The Great Qin Dynasty: The egg of the Black Bird was revered as a national guardian beast.

Meanwhile, after a long journey.

After failing to obtain aid in Handan, Zhou Shi traveled eastward and obtained reinforcements from the State of Qi. He then sought help from the State of Chu.

But after he arrived in Chu...

After asking around a little, I found out that I was completely overwhelmed.

Although he had received news that the State of Chu had been restored, he only understood it after arriving here.

The State of Chu was indeed restored.

However, in this land of Chu, besides the King of Chu, there was another group of people who were also fighting under the banner of restoring Chu.

Those people were descendants of Xiang Yan, a famous general of the Chu state.

As for the current King of Chu, whose name is Jing Ju, he was installed by an unknown person named Qin Jia.

Now, who should he turn to for help?

After much deliberation, Zhou Shi finally decided to seek help from Xiang Yan.

There was no other reason than that he had previously followed Chen Sheng in his uprising, and the banner Chen Sheng raised was none other than Xiang Yan's.

Moreover, although a King of Chu was established, Qin Jia's strength was far inferior to that of Xiang Yan's descendants.

Soon, Zhou Shi arrived in Kuaiji Wuzhong.

After a lengthy announcement, Zhou Shi was finally allowed to enter and meet the leader of the rebel army, Xiang Liang.

Zhou Shi then realized that besides him, many other people had come to seek help from him.

He sighed inwardly, "No wonder she's a descendant of Xiang Yan."

Even though Qin Jia established Jing Ju as the King of Chu, many people still came to join him after he raised the banner of restoring Chu.

Seating arrangements were made according to rank inside the room.

Some are judged by their reputation, others by their family's standing, and still others by their age.

Although Zhou Shi was only a county sergeant before he joined Chen Sheng's uprising, he is now the prime minister of the State of Wei and ranks among the top in the hierarchy.

Now he commands eight thousand soldiers from Jiangdong.

The rebellion against Qin is imminent!

Xiang Liang displayed his aristocratic demeanor, treating those who came to him seeking his help with great enthusiasm.

After talking with everyone...

Xiang Liang then sat down in the seat of honor, and behind him stood a tall young man holding a halberd.

So far, the atmosphere has been fairly good.

At this moment, someone whispered in Xiang Liang's ear. Xiang Liang lowered his eyes and looked at the surrounding area.

"Zhou Shi, some people say that you followed Chen Sheng in the uprising, and that you were using my grandfather's name?"

He looked at Zhou Shi with a cold smile: "Is this true?"

When Xiang Liang confronted Zhou Shi, Zhou Shi was sweating profusely, caught in a dilemma: to say yes or no.

Finally, he could only feign ignorance and say, "I joined the rebellion of Prince Chen later, and I don't know much about it before that."

But Xiang Liang wouldn't let him go and pressed him for answers again.

"So, are you still a subordinate of Zhang Chu? Do you follow Chu or Wei?"

Zhou Shi let out a breath and raised his hand.

"Zhou Shi is now the Chancellor of Wei, and he is only interested in seeking help, both to relieve the siege of Wei and to avenge King Chen."

After some evasive answers, Zhou Shi managed to get away with it.

After entertaining the heroes who came to join him, Xiang Liang arranged official positions for them and then the meeting ended.

But the banquet was about to end.

Before Xiang Liang could say whether he would send troops to aid Wei, Zhou Shi was about to say something, but Xiang Liang stopped him by raising his hand.

He looked at Zhou Shi and said in a calm tone, "Prime Minister Wei must have had a long and tiring journey. Please stay at my residence for a while."

"As for the matter of aiding Wei, let me discuss it first."

"Yes." Zhou Shi responded and nodded before stepping away. For now, that was all that could be done.

...............

Inside the mansion, there is a lotus platform.

In winter, the pond full of lotus flowers turned into withered and yellow remnants.

"We, the people of Chu, love lotus flowers and water chestnuts very much; we make clothes from water chestnuts and lotus leaves, and gather hibiscus flowers to make skirts."

Xiang Liang stood there, his hands behind his back.

He said this with emotion to Xiang Yu, who was following behind him.

"The last king of Chu often had his concubines wear lotus flowers as clothing and play together in the water."

Xiang Yu paused, looking at the withered, yellow lotus leaves.

He asked, "Uncle, why are you saying these things? Now that the Prime Minister of Wei has come to ask for help, should we send troops?"

Xiang Yu asked him directly, and Xiang Liang just stood there and smiled.

He then nodded, "Of course we will send troops. The Qin dynasty is currently at its strongest; only by forming an alliance against Qin can we defeat it!"

"Furthermore, the State of Wei is located in the heart of the Central Plains. If Wei is destroyed, the Qin army will directly threaten the homeland of the State of Chu, which will be disadvantageous to us!"

"I see." Xiang Yu nodded, then lowered his eyes to look at Xiang Liang, eager to try.

"Uncle, may I personally lead troops to aid Wei this time?"

"No!" Xiang Liang immediately objected as soon as Xiang Yu finished speaking. "Now is not the time!"

"When will that be?" Xiang Yu asked Xiang Liang.

Xiang Liang shook his head and said, "Yu'er, you'll have plenty of opportunities to fight in the future. For now, just wait!"

"Yes." Xiang Yu lowered his head.

But there was still some resentment in those eyes.

Xiang Liang looked at him and sighed slightly, but he didn't say anything more and simply changed the subject.

"Yu'er, do you know that someone in Pengcheng has installed Jing Ju, a former nobleman of Chu, as the King of Chu?"

"What?" Xiang Yu raised his eyes, then looked at Xiang Liang, and asked furiously, "Who is it?"

Xiang Liang slowly said, "Qin Jia."

"I don't know him." Xiang Yu shook his head, disdainfully saying, "Where did this nobody come from, daring to presume to call himself king?"

"Uncle, I will lead troops to Pengcheng immediately to slaughter Qin Jia and capture that false king!"

"Wait a minute." Xiang Liang quickly stopped Xiang Yu, then looked at him and said, "There's no rush now, let's wait a while."

Xiang Yu was even angrier: "Uncle, you must be confused. Jing Ju has usurped the title of king. If we don't accept this, how will we face ourselves?"

"Not to mention, as the King of Chu, many people from the Chu region have come to him for refuge. How can he rebel against Qin without rallying the people of Chu?"

The two Chu states coexisted, each believing itself to be the legitimate ruler.

If we do not pacify the enemy as soon as possible and unify the Chu region, we will not be able to gather the strength of the Chu region, which is a major taboo.

In any case, Xiang Yu believed that eliminating the false king and ensuring that only his Xiang family's voice could be heard in the Chu region was of utmost urgency!

But Xiang Liang didn't think so.

After stopping Xiang Yu, he looked at him and said.

"Yu'er, Jingju has usurped the title of king and should be punished, but our military preparations are not yet complete, so there is no need to rush."

"Anyway, he's right there. We can wait until we're ready before leading our army west and incorporating his troops!"

Upon hearing Xiang Liang say this,

Xiang Yu let out a breath and finally calmed down.

But then Xiang Liang smiled again and looked at Xiang Yu mysteriously, saying, "Besides, I have already found the grandson of King Huai of Chu."

"Isn't he more popular with the people of Chu and more capable of being the King of Chu than Jing Ju, that self-proclaimed nobleman of the Three Clans?"