Chapter 61 Part 2

"You two may withdraw for now. Let me think on this," he said.

After they left, he summoned Lady Yu.

Of all the women, Lady Yu was the one who pleased him most, not only because of her peerless beauty, but more importantly, Xiang Yu felt that Lady Yu placed him in the most important position, even above her own life. Xiang Yu loved this feeling of the other person existing entirely for him; it gave him a great sense of accomplishment from conquest.

So whenever he was vexed and perturbed, he always liked to summon Lady Yu. Sometimes, just speaking with her would naturally relax his mood.

Lady Yu indeed arrived quickly. Her voice was as gentle as water, capable of stirring the heart of any man. And when she gazed at Xiang Yu with rapt attention, the emotion in her eyes could melt even a man with a heart of stone, making him as soft as putty.

She was originally a songstress. Without Xiang Yu, she would have been, at best, a plaything toyed with in the palms of nobles. But after joining Xiang Yu, she became a private treasure belonging to one man alone. Lady Yu did not feel there was anything wrong with this. To her, Xiang Yu was a sky she could never reach, a great hero who held up the heavens and stood firm on the earth.

Seeing the weariness on Xiang Yu's face, Lady Yu gently massaged his shoulders.

"Conspiracies and schemes are not my strong suit." It was Xiang Yu who spoke first. He sighed, "If only Uncle were still here, I would not have to trouble myself with these matters."

Lady Yu said with heartfelt concern, "The Great King manages a myriad of affairs every day. How can you attend to every matter personally? It would be better to listen more to Fan Zeng's words."

Xiang Yu waved his hand. "You don't understand. Fan Zeng is prejudiced against Liu Yuan, Han Guang, and the others. He has long wanted me to kill them!"

Lady Yu uttered a soft "ah." She did not understand military and state affairs, nor did she understand why Fan Zeng would make such a proposal.

Xiang Yu pulled her into his arms.

Lady Yu chose her words with care, "Has the Great King ever considered one day returning all power to the Emperor of Chu?"

Xiang Yu scoffed at her naivety. "How can a great man go a single day without power? If I were to return power to the Emperor of Chu, why would I have gone through all the trouble of raising an army to rebel against Qin in the first place?"

Everyone cried "rebel against Qin, rebel against Qin," making it sound so righteous. They all said the tyrannical Qin was without virtue and that the world should rise to punish it. How noble and awe-inspiring. In the end, it was all for their own power, position, wealth, and honor.

Though Xiang Yu was not an emperor now, even the emperor had to grovel at his feet and obey his commands. The vassal kings and powers of the world dared not contend with him. Once one had a grasp of this feeling, no one would want to let it go.

Lady Yu said, "I just do not wish to see the Great King so weary."

She couldn't help but fantasize, "If one day it were just the two of us, from dawn till dusk, with no one else, that to me would be a life like that of the gods!"

Xiang Yu could not understand this kind of thinking. He only thought she was worried about losing his favor and smiled. "Though I have many concubines, you are the one I love most. No matter how good the others are, they cannot compare to you. In the future, when I ascend the imperial throne, I will make you my principal wife. Then you and I can be together as a pair!"

Xiang Yu's ambition had never been concealed, but this was the first time Lady Yu had heard him state it so bluntly. Yet, there was no joy in her heart, only a faint sense of disappointment.

Unwilling to say more, she snuggled into his embrace.

Needless to say, it was a night of lingering, enchanting romance. Perhaps Lady Yu's gentleness soothed Xiang Yu well, for when he summoned Fan Zeng and Ji Ping the next day, the irritability of the previous day was gone from his face.

When Fan Zeng and Ji Ping saw his expression, they knew he had already made a decision.

Xiang Yu's decision, of course, was not to kill Liu Yuan. In fact, though Fan Zeng always advised Xiang Yu to do so, he himself understood that Liu Yuan's power was already considerable. Killing him rashly would easily provoke criticism from all under heaven. Most importantly, the other vassal kings would grieve for a fallen comrade, which might drive them to desperate measures.

So Fan Zeng had also changed his strategy. Combining it with Ji Ping's method, he suggested that Xiang Yu pick one or two of the most disobedient vassal kings and periodically suppress and provoke them, forcing them to rebel on their own. He could then dispatch troops to crush them. This way, he would seize the moral high ground, leaving the world with nothing to say, and it would also serve to intimidate the other vassal kings.

Xiang Yu accepted Fan Zeng's suggestion. The targets he chose were Liu Yuan and Han Guang.

First, he had Han Guang expand northward, then partitioned off a part of the land of Yan to give to Han Guang's subordinate, Zang Tu.

Second, Xiang Yu ordered Zhang Han to occupy Xianyang.

Putting aside Zhang Han's reaction, when Han Guang received the edict, he almost died from anger.

Yes, there was a vast expanse of land to the north, but what did moving farther north entail? That was the sphere of activity of the Xiongnu. He was not a nomad; was he expected to lead his people to go herding? Besides, to snatch territory from the Xiongnu, he had to be able to win! During the era of Qin Shi Huang, Meng Tian guarded the northern frontier for over a decade, and the Xiongnu dared not make rash incursions. But since the fall of Qin, the flames of war had risen everywhere. The vassal kings were busy seizing territory and had grown lax in their defense against the Xiongnu. At this time, the Xiongnu's Modu Chanyu had just killed his own father, stepmother, younger brother, and disloyal ministers to become the leader of the Xiongnu. Under his rule, the Xiongnu were gradually growing stronger. In contrast, the Central Plains were now fragmented, with each state governing itself. Not only was Han Guang not at all confident he could defeat the Xiongnu, even if he were, he did not want to waste his military strength on it.

The intention of this edict, issued in the name of the Emperor of Chu, was obvious. If Han Guang refused to comply, he would be defying the Emperor of Chu, giving Xiang Yu a legitimate pretext to attack him. If Han Guang obediently listened, that would be even better. Splitting the land of Yan in two would weaken Han Guang's power.

And when Zhang Han received Xiang Yu's order, his first reaction was not joy, but distress.

Xianyang was a good place, everyone knew that. But the Xianyang of today, without the treasures of the Qin State, was merely a sturdy city, nothing more. Zhang Han was certainly pleased to gain another city, but the problem was, compared to offending Liu Yuan, his interest in Xianyang was not that great. Besides, after Fang Yu and Liu Zhen took control of Xianyang, they vigorously promoted commerce. The roads between Xianyang and Guanzhong were already unobstructed, and with the encouragement of those in power, trade had become increasingly prosperous and close. Zhang Han had collected no small amount of tax money; his pockets were bulging. So, whether or not he took Xianyang was no longer of great significance to him.

More importantly, if he went to occupy Xianyang, and Liu Yuan attacked his rear, what was he to do?

But if he did not occupy Xianyang, he would offend Xiang Yu, which was something Zhang Han was currently unwilling to do.

After thinking it over and over, he came up with a plan.

Zhang Han sent a letter to Xianyang, the gist of which was: I'm coming to occupy Xianyang, so you'd better get ready!

When Liu Zhen received the letter, she almost died laughing.

In this world of warfare, one only attacks by surprise when the enemy is unprepared. Who had ever told their enemy beforehand that they were coming to attack?

Zhang Han was clearly being forced by Xiang Yu into a corner, and this was his helpless measure born from not wanting to offend either side!

Liu Zhen deeply understood Zhang Han's miserable plight. It was indeed a very difficult position to be in.

But since the other party was coming to attack Xianyang, they could not just stand by and do nothing.

Fang Yu had assumed Liu Yuan would have a plan, but after waiting for several days, he had not received any emissary from the land of Yu. And the emissary he had sent to Liu Yuan could not possibly return with a reply so quickly.

The entire city of Xianyang was now practically defenseless. The only defense was the one thousand soldiers Liu Yuan had left for Liu Zhen. But these one thousand soldiers were more than enough for maintaining public order; to use them for fighting a war and defending the city would be laughable.

No one knows a father better than his daughter. Fang Yu did not believe Liu Yuan would just stand by and watch as both Xianyang and his daughter were taken by Zhang Han. So he summoned Liu Zhen and asked if she knew what Liu Yuan was thinking.

Liu Zhen said, "Father believes we can hold Xianyang, so he isn't planning to send any reinforcements at all."

Fang Yu: "..."

His face clearly read, "Are you kidding me? A thousand soldiers can hold Xianyang?"