Chapter Fifty I Am Who I Am

  "It's impossible!" Lü Bu hadn't even spoken yet when Liu Mang stood out.

  Liu Mang can't help but stand up, if Old Yuan keeps talking like this, his wife will be gone. As a fishing line expert, it's easy to get hooked, right? For over 20 years, his only girlfriend has been his left hand. Now that spring has finally arrived and he's got an unmarried wife, Old Yuan is trying to steal her away from him.

  You said your family is a good one with four generations of high-ranking officials, an excellent wealthy and handsome family. What kind of woman can't you find? You come to steal the wife of this old man.

  "Who are you? Didn't you see my father and your master discussing important matters, yet you don't quickly retreat?" Little Yuan was furious. Previously, when he shouted "Lord Lü Bu's father-in-law", he was interrupted by him, and now he was openly opposed.

  "Let me step down? You don't even have the qualifications to say that, let alone your old father!" Liu Mang wouldn't be polite to these two wall-climbing guests.

  Liu Mao's words shocked Yuan Shu, and then he became furious. In Yuan Shu's view, Liu Mao was just a small guard of Lü Bu. "Fengxian, is this your subordinate?! When the master is discussing matters, a servant dares to speak like this? Take him down quickly!"

  Take down Liu Mang? Hehe, without Liu Mang there would be no Lü Bu, I'm afraid that among all the generals in Lü Bu's army, Lü Bu could sacrifice anyone except for Liu Mang.

  When Yuan Shu wanted to take down Liu Mang, Lü Bu snorted, "I'll see who dares!"

  "Are you going to betray me?!" Yuan Shu was stunned, Lu Bu's expression was that of someone who wanted to turn against him. Was he going to turn against him for the sake of a servant?!

  "Yuan Gongluo, I've only come to borrow some grain and fodder, not to discuss marriage with you. Have you already forgotten about Han Yin?!"

  "Han Yin?!" Yuan Shu's face sank, that year Yuan Shu sent an envoy to discuss the marriage with Lü Bu, and this envoy was Han Yin. Unfortunately, this envoy was tied up and beheaded by Lü Bu.

  "How dare you take down the King of Shu, who stands before you now?!" Lü Bu rebuked.

  "Shu King?!" Yuan Shu glanced at Liu Mang, although he had already claimed the title of Emperor, but he still had some fear for the Han dynasty, otherwise he wouldn't have been defeated by Cao and then dared not to show his face again.

  "That's right, this is the King of Shu! He was appointed as the General Who Pacifies the South by Your Majesty, and his official rank and title are above yours, yet you call him a servant. I ask you, who in the whole world would dare to use him as a servant?"

  Yuan Shu's face turned red with rage, his anger greatly increased as he slammed his hand on the dragon chair "Enough! Lü Bu, I only ask you one question, are you going to marry this daughter or not?!"

  "I, Lü Bu, have already promised my only daughter to the King of Shu. I don't have a second daughter to marry your son, you, Yuan Gonglu! You think 5,000 stones of grain is enough for me to marry my own daughter? Do you really take everyone for fools?"

  "Haha!" Liu Mang's mood improved, but someone else's mood didn't.

  "Lü Bu, you will marry today whether you want to or not!" Old Yuan was furious, and many more guards appeared on the palace grounds, staring fiercely at Lü Bu and his two companions.

  "Yuan Gonglu, it's not that I look down on you, do you dare to make a move?!" Lü Bu said disdainfully. Others may not know about Lü Bu's martial arts skills, but the eighteen vassals who participated in the Battle of Tiger Trap Pass couldn't possibly be unaware - Lü Bu alone had made the numerous vassals at Tiger Trap Pass change color with fear.

  Among the eighteen vassals, there was Yuan Shu. Without mentioning Lü Bu's military strength, just talking about the army outside the city, 100,000 Cao troops couldn't even keep them back, let alone the old, weak, sick and disabled people inside Shouchun City?

  "Alas!" Yuan Shu, sitting on the dragon throne, suddenly let out a sigh, and his whole person seemed to have aged ten years. His thin body looked even more withered, and he no longer had the appearance of a fierce and intimidating warlord, but rather that of an old man who was about to die.

  "Fall back!" Yuan Shu ordered, and the surrounding guards retreated.

  "Father?!" Yuan Yao was anxious, if he really let them go, what about his engagement? Letting them go? What about him, Yuan Yao? His old man is already in a bad state, he had seen it coming, watching as the daughter-in-law and army that were within his grasp were about to slip away, how could Yuan Yao not be anxious?

  Yuan Shu ignored Yuan Yeo and instead said to Lü Bu, "Fengxian, we've known each other for over a decade now!"

  Lü Bu nodded, it has indeed been over a decade from Tiger Trap Pass until now.

  "Five thousand stones of grain, you can take them away at any time, I only ask two things of you!" Yuan Shu looked at Lü Bu with a pleading expression on his face.

  "Speak!" Lü Bu looked at Yuan Shu's aged expression and also let out a sigh in his heart. They had all grown old, and those who were older than them had already died, such as Ding Yuan, Tao Qian, and Wang Yun. It was their turn next, wasn't it? This world would soon belong to the younger generation.

  Lü Bu's gaze turned to Liu Mang.

  "A gleam of light suddenly flashed in Yuan Shu's eyes. 'I need your help, Emperor Xian, to deal with two rebels!' As he spoke of the rebels, Liu Mang actually sensed a killing aura emanating from Yuan Shu."

  Also, which of these princes does not have tens of thousands of lives on their hands?

  "Traitor?!"

  "Yes! Chen Lan, Lei Bo! These two traitors, they betrayed me when I declared myself emperor!" Yuan Shu said.

  Liu Mang slightly shook his head, these two should be considered as having a brain, Old Yuan's usurpation of the throne was originally a path to death, others don't want to die with you so they naturally leave you.

  Looking at the expressions of the three men, Yuan Shu felt a bit embarrassed. He knew that his claim to the throne had indeed shaken many people's hearts, but he couldn't help it - this supreme power, this dragon chair, with people bowing their heads in submission below... The feeling! Yuan Shu took a deep breath and suppressed his wild ambitions, saying: "If they simply left me, I, Yuan Shu, am not a narrow-minded person. Birds choose the woods to perch on, I don't blame them for that. But what they absolutely shouldn't have done was to send troops to secretly attack my grain route when I was defeated in battle, stealing my military rations! This led to me being trapped in Shouchun, unable to move an inch!"

  Oh! So that's how it is, Lv Bu and the others understood. If Chen Lan Lei betrayed Yuan Shu alone, it might be considered knowing one's place, but you leave and still attack your old master, this is truly a traitor's behavior of eating inside and peeling outside.

  "Good! Bring me the heads of these two within three days!" Lü Bu agreed without hesitation, even if Yuan Shu didn't ask him to. Even if Lü Bu had obtained Yuan Shu's military rations, he would have helped Yuan Shu deal with these two traitors. Why? Because our boss Lü hates traitors the most!

  When Lü Bu agreed, Yuan Shu's face flashed with joy. "Secondly, I want you to dispatch troops to escort me north to Hebei! Once I arrive in Hebei at my brother Yuan Shao's place, I will surely reward you heavily!" Yuan Shu also knew that his power in Huainan was already lost and he couldn't hold on to it anymore. The people's hearts were scattered, and now he had no choice but to go to Hebei and follow Yuan Shao, even though he used to look down on him as a lowly born person.

  But going to Hebei Road is not too peaceful, Xuzhou was occupied by Cao Cao, and Yuan Shu had just been defeated by Cao Cao, now he dare not face Cao Cao directly.

  "Impossible!" Lü Bu refused without hesitation. Now you want to go north again, aren't you joking? It's not easy for Lü Bu to escape from Xuzhou, and now you want him to go back? Does he want to die? Even if they could reach Hebei, Lü Bu and Yuan Shao wouldn't be able to get along. If the two of them could think it through, Lü Bu wouldn't have left Puyang in the first place.

  "But!" Yuan Shu wanted to struggle again, but Lü Bu directly refused.

  "If I don't get the grain, then I'll have to take it myself!" Lü Bu's "taking it himself" naturally didn't mean taking it from Shouchun, but rather going to attack Chen Lan and Lei Bo. At that time, it was uncertain whether he would subdue or kill the two men.

  Watching Yuan Shu's reluctant and dying appearance, Lü Bu softened a bit. "There is one more condition, you can think about it slowly, as long as it's not too excessive, I, Lü Bu, will help you achieve it! Let's go!" With that, Lü Bu took Liu Mang and the other two away.

  Leaving the grand hall, Chen Gong suddenly spoke up and asked, "Why did my lord agree to Yuan Shu's conditions? It was clear that we could have taken Shouchun and seized the grain and fodder. After all, two of our generals had already plundered things from under Yuan Shu's nose, which shows that his army has deteriorated to a certain extent. The only reason he hasn't been eliminated is probably because of his brother in Hebei."

  But in Lv Bu's eyes, it was nothing to mention.

  Attacking Shouchun is much simpler than attacking Chen Lan and Lei Bo, Yuan Shu's army is now all defeated soldiers, Shouchun city is also in a state of disrepair, Lü Bu's army can take the city in one day, since Chen Lan and Lei Bo were able to rob Yuan Shu, it means they have some ability.

  Lü Bu did not answer immediately, but instead stared at Chen Gong for a long time, making Chen Gong feel uneasy. He then replied, "If I were to do that, would you still consider me Lü Bu?!"

  He didn't wait for Chen Gong to react before he rode off. "Gong, you should remember that if Cao Cao would rather betray the world than be betrayed by it, then I, Lü Bu, just want to be myself. No one can change me, no one can make me change! I don't like owing people!" As Lü Bu's figure gradually disappeared into the distance, Chen Gong suddenly laughed and said: "Cao Mengde, can you see? This is why I abandoned you and chose Lü Bu!"