The 35th time they made a blood oath to jointly destroy the enemy, each harboring different intentions in their hearts.

  "The Classic of Filial Piety, the chapter 'Opening the Foundation and Clarifying the Meaning' says: 'The body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents; not daring to harm them is the beginning of filial piety.' Needless to say, Ma Teng also knew what Wang Yun's action of drawing his sword and cutting off his hair meant. He immediately stood up and offered a toast, saying: 'We have witnessed Lord Wang's loyalty with our own eyes, but we do not know why, being in the imperial court, you obeyed that Dong Zhuo.'"

  Wang Yun's eyes were filled with tears, and he sighed to the sky: "The Emperor is being held captive by Dong Zhuo, and as his subjects, we are living in fear every day, afraid that if we make any slight mistake, Dong Zhuo will commit a great atrocity. We officials in the court also hate Dong Zhuo so much that we gnash our teeth, wanting to eat his flesh and drink his blood, but Dong Zhuo has control of the military and all important positions are held by his trusted followers. Although we have the heart to kill him, we do not have the power to do so!"

  Ma Teng sighed and said, "Although we have troops and horses, our strength is too weak. Moreover, all the lords in the world are just watching from the sidelines. How can one person's power be an enemy of that Dong thief?"

  After drinking a cup of wine, Wang Yun said with indignation: "To be honest, I risked my life to come here and discuss important matters with you! Beforehand, I didn't know what the imperial edict said, but after it was read out, I figured that it must have been written by that traitor Dong. Dong tried to win you over by granting you titles and rewards despite his defeat, so as not to make you his enemy. From your words and actions, I think you are a loyal subject of the Han dynasty, and we can discuss important matters together. However, I worry that you will be blinded by this empty honor and lose your fighting spirit, which would be a shame for this title, a shame for your ancestors, and a shame for the trust placed in you by the emperor!"

  Ma Teng angrily said: "This general is a descendant of the illustrious General Fubo, how could he possibly commit such a treacherous and unrighteous act of betraying the Emperor? Honor and rewards are but fleeting clouds. This general seeks true honor, not to shame his ancestors, not to shame the Emperor, not to shame the great Han! Do not doubt this general again!"

  Wang Yun heard this and clapped his hands in praise, saying: "Good! This is exactly what I wanted to hear from you, General Hou. But I wonder, where is Governor Ma?" As he spoke, Wang Yun shifted his gaze onto the face of Ma Teng.

  Ma Fu felt quite unaccustomed when he first heard someone call him "Master Ma", so he said: "I am of the lowest rank and my birth is also very humble, not worthy of being addressed by Your Excellency in this way, it's enough to just call me by my name."

  Wang Yun burst out laughing and said, "Since ancient times, heroes have never asked about their origins. Why must Marquis Ma be too modest? With your merits, the title of Inner City Marquis is not worthy of you. However, I suppose Marquis Ma won't care about this empty name."

  Ma Wu smiled slightly: "General Wang is overpraising! As for Dong Zhuo, I also hate him to the bone, but unfortunately my military strength is indeed weak and my generals are scarce, definitely not a match for that Dong Zhuo. The previous time being able to defeat Han Sui, Li Jue, Guo Si and others was purely due to luck, taking advantage of the timing."?? Hu Bao Cavalry 35

  As for Ma Fu's words, Ma Teng was quite satisfied. After all, it would be unwise to reveal one's own strength before figuring out how many chips Wang Yun had.

  Although they were all loyal to the great Han, this loyalty was based on the foundation that they could preserve their own strength. The approach of risking everything and fighting to the death with Dong Zhuo is really not wise.

  Moreover, for Ma Teng, these two times of being ambushed in Wuwei made him deeply understand a truth. Under the circumstances where his own strength was limited, losing the old nest he had operated for many years was equivalent to losing everything.

  Wang Yun understood their attitude and smiled: "To be honest, although I was forced to obey Dong Zhuo's tyranny in the court, I was actually uniting with various anti-Dong forces. Once the timing is ripe, we can eliminate Dong Zhuo and his party."

  "Only I don't know what Lord Wang meant by 'anti-Dong forces'?" Ma Teng asked tentatively.

  Wang Yun knew that if he didn't speak, it would be difficult to gain Ma Teng's complete trust, so he said: "We are now co-operating in a great undertaking, and I will no longer conceal anything from you. In the court, the Colonel of the City Gates Huang Wan and the Minister Zheng Gongyi are close friends of mine. Outside the court, Yang Zuo and Sun Rui may not be worth mentioning for the time being, but I will seize the opportunity to recommend them to the Emperor, so that they can hold certain military powers in various places. If we can also get the help of General Hou and Governor Ma, what worries do we have about the great undertaking not succeeding? What worries do we have about Dong Zhuo not being destroyed?"

  Ma Teng praised: "Lord Wang is indeed a deep strategist! This is very good, if the timing is ripe, you and I will work together inside and out, and even if Dong's villain is more rampant, he won't be able to escape the heavenly net we have set up."

  As a soul who has crossed over, he naturally knew Wang Yun's loyalty, but he always felt that things seemed not so simple. Putting aside whether or not to form an alliance with Wang Yun, just the reward given by Dong Zhuo made Ma Fu feel that there was something fishy hidden beneath, and for the time being, he had not fully figured out the underlying connections.

  Wang Yun saw Ma Chao sitting there staring at his wine cup and loudly said: "Governor Ma, you should have heard the words of the Marquis, what do you think?" For such a young talent, a world-renowned figure, Wang Yun would not ignore his attitude.

  The groom smiled and said, "I was originally a horse breeder. I could only charge into the enemy ranks and kill them because of Lord Rui's trust in me. He has done me a great favor. So I will definitely defend Lord Rui's decision to the death, Your Excellency need not worry."

  "Good!" After Wang Yun heard these words, he seemed to see the hope of the great Han's revival.

  Ma Teng also nodded in satisfaction. Although he knew that Ma Fu was not a mediocre person, his words had indeed struck a chord with him.

  Yang Fu seeing that they were already being frank with each other at this time, took the opportunity to say: "In that case, why not make a blood oath to demonstrate our collective will?"

  Yang Fu's proposal was immediately agreed upon by Wang Yun and Ma Teng.

  After the oath of blood among the crowd, Wang Yun said: "The great Han will rise again, and it can be expected soon." ?? Hu Bao Riding 35

  Ma Teng smiled slightly and said: "The task is heavy and the road is long, the task is heavy and the road is long. Lord Wang must not underestimate the enemy."

  Wang Yun burst out laughing and said: "How would I underestimate the enemy? As for our later plans, we'll discuss them a bit later. Today, we must drink until we're drunk."

  Ma Teng laughed and said: "Governor Wang has come from afar, he must be treated with plenty of wine and meat!"

  Everyone drank until the third watch that night. That night, Wang Yun stayed in Ma Chao's quarters to rest, while Ma Chao originally wanted to take Yang Fu, Yin Feng and others back to his own mansion. Who would have thought that Ma Teng would insist on keeping Yang Fu at the government office? Ma Chao had no choice but to return to the government office with Yin Feng and Zhao Rang first.

  After Wang Yun was helped down to rest by Ma Teng's maidservants, Ma Teng summoned Yang Fu and Pang De to a bamboo pavilion in the mansion.

  "Sir, how's the situation with Ma Fu lately?"

  Yang Fu said, "Recently, if he wasn't summoned by the Marquis, he would stay in the mansion and hone his martial skills with Yin Feng and Zhao Yang, or teach Young General and Ma Dai martial arts. It's actually quite leisurely."

  Ma Teng laughed and said: "This is very good, and General Ben doesn't need to specially assign someone to monitor his every move."

  Ma Teng suddenly changed the subject and asked: "I wonder what General has to say about today's imperial edict?"

  Yang Fu said: "It's obvious that this imperial edict was forged by Dong Ze. He wants to let Master Hou and Ma Fu fight each other, then reap the benefits as a fisherman on the sidelines."

  Pongde, who was standing by, suddenly had an epiphany and exclaimed loudly: "That Dong Ze is really too sinister, he can't defeat us so he wants to sow discord between General and Ma Fu."

  Ma Teng laughed and said, "This general has been in many battles for years, how could he have fallen into Dong's trap? However, as for Ma Chao, we must be on our guard. What do you think of his ambitions?"

  Yang Furong smiled and pointed at the clear fish pond, silent...