I pointed at them, indignantly saying, "You're so unethical!"
They shouted in unison, "Get out!"
Zhang Shun, holding a cup of wine, said, "Brother Xiang, although some people call us bandits, they admire heroes the most. Among the predecessors, the two I admire most are you and Guan Yu, the second master of the Guan family."
Xiang Yu asked, "Who is Guan Yu?"
Ruan Xiaoer, still confused, exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Xiang, you don't even know Guan Yu?"
I said, "Nonsense, don't you also not know Li Zicheng and Hong Xiuquan? Do you even know who Lei Feng is?"
Ruan Xiaowu: "Who is Lei Feng?"
I waved my hand dejectedly: "Let's just talk about the predecessors, let's just talk about the predecessors."
After finishing his bowl of wine, Zhang Shun wiped his mouth and said, "Brother Xiang, tell us how you fought back then?"
Xiang Yu said calmly, "There's not much to say. I'll wait until the enemy has finished arranging their troops, then shout 'Kill!' and charge forward. My horse is fast. Once their ranks are in disarray, my men will catch up and launch a full-scale attack, and we'll win. Then we'll just clean up the battlefield, and I'll go back and have a drink by myself."
Zhang Shun and the others were dumbfounded. After a long while, Ruan Xiao Er took a big gulp and exclaimed, "Truly a hero!" Ruan Xiao Wu said, "Brother Xiang truly deserves to be called the greatest overlord of all time."
Xiang Yu chuckled: "What overlord? He has accomplished nothing in reading, martial arts, military strategy, or tactics. He only relies on brute force."
I said in surprise, "When did you become so humble? History books say that you were arrogant and stubborn, and that you were eventually driven to the Wujiang River by Bangzi. They even said that it was Heaven's will that killed you, not your fault in battle. You are really narcissistic and arrogant to the extreme."
Xiang Yu slammed his hand on the table, startling us all. We thought he was about to explode, but instead he shouted, "That's all true!"
We were all stunned. Zhang Shun said angrily, "That Liu Bang is too hateful. I'll beat him up if I see him." Actually, he had seen Liu Bang at school.
Xiang Yu waved his hand and said, "Don't mention him anymore, we're even now. I've thought it over. Liu Bang harbored ambitions from the day he raised his army. He had Zhang Liang and Han Xin to help him, he made a three-point agreement with the people, and he readily accepted advice from his strategists. He knew from the beginning that what he wanted was the world. As for me, I'm cruel to the people, ungrateful to my subordinates, and arrogant. Even if I were to seize the world, I would only be a tyrant. Someone like me, who lives solely on my own likes and dislikes for pleasure, is destined to achieve nothing great."
Zhang Shun and his men were unimpressed, laughing and saying, "We江湖儿女 (jianghu children) live for the sake of living life to the fullest. Come on, Brother Xiang, let's drink!"
Bah! Who are you, a bandit, talking about chivalry and adventure?
I cautiously said to Xiang Yu, "Let me interview you. When did your mindset start to change?" Before he could speak, I slapped my thigh and said, "You had a sudden epiphany after you and your sister-in-law separated, right? It seems that you are a wise man, Brother Yu. Why don't you call yourself Monk Zhishen from now on?"
Ruan Xiaoer said, "Brother Xiang, why don't you tell us your story with your sister-in-law?"
Ruan Xiaowu said, "That's right, let's start with how you met your sister-in-law."
This is something I'm also very interested in. I didn't dare ask him before, for fear of stirring up his painful memories. Now that Yu Ji has been found, I might as well listen to their love story.
Seeing that we were all waiting for him with eager eyes, Xiang Yu picked up the wine and drank it down in one gulp to moisten his throat. Ruan Xiaoer, afraid that he would interrupt his train of thought by pouring the wine, hurriedly did it for him.
"...At that time, I was still in Wuzhong. Every day I practiced martial arts and drank with a group of servants. Although I lived a carefree life, I had nowhere to use my strength, so I was not happy."
"When I learned of the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising, the world was in chaos, and refugees from all directions were fleeing the famine. The prefect of our city, Yin Tong, was not only incompetent and foolish but also cowardly and afraid of trouble. He ordered the city gates to be closed. The refugees were wailing outside the city, and their numbers were increasing day by day. Tonight, I watched the fleeing army coming intermittently from the battlements. Tomorrow, when they came again, there would be no end in sight. At this time, my uncle told me that the time for the uprising had come and asked me if I dared to do it. I said I couldn't wait any longer, but he said we had to wait a few more days to prepare."
"I got impatient, so I rode off alone on a horse, grabbed a gun, and left."
Ruan Xiaoer asked curiously, "Where did you go?" Ruan Xiaowu also said, "Yes."
Xiang Yu smiled slightly: "Naturally, we're going to kill Yin Tong. My uncle said he has too many soldiers, so if we want to succeed, we need to devise a good plan to kill him first."
Ruan Xiaoer stared in astonishment and said, "You're going to kill him all by yourself? How many guards does he have?"
Xiang Yu said, "About a few hundred."
Ruan Xiaowu asked, "You...killed them all?"
Zhang Shun grabbed him and Ruan Xiaowu by the neck and protested, "Can you two shut up?"
Xiang Yu continued, “I didn’t kill many; most of them scattered. When I arrived at the governor’s mansion, I saw the gates wide open. In those days, because of the turbulent situation, Yin Tong often gathered his guards for drills. I rode straight in, but I didn’t see Yin Tong; there was only an adjutant conducting drills. I tapped the gate with my spear, and before I could say anything, I saw two old women chasing a girl out from the depths of the inner garden with bamboo poles. The girl was wearing a dance costume, covered in tassels, and it swayed beautifully as she ran.”
Ruan Xiaoer exclaimed excitedly, "It's my sister-in-law! Brother Xiang, why is my sister-in-law being chased and beaten?"
With a tender expression, Xiang Yu slowly said, "Ayu was bought by Yin Tong when she was a child. She was first made a maid, and later, seeing her cleverness, he made her learn to be a singer. When Ayu was 16, Yin Tong had lustful thoughts about her, but Ayu refused, and that's how that scene happened—I will never forget the first time I saw her. Although her face was covered in bloodstains, she still had an indifferent smile, as if the two dogs and cats she kept were chasing her."
"Just as Ayu was about to run out of the inner garden gate, the two old women shouted, and two guards blocked the garden entrance with long spears. Ayu lay on the garden entrance and suddenly saw me. She was stunned for a moment, and then her gaze never left my face. No matter how the two old women whipped her from behind, she just kept smiling."
I wondered, "Was Yu Ji mentally challenged?" I couldn't help but ask, "Wasn't Brother Yu incredibly handsome back then?"
Xiang Yu's eyes lit up, and he said with a little embarrassment, "I was 24 years old at the time, full of vigor and vitality, wearing a pure silver armor and a scarlet cloak on my horse."
Zhang Shun, unable to wait any longer, interrupted, "And then what happened?"
"Ah Yu looked at me like that, but I didn't forget why I came here. I banged on the gate with my spear, and four soldiers came over. When they saw that I dared to ride into the prefect's mansion, they shouted and ran over to throw me off my horse. I just flicked the shaft of my spear lightly, and their heads were all smashed, falling to the ground with a crackling sound, splattering blood and brains all over my horse bell and one of my boots. They immediately panicked. The two old women didn't care about Ah Yu anymore and ran inside screaming like pigs being slaughtered. Without thinking, I threw my spear. The spear impaled one of the old women on the ground and then plunged a long way into the ground. The old woman was still digging and kicking her feet in a desperate escape posture until her death."
Ruan Xiaowu couldn't help but say, "You still have hundreds of enemies in front of you, yet you threw your gun away first? What about the other old woman?"
“The other old woman watched helplessly as her companion was nailed to the ground and still struggling. She was so frightened by the glare that she died. Later, I kept defending myself in front of everyone, saying that I threw the spear because I was afraid that the two old women would go back and report to Yin Tong. But I can’t lie to myself. I just hate them for bullying A Yu.”
Ruan Xiaowu then asked, "What about your sister-in-law? Wouldn't she be terrified to see this? After all, she's a young woman."
Xiang Yu smiled and said, "Ayu wasn't afraid at all. When I killed those four soldiers, she didn't react much. But when I shot the old woman, the gun flew past her face and ruffled her hair. Only then did she cover her mouth and look at me in surprise. Her expression was like that of a child seeing an adult easily do something he couldn't do, a mixture of envy, curiosity, excitement, and joy."
"I killed several people with a flick of my wrist, and Yin Tong's guards immediately surrounded me, their long spears standing like autumn weeds. I wasn't riding a black horse then; the horse was startled and jumped wildly, so I simply jumped off and started slashing with my sword. I didn't care what I encountered—spears, iron swords, heads, shoulders—I sliced them all off. In the blink of an eye, I killed more than a dozen more people."
Zhang Shun tilted his head back and drank the wine in his bowl in one gulp, then sighed, "What a fine man!"
"As I was killing, I kept glancing towards the garden entrance. I saw A-Yu leaning against the wall by the garden entrance, her hand under her chin, smiling at me. I intentionally or unintentionally moved towards her, and after watching for a while, she suddenly turned and ran away."
“I felt a wave of despair, and I killed even more ruthlessly. The blood of those people sprayed onto me in spurts, and eventually it filled my sleeve. I took a moment to dump it on the ground with a splash.”
Zhang Shun and the others were listening intently, so I said, "Brother Yu, how about we omit a few words here? I feel nauseous listening to this."
Xiang Yu smiled faintly and said, "Just then, I suddenly heard A Yu's voice say, 'Hey, come here.' At first, I thought I had misheard. After cutting down a few people, I saw A Yu run to my spear in the garden and was struggling to pull it out. When she saw me looking at her, she winked at me playfully and said, 'Hurry up and pull it out.' I was in a great mood and swung my sword to kill a few more people."