The Child Emperor

The Xiongnu king slapped his knee heavily and said a few words. A Xiongnu noble sitting across from the guests stood up, walked to the Chu man “Wei Su,” stared at him coldly for a while, slowly drew the short blade from his waist, and suddenly swung it up. The blade swept past the Chu man’s nose.

Prince Donghai and the others gasped in shock, but the person in question, Deng Cui, remained unmoved. He glanced at his opponent, his gaze still fixed on the interpreter and the Xiongnu king.

The Xiongnu king burst into laughter and said a few more words. The Xiongnu noble turned the blade around by its handle and handed it to the Chu man. The interpreter said, “The king says this prince consort from Chu has a stubborn character and doesn’t understand current affairs – keeping him alive is indeed useless. You there, ceremonial guard, you say you can’t wield a spear or shoot arrows, but you can kill people, right?”

Deng Cui took the blade. “Yes.” With that, he took two steps to stand before Zhuo Ruhe. “Prince Consort Zhuo, you’re willing to die for the Emperor, but I’m not. When they were selecting emperors, the Capital was in heated turmoil, but no one asked for my opinion. Now they want me to be loyal – it’s too late. I’ve watched with my own eyes as emperors in the palace changed one after another, each worse than the last, each more capable of causing trouble. I am just a minor guard – I won’t clean up their messes.”

“Hah! Sir, you may choose not to be loyal to the Emperor, but you cannot be disloyal to Great Chu. By surrendering to foreign barbarians, aren’t you afraid of ruining your reputation and earning everyone’s contempt?” Before Zhuo Ruhe finished speaking, he spat at Deng Cui.

Deng Cui looked down at the spittle on his chest, said nothing more, and swung the blade toward Zhuo Ruhe’s neck.

Zhuo Ruhe neither dodged nor avoided, but instead raised his head and chest, tilting his head slightly to expose more of his neck. His eyes were wide open, showing more courage than the man wielding the blade.

Deng Cui’s blade struck down viciously, but it didn’t hit its target – not because he intentionally avoided it, but because another blade blocked it.

Several Xiongnu soldiers had been standing beside Zhuo Ruhe. One of them drew his blade at the last moment and deflected the Deng Cui’s weapon. Though he was half a head shorter than Deng Cui, he was much stronger. Not only was Deng Cui’s blade knocked away, but he was forced back half a step. Unable to contain his fury, he glared at the Xiongnu soldier.

The Xiongnu soldier sheathed his blade and snorted disdainfully, then nodded to the Xiongnu king. Although this Chu man’s swordsmanship was indeed mediocre, he had used his full strength and had truly intended to kill. Everyone around could see this too – when the two blades clashed just now, sparks flew. It was a real confrontation.

Prince Donghai, Hua Bin, and the other Chu people were stunned. Even Stockade Chief Dong, who came from bandit origins, looked at “Wei Su” anew, surprised that there was such a ruthless character among the Emperor’s guards.

Deng Cui was very dissatisfied, but Zhuo Ruhe was even more so. He directly faced the Xiongnu king: “Shameless barbarians! If you want to kill, then kill; if you want to torture, then torture. I am an imperial envoy of Great Chu…”

Several Xiongnu soldiers dragged Zhuo Ruhe away. Even through the tent walls, his curses could still be heard.

Deng Cui turned around and asked, “Why didn’t you let me kill him?”

The interpreter smiled: “This man is a high official of Chu. The Great Chanyu specifically wants him alive, so he cannot be killed.”

Deng Cui waved the blade in his hand: “Then what’s the point of giving me this thing?”

“To test your courage,” the interpreter said indifferently. “Someone like you can serve as a guard beside the Emperor?”

“Guards are only judged by physique, appearance, and background. As for courage – hah! People like me follow behind the Emperor every day, never more than a hundred paces away, but we never get a chance to display our courage before the Emperor in our entire lives.”

The interpreter conversed with the Xiongnu king for a while, then said to the Chu man: “What’s your name again?”

“Wei Su.”

“Good. In the Xiongnu army, you can display your courage freely. Besides surrendering, what can you do for the king?”

“What a pity for this fine blade – drawn but not yet bloodied. Who does the king want killed? Leave it to me.” Deng Cui turned to look at the many Chu people sitting together.

The Chu people were all startled. Deng Cui had always been somewhat reckless, and without restraint, he seemed even more so. Since none of them knew him very well, they thought he really intended to kill someone. Prince Donghai especially immediately thought that Deng Cui was using this opportunity to silence witnesses, and was so frightened his face turned pale.

If one didn’t know Deng Cui personally, no one could tell that he was actually the General of Chariots and Cavalry of Chu.

“Haha, these people are all honored guests of the great king – they cannot be killed,” the interpreter said with a laugh.

“But we have to kill a few, don’t we? There might well be assassins hidden among the surrenderers. Have you thoroughly investigated the backgrounds of these people?”

The interpreter nodded with a smile.

It was at this moment that Prince Donghai showed his quick wit, suddenly understanding why Deng Cui always wanted to kill people. He quietly interjected, “The Chu people present are either officers or pugilists who move with the times. But I know there are several Chu servant slaves in the camp – those kinds of people are fence-sitters who switch sides at the drop of a hat and have no credibility whatsoever…”

The interpreter frowned slightly. “Weren’t you brought out by those very servants?”

“Servant slaves can only be used temporarily, not kept long-term. I originally didn’t know there were others in the city who were also willing to surrender to the great king – otherwise I would never have associated with servants.”

The interpreter curled his lips and spoke a few more words with the great king. “You Chu people are all too cunning and completely untrustworthy. You said you’d bring out the emperor’s head, but now you want to use a few servants as substitutes. That won’t do – the great king is dissatisfied. You’ve eaten the meat and drunk the wine, so you need to show some real ability.”

Prince Donghai had no other abilities and kept his head down, not daring to make a sound.