13. The Era of the Tyrant Arrives (3)
13. The Era of the Tyrant Arrives (3)
The appearance of Dong Zhuo, the Governor of Bing Province.
His arrival, accompanied by a force reaching 20,000, delivered a shock to everyone.
Too fast.
Not even half a day had passed, so why on earth was the great warlord of Xiliang showing his face at this timing?
Lee Seong-hwi was engulfed in shock.
The sense of crisis his intuition had kept sending. Unluckily, that sense of crisis hadn't been wrong.
"Ugh!"
"Damn it, there are too many of them. Swarming in like a hive of bees..."
The soldiers under Cao Cao groaned.
If they were going to force their way into Luoyang, they had intended to block them with all their might.
But that had become impossible.
Even if they risked their lives to stand in the way, it would just be a pointless death; they would surely be trampled to death by the army from Xiliang.
"Will you open a path for us? Or will you choose death right here!"
Dong Zhuo shouted loudly.
At that booming voice, the soldiers of Luoyang trembled.
"...It's over."
Lee Seong-hwi opened his mouth.
At those words, Lu Bu bared her teeth fiercely and replied.
"You're just going to give up like this?"
"I'm not interested in dying a pointless death. Wasn't our goal 'survival' all along?"
At Lee Seong-hwi's words, Lu Bu shut her mouth.
Risking one's life in this fight was foolish.
Whether it was settling a grudge later or taking revenge, it was only possible if one survived until the end. Lee Seong-hwi decided to retreat, promising a future day.
"Let's fall back."
He said to Cao Cao.
At that, Cao Cao nodded.
"Clear the path."
Cao Cao raised her hand.
Then, the soldiers split left and right, opening the road leading to Luoyang for Dong Zhuo's army.
"Should've done that from the start."
"With so few troops, what kind of guts did you have to block us?"
The Xiliang soldiers burst into snickering laughter.
Seeing the look on the Luoyang soldiers' faces—like they'd just bitten into a bug—they stood on the road to Luoyang, acting with the ease of victors.
"Let's get going."
Dong Zhuo laughed heartily.
He urged his horse forward and approached the carriage carrying the Emperor and the Prince of Chenliu, Liu Xie.
He looked like a beast eyeing its prey.
Having gotten his hands on the Emperor and his younger brother, Dong Zhuo was filled with firm confidence that there was nothing left in the world to fear.
While the Cao Cao army was deployed against the Dong Zhuo army near Luoyang, there was another new force approaching Luoyang.
Ding Yuan, the Inspector of Bing Province.
A warlord of the north, he had allied with the Black Mountain Bandits and the Baibo Bandits to advance as far as Luoyang.
After first descending to [Henei Commandery], Ding Yuan succeeded in entering Luoyang, leading the vanguard with his generals.
"From Dong Zhuo to Ding Yuan... what a popular spot, truly. Just how delicious is this place that armies numbering in the tens of thousands keep showing up one after another?"
Lee Seong-hwi said sarcastically.
Following Dong Zhuo, even Ding Yuan had come to Luoyang.
They say that where there is no tiger, the fox plays king. After the General-in-Chief He Jin died, countless ambitious men revealed their greed to take that spot.
Was Dong Zhuo the only ambitious one?
Yuan Shao of the General-in-Chief's Office, and the Inspector of Bing Province, Ding Yuan, and countless other ambitious men gathered in Luoyang.
"Lu Fengxian, you wench!!"
As soon as he saw Lu Bu, Ding Yuan shouted loudly.
His face was flushed crimson with rage.
As he approached, wielding his whip as if he were about to strike her down immediately, Lu Bu made an annoyed expression and poked my side.
You go deal with him.
Lu Bu did not seem very pleased to meet her foster father after such a long time.
"Inspector of Bing Province, do you remember me?"
"Isn't that the Gate Guard Colonel?"
Seeing Lee Seong-hwi, Ding Yuan suppressed his rage for a moment.
Ding Yuan only knew Lee Seong-hwi as being under He Jin's command.
Perhaps thinking it would be unsightly to show rage in front of him, he swallowed his anger for a moment and let out a fake cough.
"Ahem! Yes, can you explain the current situation to me in detail?"
"There are many things to tell you, Inspector. General Lu helped me and performed many great deeds at the General-in-Chief's Office, so please set aside your anger for now."
At the polite tone, Ding Yuan nodded.
Now was not the time to deal with a colt-like daughter.
Wasn't this a situation where every second counted? Besides, his mood was already twisted because of that guy Dong Zhuo from Xiliang.
"First, you must absorb the troops of the General-in-Chief's Office. Since the General-in-Chief's assassination, we military officers are currently in a state of disarray, having lost the lord we relied on. If you take us all in, rising to the empty position of General-in-Chief is not just a dream."
"Ahem! Me, as General-in-Chief?"
Ding Yuan's desire stirred.
The head of the Han Dynasty's military.
He brightened at Lee Seong-hwi's words that the position of General-in-Chief might fall to him.
If he won here, the position of General-in-Chief would be a sure thing.
Not only would he become a powerful official manipulating the Emperor as a puppet, but he would also be able to seize control of the military and wield absolute, unchecked power.
"For now, the Colonels and I will follow you, Inspector."
"Hahahaha! Is that so? I thought you were a sharp military officer from the first time I saw you. I shall embrace you all with a generous heart!"
He decided to join Ding Yuan's army.
At Lee Seong-hwi's decision, the Colonels who followed him showed hesitation, but eventually knelt before Ding Yuan and swore their loyalty.
The Colonels of Luoyang had fallen into his hands.
Ding Yuan burst into loud, uproarious laughter as if Luoyang had already fallen into his grasp.
'Are you actually crazy? You're going to bow your head to that crazy old geezer...? Is that how I raised you!'
Lu Bu poked his side repeatedly.
She tormented Lee Seong-hwi's side to the point of stabbing, not just poking.
'Who raised whom. I'm doing this because I have a plan. More than that, move your chest away. Are you showing off because your chest is big?'
They say there's love-hate, and then there's affection.
Lee Seong-hwi gave a bitter smile at Lu Bu's behavior, acting like a long-time colleague.
As Lu Bu pressed close, he could feel the sensation.
He almost lost his reason for a moment due to her breasts, which were larger and more beautiful than any woman he had ever met.
'There's no other choice for now.'
It was time to catch his breath under Ding Yuan's command.
Although he had formed a strange alliance with Cao Cao, there was no guarantee she would take care of him until the end.
Right now, he needed someone to be his shield.
So, Lee Seong-hwi decided to hide in the shadow of the Inspector of Bing Province, Ding Yuan, for a little while.
"I am unfamiliar with the geography of Luoyang. I have never even visited the Imperial Palace. I think I will desperately need your help."
"I will guide you."
"You should."
He said it with an attitude as if it were obvious.
In a short time, Lee Seong-hwi came to understand why Lu Bu hated her foster father so much.
An old geezer who aged with his ass.
Dong Zhuo, who didn't know the end of greed, was a big problem, but Ding Yuan, who didn't know his own place and pursued vain wealth and glory, was also a major problem.
"We will escort you."
A black-haired beauty stepped forward.
As she revealed herself from among the gloomy-looking generals, it felt as if a bright light was shining.
It was Zhang Liao, Lu Bu's lieutenant.
Zhang Liao and the military officers under her stood beside Lee Seong-hwi.
"Then let's go to the Imperial Palace as soon as possible."
Lee Seong-hwi pulled the reins.
Then Zhang Liao and the military officers followed, and in the rear, Ding Yuan headed toward the Imperial Palace, escorted by numerous generals.
"In the end, it seems we've ended up in a situation like [Dongzhoujijiang] (Crossing the river in the same boat)."
Crossing the river in the same boat.
In other words, [Wu-Yue in the same boat] (enemies in the same boat), meaning that even if you are enemies, you join forces in the face of impending hardship.
To that, Lu Bu asked back.
"Dongzhou... what?"
"Never mind, it's nothing."
Such an ignorant woman.
Lee Seong-hwi grumbled and turned his head at Lu Bu's bottomless ignorance.
Who would marry this colt-like woman?
I pity the man who ends up marrying her.
As for her face, she was flawless enough to be called one of the greatest beauties, but the contents in the vessel were too pathetic.
Let's find a man who will marry her just for her face.
Aside from that, there seems to be no answer.
'To think I would end up on the same side as the Unrivaled Under Heaven of the martial arts world. I only thought of this girl as a subordinate or colleague, but we keep getting strangely entangled.'
A beautiful blonde beauty.
Her slender, model-like limbs and voluptuous breasts formed a glamorous body with proper balance.
Not only that.
Her red eyes, bundled with pride bordering on arrogance, were attractive enough to steal men's hearts.
"What, did you fall for me or something?"
At Lee Seong-hwi's gaze staring intently,
Lu Bu burst into giggles and showed a playful reaction.
"Get your head straight. We are currently entering the belly of a monster that has devoured tens of thousands of people."
"Yes, yes."
Lu Bu answered Lee Seong-hwi's words half-heartedly.
Soon, they would enter the Imperial Palace.
There were numerous gates to pass through until entering the Imperial Palace, but most of the able-bodied men had already fled.
Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo, Ding Yuan.
Luoyang, where the three-way battle would take place, would become a living hell where people could not live.
There was no military officer anywhere who could hold their position in such a hell.
"Don't worry. No matter what happens, this Lu Fengxian will protect you."
"What is it, it seems like you're the one who fell for me."
"Do you want to die?"
Lu Bu's face flushed in an instant.
The composure she had while teasing Lee Seong-hwi was gone, and she blushed as if her weak spot, which she wanted to hide, had been poked.
"What has happened in the meantime, Bong-seon-nim?"
Zhang Liao approached and observed Lee Seong-hwi and Lu Bu.
They seemed strangely close.
Knowing Lu Bu's arrogant personality, which caused serious problems in interpersonal relationships, Zhang Liao began to feel interested in Lee Seong-hwi, who seemed to get along well with such a Lu Bu.
"He's a guy who will move with us. He's about half-witted, but he's not completely useless, so I'm going to do him a favor and accept him as a subordinate."
Lu Bu said, waving her hand.
She introduced him to Zhang Liao, acting as if she had accepted Lee Seong-hwi as a subordinate.
Generals such as Hou Cheng, Wei Xu, and Song Xian approached.
They, who would later be called the [Eight Jian Generals], approached Lee Seong-hwi and greeted him.
"Nice to meet you. Ah, do I need to use honorifics?"
"Looking at you, you seem older than me, but let's drop the formalities. It's to build camaraderie between men."
"I'm the one who's older, so why are you dropping the formalities..."
"My rank is higher, though."
The Gate Guard Colonel of Luoyang versus a low-ranking military officer from the frontier.
Which rank was higher could be easily known by comparing their posts and salaries.
Unlike them, who received meager salaries,
Lee Seong-hwi had been receiving his salary directly from the Imperial Court and the government.
"Alright, let's do that."
Hou Cheng said with a hearty laugh.
The other generals also nodded as if they would do the same.
"But you... do you happen to like horses?"
What the hell is this, this bastard.
Lee Seong-hwi felt an inexplicable chill at the sight of Hou Cheng looking at the horse he was riding with a sticky gaze.