Chapter 9: The Initial Rise of Reputation

  Peng Yue returned to his camp with a disheveled appearance, and didn't even bother to greet the other bandits. He led his own group of thieves in a humiliating retreat. The other bandits were still imagining that they could defeat the Qin army and plunder freely, but they didn't expect the situation to turn around. Those who were quick-witted immediately followed Peng Yue in fleeing, while those who were slow-witted stood frozen in place, bewildered and unsure of what to do.

  "Brave old Qin, restore my rivers and mountains, blood will not dry up, death will not stop fighting!"

  "With the world in turmoil, how can one be at peace? Qin has brave warriors, who will contend for supremacy?" The low and mournful song rose up, the Qin army officers and men were inspired by Li Yuan's desperate fight to the death, their morale soared, those more than 100 cavalrymen who broke out of the siege from Yongqiu were even staring with bloodshot eyes, like ferocious wolves pouncing on the bandits.

  "Brother!" Kou Jia shouted loudly and rushed in front of Li Yuan at once.

  "Kill the bandit!" Li Yuan's lips moved slightly, and he raised his hand to draw his sword, but unexpectedly felt a wave of weakness in his arm, causing the blood-stained bronze sword to clatter to the ground.

  "Kill the bandits, kill the bandits!" The Qin army officers and soldiers shouted in unison, their voices like thunder that deafened the ears. Wang Lao Liu, Gan Houbo and others were newly appointed military officers, and at this time they were like a pack of wolves with bloodshot eyes, charging towards the bandits with their weapons.

  The sword light reflects the sun, and a wave of bloody gas rises. The open wilderness by the river was originally an ideal battlefield. The thieves who set up the battlefield here thought it was convenient for killing, but now it has become a grave that hastens death.

  The Qin army's sudden and ferocious attack made the bandits, who were used to bullying the good people, suffer a great deal. A few of the fiercest bandit leaders wanted to resist desperately, but soon they were submerged in the dark waves, and the remaining ones could no longer muster up any fighting spirit, quickly turning around and fleeing in panic.

  More than 3,000 bandits were pursued and killed by less than 1,000 Qin soldiers. They did not even have the courage to turn around and fight back. This situation made the Qin army officers and men extremely excited.

  Until sunset, the Qin army pursued and killed for dozens of miles, beheading nearly 800 enemy leaders, capturing over 1,400 people, and the rest dispersed. Except for Peng Yue's 1,200 original troops and a small number of escaped bandits, the bandits in the Ju Wilds area were almost wiped out. Under the great victory of the Qin army, countless spoils were seized.

  Some small thieves have a thin foundation, no fixed residence, and have the habit of carrying their families with them. This is actually beneficial to the poor Qin army soldiers who are in the initial stage of Li Yuan's army, which lacks both grain and money. Now it's good, the thieves failed to steal chickens and instead became the head of a transportation team.

  Li Yuanjun won a battle with fewer troops, his prestige and fame shook the land of Wei, and all the bandits heard about it and fled far away. Such achievements were spread at a time when the Qin army was retreating in defeat, astonishing all parties for a while.

  Li Yuan's name also began to be known to the heroes, only under the thieves' exaggerated rendering of failure by a hundred times, Li Yuan became an invincible general who could kill several enemy generals with one person's strength.

  ——。

  Xingyang

  The most important military stronghold of the Qin State in the three rivers of the county, where Yang Xiong and Zhao Bi's nearly 10,000-strong Qin army was stationed. The existence of this county's troops provided logistical support for the main force of the Qin army fighting in Dingtao to the east, and also connected the border defense forces of the Qin army fighting in the north of the Yellow River with the capital Xianyang through a relay station.

  During the 8th and 9th months of Qin Er Shi, the post station and government office in Xingyang were extremely busy, making Yang Xiong, who had taken over as the guardian of Xingyang from Li Yu, feel both happy and painful.

  Happiness is Li Youyi's death, and the great power of Xingyang has all returned to Yang Xiong's hands. With over 10,000 troops and sufficient grain and fodder, Yang Xiong can now be considered a force to be reckoned with. In the past few days, several county officials have come to visit him, some with thick skin, secretly sending beautiful women from their homes to Yang Xiong's door.

  The difference between a deputy and the head is not reflected in official rank or how much salary they receive, but rather in having power at their fingertips and beautiful women by their side.

  Pain always comes with joy, Yang Xiong's backstage boss in the imperial court of Xianyang was Left Chancellor Feng Quji. However, this old brother was deceived by Zhao Gao in early August and, together with Li Si, went to persuade the dissolute Hu Hai to spend more time managing state affairs, which made Qin Er Shi, who aspired to be a young man who excelled at eating, drinking, having fun and being promiscuous, very unhappy.

  When the emperor is unhappy, it's best for his subjects to stay far away and wait until he calms down before returning. However, Li Si and Feng Quji were addicted to offering advice and put on an air of being loyal ministers in front of Hu Hai, even bringing up the deceased First Emperor to make a point.

  The power of remonstrance is a mysterious thing, like a double-edged sword that can easily cut oneself if not used carefully. Hu Hai was never a wise ruler to begin with, and Feng Quji's unyielding criticism only enraged him further. As a result, the outspoken Feng was given a cup of poisoned wine after returning home, and soon joined Qin Shi Huang in the underworld.

  Hu Hai was unrestrained, and with the indulgence of the newly appointed Prime Minister Zhao Gao, he became more and more lawless. As for the continuous outbreaks of war in Guandong, Prime Minister Zhao said that with General-in-Chief Zhang Han suppressing them, nothing would go wrong, so what's there to worry about?

  Hu Hai indulged in pleasure and handed over all state affairs to the Prime Minister Zhao Gao, which made Yang Xiong, an outer official who had lost his backing, feel the chill of a severe winter.

  Yang Xiong was a loyal subordinate of Feng Qiju. In previous interactions, he had not hesitated to give Zhao Gao's clansman Zhao Ben a hard time when he was sent to Gongyang. Now, Yang Xiong wanted to curry favor with Zhao Gao, but it was too late. So, when he heard that the officials Wang Ming and Chen Di from Xianyang were coming to San Chuan to investigate Li You's treason, Yang Xiong flew into a rage and refused to see them, shutting his door on them.

  Li You has surrendered to the enemy, and all his men have died in battle. And yet you still say that he betrayed us after death - where is the justice in that?

  ……

  Zhao Bi's Mansion.

  The lights are bright, the hall is full of friends, and it's a rare lively atmosphere.

  As the distant nephew of Chancellor Zhao Gao, Zhao Bing had always been oppressed by Li Yu and Yang Xiong. His days in Yingyang were not easy to get through, but now he can be considered as a turtle turning over to become the master.

  Among them, a guest with white hair and a ruddy complexion, in his fifties or sixties, looked like a kind elder, but unfortunately, he was holding a young woman in red clothes with half-exposed breasts.

  "Haha, General Zhao, I heard in Xianyang that Yangdi has three ultimate things, I wonder which three are famous?" The old man held up his wine cup with one hand and hid the other behind his back, pinching the woman's plump buttocks, feeling smooth as fine fat, truly tantalizing.

  "Wang Yu Shi, you truly are a connoisseur of beauty. One ultimate delight is in your heart, another is in your hand. How does it feel? And yet there's still one more ultimate delight to come! Come, please invite Yun Niang to play the zither and dance for our esteemed guest." Zhao Bin burst out laughing.

  Today, the guest he entertained was none other than Wang Ming, the imperial censor who had come to Xingyang to investigate whether Li Si's notice was true or not. Wang Ming got along well with Prime Minister Zhao Gao in the court, and this time he also took care of Zhao Gao repeatedly, determined to verify the evidence before returning to Chang'an. Although Li Si had been imprisoned, there is a saying that "a hundred-legged insect dies but does not stiffen", as long as Li Si was not dead, Zhao Gao could not put his mind at ease for a single day.

  "Oh, could it be the peerless singing and dancing Hua Yang Yun Mudan?" King Ming's turbid eyes flickered with a fierce light, his grip on his hand suddenly tightening.

  "Ah, Master, please be gentle, I can't take it anymore." The young girl pouted and pretended to be shocked, falling onto the table with her buttocks high in the air, exposing Wang Ming's lustful hands to the crowd in the grand hall.

  "Your Excellency is indeed getting more vigorous with age, Zhao is deeply impressed!" Zhao Bin made a gesture to the young girl and bowed his hands in respect.

  The feast was near, the sound of musical instruments and drums beating in rhythm rose, the curtain door opened, a small girl wearing a purple dress walked into the house with her head down.