Chapter 559: The Heroes

"We are safe, so the realm is safe — but are the black-headed commoners safe?"

Not only in Jimo City of Jiaodong, but across the four commanderies of Qi, this oral decree of Qin Shi Huang spread to every commandery seat and county town!

In Di County of Linzi Commandery, at the Tian Dan estate by the Ji River, dozens upon dozens — nearly a hundred — sturdy young men in coarse brown clothes and cloth caps had quietly gathered, along with unkempt youths barely past their capping ceremony. Without exception, all wore swords at their waists. The weapons-confiscation edict of years past had achieved very little in Qi — the whole of Linzi had only forty senior officials; who was going to confiscate your weapons for you?

These former wandering swordsmen, having once received favors from the Tian Dan brothers and then endured years of Qin law's restrictions, had long been seething with grievances. Now that Tian Dan summoned them, intent on great undertakings, these gallant youths gladly came to deliberate on the grand plan together.

But this blood-boiling anti-Qin mobilization assembly was disrupted by a single oral decree. Though Tian Dan repeatedly insisted at the top of his voice that it was false, the gallant youths — timid in pitched battle but bold in assassination — looked at one another, and many showed hesitation...

The Emperor's awe from his inspection tour of Qi still lingered. To leap out in rebellion at a time like this — was it truly wise?

"Since the tyrant still lives, this matter of opposing Qin and restoring Qi must, I fear, be planned carefully over the long term."

In Qiancheng County, not far from Di County, lay the hiding place of Prince Tian Jia, younger brother of King Jian of Qi — once a sacrificial beast of the ancestral temple, now toiling in the fields.

Tian Jia, who looked no different from any farmer, had originally been stirred by Tian Rong's fervent persuasion and had loosened his stance, agreeing to come forward and join the plan to restore Qi.

But upon hearing Qin Shi Huang's oral decree, Tian Jia began to have second thoughts, shaking his head repeatedly, which sent Tian Rong, who had come to invite him, into a thunderous rage. He cursed outright:

"A worthless brat unfit to plot with!"

South from Linzi, beyond Mount Tai, hundreds of li away in Bian Town of Xue Commandery, the oral decree arrived together with Qin officials and soldiers hunting the assassin. Zhang Liang stood outside the county temple. After hearing these words through, he let out a long sigh.

"What a pity."

He had ruined his family to relieve the nation's plight, seeking revenge for Han, attempting to assassinate Qin Shi Huang — in the end, he failed to accomplish the deed, yet caused brave men to throw their lives away for nothing. Eleven years of planning, all turned to emptiness in the end.

Then Zhang Liang smiled a helpless smile, strolled leisurely, and sauntered into the crowd, openly moving about right under the noses of the Qin officials, as if the matter had nothing to do with him at all, heading straight for the most dangerous place — Donghai Commandery!

A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye. The Zhang family served as ministers to Han for five generations. His, Zhang Zifang's, heart for destroying Qin and restoring his state was not yet dead!

As it was in Qi and Lu, so it was in Chu.

In Tan County of Donghai, on yet another night so dark one could not see their own hand, Zhongli Mei and Tian Zhong met once more in the Temple of Viscount Tan.

Unlike their last impassioned encounter, this time the two remained silent for a long while. They had seen with their own eyes today that Qin Shi Huang's carriage procession had started moving again, the majestic Emperor seated within — it seemed he was indeed unharmed. The foundations of the Qin dynasty remained as unshakable as ever.

"The gallant heroes of Qi and Lu — our earlier discussions were sound, wanting to seize the moment and make a move. But now, all have shrunk back," Tian Zhong sighed dejectedly.

Zhongli Mei nodded. "The Xiang family of Xiaxiang has also decided to stay out of this matter for now. After all, the Xiang family's backbone, Xiang Liang, is currently detained in Guanzhong and cannot return home. Xiang Chan — Xiang Bo — I fear he is not enough to accomplish anything..."

"Shall we... wait a while longer?"

Their voices gradually lowered. In the latter half of the night, shouts came from outside the gate. But by the time the Qin officials, arriving on a tip-off to arrest the offenders, kicked open the broken door of the Temple of Viscount Tan, they found nothing. Only behind the statue of Viscount Tan did they uncover a Chu-style short sword, engraved with the two characters "Zhongli"...

In the southern part of Donghai Commandery, crossing the Huai River, lay Huaiyin County, a land crisscrossed with waterways. A youth barely past his capping ceremony, clad in tattered clothes, his face gaunt and thin, sat at Nanchang Pavilion, wolfing down a bit of food that a pavilion conscript had shared with him.

As he ate, he looked up and listened as the Pavilion Chief solemnly proclaimed Qin Shi Huang's oral decree. He stopped chewing at once, a thoughtful look on his face.

The youth had lost his parents early and was of lowly commoner stock, having just turned seventeen this year. He had a clan name and a given name: his clan name was Han, and his given name was "Xin" — said to have been chosen for him by an old man passing through. The old man claimed to be of the military school. After eating the fish Han Xin had caught, he taught Han Xin a few days of military strategy — skills utterly useless to a commoner.

Han Xin had once entertained wild fantasies of becoming a minor official, but the villagers thought him poor and of bad conduct, so he could not be recommended or selected as an official. He, in turn, thought too highly of himself and was unwilling to become a merchant of debased registry. And so he idled about, living in a dilapidated sacrificial temple, wrapping himself in a straw mat and sleeping the whole day through. When hungry, he went everywhere scrounging free meals.

These past few days, Han Xin had been following the Nanchang Pavilion Chief, who was both good-natured and kind-hearted. At every mealtime, he would wander over to Nanchang Pavilion to cadge some leftovers. Others called him shameless, but he only smiled helplessly.

When news of the assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang arrived, Han Xin had been the most excited of all. He had even sold his last intact garment to buy a broken sword, as if preparing for some great undertaking.

But today, upon learning that the Emperor was safe, the spark in Han Xin's eyes dimmed a few shades.

"What I have learned is the art of dragon-slaying. Without encountering a chaotic age, it has no use!"

West of Donghai, in Huaiyang City of Chen Commandery, inside the Western Gate, the great swordsman Zhang Er, who had been lying low under an assumed name for seven or eight years, had become a "local" thoroughly familiar with the Qin officials and soldiers.

He still worked as a neighborhood gate warden. When the county officials came to issue orders, he nodded and bowed obsequiously, even kicking his "son" — in truth his close brother, Chen Yu — to make him stand at the neighborhood gate and loudly proclaim Qin Shi Huang's oral decree to the commoners within, just as the two of them had once loudly recited their own wanted posters.

After the proclamation, Zhang Er and Chen Yu exchanged a look, their meaning perfectly clear.

"As expected, we still have to wait a while longer..."

In Yangxia County, north of Huaiyang, the late-spring sun blazed fiercely. Hired farmhands, having just finished their labor, passed by the township pavilion and heard the postal runner proclaim the Emperor's oral decree. The farmers' expressions were indifferent, as if it had nothing to do with them. Only Chen Sheng, no longer young himself, leaned on his farming tool, lost in thought.

"If the Emperor is safe, then the realm is safe... How dare we black-headed commoners be anything but safe?"

The declaration from years ago — "If we attain wealth and honor, let us not forget one another" — had not become reality. Chen Sheng had not become a great swan; he was still an inconspicuous sparrow, flapping its wings in the currents of an era whose direction was unclear, struggling bitterly at the edge of subsistence as a hired farmhand.

At this moment, the postal runner finished reading the Emperor's oral decree and was about to hurry on to the next pavilion station. But seeing Chen Sheng pull him aside to ask question after question, he chatted a while longer. Unexpectedly, they found themselves getting along quite well.

Seeing that the hour was growing late and he had to be on his way, this dark, lean postal runner finally bowed with clasped hands to Chen Sheng in farewell and said with a smile, "I am a man of Yangxia — Wu Guang..."

Not only them. On Duke Liu Island in Jiaodong, the Centurion Liu Ji, stationed there by order, was sharpening his sword. Upon hearing the news, he furrowed his brow, then gave a sardonic chuckle — whether joy or worry, it was hard to tell.

And in Wu County of Kuaiji Commandery, a brawny youth living under an assumed name, placed there by his clan, learned of the matter and threw aside the sword in his hand, declaring boldly: "It's good that he didn't die! To slay the First Emperor and destroy the cruel Qin — this must be done by Xiang Ji with his own hands!"

In short, across the lands of Qi and Chu, these various heroes and gallant men of the late Qin in history, these future rebel kings — some were already stirring restlessly, some had already caught a different scent on the wind. But after Qin Shi Huang's oral decree spread, they all, without prior agreement, pulled in their heads and abandoned their earlier intentions.

In countless cities and marketplaces, the rumor that the Emperor was dead, along with a restless, agitated atmosphere, had nearly boiled over into open clamor. But at this moment, it all stopped. The bustling markets went from swirling with rumors to utter, dead silence!

That figure had loomed in the sky for too long — so long that whenever the black-headed commoners looked up, they saw him.

He was like the sun in the heavens, scorching and fierce, beating down upon the thirty million living souls of the realm. But so long as it did not set for even a moment, the nocturnal creatures dared not easily show their heads.

"O sun, when will you perish? I will die together with you."

Gao Jianli had shouted this as he raised his zhu to strike at Qin Shi Huang. But few could truly steel themselves to such resolve.

Tian Dan, Tian Rong, Zhang Er, Chen Yu, Zhongli Mei, Chen Sheng, Han Xin — in all their hearts, at this moment, echoed those words:

"So long as Qin Shi Huang does not die, in this vast realm, who dares to rebel?"

"I dare!"

"I, Tian Heng, dare to raise the banner of righteous revolt!"

In late March, upon the Lesser Sea, where islands lay scattered like stars on a chessboard, a fleet of boats anchored within a bay. Tian Heng stood aboard a vessel, long oar in hand, and struck a pirate chieftain—who, after hearing of Qin Shi Huang's verbal decree, had begun to waver in resolve—down into the water. Then, eyes glaring wide, he roared in fury:

"That Qin official Heifu has already, like a fox borrowing the tiger's might, pressed his threat right to the very door-lintels of the Tian clan, eager to destroy us before he'll be content. How can we still endure this? Now that the tiger has departed and the fox is left alone, the great undertaking is already launched—why speak of retreat!"

He pointed south and addressed the Qi pirates, whether aboard the boats or on the shore: "My lads, the coast of Qi lies but a few dozen li away. Will you flee in disgrace, return to those bird-shit-barren islands and go on living like turtles hiding in their shells, or will you follow me as we break the waves and land, fight our way into Linzi, avenge our wrongs, wash away our shame, and restore our homeland—this very day!"

PS: Chapter 3 will be in the evening, quite late, not until before midnight.

(End of chapter)