A chain of deceptions

Kuaiji Commandery in Jiangdong lay in the eastern Divine Land, beside the Eastern Sea. Wu County, the ancestral seat of the Yu Clan, lay in eastern Kuaiji Commandery, only a few miles from the coast.

With the Xiang Clan Army now encircling and attacking them, the Yu Clan had no hope of fighting their way out of Jiangdong. It was utterly unrealistic. Taking the sea route through the Eastern Sea and making a wide detour to reach the Wuhuan Faction's territory, however, offered some chance.

"Yes!"

The commanders and officers of the Wei Martial Guards respectfully acknowledged the order, then swiftly turned and left.

"Young General?!"

Yu Ziqi's expression shifted several times, his face paling as he looked at Xiang Yu. Yu Xin and the other Yu clansmen likewise stared at Xiang Yu in disbelief.

All this time, the Yu Clan had supplied the Xiang Clan Army with weapons and equipment. Calling them the financiers of the uprising would hardly have been an exaggeration. Their standing was scarcely below that of the Bai Clan, which supported Liu Bang.

Though Yu Ji's abilities defied the heavens, they hardly justified implicating the entire Yu Clan. Otherwise, the clan could never have prospered so comfortably in Jiangdong!

"Impossible! The Zhang Chu Faction lies between us and Hidden Dragon Commandery. How could our army launch a distant raid? And we have no reason whatsoever to attack the Yu Clan!"

Xiang Yu's expression also shifted repeatedly, uncertainty and alarm crossing his face. At Yu Ziqi's cry, he immediately shook his head and answered solemnly.

Xiang Yu might have been somewhat rash and impulsive, with relatively weak political judgment and strategic cunning, but his military abilities were inferior to no general's. How could he fail to understand the Yu Clan's importance to the Xiang Clan Army?