Chapter 35: The Beauty Trap!

  Dongdu Luoyang, a prosperous city, with undercurrents surging.

  Since Dong Zhuo took over the Bingzhou army, he can be said to be extremely powerful. Later, he formally accepted the 100,000-strong army left behind by He Jin in Luoyang. Although its combat effectiveness was not as strong as that under Dong Zhuo's command, the Yellow Turban Army was also a veteran of a hundred battles. At this time, Dong Zhuo's forces expanded to an army of 460,000, excluding various checkpoints and the Xiliu garrison troops. Dong Zhuo had more than 300,000 soldiers at his disposal, and his momentum was overwhelming.

  Autumn water has also become idle during this period, and the military symbol in his hand has been summoned twice, 10,000 cavalry, 10,000 bowmen, leaving only one chance to use it, Autumn water temporarily saved it for future needs.

  Lü Bu was appointed as the Cavalry Commandant after surrendering to Dong Zhuo, and he took charge of over 600,000 troops in Bing Province. Perhaps due to the presence of Hua Xiong, Dong Zhuo did not adopt Lü Bu as his son, but Dong Zhuo treated Lü Bu with great favor, hosting small banquets for him every three days and large ones every five days.

  Lü Bu's newly surrendered men still had some reservations about joining Dong Zhuo's army, but Lü Bu and Qiu Shui were quite close. Whenever they had time, they would come to spar with Qiu Shui to improve their martial arts skills. Since Lü Bu obtained the Red Hare, his martial arts skills had reached an all-time high. Qiu Shui couldn't gain any advantage over him. Through this period of interaction, Lü Bu also gained a deeper understanding of Qiu Shui's martial arts skills. Within 200 rounds, Lü Bu was slightly ahead, but afterwards, they were evenly matched. However, Lü Bu also realized that Qiu Shui wasn't hiding anything, he just had extraordinary physical strength. After 500 rounds, Qiu Shui still looked as energetic as ever, and Lü Bu deeply admired him for it.

  At night, Luoyang City was quiet, and since Dong Zhuo entered the capital, a curfew had been implemented.

  "Autumn water, Wang Yun has just invited Lü Bu." said Xiao Yu, standing elegantly in front of Autumn Water.

  Autumn water saw that it was Xiaoyu, and she also had a headache. Although Xiaoyu was a ghostly body, in this world, she could only investigate news at night and watch from a distance, especially when monitoring the official residences of high-ranking officials. Each official has their own aura according to their position, and Xiaoyu couldn't get close to them. The civil officials were okay, but if it was a martial arts hall, especially one that had experienced battlefield killings, just the aura alone would be enough to shock Xiaoyu into dispersing into nothingness.

  However, Xiaoyu felt that she was hiding in Qiushui's magical instrument every day without any help, and her heart was full of guilt, so she strongly demanded to go and investigate the news.

  "Alright, I understand. You won't go out again from now on, it's too dangerous."

  Xiaoyu was about to say something, but Qiushui interrupted her and said firmly: "You should go back to the artifact to cultivate, after a while, the Battle of Tiger Trap Pass will take place in history, and I'll need your help at that time."

  Xiaoyu heard what Qiushui said, knew that Qiushui's decision couldn't be changed, and with a somewhat gloomy expression nodded slightly before turning into a ray of light and returning to the gourd on Qiushui's neck.

  When Qiushui saw Xiaoyu's dejected appearance, she felt a pang of sympathy and stroked the gourd on her neck. Standing alone in the house, she thought quietly to herself that this world was developing differently from history. In history, after Dong Zhuo surrendered and took over the state army, Cao Cao should still have been in Luoyang, and it wasn't until after his failed assassination attempt that he issued a fake imperial edict, leading to the eighteen vassals' rebellion against Dong Zhuo.

  In this world, Cao Cao has left Luoyang early. Since Qiū Shuǐ found out about this, he has been observing the dynamics in Luoyang. Tonight, Wang Yun invited Lü Bu, it seems that the Beauty Plan has been advanced.

  Qiu Shui thought of his mission, he couldn't let the Xiliang army split yet, otherwise the chances of him completing his mission would greatly decrease, he still needed to borrow momentum, borrow Dong Zhuo's momentum.

  Dong Zhuo, since he grasped the great power, gradually became arrogant and indulgent, his ambition dwindled, his temper became more violent, and he lost his former cleverness, becoming increasingly suspicious.

  Dong Zhuo's forces have now split into three systems: the Western Liang Army, the Bingzhou Army, and the Luoyang Army. However, the Luoyang Army has already become a mere shell of its former self due to the lack of capable generals. The entire 100,000-strong Luoyang Army has been scattered and dispersed. Dong Zhuo's trusted subordinates who hold military power are: Qiu Shui, Lü Bu, Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, Fan Chou, Hu Zhen, Xu Rong, Niu Fu, and Hua Xiong - a total of ten people. Among them, the one he trusts the most is his son-in-law, Niu Fu.

  Nowadays, Dong Zhuo's entire force no longer has the unity of the past. Lü Bu, a new surrenderer, controls more than 60,000 elite soldiers from the state of Bing, and is isolated within this force. As for Qiu Shui, a general in the Western Liang army, his reputation is too great, causing other generals to ostracize him, and the entire Western Liang army is now filled with undercurrents.

  Dong Zhuo, in his life of luxury and indulgence in Luoyang, had gradually lost his wildness and the heroic aura that Qiu Shui had seen in him. Time is indeed a butcher's knife! Dong Zhuo, who had built up his vast fortune through his own efforts, was now slowly declining.

  Qiu Shui thought to himself, now that Lü Bu is heading to Wang Yun's residence, he must stop this from happening, not only for his own mission but also for the sake of Lü Bu, a rare friend and confidant.

  Thinking of this, Qiu Shui ordered the soldiers outside the door: "Quickly go and let Qiu Shun come."

  Yes! The soldiers outside the door heard Qiū Shuǐ's command and obeyed.

  In the reincarnation space, the exchanged military symbols, each time after summoning, will bring a general, according to this world's strength division, that is the second-tier peak, one step away from being a first-tier Zhang Liao. If Zhang Liao is a first-tier martial general, then Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are super-first-tier martial generals, while Lü Bu is an unparalleled martial general.

  After summoning Autumn Water twice, he obtained two second-rate peak warriors, Autumn Wu and Autumn Shun, who were well-versed in military tactics, perfectly making up for Autumn Water's shortcomings.

  Shūn excels at infantry, while Shū is skilled in cavalry, both of which are closely related to the type of troops summoned.

  "Hmm... After a while, the sound of footsteps echoed outside the door. A general wearing armor and with a serious expression rushed to Qiū Shuǐ's side and bowed his fists respectfully: "My lord, what are your orders?"

  Qiu Shui nodded silently in his heart, and solemnly said to Qiu Shun: "Now Wang Yun has invited Lü Bu to visit his mansion as a guest. You go outside Wang Yun's mansion and wait quietly for Lü Bu to come out, then bring him here to see me."

  Yes! Although Qiu Shun didn't know what was going on, he still respectfully cupped his fists and replied, then walked out the door.

  About two hours later, a general riding a tall red horse came to the Autumn Water Mansion with a spring breeze on his face.

  "Haha, younger brother, what's the matter with you?" a loud and clear voice rang out.

  Qiu Shui smiled and nodded at Lü Bu as he arrived, saying: "Brother Fengxian, let's go inside to discuss further."

  The autumn water in the house had already ordered the servant to prepare a wine table, and after entering the house with Lü Bu, they knelt down at the wine table.

  As soon as Lü Bu arrived, Qiū Shuǐ saw that his eyes were filled with spring intentions and knew that Wang Yun must have used the beautiful woman's plan to separate him from Lü Bu.

  "Offering sacrifices to elder brother, what's the reason for such joy?" Qiu Shui asked with a knowing smile, looking at Lü Bu.

  Lü Bu, upon hearing Qiu Shui's question, couldn't contain his excitement and raised a cup of wine to toast: "Haha, today I went to Wang Yun's mansion for a gathering, didn't expect that scoundrel Wang Yun actually has a stunningly beautiful daughter." After saying this, Lü Bu stopped talking, looked at Qiu Shui, then lifted the cup to his lips and took a swig.

  Qiu Shui heard Lü Bu's return and hastily raised a cup of wine to toast: "Congratulations, Brother Fengxian, you've brought back the beauty." After speaking, he took a sip and put down the cup, his face showing some hesitation.

  Lü Bu saw the expression on Qiu Shui's face and was greatly surprised. He asked: "Younger brother, what's wrong?"

  Qiu Shui looked at Lü Bu in front of him, pretending to be hesitant and said: "Brother, I received a secret report from my subordinates that Wang Yun is secretly gathering the old ministers of the Han court with ulterior motives. Moreover, I have never heard that Wang Yun has a daughter!"

  Lü Bu was shocked upon hearing this and immediately sobered up. He stared at Qiu Shui with a sharp gaze, "Brother, are you telling the truth?"

  "How could I dare to hide it from you, brother?" Autumn Water said with a bitter smile, then quickly asked: "Brother, did King Wang invite you to dinner?"

  Lü Bu heard the words of Qiu Shui, and in his heart he also knew that this matter was not simple. He slowly told Wang Yun about the invitation to the banquet.

  After hearing Lü Bu's words, Qiu Shui thought that Wang Yun had previously betrothed Diao Chan to Lü Bu and asked him to choose a date for the wedding. During this time, he invited Dong Zhuo. With Dong Zhuo's overbearing personality, how could he let go of Diao Chan after seeing her? Afterwards, Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo became sworn enemies, and Wang Yun and other loyal Han officials would reap the benefits.

  This plan would have worked even if he was in on it, if Autumn Water hadn't known history.

  "Brother, think about it, Wang Yun is from a noble family and values his reputation. Even if he has a daughter, you know as well as I do that those high-ranking officials in the imperial court are all very proud and consider us nothing but rough warriors. Would they ever marry their own daughters to people like us?"

  Bang! After hearing what Qiu Shui said, Lü Bu slammed his fist on the table, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes. Lü Bu was no fool, and he thought that Wang Yun was a member of the imperial family and a high-ranking official, so inviting him to dinner as a small general was already suspicious. Moreover, he wanted to marry his daughter to me, and after Qiu Shui's words, Lü Bu finally realized what was going on.

  But after Lv Bu's anger subsided, he looked at Qiu Shui's face which was sometimes clear and sometimes gloomy, as if wanting to say something but finding it hard to express.

  "Brother, there's something difficult to say, but I'll tell you anyway. Today, just the two of us, can't we trust each other?" Lü Bu heard Autumn Water's counter-question and gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and slowly told what happened.

  Pfft! When Autumn Water heard Lü Bu's words, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. It turned out that this scoundrel Lü Bu was still thinking about Wang Yun's daughter Diao Chan.

  However, through these few days of understanding, Qiu Shui knew that Lü Bu's personality was different from the one in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". He had some doubts and asked: "Brother, usually when Dong Gong rewards you with beautiful women, you give them to your subordinates. Why are you acting like this today? Is there something hidden?"

  Lü Bu was a romantic, but he wouldn't hesitate on such a crucial matter for a woman he had just met. Qiū Shuǐ couldn't understand this now.

  Lü Bu's face was slightly awkward, and he picked up the wine cup on the table to cover his embarrassment. After drinking a cup of wine, he said to Qiu Shui with some embarrassment: "Younger brother, I'll tell you about this matter, don't laugh at me."

  Qiu Shui heard Lü Bu's words and felt very curious in her heart, but on her face she still said seriously: "Brother, do you still trust my character?"

  Lü Bu waved his hand and then slowly told Qiū Shuǐ the whole story.