Chapter Eighteen: Target Hanoi

  In Weiyang Palace.

  From Emperor Xian of Han Liu Xie downwards, the faces of all high-ranking officials were as pale as a sheet.

  Wang Yun had just boasted that Lü Bu could turn the tide of fortune, when news arrived that Li Jue and Guo Si had breached Chang'an and were already besieging the city.

  This made it difficult for the high-ranking officials in the palace to accept for a while.

  Some people looked at Wang Yun's miserable state with a fright and secretly curled their lips, all of them saying: "Retribution!"

  Lü Bu was fighting bloody battles at the front, while you were only thinking of speaking ill of others behind their backs. Now that Lü Bu is outnumbered and defeated, fleeing to Chang'an, you say he has wronged you. You have spoken all the good words and bad words, making it seem like apart from old Wang, there are no loyal ministers in this world?

  Many officials suddenly remembered that when Dong Zhuo was just executed, Lü Bu had submitted a memorial suggesting to recruit and pacify the former generals of Dong Zhuo and incorporate the Western Liang forces into the imperial court.

  At that time, Wang Yun was afraid that Lü Bu would take the opportunity to expand his military power and worried that after Lü Bu became powerful, he would be uncontrollable.

  Lü Bu again advised that if this could not be done, then the court should execute Dong Zhuo's old generals. Wang Yun, still acting as Lü Bu's father-in-law, publicly rebuked him for being too eager to kill and having an overly aggressive spirit.

  Even when granting Lü Bu a marquisate, he was somewhat hastily given the title of "Marquis of Wen".

  What's the result...

  Wang Yun's behavior before and after, however, did arouse a hint of sympathy for Lü Bu from Emperor Xian and the other officials. They also didn't harbor as much resentment and hatred towards Lü Bu's defeat at Chang'an as they had previously. This was something that later, when he learned of the situation in the palace, Qin Xu found astonishing.

  "Your Majesty, Li Jue and Guo Si are shouting outside the palace. The Dragon Guards were originally part of the Western Liang army, and I fear that if time drags on, there will be more changes! Please make a decision as soon as possible!" Huangfu Song, the Imperial Inspector of the Capital, was close to Wang Yun, and seeing that all the officials including the Emperor looked at Wang Yun with some suspicion, he couldn't bear for Wang Yun to become like this, so he hastily stepped forward and memorialized.

  The Son of Heaven was young, and in the past, all military and administrative matters were handled by Wang Yun, who concurrently held the position of Shangshu Ling. Now, however, Wang Yun was busy with his own affairs and had become a scapegoat in the eyes of Emperor Xian and the other ministers.

  "Can all of you come up with a good strategy to retreat from the enemy?" Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, was only an eleven-year-old child after all, and he had been frightened by the news brought by the eunuch. He had just regained his composure and asked hastily upon hearing Huang Wan's report.

  "This..."

  "This..."

  These last senior officials of the Han court, upon hearing Emperor Xian's question, were all stunned and speechless.

  "You! You!"

  Emperor Xian Liu Xie suddenly felt that he had finally seen through the true faces of these self-proclaimed pillars of state, who claimed to be the mainstays of the country. In their daily lives, they boasted about their grand strategies for governing the country, speaking eloquently and writing profusely, but when faced with real events, they were at a loss for what to do. Now, in Little Liu's heart, he couldn't help but think of Lü Bu, who had been almost universally feared after his assassination of Dong Zhuo.

  "Enough! Enough!" Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie's face revealed a bitter smile that didn't belong to someone of his age: "Since the two villains have challenged us, as the Son of Heaven, how can I be afraid and not meet them? All officials, follow me to meet this remnant of Dong Zhuo!"

  ……

  It is unknown what kind of agreement Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, and Li Jue, Guo Si had reached, but the group had already left Chang'an for five days without any news coming from Chang'an. However, now Qin Xu was no longer concerned about these matters.

  On that day, when Lü Bu learned that Wei Xu had forged a military order, he opened the west gate to let Li Jue and Guo Si's army into Chang'an. Qin Xu tried to persuade Lü Bu to temporarily give up Chang'an, reasoning that no matter how daring Li Jue, Guo Si, or even Jia Xu were, they would not dare harm the Emperor in the slightest.

  Although Qin Xu knew that it was already the late Han Dynasty now, in people's hearts at this time, the Han Dynasty was still orthodox, with the Son of Heaven present, and the Great Han would exist.

  Even after more than a decade, when Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had become prominent figures, they only dared to propose "Supporting the Son of Heaven to command the vassals", and even this was later distorted by unofficial histories into "Using the Son of Heaven to command the feudal lords".

  Dong Zhuo was in power, his influence was unmatched for a time. He simply followed Emperor Ling's will and replaced the emperor, which led to eighteen vassals launching a punitive expedition against him. Although he ultimately failed, he also forced Dong Zhuo to move the capital to Chang'an.

  So Qin Xu's conclusion to Lü Bu was that even if he lent his bravery to Li Jue and Guo Si, they would not dare to commit the great evil of harming Emperor Xian.

  But Lü Bu is different.

  Qin Xu told Lü Bu that no matter whether he won or lost this battle, Wang Yun would not let him off. If he won, Wei Xu would betray Lü Bu and surrender to Wang Yun after failing to persuade him to turn against Lü Bu, and the sudden change of heart about letting Li Jue and Guo Si into the city would be unclear for a while, which would also become a bargaining chip for Wang Yun to control Lü Bu. If he lost, the entire Lü family would not be spared.

  It turned out that although it was temporarily unknown how Wang Yun arranged Lü Bu in the imperial court, Qin Xu's speculation with a small mind to measure Wang Yun's abdomen was still correct.

  On that day, Lü Bu listened to Qin Xu's advice and after a long deliberation, the idea of preserving his family still took precedence. He decided to follow Qin Xu's good words, taking advantage of the chaos in Chang'an, sending Gao Shun with several soldiers from the Trap Array Camp to escort his family along with Cai Yan and her daughter out of the east gate. Lü Bu pretended to attack for a while before leading Zhang Liao and the main army to charge towards the west gate and head north. The rest of Lü Bu's auxiliary generals led their troops in breaking through each gate, agreeing to meet up at He Nei.

  Hebei was once the place where Ding Yuan, as a Lang of the Feathered Forest, had stationed with Lü Bu for many years. It is very close to Luoyang and is also the location of the granary of the Imperial Governor. The governor of Hebei, Zhang Yang, was an old friend of Lü Bu's, so he chose that place as the meeting point.

  But when everyone parted ways, Lü Bu's sudden words were what led Qin Xu to fall into hardship from then on.

  "Qin Zhugong presented a strategy with merit, didn't you always want to join the Trapping Array Camp? I'll take the place of General Gao and fulfill your ambition!" Lü Bu said very seriously at that time: "However, your current state joining the Trapping Array Camp is completely unnecessary. Alright, on the way to Hebei in about half a month, let...let Ling'er give you some simple special training."

  I don't know why Lü Bu changed his mind suddenly, anyway Qin Xu saw that after Lü Linggui heard this, the excitement flashing in her eyes meant that there would be trouble on this journey.

  "Big bad egg, what's with the horse stance? You're not even doing it right! Just a little more weight and you can't hold on? Don't let your legs tremble! Can you do it or not? Stand steady!" Lü Linggui was wearing soft armor, her head held high, her brow furrowed, and her delicate yet heroic face wore a look of disdain as she gazed at Qin Xu, who was smiling wryly in the morning light. She snorted: "I don't know what Father is thinking, actually wanting to transfer you into the Trapping Array Camp. Isn't this just adding chaos?"

  Chang'an to Hanoi is nearly eight hundred miles, walking would take at least half a month even if you hurry. If it were the previous Qin Zhugong, Lü Bu's words might have been to his liking, but Qin Xiang couldn't understand why he had to be so reckless and charge into the enemy camp, which was the vanguard of the battlefield. As someone from a later generation, Qin Xiang wouldn't be foolish enough to go to his death like an egg hitting a rock. He thought that with Lü Bu not around, Lü Lingxue, a young girl, could be easily fooled and deceived, but how could she be a match for the "successful businessman" Director Qin?

  But contrary to expectations, Lv Lingxi didn't know if it was out of a desire for revenge or not, but she took her temporary role as "instructor" very seriously, dragging Qin Xiang up every day before dawn, under the guise of morning exercises.

  Qin Xu was not a person of this era, and he didn't understand the clothing of people at that time. Moreover, as it was mid-April (lunar calendar), the weather had already started to get quite warm, so every night he almost slept half-naked.

  So, after leaving Chang'an, almost every morning would hear a sharp cry from Lü Lingxue, followed by Qin Xu's miserable cry.

  Lao Xu and Sima Mao, being familiar with Qin Xu and also being old soldiers in the besieged camp, were specially left behind by Lü Bu to escort the family members and Cai's father and daughter along with Gao Shun.

  The first few times they heard Qin Xu's miserable cries, the two of them could still tense up and take a look at Qin Xu to see how he was doing. Afterwards, however, it was as if they had become deaf and blind, ignoring Qin Xu's pleading eyes and cries for help. Sometimes, they even gathered around with interest to watch, leaving Qin Xu feeling extremely depressed.

  "Ling'er, little sister! It's time to have breakfast. We still need to hurry on the road later. Is it okay if we stop here for now?"

  Today, Lv Linggui didn't know what was wrong with her either. The intensity of the training was twice as strong as the previous two days, and her temper had also increased a lot. Just when Qin Xu felt like his legs were trembling and he couldn't even stand still, a timely and celestial music, like that of the Nine Heavens' Xian Girl saving people from suffering, rescued Qin Zhongbo from the midst of danger.

  "Alright, alright! Madame Lü and Lord Cai are still waiting for dinner." Qin Xu didn't wait for Lü Lingxue to respond, hastily took the opportunity to stand up, made a big chest-expanding gesture, spat out a mouthful of turbid air, as if he had come back to life.

  "Hmph!" Lü Linggui seemed to have something to discuss with Cai Yan as well. Seeing Qin Xu's lazy appearance, she gave him a stern glance and pulled Cai Yan away, walking off in a mysterious manner.

  "What a hard life as an official in Qin!"

  "What a hard life as an official in Qin!"

  Lao Xu and Sima Mao saw Qin Xu "collecting his due", hastily putting away the look of having just watched a play, waiting for Qin Xu's orders with eyes that didn't dare to glance sideways, but the expectation in their eyes couldn't be hidden.

  Gao Shun originally brought only the ten soldiers of the Trap Array Camp who had been left to guard Lv Bu's mansion, and seeing that Lao Xu and Sima Mao were familiar with Qin Xu, he unexpectedly assigned two men to escort Qin Xu.

  "What's for dinner today, Qin Zhubu?"

  Since escaping from Chang'an, Qin Xu only knew that the food in this Great Han Dynasty was extremely simple. Putting meat into millet and cooking it with some salt was considered a meal. Even if Cai Yan, the great talented woman, used her skills to cook, it was still just a change of soup but not a change of medicine. How could Qin Xu, who was used to the delicious food of his previous life, bear this?

  This is not all, as everyone knows that Li Jue and Guo Si will certainly send troops to pursue if they know that Lü Bu is fleeing east. This group of people has old and young men and women, and only Gao Shun has ten soldiers from the Trap Array Camp. If they hide and hurry on the road, their food is not even simple.

  Then Qin Xu brought an old pheasant to Laohu, roasted it hastily and stuffed it into his mouth, finally losing his temper.