Night fell.
Liucheng.
This should have been an ordinary night, but the return of the three kings had stirred it into unrest, with countless undercurrents surging through it.
Liu Chen began trying to contact those clever enough to see the larger trends of the realm, discreetly letting word spread.
The court's overwhelming strength was plain to see. The combination of the Grand Chancellor and the Great General was unmatched beneath heaven, far beyond anything the so-called Huainan Kingdom could withstand. Even an alliance of kingdoms would be no match. Anyone who failed to jump ship now would have no chance later.
But even Luo Xin had overlooked one problem: Han Xin had not taken action for more than twenty years, ever since defeating the Xiongnu.
Among the Liu Clan Lords King, King Xiang of Huainan had been the last to witness Han Xin's brilliance and terror in those days.
The ignorant knew no fear.
Newborn calves did not fear tigers.
Put those two sayings together, and the result could be terrifying.
Take the King of Wu: he believed he held the advantage, which was why he flaunted himself so openly.
Or the King of Huainan: he believed that heaven was high and the emperor far away, and that the court had followed a policy of noninterference for so many years.
This was probably only a probe. As long as he took a hard line, the court would surely back down. After all, this move infringed on the interests of every feudal king beneath heaven.
And so he accepted his minister's suggestion and brazenly dispatched assassins to kill the three feudal kings carrying the court's investiture edicts!
A courtyard residence with three successive compounds stood in southeastern Liucheng. Liu Chen and his companions were staying there. Though it was already late,