Tiger Guards

Chapter 74 Alliance under the City
On the road, Zhao Ji led more than a dozen Tiger Guards and Assistant Ministers forward.

On the opposite side, Qubei also led the Xiongnu kings and leaders, with a similar scale.

Not only are the sizes of the cavalry on both sides similar, but the composition of their armed forces is also extremely similar.

When the cavalry of both sides were thirty steps apart, they reined in their horses. Zhao Ji and Qu Bei drove their horses closer, and were five steps apart.

Observing each other, Qubei's appearance was relatively gentle, having experienced the vicissitudes of life, with two shiny mustaches. The rest of his beard and sideburns were shaved clean, leaving only stubble.

Zhao Ji took a quick glance and what caught his attention was the color of Qu Bei's eyes, which was a light aqua blue.

Qu Bei also examined Zhao Ji's appearance and felt that being intercepted by the other party was not a shameful thing.

Qubei held the horse whip in his hand and bowed: "Is this the Tiger Guard Zhao Zhonglang in front of me?"

Zhao Ji returned the greeting and asked, "It's me. Are you the Right Wise King Liu Qubei?"

"It's Xiao Wang."

Qubei then asked, "Did your Majesty hear from the rebels that Li Le and Han Xian were both killed by the Zhonglang?"

"Well, Hu Cai escaped last night. When I was heading south, I encountered him west of the city and shot him dead. Later, when I defeated Yang Feng, I also killed him while he was fleeing."

As Zhao Ji spoke, he took out a string of brocade bags with seals and ribbons from the harness. The ribbons were all woven with haste, and even the official seals inside were not made of gold or silver, but emergency copper seals.

What he grabbed in his hand was not a bag containing four seals, but fifteen.

The four generals of Baibo have all been granted the title of marquis, and have seals for marquis, private seals, generals, and governors.

Except for Yang Feng who had a good seal, the others were hastily made copper seals of poor quality.

Qu Bei was speechless for a moment, and just watched Zhao Ji open the seal bag and play with each copper seal in his hand.

Not only Qubei, but also the little kings and leaders who were listening behind him looked at him sideways, and some of them couldn't help but drive their horses a few steps closer, wanting to see more details.

Zhao Ji put the copper seals together and handed them to Qu Bei: "Right Wise King, please take a closer look, or you will accuse me of deceiving you."

"Zhonglang, please forgive me for laughing."

Qubei reached out to take them, casually flipped through a few, and then asked, "Could you please let me, your Majesty, appreciate them?"

"Yes, don't lose it. This is a collection I want to take back home. The Right Wise King also knows that the Baibo generals are blackmailing the court and stealing high positions. These seals are unique in the world and are of extraordinary significance."

Qubei nodded seriously, put several copper seals into a brocade bag, called a young king, and took the bag of copper seals away for appreciation.

Soon these Xiongnu kings and tribal leaders finished the inspection, re-packed the items and handed them to Qubei.

Qu Bei handed it over to Zhao Ji and said, "Zhonglang is so brave and fierce that he is like a god. We dare not offend him."

"Your Majesty, you're joking. If I don't drink water for three days, I'll die of thirst. If I don't eat for half a month, I'll starve to death. How can I be a god?"

Zhao Ji smiled and rechecked the copper seals in his hand. If one was really missing, he would take action.

Qubei was stunned. After Zhao Ji finished his examination, he asked, "Thanks to Zhonglang's efforts, all the generals of Baibo have surrendered. I wonder what Zhonglang thinks of the various parties in the court and the public?"

"My opinion doesn't matter."

Zhao Ji raised his arm, clenched his fist, and pointed his thumb at the Tiger Guards behind him. "Eight hundred Tiger Guards, we were lucky enough to kill the Baibo generals. How dare we talk about the empire? I wonder what the Right Wise King thinks?"

Qubei turned sideways and pointed behind him with his right whip. "My king has five hundred elite cavalry here. If we return to the vicinity of Xihe and Fenyang, we can summon another two thousand. If we can join forces with the Zhonglang, we will surely achieve something."

He was very humble and seemed willing to cooperate with Huben.

Zhao Ji frowned, deeply puzzled: "You are the dignified Right Wise King, why did you only summon a mere two thousand cavalry?"

"Zhonglang, you may not know that the Xiongnu's right wing is now led by Xiu Tuge, who have always disrespected the Chanyu's court. They even arbitrarily established a Chanyu, causing unrest within the kingdom. It is precisely because of the right wing's unruly behavior that I was able to accept this empty position. My own wing has less than a thousand households."

Qubei paused and said sincerely, "My lord has traveled extensively throughout the land, and among the heroes of the Han Dynasty, there is no one like Zhonglang."

Both sides were testing each other. The more Qu Bei did so, the more Zhao Ji was hesitant to believe in the other side's sincerity.

Facing Qubei's inquiring gaze, Zhao Ji smiled and said, "Youxian King's words have confused me. I wonder if you could explain it more clearly."

"Then Xiao Wang is bold."

Qubei coughed twice. "Today, one of my young prince and the Wei family must die. If my young prince dies and the Wei family survives, how will the Wei family view Zhonglang? Zhonglang is a young hero, how can the Wei family tolerate him? Zhonglang is a man of honor, how can he bow down to the Wei family? Moreover, the changes in Hedong today are all the work of Zhonglang and the other brave soldiers. How can the Wei family not resent him?"

As he spoke, Qubei bowed to Zhao Ji, and to Wang Qi, Jing Chun, Chang Mao, and the others behind him, seemingly expressing genuine respect. Seeing no rebuttal from Zhao Ji, Qubei continued, "My fellow Xiongnu people, regardless of their status, admire heroes. Your friendship with Zhonglang is truly sincere. If the court is deceived by the Wei family, and Zhonglang kills you today, then Zhonglang and the other Tiger Guards will not be at peace tomorrow."

"So that's how it is. The Right Wise King wants to be friends with me?"

Zhao Ji seemed to understand, and without turning back, he remained alert and asked loudly, "What do you think, Cavalry Cao?"

Wang Qi exchanged glances with the people around him, and seeing that their expressions were fierce, he immediately rode forward and bowed, "Zhonglang, the Wei family has been powerful for generations. We are all wary of them and consider them a serious threat."

Now it depends on what the court chooses. If they want to protect the clan... they have no choice but to kill with a borrowed knife.

This is the worst option, and the court should not be so short-sighted.

But we cannot blindly follow the court’s decision just because it is short-sighted.

People are responsible for their own safety.

Zhao Ji made up his mind, and his eyes brightened as he looked at Qu Bei, his expression becoming more cheerful. "Then, Right Wise King, could you explain what kind of friend this is? Is it a drinking buddy, or a friend who will stand shoulder to shoulder, sharing life and death, and striving for wealth and glory together?"

“When making friends, it’s best to have a deep and broad friendship.”

Qu Bei also breathed a sigh of relief. His situation was not good. He had seen many scenes where Yuan Shao and Zhang Yang would turn against each other at will. He wanted to get rid of the current crisis first before doing anything else.

Zhao Ji didn't want to ask, "How deep is the friendship that the Right Wise King mentioned?"

"Of course, it's like what Zhonglang said, fighting side by side, sharing life and death."

Qubei took off his helmet and whip and hung them on the harness. He raised his hands, palms facing the sky, and looked up at the sky: "I swear an oath to the God of War. If I break my oath, I will die under a hail of arrows and my body will be eaten by wolves!"

"There's something I forgot to tell the Right Wise King. While we were stationed in Jiangyi, a young Xiongnu king named Liu Hedu colluded with Li Le and led his troops to attack us. We killed both him and his son. I heard that he had once followed the former Chanyu in his campaign against the Yellow Turbans. Could he have some history with the Right Wise King?"

"Him? My prince has only a superficial relationship with him. There is a long-standing grudge between them due to the position of Right Wise King."

Qubei's words were firm and his expression was resolute, and he didn't seem to be faking it.

Still worried that Zhao Ji wouldn't believe him, he turned around and pointed at the group of small kings and leaders behind him: "This can all be used as evidence. The small king and Liu He are not familiar with each other."

Zhao Ji glanced sideways and saw that these people were nodding and answering in Chinese, whether fluent or not.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji finally felt relieved and said, "Since this is the case, let's wait for the imperial edict. If it means punishing the Wei family, we will swear an oath to heaven and earth; if not... what should the Right Wise King do?"

"Xiao Wang understands."

Qu Bei felt that his answer was not clear enough, so he explained: "This must be the result of the clan thief instigating the treacherous ministers. I will punish the clan thief and then apologize to the court!"

Zhao Ji nodded and said with a smile, "Then you and I will return to our respective camps and await the imperial edict."

"Xiao Wang, take your leave."

Qu Bei bowed, reined in his horse, turned around, picked up the helmet on the harness and put it on his head.

After watching these Xiongnu nobles leave, Wang Qi and his men approached on horseback: "Zhonglang, will the court grant your wish?"

"With us here, how could the imperial court be so humiliated as to beg for food?"

Zhao Ji narrowed his eyes at the departing Xiongnu nobles and commented, "This Right Wise King is quite polite. No wonder the Xiongnu were driven into the interior of the Great Wall by the Xianbei."

Jing Chun asked with some concern, "Zhonglang wants to form an alliance with this person?"

"Brother Wenqing, there are alliances in this world, such as brotherly alliances, father-in-law and son-in-law alliances, master-servant alliances, and even alliances under duress. This is just a temporary solution. As long as the alliance is in place, if he wants to leave without leaving some help for us, it would be a violation of the moral principles of an alliance."

Zhao Ji spurred his horse forward a few steps, then turned and looked at the surrounding Tiger Guard leaders. "This Right Wise King, who is only in name only, is very suitable to lead the way for us. The Xiongnu tribe is large, and with his assistance, we can save a lot of trivial matters. Eat slowly, don't rush."

Wang Qi had seen a lot of big scenes before, so he was the first to react and bowed: "Yes!"

The other Tiger Guards also bowed and said, "Yes!"

"Return to the battlefield and wait for the imperial edict!"

　It's ranked 11th on the recommended list, a thousand votes short of the 10th-place Kangxi. I really want to beat it. Please vote. It will be available on Friday.

(End of this chapter)