Chapter 48: Joining Hei Bīng

  In the next few days, Long Fei didn't go anywhere. He knew that Mei Zhu would definitely come to find him ten days later, so he didn't need to worry about it himself. He already had a way to make Mei Zhu agree to his installment payment plan. Taking advantage of these idle days, Long Fei found Hua Tuo and discussed Huang Xue's condition with him. At first, Long Fei thought that Huang Xue was suffering from severe lung disease, but after Hua Tuo's treatment for some time, Huang Xue had made great improvements.

  Huang Xu no longer coughed up blood and his appetite improved a lot, his complexion turned rosy, he spoke with spirit, and he gained weight. However, he still couldn't get out of bed. Huang Zhong was grateful to Long Fei and Hua Tuo, every day he expressed his gratitude in various ways, which made people feel somewhat annoyed.

  "I told Big Brother Huang, can't you be less polite!" Long Fei pulled Huang Zhong to sit down: "We are all brothers now, don't keep saying thank you, it's getting awkward!"

  "Right! Brother Long is right, I was too polite!"

  Hua Tuo smiled slightly: "My medical skills can only go this far, in my opinion Huang Xun is now no longer in great danger, the next step depends on the Dragon brothers! I wonder if the Dragon brothers have any special moves?"

  "My medical skills are not as good as yours, old man! It's all just luck!" Long Fei hastily said politely: "In my opinion, Huang Xu has been bedridden for too long, and the muscles in his limbs have atrophied. The only way to cure this disease is to exercise! Just like a child, start from sitting up, turning over, crawling, walking, and gradually rebuild step by step!"

  "What's this muscle atrophy? What disease is it?" Hua Tuo hastily asked.

  "Old man, do you remember what I told you about skin, muscles, blood vessels and bones? These are all important components of the human body, and if there's a problem in one place, it can cause problems throughout the whole body! Muscles, well, they're located under the skin, connecting to the bones, allowing people to move. They're like the lean meat we eat! They control human movement, but over time, if not used slowly, they'll decrease and atrophy. The purpose of reactivating Huang Xu is to stimulate these muscles to grow again!"

  Hua Tuo and Huang Zhong looked at each other in bewilderment, neither of them able to understand what the other was saying.

  Long Fei pulled out a bamboo slip from his bosom and handed it to Huang Zhong: "No need to think about it anymore! This is the rehabilitation plan I made for Huang Xu, Brother Huang will practice with him every day, hoping he can get back on his feet as soon as possible! Old man, during this period, you give Huang Xu some nourishing medicine to help his illness!"

  Huang Zhong carefully accepted it, as if holding something precious. Hua Tuo poked his head out to take a look. The bamboo slips were divided into three steps, with only a few lines of words on each one. According to the time from morning to evening, Huang Zhong helped Huang Xue with massage, turning over, and exercise, without pulling down for a single moment. The two looked at each other again. Hua Tuo asked Long Fei, "How long will this take?"

  "Dragonfly took a deep breath: "This is hard to say, it depends on Huang Xun's physical condition. Generally speaking, it will take half a year or at least one month to be effective. Brother Huang, remember that if the above method is achieved, then switch to the next one, and progress gradually, never do it in reverse!"

  Huang Zhong nodded hastily. Long Fei added, "There's one more thing that Brother Huang must pay attention to. At first, it may be difficult for Huang Xu to do it, but Brother Huang must not feel sorry for his son. If he does, the effort will be wasted and Huang Xu will have to spend the rest of his life in bed!"

  Huang Xu is a sensible, obedient and strong-willed child. At first, even turning over was somewhat difficult. Long Fei came every day to encourage him, as long as there was a little achievement, he would praise him continuously, giving Huang Xu great confidence. Watching Huang Xu sweat profusely, struggling painfully on the bed, Huang Zhong really couldn't bear it and wanted to stop several times. Every time this happened, Long Fei's firm gaze made him swallow his words.

  In just seven or eight days, Huang Xu was able to slowly sit up, which greatly encouraged Huang Zhong. Since his son fell ill, he had never seen him sit up by himself. Seeing this scene, tears flowed uncontrollably down his face. Huang Xu panted heavily, but a smile spread across his face: "Father, don't worry, I will definitely be able to stand up again and won't disappoint you and Lord Long's kindness!"

  Watching Huang Xu's day-to-day improvement, Long Fei immediately dispelled his concerns about infantile paralysis and let Huang Zhong continue to help his son exercise together. He himself stepped aside to deal with other matters. As soon as he returned to the front yard, he saw Mei Zhuo drinking tea in the living room. Calculating that it had been almost ten days, Long Fei sighed and walked over.

  Meng Zong hastily put down his tea bowl and cupped one hand: "Dragon Lord, why the sigh? Not pleased to see me arrive?"

  "You're a god of wealth, I wouldn't even mind serving you! How dare you sigh there!" Long Fei sat down in his own seat and motioned for Zou Zhu to sit as well.

  Mi Zuo smiled slightly: "Neither of us needs to beat around the bush, let's talk! What is Dong Zhuo's attitude?"

  "The Grand Tutor has agreed to your request, but there is a condition!"

  "Oh? What conditions?"

  "Mr. Mang probably knows that the current Han court is no longer the great Han court of Emperor Wu's time, and one million taels of gold is not a small sum, so? The meaning of Taishi is to hope that this one million taels can be divided up!"

  "What's the way of dismantling?"

  Long Feng said: "The various lords of Guandong are all powerful and strong, not subject to the court's jurisdiction. However, they do not all have a firm grasp on their armies. We can divide the lords into several levels. For example, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and others would be first-level, Gongsun Zan, Sun Jian and others would be second-level, Bao Xin, Han Fu and others would be third-level...and so on. The price for each level of person would be different. We'll pay you to kill them, how about that?"

  "This is novel, I've never heard of people being categorized into levels before!"

  Long Fei smiled: "Actually, this is also your share. The money for killing an ordinary citizen and the money for killing an official should be different, right? The princes are the same, the big princes have the price of the big princes, the small princes have the price of the small princes, all of them add up to one million two, how to divide, how to set prices you see! When the time comes, take a list, we will pay for killing people!"

  Mo Zhen thought for a moment and nodded: "Alright! I will report this to the Emperor immediately, and give you an answer in three days! Farewell!"

  "Not sending!"

  Just like last time, Cao Zhen walked to the door and turned back, with a faint smile: "I'll give you another piece of news, Cao Cao has escaped back to Qiao County, and issued a proclamation to all the lords under heaven, falsely claiming the empress's edict to prepare for a joint attack on Dong Zhuo. You can tell Dong Zhuo to get ready as soon as possible!"

  "Thank you! I'll definitely pass it on!"

  That night, Long Feng went to the palace and told Dong Zhuo about it. Dong Zhuo was shocked and immediately gathered his subordinates to discuss this matter. The most enthusiastic one was Lü Bu. As soon as he heard that the lords were coming, he became excited and hastily said: "Father, those lords are all mediocre in my opinion, not worth worrying about. Just give me 50,000 soldiers, I will definitely kill them all without leaving a single piece of armor!"

  Dong Zhuo nodded: "My son is brave and martial, his adoptive father naturally knows. Now it's not yet time for my son to take the field, we must prevent trouble before it arises, wait until they come and capture them in one move!"

  "Father-in-law's words are extremely right!" Li Su hastily said: "The son-in-law thinks that the Tiger Trap Pass is the gateway to Luoyang, and Father-in-law can dispatch a great general to assist General Zhang Ji in defending the Tiger Trap Pass. At the same time, Xingyang is a must-pass route for going to Luoyang, so another great general can be dispatched to defend it, forming a pincer movement with the Tiger Trap Pass, temporarily slowing down their march! Just wait until the main army of Luoyang gathers and heads towards the Tiger Trap Pass, then we can have a decisive battle with the vassals!"

  Li Ru said, "This is the best plan! We can send General Hua Xiong to assist Zhang Ji in defending Tiger Trap Pass, and also send Long Quanwei to lead Zhao Yun, Gao Shun, and Zhang Liao to Xingyang."

  Dong Zhuo thought for a moment: "Hua Xiong can go, but Long Quan has important business and cannot leave Luoyang!"

  "Long Xiao Wei won't do, then send Xu Rong!" Li Su said again: "Xu Rong has fought on the battlefield for many years and has rich experience, he can take on important tasks!"

  After the discussion, Dong Zhuo immediately arranged for Xu Rong to be promoted to Zhongyong General and lead 20,000 soldiers to garrison Xiangyang. He also promoted Hua Xiong to Dixin General and led 10,000 soldiers to go to Tiger Trap Pass to cooperate with Zhang Ji's defense of Tiger Trap. Meanwhile, Long Fei continued his contact with Hei Bing, but Dong Zhuo emphasized the time limit, requiring him to reach an agreement with Hei Bing within ten days and start implementing their plan.

  Three days later, Mi Zhu found Long Fei again. As expected by Long Fei, Mi Zhu brought the list of marquis titles allocated to them this time. Inside, it clearly marked the price of each marquis. Long Fei took a look and saw that Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu were each worth 100,000, Gongsun Zan and Sun Jian were each worth 50,000, and the rest of the marquises had different prices, ranging from 30,000 to 10,000. What surprised Long Fei was that Liu Bei's name was actually on the list, and it was even the highest price among the third-class marquises. It seemed that this Hei Bing still knew his stuff.

  "Great!" Long Fei nodded: "It's almost the same as what I expected! Since that's the case, then our transaction can be considered to have officially begun!"

  "Hold on!" Zou Zhu suddenly stopped Long Fei: "In addition to these, we also have an additional condition!"

  "What does 'additional conditions' mean?"

  Mi Zong smiled and said: "Actually, it's nothing. For Lord Long, just a nod will do, no need to go through Dong Zhuo!"

  "Let's talk about it first!"

  Mo Zuo stood up, adjusted his clothes and hat, and cupped his hands in a salute: "His Majesty highly appreciates Lord Long, and hopes that Lord Long can join our Hei Bing. If General Long nods, all these assassination plans will be reduced by half!"

  "Oh?!" Long Fei was somewhat surprised: "So to say, one Long Fei is worth 500,000 taels of gold?"

  "Hahaha……" Mu Zong's laughter: "Not just 500,000 taels of silver, if Lord Long is willing, the Emperor will grant all the wealth earned this time to Lord Long! Moreover, you can be the Left Chancellor in our Black Ice! No one has ever received such recognition from the Emperor, and as soon as they joined Black Ice, they became the Left Chancellor. Even I am only a fifth-grade official, while you have become a tenth-grade Left Chancellor!" Mu Zong was somewhat jealous, it was jealousy from the bottom of his heart.

  "Zuo Shu Chang? This seems to be an official position from before Qin! Are you still using the pre-Qin system of governance?"

  Meng Zong nodded: "Hei Bing originally came from Pre-Qin, we are all Qin people, of course we should use the official name of Pre-Qin!"

  Long Fei didn't speak, and Mei Zhu just stood there waiting, also not speaking. The two were silent for a long time before Long Fei finally said: "This matter is sudden, may I take some time to consider it?"