DLERB -Chapter 88 Old Man, Tired of Shouting? Come Up and Have a Bowl of Soup?

Outside Hangu Pass.

Yellow sand filled the sky.

Battle flags stood like forests, covering the entire horizon.

The so-called 300,000-strong Six Kingdoms coalition army surged forward like a black tide, pressing against the pass.

Xiang Liang sat atop a tall warhorse.

He gazed at the world’s number one strategic fortress.

The gates were tightly shut.

On the city walls, the black Qin dragon banners hung weakly and sparsely, barely fluttering.

The silhouettes of defenders were almost invisible.

A scene of utter desolation.

Xiang Liang smiled.

“Report!”

A scout stumbled and rolled to a stop in front of his horse.

“My lord! Our vanguard has confirmed it!”

“All Qin military units along the way are fleeing upon sight!”

“All cities and fortresses have surrendered without a fight!”

After hearing this, Xiang Liang burst into loud laughter.

“Hahahahaha!”

“Do you see this? This is the Qin army!”

“Now that Ying Zheng has fallen, this once-fierce tiger army has become a pack of toothless sick cats!”

Hoofbeats sounded.

King Tian Dan of Qi rode over.

“General Xiang, truly mighty!”

“This campaign against Qin, you shall take the greatest credit!”

On the other side, King Zhao Xie also approached.

“Not just the greatest credit!”

“Once Xianyang is taken, we should jointly recommend General Xiang as leader of the alliance!”

The three exchanged smiles—everything understood without words.

Xiang Liang’s face was full of triumph.

He pointed toward Xianyang.

“Gentlemen, the treasures in the Epang Palace are countless.”

“And the imperial harem of three thousand beauties—all as lovely as immortals.”

Tian Dan rubbed his hands.

“I’ve long heard Qin princesses are all stunning. I must take a few back as concubines!”

Zhao Xie was practically drooling.

“The grain and silk in Xianyang’s granaries will be enough to feed my Zhao people for ten years!”

Xiang Liang gave a cold snort.

“Short-sighted.”

“What are mere treasures and women worth?”

He stretched out his hand, as if trying to grasp the whole world.

“What I want… is the entire Great Qin realm!”

“Once I ascend the throne, you will all be founding ministers of my new Chu dynasty!”

“Thank you, my lord!”

Tian Dan and Zhao Xie immediately dismounted and bowed.

On the battlefield’s front lines, they were already celebrating victory and dividing the world.

Just then—

A commotion broke out among the coalition ranks.

A soldier pointed at the Hangu Pass tower, his voice trembling.

“Look!”

“That… what is that?!”

Everyone looked up.

Atop the towering gates of Hangu Pass—

There were no rows of weapons.

No heavily defended Qin troops.

Only a massive round table filled with all kinds of dishes.

In the center, a huge bronze pot was bubbling loudly—“gurgle gurgle”—with steaming broth.

A figure sat at the main seat.

The figure was extremely small.

Wearing a clearly ill-fitting black armor, he looked almost comical.

He stretched out his little hand, directing the eunuchs nearby.

“That one—put the lamb slices on the left.”

“Move the vegetables farther away. I don’t like them.”

The entire coalition army froze in disbelief.

Is… is this a battlefield?

Xiang Liang’s pupils contracted sharply.

He recognized him instantly.

That child sitting at the table, about to eat hot pot—

Was that rumored monstrous prodigy.

The Ninth Prince of Qin, Ying Ziye!

Why was he here?

Shouldn’t he be in Xianyang Palace, mourning his dying father?

On the city wall.

Wang Jian stood straight in full armor behind Ying Ziye.

Looking at the black mass of enemy troops below, his hand was already on his sword hilt.

His palm was soaked with sweat.

But Ying Ziye acted as if he saw nothing.

He picked up a pair of long chopsticks, lifted a slice of lamb, and swished it in the boiling broth.

Then he put it into his mouth.

Chewed twice.

And frowned slightly.

“Uncle Wang Jian.”

Wang Jian straightened instantly and bowed.

“Ninth Prince, this old minister is here!”

Ying Ziye put down his chopsticks.

“This lamb is cut too thick.”

Wang Jian: “……”

Ying Ziye added:

“It doesn’t cook tender when you rinse it. Hard to chew.”

Wang Jian forcibly suppressed the urge to draw his sword and charge down to kill someone.

He forced out a smile uglier than crying.

“Your Highness is correct.”

“This old minister… this old minister will go back and tell the imperial kitchen to sharpen the knives.”

Beside him, a young eunuch holding a plate was trembling like a sieve.

The potato slices on his plate spilled all over the ground.

Ying Ziye didn’t even glance at him.

Below the city walls.

Xiang Liang’s face had already turned the color of a pig liver.

He felt a volcano building in his chest, ready to erupt.

Humiliation!

This was absolute humiliation!

He rode forward out of the formation.

Gathering all his strength, he roared toward the city walls:

“Ying Ziye!”

His voice echoed across the empty plains.

“Your father Ying Zheng has acted against heaven and morality, bringing wrath upon himself and the people!”

“Now he is gravely ill and on the brink of death—Great Qin’s fate is sealed!”

On the city wall, Ying Ziye picked up another piece of tripe.

Following the “seven up, eight down” rule, he rinsed it in the boiling pot.

The veins on Xiang Liang’s forehead bulged.

“I, Xiang Liang of Chu, leader of the Xiang clan, now follow the will of heaven and lead the righteous armies of the Six Kingdoms to punish tyrannical Qin!”

“If you are wise, open the gates immediately and surrender!”

“For your youth and ignorance, I may spare your dog life!”

His shout shook the heavens.

Below, hundreds of thousands of soldiers echoed in unison:

“Surrender!”

“Surrender!”

“Surrender!”

The sound waves crashed repeatedly against Hangu Pass like tidal waves.

On the city wall.

Ying Ziye finally finished rinsing the tripe.

He dipped it in sesame sauce and happily ate it.

Chewing, he said vaguely to Qinglong beside him:

“Bring me that iron loudspeaker.”

Qinglong immediately brought over a cone-shaped loudspeaker made of iron sheet.

Ying Ziye took it and slowly stood up.

He walked to the edge of the wall and looked down at the dense black mass of troops.

He put the horn to his mouth.

“Hey.”

The child’s clear voice was amplified dozens of times, echoing through the entire battlefield.

All shouting instantly stopped.

Ying Ziye pointed at Xiang Liang at the front.

“The old man riding the tall horse down there.”

“Yes, you.”

An uproar erupted below the city.

Xiang Liang’s face instantly turned a deep purplish red.

Ying Ziye’s voice continued drifting from the walls:

“You’ve been shouting so long your throat must be smoking.”

“Tired?”

He pointed at the boiling hotpot in front of him.

“Want to come up and have a bowl of soup?”

“This broth has been simmering for three days and nights with beef bones. It’s very fragrant.”

“Pfft—”

Xiang Liang felt a surge of blood in his throat.

He almost spat out blood on the spot.

He suddenly realized—

This was not a siege.

It felt like he was a fool shouting under a stage, while the performer above casually ate and mocked him.

Tian Dan and Zhao Xie nearby also turned red and pale in turns.

They were leading the elite armies of the Six Kingdoms!

They were here to conquer a nation!

Not to play house with a child!

Xiang Liang could no longer endure it.

With a “shing,” he drew his sword.

The blade pointed directly at the small figure on the city wall.

His voice was hoarse, twisted, and filled with murderous intent:

“Attack!!!”

“Flatten Hangu Pass for me!!”

He pointed at Ying Ziye.

“Kill that little beast!”

“Whoever brings me his head—ten thousand gold! A marquisate of ten thousand households!!”

“ROAR!!!”

Under heavy rewards, brave men emerged.

The vanguard of the coalition instantly went mad.

Their eyes turned bloodshot, locked onto the figure on the wall.

That was no longer a child.

It was a mountain of gold—a heaven-sent fortune!

“Kill!!!”

Thousands of elite death soldiers roared like beasts, carrying long siege ladders.

Like a bursting dam, they charged toward Hangu Pass.

The earth began to tremble beneath their heavy footsteps.