Chapter 123 The Stupid Fish Bit the Hook

Although She Yuan was young, he became famous at a young age just like his brother She Jian. His wisdom and character were impeccable. Therefore, he was also favored by Huangfu Song, who even betrothed his daughter to him and accepted him as his son-in-law.

She Yuan in the history of the Three Kingdoms was not a simple figure. After the death of Huangfu Song, he immediately fled south with his family. After arriving in Yizhou, he formally pledged allegiance to Shu Han. His status and position in Liu Bei's camp was even more important.

When the ministers advised Liu Bei to advance to the position of King of Hanzhong, She Yuan's name was ranked fourth, only after Ma Chao, Xu Jing and Pang Xi, and even before Zhuge Liang, which shows how important he was in Liu Bei's heart.

After listening to Huangfu Song's story, Sheyuan pondered for a moment before calmly analyzing the situation for Huangfu Song: "The general guarding Tongguan now is Lu Bu, the most powerful general under Qi Hou Wang Yuanxu. Although he is as brave as a tiger, he is a man without strategy. Father-in-law can lead a large force to force him to hand over his military power. If Lu Bu is willing to surrender, Qi Hou must be really injured. If Lu Bu refuses sternly, then this matter must be a trick."

Huangfu Song thought this made sense, so he left his son Huangfu Jianshou with 10,000 soldiers to guard Chang'an, while he himself led an army of 20,000 and marched straight to Tongguan.

Twenty thousand troops set out from Chang'an and marched quickly. In just three days, they arrived at Tongguan and laid siege to the city.

The army numbered over ten thousand and was boundless. Huangfu Song was a famous general who had suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion and was famous for his experience in hundreds of battles. The troops he led were the elite troops of Xiliang who had fought against the Qiang people for many years. They were well-equipped, strictly disciplined, and had extraordinary combat effectiveness.

The guarding general Wang Fang saw the rising momentum from afar and was shocked. He knew how powerful Huangfu Song was, so he immediately reported the news to Lu Bu.

Lü Bu was arrogant and proud. Wang Jing had entrusted Tongguan to him to guard. Now someone dared to provoke him. He flew into a rage: "What did you say? Huangfu Song is leading his troops to attack us? Is he planning to rebel?"

Not long after, the gate of Tongguan opened slightly, and more than 20 riders rushed out. It was Lu Bu leading Cheng Lian, Wei Yue and other fierce generals, who rushed straight to Huangfu Song's formation.

With galloping horses and fierce warriors holding halberds, Lü Bu faced an army of 20,000 but was not afraid at all. Instead, he came to the front of the two armies with a mighty and domineering attitude and shouted angrily: "Huangfu Yizhen, you are leading a large army here, are you planning to rebel?"

Lu Bu, with his nine-foot tall body, riding on his Red Hare and holding a Fang Tian Huaji in his hand, looks truly dignified and awe-inspiring.

With the help of the Immortal Yuan Gong, the essence and blood in his body condensed into surging energy. Every move of his hands and feet had a tremendous force. The interaction of Qi and the evil spirits even caused strange changes in the celestial phenomena.

His angry roar brought dark clouds over the sky, and was echoed by thunder.

Huangfu Song, who was far away in Chang'an, had also heard of Lü Bu's reputation. Seeing how brave he was, he couldn't help but admire him: "As expected, he is Lü Bu among men and Red Hare among horses. He is truly an unparalleled warrior. It's a pity that I can't use him."

Huangfu Song sighed inwardly, and then he also led a team of personal soldiers to walk towards Lu Bu: "Wen Hou, this general is here today on the order of the emperor to take over Tongguan. Now I just want to ask you one question, do you want to hand over the military power or not?"

Hearing this, Lu Bu laughed angrily, pointed his halberd at Huangfu Song, and shouted murderously: "You want my military power? Ask the Fang Tian Hua Ji in my hand first!"

"Be bold!"

"Protect the general!"

The personal guards around Huangfu Song drew their swords and glared at Lu Bu.

"Hahaha, Huangfu Yizhen, if you want to fight, then fight. I'm not afraid of you!"

Lu Bu held the halberd in one hand and gripped the reins tightly at the same time. His body was filled with strong energy and murderous aura, and his pair of tiger eyes were gleaming with light. It was obvious that he was ready to fight at any time.

Now the two sides were only more than twenty feet apart. Once the battle started, Lu Bu planned to charge into the battle alone with his extremely strong force, kill Huangfu Song first, and then withdraw.

But Huangfu Song did not take action. Instead, he took advantage of the connected aura of the soldiers in the army formation to intimidate Lu Bu. He led his troops to retreat slowly and set up camp thirty miles away. He neither withdrew his troops nor attacked, but just confronted the Tongguan defenders from a distance.

The 20,000-strong army stationed outside the Great Wall was like a thorn in Lu Bu's throat, making him unable to sleep or eat. He wanted to send troops to drive them away, but he was afraid that this was Huangfu Song's strategy to lure the enemy. If he didn't take action, he was afraid that Huangfu Song would lead his troops to attack the city.

Although Lu Bu was proud of his bravery, Huangfu Song was also a famous general of the imperial dynasty who had fought with Zhang Jue with real swords and guns. He was a top military strategist and his military strategy was even better than Li Jue.

Therefore, after Lu Bu and Huangfu Song met, they did not dare to go out of the city to fight, but just stayed inside the pass and sent someone to report to Wang Jing.

And thirty miles away was the central army tent.

Huangfu Song called for the archer and asked him, "Wenxiong, have you figured out anything?"

Sheyuan recalled what happened just now and responded calmly: "Lü Bu's eyes are firm and his attitude is arrogant. There is no panic or anxiety on his face. It is conceivable that Wang Jing's injury must be a fraud. In my opinion, this move is nothing more than trying to lure the snake out of the hole and fish with a straight hook. It depends on which fish in Luoyang City will bite the hook."

After analyzing the situation, Sheyuan found it hard to understand Wang Jing's behavior: "The commander-in-chief has left the camp, leaving the rear empty. Is Qi Hou really not afraid of being taken advantage of and causing the situation to get out of control? A good rider falls from his horse, and a good swimmer drowns in the water. Qi Hou is being too confident."

Huangfu Song sighed: "It is difficult to judge Wang Jing by common sense. I heard that he inherited the Overlord's legacy. I am afraid that he is a proud and arrogant Xiang Yu."

Now that he had figured out that Wang Jing was playing a tactical fraud, Huangfu Song had an idea in mind: "If Lu Bu refuses to surrender after three days, I will have to withdraw my troops. I also don't plan to continue to intervene in the power struggle in the capital."

Although he identified more with Yuan Wei and Yang Biao, Huangfu Song did not want to directly conflict with Wang Jing, thus completely triggering a civil war in the dynasty.

If Wang Jing was really seriously injured and there was an opportunity to gain advantage, Huangfu Song would not mind incorporating the Northern Army.

But now that I know it is a trap, I won't jump into it foolishly.

Huangfu Song was, after all, a pure soldier. All he sought was to defend his country and leave his name in history. Compared with the struggles in the court of Luoyang, he would rather focus on suppressing the Qiang rebellion than get involved in the political infighting.

Upon hearing this, She Yuan immediately understood Huangfu Song's intention. He knew that he wanted to be a pure warrior and did not want to get too close to Yuan Wei and others.

Huangfu Song holds a large number of troops but has no ambition, and is dedicated to serving the public without seeking personal gain. His character is truly impeccable.

But in Sheyuan's opinion, his father-in-law thought things were too simple, and the result might not be what he wanted.

Unfortunately, She Yuan knew his father-in-law Huangfu Song very well, and knew that even if he tried to persuade him, it would be of no use in the end, so he said nothing and just looked silently in the direction of Tongguan.

At this time, inside Hangu Pass, Wang Jing was accompanying Dong Bai to enjoy the flowers and go for an outing. Suddenly, a pigeon fell down and was caught by a secret guard who was accompanying him.

After opening the secret letter, he quickly deciphered the secret code on it, and then his face changed. He reported to Wang Jing: "General, Tongguan is in danger!"

"what happened?"

This matter was really beyond Wang Jing's expectations, so he frowned and hurried back to discuss the matter with Li Ru and Jia Xu.

And how shrewd a person is Jia Xu?

Therefore, after he learned the news, he only pondered it for a moment and realized Huangfu Song's intention: "Huangfu Yizhen's move is probably intended to test him."

"Testing what?"

"Test whether your injury is real or fake, my lord."

Wang Jing was a little curious about this: "Oh, Wenyou, do you think the Left General Huangfu Song can see something?"

Li Ru stroked his chin and sighed, "Huangfu Yizhen must have someone who is good at making plans around him, but Wenhou Lu Bu is not a person who can hide his thoughts. In fact, I am not that worried about Huangfu Yizhen. What I am really worried about is whether there are smart people in Luoyang City who can see through the lord's plan."

"It seems that the only thing we can do now is to immediately order the secret guards to block the news and cut off the intelligence exchanges between the two places. I hope it is not too late."

Wang Jing was helpless. He really couldn't lead Lu Bu, such a bad teammate.

Three days later, Lu Bu held his ground and refused to come out.

Huangfu Song finally couldn't bear the pressure anymore and led his troops to retreat slowly.

Now that the Qiang rebellion in Xiliang has not been quelled, Chang'an is facing threats from Han Sui, Ma Teng and others at any time. Huangfu Song sees that things are hopeless and immediately chooses to withdraw without any reluctance.

Inside Hangu Pass, Wang Jing was waiting for news, and then this military intelligence was delivered to him immediately. "General, the siege of Tongguan has been lifted."

Wang Jing soon learned the news of Huangfu Song's retreat through pigeons, and could not help but sigh: "Huangfu Yi is really an expert in the use of troops. His retreat was so clean and efficient that even if our army wanted to counterattack, it would not be able to dispatch troops in time."

Jia Xu secretly felt it was a pity: "If Huangfu Yizhen doesn't leave, the lord can lead the troops to launch a surprise attack. With the lord and Wenhou's bravery, there should be a 70% chance of winning the battle to kill Huangfu Yizhen. Then, we can take advantage of the situation to contact the Xiliang nobles and attack Chang'an together."

Jia Xu, who had personally seen Wang Jing fight on the battlefield, knew Wang Jing's abilities very well. With the assistance of Lu Bu, even if Huangfu Song was protected by a large army, he had a good chance of winning.

However, man proposes, God disposes. Now that Huangfu Song was on his way, he had laid ambushes along the way to cover his retreat. Under layers of obstruction, the advantage of the 20,000-strong army was brought to the extreme. Even if Wang Jing led his troops to catch up, it would be in vain.

On the contrary, Huangfu Song quickly returned to defend the city, and could rely on the strong city of Chang'an to wait for the Northern Army to attack.

With Huangfu Song's ability, he is as solid as a rock in defending the city. With the help of the city defense formation of the Western Capital Chang'an, the defense is so solid that it is difficult to break through.

Wang Jing is now out of reach of Chang'an, so he is not in a hurry and turns his attention back to Luoyang.

Luoyang, Xiyuan.

Dong Cheng led two thousand imperial guards out of the city and charged forward in a mighty force.

"He who comes is stopped!"

Shi A brought out his secret guards to stop them.

"How dare you! I came here on the orders of His Majesty, and you dared to stop me! Do you dare to rebel under the Emperor's feet?"

Dong Cheng, holding the imperial arrow in his hand, was extremely arrogant and was determined to take back the imperial palace of Xiyuan, which was built by Emperor Ling, from Wang Jing.

But Shi A didn't care about your imperial order, he still stood in front of Dong Cheng, with a slight sneer on his face and a look of disdain: "My uncle, please go back, don't make things difficult for me."

"Shi, do you really dare to disobey my order?"

Dong Cheng was angry. Ever since Liu Xie recognized him as his relative and gave him the status of the emperor's uncle, he was flattered and courted wherever he went.
But now, a mere Inspector of the Imperial Guards dares to ignore him, a royal relative, how unreasonable!
However, facing the accusation of "disobeying the emperor's order", Shi A's smile became even more contemptuous. Since he followed Wang Jing, his vision and pattern have been much higher. In addition, as the Sili Xiaowei, he has obtained a lot of black materials on dignitaries. Therefore, when looking at the so-called foreign relatives and dignitaries like Dong Cheng, he does not have much awe in his heart, only contempt: "Why not?"

This rhetorical question revealed his inner contempt for imperial power.

Since Dong Zhuo deposed and enthroned the emperor, the sanctity of the imperial power of the Eastern Han Dynasty was completely shattered. Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu had placed his hopes on prophecies and Confucian classics to solve the legitimacy of the Eastern Han regime. The ideological seal of "the king's power is granted by heaven" that he had created was once again in jeopardy after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

In the past, rebellion was tantamount to defying heaven, so the people were afraid and worked hard like slaves.

However, the theological attributes of such imperial power were obviously greater than its political attributes. So when Zhang Jue, one of the five earth symbols of Xuanmen, raised the slogan "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established", it immediately received responses from millions of refugees, who launched the massive Yellow Turban Rebellion, which almost cut off the dragon vein of the Yanhan Dynasty.

Now, after experiencing the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, the emperor was arbitrarily deposed and enthroned, and the empress dowager and the queen mother died unclearly one after another. How many people in Luoyang today would really take a young emperor seriously?

Liu Xie, who is only nine years old this year, has neither the prestige nor the strength to intimidate the civil and military officials in the court. Shi A is just a mere Inspector of the Imperial Guards, but he dares not take Dong Cheng and even Emperor Liu Xie seriously.

One can imagine how the other ministers felt about the little emperor sitting on the dragon throne.

Seeing that Shi A dared to be so arrogant, Dong Cheng was so angry that he was shaking all over. Wang Jing is now seriously injured and it is unclear how many days he can live. How dare you, Shi A, disobey orders?

Dong Cheng immediately gave the order: "Come here, capture this traitor!"

As soon as the order was issued, a man beside Dong Cheng drew his sword and rushed towards Shi A as if walking on the wind. "I have heard that Captain Shi is an excellent swordsman. I, Wang Zheng, am here to meet you!"

The man is like the wind, and the sword is also like the wind. Moreover, the sword moves in an unconventional way. Every move is extremely risky and a fatal killing move!
The sword light turned into an arc-shaped moonlight, avoiding the real and attacking the virtual, and strangely turned in mid-air and was directed towards Shi A.

"Look at the sword!"

Wang Zheng shouted loudly, and the tip of the sword was already close to his eyes.

"The sword takes an unconventional approach, and is it as straight as you wish?"

Shi A's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he let out a cry of surprise. At the same time, he stepped on the Flying Star and moved as fast as lightning, narrowly avoiding the opponent's fatal sword that was stabbing at his forehead.

Ordinary people's swordsmen usually stab straight, but Wang Zheng's swordsmanship is extremely tricky. Although his speed is not very fast, his swordsmen are often curved and straight, and often attack from blind spots in vision, making it difficult to defend against.

In just a few breaths, the two sides had exchanged more than ten swords. Shi A had already figured out Wang Zheng's sword moves: "The Moon-carving Sword Technique, the assassination sword technique of the hidden school of military strategists?"

"The Cloud Sea Wandering Dragon is indeed worthy of its reputation."

Wang Zheng continued to attack with his sword while talking and laughing.
However, facing the assassin's sword that moved left and right and appeared and disappeared, Shi A blocked it calmly and easily. It was obvious that although he was busy training secret guards in recent times, his swordsmanship had not fallen behind.

In fact, because Wang Jing has enough resources, his cultivation has improved a lot compared to before.

Dang~
The swords clashed, sparks flew in the air, and Wang Zheng's sword was forcibly deflected, causing his center of gravity to become unstable.

In terms of swordsmanship, Shi A is better. Both of them use swordsmanship in a light and swift style. Whoever is stronger can immediately gain absolute suppression.

The swords crossed each other, and after only six moves, Wang Zheng was defeated. The sword cut his throat, but he was very agile and took a half step back in time to avoid being beheaded.

"Excellent swordsmanship, worthy of being the first disciple of the Imperial Master."

Wang Zheng touched the sword mark on his neck that was as thin as a hair, and his fingertips were immediately stained bright red with blood.

Although he won, Shi A was not happy at all: "Your internal organs were injured, and the injury was serious. Therefore, among the four unique styles of the Moon-Clawing Sword Technique, you only used the Sword Moving Sideways and Curved and Straight as You Want, but failed to show the swift sword speed. It seems that the person who assassinated Mr. Cai not long ago was you."

"Maybe I'm just not very skilled?"

Wang Zheng did not admit it.

But Shi A had already identified him, so his eyes suddenly became sharp, holding the sword in his hand, and his words were as sharp as a knife: "Where is your famous sword Han Guang? If you don't take it out, you will die by my sword today."

Wang Zheng retreated behind Dong Cheng with the sword in hand. Then a sound of sword chiming came from behind Shi A, causing him to tremble all over: "When!"

He was unaware that someone was behind him. The person must be a top assassin!
Zheng~
Shi A turned around and swung his sword to block. The swords crossed, sparks flew, and when their eyes met, the air seemed to become scorching. In this small place, life and death were only a matter of a moment.

The opponent's sword hummed and tinkled, like a spring in a mountain stream, cold and clear, or like a frosty breeze in the cold winter, chilling to the bone.

When the murderous intent is restrained, it is hidden under the nine earths, making it difficult for people to detect.

After the killing sword was unsheathed, it moved above the nine heavens, making it difficult for anyone to stop it.

Shi A intuitively felt that the swordsmanship of the man in front of him was extraordinary and pure to the extreme. Shi A was suddenly attacked and was now at a disadvantage, being beaten left and right.

Wang Zheng suggested to Dong Cheng: "Uncle, Han Long's swordsmanship is superb and can hold back Shi A. Please lead your troops to the West Garden. Once everything is settled, the overall situation will fall into your hands."

"Haha, that's exactly what I want!"

Dong Cheng laughed when he heard this. Wang Zheng and Han Long were both top masters recommended to him by Yuan Shao. Both of them came from the hidden sect of military strategists and were proficient in assassination and swordsmanship.

(End of this chapter)