Volume 1: Chapter6-Secret Rumors Shake Qin**  

Nightfall draped Liyang in a restless unease. Though the Golden Arrow envoy's dire news had yet to spread from the state hall, the ancient fortress quivered like a plucked bowstring. Unseen, agents from the six eastern states—planted months earlier under the guise of merchants—had begun their work. These spies, tasked with sowing chaos ahead of Qin's partition, whispered poison into the ears of officials and commoners alike. By midnight, rumors of annihilation swirled through the streets: *Six armies march. Qin will vanish by autumn.* 

Fear bred fear. Though hardened by generations of war, Liyang's citizens now faced an unprecedented terror—not invasion, but erasure. Shutters slammed. Families huddled over flickering lamps. Some packed meager belongings, eyeing eastern roads at dawn. The very air thickened with dread. 

Unaware, Duke Xiao of Qin paced his austere study. A half-eaten bronze cauldron of lamb stew cooled forgotten as he traced borders on a yellowed map. Outside, white-haired chamberlain Hei Bo stood sentinel, his stillness mirroring the ruler's turmoil. 

A clatter of hooves shattered the silence. 

"My lord!" A dust-caked courier from Yongcheng stumbled in. "Panic spreads west! Refugees flee toward Chu. The rumors—they say—" 

The duke cut him off with a raised hand. "Hei Bo. Four orders: Scouts to the streets. Summon the city commandant. Mobilize two thousand cavalry. Ready twenty envoys." 

Before dawn, Liyang's commandant Zi'an knelt before his sovereign. "Sixth-hour patrols noted… unusual foot traffic. Nothing more." 

"**Nothing?**" The duke's voice cracked like ice. "Our people quake like autumn leaves! Deploy every guard. Seize all foreign merchants—alive, unharmed. Fail, and your head answers." 

As Zi'an vanished with the tiger tally, Yongcheng's governor stepped forward. "Let me purge the western strongholds of these vipers." 

The duke pressed a rust-stained sword into his hands—Duke Mu's ancient *Sword of Life and Death*. "Ride with twenty envoys. Let no city defy you." 

Left Chief Minister Ying Qian arrived as the eastern sky bled crimson. "We'll drown lies in truth," he growled. "Send scribes to every ward—declare the rumors Wei's empty boasts." 

"Do it yourself, brother," the duke urged. "Our people trust your voice." 

Alone at last, Duke Xiao shed his royal silks for coarse hemp. Hei Bo mirrored his transformation, wrinkles deepening into a common elder's guise. 

"Why?" The duke paused, moved. 

The old servant's eyes gleamed. "Valiant Qin stands as one against calamity—as our ancestors vowed." 

Through winding alleys, they walked. Shuttered stalls. Whispers behind doors. The clang of soldiers herding cursing merchants. At a millet shop, a woman sobbed: "Where's safe? Even Yongcheng flees!" 

"Foolish talk!" Hei Bo croaked, playing his role. "My nephew guards Hangu Pass. Says Qin's walls hold firm!" 

Murmurs rippled. A potter lowered his bundle. 

By the dye works, the duke himself bent to a cobbler's ear: "Heard the decree? Fake news from Wei dogs! Our army's gathered at the river—" 

As cocks crowed, hope timidly rekindled. Liyang's stones remembered: This was Qin. Storms might rage, but roots held deep. 

Back in the state hall, the duke gazed at his map. Fingers brushed the western highlands—Qin's heart. *Survive this night*, he willed, *and we rise*. 

Beyond the walls, hooves thundered east. The counterattack had begun.