In a blink of an eye, it was the day when the army set out.
Although Lü Bu had returned the general's seal to Xiang Yu and later gave it to Han Xin, he only had the Longyuan sword bestowed by the king himself and the power granted by the oral decree "Seeing the sword is like seeing me", so he only had to command tens of thousands of Chu soldiers without any obstacles.
The army was divided into three groups, led by their respective commanders. When they were ready to go in front of the Lingbi camp, Xiang Yu, who had been silent all the time, caught a glimpse of two belated red feathers of pheasants out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly thought of something.
He called out in a deep voice: "Fengxian."
Lu Bu got up a little late, and spent some time taking care of his battle robe, so he arrived a little late.
He thought that if he arrived a little later, he would not attract much attention. Just as he was about to leisurely walk to the front of the Western Army, he was stopped by Xiang Yu.
He looked back guiltily and urged his horse forward as if nothing had happened: "What do you want, my king?"
Xiang Yu remained indifferent until his lover was only three steps away. Then he suddenly threw the seal that he had been holding in his hand for a long time and had been looking forward to giving him to her.
Why does this fool always like to throw things away when he is given them
Lu Bu was complaining in his heart, but he acted quickly. Before anyone could see the object clearly, he had already grabbed it with one hand without blinking.
When he opened his palm, he was stunned.
At a quick glance, this thing actually looks very familiar.
Lu Bu narrowed his eyes slightly, and frivolously picked up the object with his little finger. Under the sunlight, he carefully identified the ancient patterns on it.
After looking at it a few more times, he finally recognized it—this was clearly the seal of the Grand Marshal of the State of Chu!
"From today on," Xiang Yu lowered his eyes, caressing his long mane nonchalantly, and announced calmly, "Fengxian will be the Grand Marshal of our army."
Hearing this, no one present showed any surprise.
Their expressions were all identically calm, and the surroundings were completely silent except for the sound of flags waving in the wind.
- Even the personal sword was bestowed upon him. This shows how much the king relies on General Lu, to an almost unparalleled degree.
What’s more, it is the position of Grand Marshal
As for the fact that the king was particularly kind to his beloved generals, they were also used to it.
If the king suddenly became furious with Sima Lu one day, and cursed him, or demoted him from his post... that would be extremely shocking.
Xiang Yu was very satisfied with the wholehearted expressions of the crowd.
When the time came, he did not linger here any longer. Instead, he cast a faint glance at the Lingbi camp where he had been stationed for a long time, turned around again, urged his black horse, and said with all his strength, "Let's go!"
“Here—”
The generals responded loudly.
The shouts roared like mountains and seas, one after another, and were as deafening as thunder!
No one knew that Lu Bu had just come to his senses at this time. He didn't care about the strange feeling in his heart, and put away the seal in a panic.
Being in the midst of this tremendous sound, for a moment I felt both a sense of strangeness and a sense of familiarity.
The jade lion was infected by the strong fighting atmosphere and sneezed excitedly. It kept digging the ground with its front hooves, wishing it could rush out the next moment.
It’s a pity that the cavalryman on his back was not in a hurry at all at this moment.
Lu Bu looked indifferent, staring at the tall and burly figure, but he didn't even know what he was thinking.
Xiang Yu, who was facing away from the generals, suddenly felt something at this moment. He turned around abruptly and met his eyes.
—Amidst the vast army, the two men stared at each other from a distance, both proud and speechless.
Xiang Yu's face was stern and majestic, but at this moment his eyes were as calm as water.
Lu Bu: “…”
He did discover that this fool seemed to be particularly interested in staring at him no matter what!
Did you see something
Lu Bu's heart trembled, and he looked away uncomfortably. Xiang Yu then calmly retracted his gaze and continued to lead the army forward with an expressionless face.
Just as the Chu army set out from Lingbi and advanced northward in three routes, the news of the fall of Wei spread throughout the countries.
The most panicked among them was none other than Zhang Er.
After the fall of Wei, which served as a buffer, the first to bear the brunt were Qi and Changshan, the two places he had obtained the most and which bordered the Chu territory!
This powerful army of Chu State appeared suddenly, but came with great force. Although King Bao of Wei lacked courage and strategy, he had generals such as Zhou Shu under his command. Wei □□ had 52 counties and could easily mobilize 200,000 Wei soldiers.
How come now he seems to have been defeated without any resistance and is in such a miserable situation as to be captured
Zhang Er didn't know that his most imminent death warrant was not from Han Xin's army, which had recently become famous but was targeting the Yin State.
—But it was the main force of the Chu army, which had been dormant for a long time and was now quietly advancing northward, led by King Xiang himself.
Zhang Er knew that a disaster was imminent. Since he could not count on his brother Liu Bang in Bashu for the time being, he could only hope that the princes would unite as one to resist the powerful attack of the Chu army.
Zhang Er was very confident in his old ministers Shen Yang and Sima Ang, with whom he had a close relationship. He thought that King Han Cheng was just a fence-sitter and could not be relied on at the critical moment, so he was too lazy to fight for him.
The only exception was that he always tried to win over and yet be wary of the former monarch Zhao Xie, and was both polite and fearful towards him.
After all, Zhao Xie was once the King of Zhao and had more support from the people in Zhao. In order to secure his position in Changshan State, he had to treat his former master well.
Not only was he considering the overall situation, but he was also coveting the more fertile Qi territory. After he captured Qi, he generously gave the Yan territory to King Zhao Xie of Dai. He himself still held Changshan and divided the Qi territory with his old ministers.
How could Zhao Xie not have a grudge against this ambitious old minister? However, due to the situation, he had no choice but to turn a blind eye and just go along with the situation.
The situation was critical at the moment, so he had to send more envoys to the capital of Dai to urge Zhao Xie to send reinforcements as soon as possible and to advance and retreat together in order to defend Qi.
Zhang Er's envoy was entrusted with a heavy responsibility. He set out overnight and rushed to Daidu, where he immediately asked to see Zhao Xie.
Although Zhao Xie treated him to delicious food and drinks and seemed to agree, he never mobilized any troops.
After several days of such torment, the envoy from Qi could no longer wait and had to go to the palace again and again to urge him to come.
When he had just entered the royal court that day and was about to engage in a new round of battle with Zhao Xie, Chen Ping, who had arrived here several months earlier, knew that the time had come.
He summoned several strong men who were bought at a high price, and relied on the guards who had been bribed earlier to let them pass all the way. While Zhao Xie was still dealing with the envoy from Qi, he marched straight into the royal court!
The incident happened suddenly. Zhao Xie, who was still wavering in his heart, and the envoy from Qi, who did not know his identity, were both stunned by his unexpected arrival and had no reaction for a while.
Chen Ping took the initiative and without saying a word, he ordered his strong men to step forward. Within a few breaths, he had hacked the unsuspecting Qi envoy to pieces with his swords in front of King Xie of Dai!
The messenger who was alive just now turned into a bloody corpse the next moment. Such a drastic change made Zhao Xie dumbfounded.
He was caught off guard and was splashed with warm blood. He stood up and retreated in embarrassment, pointing at Chen Ping and cursing angrily, "How dare you, you brat!"
Chen Ping smiled indifferently, not disguising his contempt, and said bluntly: "I have come to advise you that the Overlord is brave and good at fighting, and his hot temper is as famous as his reputation for killing. He is not like me, who has the leisure to continue playing this indecisive game with you all day long!"
These few cold words chilled General Zhao Xie to a chill and he came to his senses.
He looked gloomily at the Chu envoy Chen Ping, whose momentum had changed drastically, but in his heart he had to admit that what the other party said was true.
The envoy from Qi had already become a pool of rotten meat. Even if he ordered his men to hack Chen Ping to death, it would be of no avail except to simply vent his anger and block the King of Chu's retreat route.
The current situation actually does not allow him to delay any longer.
If he did not send troops to aid Qi, he would surely anger Zhang Er.
Compared with the Chu army that was still separated from Qi, the greater threat faced by Dai actually came from the former prime minister of Zhao who moved to Qi to be the king.
If he sent troops to aid Qi and succeeded by chance, he would surely face the situation of Zhang Er, a two-faced villain, who would abandon him in the future; if he failed, he would offend the powerful Chu and would surely die one day.
If they helped Chu to attack Qi, they would be accused of betraying the alliance, which would damage their reputation. Secondly, if Xiang Yu turned ruthless in the future, how could they fight against him with just the land of Zhao? They would probably just be slaughtered by him.
Seeing that Zhang Er had invited a wolf into the house, Xiang Yu took advantage of the opportunity to seize his kingdom and his land, and demoted him to the point where he was left with only a county. I'm afraid this will be his fate in the future.
How could he make a decision easily in such a dilemma
Forced to this point, Zhao Xie gnashed his teeth and glared at the calm Chen Ping. After a long while, he took a deep breath and said in pain, "... I will follow your words and attack Qi."
As the King of Zhao, he was bullied by Xiang Ji and Zhang Er successively, and was forced to leave his homeland and move to the State of Dai.
Even if Zhang Er pretended to be kind and righteous and ceded the Yan territory, it was ultimately a humiliation for him.
But Chen Ping smiled.
"You don't have to rush to recruit soldiers," his cunning eyes were slightly curved, and against the backdrop of the King of Dai's anger, his demeanor was even more leisurely. "The Overlord is extremely wise and powerful. If the two armies were to march together, it would only take a little effort to conquer Qi. Why do you need to add icing on the cake?"
Zhao Xie said angrily: "What are you going to do?"
At this point, Zhao Xie had completely fallen into the trap carefully set by Chen Ping.
After persuading Zhao Xie to calm down, Chen Ping was finally escorted back to the palace by the guards, with a letter in his arms that was politely handed to him by the other party and needed to be delivered to the Overlord.
Zhao Xie said that he would send someone to escort Chen Ping and his entourage back to Chu early the next morning.
Chen Ping readily agreed. He was in a good mood because he had successfully completed his mission. After returning to the inn, he asked for some wine to drink.
The lights were on for a long time, the aroma of wine filled the air, and it aroused people's appetite.
As soon as the lights went out, the room became silent. Suddenly, a group of assassins rushed out from nowhere, holding weapons and rushing straight to Chen Ping's bedroom!
However, when the door was kicked open, everyone was stunned to see that there was only a straw man in clothes standing inside, and a jar of fine wine spilled on the ground.
However, the handsome man named Chen and his followers, whom they were ordered to kill, had escaped from the inn at some point and were riding fast horses on the road back to Chu.
The evening breeze is so refreshing.
Even when riding at night, there is the bright moon hanging high in the sky as your companion.
The deputy envoy was unaware of the situation in the embassy and asked in confusion, "Does the King of Dai really want to kill me?"
Chen Ping said lazily, "It's absolutely true."
As a king, Zhao Xie was narrow-minded and short-sighted.
Even though he was shocked by the scene of him breaking into the royal court, sending strong men to kill the envoy and forcing him to express his position, he would feel more and more ashamed the more he thought about it afterwards.
As for those who have brought this shame, they must be eliminated as soon as possible, so why should we care about so many consequences
What Chen Ping was taking advantage of was the time lag that Zhao Xie had in reacting because his brain wasn't working very well.
He gazed at the moon in the silent night and smiled lazily.
-After all, compared to being a guest in that boiling pot, he would rather enjoy the cool night breeze, appreciate the rare moonlight, and ride back to Chu.
It would also be good for General Lu, who had recommended him with all his strength and trusted him, to know as soon as possible that he had not wasted all his time in vain and had not trusted the wrong person.