Luo Xin vaguely sensed that Lü Taigong was cultivating friendly ties with him not merely for Liu Bang's sake. He seemed to want to represent the Lü Clan in renewing relations between the two sides.
In truth, however, this was a side effect of Luo Xin dabbling in too much politics. Lü Taigong simply felt that Liu Bang was less dependable than the Luo Clan.
If Liu Bang prospered and kicked the Lü Clan out of the game, or something else happened, things would turn ugly. But with the Luo Clan's support, at least Liu Bang would not dare go too far.
Luo Xin's original purpose in leaving Luo Village this time had been to contact the Luo Clan's old associates, relatives, and friends. These people mostly had deep ties to the Zhou State and had suffered terribly under the First Emperor's blows. They were all mainstays of the resistance against Qin.
By the time Luo Xin left Pei County, Liu Bang still had no idea that his own home base had been stolen out from under him.
Xianyang City.
Guanzhong had seen considerable changes lately. Huhai had already completed all the arrangements for the First Emperor's burial. After all, he had spent some time as the Second Qin Emperor and had accomplished quite a few things.
Since Fusu's accession, apart from granting titles and lands to princes and lords on a grand scale, he had halted virtually every major construction project. Not only had construction of Epang Palace stopped, but repairs to Xianyang Palace had ceased as well.
These were all things Meng Yun had told Fusu over drinks back when he was still alive: the way to save Great Qin was to cherish its manpower, release its shackles, and give the Qin people something to look forward