The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

"So you mean you're actually willing to make me your king?"

Within the canopy of the sky, Xiang Yu revealed a hint of suspicion.

Clearly, after being fooled so many times, even someone as naive as him had become more wary.

But those few warnings were practically nonexistent in front of Liu Bang!

As Liu Bang put it, one should not refuse free and capable henchmen just for the sake of saving face!

"Can this be false?"

"From this day forward, at least in this challenge, you are the Hegemon-King of Western Chu!"

"What's wrong, Brother Xiang? Do I have to kowtow to you before you believe me?"

"Alright, then I'll kowtow to you!"

As he spoke, Liu Bang bowed deeply.

Upon seeing this, Xiang Yu was stunned for a moment, then quickly stepped forward to help him up.

"Wait a minute!"

For a moment, he couldn't react.

What he couldn't understand was that even if Liu Bang really cared about the sworn brotherhood between the two of them, he had been emperor for so long, how could he act like this without any pressure?

Could there really be such shameless people in this world?

Could it be that he's serious?

Xiang Yu felt his brain was a little slow to process what was happening.

Liu Bang understood that at this point, he was only one step away from taking the victory!

And all that's needed to achieve that final goal is to lose face!

Does face still matter to him?

Under the watchful eyes of thousands outside the canopy, Liu Bang slowly stepped back and bowed deeply to Xiang Yu.

"Your foolish brother pays respects to the Overlord!"

Xiang Yu: "..."

"Although I don't know what kind of scheme you're plotting, since you've gone this far, I, Xiang Yu, am not one to mince words."

"Today I will obey your word and join Han Xin in entering Guanzhong to raise an army. I hope you will remember your words today: I, Xiang Yu, will only be the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and will never be a subject of your Han Dynasty!"

Without further hesitation, he nodded.

The moment he saw him nod, Fan Zeng, outside the canopy, helplessly closed his old eyes.

Sure enough, I fell for it again.

In every encounter between these two, Xiang Yu was the one who fell for the tricks, but Liu Bang had a variety of tricks up his sleeve, each one different.

Meeting Xiang Yu's burning gaze, Liu Bang nodded firmly.

"Of course! Brother Xiang will always be the Hegemon-King of Western Chu. There will never be a distinction between ruler and subject between us brothers!"

"Then the affairs within the pass this time, as well as Han Xin's safety, will all depend on Brother Xiang."

"This challenge may be our final act. If we brothers join forces, we will surely win spectacularly!"

Seeing his genuine expression, Xiang Yu's last doubts vanished completely.

"That's for sure. If you and I truly join forces, conquering the world won't be difficult at all!"

The two men's brotherly and respectful manner made Han Xin feel quite awkward watching from the sidelines.

One can deceive, and the other can actually believe.

To be honest, he couldn't understand why Xiang Yu never learned his lesson.

Ultimately, it might be because we don't have a clear understanding of our own minds.

After they had exchanged pleasantries for a long time, Han Xin finally coughed loudly.

"Should we set off now? We are racing against time with the Shun army. If we cannot have enough troops before they enter the capital, it will only get more difficult later."

"After all, the people's hearts are now with Li Zicheng. It would be much more difficult to destroy a newly established dynasty that is already prepared."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Yu did not refute it.

He knew Han Xin was right.

Just like during the Qin Dynasty, when the First Emperor was still alive, no one in the world dared to rebel.

It was only after Qin Er Shi (the Second Emperor of Qin) had brought the Qin Dynasty to its knees that the nobles of the former six states dared to seize the opportunity to rise up in rebellion.

The Manchus were able to easily replace Li Zicheng not only because Wu Sangui did not resist, but also because they seized the opportunity well.

If they hadn't seized the opportunity during those few days when Li Zicheng was deploying his troops, even if the local gentry were all loyal to the Manchus, they wouldn't have been able to overthrow the Qing dynasty so easily.

It can be said that the Manchus were able to overthrow the Shun dynasty, which had entered the capital, by having both favorable timing and popular support.

But such timing is purely coincidental, and no one dares to say that they can definitely seize it.

So what they had to do was to raise an army before Li Zicheng took control!

After watching the two leave, Liu Bang dusted off his clothes and looked at Xiao He.

"Do you think their trip will go smoothly?"

Xiao He: “…”

"Your Majesty, regardless of whether they succeed or not, we should not place all our hopes on those two."

"After all, Xiang Yu was a tyrant, and Han Xin also had a criminal record."

In his view, neither of them was trustworthy.

However, upon hearing his words, Liu Bang's expression suddenly turned cold.

"Prime Minister Xiao, now that you have brought this up, I have a serious question for you, and I hope you will answer truthfully."

"You assisted me in establishing the Han Dynasty. In all these years, have I ever mistreated you?"

"You've risen from a lowly clerk to a position almost second only to the emperor, the prime minister. Do you still have any grievances about that?"

Upon seeing this, Xiao He's heart skipped a beat.

He knew that Liu Bang would not speak without reason at this time.

Asking such a question must mean that there is dissatisfaction in one's heart.

It's even possible that he harbored murderous intent.

"I owe my current position entirely to Your Majesty's favor. I have nothing but respect for Your Majesty and would never dare to harbor the slightest dissatisfaction!"

Hearing his answer, Liu Bang's expression did not relax at all; instead, it became even more indifferent.

"Then tell me honestly, was Han Xin's death in the historical records really because I was dissatisfied with him?"

"Indeed, for a long time, I often thought of killing Han Xin to prevent future troubles, but after taking back his military power and demoting him from King of Qi to Marquis of Huaiyin, I never really wanted to kill him again."

So how exactly did he die?

He admitted his intention to kill Han Xin.

He had admitted this when he was frank with Han Xin before.

But the more I thought about it, the more I felt something was wrong.

His deepest desire to kill Han Xin was during the reign of the King of Qi.

Later, after Han Xin was stripped of his title as King of Qi and relinquished his military power, and was demoted to Marquis of Huaiyin, his murderous intent diminished considerably.

Although it hasn't been completely dispelled, and the thought of eliminating future troubles still occasionally arises, that's all.

After thinking about it for a long time, he still didn't think he would kill Han Xin.

If we think about this further, there are very few people who could kill Han Xin without being punished, even without issuing an imperial edict.

Empress Lü, Xiao He, Chen Ping...

Even one of these people couldn't be involved, so Liu Bang was almost certain that Xiao He was involved.

This indirectly suggests that, in a sense, the Prime Minister Xiao, whom she trusted, might already be one of Empress Lü's men.

"Xiao He, Han Xin trusts you, and so do I."