Chapter 58 New Mission

  The allied army's grain and fodder were all stored in Yuan Shu's camp, which was burned to ashes by Long Fei. The allied army had already lost half of the battle without food and grass for marching and fighting, and they suffered defeat after defeat. Yuan Shao had no choice but to hang out a white flag, while sending Ji Zhou Mu Han Fu, He Nei Taishou Wang Kuang, and several nearby state shepherds and governors to collect grain and fodder immediately.

  Last night, when the crowd at Tiger Trap Pass saw the flames in the Allied Army's camp, they were all exhilarated. With a pulley, Long Fei was pulled up onto the city wall, and Zhang Ji rushed over first: "General Long is indeed skilled, single-handedly burning their grain supplies, admirable!"

  Wang Wei said: "What's this? Think back when we nearly ambushed 5,000 people with just over a dozen of us!"

  "Five thousand men?" Those who had heard of this matter smiled slightly, while those who hadn't found it unbelievable. Back at the General's mansion in the city, Lü Bu sat with a dark face on his throne, coldly staring at Long Fei. Long Fei didn't back down, instead taking on a provocative attitude. Zhang Ji hastily laughed and said: "The rebel army has run out of food and supplies, now we can launch a major attack and leave not a single piece of armor intact!"

  Li Ru looked at the two and slightly shook his head, saying nothing more. Lü Bu snorted: "Petty thievery is beneath me, I'll have none of it! Pass on my orders, seal the gates tightly, no one is allowed to leave privately, if anyone disobeys, they will be beheaded! Fighting must be done openly and honorably!"

  For the next three days, there was no movement on either side of the Allied Forces or Tiger Trap Pass. Both sides maintained a peculiar tacit understanding and remained extremely calm. On the fourth day in the morning, Long Fei was having his meal when the assembly drum sounded. Long Fei hastily threw down what he had in hand, tidied himself up and headed to the General's Mansion. Lv Bu has been looking for trouble lately, it's best not to have a head-on collision with him.

  The three drums were beaten. Lü Bu sat upright in his commander's seat and gave Li Ru a signal with his eyes. Li Ru nodded, took out a letter from his bosom: "Gentlemen, this is the letter that the Grand Tutor has just sent by messenger, instructing us to gather together before opening it!" Li Ru held up the letter for everyone to see, then opened the cloth bag and took out a piece of silk cloth, reading aloud: "Ordering General Lü Bu and General Yang Wei Longfei to lead their troops back to Luoyang immediately, ordering Zhang Ji to cooperate with Hua Xiong to continue guarding Tiger Trap Pass, and to retreat after half a month!"

  "Did you all hear that clearly?!" Lü Bu glared at Long Fei: "All of you go and prepare! We will set off for Luoyang at the fourth watch!"

  At first, Long Fei didn't quite grasp the situation, but after hearing half of it, he understood. This Dong Zhuo was going to run away! Once Long Fei figured this out, he felt relieved. After returning, he immediately ordered his troops to prepare to return to Luoyang. Having come for only four or five days, they hadn't even fought a real battle before leaving, and Dian Wei grumbled as he packed up: "I knew I shouldn't have come, we haven't even had a chance to fight and now we're all running away with our tails between our legs!"

  For Dian Wei, this made him unhappy, and for the soldiers, being exempt from going to the battlefield meant exemption from life-threatening danger, so they ran very fast. The planned two-day journey was completed in one and a half days. There was no triumphant ceremony, no welcoming crowd. As soon as they arrived at the city gate, they were stopped by someone who told them to take the soldiers back to their barracks and then go see Dong Zhuo.

  As Long Fei had expected, Luoyang was already in a state of tension. All the shops were closed and people were hurrying to and fro. The soldiers were driving the citizens of Luoyang towards the west gate. The originally prosperous Luoyang had become desolate. Dong Zhuo was going to evacuate the entire city. Outside the palace gates, Li Su was waiting for them. Seeing their horses arrive, he immediately went forward: "Hurry up and leave, your father-in-law is getting anxious!"

  Inside the palace, it was also chaotic. The palace maids and eunuchs were running around everywhere, while the soldiers were capturing and killing one by one. Corpses were scattered all over the courtyard, including some low-ranking concubines. Li Su led them into Emperor Liu Xie's bedroom. Dong Zhuo sat high on the dragon bed, with Liu Xie standing timidly beside him, surrounded by officials such as Wang Yun, Huang Wan and Cai Yong.

  "The old man has already sent Li Jue and Guo Si to Chang'an, they are collecting the palace buildings, so there is no need to discuss the matter of moving the capital again. You all just need to do your own things!" Dong Zhuo looked at those old ministers of Han, his heart was furious. Since proposing to move the capital, these old guys have been advising him every day in front of him, annoying him to death, but he couldn't kill them.

  Cai Yong was just about to speak, when Li Su led Lü Bu, Long Fei and Li Ru in. Dong Zhuo hastily shifted the conversation to the battle at Tiger Trap Pass: "Good, I heard you did well at Tiger Trap Pass, defeating the rebels three times in four or five days, and burning their grain supplies, excellent!"

  "Thank you, Master Shi, for your praise!"

  Dong Zhuo nodded slightly: "This time, I brought you back for another task!" Li Su hastily took two bamboo slips from the small table beside him and handed them to Lü Bu and Long Fei. Dong Zhuo continued: "From today on, each of you will lead your own men and do things according to what was said above. Don't ask about anything else. If these tasks are done well, I will reward you heavily!"

  "Promise!"

  It wasn't until they walked out of the palace gate that Lü Bu and Long Fei flipped over the bamboo slips in their hands. Lü Bu shivered all over, hastily putting away the bamboo slips. Long Fei laughed and said: "Is there anything else in this world that can scare the Marquis of Wen like this?"

  Lü Bu rolled his eyes. Long Fei handed over his own bamboo slips: "I don't recognize the characters, help me take a look at what it says?"

  Lü Bu smiled bitterly, and since Long Fei's request was also agreed to. After looking at it, he returned the bamboo slips to Long Fei: "Your errand is not bad, let you confiscate all the property of the rich families and officials in Luoyang and transport them to Chang'an!"

  "Oh! Thank you, Duke Wen!" Long Fei tucked the bamboo slips away and smiled: "What's this about Duke Wen? From what Taishi said, it seems like there's no task for us?"

  "Hah!" Lü Bu was delighted and looked around cautiously, then whispered: "Let me rob the imperial tomb!"

  "Ah! Desecration of the imperial tomb..." Before he could finish, Lü Bu covered his mouth. After a while, Lü Bu let go of Long Fei, who looked around and said: "Digging up graves is a capital offense, desecrating an imperial tomb will result in the entire family being executed! If those historians find out, it will bring shame for generations to come! This must not be done!"

  Lü Bu shook his head: "How can I not do something sent by my adoptive father?"

  "Wen Hou, you'd better think carefully. Although it was Taishi's order, it was you who did it. This matter will be known to the world sooner or later, and everyone will despise you. The reputation of Wen Hou will be ruined in an instant!" Long Fei patted Lv Bu's shoulder: "How about this? I'll take out a portion from the confiscated goods of the rich merchants and pretend they were dug up, to help you complete the task?"

  Lü Bu shook his head: "The items in the imperial mausoleum are all treasures worth a city, how many can a rich merchant have to compare with the royal family? This matter cannot be done! However, thank you for General Long's kindness."

  "Alas!" Long Fei sighed: "Duke Wen, take care of yourself! Farewell!"

  Back to the Western Garden. Jia Yu and others all gathered over. Long Fei told them about the task assigned by Dong Zhuo, Wang Wei smiled: "Good thing, good thing, this way we can make another fortune!"

  Long Fei smiled: "Alright, this matter will be left to you and Second Brother to handle. Remember, only use force when absolutely necessary!"

  They sent away those "troublemakers". Only Jia Yu, Xu Shu and Gao Shun were left in the house. Long Fei then lowered his voice to tell them about Dong Zhuo sending Lü Bu to rob the imperial mausoleum. The others were shocked after hearing this. Xu Shu immediately stood up: "Dong Zhuo is capable of doing such evil things, he deserves to be killed!"

  "Take it easy!" Jia Yu hinted at Xu Shu to sit down and asked Long Fei, "What attitude is Lü Bu?"

  "I once suggested exchanging something else for the safety of the imperial tomb, but after thinking about it, the treasures in the imperial tomb are rare in the world and cannot be exchanged!" Long Fei now felt some sympathy for Lü Bu, sighed: "Lü Bu is also helpless, can only do as Dong Zhuo said!"

  "Yes! We are also powerless in this matter!" Jia Xian nodded: "We can only pin our hopes on the spirits of the deceased emperors and imperial consorts of the great Han dynasty."

  Long Fei's eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his face: "Wen He's words just reminded me of something, I have an idea!" Long Fei beckoned to the others, calling them over as he spoke with a grin. The others listened intently, their faces filled with joy. Xu Shu slapped his thigh: "Great idea! I'll contact the leader of the Wood Department right away and get them to cooperate!"

  That night, Long Fei led a dozen people to sneak into the imperial mausoleum. The Eastern Han imperial mausoleum is located 17 kilometers east of Luoyang City, at the intersection of Mengjin and Yanshi. Of the fourteen emperors of the Eastern Han, except for the last emperor, Emperor Xian of Han Liu Xie, who did not build a mausoleum, North Marquis Liu Yi died early and Little Emperor Liu Bian was deposed by Dong Zhuo and did not build a mausoleum, the other eleven emperors were buried in two large cemetery areas in the southeast and northeast of Luoyang City.

  Among them, the Southeast Mausoleum Area has the Ming Emperor Liu Zhuang's Xianjie Mausoleum, the Chapter Emperor Liu Dao's Jingling, the He Emperor Liu Zhao's Shenling, the Emperor Liu Long's Kangling, the Zhi Emperor Liu Zuan's Jingling, and the Huan Emperor Liu Zhi's Xuanling. The Northeast Mausoleum Area has Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu's Yuanling, An Emperor Liu Hu's Gongling, Shun Emperor Liu Bao's Xianling, Chong Emperor Liu Bing's Huailing, and Ling Emperor Liu Hong's Wenling.

  The Ling District is located on the north side of Mangshan Mountain. To the south, it relies on the gentle slope of Mangshan, and to the north, it faces the undulating Taihang Mountains. The rolling Yellow River roars eastward along the northern side of Ling. This place has beautiful scenery and is a notable scenic spot. According to historical records, the underground palaces of various emperors' mausoleums are also extremely luxurious. With intricate paintings depicting sun, moon, birds, turtles, dragons, tigers, connected walls, and crescent moons, all kinds of gold, silver, pearls, precious instruments, and ancient artifacts are on display.

  The mausoleum of Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is located in the northern part of the cemetery, facing south and north. The tomb is surrounded by cypresses and pines. In front of the tomb stands a stele with the inscription "Mausoleum of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty". The four characters "Zhongxing Shizu" are particularly prominent. It is said that in the past, many people came here to rub the stele and ask for good fortune: if you stand ten steps away from the stele, stretch out your hands, close your eyes and walk forward, and can touch these four characters, it is a good omen. From the tomb to the gate, there is a sacred way lined with stone carvings of animals such as elephants and horses, as well as neatly arranged cypress trees. Among them are 28 tall cypress trees that reach the clouds, which locals call "Twenty-eight Constellations", symbolizing the "Twenty-eight Generals" who followed Liu Xiu on his southern and northern campaigns and achieved great military successes.

  Looking at the terrain and mountain shape, Long Fei waved his hand: "Let's do it here! Lü Bu wants to dig the imperial mausoleum, this one must be the first one! Get to work!"