now and tell the King..."
The messenger raised his hand, gesturing for his attendant to help him up, muttering to himself, "How could it be so fast... Who exactly did Xiang Yu appoint?"
The attendant rattled off a string of names without hesitation. This was no secret; it was something that would be announced to the world sooner or later, and could be easily found out by asking around in the army.
The attendant's main point was not who Xiang Yu had made kings, but rather the people Xiang Yu had neglected.
He reached out to help the envoy up, and whispered in the envoy's ear, "I don't know what General Xiang was thinking, but Tian Rong, Peng Yue and others who rose up against Qin earlier were not among those to be granted the title of king."
"And judging from the generals from various countries who were recently conferred titles of kingship, they don't seem like..."
“Indeed,” the envoy’s eyes gleamed, “what monarch would tolerate his generals accepting fiefdoms from others?”
“It may not be a wise move for Xiang Yu to divide the power of the various states at this time,” the envoy said with increasing confidence. “He has not even dealt with Liu Bang yet, and while he is trying to take advantage of the various forces, he has deliberately left out a few people.”
"How dare you sow discord between the rulers of the vassal states and their generals! How reckless!"
Of course, only the messenger himself knows how much of this was to comfort himself and how much was his true feeling.
He made a decisive decision: "Let's go, let's go now, let's make contact with the various countries..."
"Are you in such a hurry to leave because you haven't treated your guests well?"
Xiang Yu was unusually polite in his speech, but his manner of entering was anything but. He used the bronze sword in his hand to lift the tent flap, revealing himself in full armor. He strode in with his head held high, showing no restraint whatsoever as he held the bronze sword in his hand.
Following behind Xiang Yu was Fan Zeng, whose face showed a hint of helplessness. He had already told Xiang Yu that the current situation was not suitable for taking too much action, but... he was not Xiang Yu's biological father, and sometimes it was indeed difficult to persuade him.
Even though he knew that Xiang Yu's selection of people for fiefdoms was obviously biased, he could only repeatedly try to persuade him before reluctantly shutting up.
Seeing that Xiang Yu was about to make a move, Fan Zeng quickly stepped forward and lowered his voice, saying, "Many people nearby saw the messenger of King Huai coming. It would be inappropriate for Your Majesty to kill them now."
By so openly killing the King of Chu's men in their own camp, weren't they clearly telling those people that the two sides were at odds?
Since we've just honored King Huai as Emperor Yi, we should at least be a little more restrained.
Xiang Yu felt that he had received Fan Zeng's hint, and decisively put the bronze sword back into its sheath.
He said to the two pale-faced men in a very 'thoughtful' manner, "Since the envoy is in such a hurry to leave, please make yourselves at home."
He didn't even utter another threat, as if what had just happened was just a whim.
Only Xiang Yu himself knew what he was thinking. He was just a dead man; there was no need to threaten him.
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Author's Note: Due to my own negligence, I mixed up the chapters 153 and 155 during the update, resulting in duplicate content because they had the same word count. By the time I realized it, it was too late and I was penalized for violating the rules (I've since replaced the correct content). This story cannot currently be listed on the rankings. I didn't want this to happen, but being without a ranking is too difficult. Therefore, this volume will be marked as finished upon completion, lol. If I continue writing, I will put it in my column "Fake National Consciousness 2," where new stories can be listed normally. Before that, I'm tired of writing historical fiction, so I've decided to start a free-spirited story to enjoy myself. Therefore, my next story should be this: → "[Infinite] Slap Everyone in the Face!"
I'm so upset, I'll definitely double-check the chapter content before updating my next novel.
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