Qin Official

"The lights are shining brightly, and Lili is confused. Okay, what a wonderful sky!"

In Chaohu Lake, Jiujiang County, on an island in the center of the lake, Fan Zeng pointed at two stars that were close to each other in the sky. Fan Zeng raised his head and laughed so hard that his beard trembled and the white hair on his head flew wildly.

Huan Chu stood aside and shuddered. The late autumn wind was as fierce as a wolf's howl, especially on the flat, mirror-like lake surface. He couldn't bear it despite being wrapped in two layers of clothes, but this thin old bone stood against the wind. Laughing wildly here, you really deserve to be a lunatic...

In the eyes of Huan Chu, Fan Zengben was a strange person. Their team, which was exiled in the grassland, was originally water bandits on the river. It was composed of some light knights who were not suitable for the Qin Dynasty government. The leader of the robbery was naturally Huan Chu. He was a famous hero in Jiangdong and was once an old subordinate of Xiang Yan.

Three years ago, the Xiang family suffered a disaster, and the head of the family, Xiang Mao, fled. Xiang Liang, who was in Guanzhong, was taken to the north. The whole family was scattered, and a young man named Xiang Ji went south alone and joined the water bandits. Although this boy was young, he was born with great strength. He could hold a sword if he was short, and a halberd if he was long. He could defeat ten people. They began to grow bigger and stronger on the river, but they were soon chased by the government and suffered a lot of losses.

Huan Chu and Xiang Ji originally planned to take the remaining people with them and run to Kuaiji County where the Xiang family has many old friends. However, at this moment, Fan Zeng, a resident of the nest, came alone. The old man was deliberately caught and saw the two of them. , said with a smile:

"I'm here to join you and fight against Qin."

Hearing what this grey-haired old man in his seventies said, Huan Chu only found it funny. He just happened to tell Fan Zeng with a straight face that "rebellion is not a treat." Unexpectedly, what the old man said next made him and Fan Zeng laugh. Xiang Ji had to stand in awe.

"Thirty years ago, I was eating under Lord Chun Shen and did not listen to my advice, so I was killed by Li Yuan."

"More than twenty years ago, I was a guest of Shangzhu State and gave him advice to defeat Qin Li Xin's army."

In the Zhuguo Kingdom, Xiang Ji's eldest father, Xiang Yan, was of course Xiang Ji. Although Xiang Ji was brave and easy to kill, at least he had received an aristocratic education since he was a child. Since it was a family tradition, he had to be polite and loosen up Old Man Fan.

Unexpectedly, the old man drank a bowl of hot fish soup and started to give instructions to the two of them.

Fan Zeng accurately predicted that with the beginning of the second southern expedition, the Qin Army's Jiaodong Boat Division would be transferred to Kuaiji. He suggested that Xiang Ji and Huan Chu would surely die there, and it was better to stay in Chaohu Lake.

"The water of Chaohu Lake covers more than 100 miles, occupying the territory of the four counties of Ying, Liu, Shu and Juchao. It collects all the water and pours it into the river, dipping the right side of the Huai River and blocking the south of the Yangtze River. Wu and Chu once fought for balance here and diverted three large and small ports. One hundred and sixty, it is convenient for hiding and deploying troops. There are bandits entrenched on Jiao Island in the lake. If we can seize it, we can use it as a stronghold to recruit the people from Huainan and Jiangdong to join us."

What the old man said was reasonable. After the two discussed, they accepted Fan Zeng's proposal and a group of water bandits entered the nest from the river.

Fan Zengben was a resident of Juchao and was familiar with the local situation. Xiang Ji was so brave that he led the crowd and killed the bandits in the lake until they cried for their fathers and mothers. He killed hundreds of them himself, and the remaining water bandits were afraid of this demon king. , all surrendered.

They quickly established a foothold in Chaohu and avoided the fate of the Kuaiji Zhenze bandits who were wiped out by Ren Xiao when they passed by.

After this incident, Xiang Ji was completely convinced by Fan Zeng and regarded him as his teacher. Just last year, when Xiang Ji turned twenty years old, Fan Zeng also gave him a formal nobility crown ceremony in accordance with the tradition of Chu State and gave Xiang Ji a title.

"feather!"

"Although the Xiang family is disabled, it has not died out. There is a grandson named Xiang, who has stopped in the south. After three years without wings, he will grow wings. If he does not fly or sing, he will observe the situation in the world. Even if he does not fly, he will soar to the sky. If there is no sound, the sound will be amazing. Hence the word 'Yu'!"

This was Fan Zeng's tailor-made plan for Xiang Ji. He would endure it in Chaohu and wait for the times to change, instead of acting rashly like Qi Tian Zhu Tian, ​​​​and ended up dead...

From then on, Xiang Ji began to respectfully address Fan Zeng as "Yafu".

Even though they became the largest group of bandits in the four hundred miles radius of Chaohu, the Huainan children who had suffered from labor in the Qin Dynasty heard about it and wanted to join them, but they still couldn't get on the stage. Once they left Chaohu, they couldn't even defeat the soldiers of Jiujiang County. The "great cause of opposing Qin" that Xiang Ji was thinking about seemed so far away.

Fan Zeng also wore a raincoat and sat by the lake fishing all day long.

But Huan Chu once saw that the old man let the fish take the bait without lifting the rod, but looked at the lake in a daze. He did not care about the fish decoupling and ran away, and did not care about the waterfowl stopping on the bamboo hat to poop. He even called it a beautiful name:

"What you are thinking about is not fish, but the situation in the world."

Until today, Fan Zeng, who was sitting on the shore "deducing the situation of the world", suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed, startling Huan Chu who was peeing into the lake.

What made Fan Zeng so excited was naturally the celestial phenomenon in front of him.

"Ying Huo Shou Xin, it's Ying Huo Shou Xin! Qin is really going to be in chaos!"

Fan Zeng happily shared this incident with Huan Chu, but Huan Chu was confused.

"What is Yinghuo Shouxin?"

Of course they, such light warriors and rough men, do not understand the art of stargazing.

Fan Zeng could only point to the stars in the sky and explain from the beginning:

"The heart is one of the seven stars in the East Palace Canglong. It is composed of three stars. It is the place where the Emperor of Heaven governs. The heart is the bright hall, the big star and the king of heaven, and the stars in front and behind belong to it. Among them, the brightest Antares (a star in Scorpio) ), also known as the Big Mars, the flowing fire in July, which is a symbol of the Emperor of Heaven..."

"And the star Yinghuo (Mars) is called 'Yinghuo' because of its fire-like glow, complex and unpredictable movements, going east and west, disappearing and appearing, unevenly fast and slow, and confusing." Tian Guan Astrologers believe that Yinghuo is the Lord of war, and its predictions are related to disasters such as war, funerals, famine, and epidemics, making it an unlucky star for war!"

"Yinghuo is an ominous sign, and wandering retrograde near the heart is called guarding."

Yinghuo and Antares are the two reddest celestial bodies in the sky. If the two "fires" meet, the twin stars will be bright and the sky will be filled with red light. This is a precursor to a major disaster. It is also one of the most dangerous celestial phenomena in the eyes of the heavenly officials. one.

But even when Fan Zeng mentioned this, Huan Chu still scratched his head and didn't quite understand. Wasn't it just two stars approaching? What's the big deal?

Fan Zeng had no choice but to make a direct analogy: "The heart symbolizes the First Emperor of Qin and the officials of the Qin State. If Yinghuo offends its territory, it means that something big will happen to the State of Qin! The Lord will change the government, and the Lord will go to his palace. The First Emperor of Qin may die, and Qin will also be in chaos!"

"Can this be true?" Huan Chu was doubtful and did not agree with the fact that celestial phenomena determine the rise and fall of a country.

Fan Zeng also calmed down, stroking his beard that was blown by the wind and said: "It depends on man-made things, but at this time of endless battles, chaos and exhaustion, the celestial phenomenon of Yinghuo Shouxin reappears in the world, and the world will definitely understand people's thoughts. It must be at this time At this moment, not only the survivors of the Six Kingdoms are rushing to tell each other, but the Qin court is also in chaos, right? Some people will take the opportunity to assassinate Qin Shihuang, and more people may start to speculate that this will cause trouble to Qin's Yinghuo planet. Who is it..."

For example, red is the color of the Chu state. They can completely promote that this star should be in the Chu land, just like the prophecy said, even if Chu has three households, Chu will definitely destroy Qin!

As far as Fan Zeng knows, the earliest celestial phenomenon that enchanted Shou Xin appeared during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty. Along with the different phases, there is also the nursery rhyme "The sun is about to rise, the moon is about to set, I am tired of my clothes, and the Zhou Kingdom will be destroyed." It means that those who sell bows and arrows made of mulberry wood will be the ones who destroy the Zhou Kingdom.

The world calls it a nursery rhyme, and Yingying deceives it. King Xuan of Zhou was so frightened that he hunted down the bow maker in the capital. As a result, when a couple in this business fled, they picked up the "demon child" abandoned by the Zhou palace people, took it to Bao Kingdom, and named it Bao Si. Then King Li of Zhou came to attack Bao Kingdom, and Bao Si was presented to the Zhou Dynasty... …

It is said that Bao Si was transformed by Ying Huo, which led to the military disaster during the reign of King Li of Zhou Dynasty, and the illustrious clan of Zhou was destroyed in one day.

Fan Zeng finally straightened out his beard, raised his head and said with a smile: "And this time, who will be the star of the Qin Dynasty?"

"Of course it is me!"

An energetic voice sounded behind the two of them, but it was Xiang Ji who had been practicing for a day with the light knights and water bandits, and came here after bathing in the cold lake water.

The young man was eight feet two inches tall, with a red headband, eyebrows like swords, and a beard. He looked older than his actual twenty-two years. He was able to carry the cauldron and was so fierce that even Huan Chu, who was licking blood from his knife edge, was a little afraid and did not dare to fight against him.

And the most special thing is his eyes, which are rare in the world with double pupils!

Fan Zeng knew the reason. When Xiang Yan's eldest son gave birth to this child, he kept it a secret because of his double pupils and a different face.

At that time, the relationship between the Xiang family and King Chu Chu was tense. There were rumors that "the grandson of the Xiang family would act as the king of Chu" and wanted to separate Fu Chu and Xiang Yan. Therefore, Xiang Yu was raised in the Xiang Manor since he was a child. His family regarded him as Baby, outsiders rarely see it. Because of this, later Xiang Liang was able to let Xiang Zhuang and Li Taojiang pretend to be Xiang Ji and take him to Guanzhong without being discovered.

Who would have thought that this son would become the Xiang family's last hope.

Xiang Ji came to the lake and stared at the two competing red stars in the sky for a long time with his double-pupiled eyes: "Father, what do you think this star represents?"

Fan Zeng said: "Yinghuo is in charge of war, and his predictions are related to soldiers, mourning, famine, disease, etc."

Xiang Ji tightened his grip on the halberd in his hand: "Military disasters, massacres, genocide, mourning, and corpses were all brought to Chu by the Qin people ten years ago. One day, Ji will also bring the war to Guanzhong. , bring them to Xianyang, and return these things ten to a hundred times to Qin and Zhao Zheng!"

His eldest father was killed by Wang Jian, and an unknown number of family members died in the war. His biological father also died at the hands of the Qin army. His beloved father-in-law Zhong was forced to move to the pass. Now his life and death are unknown. Even the family manor of the prime minister has disappeared. After being confiscated and burned by the Qin army, the Xiang family, which lasted for hundreds of years, was almost wiped out...

The grudge between Xiang Ji and Qin can only be expressed as "hatred between the country and the family". It is like a deadlock that requires the complete demise of one of the parties before it can be settled.

"I am Yinghuo Xing!"

Xiang Yu raised his halberd and pointed at the brightest Emperor Star in his heart, imagining it as his enemy, Qin Shihuang. The red eyes seemed to be shining with red fire!

"Not only do we want to invade his palace, destroy his temple, destroy his clan, and destroy his country, but we also want to replace him! Be the overlord who rules over the world!"