'Grab it! Kick its neck! I've bet all my coins on you!' 'Ouch! What's wrong with this 'general'? Liu Bingyi, you jinx! Pay up!"
Amidst a flurry of spittle and flying feathers, a young man in a tattered hemp robe with a cheap jade pendant hanging from his waist squatted ungracefully on the stone steps with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth. He grinned at the defeated rooster in the arena.
This was Liu Bingyi.
'What's all the fuss about? A bet's a bet.' He spat out the grass, patted his backside and stood up, looking utterly shameless. 'The chicken's diarrhoea is its stomach problem. What does it have to do with me, the chicken farmer? Besides, when have I ever paid money?"
The surrounding thugs roared with laughter. Everyone knew that, despite his imperial lineage, this "great-grandson of the emperor" was a notorious "poor bully" in Chang'an.
[Ding! Negative emotion value detected: +10 from Gambler A.] [Ding! Successfully maintained the 'unambitious' persona: system points +5.]
Liu Bingyi listened to the system voice in his mind and sneered inwardly. Acting was his profession.
'Brother Bingyi, you're still laughing!' A chubby boy rushed over anxiously. This was his top henchman from the streets, nicknamed 'Sparrow'. 'That bullying butler from the Huo family is here with his men. They say you robbed his private room at that tavern the other day, and they're coming to break your bones!'
'The Huo family?' A cold glint flashed deep in Liu Bingyi's eyes, but his face instantly contorted into a look of utter terror.
His legs gave way and he almost collapsed to the ground. His voice trembled as he cried out, 'What? People from General Huo's mansion? Quick! Sparrow, hold them off! I'll climb over the back wall!'
This cowardly act drew even more scornful glances from those around him.
But this was exactly the effect he wanted.
A moment later, in the alley behind the cockfighting arena...
Liu Bingyi scaled the wall. The moment he landed, his terrified expression disappeared, replaced by the calm of a hunter.
'Come out,' he said calmly.
Two menacing swordsmen emerged from the shadows and bowed respectfully to him. 'Boss, we've found out where the Huo family steward is.'
'Speak,' said Liu Bingyi, expertly pulling a tattered cloth from his robes.
'The steward ostensibly came to cause you trouble, but he was actually on his way to meet spice merchants from the Western Regions. Rumour has it that they hid Huo family-made weapon moulds in that shipment of spices.'
Liu Bingyi rubbed his fingertips together.
[Eye of Insight Activated – Target: Hidden Pattern on Cloth] [Analysis Complete: This cloth is used exclusively by the Imperial Guards. Information accuracy: 98%.
"Who would have thought that this cowardly wretch, who was terrified in the cockfighting arena, could control an intelligence network covering the entire lower echelons of Chang'an?"
'Liu Bingyi, where do you think you're going!'
At the entrance to the alley, the Huo family's steward, accompanied by four burly servants, blocked Liu Bingyi's path. With a menacing sneer, the steward said, 'Great-grandson of the Emperor? Bah! In Chang'an, the Huo family is more important than the Liu family. Beat him, but leave him alive!'
'No, no, no, gentlemen, let's talk this through!' Liu Bingyi shrank back into his cowardly manner, retreating while pleading for mercy.
However, when a servant charged at him with a fist raised, Liu Bingyi's eyes suddenly sharpened like blades.
[System loading: Imperial Guard combat technique – muscle memory.]
His body tilted slightly to the left as the servant's heavy punch grazed his nose.
The next second, Liu Bingyi's elbow struck the man's ribs like a hammer; the sound of bones shattering echoed through the air.
Immediately afterwards, he seized the man's wrist, spun around and threw him over his shoulder in one fluid, fast movement that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
The 200-pound man was slammed against the wall and instantly lost consciousness.
Before the other three men could see what had happened, Liu Bingyi had disappeared from his spot.
A blur.
Three muffled thuds followed and the three servants collapsed to the ground, clutching their knees and howling in agony.
In the alley, only the terrified Huo family steward and Liu Bingyi remained, the latter now wearing his usual 'innocent and terrified' expression.
'Oh dear! How come your servants all tripped and fell while walking?' Liu Bingyi walked towards the steward step by step, a smug smile on his face. 'Look, I didn't even move, and they've already fallen. It must be divine retribution for their many misdeeds.'
'You... you...' The steward pointed at Liu Bingyi, his teeth chattering.
Suddenly, Liu Bingyi leaned close to the steward's ear, lowered his voice and spoke in a tone as cold as ice water:
'Go back and tell Huo Shan that if he wants those Western Region moulds, he should wait at the third warehouse on the Wei River dock tonight. Also, if you dare touch my men again, I guarantee you won't even have the chance to complain to the Huo family.' "
With that, Liu Bingyi slapped the steward across the face.
The steward was sent flying three metres and lost most of his teeth.
[Ding! Battle over. Evaluation: Perfect acting skills plus a swift counterattack. Reward: Constitution enhancement +1. Intelligence skill 'Eavesdropping Wind' unlocked.]
Liu Bingyi straightened his dishevelled linen robe, replaced the foxtail grass in his mouth and strode out of the alleyway.
As he emerged, he saw the gentle woman waiting under the tree.
'Bingyi, you got into a fight again?' Xu Pingjun rushed over anxiously, looking at the dust on his clothes.
'How could I, Pingjun?' Liu Bingyi smiled brightly, almost naively. 'I just saw them fall, so I helped them up — they even thanked me!' You can ask Sparrow if you don't believe me. I'm the best person in Chang'an." "
Xu Pingjun sighed helplessly and carefully brushed the grass clippings from his shoulders. 'When will you ever act seriously?'
Liu Bingyi looked at her tenderly, but in his heart, he was calculating the return of Emperor Zhao of Han.
Soon, Pingjun. When this play comes to an end, I will make you the most honoured woman in the world.'
After Xu Pingjun had been coaxed and tricked home by Liu Bingyi, dusk was approaching and his nonchalant attitude quickly faded. He walked through the winding slums and arrived at what appeared to be an abandoned blacksmith's shop.
[Ding! Host's prestige value has reached the required level, triggering the side quest 'Young Eagle Spreads Its Wings'. [Quest objective: Select and train a core squad of up to 12 members.
Quest reward: Unlock the 'Special Forces Basic Training Manual (Chinese Version)', obtain the blueprint for a small steelmaking blast furnace and a random clue to a famous minister.
'Brother Bingyi, the people are here.' Sparrow emerged from the shadows. He still had that honest, simple look, but his eyes shone with an unprecedented fervour.
In the backyard of the blacksmith's shop stood twelve young men. Some had been starving refugees, some frequented cockfighting rings and two had been defeated soldiers who had deserted the army. They had all been saved by Liu Bingyi and held him in blind adoration as the 'great-grandson of the emperor'.
'Brother Liu, did you call us here to pull off a big heist?' A lean young man wiped the sweat from his palms, a ruthless glint in his eyes.
Liu Bingyi remained silent. He stood with his hands behind his back, activating his Eye of Insight.
Name: Zhao Yi (Defeated Soldier)
Loyalty: 85, Potential: Skilled in close combat.
Name: Sun Er (Refugee)
Loyalty: 92, Potential: Innate superhuman strength.
...
He slowly surveyed the group, his acting skills honed in the crucible of death now transforming into a tangible sense of oppression.
'A big heist? No, that's what bandits do.' Liu Bingyi's voice was soft, yet it struck everyone's hearts like a hammer blow. 'What I want you to be is the shadows of the Han Dynasty. You're normally labourers, peddlers and beggars, but once I give the order, you will be the sharpest blades in Chang'an.'
'The Huo family has such blades, as does the imperial palace.' Liu Bingyi walked towards the blast furnace, the firelight reflecting off his profile. 'But those are just rusty scrap iron. I want to forge you into fine steel.'
'Brother Bingyi, our lives are yours! Whatever you ask, we'll do!" Zhao Yi was the first to kneel.
As everyone shouted their orders, a system notification sounded in Liu Bingyi's mind:
"'Young Eagle Squad' successfully formed! The 'Special Forces Basic Training Manual' has been injected into the host's memory.' 'The system has detected a lack of training resources for the host and is issuing supplies: 'Efficient Dehydrated Rations Production Method' and 'Xuanjia Army Basic Combat Techniques'."
"Very good." Liu Bingyi pulled out a stack of design drawings that he had hastily created overnight based on the system's memory. 'Sparrow, for the next three months, I want you to disappear into the valley at the foot of Nanshan Mountain. Your training will consist of three things only: absolute obedience, extreme survival and pinpoint sniping.'
'But Brother Bingyi, we have no money or food…' Sparrow hesitated.
"Money?" Liu Bingyi smiled — his signature devilishly charming smile. 'I just "borrowed" the Huo family butler's waist token and that weapon mould information a couple of days ago. Tonight, the Huo family will be giving us a batch of 'charitable donations'." Late at night, at the Wei River dock.
The Huo family steward, in pain from a broken tooth, led a squad of elite private soldiers to guard Warehouse No. 3. He had a large sum of hush money tucked into his pocket and was preparing to retrieve the weapon moulds that could have branded the Huo family as 'traitors'.
However, they were not met by the fallen great-grandson of the emperor.
"Whoosh!" A sharp sound pierced the silence.
A private soldier screamed and fell to the ground, a sharpened bamboo chopstick lodged in his throat.
'Who's there? Show yourself!' The steward cried out in terror.
No one answered. In the darkness, Liu Bingyi stood high above like an emperor of the night, coldly surveying everything. Rather than acting personally, he used the 'command vision' granted by the system to direct the twelve 'rookies', who had never seen blood, by snapping his fingers and giving simple coded signals.
This was their first lesson: to use others to do their dirty work.
In just a quarter of an hour, all of the Huo family's elite troops lay dead in pools of blood, without having seen their opponents clearly.
Liu Bingyi emerged from the shadows, carrying a heavy bag of gold ingots. He casually tossed it to Zhao Yi behind him. His tone was as calm as if he were discussing tomorrow's weather:
'Take this to buy meat, iron and lives. In three months, I want to see a team capable of beheading a thousand soldiers."
'If you can't do that, don't come back.'
That night, the underworld of Chang'an was quietly reshuffled.
Three days later, shocking news spread throughout the court and the public. Emperor Zhao of Han, Liu Fuling, was gravely ill and near death.
At a time when the Han Empire was on the brink of turmoil, Liu Bingyi — previously seen enjoying cockfighting and horse riding in the streets — sat before a pile of dismantled Huo family weapons. His eyes were as deep and unfathomable as an abyss.
'The curtain is finally about to rise.'