Chapter 44: Black Mountain Strategy (Part 1)

  Benefiting from Yuan Shao's complete focus on the Black Mountain bandits, he would never have thought that Ye City could be captured so smoothly this time, and the Hebei side also made great efforts.

  Xu You was after all one of Yuan Shao's most capable advisors, and had a good private relationship with him. Although the plan to go to Hei Shan this time had Lv Bu as "rear support", it was still full of variables. After some hesitation, on Shi Huan's recommendation, Yuan Shao finally decided that the proposer of this strategy, Ou Ji, would lead Yuan Shao to Henan to convey his orders to Xu You.

  Knowing that this plan would make Xu You resentful, as a fellow strategist under Yuan Shao's command, Xun Yu knew that he and Xu You were not on good terms to begin with. After this incident, their relationship had reached an all-time low. However, since Yuan Shao's orders had already been given, Xun Yu had no choice but to comply.

  Qin Xu and others escorted nearly three thousand war horses and over one million stones of grain, day and night, finally catching up with Gong Ji's vanguard, smoothly entering the territory of He Nei.

  "Ling'er, you're getting bolder and bolder!"

  Unexpectedly, Lü Bu, who had come to welcome her, took a step back and completely ignored Lü Lingqi's coquettish behavior, his face stern and cold as he shouted.

  "Dad..."

  Since childhood, she had never seen Lv Bu speak so severely. Facing Lv Bu's serious gaze, Lv Linggui subconsciously hid behind Qin Xu.

  What have I done to offend anyone? Is this little shoulder of mine being used as a shield? And who am I supposed to be shielding, Lord Lü?

  "Master, Missy's trip to Ye City this time, Qin Xu can't shirk the blame! Fortunately, Missy returned safely, this..." No way, Lü Ling'jie's petite body had already tightly stuck to Qin Xu's back, peeking through Qin Xu's shoulder to glance at Lü Bu's gloomy face. Two soft and delicate things pressed against Qin Xu's back, sending over waves of warmth. Qin Xu didn't want Lü Ling'jie to come to her senses and look for trouble, so he could only smile wryly and say to Lü Bu.

  "Hmph! You'd better not try to plead for her, get out of the way quickly!" Lü Bu didn't give Qin Xu any face this time, and coldly said: "Qin Xu, you can't shirk your responsibility! Ling'er ran away, why didn't you persuade her to come back? Do you think military matters are child's play? Ling'er is young, how could she tolerate such recklessness? If it weren't for Ling'er returning safely this time, I would not have spared you!"

  "I advise? I'd be surprised if I did! You, the stubborn temper inherited from the old Lü family, don't you know yourself?" Qin Xu muttered to himself, seeing Lü Bu's tone slightly relax, and had to say: "Lord! Eldest Miss this time really didn't mess things up, and even achieved a great merit. If it weren't for her, we probably wouldn't have been able to return to Hebei so smoothly."

  "Oh?" Lü Bu's expression eased a bit more.

  I knew you'd be like this! Qin Xu muttered to himself.

  At this point, Qin Xu didn't care whether Lü Bu could listen or not. With the intention of following heaven's will and doing his best as a human, he didn't want to leave any chance for Lü Linggui to settle accounts later. He told Lü Bu about the fake hostage situation with Lü Linggui, capturing Yuan Shang and the Lü brothers on the road. Fortunately, Qin Xu had good eloquence from his past life in business, and this matter was a personal experience. He spoke with a smooth transition, extraordinary brilliance, and key points that were breathtakingly beautiful, moving people's hearts. He emphasized that Lü Linggui was very similar to Lü Bu, with great wisdom and bravery, decisive killing, and consideration for his comrades, rushing to cut off the retreat, etc. Lü Bu listened with wide eyes, suspiciously looking at Qin Xu, wondering if the person in Qin Xu's words was really himself.

  Lü Bu was listening intently, and at the exciting parts, he even narrowed his eyes and nodded repeatedly. Qin Xu also secretly let out a breath of relief and exchanged a pre-arranged glance with Sima Meng.

  Actually on the way back to Hebei, Qin Xu had already considered many strategies for dealing with Lü Bu after seeing Lü Lingqi.

  This father-daughter pair is a weirdo, can't be measured with ordinary people's thinking.

  Moreover, Lv Linggui played too big this time. Without using any tricks, it's absolutely impossible to pass Lv Bu's level.

  Lü Bu's doting on Lü Lingqi is famous, I estimate that this time even if he loses his temper it's probably because he's worried about Lü Lingqi's personal safety, it seems like the only way to deal with him is through this aspect.

  After thinking about it, I can only hold on to the fact that Lu Bu is not good at mentioning it again, and Lü Lingqi can pass through. Qin Xu doesn't have to worry about being implicated anymore.

  This matter can only be helped by someone familiar with it. Otherwise, relying solely on Qin Xu's influence is really a bit beyond his power.

  Qin Xu was familiar with the people around him, only these soldiers in the camp, Lao Xue was steady and not suitable! Kong Er Dumb? Just because of this nickname, forget it! Gao Shun? Don't even think about it!

  It seems that Sima Meng has to find a nickname for himself and Lü Lingxue to get through this pass.

  After Sima Mao got to know Qin Xu, he didn't know how, but it seemed that Qin Xu would always think of him when it came to doing something wrong. This time, after hearing Qin Xu's plan, Sima Mao broke out in cold sweat, truly admiring the audacity of the chief clerk, who even dared to deceive their master, and yet Master Mo still protected him so much.

  If she doesn't agree, let alone Qin Xu, I'm sure Lü Lingxue knows that if she refuses to help, the consequences...

  Simultaneously, Sima Meng endured the disdain in Qin Xu's eyes and steeled himself to shout out words that made his face flush with embarrassment.

  "Big sister is mighty! Big sister is mighty!"

  "Big sister is mighty! Big sister is mighty!"

  It was still Kong Er who was really silly, seeing Sima Mao got Qin Xu's hint, shouting so corny, many comrades in the camp looked at Sima Mao like a monster, thinking of his fellow comrades and also Qin Xu's hint, he also followed suit and shouted.

  The two men shouted at each other without regard for their dignity, and the whole army was shocked.

  The soldiers of the other camp looked at me and I looked at you, seeing Lü Bu seemingly not intending to scold either of them, they were not fools, and also followed suit in shouting.

  For a moment, the outskirts of Huai City were filled with the sound of mighty voices rising and falling, which actually made the heroine of this matter, Lü Xiaojie's pretty face turn bright red. She scolded Qin Xiang in a loud voice and gave him a big white eye with her sparkling eyes.

  "Alright, alright!" Lü Bu waved his hand to stop the shouting of the soldiers, his face expressionless, and gazed at Qin Xu and Lü Lingqi for a long time with an odd look, saying: "Forget it, if I don't forgive Ling'er, my entire army will be dissatisfied. This time, let's just forget about it, but don't think you can get away with it next time."

  "Hmm!" Qin Xu let out a breath, just thinking that he had luckily fooled his way past this matter, when Lü Bu spoke again: "Since Chief Qin has such a silver tongue, would you also please help Ling'er plead with her mother?"

  "What?" Qin Xu was stunned.

  Smoothly transporting the grain and fodder back to Lü Bu's military camp outside Huai City, so many military resources, even if Lü Bu moved half of Dong Zhuo's Mei Valley, he was still overjoyed. The grain is easy to say, but these horses are all high-quality goods carefully selected by Yuan Shao, which is a huge income for the Lü Bu army without a source of war horses.

  However, what was strange to Lao Xu and others was that all the soldiers who participated in this action received generous rewards, but Qin Zhongbo, who made great contributions this time, seemed to be deliberately forgotten by Lü Bu. Not only did he not receive any verbal reward, but he was also taken to Lü Bu's mansion, where he stayed for half a day. When he reappeared, no matter who asked him about the matter, Qin Xu always had a sulky expression and didn't leak a word.

  How can people know about their own embarrassing things? Qin Xu secretly sneered.

  Was it necessary to tell others that Qin Xu had gone to great lengths to repeat what he had said to Lü Bu, and yet again to Yan Shi and Diao Chan, only to get a completely different reaction from Lü Bu?

  Lü Linggui was immediately shut in by Yan Shi with a cold face as soon as she entered the mansion, and Qin Xu felt a chill when he saw her resentful gaze before leaving.

  Perhaps it was Lü Bu's attitude towards Qin Xu that infected the Yan family. Previously, when Qin Xu was injured, he had a sympathetic expression, and after persuading Lü Bu not to form an alliance with Yuan Shao, he became even more affectionate. This time, after hearing Qin Xu's version of Lü Lingqi capturing three generals single-handedly, there was a torrent of complaints and "advice". Even Diao Chan and Cai Yan, who had been concerned about Qin Xu since his return, joined in the criticism, taking turns to bombard him. Watching Lü Bu, the greatest warrior under heaven, end up fleeing in disarray, Qin Xu, who didn't have Lü Bu's exceptional martial skills, could only pretend to be humble and receptive, feeling like he was back in a university lecture hall, listening until he felt drowsy.

  Yuan Shao's envoy, Feng Ji, finally arrived at He Nei City two days after Qin Xu returned.

  In the past two days, Zhang Yang had come a few times. This old good man heard the news of Ye City being broken, but he didn't say anything. He just kept praising Lü Bu, after all, with three thousand elite cavalry holding off the Black Mountain army of 50,000 for three days, it was far beyond Zhang Yang's expectations.

  What made Qin Xu feel strange was that after the news came from Ye City, Xu You had been locking himself in his room, being mysterious and not appearing even when Lü Bu returned to the city with fanfare. If it weren't for Sima Meng, who had a bad reputation, secretly paying attention to this brother, Qin Xu would have thought that Xu You had already left Hebei.

  Yong Ji's arrival was very high-profile, with a grand ceremony, and Yuan Shao seemed to have been stimulated by the attack on Ye City by the Black Mountain bandits, and actually dispatched 200 elite soldiers from the Xian Denglou camp to create an atmosphere for Yong Ji. Because Yong Ji did not see Lü Bu accompanying him, Zhang Yang led the generals of Hebei out of the city 20 miles to welcome him, but was ignored, until he saw a haggard-looking Xu You, after which Yong Ji reluctantly greeted Zhang Yang and warmly got on the carriage with him, entering Huai City.

  Gong Ji's behavior was in stark contrast to Xu You's previous enthusiasm towards the Hebei generals, making them feel the difference between heaven and earth. However, circumstances were stronger than people, and no one could do anything about it. Zhang Yang, being a good-natured person, didn't seem to mind Gong Ji's attitude, and he followed all the proper etiquette, which made the Hebei generals, led by Yang Chou, secretly dissatisfied with Zhang Yang's attitude.

  Lü Bu had previously declined Zhang Yang's invitation to meet with Yuan Shao's envoy, Feng Ji. After discussing the marriage alliance with Qin Xu, and especially after learning that Yuan Shao's capital of Ye City was easily breached by the Black Mountain bandits, Lü Bu began to greatly question Yuan Shao's rumored strength and character.

  "Qin Zhūbù, how about we change the stakes?"

  "Huh? Go ask Big Sister if she agrees?"

  "What about the young lady?"

  "Nonsense! The young lady has already been locked up in solitary confinement because of this matter. What do you think?"

  *sigh*...

  Just as the mighty army of Lü Bu was entering Huai City, Cheng Lian, who had lost a bet to Qin Xu in their military training grounds, was begging for mercy from Qin Xu, who looked like he was ten years younger than him. However, he was ridiculed by the soldiers of the Trap Array Camp, who were there specifically to cheer on Qin Xu.

  Helpless, Cheng Lian reluctantly asked Qin Xu to get on the horse, and with a mixture of tears and laughter, he temporarily became Qin Xu's groom.

  In the midst of everyone's laughter, no one noticed a pair of sinister eyes staring fixedly at Qin Xu, who was being teased.