Chapter 65: The Good General Arrives to Surrender

  Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were childhood friends, and after each became a powerful warlord in his own right, they maintained an alliance for quite some time. This time, however, Lü Bu did not accept the friendly offer of Yuan Shao's sworn enemy Gongsun Zan, but instead chose to take a detour through Yan Province, bringing only Zhang Liao and Qin Yilu to Cao Cao's territory for a banquet, which was indeed a great risk.

  Qin Xu and others returned to Lü Bu's military camp, where the generals who came to greet them and the soldiers who were training all had a whispering expression.

  "Master is back, looks like he's got a big bargain from Old Cao?"

  "When did our master ever suffer a loss? Let alone Old Cao, didn't Yuan Shao also get defeated?"

  "That's right, Lord Cao is now the Governor of Qingzhou, a high-ranking official! How dare Old Cao?"

  "But Qingzhou is plagued by the Yellow Turbans..."

  "Are you afraid of the Yellow Turbans? Is milord afraid of the Yellow Turbans?"

  “……”

  Curiosity and gossip are ageless and genderless, even in the late Han Dynasty two thousand years ago, they were well-developed. Lü Bu was a military leader with great power, and no one dared to approach him except for his two wives; Zhang Liao was stern and taciturn, and naturally, it was impossible to pry anything out of him. Only Qin Xu, although favored by Lü Bu, was just a low-ranking clerk, but he had the mindset of having many friends and many paths, and he got along with everyone on a daily basis. At this moment, only he was surrounded by familiar soldiers who were burning with gossip, leaving Qin Xu flustered.

  Qin Xu's performance at the banquet allowed Lü Bu to save face in front of Cao Cao, and when he returned to the camp, the triumphant look on his face was evident. This unexpectedly boosted the morale of the soldiers under his command, who had been feeling somewhat down due to being in a foreign land.

  "Qin Xu, I heard you made a big show today! What's wrong? Can't I eat you?" Lü Linggui grabbed Qin Xu who was trying to escape at the entrance of the camp, and said with an unhappy face. As soon as Lü Bu returned, he was pulled away by his two wives, Zhang Liao was busy arranging the guards' affairs, and Qin Xu was surrounded by a group of strong men again. After waiting anxiously, Lü Linggui finally saw Qin Xu come to her camp, and she was secretly delighted that she could finally get information from Qin Xu about what happened last night. But unexpectedly, when Qin Xu saw her, he turned around and ran away.

  Qin Xu was also secretly lamenting, what a mistake! What a mistake! How could he get so excited and forget that Cai Yan and Lü Linggui lived in the same tent? He had just escaped the Han Dynasty's Eight Trigrams Party, but now he had fallen into the hands of Miss Lü.

  "Big sister, not asleep yet?" Qin Xu looked at Cai Yan sitting upright in the tent, looking at a book scroll with a smiling expression, and Lyu Lingyi with an unfulfilled look on her face. Feeling guilty, he made small talk.

  “……”

  Lü Linggui stepped aside, but Qin Xu still didn't get the chance to be alone with Cai Yan, and after saying a few words in confusion, he hastily retreated back to his own tent.

  Nothing happened that night, but the rumors of "Lv Bu's solo duel and Qin's clerk scolding both men" spread wildly in the military camp with added flavor from the gossipmongers. Overnight, everyone knew about it, and when Qin Xu rushed to Lv Bu's tent for a meeting the next morning, he received countless curious glances along the way.

  Cao Cao is indeed a man of his word, last night he said he would come to visit Cai Yong, and early this morning he arrived at Lü Bu's military camp for a return visit. However, Old Cao didn't have Lü Bu's boldness, bringing a large group of generals and soldiers, almost making the gate guards think that a large army had come to attack.

  However, after learning that it was Cao Cao's return visit, and looking at Cao Cao's attitude, the soldiers of Lü Bu's army who had heard various versions of rumors last night were even more convinced of the "truth" of the rumors. One by one, they looked at Cao Cao with high spirits, while Cao Cao's face became increasingly cold and stern.

  Wen Zhong only brought Cao Cao with Xun Yu and Zhang Miao, Qin Xu did not see the figures of Cheng Yu and Wei Yan, guessing that they were angered by Qin Xu's words last night, wondering if Wei Yan would also cough up blood and die like his poor brother, Qin Xu thought maliciously.

  After Lü Bu had paid his respects, Cao Cao entered alone with his sword and made the request to take Cai Yan and her daughter to Chenliu. Lü Bu shot a meaningful glance at Qin Xu, causing him to break out in cold sweat, and ordered someone to invite Cai Yong and Cai Yan to meet with Cao Cao.

  Fortunately, the performance of Cai's father and daughter made Qin Xu feel "very relieved". In the face of Cao Cao's enthusiastic invitation, Cai Yan didn't know what to think. Although he was very happy about Cao Cao's arrival, even with a sentimental expression of "looking at each other without words, only tears welling up", he unexpectedly expressed his intention not to leave Lü Bu's army. He politely declined Cao Cao's kind offer to go to Chenliu, making Cao Cao's face look not so good. Cai Yan was even more calling out "Uncle Cao" repeatedly, making Cao Cao, who already had a covetous heart towards Cai Yan, almost write a big "suffering" word on his face.

  However, Cao Cao was after all a publicly recognized hero, although he couldn't guess the thoughts of Cai Yan and his daughter, Lu Bu's expression quickly disappeared. With the great name of Xun Yu, also known as "Xunshi", accompanying him, after Lu Bu and Cao Cao's "friendly" negotiations, they finally determined the route of Lu Bu's army along the river to the east, passing through Puyang, Dongjun, and entering Qingzhou's capital Linzi. As the governor of two states, they agreed that Qingzhou and Yanzhou would be allies, not attacking each other, eliminating the Yellow Turbans, and assisting the Han dynasty together. Under this righteous atmosphere, for a time, both host and guest were joyful, but how much truth was in this joyful scene is hard to say.

  Finally, in the eerie and fervent atmosphere, Cao Cao's party was sent away. Lü Bu's army did not stay outside Chenliu City for long and set up camp that afternoon, advancing towards Puyang.

  Bomaoyang City, near the banks of the Great River, had been breached several times by the Black Mountain Army and became a stronghold for the Black Mountain Bandits. After Cao Cao newly occupied it, he appointed Xiahou Yuan as the defending general, Zhang Chao, younger brother of Chenliu Governor Zhang Miao, as the military commander, and Chen Gong as the deputy governor. They gathered scattered civilians, comforted the tribes, and in just a few months, they restored some of the original bustling commercial scene.

  Looking at the Puyang City, which was the root cause of Lü Bu's downfall in history, and with Lü Wenhou by his side, Qin Xu also regained a bit of the satisfaction of being a "successful person" from his previous life. He no longer had to worry all day about Lü Bu's military strategy going wrong, leading him back to the old path of falling at the White Gate Tower in history.

  "Your Excellency, someone claims to be the younger brother of Chenliu Governor Zhang Miao and has come to visit!" According to the agreement between Lü Bu and Cao Cao, Lü Bu's army was not allowed to enter the city. Xiahou Yuan and Lü Bu had no prior relationship and were even somewhat hostile towards each other, but due to Cao Cao's orders, after Lü Bu's army set up camp outside Puyang City, although they did not exchange visits, they closed the city gates and set up many sentry posts, but also did not take the initiative to provoke. Upon hearing the guard's message, Lü Bu, who was visiting the still unconscious Zhang Yang, suddenly remembered Zhang Miao's words of entrustment when he was in Chenliu.

  "Please ask General Zhang to enter the commander's tent and wait!" Lü Bu ordered.

  "Hello!"

  For the person recommended by Zhang Chao, although Zhang Chao didn't know what considerations he had and didn't mention the name of this person, Qin Xu also had some premonition. If it was really that person, then Lv Bu's military strength would definitely be upgraded to a higher level.

  Lü Bu's army historically had eight strong generals, but now there were only six. Cao Xing was still in Hou Cheng's Divine Archery Camp as the commander. With Song Xian's return, this historical anti-Lü trio was declared broken. Hou Cheng also increased his loyalty to Lü Bu due to his tolerance of Song Xian, which made Qin Xu secretly let out a sigh of relief because he had been on high alert about Hou Cheng due to Song Xian's affair. As for Zhang Miao's recommended person, who later shone in Cao Cao's army and was posthumously titled "Wei Marquis", his whereabouts were still unknown at this time. If the person Zhang Miao recommended was indeed the one Qin Xu had in mind, it would be an excellent deal of buying one get one free.

  "Boyang Sima Zhang Chao, pays his respects!" In Lü Bu's command tent, a tall and large man dressed as a scholar, with a face similar to that of Zhang Miao, bowed down upon seeing Lü Bu.

  "Zhong Zhuo, no need to be too polite, please get up quickly!" Lü Bu exchanged pleasantries with Zhang Chao, but his gaze remained on the two attendants dressed in a similar style standing behind Zhang Chao.

  To Zhang Chao's left stood a man, about forty years old, with a strong and handsome appearance. His deep and quiet eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts. Although he was dressed in the attire of an attendant, his entire body emitted a faint aura of power, making it difficult for anyone to ignore his presence. At that moment, Lü Bu's eyes lit up.

  The one following behind him was slightly younger, about twenty years old, with a similar appearance to the former, sharp eyes, but his face was calm and respectful, giving people the feeling of a sharp sword that could be drawn at any time.

  "Zhong Zhuo, who are the two robust men behind you?" Lü Bu asked with a hint of irrepressible surprise in his tone.

  Zhang Chao finished his courtesy and turned sideways, pointing to the two people behind him: "These two are the talents recommended by my elder brother Xiang Wenhou. The first one is the former Gong Cao under Zhang Chao when he was the governor of Guangling, with the surname Cang, name Hong, and style name Zi Yuan. And the second one is Cang Hong's son, Zang Ba!"

  "Isn't it the Acid Plum Association's plot to overthrow Dong Zhuo?" Lü Bu hadn't reacted yet, but Qin Xu's eyes lit up in surprise.

  Zhang Chao had never seen Qin Xu before and did not know that this young man with a tender face, dressed as a scholar, dared to speak in front of Lü Bu like that. He hadn't heard that Lü Bu had a son? However, seeing Lü Bu's expressionless reaction to Qin Xu's interruption, Zhang Chao secretly found it strange and did not dare to be arrogant, cupping his hands and saying: "That's right, it was indeed done by Zi Yuan."

  "Your Excellency, the Cang father and son are both exceptionally talented. Like father, like son. Governor Zhang has recommended these two men, and in the future they will surely become your trusted lieutenants!" Qin Xu exclaimed emotionally.

  Due to Qin Xu's excited appearance, the tent was unusually quiet. Lü Bu had long been accustomed to Qin Xu's frequent sudden and dramatic behavior, but Zhang Chao and Cang Shi father and son were confused by Qin Xu's daring "impertinence" in front of Lü Bu.

  When did Lü Bu become so easy to talk to? Or was this young man's status in Lü Bu's heart not ordinary? The Cang family father and son secretly nodded to each other, and opened a big smile towards Qin Xu.

  "Warm hospitality, these two are indeed extraordinary, just as... cough, cough said, but their identities are a bit...". Zhang Chao still didn't know Qin Xu's identity and didn't dare to call out rashly, using a few coughs to cover it up. However, due to his friendship with Lü Bu and Zhang Miao, he still spoke about the difficulties of the Cang family father and son.

  Qin Xu suddenly understood why Zhang Miao, who was serving in Cao Cao's army, had recommended Cang Hong and his son to Lü Bu. During the campaign against Dong Zhuo, Cang Hong was the first to take action, uniting the heroes of five counties at the alliance meeting in Suishui, issuing a fake imperial edict, and launching an attack on Dong Zhuo. He was then appointed as the leader of the alliance. Later, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao joined one after another, but in order to boost their own prestige, they snatched away Cang Hong's achievements and the position of leader. This was tolerable. However, the discord among the allied forces made Cang Hong extremely angry, and he was eventually ostracized and framed for a crime. If it weren't for his son, Zang Ba, coming to his rescue, he might have lost his life as well. No wonder Cang Hong had an unfavorable impression of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, but instead had a desire to surrender to Lü Bu, who was originally their enemy but later became a meritorious general in the campaign against Dong Zhuo.

  "I, Lü Bu, have obtained the assistance of all of you, with Red Hare Horse and Heaven's Painting Halberd, roaming freely under the heavens, what fear is there for others? I can obtain Zi Yuan Xuan Gao, it's truly like adding wings to a tiger!" Lü Bu couldn't help but feel more and more fond of the Cang family father and son as he looked at them, and stood up to come beside the three of them, laughing loudly.

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