My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 32: Unexpected Places
Although Liu Bang made Ying Bu a king, in fact, just like he did with Han Xin and Peng Yue, he had to do so in order to resist Xiang Yu, and he never trusted them in his heart.

Now that Zhou Yin's army has rebelled, no one can say for sure what the situation of Ying Bu's army is. It is like being shrouded in fog. They may not have rebelled, but they may have already colluded with Xiang Yu in private.

When it comes to judging people, Liu Bang was undoubtedly very good. He had seen through both Ying Bu and Peng Yue early on, and it could be said that they were the same type of people as him.

For people like them, the first thing they always consider is how to protect their own lives and power. Everything else, even their wives and children, comes second.

In their view, as long as they are alive and can keep their power, what kind of woman can't they get? How many children can't they have?

Therefore, for them, as long as the conditions offered are sufficient, the hatred for the murder of their wives and children is not unresolved.

Therefore, in this situation, it would be too risky to conclude that Ying Bu had not rebelled based solely on Zhang Liang's inference and to rush to appease him, which would be extremely irresponsible to one's own life.

You must know that Ying Bu’s military camp was undoubtedly a den of tigers and wolves for Liu Bang, and he had never been there before.

Seeing Liu Bang's concerns, Zhang Liang stepped forward and whispered, "With Xiahou Ying's 3,000 elite cavalry protecting us, we can be safe even if Ying Bu's army rebels. King of Han, this risk is worth taking!"

Zhang Liang no longer dared to underestimate Xiang Chang at all. He treated him exactly like Fan Zeng before him, and was extremely vigilant and concerned about him.

Ying Bu was just a brave man with military expertise. If he ignored this kid's lobbying, he would fall into his conspiracy trap very soon without thinking too much.

If Ying Bu rebelled, the harm he brought would be much greater than that brought by Zhou and Yin. Not only would the current situation of Chu being inferior and Han being superior change drastically, but even the Han army's destruction of Chu and pacification of the world might become empty talk.

This is also the reason why he insisted that Liu Bang go to meet Ying Bu in person.

According to his guess, if Xiang Chang wanted to persuade Ying Bu to rebel, there would not be many conspiracy methods that he could use and would be effective immediately. The most likely method he would use was the strategy of sowing discord.

To put it bluntly, the strategy of sowing discord is to artificially cause information exchange to be blocked, thus causing fatal misunderstandings. As long as Liu Bang went there in person, no matter what strategy that kid used, it would be like ice and snow under the sun and would hardly have any effect.

Liu Bang hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded slowly.

Zhang Liang had proved himself countless times in the past. Whether it was his grasp of the general trend of the world, the direction of the situation, his insight into people's hearts, or the implementation of strategies, he had never miscalculated. This had long made him rely on him and believe in him without a doubt.

Liu Bang then ordered Xiahou Ying to protect them and rush to Ying Bu's army.

This is Liu Bang. You may complain about his rude behavior, vulgar language, greed for pleasure, fear of death, and roguery, but at critical moments, he is always able to listen to correct opinions and dare to go against the current at the risk of his own safety.

They had just walked out of the military camp a short distance when they came running towards Liu Xin with dozens of cavalrymen whose bodies were pierced by arrows and whose armor was riddled with puncture marks.

When he saw Liu Bang, Liu Xin was like an orphan seeing his father. He was happy but anxious at the same time. He immediately reported to Liu Bang the news of Ying Bu's rebellion and assassination of his uncle Liu Jia.

Liu Bang was stunned and cursed: "This criminal is a thief. I knew he was unreliable! Now it is true! Xiang Yu killed his wife and children, so he should have been chopped off as well!"

Zhang Liang sighed, knowing that he was one step too late. Thinking of the plan of Mr. Xiang Chang, which had been linked together from last night to now, it was meticulous and thorough, leaving no room for maneuver. He and his men were caught off guard and had been responding passively, thus falling into a disadvantage. He could not help but admire him greatly.

What puzzled him was that based on the performance of Master Xiang Chang from last night to today, he should not have been unknown and mediocre before. At least with his help, Xiang Yu would not have been surrounded at Gaixia!

"This kid seems to have suddenly come to his senses last night! Could it be that the fate of the Chu State really should not end?"

Chen Ping, who had been following silently beside him, keenly noticed something suspicious in Liu Xin's narration and asked, "Are you saying that you met Ying Bu on the way to Ying Bu's camp and were attacked by him? Tell me the truth, did you see Ying Bu's face? It was definitely him?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liang suddenly came to his senses and understood what Chen Ping meant. If it was Ying Bu who really attacked and killed Liu Jia, he could have waited for Liu Jia to arrive in the military camp and then caught him in the trap. In that case, no one would be able to escape. Why would he send so many people back to tip off?

Liu Xin was startled, blinking his eyes for a while, and shook his head for a while, "No, no!" Then he said unconvincedly, "It must be him! The figure is very similar, especially wearing that dazzling golden armor!"

After he said this, not only did Zhang Liang and Chen Ping become more certain that the man was not Ying Bu, but Liu Bang also reacted and was so angry that he whipped him with his horse whip: "My uncle is dead, but you ran back intact, and even swore to bring back false information! You idiot, how come it wasn't you who died?"

"King of Han, time is running out, hurry up and continue to rush to Ying Bu's army. With that kid's cunning, a general like Ying Bu who has extraordinary military talent is no match for him. If we are a little later, I'm afraid we will really fall into his trap and be forced to rebel."

Liu Bang looked at Zhang Liang with a bitter smile, shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's too late now! Ying Bu is one of the few fierce tigers in the world besides Xiang Yu."

Zhang Liang heard the unfinished meaning in Liu Bang's words. Ying Bu had not rebelled before, and Liu Bang had never been to his military camp. Now the situation was chaotic, and maybe he had not rebelled yet, but it was undeniable that there was a possibility of a rebellion. If Liu Bang went there, he would be putting himself in danger, which was really too risky.

And once Ying Bu really rebelled, with his strong military skills and tens of thousands of men under his command, Xiahou Ying's mere 3,000 elite cavalry might not be able to protect Liu Bang.

Seeing Liu Bang's thoughts, Xiahou Ying said, "As the King of Han, it is too dangerous to go to an unpredictable place and rely on the kindness of a tiger for your own safety. Even if the King of Han does not go, what can we do? Even if Ying Bu and Liu Jia all rebel, and the total number of Xiang Yu's remaining troops is only a few hundred thousand, we still have more than 400,000 troops, and the King of Qi is the commander-in-chief. The advantage is still on our side, and they are still doomed to fail!"

Liu Bang clapped his hands and nodded, "Yes, that's right!"

For a moment, Chen Ping was silent and Zhang Liang frowned.

The two of them, even Liu Bang himself, and even Xiahou Ying who said this, all knew that war could not be won simply by having more people! But the reason why Xiahou Ying said this was obviously to speak for Liu Bang, and in essence, Liu Bang was afraid.

Zhang Liang hesitated for a moment and said, "This kind of alienation plot must not be ignored. If the King of Han cannot go in person, he should send an envoy to explain the situation, reaffirm the King of Han's trust in the King of Huainan, and try to appease and win him over!"

Liu Bang immediately agreed to this and ordered Liu Xin to take his command arrow and go to Ying Bu's army to appease him.

Liu Xin had just escaped, and now his face turned bitter when he heard that he had to go back again, but he dared not disobey.

Liu Bang immediately assigned dozens of cavalry guards to protect Liu Xin and escort him to Ying Bu's army.

(End of this chapter)