The Three Kingdoms War Thirty-Nine: Zhang Fei Obtains Fish Intestines; Cai Yong Meets Lü Bu.

  The assassin saw Lü Bu and asked him to let him go, casting a glance at Lü Bu with his eyes narrowed. He turned his head to look at the sword in the distance, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gave up. Covering his wound with one hand, he stumbled away.

  Lü Bu rode his horse to the side of the black sword, bent down from the horseback, and picked up the black sword on the ground with a monkey-like movement. The sword body was all black, with the words "Fish Intestine" lightly engraved on it, and there was also a word "Ink" engraved at the hilt. Lü Bu didn't understand what "Fish Intestine" meant, but he knew that this was an extraordinary treasure sword. Its sharpness and hardness were no less than those of the Flip Heaven Halberd, except that the Flip Heaven Halberd was a long-handled weapon, while the Fish Intestine was a waist-worn sword.

  Lü Bu put away his fishing rod, and asked about the injuries of the fallen Imperial Guard. However, he had already died. Lü Bu could only order someone to bring back his body according to custom. Then he came to the group of people who were being attacked by assassins, and asked: "Who is in charge?"

  Among the crowd, a yamen runner had already seen Lü Bu's ferocity and now saw him wearing Han general armor. He walked out and said: "General, we are yamen runners from the Imperial Chancellor's office in Luoyang, on official business to escort Cai Zhonglang to Shaofang for hard labor. Unexpectedly, we encountered assassins on the road who wanted to kill Cai Zhonglang. Fortunately, we met this heroic gentleman and General, who helped us protect Cai Zhonglang and his family."

  Lü Bu listened and found out that they were escorts for prisoners, thinking that there were still people who wanted to assassinate the prisoner on the road. It seemed that this prisoner was not ordinary. So he said to the escort: "I am Lü Bu, the governor of Beidi, and Shuofang is under my jurisdiction. Bring me the official document to take a look."

  The yamen runner, hearing this, hastily knelt down and apologized: "It was the original intention of General Lü to come in person. I didn't know that General Lü had arrived, so I was rude." After finishing speaking, he took out a brocade scroll from his bosom and presented it to Lü Bu's face. Lü Bu said to the yamen runner: "Get up."

  The officer handed the official document to Lü Bu. Lü Bu took a look at the document and was shocked, only to find that the prisoners were Cai Yong, Cai Wenji and his family members. Lü Bu knew Cai Yong. After finishing reading the document, Lü Bu hastily dismounted his horse and walked in front of the group of prisoners. The prisoner was a man in his forties, with his hands protecting a woman, who was holding a seven or eight-year-old girl in her arms. Behind the prisoner were two followers, all of whom had shaved their heads. It was Lü Bu's first time seeing Cai Yong, and he couldn't help but feel curious, so he stepped forward and saluted: "Are you Cai Wenji, Cai Zhonglang?"

  The man replied: "It is indeed the guilty Cai Yong."

  Lü Bu carefully observed Cai Yan. Cai Yan was slender, his face worried and gloomy, his eyes dull but not muddy, only his hair had been shaved off, making him look strange. Lü Bu thought to himself: This man is a great scholar of the generation, yet he has fallen into such a state, it's really a great shame in life. He couldn't help but let out a light sigh as he thought this. Then he continued with courtesy: "I am Lü Bu, the governor of Beidi, Cai Zhonglang, please forgive me, I invite you to rest and recover in Beidi."

  Cai Yong bowed and said: "Cai Yong is just a criminal, what virtue or ability does he have to dare trouble Lord Governor Lü?" After finishing speaking, he also made a slight bow.

  Lü Bu said no more, turned around and ordered the yamen runner: "Quickly go and remove the prisoner's cage from the cart, invite Lord Cao to get on the carriage, and don't trouble Lord Cao."

  The yamen runner's head swelled with pride as soon as he heard, and his mouth responded with a "yes", but his feet couldn't move. Lü Bu was enraged at the sight, and with one swing of his whip, he shouted: "You've already heard, why aren't you doing anything?"

  The yamen runner was whipped and felt wronged in his heart: "You say you are the governor, what can be used as evidence?" Although he saw that Lü Bu was wearing armor, without official documents, how could he listen to him. The yamen runner thought to himself, but seeing Lü Bu's ferocious appearance, he did not dare to speak out his doubts about Lü Bu, and stammered: "But... but I have a mission..."

  Lü Bu suddenly remembered that they were within the borders of Niyang County, not Shuofang. They were still over a thousand miles away from Shuofang. He didn't bother to trouble the officials anymore and called out to Cheng Lian, "Cheng Lian, bring me my seal!"

  Cheng Lian hastily retrieved the seal of the Governor of Beidi from a cloth bag on Lü Bu's horse saddle and handed it over to Lü Bu. Lü Bu took the seal and said to the officials, "Consider yourselves lucky that we're handing it over here. Quickly bring back the official documents."

  The official took a look at Lü Bu's seal, and knew that Lü Bu was indeed the true Governor of Beidi. He secretly rejoiced: now he could avoid traveling thousands of miles. So he quickly handed over the official documents to Lü Bu. Afterwards, as Lü Bu had said, he and his companions removed the prisoner's cage from the cart, took out ropes and made a simple horse-drawn vehicle on the spot.

  Lü Bu then invited Cai Yong and his family to get into the horse carriage. Cai Yong, however, was not in a hurry and thanked the man who had just rescued him, Lü Bu only then remembered this man beside him.

  Lü Bu asked the man: "Who are you?"

  That man bowed and replied: "In response to Lord Taishou's words, I am Wei Kang, the head of the Weidong Wei family."

  Lü Bu thought to himself: Wei Kang? Never heard of him... Ah, surname Wei?! Rescuing Cai Yong here, could it be that the Wei family met Cai Yong here? Lü Bu then remembered another person and wanted to take a look. Unfortunately, that person had already sat down in the carriage, and earlier he was too busy talking to Cai Yong and didn't notice, so he gave up.

  Lü Bu then asked Wei Kang: "Why did the master of the Wei family come here to rescue Cai Zhonglang's family?"

  "Wei Kang said: 'I, a humble commoner, originally came from the northern land of Yan to buy salt grains and return to He Dong. On my way, I encountered robbers killing government officials, so I sent my family members to rescue them. Fortunately, thanks to the governor's timely assistance, otherwise, I fear that our group would have suffered a disaster as well. Wei Kang also thanked the governor for saving his life.'"

  Lü Bu nodded, then thought again. Ah, the northern salt pool was his territory, and this guy didn't know if he had paid taxes or not, so he asked: "In my jurisdiction, I should eliminate the bandits myself. But have you paid taxes on your salt sales?"

  Wei Kang's heart skipped a beat: "This governor is too strict, managing everything. Fortunately, I have paid my taxes." He thought to himself and said aloud, "Of course, I do. Governor Lü's military law is very strict, and we common people are aware of it. I wouldn't dare to conceal or underreport my taxes." As he spoke, he pulled out a silk scroll with an official document from his bosom and handed it over to Lü Bu for inspection.

  Lü Bu finished reading the official document and looked around at the carriages and horses on the side of the road, feeling that Wei Kang should not have evaded taxes. He returned the official document to Wei Kang and said: "Taxes are the lifeblood of a country's finances, as citizens of the country, everyone should take pride in paying taxes, you all remember this."

  Wei Kang nodded and then asked: "Marshal Lü, just now why didn't you capture the assassin? Ask him who was behind the plot to assassinate Chancellor Cai."

  Lü Bu smiled and said, "As for the crime of Bo Ji, I have some hearsay. Who framed Cai Zhonglang and had him exiled? Who is the mastermind behind the scenes? Such a shallow matter, why bother capturing the assassin and forcing them to confess?"

  Wei Kang's face turned red as he said: "The governor is right, I was foolish."

  Lü Bu said again: "The master of Wei's family made a righteous move today, Lü Bu has taken note of it. You all go back now, don't delay your journey."

  Wei Kang said: "In that case, this humble commoner will take his leave first."

  Lü Bu and his party then parted ways with Wei Kang and the yamen attendants, and Lü Bu escorted Cai Yan to Maliang City.

  Cai Yong asked Lü Bu: "How can Governor Lü go against the imperial edict, not sending us convicts to be exiled to Shuofang, but instead sending us back to Maliang County?"

  Lü Bu smiled and said, "Why is Lord Cao being so polite? I regard Lord Cao as a friend. If Lord Cao regards me as a friend, then he should address me directly. As for where to send you, I am the Governor of Ping Province in the north, and I have the authority to make decisions."

  Cai Yong then felt relieved and thanked him: "Meeting you is indeed a blessing for me."

  Lü Bu thought to himself with a sly smile: I've heard that your musical skills are quite good. The north is cold and desolate, it's rare to have a master musician come here, so of course you'll stay in Ma Ling and enjoy yourself thoroughly. Besides, your daughter seems even more talented, having a genius like her around won't be too dull either. Nowadays there's no CD or MP3, now that you're here, it's also good for Yan Ni to relax and have some fun, otherwise she'd just be bored and unhappy all day.