Drifting flakes of snow blanketed Xiang Yu's corpse in a vast white.
The barefoot goddess descended from the heavens.
None of the surrounding Han soldiers dared to step forward, and Lv Matong even trembled as he shuffled a step to the side. One man turned quickly and sprinted toward the Han army camp.
Qingnu waited and waited, until finally, Liu Bang arrived, escorted by a large crowd and led by that same messenger soldier. The snake girl looked him up and down. When they had parted years ago, he was a rogue, and seeing him now... he was still a rogue!
"He is dead. I am taking him to be buried."
Qingnu said to Liu Bang, "Do not refuse, or I will beat you."
Upon hearing this, Liu Bang jumped straight down from his carriage, ignoring the protests of those around him, and ran toward Qingnu.
"Brother Qingnu!" he shouted in a hushed voice.
Qingnu glanced at him and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Helping bury my brother!" the old rogue said with a face full of righteous conviction. "After all, we were brothers once. His death saddens me deeply. I cannot fail to see him off on his final journey, can I?"
After he spoke, Qingnu fell silent. Only after a long while did she ask, "You are just afraid I will resurrect him, aren't you?"
The old fellow's heart was black. Helping to bury him?
She wouldn't put it past him to deploy a thousand cavalrymen to trample over Xiang Yu's grave for several days just to pack the earth down tight. If cement existed at this time, Qingnu had no doubt this old rogue would use it on Xiang Yu!
Liu Bang jumped in protest, insisting such a thing was impossible. He said with a serious face, "Nonsense! How could that be? You are my brother! How could I doubt a brother? Look, you can't dig a grave with your own hands, can you? That would be beneath your status. I will have my men help!"
Qingnu stared at him for a long time before sighing.
"Once a man dies, his light is extinguished. Everything ends!"
She waved her hand, and a wind-driven snow wrapped around Xiang Yu's body, following her as she departed into the distance.
Liu Bang stood there watching Qingnu leave. He turned to glance at the cavalier attendant who had brought the news and asked, "What is your name?"
The soldier hurriedly knelt and said, "To the King of Han, this humble general is Yang Xi!"
"You have done well. Gua Ren shall remember you!"
Leaving those words behind, Liu Bang led his men to follow Qingnu.
Qingnu buried Xiang Yu and Yu Ji together by the banks of the Wu River.
Seeing that she had no intention of resurrecting anyone, Liu Bang breathed a massive sigh of relief. To show his magnanimity, he ordered the King of Chu's tomb to be properly maintained and moved wealthy households to the area to guard the grave.
Once everything was settled, Qingnu wished to return, but she was stopped by the old rogue.
The old rogue was set to ascend the throne as emperor in Dingtao.
"Brother Qingnu, you are an immortal! I heard that over in Xianyang, the people have already built shrines for you. How about I build one for you as well?"
"I guarantee it will be even more grand than the one in Xianyang! Let me tell you—"
As Liu Bang spoke these words, Qingnu's fist tightened. She punched the mountain rock beside her.
With a thunderous boom, the rock shattered. The commotion immediately startled the Han soldiers responsible for Liu Bang's safety. They came rushing over, but when they saw the giant boulder split by Qingnu's single punch, they all froze in place. Shattering a rock with one fist? Even Xiang Yu couldn't have done that, right?
Liu Bang waved his hand to dismiss the men. He stared in astonishment at the fragments rolling before him.
"Brother Qingnu... Lady Jade Maiden! What are you doing?"
Qingnu raised her hand and shook her fist in front of him, saying, "If you dare to build a shrine for me in the official name of the Han court, I will beat you to death!"
She was thankful for that heavenly tribulation. After being struck by lightning, Qingnu had learned a lot about these matters.
There was a world of difference between a shrine built by the state and one built by the people. Having experienced being bound by the fate of the Great Qin, how could Qingnu let the fate of the Great Han bind her again?
The Han was too heavy.
Liu Bang took a deep breath and nodded repeatedly. "Rest assured! I definitely won't build one! I will immediately write it into my final edict: if any of my descendants dare to build a shrine for you, may they die young and come down to accompany me. How does that sound?"
Qingnu gave Liu Bang a profound look. "Is that any way to treat your own descendants?"
Liu Bang chuckled and said, "Isn't this just to show my sincerity?"
Qingnu looked at his shameless expression and gave a light sigh. She turned and walked toward Mt. Tai, waving her hand behind her back.
"In the future, do not speak of me to others!"
In the sky, Hongluan flapped her wings, leading the way. When Liu Bang looked again, a sudden swirl of snow passed, and both Qingnu and Hongluan had vanished without a trace.
The old rogue stood in place, swallowed hard, and then looked at the few remaining pieces of the shattered rock. He discovered jade inside. His eyes lit up instantly as he cried out, "Eh? Brother Qingnu, there's jade inside! You punched out a treasure!"
In the vast mountains, there was no sign of Qingnu.
Liu Bang took the jade core from the stone and ordered it to be carved into an imperial seal.
Qingnu returned to Mt. Tai.
She stood before the palace for a moment, then suddenly grabbed Hongluan and wailed, "I regret it! Sister Bird, why did I walk away so fast? That jade was definitely a treasure..."
"Stupid snake, let go of me!"
Hongluan struggled in Qingnu's grip. But Qingnu's grip was strong, and Hongluan couldn't break free. She transformed into a human in a flash, stood with her hands on her hips, and poked Qingnu's head, scolding her, "Then why didn't you go back? If you went back, couldn't you have snatched the jade?"
Qingnu shook her head and mumbled, "Wouldn't that have completely ruined my image as a supreme master?"
"Bah! Stupid snake!"
In the fifth year of the Han, Liu Bang ascended the imperial throne in Dingtao.
He renamed Xianyang to Chang'an and used the Qin palaces as the Han palaces. The providence scattered across the world came rolling in, gathering over the Xianyang Plain. High in the heavens, the flowing light of providence was like the Han River, like the Milky Way.
From the peak of Mt. Tai, Qingnu gazed toward the west. The providence over the Xianyang Plain was vast and surging. Though it was not as aggressive as it had been during the Qin, it was resilient.
The Chronicles of Huayang record: 'Only Heaven has the Han, and its reflection also shines. It truly presides over all hopes, manifesting our Huayang.'
The Han was the Milky Way.
Heavenly Han! Heavenly Han!
The Great Han, which would endure for four hundred years, finally raised its curtain.
After his accession, Liu Bang granted titles to the meritorious officials and feudal lords. The cavalier attendant Yang Xi was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Chiquan for his merit in reporting the news. Han Xin was moved from the lands of Qi to the lands of Chu, using the prestige of the Great General of Han to overawe the region.
However, after Han Xin was enfeoffed as the King of Chu, he did not go directly to the Chu capital of Pengcheng. Instead, he first returned to Huaiyin. He had left as a youth and returned as a king. This was what it meant to return home in glory.
The small village of the past was still a small village now, only with even fewer people. There were no longer any women washing clothes by the stream.
"Heaven cannot be calculated, the Dao cannot be schemed. Speed and slowness are fated; how can one know the time?"
"Change follows a thousand paths, never finding an end!"
By the mountain road, a clear female voice rang out. Han Xin looked up.
Between the withered trees on the slope, he saw a young girl in azure robes wearing a bamboo hat, walking barefoot through the shadows of the trees. The tassels at her waist danced with her steps, and tortoise shells hung from her waistband. What a fluttering, jade-like immortal maiden she was.
Qingnu stopped by the edge of the slope and took off her bamboo hat. An azure immortal bird landed on her shoulder.
With a smile on her face, she whispered, "Han Xin, King of Chu, it has been a long time!"
"Little Immortal Maiden!"
Han Xin bowed and saluted Qingnu.
Qingnu's eyes swept over the soldiers and attendants behind him, and she said, "I have come to ask you for a rabbit."
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