Chapter 293: A Stalwart Man Does Not Die in Vain

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Zhang Er sent everyone off on their own, while Chen Yu was forcibly dragged back by him to the mulberry grove in the ward.

It was the sixth month of the Xia calendar; the mulberries had long been picked bare by the starving people of Chen County — not a single one remained on the branches. The mulberry leaves drooped listlessly under the scorching sun. No mulberry-picking girls would possibly come here; the place was utterly deserted.

Chen Yu felt deeply baffled. He shook off Zhang Er's hand and said, "Brother, do you know who that man just now was?"

"Of course I know. His name is Heifu. He is the enemy who, together with the Zhang clan of Yangwu, drove my wife to her death and abducted my son!"

Zhang Er had long since lost the look of a great knight-errant he'd had in Waihuang. His fine long beard had been cut off, leaving his chin bare and smooth, with only two listless, drooping mustache strands above his lip. He deliberately kept his eyes narrowed, making his whole face look utterly ordinary and spiritless.

After arriving in Chen County, Zhang Er kept an extremely low profile. He had Chen Yu handle many matters publicly while he himself only directed things from behind the scenes — all to protect his identity.

The two had agreed the day before: since the King of Qin's security was so tight and Zhang Liang had withdrawn midway, the odds of this assassination were too low, and they could only call it off.

Who could have guessed that Chen Yu would privately rally those who had received Zhang Er's favors, goading them to join him in assassinating Heifu — thus repaying Zhang Er's kindness while also avenging the martyred heroes of Wei?

Even though Chen Yu had not told Zhang Er of this new plan, Zhang Er still learned of it and showed up in time to stop the assassination.

Chen Yu grew even more bewildered. "Our enemy was right before our eyes, yet we let this chance slip away in vain. Since you were unwilling to strike, Brother, why did you still stop us?"

"Do you think I don't want to kill him?"

Zhang Er punched the mulberry tree and said through gritted teeth, "My wife, of the Huang clan — when I was low and obscure, she did not scorn my poverty. She resolutely married down to me. We were bound by hair for eight years and always deeply in love. She also used her maiden family's wealth to support me, enabling me to become a great knight-errant of Wei, renowned throughout the lands east of the mountains. She was not only my beloved wife, but also Zhang Er's benefactor!"

"Yet she was driven to her death by that Qin official and the treacherous Zhang clan. My son, so young and frail, was also seized by the Qin people and taken to Guanzhong. No word has come since — I do not know if he is dead or has been made a little bondservant. So when I saw that scoundrel not more than ten paces from me, I wished I could eat his flesh raw! Tear open his heart and liver to see if they were black too! Had this been back in my days as a wandering blade in Daliang, I would have drawn my sword and struck him down. Even if it meant mutual destruction, I would have driven my blade into his chest and let blood spray five paces!"

"Exactly! Taking revenge and washing away hatred — that is what a true man ought to do!" Chen Yu said.

"But that is not the conduct of a true man. That is merely the courage of a common ruffian!"

Zhang Er shook his head. "My brother, do you still remember? When the Qin army first occupied Chen County, we changed our names and hid in the ward. Because you had gone out to contact wandering blades and returned late, the ward chief had you flogged. You were about to rise up and resist, but I planted my foot on you and made you endure the full flogging. Afterward, what did I say to you?"

Chen Yu replied, "Brother, you said to me: If a stalwart man does not die, so be it — but if he must die, let it be with a thunderous roar that makes the whole world know his name. Had I resisted, I might have asserted my strength for a moment and killed that ward official to vent my anger, but I would certainly have been hunted down. Unable to flee the city, I would have ultimately died at the hands of some nameless Qin official…"

"Exactly."

Zhang Er sighed. "When we endured that ward chief's humiliation back then, it was to plot the grand scheme of assassinating the King of Qin. Had it succeeded, even if you and I were torn apart by chariots in execution, we would have become great heroes to the Six Kingdoms, figures like Zhuan Zhu and Nie Zheng, our names etched in history! Even if the assassination failed, you and I could have blazed across the sky like comets, leaving behind a moment of brilliance that tens of thousands would praise — a life not lived in vain…"

"But now, to avenge my personal grudge, you mobilized the righteous men of Chen County. Even if you killed that Heifu, our whereabouts would inevitably be exposed. The King of Qin is still in Chen County. Hearing of this, he would surely fly into a towering rage and order a mass search of the city. You and I would be hunted by thousands, and in the end, we would die at the hands of jailers and petty officials. You would also bring death upon all the righteous men of Chen County — just to kill a mere company commander. Is it worth it?"

After receiving this lecture, Chen Yu lowered his head in shame. "It truly isn't worth it… But Brother, your vengeance must still be had…"

Zhang Er, however, asked, "Do you know of Fan Ju?"

Chen Yu nodded. "I do. He is the Qin Chancellor, Zhang Lu."

"Fan Ju was originally a man of Wei, but he was framed. The Wei Chancellor, Wei Qi, suspected him of colluding with a foreign power and beat him half to death, then threw him into a latrine and had people urinate on him. So Fan Ju changed his name and clan, left Wei, and went to persuade King Zhaoxiang of Qin. In the end, he gained great favor and became Chancellor of Qin, using his power to hound Wei Qi to death and complete his revenge. By then, a full ten years had passed since Wei Qi had brutally beaten him."

Zhang Er said, "Like Fan Ju, I will repay even the grudge of a sideways glance! How much more so the vengeance for my wife and son? But there is no need to rush. Let us endure for now. Once the King of Qin has left and the garrison troops in Chen County relax their vigilance, we will find another chance to kill Heifu!"

"And if no chance comes?"

Chen Yu countered, "That black wretch is a company commander, usually stationed in the barracks. He's only entered the city these past few days. I also heard from Shusun Tong that he has found considerable favor with the King of Qin and has already been enfeoffed as Fifth Grand Master. Perhaps he will soon be transferred away, or even follow the King of Qin back to Xianyang…"

Zhang Er, however, was full of confidence. "The King of Qin is greedy and base, Qin governance is brutal, and Qin law is harsh. The common people of the five kingdoms will surely be unable to endure it. When the situation changes, we will seize the momentum and rise — and we will make Heifu pay blood with blood!"

Chen Yu finally, reluctantly, accepted Zhang Er's words. Just then, the ward chief shouted loudly from outside the mulberry grove, calling Zhang Er's alias: "Xia Zhong, where are you? The county magistrate has sent a batch of documents to be posted at the ward gate!"

"This humble one is coming!"

Zhang Er instantly changed his tone, pretending he had been relieving himself in the grove. Tying his sash as he went, he ran out with a cheerful grin, bowing and scraping obsequiously to the ward chief.

The newly arrived documents were actually a batch of wanted posters. To ensure the locals could read them, they were written in Chu script. After flipping through two of them, Zhang Er was stunned to find his own name and Chen Yu's prominently listed…

Yet he showed not the slightest panic. He chuckled, and that evening, when the ward residents returned, he took the wanted posters in hand and loudly read them aloud at the gate for the illiterate.

"Good folk, the authorities have posted rewards again. Listen carefully: if you see any suspicious characters, remember to report them to the authorities."

The ward residents gathered around curiously. Zhang Er raised the wanted poster and read aloud:

"Chen Yu! A man of Daliang in Dang Commandery, approximately twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age. Fair complexion, beardless, round face, over seven chi tall. Wanted for conspiracy to rebel, absconding, and banditry! May be at large in Chen Commandery or Xue Commandery. Reward: five hundred liang of gold!"

"Zhang Er! A man of Waihuang in Dang Commandery, approximately thirty-seven or thirty-eight years of age. Square face, long beard on the chin, over eight chi tall. Wanted for conspiracy to rebel, absconding, and banditry! May be at large in Chen Commandery or Sishui Commandery. Reward: one thousand liang of gold!"

"A thousand liang of gold?"

The ward residents were all astonished and broke into a buzz of discussion. Although they too disliked Qin and were unaccustomed to Qin law, this reward was truly enormous. Some were already joking that if they spotted him on the street, they would surely seize him — that way, they'd be set for life with no worries about food or clothing.

Zhang Er just listened with a cheerful grin, as if they were talking about someone else, someone who had nothing to do with him.

Most people assumed he was just a small peddler scraping out a living in the ward, who had landed the job of ward gatekeeper by currying favor with the Qin officials — responsible for guarding the ward gate and controlling entry and exit. His smile was so genial; who could ever imagine that he was the fugitive with a heavy Qin bounty on his head?

After enduring so many rises and falls, Zhang Er was no longer a common wandering blade who would bare his head, go barefoot, and beat his head upon the ground.

"Only by bending and stretching, by swallowing shame and enduring humiliation, can one accomplish great things. If a man does not die, so be it — but if he dies, he must make his name great!"

What Zhang Er did not know was that this very act of his had, in fact, saved both him and Chen Yu. One must understand that when Heifu served as a village chief in Qin, the ward chiefs and ward gatekeepers who fell into his hands numbered seven or eight — he had earned the achievement "Terminator of Ward Officials"…

…

Meanwhile, after the King of Qin's procession — just as grand as when it had arrived — departed from Chen County, Heifu and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief. But they were immediately summoned back to the barracks by Li You.

Entering the command tent, Heifu saw that all the company commanders were already standing on either side. He hurriedly moved by habit toward his usual spot — though Heifu was Li You's trusted man, he considered himself the youngest, so he always humbly stood at the very end.

But today was different. Even Meng Jia, who had always refused to accept him, along with the other company commanders older than him, all hastily cupped their hands in salute and said, "Fifth Grand Master, in the army, the highest in rank takes the place of honor. How can we let you remain humbly at the last seat?"

Indeed, among the company commanders of the Southern Commandery Corps, even after the campaign, the highest rank was only Gongcheng. Who could have foreseen that Heifu would be commended by the King of Qin and personally enfeoffed as Fifth Grand Master? The weight of this Fifth Grand Master title was far heavier than that of an ordinary one!

Heifu's attempts to decline were futile; they pushed him all the way to the foremost position. When Li You entered, he merely glanced at Heifu and said nothing.

Li You wasted no words. As soon as he entered, he came straight to the point: "The Great King has left Chen County, but the campaign is not yet over. We cannot linger here long either."

Hearing this, the company commanders all rubbed their hands eagerly and asked Li You, "Commandant, we have been feeding our horses and sharpening our blades, ready at any moment to march on Huainan and Jiangdong! To finish this war!"

"Indeed, when do we march south?"

In everyone's thinking, they would surely continue advancing into Huainan to attack the remnant Chu forces under Xiong Qi and Xiang Rong, who were stubbornly resisting from their last strongholds, and in one stroke "pacify the Jing lands into commanderies and counties." This was, after all, the task the King of Qin had left for them.

At the head of the group, Heifu also mused inwardly, "Among the Xiang brothers, Xiang Rong set up Lord Changping as king, while Xiang Liang played the pragmatist. I just wonder where little Xiang Yu is. Was he taken to Jiangdong by his father, or is he staying with Xiang Liang in Xiaxiang?"

But when he turned his head to look, he caught a hint of a smile at the corner of Li You's mouth.

"Could it be different from what everyone thinks?"

Sure enough, once the officers had finished asking, Li You said, "Let me inform you all: several days ago, the Great King personally issued new orders to the Southern Commandery Corps. However, our destination is neither Huainan nor Jiangdong!"

PS: I have something on this evening, so just two chapters today. If you're short on books, I recommend a new historical novel.

"My New Empire of the Great Ming," a premium author who previously wrote "Reborn in Europe and America as a Master." The new book is also quite good; those interested can go take a look:

Transmigrated into the most glorious era of the Great Ming,

Transmigrated into the most favorable heir of the Great Ming,

But my gaze pierces through six hundred years of history,

The present glory is not true glory,

Follow me to rebuild a truly glorious dynasty.

(End of Chapter)