My son, how could you be Lü Bu?!

Chapter 11 Shen Pei Gets Beaten

As evening approached, the sky began to darken.

A mansion.

Wang Yun, who was over forty years old and held a high position of power, personally took a cotton towel and wiped the wounds of Shen Pei and Shen Zhengnan, who had accompanied him to Bingzhou to take up their posts.

Looking at Shen Pei Shen Zhengnan, who was beaten black and blue and looked extremely disheveled, Wang Yun, who was usually serious, suddenly twitched his face.

These wandering knights of Jiuyuan City are really too unethical!

Although young, Shen Pei and Shen Zhengnan were already renowned scholars skilled in both literature and martial arts.

Where else could a renowned scholar be beaten so badly?!

"Due south..."

"Why are you doing this? It's just recruiting people. If you think they can fight, just bring them over and give them a position as an officer."

"Why bother to personally engage in the competition?"

Shen Pei's noodles also twitched, but unlike Wang Yun's twitching, it was from his wound being pulled, causing him pain.

"They thought it was just ordinary bravery."

"I was thinking of using skills to subdue him and make him think more highly of Pei, so that I could recruit him. Who would have thought that Pei, with such skills, couldn't even last a few moves against that person?"

"Where can someone who is only sixteen or seventeen years old possess such strength and courage?"

Wang Yun was somewhat curious.

"What is his name? Where is he from? What is his temperament like? Since he is so fierce, in a few days, after Wang Zhi has finished his business, I will personally go to his door and invite him by bus."

Shen Pei grimaced in pain.

"His surname was Lü, and his given name was Bu."

"As for where he is from and what his temperament is like, I haven't had time to find out yet. As for recruiting him by public bus, it would be better to wait until I understand his temperament before recruiting him."

"It would be bad if Fang Bozheng were to send a wicked person."

"Lu Bu?" Wang Yun nodded slowly, seemingly lost in thought.

"That's fine too."

"Is Prince Wang still imprisoned?" Shen Pei asked.

He has been exceptionally busy these past few days, dealing with the matters that his lord, Chen Qiu, had instructed him to attend to before he came, writing letters to old friends, and searching for brave and valiant men in the countryside.

There really wasn't time to pay attention to Wang Zhi's affairs.

"He was released yesterday," Wang Yun said, shaking his head.

"It's probably just a charge of harassing a woman, and there's no real evidence. Even though I'm the governor, I can't do anything about it. I can only write a document and impeach him before the emperor."

"If I'm kept in prison indefinitely, or even killed and replaced, who knows how Wang Fu, one of the Ten Attendants, will slander me to the Emperor!"

Shen Pei remained silent for a moment.

It is an indisputable fact that eunuchs wielded great power and the emperor listened to slander.

As he spoke, Wang Yun seemed to have thought of something again. He looked at Shen Pei, lowered his voice, and whispered his advice.

"Zheng Nan, if the matter of Chen Taichang is dropped, you should return to Luoyang first and not linger in Bingzhou any longer."

"Huh?" Shen Pei asked, puzzled.

Wang Yun explained.

"Today, a group of officials and soldiers from Yunzhong came to transport military equipment. The leader of the group, Qu Chang, is a member of my Taiyuan Wang family. After he finished transporting the equipment, he came to find me alone and delivered a letter from Luoyang to me."

"It was stated in the letter."

"Tian Yan, the former General Who Defeated the Xianbei, was punished by the Emperor for some mistakes and was to be stripped of his official rank. In order to atone for his crimes, he went to Luoyang and made a lot of noise, contacting a group of former Yongliang generals, attempting to bribe Wang Fu, one of the Ten Attendants, to persuade the Emperor to go to war against the Xianbei."

"The lands of You and Bing are close to the Xianbei. If war were to break out, we would inevitably be drawn into the conflict. As the governor, I cannot escape, nor do I need to hide."

"But... Zheng Nan is just passing through, there's no need for him to get involved."

Looking at Shen Pei before him, Wang Yun spoke solemnly.

After listening to Wang Yun's words...

Shen Pei remained silent for a moment.

for a long time.

He suddenly looked up, stood up proudly, and faced Wang Yun directly.

Shen Pei said urgently.

"Does the governor perhaps think that such a person is worthy of being called a coward who clings to life and fears death?!"

"Does the Governor-General perhaps believe that only the respectable young men of You and Bing are hot-blooded? Are the respectable young men of Ji Province any different?!"

"If the imperial court goes to war, tens of thousands of soldiers will be involved, and countless villagers will be swept up in it. As subjects who eat the food of the Han dynasty, shouldn't we take up our swords and fight the enemy? How can we possibly run away early?!"

"Uncle Fang, don't underestimate Pei!"

Wang Yun was taken aback.

Then, seeing that Shen Pei was about to draw his sword in a fit of rage, he realized what was happening and quickly reached out to grab Shen Pei, fearing that Shen Pei might leave in a fit of anger.

"What are you saying, Zheng Nan?" He stood up, straightened his clothes, composed himself, and said seriously.

"Yun has never had..."

Before he could finish speaking...

Suddenly, a servant's soft voice interrupted their conversation outside the door.

"Lord Fang, a scholar has come to visit with your letter."

......

Shimen Ferry.

As the weather gradually warms up, more and more caravans are coming and going.

Lu Ping finally found a moment to rest, picked up a leather water bag, sat on a rock to the side, and drank deeply.

Lu Ping, who had been busy for most of the day, was seen alone.

On the other side, Zhang Fan, a minor official from Yanmen County, calmly dismissed his surroundings and, seemingly out of nowhere, produced a cloth bag full of things, sitting directly next to Lü Ping.

He placed the cloth bag beside Lü Ping's feet, slightly opened the pockets to reveal its contents.

"Uncle Lü," Zhang Fan called out with a smile.

Lu Ping looked down and glanced into the cloth bag.

Inside was a large, red-crested rooster, bound tightly with ropes, barely alive.

Just one glance.

Lu Ping, who had a great appetite for chicken in his previous life, suddenly brightened up.

Instantly, all sorts of ways to cook this rooster flashed through his mind: stir-fried chicken, stewed chicken, steamed chicken...

Lu Ping wiped the drool from his mouth, turned his head, and glanced at Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan naturally knew what this meant.

He smiled broadly and began to explain.

"Uncle Lü has been bedridden for so long, yet I have been too busy with trivial matters to visit him. I feel ashamed."

"Fan doesn't have many hobbies, but he likes raising chickens. This is the strongest chicken in Fan's flock. He brought it over to help Uncle Lü get some nourishment."

"Uncle Lü, please don't refuse..."

Listening to Zhang Fan's explanation.

Lu Ping remained expressionless, merely nodding slightly as he accepted the cloth bag from Zhang Fan's hand.

"Fan-ge'er is so kind," he said softly.

Seeing that Lü Ping had taken the item from his hand, the smile on his face grew even wider, completely unlike the arrogant attitude he had shown when he met Lü Ping a few days ago.

"Harmful."

"Why is Uncle Lu thanking me?"

As he spoke, Zhang Fan seemed to remember something. He looked around and, seeing that no one could hear him, hesitated before speaking in a low voice.

"Uncle Lü".

"I heard that your old estate was seized by someone?"

"Yes, that's true." Lü Ping glanced at Zhang Fan curiously and nodded.

The events that occurred while the original owner was ill are already common knowledge, so there's no need to hide them.

"Does Uncle Lü know who that person is?" Zhang Fan's eyes kept scanning around.

"I was bedridden at the time and didn't know the details, but I heard that he was the son of a eunuch, who was very powerful and no one dared to offend him." Lü Ping shook his head slightly.

"I recognize that person," Zhang Fan said nervously in a low voice.

"Oh?" Lü Ping's expression turned serious.

"Who is it?"

"This person is a cousin of our prefect, Lord Wang, and his name is Wang De."

The words were finished.

Zhang Fan seemed to have other thoughts in his mind, and he couldn't help but steal glances at Lü Ping's expression.

Lü Ping remained silent.

However, his hand holding the cloth bag suddenly tightened, his fingers turned white, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

........

The sun gradually set.

Lu Ping carried the cloth bag and slowly walked towards his home.

Inside the sack, the dying rooster still flapped its wings every now and then, trying to prove that it was still alive.

The youngest son of the Wang family, still with two or three companions, squatted at the village entrance. His narrow eyes had begun to scrutinize Lü Ping without restraint, as if in his eyes Lü Ping was already a dead man.

Lü Ping acted as if he hadn't heard.

He greeted the group with a smile and then slowly walked towards his home.

Staring at Lü Ping's departing figure, a weasel-faced tenant farmer from the Wang family suddenly turned around and blurted out a sentence to the youngest son of the Wang family.

"Young Master, what Lü Ping is carrying is a chicken."

"That's true." The youngest son of the Wang family glanced at it and nodded slightly.

"This Lü Ping is a stray dog, yet he can still eat meat!" The Wang family tenant, with his pointed mouth and monkey-like face, sneered with covetous eyes.

"Young lord, we haven't had meat in ages since the Xianbei raided us!"

With his words.

The Wang family tenants who had escaped and returned all looked up and silently gazed at the young master of the Wang family.

"You all want to eat meat too?" Young Master Wang turned his head and glanced around.

The Wang family's tenants nodded hesitantly.

"But we don't have money to buy meat, what should we do?" Wang Jia Shaojun's lips curled up slightly.

The group of Wang's tenants exchanged glances and fell silent once more.

Wang Jiashaojun didn't urge them, but just watched them quietly.

It wasn't until the weasel-faced tenant farmer of the Wang family realized something from his young master's eyes and previous hints that the situation changed.

He immediately shouted sternly.

"Just take it!"

"This father and son of the Lü family are nothing but stray dogs; they have no relatives or friends in our village!"

"In my opinion, we should just kill them, take their goods, and then set the place on fire. If anyone asks, we can just say it was an accident!"

As he spoke, the Wang family tenant with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face suddenly swung his hand diagonally downwards as if to chop.

"That way, we can all eat meat!"

This statement came out.

The somewhat somber atmosphere dissipated instantly, as if a glacier had melted.

Few of these Wang family tenants were good people; they were all the kind of people who would steal from others to eat during famines. Now, seeing this weasel-faced man speak out all their thoughts, the tenants' minds began to stir.

"Gentlemen, what do you think?"

After listening to the words of the weasel-faced man with a smile, the youngest son of the Wang family turned his gaze back to the group of tenant farmers in front of him.

The remaining tenants exchanged glances.

One of them, who was quite muscular, stepped forward first and said in a low voice.

"I will do as you say, young lord."

Seeing how easily he had accomplished the task assigned by his elder brother with just a few words, the youngest son of the Wang family rarely smiled. He looked in the direction where Lü Ping had disappeared and, mimicking his elder brother's instructions, whispered to the tenant farmers.

"You don't need to go home tonight."

"In a little while, just come with me back to my courtyard. My eldest brother has prepared some meat; we'll eat some together later."

"Let's do something big together tomorrow morning!"

After saying this, the youngest son of the Wang family got up and led them to his own courtyard.

And the so-called important matter they mentioned, under such circumstances, is self-evident.

The tenant farmers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Whether they had anticipated it or were filled with surprise, they all silently followed behind the youngest son of the Wang family, hurrying towards the Wang family courtyard.

......

The Lu family cabin.

Feeling guilty, Lü Bu hadn't dared to leave the house all day. He had just sent Cheng Lian away and was now curiously watching his father take a large red-crested rooster out of his cloth bag.

"Father, where did this rooster come from?"

"He looks quite fat."

Lu Ping grabbed the chicken by the neck and looked around for a knife.

"What Fan Ge'er gave it was that young clerk who left his hometown and came all the way from Yanmen to work."

"I know about that." Lu Bu nodded, his eyes filled with curiosity.

"However, when you were bedridden a while ago, he never came to visit you. Why is he suddenly sending us a rooster?"

"Who knows?" Lü Ping slowly shook his head.

He found a wooden basin and a sharp knife, and squatted down on the ground with the rooster in his hand, preparing to bleed the chicken.

The blade slipped.

Fresh blood gushed out.

Watching his father bleed the chicken, Lü Bu paused for a moment, then seemed to remember something and suddenly realized what was happening. He quickly reminded him.

"By the way, Father."

"The Xiongnu people who bought our salted fish today, the Ul tribe sent a messenger."

"Hmm?" Lü Ping raised his eyes slightly.

Did they say anything?

"Hmm... that man said that his tribe went to great lengths to prepare ten fresh Xianbei people, and the tribal chief, Wuerhan, has already brought dozens of men on horseback to deliver them to us." Lu Bu frowned, deep in thought.

"However, due to the distance, and to avoid misunderstandings and crowds, we usually can't arrive until midnight."

"So fast? You'll arrive by midnight tonight?" Lu Ping raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

"Yes! However..." Lu Bu hesitated.

"Speak." Lü Ping enlarged the wound on the rooster in his hand, which was oozing blood.

"That man said that recently, for some reason, the number of Xianbei people has been decreasing, and they seem to be gathering in the northern royal court. It has taken them a lot of effort to capture these Xianbei people, and they have even injured some of their own people in the process," Lü Bu explained in a low voice.

"so..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Lu Ping sneered and picked up the conversation.

"So, they suddenly raised the price and want more money?"

"Yes." Seeing that his father seemed somewhat angry, Lü Bu nodded slightly.

"They said they wanted another basket of salted fish!"

"I did the math, and if we were to give them another basket of salted fish, we wouldn't have much money left in our household."

Lu Ping sneered.

"There's a reason why the Ur tribe hasn't developed over the years."

"You have absolutely no brains!"

"I've been in the salted fish business for so many years, I've seen Han Chinese, Xianbei, Xiongnu, what kind of people haven't I met? This is the first time I've ever seen someone suddenly raise the price!"

"Should we give it to them?" Lu Bu whispered.

"Here you go!" The coldness on Lü Ping's face grew even stronger.

"Why wouldn't we give it to them?! Consider it payment for taking the blame for us!"

Observing his father's expression, Lü Bu seemed to have remembered something again, and he asked softly.

"Since the Ur tribe will arrive at midnight, then...shouldn't we do something tonight?"

In the blink of an eye.

Lu Ping had already drained most of the blood from the rooster in his hand.

"What are we going to do?"

He slowly got up, picked up a piece of coarse cloth, and wiped the blood off his hands.

Standing by the wall, he took down the long sword hanging on the wall, gripped it tightly in his hand, and slowly drew it out.

Lu Ping spoke calmly.

"It's time to teach these stray dogs a lesson!"

Even a tiger fallen into the plains is not someone these scumbags can bully!

This statement came out.

A strong, faint smell of blood could be detected.

Lu Bu's eyes shone even brighter.