For the safety of Qi, and to consolidate the power of Han,
I can be the king for now.
Write a petition for me.
-Yes. -Wait.
You should add a word before the word "king".
What word?
“Acting.”
Acting king of Qi?
That is my decision.
But…
I’ve decided.
Yes.
Bullshit!
You dare to say it again?
Say it!
I’m besieged here! I requested his help, but he didn’t render any.
And now he wants to be the acting king! What does that mean?
Why did you step on my foot?
Why does he want to be the acting king of Qi?
Han Xin has distinguished himself.
I should grant him a real kingship!
Han Xin pacified the vassals,
conquered Qi, now he’s defeated Long Ju.
Of course, I should give him a huge reward!
Why did he only request to be the acting king of Qi?
I’ll let him be a real king!
Send him a message and tell him
that he should pacify the Qi people,
train our soldiers, and await further instructions.
Han Xin shall be the king of Qi.
The ceremony will be held soon.
Thank you, my Lord. Thank you, my Lord.
Mr. Zhang, I was too impulsive just now, wasn’t I?
You were indeed too impulsive.
But you made a timely adjustment to your attitude. You masked it well.
But I’m really angry!
Han Xin, did he not distinguish himself?
He killed Zhang Han and conquered Qi.
By right, I should give him a greater reward.
Not only acting king of Qi,
I should give him any official title.
But I think he’s going too far.
Do you think so?
Indeed he's gone too far.
How can he use such a request to test my limits?
Is it really necessary?
I can accept it if he's putting me to test under the pretext of this request.
But he has to do this just as Xiang Yu’s army edges closer.
He wants a title? His request is a threat, isn’t it?
What does he want?
If I don’t make him king, will he disobey my orders?
Then what will you do now?
King him! I can grant him any title he wants.
I’ll let him feel happy and warm.
Don’t forget...
the enemy is waiting for him over there.
We lost the battle. We lost both warriors and general.
We…
General, it’s Long Ju’s fault.
I don’t blame him. He died in battle.
Just give him a decent burial. Take good care of his family.
He was our sworn brother.
General, I’d like to attack Han Xin with men from our northern flank.
General, I can hold our ground here.
Ziqi and you can lead our warriors to attack Han Xin.
We must avenge Long Ju.
Zhongli Mei, I believe you can hold our ground.
Yes.
Ziqi, I know you’re wise and brave
and will not yield to Han Xin.
But I... don’t want to fight Han Xin.
What?
I want to ally with him.
Why?
Listen up...
our real enemy is on Mt. Guangwu.
He’s Liu Ji.
Wherever he is, and whatever he becomes,
I’ll not let him off.
If an alliance with Han Xin can help us defeat Liu Ji,
why not?
General, you have changed a lot.
Mr. Fan used to say...
that a war might turn a man into a monster.
I didn’t believe it then. But now I understand.
If I want to kill Liu Ji, I need Han Xin.
General, actually it’s not hard to persuade Han Xin.
I have a friend named Wu She.
Han Xin is his compatriot. They get along well.
I can get him to persuade Han Xin.
General, Wu She is here.
My greetings, General. I’m Wu She.
My compatriot. What brings you here?
Thank you for giving me the chance to talk to you.
That year, great men in various areas
began to rebel against tyrannical Qin.
Now Qin has been destroyed
and based on their contribution, vassals were granted fiefs
All returned to their fiefs and stopped fighting.
But what about Liu Ji?
His fiefs were in Bashu and Hanzhong.
But he took Xianyang and led his forces
to attack other vassals.
Now he’s attacking the king of Chu.
It seems that he’ll not stop the war until he conquers all other states.
He’s too greedy and his desires can’t be satisfied.
Did you come from Pengcheng?
Yes.
To be frank, on countless occasions,
Liu Ji almost became a fish in a bucket.
It would have been easy for Xiang Yu to destroy him.
But every time, Xiang Yu allowed him to live,
and even gave him a chance to escape.
But Liu Ji’s response? He never showed gratitude.
Instead, he led his warriors to attack Xiang Yu over and over again.
How can you trust such a rat?
His words are not trustworthy at all.
We serve different masters.
Right. You are truly valued by Liu Ji.
But it’s because you're risking your life to conquer land for him.
Have you thought about your eventual fate?
I’m afraid, you’ll not escape Liu Ji’s clutches.
I didn’t expect you to predict my end.
To be frank,
why do you think he kept you alive thus far?
One main reason is that so as long as Xiang Yu is alive, Liu Ji needs your help.
How is that true?
General, you are in an important position now.
Between Liu Ji and Xiang Yu, you can freely choose to support either of them.
Whoever you support, will win, and whoever you don’t, will die.
What if I support neither of them?
Then after the contention of Liu Ji and Xiang Yu is resolved,
you’ll surely be the first man to be killed.
I think the man who wants to kill me most is Xiang Yu.
You are wrong.
You’ve once interacted with Xiang Yu. You know him.
Why not leave Liu Ji and ally with Xiang Yu?
Please think over this carefully.
Wu She, I’ve understand what you're trying to say.
Out of courtesy,
I’ll send some men to escort you back.
All right?
Please think it over.
General, please listen to me.
This Chu-Han Contention has lasted for years.
The war has broken up many families and made many people homeless.
Xiang Yu holds Pengcheng. He fought in many battles
and was victorious. He’s a great general. But now he’s confined in Jingsuo
and can’t make any headway.
So Xiang Yu wants to gain a short-term advantage. Impossible.
Then let’s look at Liu Ji.
He has over 100,000 warriors at his command.
He's stationed in the rocky areas along Gongluo.
He’s fought many battles without gaining much.
Now his military morale is low and provisions are in great shortage.
Complaints are heard everywhere.
People don’t know who to support.
Of course, they'll support the man who can bring them peace.
General...
you can.
In the present world, it’s clear that the fate of Liu Ji and Xiang Yu
is completely in your hands.
You might as well keep out of the contention,
and listen to neither. This will then form a tripartite group of forces.
In such a situation,
neither of them would dare to attack you.
You are a talented general.
You have warriors and fiefs.
Zhao and Yan are also at your command.
You should just bide your time until both of them are exhausted.
When the time comes, you can easily defeat them.
You're like a gnat in my ears, buzzing away.
General,
so long as you live up to the people's expectations,
be their champion, fight in the name of their interests,
they will support you.
Who wouldn't?
There’s a saying that if you refuse what the heaven bestows to you,
you’ll be punished.
There’s also a saying that when you’re freezing
and somebody gives you clothes, you should be grateful and share his worries.
When you are starving and someone gives you the food,
you should give your life to him.
You’re wrong.
Another saying goes: A general who is more courageous and wise than his ruler
is bound to be killed.
You conquered many places and your name is known.
If you surrendered to Chu, the Xiang Yu wouldn’t trust you.
If you surrendered to Han, Liu Ji would fear you.
So I don’t know where you can live in safety.
I’ve won important battles for Liu Ji.
Even if he didn’t trust me,
he wouldn't kill me, right?
It's hard to fathom a person's mind. Did you think your military exploits
would make Liu Ji spare your life?
You're seen as a threat. You'll be cast aside after you outlived your usefulness.
I’ll never betray Liu Ji.
If you go on talking like that, I’ll kill you.
Get out.
I really can’t tell if it’s me who has lost it, or you.
Stop.
Follow me.
What happened?
General. There's an ambush.
Hurry. Hurry.
Listen up, you’ve been ambushed.
We are Han Xin’s warriors.
Surrender now, or you’ll be killed.
You've got it all wrong.
Liu Ji sent us.
We're here to meet Han Xin in Chengyang.
Please give way.
Our king, Han Xin, has ordered
that whether you are warriors of Han or Chu, you must surrender.
Otherwise, you’ll be killed.
Damned rascal.
He may have betrayed us.
Bring a group of warriors and make a detour.
Yes. Follow me.
Put down your weapons.
Don’t misunderstand.
We’re warriors of Han.
Han warriors? Any evidence?
Surrender. Hurry.
Damn it. I’ll show you the evidence soon.
-Lu Wan. -Mr. Zhang.
Lu Wan, what’s wrong?
We may be ambushed. I’ve sent out some scouts.
General, it's a small group of warriors. They didn't have strict discipline
and wore clothes of Chu warriors.
What bewilders me is that their general is a civil official.
A civil official?
And we found a hidden path behind the mountain,
which leads to their rear camp.
Good. Lu Wan, outflank them from there.
Yes. Follow me.
The enemy is here. Leave. Hurry.
Sir, we’re being attacked!
Charge!
Hurry.
Charge!
Stop right there!
Don't move!
-Spare us. We have wives and kids at home. -Don't move.
-Spare me. We surrender.
Aren’t you Wu She, the famous scholar in Xuyu?
Mr. Zhang, that year I wandered around,
I met you in Cangchai.
I didn’t expect that, years later,
I would be your prisoner.
Don’t speak like that. Rise, sir.
I know you are at Xiang Yu’s command.
But why do you call yourself Han Xin’s warrior?
Does that mean you surrendered to Han Xin?
It is a long story.
Now we are enemies. You can kill me.
If I am not wrong,
you come to persuade Han Xin, didn’t you?
It’s my fault.
You came to attack us in the name of Han Xin.
And intended to send messengers to tell our Lord that Han Xin betrayed him.
You wanted to sow discord between them.
You wanted to kill two birds with one stone but it backfired on you.
My men will escort you to our camp.
I’ll visit you later.
Lu Wan, see him off.
This way.
General, Liu Ji sent Mr. Zhang as an emissary.
He’ll arrive at Chengyang soon.
I think Liu Ji trusts me.
It’s lucky that I didn’t listen to Wu She and Kuai Che.
Otherwise I’d have made an unforgivable mistake.
My orders: Prepare for Mr. Zhang’s arrival.
Yes.
And, General, Kuai Che is going mad.
Take good care of him.
Yes.
My greetings, Mr. Zhang.
On behalf of our lord, greetings to the king of Qi.
My thanks to our Lord.
-General. -Mr. Zhang.
-It’s been a long time. -You traveled a long way. Follow me.
Please.
Congratulations on becoming the king of Qi.
This surpassed my expectations.
Our Lord is really kind-hearted.
But there is one thing I don't understand.
Since you want to be made the king of Qi,
why did you want to add the word “acting” before “king”?
I want to justifiably administer the realm of Qi
but I was afraid our Lord would doubt my loyalty.
If our Lord didn’t trust you,
he would not appoint you general-in-chief when we were in Nanzheng.
So I’m just worrying too much!
Cheers.
Han Xin,
do you know a man named Wu She?
I did meet him once.
What’s wrong?
Nothing.
On my way here,
his men surrounded me.
He said he was your subject.
He claimed that you ordered whether we’re Chu or Han warriors,
we should surrender.
And then?
We captured him alive.
And I found that he was Wu She.
Do you believe him?
I think he wants sow discord between our Lord and you.
He did come to meet me.
My guess is that he tried to persuade you to surrender to Xiang Yu, right?
Yes. But I’ll never betray our Lord.
I should have killed him if I had known he was going to attack you.
No need to kill him. He can be of use to us.
What use?
He’s a piece of living evidence for you.
Evidence of what?
Your loyalty to our Lord.
Thanks for your consideration.
Don’t mention it. Cheers.
I heard our Lord blamed me for Liu Yiji’s death.
Indeed, some blamed you for his death.
What’s your opinion?
Though it’s a pity that Li Yiji died,
his death had no direct relation to Tian Guang’s attitude.
His death was a result of a change in the forces of Chu and Han.
Just like you and me,
swept up in a traumatic world,
how can we be masters of our own happiness and misfortune?
Thanks again for your words, Mr. Zhang.
Han Xin, the final battle between Liu Ji and Xiang Yu approaches.
I hope you can protect the North and live up to our expectations.
Take care of yourself.
Yes.
General, I have bad news.
Go ahead.
After Long Ju lost the war, Tian Heng was worried that he'd be blamed,
so he conspired with Peng Yue.
Worse still, they raided our provisions and are now heading towards Liangdi.
How much did they steal?
30,000 stones.
30,000 stones?
Peng Yue is really a rat.
Set out to Liangdi!
General, it’s not the right time.
We should think it over.
I think, Peng Yue and Tian Heng have now joined forces
and can easily gain support from Qi commoners.
Even if we drive them out of Liangdi,
they can go to another place of Qi.
If we give chase, then we may just end up
provoking Han Xin to attack us.
If we divided some warriors into two forces…
No. That won’t do.
Why hasn't Wu She returned?
There can only be two possibilities.
First, Han Xin killed him.
Second, he doesn't know how to explain things to us.
Peng Yue raided our provisions so boldly.
There’s only one possibility.
He believes that Han Xin would not be our ally.
How long can our provisions sustain us?
One month.
But the main problem is
that our warriors got wind that our provisions were robbed.
They are in low spirits.
General, pardon me if this sounds offensive.
If Liu Ji can lure Peng Yue with benefits,
Why can’t we do the same?
What do you mean? I need not stoop so low to win a war.
Victory is in our hands.
Why should I try to win Peng Yue’s favor?
It’s disgusting.
But we can neither attack nor retreat.
What should we do now?
Liu Ji, you despicable creep!
Liu Ji, you shameless dog!
Liu Ji, you villain!
General.
How’s our morale?
I’ve enforced your order, and reduced our warriors’ food rations.
Complaints are rampant amongst right wing warriors.
The situation in Ji Bu’s camp is much worse.
He’s already killed several commanders who were upsetting morale.
When we fought at Julu, it was the same kind of situation.
So long as we don’t give up,
we can survive this.
General, we were in mortal danger at Julu, and everyone fought to live.
But now?
We’ve been at Mt. Guangwu for months.
Our warriors aren’t made of steel.
They need food.
We can appease them for some time, but not forever.
I’m afraid if Liu Ji doesn’t come to meet our attack soon,
we’ll be in trouble.
Don’t worry. I ordered Ziqi to get provisions in Waihuang.
He’ll be back soon.
General!
Any provisions?
Even 1,000 stones can save us.
Not even a stone.
Peng Yue robbed Waihuang.
Even worse, Peng Yue is marching towards Yu County with 20,000 men.
What?
Yu County? That’s our granary!
Why didn’t you stop them?
I’m afraid that wouldn't have worked.
On my way back, I kept thinking
about our encounters with Peng Yue.
He was like a mudfish.
If we fight him, he’ll slip away. Then he’ll come back again.
That’s the most tiresome kind of enemy.
How can we survive the month?
This is Liu Ji’s strategy.
He wants to exhaust us to death.
General, bad news.
General, a left-wing warrior personally beheaded our provision governor.
Now several hundreds of them are making trouble.
Tell our warriors to be louder!
Liu Ji, you despicable creep!
Liu Ji, you shameless dog!
Liu Ji, you villain!
What’s wrong, General?
Take them.
Wait, General.
If you want to take them,
you need not bother. I will go with you.
You are…
General, I’m Lyu Zhi, Liu Ji’s wife.
Liu Ji’s wife? You really have an unusual demeanor.
But you may misunderstand me. Our general never mistreats women.
I have to trouble you to ask Liu Ji’s father to come with us.
Tell him not to bring anything.
Chu camp may be big, but cowards are everywhere.
You’re no match for my husband.
So you take his father as a hostage. Is that your intention?
You don’t fear being ridiculed for such behavior?
It’s not that simple.
And as far as such behavior is concerned, we are no match for your husband.
By the way, say goodbye to Mr. Liu.
This is his fate.
General, a moment please.
I’ll ask him to come out.
What did they tell you?
Father, they want you to go with them.
Me?
What do they want to do with me?
If he goes off with them, will he come back alive?
Shut up.
Is it a must?
Can I accompany him?
They only want Father to go.
Hurry.
It’s clear enough. We’ve been imprisoned here for so long,
but Xiang Yu never asked to meet us.
Why does he want to see Father now?
It’s a sign that Xiang Yu will lose the war.
Liu Ji will win.
General.
What’s wrong?
I brought Liu Ji’s father here.
What do you mean?
General. We are desperate now.
It’s our only way out.
Don’t you want to provoke Liu Ji to fight?
We can kill his father in front of both armies.
Then he’ll be enraged
and will certainly attack us.
Or we can lose the war and the world will ridicule us!
But I will be the subject of ridicule if we kill his father.
General. To win the war,
we have to try ways and means.
Bear in mind, if we conquer the world,
nobody will remember this.
But if we lose, we’ll be crushed.
General, we can’t afford to hesitate anymore.
Now our warriors have almost lost their patience.
We must lift their spirits with a decisive war.
-Or else our morale will suffer even more. -Enough!
If Mr. Fan were alive,
he would support my idea.
Why do you mention Mr. Fan?
Do you mean to offend me?
General...
honestly...
I’ve thought about this long and hard.
I just don’t know how I can get through to you.
But you should be clear...
that I’m not blood-thirsty.
But we must do it this time.
If I can encourage our generals and boost our morale,
I would gladly soil my hands.
Get out.
Get out!
Yes.
Ziqi, I think your idea was a bad one.
And what’s more, even if you did kill Liu Ji’s father,
can you guarantee it will work?
Ziqi, we can’t kill the old codger.
If we did it, we’d be disgraced.
Our warriors can't possibly accept that.
That’s shameful.
What’s shameful?
Is it more shameful than losing?
Are you not aware...
chaos is rampant in our camp?
And almost all warriors heard the news that we lack provisions.
In the past, they respected our general and took him as the god of war.
But what about now?
Their anger will consume us all like fire.
You’re really idiots. Haven't you thought about this before?
Stop arguing!
Tomorrow morning, prepare a big pot and start a fire underneath.
If Liu Ji refuses to attack us, we’ll boil his father alive.
Stand still! Stand still!
General, I’m just thinking, is this necessary…
Do you think Liu Ji will attack us?
I think he’ll come, but…
Light the fire.
Yes.
Subtitle translation by: Min Wei Wong