16. The Choice of Betrayal (2)
16. The Choice of Betrayal (2)
Li Su was from the same hometown as Lu Bu, Wuyuan Commandery in Bing Province, but in reality, he didn't really know her at all.
It was just to use their regional connection as an excuse.
He had brought up the fact that they were from the same hometown to recruit her for the Dong Zhuo army, and upon hearing that, Dong Zhuo had sent Li Su off, telling him to hurry up and recruit the Flying General, Lu Bu.
"I don't remember ever seeing a guy like you..."
Lu Bu said, looking at Li Su.
Tilting her head, she looked at Li Su with an expression that said, 'Was there ever a guy like this?'
In truth, her memory wasn't very good.
If she wasn't smart, how could her memory be any good? Even if she had seen Li Su once in Wuyuan Commandery, it was highly likely she would have forgotten him immediately.
"The Inspector of Bing Province has very high expectations of you, Lu Fengxian. Aren't you a general who has displayed countless feats of valor, known as the Flying General in Bing Province? Yet, you're being treated poorly under the brutal Ding Yuan and stuck in a lowly position, so I, a fellow townsman, have stepped up personally to help you find your way."
Li Su blathered on enthusiastically.
At his words, Lu Bu grinned, showing her teeth.
"I've heard that the guys who show kindness for no reason are the most dangerous, and you're exactly that type. I'd rather have someone who openly nags me; the guy who suddenly shows up offering help is the least trustworthy."
Lu Bu said.
At that, Li Su muttered to himself, 'I thought she was an idiot, but I guess not.'
"First, tell me about your proposal. You're only showing up in front of me and urging me to betray them because you brought some big bait, right?"
"Be-betrayal, you say... Following a virtuous lord is merely the proper duty of a wise general."
Who on earth was a virtuous lord?
In the current situation where Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo, the very specimens of villains, were occupying Luoyang, where in this Luoyang could a virtuous lord possibly be?
Was it because she had been with Lee Seong-hwi?
Lu Bu had evolved enough intelligence to rack her brain and distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys.
"He said he would appoint you as Colonel of Cavalry the moment you arrive, General Lu."
"Colonel of Cavalry? Is that higher than a Gate Guard Colonel?"
"Umm... O-of course it is!"
Colonel of Cavalry.
A military position that commands the Emperor's cavalry, it could be called the head of the cavalry unit.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Cao Cao had been appointed as Colonel of Cavalry. It was a position usually given to a person with high martial prowess, and the power was also immense, enough to lead troops and participate in war in times of emergency.
While Gate Guard Colonel was also a high-ranking position,
for a fierce general skilled in war like Lu Bu, there could be no better military position than Colonel of Cavalry.
"And he said that if you achieve great merit in our army, he would promote you beyond Colonel of Cavalry to General of the Household and even enfeoff you as a feudal lord. We will support you with all our might, so General Lu, you just need to join our side and rack up the merits."
It was certainly an attractive proposal.
If Lee Seong-hwi hadn't been by her side, she would have accepted it without any suspicion.
A country girl who had been wandering the frontier,
could rise to become a feudal lord if she backed the right horse.
That alone was reason enough to betray the Ding Yuan army and surrender to the Dong Zhuo army. After all, if she stayed in the Ding Yuan army, she would just end up living while being treated poorly, just like on the frontier.
"That's not all!"
Li Su raised his voice.
When he clapped his hands to send a signal, the soldiers waiting behind him barely managed to pull the reins and bring over a warhorse that was thrashing wildly.
Hiiiiing!!!
The horse neighed loudly.
The horse, which strangely had a red mane, was thrashing around like a wild horse that had received absolutely no training.
"Oh, no...!"
Li Su made an 'oops' expression.
Everything was going well, but of all things, the horse was causing trouble.
It was the Red Hare, called the best among the Ferghana Horses possessed by the Dong Zhuo army, intended to be used as a bargaining chip. It had been quiet lately, but it started going crazy at the most important moment.
"What is that colt?"
Lu Bu made an expression of deep interest.
As someone who had commanded a cavalry unit in Bing Province, Lu Bu had an eye for recognizing excellent steeds.
"Argh!"
The soldier who had been holding the reins tightly with both hands tumbled to the ground.
Then, the Red Hare lifted its hooves to kill the soldier who had suppressed it so much. It looked like it was about to crush the soldier with a rough kick right then and there.
"Hey."
Lu Bu let out a chilling voice.
At that, the Red Hare, which had been thrashing wildly, suddenly went quiet as if it had been threatened by a fierce beast.
It lowered the head that had been thrashing about.
It had been startled and frightened by the terrible killing intent exuded by Lu Bu.
Beasts react particularly sensitively to killing intent.
As the fighter of Bing Province, the fierce general who had never lost a war, approached, only then did the Red Hare act docile and stop its rampage.
"That's it."
Lu Bu raised her hand.
She slowly stroked the Red Hare's neck, calming it down.
'They said she was the Flying General of Bing Province, and she truly is like a demon. I shouldn't look down on her just because she's a woman. She might even be a greater general than General Hua Xiong.'
Lu Bu was a woman who had reached a level beyond humanity.
The monstrous strength to swing the Painted Halberd with one hand—a weapon that would require two or three adult men to even lift—along with the killing intent that could subdue beasts in an instant.
One shouldn't think of her as human.
A monster with a beautiful appearance; that would be a fitting description for Lu Bu.
"Go and tell him. Tell him I'll bring a very big gift."
"Yes, thank you for your response!"
He had succeeded in the negotiation with Lu Bu.
She had decided to defect from the Ding Yuan army, and Li Su, who had conducted the negotiation, was now lost in the expectation that he would receive a great reward from Dong Zhuo.
Lu Bu would surely achieve outstanding military exploits.
If that happened, his own name, having recruited Lu Bu, would also gain fame. Becoming the commander he had so longed to be would not be a dream.
"This is enough, right?"
Lu Bu asked after Li Su left.
At that, Lee Seong-hwi, who had been watching the situation from afar, approached and shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah, you did great. If I followed my thoughts, I'd want to pat your head for doing well, but I don't think I will because you'd probably break my hand."
"You know me well."
"You're not cute at all."
Lee Seong-hwi approached the Red Hare.
The Red Hare! It was the Red Hare, called the Red Hare among horses.
It was natural for Lee Seong-hwi to be interested in the Red Hare with the red mane.
Phureung!!
The Red Hare neighed loudly.
Startled, Lee Seong-hwi, who had been approaching it, hid closely behind Lu Bu.
"Didn't you confess to me? You think hiding behind a woman is way too natural, don't you?"
"Logically speaking, you're much stronger than me."
What was there to be ashamed of?
It was Lu Bu who was left speechless by Lee Seong-hwi's behavior of acting confident instead.
Hiding behind a strong person is natural.
Lu Bu had no words to refute Lee Seong-hwi's statement, which he said with such confidence despite it being a sophistry.
"Should I kill him right now?"
Lu Bu raised her Painted Halberd.
Lee Seong-hwi raised his hand to stop her at her hasty appearance.
"No, not now."
Wait until the Ding Yuan faction gathers.
There was the Inspector of Bing Province, Ding Yuan, and the leaders of the Baibo Bandits and Black Mountain Bandits who followed him. It wouldn't be too late to plot the uprising after they all gathered in one place.
The Ding Yuan faction had quite a large number of people.
That was why Lee Seong-hwi had the soldiers who followed Lu Bu, including Zhang Liao and the generals, participate in the uprising.
"When I said I was going to kill Ding Yuan, everyone said they wanted to participate? How on earth did you guys organize your army... Even without Dong Zhuo, you would have cracked Ding Yuan's head on your own."
There was no such thing as a more dysfunctional mess than this.
Not a single one of the lower-ranking military officers of Bing Province failed to swear that they would betray Ding Yuan.
Just how much hell must they have gone through under him?
Perhaps they all felt the same way as Lu Bu, as they accepted the option of betraying Ding Yuan and entering Dong Zhuo's military camp.
"The soldiers must like you."
Lee Seong-hwi said.
At that, Lu Bu shrugged her shoulders as if she were proud.
"Of course! I treated them so well..."
Lu Bu was unexpectedly excellent at personnel management.
People just think Lu Bu had a personality lacking in virtue because her end was the worst.
Under Ding Yuan and under Dong Zhuo.
And even when she betrayed Dong Zhuo and lived the life of a wandering army drifting through the Central Plains, Zhang Liao and the Eight Jian Generals followed Lu Bu firmly.
If Lu Bu had lacked character,
no one would have tried to follow her. It was possible because she had a charm of her own that captivated people.
"Personnel management that leads people..."
Lee Seong-hwi stared intently at Lu Bu's face.
Lu Bu's face turned red at that gaze.
She ended up feeling shy at Lee Seong-hwi's gaze looking at her. It was extremely unlike her, but there was no way to stop her pounding heart.
"What! You're going to burn a hole in my face, stop looking!"
"Alright, alright, I got it."
At Lu Bu's behavior of starting to grumble,
Lee Seong-hwi raised both hands as if to surrender.
The suspicious Dong Zhuo would never have left Yuan Shao, who had once almost become the master of Luoyang, alone.
Yuan Shao was stripped of all military power.
Thanks to the merit of leading an army to storm the Imperial Palace and execute the Ten Eunuchs, she was able to save her life, but Yuan Shao, having lost her army, was in a position where she didn't know when she might die.
"Mengde, what should we do?"
Yuan Shao asked.
To that, Cao Cao replied.
"There's nothing we can do as of now. Dong Zhuo has already seized all the power."
Dong Zhuo had a capable advisor named Li Ru.
He was clearly different from the other warlords who were just ignorant.
Not only did he have capable generals and soldiers under his command, but strategists from the frontier, including Li Ru, were following him.
That was the difference from Ding Yuan.
Ding Yuan couldn't even control the men under his command, but Dong Zhuo knew how to wield power and people's hearts.
Ding Yuan could never be a match for Dong Zhuo.
Having reached that conclusion, Yuan Shao judged that it was impossible to defeat Dong Zhuo in Luoyang.
"I'm going to Hebei. What about you, Mengde?"
"For now, I want to watch the situation."
Dong Zhuo was particularly fond of warlords.
He poured a lot of interest into putting famous warlords under his command in particular.
Cao Cao was a recruitment target for the Dong Zhuo army.
Wasn't she the Colonel of the Vanguard from a noble family who was making a name for herself in Luoyang? As if saying that there could never be enough capable generals, Dong Zhuo recruited many talented people day after day.
"Dong Zhuo is no ordinary guy. He's cunning and sly. At first glance, he looks like an ignorant warlord, but deep down, he's an old fox."
He had already secured the Emperor.
He had placed the Han Dynasty imperial family under him, and had even completely co-opted the Imperial Army that had been under He Jin.
In contrast...
The Inspector of Bing Province, Ding Yuan, didn't know how to properly utilize the achievement of leading an army and forcing Dong Zhuo to retreat, even though he had accomplished it.
One must win in a fight.
But there is something more important than winning a fight. It was how one utilizes that victory when one wins.
"That guy Ding Yuan, why is he so incompetent? If he had kept up even a little bit, you and I could have lent our strength to Ding Yuan and driven Dong Zhuo out."
"That's true."
Heaven had chosen Dong Zhuo.
The current situation was all proceeding in a phase favorable to Dong Zhuo.
Luoyang had fallen to the traitor from Xiliang.
The first thing to realize was to admit to oneself that Luoyang had already fallen into Dong Zhuo's grasp.
"Where are you going?"
Cao Cao stood up from her seat.
Yuan Shao asked, raising her head toward her friend who had stood up quietly.
"There's someone I need to meet. It's a man."
To Yuan Shao, who was making a flustered expression,
Cao Cao said, specifically emphasizing the word 'man'.