Chapter 49: Wen Hou Fan Ji

  When Qin Xu stood in front of Lü Bu, Lü Bu had an urge to kill Qin Xu.

  Tomorrow, I'm going to set out on a campaign. My beautiful wife and concubine are sleeping together in the same bed, looking lovely. Just as I was about to demonstrate my bravery on another battlefield with actual actions, I suddenly found someone bringing their daughter to form a group and brush past me. It almost made the invincible general lose his helmet and armor. In this situation, no one would welcome them with a smile.

  "Qin Xu, you'd better give me a convincing reason!" Lü Bu walked out of the room wearing a small garment, his handsome face twisted in a ferocious scowl, the veins on his neck bulging, as he glared at Qin Xu's embarrassed expression and Lü Lingji hiding behind him, speaking word by word.

  "This... Qin Xu disturbed the lord's refined pleasure, truly deserving of death!" Qin Xu also didn't expect Lü Bu to be in such a good mood on the eve of his expedition, and with cold sweat dripping down, he became somewhat incoherent.

  "Hmph! Go to the study!" Seeing Lü Linggui peeking into the room, Lü Bu's face turned slightly red with embarrassment, and he glared at Qin Xu before speaking to both of them.

  Lü Bu, although known as the world's number one fierce general, is actually a bookworm and enjoys playing the zither in his daily life. No wonder he became friends with the stubborn old man Cai Yong. When Qin Xu first met Lü Bu, he was shocked to discover that this fierce warrior had such hobbies. However, after thinking about it, he recalled how Lü Bu used his zither-playing as a cover to escape from Yuan Shao's pursuit in history, and managed to get away unscathed.

  The furnishings in the study are very elegant, not at all like what one would expect to be the lair of a man known for his martial prowess. Together with Lü Bu's iron-like complexion now, it seems even more out of place.

  "Is it... is it all because of Ling'er?! You dare...!" Lü Bu's eyes were like a hawk's, staring at Qin Xu, his incredulous gaze filled with cold intent, captivating the heart, his voice almost loud enough to blow off the roof, furiously shouting: "Qin Xu, you insolent whelp! You rely on your master's favor and are arrogant and overbearing, disregarding authority, relying on your power to bully others, with a woman's mentality, causing chaos in the imperial court... You! You!"

  "Hmph!" At first, Lü Lingqi was frightened by Lü Bu's furious appearance, but upon hearing his incoherent curses, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  "Hmph! Ling'er is young and a girl, don't even think about it! You should have listened to your mother, a good girl like you, always thinking about fighting and killing, who will dare to marry you in the future!" Lü Bu also realized his words were inappropriate, and for a moment couldn't turn back, fiercely glared at Qin Xu with an innocent face, and turned around with his hands behind his back, no longer looking at the two.

  "Dad!" Lü Linggui saw that Lü Bu was getting angry again and went forward, shaking his arm with a wronged expression.

  "No! Tomorrow I'll be going to battle, you stay by your mother's side and don't go anywhere!" Lü Bu was softened by Lü Lingqi's coquettish ways, but still spoke firmly.

  "Daddy, you're bullying me! I'm going to find my mom right now!" Lü Linggui's eyes flashed with a hint of mischief, her small face reddening as she pretended to be angry.

  "Wait!" As soon as Lü Bu said this, he found that both Lü Lingqi and Qin Xu had a strange expression on their faces. He couldn't help but realize that he had been tricked by Lü Lingqi's little scheme, but he couldn't do anything about it because of his precious daughter. All he could do was sigh and say: "Ling'er, this time the expedition is not like before, next time, next time Daddy will definitely take you with him, okay?"

  "Not good! I'm going with Father!" Inheriting the beauty of the Yan family but not the temperament, Lü Lingqi, who had a bit of Lü Bu's temper, saw Lü Bu soften and immediately became arrogant, with a look of dissatisfaction on her face, making Lü Bu, a fierce general who was not afraid of thousands of soldiers and horses, feel somewhat headache.

  "Ling'er! Father leaves Qin Xu for you to play with, okay?" Lü Bu said softly to Lü Lingqi, his eyes fiercely signaling Qin Xu to quickly salvage the situation.

  "Cough, not only scolding me but also leaving me to Lü Lingqi's mercy?" Qin Xu's face turned black with anger, yet he looked innocent and helpless as he gazed at Lü Bu, whose fury was about to erupt. Knowing that if he didn't say something, Lü Bu might hold a grudge against him, he said: "My lord, the young mistress has inherited your majesty, truly a heroic woman, a tiger father has no weak daughter... Congratulations, my lord, felicitations, my lord..."

  All the ghosts could hear the insincerity in Qin Xu's words, Lü Bu's face twisted, looking at Lü Lingjue's embarrassed and self-pitying expression, he lowered his voice and angrily said: "Speak human language!!"

  "The young lady's temperament is similar to that of the master, but she can't bear the boredom and frustration in the boudoir. Since the master promised to only bring General Song's personal guard battalion that day, why not let the young lady play with General Tuo's vanguard battalion for a few days?" Qin Xu emphasized the key words, confusing the command and ownership of the personal guard battalion.

  Lü Bu was taken aback, seemingly not understanding the implication of Qin Xu's words. He pondered for a moment, glancing at Lü Lingqi who looked displeased, and slowly said: "Ling'er, this time Father really can't bring you along. Why don't you go with Secretary Qin to play in General Gao Shun's camp for a few days instead?"

  "Father!" Seeing Qin Xu was unreliable, Lü Lingqi glared at him angrily and looked pitifully at Lü Bu, making a last-ditch effort.

  "Ling'er, I remember when we left Chang'an, Father gave you a military order. Have you completed it?" Lü Bu glanced at Qin Xu, who had suddenly changed color, and asked Lü Lingjuan with a serious face, but with a hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth.

  "Army order?" Lü Linggui was taken aback, and in an instant she understood. The two father-daughter pair of the Lü family exchanged a glance, their suspicious gazes simultaneously falling on Qin Xu!

  This is absolutely self-inflicted! Even if you want to find an excuse to remind Lü Bu, it's not worth using Lü Lingqi as a shield. Thinking of Lü Lingqi's "dedication" when leaving Chang'an for Hebei, Qin Xu sighed in distress. A sigh arose out of nowhere, the retribution of this life is coming quickly.

  Lü Bu was tormented by Qin Xu and Lü Lingqi's "trivial matters" for half the night, and when he arrived outside Huai City, it was already approaching noon. Song Xian led the Imperial Guard and Ping Ji brought the Vanguard, both were ready to strike, looking at Lü Bu's iron-green face and a pair of piercing eagle eyes with faint black marks around them, even Ping Ji and Xu You who came to see him off did not dare ask more questions. Instead, Zhang Yang nodded at Lü Bu with a meaningful gaze that only men could understand, making Lü Bu's expression even more unsightly.

  Seeing over a thousand people leaving Huai City in a mighty and majestic manner, Xun Yu and Xu You exchanged a glance, both seeing the pride in each other's eyes.

  Perhaps it was because of Lv Lingkui's resentment towards Qin Xu's "unstable will" that she kicked open Qin Xu's door, disregarding his disheveled appearance. Under the gaze of Cai Yan, who was startled by the commotion and had a smiling expression, Lv Lingkui dragged Qin Xu to the military camp with a stern face.

  Qin Xu is actually a very sociable person. As a "successful person" from his past life, he adheres to the principle that having one more friend is better than having one more enemy. He gets along well with Gao Shun, and their shared experiences on the road to Hebei and their great gains in Ye City have created a bond between them, making Qin Xu a familiar face in the Zhen array camp. With Sima Meng's and Kong Er's exaggerated boasts, Qin Xu's previous boastful words about joining the Zhen array camp are no longer ridiculed by others.

  As Lü Bu's only daughter, Lü Lingqi was also welcomed in the besieged camp because of Qin Xu's description of her voice and appearance outside Huaiyin.

  The manner in which these two came here almost disrupted the strict military discipline of the Trapping Array.

  Lü Linggui at least took care of Qin Xiu's disheveled clothes, not riding a horse, but instead calling the governor's carriage to send the two to the military camp. However, on this journey, Lü Linggui didn't know whether it was because of Qin Xiu's "betrayal" in front of Lü Bu, or if she wanted to regain her strict demeanor from their time in Hebei. Along the way, they barely spoke a word to each other. Qin Xiu had a "ghost" in his heart and seeing Lü Linggui's stern expression, he wisely didn't provoke her.

  Qin Xu was pulled down from the car by Lv Lingyi, who grabbed his ear. He didn't know where this girl had learned this move from. Originally, when he saw Lv Lingyi jump off the car and stretch out her hand to him, he thought that as a little girl, she would get impatient after being ignored for a while. But unexpectedly, he received this kind of "treatment".

  Fortunately, Lü Linggui also discovered that the troops were practicing, and under the gaze of more than 700 bright eyes, he quickly let go of Qin Xu. Otherwise, after Qin Xu's bitter smile, he really had the idea of digging a hole in the ground.

  "Ling'er, you're a big girl now, why are you still being so reckless?" Gao Shun came up with a hint of a smile, gave Qin Xu a strange look, and then scolded Lyu Ling'gui in an extremely fake tone before leading the two into the military camp.

  "Hmm..."

  Just as Qin Xu and the two entered the military account together, a burst of laughter like a mad wave suddenly came from outside, causing the other soldiers of Lü Bu's army to look at the camp with puzzled eyes, not knowing that these arrogant soldiers who were usually as stern as their general Gao Shun would lose their composure in this way.

  "I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't know..." Lü Linggui's small face twisted as if she was about to cry, her hands clenched into fists and her head hung low, not daring to look at Qin Xiang's bitter smile. The half- heroic demeanor from just now was gone, replaced by an uneasy whisper.

  “……” Qin Xu could only smile bitterly, after all, they came from different eras. Apart from lamenting the prestige accumulated in the military over this period of time being completely destroyed by Lü Lingxue's small hands, he couldn't muster up even a bit of anger.

  "General Gao! My lord has a secret order, this is my lord's tiger tally, please verify." Qin Xu easily extricated himself from the awkward atmosphere and said to Gao Shun, who was staring at them inexplicably.

  "Not bad! It's indeed the Lord's Tiger Symbol! The Ambush Camp has 710 people, and I will follow military orders!" After Qin Xu took out the Tiger Symbol, Gao Shun's eyes flashed with surprise, but as a famous general of the world, his expression quickly returned to calm. He took the Tiger Symbol from Qin Xu's hand, examined it carefully, and nodded in approval.

  Lü Linggui looked at Qin Xu in disbelief as he took out Lü Bu's Tiger Tally, wondering how Lü Bu, who was always sensitive to military power, would give the tally of the trapped camp to Qin Xu. Just as she was surprised, Qin Xu said: "General Gao, Song Xian has rebelled and conspired with Wang Yi, Xu You and others to harm our lord. Fortunately, our lord is wise and detected their intentions early, so he specially ordered the Trapped Camp Army, with General Gao as its leader, to use the excuse of accompanying the young lady on an outing to send troops to Hei Shan and counterattack the enemy!"

  "Ah!?" Gao Shun was fine, but Lü Lingqi looked embarrassed as she stared at Qin Xu, causing him to subconsciously touch his nose, recalling the secret conversation he had with Lü Bu after Lü Lingqi fell asleep last night.