Xiang Yu was at the banquet, but he didn't say a word from beginning to end and just drank in silence.
The King of Chu either made indirect accusations or barked orders at him in a domineering manner, but he did not even bat an eyelid, but silently signaled his servants to continue pouring wine.
In his heart, his previous disgust for Liu Bang, who was a man of tricks, had been completely overshadowed by his murderous intent towards the ignorant King of Chu.
However, if the monarch is immoral, killing the monarch by oneself is a heinous crime that cannot be tolerated by the whole world.
Xiang Yu discussed with his staff last night and decided on a plan of "demoting, relocating, and then assassinating".
After the banquet, he will have controlled all the cities in Hangu Pass, and there will be no need for the King of Chu to make decisions. He can then honor him as the Righteous Emperor, proclaim himself the Overlord, and then appoint the Emperor to act accordingly.
Considering the current deterrent power of the Chu army, and the premise that this matter will not shake the interests of the princes to be enfeoffed, he should not encounter much obstacles in carrying out these three tasks one by one.
Xiang Yu, who was absent-mindedly drinking and planning what to do after the banquet, was completely unaware of the "Xiang Zhuang dancing with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong" drama arranged by Fan Zeng; nor did he notice the figure of his most trusted uncle Xiang Bo wandering around and trying to block for Liu Bang; nor did he notice the King of Chu's rage, forcibly stopping the farce and driving Xiang Zhuang out; he also missed the eye contact between Liu Bang and Zhang Liang, and the suspicious fact that the former left the table for a long time under the pretext of "going to the toilet"...
There was music and dance at the banquet, and people were drinking and chatting. However, because there were many palaces between them, the commotion outside caused by Lu Bu's loud shout was not heard inside at all.
Zhang Liang, who was entrusted by Liu Bang with the important task of "wait for me to arrive at the army, and then leave", held a wine jar in his hand and calmly toasted with others, making no one aware of what he and his lord were planning.
Although Zhang Liang knew that it would only take an incense stick of time to return to the Han army's base from the Qin Palace, it would only take him an hour to walk through the small palace complex still guarded by Han soldiers.
But he knew better that unexpected events might occur along the way. The longer he delayed, the easier it would be for Liu Bang to make other arrangements. Therefore, he tried his best to keep his seat.
At this moment, the palace door that had been closed since the banquet was held was suddenly pushed open, and a man rushed in, shouting: "Something bad has happened, I have something important to report!"
The intrusion of this uninvited guest brought the music and dance at the banquet to an abrupt halt.
The King of Chu, who had been feeling uneasy, stood up without hesitation and said, "What's the matter? Why are you so flustered?"
Everyone's eyes fell on Lu Bu who suddenly entered the hall.
There were obviously very few people in the field who could recognize Lu Bu, but except for Han Xin, all of them were high-ranking generals or confidants of the Chu army.
During the banquet, there were only a few people sitting on the steps. Among them, the King of Chu sat facing east, which was the most honorable seat; Xiang Yu sat facing south, which was the second most honorable seat; Fan Zeng and others sat facing north like Liu Bang, which was the next highest seat; Zhang Liang faced west, which was the lowest seat.
The followers, including Han Xin, the halberd-bearing officer, were not qualified to attend the meeting and could only serve by the side.
Han Xin looked at the dirty Lu Bu who suddenly appeared, and could not help but pinch the meat he had just secretly hidden in his sleeve for the other party who missed the banquet, hiding the shock and confusion in his eyes.
Xiang Yu was half drunk and his vision was not clear. He became more alert because of the sudden cessation of the music. He turned his gaze to Lu Bu who was standing abruptly in the middle of the field, but saw a hint of double vision.
He frowned, secretly rubbed his swollen temples, and asked in a low voice: "Who is coming?"
Han Xin heard it clearly, stepped out and said, "General, this is Doctor Lu."
"Fengxian?" Xiang Yu looked around slowly, and then realized that Lu Bu had not been at the table. "When did Fengxian leave?"
Xiang Bo coughed lightly, glared at his son Lü Bu who had caused trouble again, and replied in a low voice: "The general's beloved horse needs someone to take care of it, so I took the initiative and asked Doctor Lü to go."
Xiang Yu frowned. Although he was only half awake, he still expressed his strong disapproval: "How can you force a strong man to do the work of a horseman?"
While the few of them were whispering, Lu Bu did not respond to the King of Chu's words, but only looked at Xiang Yu hesitantly.
This slight delay immediately angered the King of Chu, who already hated Xiang Yu's tyranny - well, as a soldier of Chu, he only listened to the words of Xiang Yu, the so-called general among the princes, but openly turned a blind eye to the dignified King of Chu!
The ministers around the King of Chu stepped forward in time and asked arrogantly: "Why don't you answer the questions of your Majesty?"
Zhang Liang put down the wine jar silently and looked over with a frown.
Even though this tall Chu soldier was in a mess, with his clothes worn inside out for some reason, he still looked extraordinary, and his fair face... was surprisingly clean.
Zhang Liang suddenly began to have doubts.
But before he could think about it, Lu Bu had already raised his head and hesitated again, "This secret is of great importance, and there are many people at the banquet..."
The King of Chu saw that he was unarmed and did not suspect anything. Hearing this, he said impatiently, "Then I will allow you to come a little closer!"
Lu Bu first glanced at Xiang Yu timidly, and when the King of Chu became angry and was about to urge him again, he walked forward reluctantly.
Lu Bu held his head high and chest out, and just as he took the third step towards the direction of the King of Chu, when he was still nearly ten feet away, Xiang Yu finally moved his upper body and slightly changed his posture.
He just moved slightly because his legs were sore from sitting for too long, but Lu Bu, who caught a glimpse of his little movement out of the corner of his eye, suddenly jumped up!
In full view of everyone, the Chu soldier who entered the hall alone and interrupted the banquet suddenly snatched the guqin from the musician next to him and smashed it to the ground without hesitation!
In order to reduce the vigilance of the people in the hall, Lu Bu did not bring any weapons into the hall and simply used the weapons available on hand.
The heavy body of the zither seemed as light as a feather in his hands. Before anyone could react, he grabbed half of the jagged, broken body and rushed forward, aiming for the heart of King Chu with great momentum!
Not to mention whether Lu Bu had any intention or not, even Zhang Liang, who had become suspicious, was powerless to stop him the moment he stepped forward following the King of Chu's order.
The only person in the palace who has the ability to stop Lu Bu is Xiang Yu.
It's just that Xiang Yu had been thinking about how to undermine the King of Chu after the banquet, and he was half drunk at this time. He never expected that Lu Bu would suddenly attack and directly take the King of Chu's life!
Lu Bu had a clear goal, and had learned the lesson from the previous incident when Liu Bang escaped—he would not talk nonsense before taking action, and would kill first and talk later. He took a few quick steps forward, and the followers around the King of Chu stared with wide eyes, and had no time to protect him at all. Without blinking, he took the broken body of the zither and smashed it hard at the King of Chu's head with the uneven side full of sharp wood!
The body of the zither made of nanmu wood is a musical instrument that can play pleasant music in the hands of a musician; but in the hands of the powerful Lu Bu, it becomes an absolute killing weapon.
He used 80% of his strength to smash the King of Chu's stunned head. It was just a simple hit. Although it didn't directly smash the entire head flat, it was enough to make the person's face bloody and mangled on the spot.
In the blink of an eye, the King of Chu's skull was shattered and he died miserably.
Everyone at the banquet gasped.
—What a brutal method, what a powerful strength!
"you!!!"
The official closest to the King of Chu was so frightened that he almost lost his soul. He rolled and crawled, screaming and retreating several steps: "What are you standing there for? Hurry and capture this assassin!"
The King of Chu's entourage, who was a little further away, recovered faster. They drew the long swords at their waists in rage and rushed towards Lu Bu!
However, at this time, Lu Bu was no longer the miserable man who had no weapons and needed to borrow a zither to commit crimes.
He ignored the frightened official, but was very interested in the long sword thrown by the other party, so he bent down and picked it up on the spot.
Although he can use all eighteen kinds of weapons, his most skilled ones are the long sword and bow and arrow.
Having finally obtained his most skilled weapon, Lu Bu completely regained the ease with which he once charged across the battlefield, charging from east to west as if he were in an empty space.
He laughed loudly twice: "You came just in time, so that I don't have to catch them one by one!"
The next moment he drew his sword and faced the Chu king's entourage who were surrounding him without blinking.
When Lu Bu was fighting one against a hundred in a bloody battle, the Chu army was first bewildered and then stunned.
The regicide was their comrade-in-arms, the general's halberd bearer...
According to common sense, as members of the Chu army, they must kill anyone who tried to assassinate the King of Chu.
But the King of Chu had always treated General Xiang badly, and the relationship between the king and his subjects was not harmonious. They had followed the general in battles for many years and were also indignant about this.
I really don't know whether this person is a real assassin, or General Xiang couldn't stand it anymore and gave orders to Lu Bu in private
The question was whether they should cooperate with Wang Sui to capture the assassin, or help Lu Bu... The one who made the final decision was Xiang Yu.
Looking at Xiang Yu, who had a blank expression on his face but actually looked confused, he was also confused.
While they were still confused, Lu Bu was in high spirits, fighting one against a hundred, and their morale was growing stronger as the battle went on.
The sword that was just a gorgeous decoration on the minister became a sharp weapon that killed countless people in his hand.
-This decision to go all out and go back to the palace to kill the King of Chu was a sudden idea on his part, but it was also the most appropriate choice at the moment.
Although he knew nothing about strategy, he was very quick-witted.
As long as the King of Chu does not leave, Xiang Yu will always be controlled by that ruffian who is partial to Liu Bang. He may suffer a lot of losses at the hands of Liu Bang. How long will he have to wait before he can have the opportunity for the two armies to fight openly
Just now, after staring at the four Han generals in ordinary soldier uniforms for a while, he made up his mind to "kill the King of Chu and put the blame on Liu Bang".
No matter whether it was the west gate that was deliberately transferred by Liu Bang to guard, or the Han army generals who pretended to be ordinary soldiers, or Liu Bang who escaped from the banquet inexplicably and disappeared... in his eyes, they were all completely excuses for others to criticize, and it was just the right time to throw a few more buckets of dirty water on them.
Although he could not remember how long Xiang Yu tolerated the King of Chu, but in the end, the situation had evolved into a battle between Chu and Han and the self-proclaimed King of Western Chu, and the King of Chu must have been sharpening his knife for Xiang Yu.
It is unacceptable for a minister to kill his king, but he later went to fight against the king and held the banner of justice.
Having witnessed with his own eyes how Dong Zhuo, who killed the unfortunate emperor Liu Bian, lost the support of the people in the end, and how the spoils of war were divided up by a group of princes who claimed to be fighting against violence and upholding peace, and still successfully fooled the common people... Lu Bu would certainly not fall into the same trap for the second time.
Rather than letting Liu Bang take advantage of him afterwards, it would be better to strike first and do it in one step, pinning the hat of regicide on the head of the fleeing opponent, leaving him with no way to defend himself.
Lu Bu tirelessly raised his sword and slashed, without blinking an eye, and quickly killed the two close ministers of the King of Chu and sixty of his followers who were making a lot of noise while the Chu soldiers were still hesitating.
The hall, which had just been filled with singing and dancing, was now a river of blood and piles of corpses.
Wang Sui and the cavalry left by Liu Bang, who had just dared to surround Lu Bu, were now frightened by his fierce power like a demon sent from heaven. They pushed and shoved, but only dared to hold their weapons and dared not move forward.
Lu Bu was covered in blood, but he didn't care. He just strode forward and put his sword on the chin of the man who seemed to be the highest-ranking among the close ministers of the King of Chu and was trembling the most at this time. He said in a deep voice: "Do you want to die or live?"
When the man saw him approaching, his legs were shaking and he could not move. He was so frightened that he burst into tears and thought he was going to die. However, he did not expect that Lu Bu did not kill him directly, but asked him questions leisurely.
He was stunned at first, then replied with a trembling voice: "I am willing to obey the general's orders."
"I'm your damn general, stop flattering me." Lu Bu sneered, and slapped the cold sword threateningly on the face of the trembling man. He immediately smelled an unpleasant smell of urine.
He frowned, withdrew his sword in disgust, took a step back, and said lazily: "If you want to stay alive, you will need to be useful later. Don't say such nonsense that will lead to your own death. Do you understand?"
Seeing that this man was so stupid that he opened his mouth for a long time but couldn't say a word, Lu Bu cursed him inwardly and impatiently gave him a lecture: "Liu Bang has been plotting against Chu for a long time in order to monopolize the treasures of the Qin Palace and covet the throne... Your Majesty is wise and secretly ordered the general to kill him at the banquet, but Liu Bang is cunning and sent four generals to disguise themselves and enter the palace to assassinate Your Majesty at the banquet... Fortunately, the general is so brave that although Liu Bang succeeded, he also killed the assassin on the spot..."
As early as when he was following Dong Zhuo in Luoyang, he had seen clearly how eloquent these opportunists were.
Instead of killing them all, it is better to keep one alive. Firstly, it saves him from talking too much, and secondly, it will be easier to deceive those fools outside.
After all, he is a close minister to the king, and what he says is always more effective than what ordinary people say.
Lu Bu was not worried at all that Xiang Yu would pretend to obey but actually go against his will: these people who gathered around the King of Chu purely for their own interests and targeted Xiang Yu out of fear, when their interests disappeared and their lives and property were directly threatened, would often change their attitudes according to the situation.
Lu Bu finished speaking in one breath and asked expressionlessly, "Understood?"
The man nodded desperately and tremblingly.
Lu Bu was satisfied, and turned to look at the people who were left at the banquet by Liu Bang... After all, he was no longer a marquis who could be the leader of a force, but a poor halberd-wielding officer who couldn't even get a good piece of clothing.
He looked blankly at Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng, who had suddenly stood up, and at Xiang Bo, who was extremely excited and was about to rush towards him... Especially at the latter, he grinned maliciously and reminded him with a bit of provocation: "In my opinion, none of the remaining villains in this banquet should be left alive. What do you think, General?"
Damn it, is this idiot Xiang Bawang going to do it or not? If he won’t even do this, then he won’t do anything!