Chapter 268 Let the tiger return to the mountain
March fifteenth.

Ten days after the Battle of Mengjin Pass, Jin Mao encountered something that gave him a headache.

Huang Wan is here!

Jin Mao went to greet him personally, but did not receive a favorable response.

Huang Wan had a sour face, as if Jinmao owed him money.

"What is the purpose of the Sili Xiaowei's visit here?"

Jinmao has a bad temper too. He is willing to be treated coldly once, and it is enough. There won't be a second time.

He no longer gave Huang Wan face and went to sit at the top.

"The Emperor's edict!"

Huang Wan had anticipated Jin Mao's character and got straight to the point: "The Yangzhou governor lacks moral integrity..."

After hearing this, Jin Mao realized that the emperor wanted to dismiss him from his post!
Before Jin Mao could react, Huang Wan said, "Your Majesty has given your order!"

Huang Wan repeated Liu Xie's original words.

Jin Mao understood that the former was a forged edict by Dong Zhuo, and the latter was the intention of the young emperor Liu Xie.

But what does Huang Wan mean?
Why do we have to read out Dong Zhuo's edict first instead of directly stating the emperor's intention?

"Here comes with bad intentions!" Jin Mao thought.

"Somebody come!"

He could only pretend that he had not heard any of the edicts Huang Wan read out, and said, "Take the Si Li Xiao Wei down to rest."

No change is the best change. Let Dong Zhuo worry about these old guys.

Unexpectedly, Huang Wan refused and said, "No need!"

"I have something else to do, so I hope Yangzhou Mu will give me some convenience and let me go back to my hometown."

Huang Wan was from Jiangxia, Jingzhou, and when he returned to his hometown he would go to Jiangxia County.

Jin Mao felt that something was wrong, so he smiled and said, "No hurry, please go down and rest first."

After saying that, Jin Mao winked at his personal guards, who understood immediately and forced Huang Wan to go downstairs to rest.

"open!"

"I have legs and can walk!"

Huang Wan's attitude made Jin Mao feel that something was wrong. "Call the military advisor Jia Xu to see me."

Soon, Jia Xu arrived.

"Greetings, my lord!"

"Wenyou, please sit down." Jin Mao smiled and ordered someone to serve tea to Jia Xu, then asked, "Huang Wan wants to go back to her hometown. What do you think about this?"

Jia Xu first met the guards, and just as he picked up the tea bowl, he put it down again when he heard the question, "What do you want to see, lord?"

The longer Jin Mao spent with Jia Xu, the more he realized that this man was a treasure.

It’s not that Jia Xu is much smarter than Xun You, Xun Yu and others, but that Jin Mao can ask Jia Xu about anything.

The most amazing thing is that I gain something every time!
Jia Xu is like an encyclopedia without restrictions. No matter how dark the matter is, Jin Mao can get the answer from Jia Xu.

Unlike Xun Yu and Xun You, there are some things that cannot be asked.

Even Xi Zhicai was vague about some things and didn't dare to say them too clearly.

But Jia Xu was different. This old guy seemed to know where Jin Mao's bottom line was. Except for a few times when his answers touched the forbidden area when he first came, he never answered questions below Jin Mao's bottom line again.

Therefore, when Jia Xu asked back, Jin Mao understood.

There is definitely something wrong with this Huang Wan!
"What aspects does Wenyou think Huang Wan should look at?"

Jia Xu answered straightforwardly: "The person! The emperor! Dong Zhuo!"

The emperor and Dong Zhuo, Jin Mao felt that he understood what they meant, so he asked: "Huang Wan, what's his problem?"

Jia Xu pondered for a while and said, "This has to start with the emperor and Dong Zhuo."

Emperor? Dong Zhuo?
Jin Mao thought, isn’t it just a palace fight? What else could it be?
Jia Xu revealed a piece of information that Jin Mao didn't know: "Before I left Luoyang, I heard that Dong Zhuo intended to use the power of nearby princes to contain the lord's rear."

"But considering that we have not yet started a full-scale war with the lord, we will let this matter go."

"Now that the lord and Dong Zhuo have started an all-out war, and Dong Zhuo has forged an imperial edict, this shows that Dong Zhuo has run out of options and is going to make a final gamble."

"You're right!" Jin Mao suddenly jumped up and said, "Oh! In this case, Lu Zijing is in danger!"

Now there is no need to investigate whether the man in Yuzhou is Yuan Shu. Jin Mao can imagine that Dong Zhuo will send an alliance signal to those people.

There is no one who can be promoted to higher position for Liu Yan, and Liu Biao is definitely one of them!

Needless to say, it must be Yuan Shu!
Tao Qian and Zhang Miao are both possible.

Although Jin Mao could not think of Liu Yao, he knew without a doubt that Yangzhou would be the first to bear the brunt.

"I have to send someone to bring Lu Zijing back!"

Jia Xu spoke up to stop him and said, "My lord, don't be upset. Huang Wan is still in the camp. As long as we don't let him go, Lu Zijing will be safe."

"Wenyou is right." Jin Mao then sat down again and said, "Wenyou, continue."

Jia Xu said: "From this, we can see that Huang Wan must have some ulterior motive in hiding this from the Lord!"

Jin Mao nodded.

"My Lord, what was Huang Wan's attitude when he saw you?"

Jin Mao recalled: "Arrogant!"

Jia Xu nodded and said, "I guess Huang Wan also wants to use the power of the princes to suppress the lord!"

"Why?" Jin Mao frowned and said, "I'm about to attack Luoyang. Shouldn't he be on the same side as me?"

"Why did Huang Wan do this?"

Jia Xu lowered his head, wondering how to explain this.

Should I say it to your face? Think about it again, is this the case?
Then Jia Xu would no longer be called Jia Xu.

"I heard that Huang Wan is quite famous in Yuzhou. Maybe he still has ambitions to occupy Yuzhou and compete for the Central Plains."

Jia Xu could only force an explanation: "Perhaps Huang Wan wants to save the Han Dynasty by himself."

"No." Jin Mao said to justify himself: "If Huang Wan had that ambition, he would not have returned to the capital and been trapped because of an imperial edict."

Jia Xu praised: "My lord is wise!"

Seeing that Jia Xu had no intention of continuing to answer, Jin Mao shook his head and did not continue to ask questions.

"Somebody come!"

"Give good hospitality to the Inspector General Huang Wan."

Jin Mao whispered to the messenger, "Don't let him get away."

The messenger's face was filled with excitement. He had always heard from his predecessors how the lord had kept Military Advisor Xi and Military Advisor Xun. Today he would personally witness yet another important figure being forcibly kept.

After the messenger left, Jin Mao's cautious nature came out and he asked Jia Xu again, "What should we do if Huang Wan really spreads the forged edict?"

Always be prepared for the worst.

Jia Xu said without hesitation: "Withdraw the troops!"

He added: "Occupy Yizhou!"

Withdraw troops first, then occupy Yizhou?

Not bad, it can be considered as stopping the loss in time.

Then, the two discussed for a while.

"Report!"

"My lord, Commander Dian is back!"

Dian Wei is back?
Jin Mao immediately dropped what he was doing, looked at Jia Xu and said, "Wenhe, come with me to take a look?"

Jia Xu knew that Dian Wei had gone to capture Lu Bu, so he bowed and said, "It's a good opportunity to meet an old colleague."

"Haha!" Jin Mao laughed, "Wenhe is really good at talking."

"Go! Go quickly!"

When the two men came outside the tent, the royal guards had already prepared two top-quality war horses.

They chatted and laughed all the way to the camp gate.

Jinmao blocked the afternoon sun with his hands and looked intently. He saw a huge black army approaching step by step, stepping on the roaring dust.

Looking closely, five of the ten leading riders had particularly outstanding builds.

Zhang Fei, Dian Wei, Huang Zhong, and Guan Yu, these four people are indeed different from ordinary people, but who is the fifth one?
Jin Mao thought of a possibility: "Could it be that Lu Bu was captured alive?" After a little surprise, Jin Mao felt a headache again.

How to deal with Lu Bu?

Although the Lu Bu of this time and space did not stab the first deputy Ding Yuan, there is a saying that goes, human nature is hard to change.

Fang Tian painted a halberd, specifically to stab his adoptive father.

As long as there is a chance, Lu Bu will definitely not show mercy.

Therefore, Jin Mao hoped to bring back Lu Bu's body so that he could give Sun Ce an explanation and not have to worry about dealing with Lu Bu's affairs.

Soon, the army stopped five hundred steps away, and the leading ten riders left the main force and ran towards Jin Mao.

When they had walked fifty steps, the ten men stopped their horses again, and their faces could be clearly distinguished with the naked eye.

Jin Mao clearly saw that the tallest man and his horse wanted to rush forward, but were held back by two people beside them by their reins and could not move forward.

Then, Dian Wei pressed Lu Bu to within twenty steps and kicked him in the ankle.

"Kneel down!"

Dian Wei threatened Lu Bu again: "If you dare to make any small moves again, I will kill you!"

Lu Bu struggled reluctantly, then turned his head away and said nothing.

Dian Wei then took the other eight people ten steps forward, knelt on one knee, and said loudly: "Dian Wei greets the lord!"

"Zhang Fei greets the lord!"

"Huang Zhong..."

"... "

"Guan Yu greets the envoy!" Guan Yu did not kneel, but just saluted with his fists.

Jin Mao was overjoyed, and said with both hands: "No need to be polite! Hurry up and get up!"

He praised again: "You did a great job!"

Then, Jin Mao looked behind the nine people and said, "He is Lu Bu?"

"Not that great!"

"My lord, you are right!" Dian Wei grinned like a lotus: "This Lu Bu is really not that good, but he is a first-rate person at escaping!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the generals burst into laughter.

However, an unconvinced voice came: "The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit!"

"If you have the ability, let go and fight one-on-one for three hundred rounds!"

"Do you dare?"

Jin Mao looked at Lu Bu and didn't know what to say. If a duel was useful, what was the point of war?
Why not just hold a martial arts tournament and whoever is the most powerful will become the emperor? Why are there so many troubles?

"Why not?" Zhang Fei could not bear the provocation and came to Jin Mao, shouting, "My lord! Let me kill this fellow!"

Jin Mao waved his hand and said, "Forget about Yide. It's a waste of food if such a person stays in the world."

"Behead him."

Unexpectedly, the first person to get anxious was not Zhang Fei, but Dian Wei!

"My Lord! How do I calculate my military merits?"

According to the new system, if a captured enemy general surrenders, a portion of the merits gained in the future can be shared with the captor.

Zhang Fei and Guan Yu have the most say in how strong Lu Bu is. If such a capable person is killed, where can Dian Wei make up for his military merits?
"No problem." Jin Mao said generously, "I'll give you double the military merit this time!"

Dian Wei then agreed with a painful look on his face: "Yes."

Double is still a lot worse, but it's better than nothing.

When Lu Bu saw Dian Wei coming towards him with a ring-handled sword, he immediately panicked.

The script is wrong!
This was the demeanor he had when facing Dong Zhuo at the beginning. In the end, Dong Zhuo appreciated his martial arts, recruited him under his command, and promoted him to the rank of Cavalry Commander.

Why is Jinmao different?
Isn’t it said that the Yangzhou Mu loves talents as if they were his life?

Then why did he kill this super fighter without even asking any questions?

"Wait a minute!"

In order to save his life, Lu Bu quickly spoke out to stop him, saying: "If you don't give up, I am willing to..."

"Shut up!" Jin Mao interrupted Lu Bu's spell in time.

In terms of age, Lu Bu is more than ten years older than him and could be his father.

In terms of the degree of danger, being Lu Bu's adoptive father is definitely a high-risk job, and Jin Mao doesn't want to be unlucky.

Just when Jin Mao made up his mind to kill Lu Bu, something strange happened.

There was a riot in the rear camp, and although it was quickly quelled, Jin Mao did not dare to take it lightly.

"Somebody come!"

"Check what happened?"

Soon, there will be rewards.

"My lord, the lieutenant Huang Wan escaped from the camp during the chaos. Should we send someone to pursue him?"

Huang Wan escaped?

This is a big deal!
After thinking about it, Jin Mao found something wrong.

He remembered that he had clearly instructed his royal guards to "look after" Huang Wan, so how could he let him escape?
"Keep tracking!"

"I want to know who is involved in this!"

There must be something fishy about this matter. Maybe it was the work of an insider.

Jin Mao looked at Jia Xu: "Wenhe?"

The latter nodded, pointed at Lu Bu and said: "My lord, I have a plan that can make Dong Zhuo care about his head but not his buttocks."

Jin Mao glanced at Lu Bu and couldn't help but think of a beautiful woman.

Diao Chan!

He couldn't help but wonder: "Could it be that Jia Xu also knew that Lu Bu would stab his adoptive father Dong Zhuo to death?"

impossible!
If Jia Xu was so powerful, what would be the point of Zhuge Liang?

Jin Mao walked a few steps to the side, and Jia Xu followed him to a secluded place and whispered in his ear, "Just do this and that, this and that."

Jin Mao was in awe, a poisonous scholar is a poisonous scholar!
However, Jin Mao looked at the Red Hare in the distance and said, "I want to keep the warhorse."

Jia Xu pondered for a moment and said regretfully: "Then this plan will not work."

"If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work." Jin Mao said indifferently: "They are all going to die anyway. It's no big deal if the waste can't be used."

"Reuse waste?" Jia Xu came up with another plan when his first plan failed: "Killing the prisoners is not a good idea, why should my lord dirty his hands?"

"Why not let Dong Zhuo do it?"

"Oh?" Jin Mao asked with great interest, "How can I do it for you?"

Jia Xu whispered, "My lord, please leave the horses behind and only let Lü Bu and his men return to Luoyang."

"Dong Zhuo is suspicious. What do you think he would think?"

Jin Mao thought about it and exclaimed: "It's high!"

"Dong Zhuo will definitely think that Lu Bu has surrendered to me and is returning to Luoyang as a spy this time!"

"This way, I don't have to dirty my hands, and I can kill Lu Bu at the same time. It's the best of both worlds!"

Unexpectedly, Jia Xu shook his head and said, "Dong Zhuo is not a narrow-minded person. Even if he is suspicious, he will not kill Lu Bu in person."

Jin Mao wondered, "How will Lu Bu die?"

Jia Xu said: "The court was in chaos, and Dong Zhuo was able to cover the sky with one hand, relying only on the soldiers' dedication."

"Once the soldiers become disloyal, Dong Zhuo will be nothing but a pile of dry bones in a grave, ready to die at any time!"

"And Lu Bu is the key!"

Jia Xu explained: "Whether Dong Zhuo pardons Lü Bu or continues to use him, Lü Bu will never be able to serve him wholeheartedly."

"Because even we know that this time Lu Bu is the one being pushed out to die."

"Then someone in the court will naturally wake up Lu Bu."

Jin Mao looked at Jia Xu and was glad that he was on his side.

(End of this chapter)