"Who is that man??"
Liu Bang looked at the man with a bewildered gaze, even though he actually recognized who the person was.
The soldiers around him also had magical expressions on their faces.
"Your Majesty, that man… should be General Chen, right?"
"He should be… right."
His tone was very confused, even with a hint of bewilderment and incomprehension, as if his whole being was doubting life itself.
Liu Bang's expression twisted as he looked at the man below, who was wielding a large halberd, chasing Xiang Yu, shouting madly as he fought. His expression was strange: "Is that Chen Qing?"
"When did Chen Qing… become so brave?"
At this moment, at the foot of the mountain.
Xiang Yu wielded his large halberd, fighting against Chen Cheng. When he took Chen Cheng's first halberd strike, his expression did not change.
Given the momentum of a fierce tiger descending the mountain, being able to deliver such a halberd strike was not surprising.
What ability could a mere Chen Cheng possess?!
When he took Chen Cheng's second halberd strike, Xiang Yu's expression changed slightly.
His disdain for Chen Cheng had begun to shift.
How could this guy still have so much strength on his second halberd strike? What's going on?
But it didn't matter.
What ability could a mere Chen Cheng possess??!!
But… when such powerful moves continued from the third halberd strike to an unknown number of halberd strikes, Xiang Yu's face flushed, and the hand wielding his halberd was already somewhat numb.
What… what in the world is this guy?!
Whose subordinate is this person? Why have I never heard of such immense strength before?!
At this moment, he was both urging his Black Steed forward and desperately resisting Chen Cheng's onslaught. Chen Cheng was like a fierce tiger, unstoppable and irresistible.
And Chen Cheng?
He had a solemn expression on his face, but inwardly, he was beaming with joy.
Why was he so brave?
The story began on the first day of his second arrival, when Liu Bang was besieged in Yingyang.
At that time, Chen Cheng reluctantly accepted Liu Bang's mission and began to resist Xiang Yu's attack. His thought at that time was very simple: he just wanted to wait for Han Xin's reinforcement.
Then, he would survive, and that would be it.
If he survived and reached the Wu River, he could at least get the title of Marquis within the Passes, right?
At that time, it would also be a small change to his ancestors' situation.
But… things happened so wonderfully.
When he picked up Chen Cheng's weapon that night, he suddenly realized a problem: this time, "Xi's" power felt even greater than when he had arrived last time?
And as his "arrival" time increased day by day, his strength gradually grew!
Even by the time he had blocked Xiang Yu for a month and a half, his strength had grown to a point where he could be compared to the strongest strongman under Liu Bang at the time.
And now…
Chen Cheng wielded the large halberd, weighing over three hundred catties, as if he were swinging a plastic toy.
You should know…
Xiang Yu's Overlord Halberd also only weighed over three hundred catties!
But when Xiang Yu used the Overlord Halberd, he certainly didn't do so with Chen Cheng's ease and comfort.
Xiang Yu took eighteen consecutive halberd strikes from Chen Cheng, his face flushed, but he said nothing. Only when he recovered his strength did he have the energy to look at Chen Cheng.
"Who in the world are you?"
"Why have I never heard of your reputation before?!"
Chen Cheng sat on his horseback, his expression solemn, but inwardly, he was already beaming with joy.
Xiang Yu had taken eighteen halberd strikes from him and was flushed in the face—this was simply too awesome to tell others.
His expression remained unchanged, and he merely said coldly: "Under the King of Han, Colonel General, Xi!"
Xiang Yu's expression changed: "You are Chen Xi?"
He couldn't help but exclaim: "Originally, I thought you were able to resist my army's invasion only by relying on schemes and tricks, but I never expected you to possess such formidable strength?"
At this moment, Xiang Yu even had the thought of recruiting him.
"You are merely a Colonel General under the King of Han. Why not come under my command?"
"Even if it means being enfeoffed as a king or a marquis, I can grant it."
Xiang Yu spoke seemingly generously: "In the past, Liu Bang, the King of Han, was merely a small soldier under my command. It was I who enfeoffed him as the King of Han, with his territory in Bashu, Hanzhong, and other places."
"Thus, the King of Han exists today."
"If you are willing to pledge allegiance to me and help me unify the world, I will enfeoff you as the King of Han. You and I can rule the land divided by the river, how about that?"
Xiang Yu's words carried endless temptation, like a devil from hell.
But Chen Cheng merely sat on his horseback, without the slightest hesitation.
"Traitor! Do not try to sow discord between me and the King of Han!"
"I am a subject of the King of Han, how could I possibly pledge allegiance to you?"
"A man born into this world, how can he serve two masters?"
After saying this, Chen Cheng once again wielded the large halberd in his hand. For a moment, Xiang Yu didn't even have the time or strength to speak, only able to barely cope.
To say that Chen Cheng wasn't tempted by this "ruling the land divided by the river" was, in fact, impossible.
After all, who doesn't want to become a king or overlord?
But for Chen Cheng, becoming a king or overlord was the worst option.
Could there be an imperial dynasty that lasts for a thousand or ten thousand years in this world? Impossible. Once one claims kingship and establishes a nation, they will lose the most fundamental thing and then become bound to that country.
But aristocratic families are different.
In fact, if a nation is a whole, then an aristocratic family is a loose individual.
They can break into pieces at any time and then hide within this vast world.
This is also why ancient aristocratic families were so difficult to eradicate.
But emperors are different; everything they possess is concentrated on the nation. If the nation perishes, it means almost all of their "accumulations" are consumed.
This is also one of the reasons why the imperial families of old faded into obscurity.
What Chen Cheng wanted to establish was an aristocratic family that could last for thousands of years and influence his future, not a fleeting dynasty.
Without understanding whether this "arrival" meant that every generation's family head could arrive, or if it only happened once after a period of time, Chen Cheng could not claim kingship or overlordship.
Even if a family produced two or three generations of useless family heads, as long as there was one smart person in the family, the family could continue, and then when the next arrival occurred, it could develop again.
But what about a country?
If a country produced two consecutive incompetent rulers… it would be very difficult to "revive" that dynasty again.
To put it bluntly, which of the so-called "restoration rulers" in history truly succeeded?
Did they restore their imperial dynasty to its original peak of prosperity? Not a single one!
The most successful of these restoration rulers should be "Emperor Guangwu of Han," but… was that a restoration? How was that any different from starting from scratch to build an empire?
The biggest difference was that he bore the surname "Liu," which was seven or eight generations removed, or even beyond the tenth degree of kinship, and that was all.
If Liu Xiu had ascended to the throne as crown prince and then taken over the Han Dynasty, would he still have been able to achieve the Guangwu Restoration?
The possibility, though it existed, was very small, unless this great Archmage once again activated the powerful force of "Son of Destiny."
Therefore, when Xiang Yu tempted him, Chen Cheng firmly said no to the bad temptation.
... ...
The fourth year of the King of Han.
The fourth month of Liu Bang's siege.
A hundred li outside Yingyang.
Han Xin rode on horseback, his expression calm, and his entire being carried a hint of joy.
The world said that Han Xin always cleaned up Liu Bang's messes, but in fact, no one knew that this General-in-Chief actually very much liked cleaning up Liu Bang's messes—because although this King of Han liked to cause trouble, after he caused trouble and had his mess cleaned up, he was truly generous.
He pondered whether this time he could… ask for the position of a provisional King of Qi?
In fact, he had been coveting this position for a long time.
While Liu Bang led his army in pursuit of Xiang Yu, he was "suppressing rebellions" in Qi, or to be more precise, he was besieging the State of Qi.
At this time, Qi had already been conquered by him, but there was no one to govern it yet.
And at this moment, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were, in fact, in a tripartite standoff. Han Xin wanting to become a "provisional King of Qi" was actually just a test of Liu Bang.
And to raise his own status within Liu Bang's faction.
As for becoming a true King of Qi and then splitting off to establish a nation?
In reality, although this idea existed, it wasn't particularly strong, because for Han Xin, he felt that the King of Han would not tolerate such a thing happening.
And while he seemed to be in a tripartite standoff with Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, in reality, all the soldiers under his command belonged to Liu Bang!
If Liu Bang gave an order, it was debatable whether these soldiers would still obey him.
Secondly… his forces were the weakest of the three, even if Xiang Yu sent someone to instigate him to claim kingship at this time, it would be the same.
Han Xin was a rare intelligent person; how could he not see through Xiang Yu's intentions?
If he were to claim kingship at this moment, the King of Han, even if he disregarded the King of Chu, would instantly turn back and use all his strength to annihilate him, because if he were to ignore it, it would be equivalent to allowing others under his command to have such thoughts!
This was something the King of Han absolutely could not tolerate.
Thinking of this, Han Xin sighed deeply, then galloped his horse forward.
Only his voice remained in the air.
"Hurry to Yingyang and assist His Majesty!"
Behind him, countless soldiers moved swiftly, stirring up some dust.
... ...
Yingyang, in the Han army's main tent.
Chen Cheng did not truly desperately pursue Xiang Yu, but after pursuing for a while, he returned with his soldiers.
This is the meaning of not chasing a cornered enemy.
If you were to say he could truly defeat Xiang Yu, that would actually be impossible. In a life-and-death struggle, he would surely be defeated and die at Xiang Yu's hands.
Because Xiang Yu truly practiced killing techniques, while he only relied on brute strength, coupled with the momentum of water and fire, to catch Xiang Yu off guard for a moment. That's why Xiang Yu consecutively took eighteen increasingly strong halberd strikes from him, creating an illusion for Xiang Yu.
Of course, more importantly…
At this time, Xiang Yu still had hope and would not fight like a cornered beast.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, your servant has not failed Your Majesty's high hopes. I have resisted Xiang Yu's army for over three months now."
"This time, by relying on Your Majesty's might, I was able to use the power of heaven, earth, water, and fire to force Xiang Yu and others away."
"Now Yingyang is safe, so your servant has specially come to report back!"
Chen Cheng stood there, standing ramrod straight.
And Liu Bang?
He didn't even wait for Chen Cheng to finish speaking before directly approaching Chen Cheng, a smile on his face, looking very amiable, like he was looking at his own brother, as he patted Chen Cheng's shoulder.
"Between you and me, why call me Your Majesty?"
"We are all brothers!"
He took Chen Cheng's hand, and then the two sat in the main tent. Liu Bang pointed at Chen Cheng and said to the strategists beside him: "This time, if not for Chen Qing, I would have been in danger!"
"Today, on that high slope, witnessing Chen Qing's bravery truly filled my heart with emotion."
"Even a mighty figure like Xiang Yu could only defend against Chen Qing's attacks, and was even forced to retreat by Chen Qing."
"Such a fierce general is still merely a small Colonel General; this is my fault!"
As Liu Bang spoke, his face even showed genuine sorrow and self-reproach, and tears flowed instantly from the corners of his eyes as if they came and went freely.
A majestic King of Han, crying like a child.
He tightly held Chen Cheng's hand and said to the strategists Zhang Liang and Chen Ping beside him: "Zifang, this time, you two must not dissuade me again. I must enfeoff Chen Qing."
"Previously, I promised that whoever could discover Xiang Yu's whereabouts, if confirmed true, would be granted an additional one thousand five hundred shi and then be made a Marquis of Distinction."
"This time, Chen Qing saved me from dire straits; is that not enough to earn him the position of Marquis within the Passes?"
He waved his hand, as if explaining to Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, and others, but in reality, he was completely absolving himself of responsibility.
Zhang Liang and Chen Ping also sighed.
This wasn't Liu Bang deliberately shirking responsibility, but genuinely their idea.
They felt that it might be a bit excessive to bestow a title and make Chen Cheng a Marquis of Distinction before reaching the Wu River and encircling Xiang Yu, which might cause dissatisfaction among the other soldiers.
Who would have thought…
Who would have thought that this previously ordinary "Xi" would be so brave!
Chasing the Hegemon-King of Chu???
Zhang Liang even stood up first, with a hint of guilt on his face.
"Indeed, it was I who advised Your Majesty to postpone the enfeoffment previously, and you, Xi, not only do not hold the past against us, but even saved His Majesty from dire straits during this siege."
Zhang Liang looked earnestly at Chen Cheng and said: "This is my, your elder brother's, fault."
He turned his head: "I ask Your Majesty to bestow a higher title upon Brother Chen!"
Liu Bang was also secretly pondering this matter. Enfeoffing Chen Cheng was something that could no longer be delayed.
After all, although he hadn't heard the discussion between Chen Cheng and Xiang Yu today, he could actually guess what Xiang Yu had promised Chen Cheng.
However, the conversation between the two was so short, and Chen Cheng even directly attacked without giving Xiang Yu any time to react, which indicated that Chen Cheng refused without even hesitating!
Liu Bang asked himself, if it were him, although he would also refuse, he wouldn't do so as quickly.
How could such a temptation be resisted?
So he wanted to bestow the title in advance, turning the drawn pie into a real pie, thereby stunning Chen Cheng so that he wouldn't actually defect to Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu + Chen Cheng, so brave… then what the hell would he even play then?
Secondly, he truly didn't care about the position of "Marquis within the Passes." Liu Bang was best at "spending money"; titles and money could be scattered as if they were worthless.
Except for the position of "King."
Liu Bang knew in his heart how serious the problem of "kings of different surnames" was, so unless absolutely necessary, he would not grant kingship.
He held Chen Cheng's hand and softly said: "Chen Qing comes from Chen, but Chen is remote and not wealthy."
"If I were to enfeoff Chen Qing in Chen, I, your elder brother, would not feel at ease."
Liu Bang pondered repeatedly and finally said: "In recent days, I have discussed with Zifang and others where to establish the capital, and we finally decided to establish it in Guanzhong, the land of our rise."
"Chen Qing saved me from dire straits today, and I, your elder brother, hope that Chen Qing can continue to guard me in the future."
"How about we set your fiefdom in 'Guandu' and enfeoff you as Guandu Marquis, the head of the Marquises of Distinction?"