I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 135 Liu Bei and Lü Bu
Lu Su was sent by Liu Miao to various feudal lords. After first paying a visit to Yuan Shu, he headed north to Xuzhou.

In addition to the armored envoys brought from Jiangdong, Lu Su was accompanied by a team from Huainan.

"Zijing, on our journey to Xuzhou, it would be right for the two of us to jointly advise Liu Bei!"

The person traveling with Lu Su was Han Yin.

Han Yin was ordered by Yuan Shu to go to Xuzhou again, and he happened to travel with Lu Su.

Lu Su smiled gently, responded to Han Yin, and continued on his way.

The two traveled from Guangling to Xiapi.

Xiapi, as the seat of Xuzhou Prefecture, was located south of the Si River. The Yi River and the Wu River flowed northward around the city and converged with the Si River, giving it the advantage of water transport, irrigation, fishing, and hunting, making it a prosperous place.

Liu Bei sent his adjutant Mi Zhu to entertain the two men. Mi Zhu was dignified, generous, kind, and refined, and his words were impeccable, which greatly pleased Lu Su and Han Yin.

At the banquet that day, Liu Bei, along with renowned scholars such as Chen Qun and Chen Deng, hosted Han Yin and Lu Su. During the banquet, Han Yin praised Yuan Shu's prestige and power, while Lu Su simply smiled and echoed his sentiments from the side.

When night fell, Lu Su did not turn off the lights to rest, but instead picked up a scroll of bamboo slips to read, as if he were waiting for someone.

At midnight, sure enough, there was a soft knock on the door, and a voice called out from outside, "Excuse me, is Registrar Lu resting yet?"

Lu Su then put down his book and went to open the door. The person in front of him was Chen Deng, the Agricultural Commandant he had seen at the banquet earlier.

Chen Deng was over eight feet tall, with a face like cast bronze, eyebrows like unsheathed double blades, and wore a scholar's cap with black and red tassels hanging on both sides. When he walked, his wide sleeves fluttered in the wind. His appearance was also somewhat similar to Chen Yu.

Lu Su asked knowingly, "Why has the Commandant come to visit in the middle of the night?"

Chen Deng retorted, "Why is the registrar waiting in the middle of the night?"

The two looked at each other for a while, then suddenly burst into laughter. Lu Su also invited Chen Deng to the couch to discuss important matters with him.

"At the banquet just now, when Han Yin praised Yuan Shu, Zijing did not express his agreement, which clearly shows that he had other thoughts in mind. I wonder if I am right?"

Lu Su then countered, "Even though Han Yin praised Yuan Shu like that, Liu Xuzhou never listened to Yuan Shu's wishes. Clearly, he had his own thoughts. Am I right?"

Neither of them wanted to reveal a weakness prematurely, so Chen Deng had no choice but to back down first.

“Yuan Gonglu is arrogant and extravagant; he is not the kind of person to govern a chaotic world. Would Liu Yangzhou willingly serve such a person?”

Lu Su neither agreed nor disagreed, but corrected Chen Deng's statement: "Liu Yangzhou has never served Yuan Shu. He has always been devoted to the people and only wanted to support the Han Dynasty and serve the court."

Chen Deng laughed and said, "That's true! If Liu Yangzhou were truly willing to serve Yuan Shu, why would he have led nearly 100,000 households from Huainan to Jiangdong?"

That's all I have to say.

Lu Su took a letter out of his sleeve and handed it to Chen Deng.

"This is a letter from Liu Yangzhou to Liu Xuzhou. Once Liu Xuzhou sees this letter, he will surely understand my lord's intentions."

"Five thousand gold pieces will be given to Liu Xuzhou, entirely for his use, to show my lord's sincerity."

Chen Deng solemnly accepted the letter: "I will certainly deliver it to Lord Xuande."

At the same time, Chen Deng also asked Lu Su: "Chen Gongwei is my cousin. I have heard that Liu Yangzhou risked his life to save me. Please tell Liu Yangzhou that if there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely repay him handsomely!"

"nature!"

Chen Deng quietly closed the door and left, the process being extremely subtle and cautious, clearly not wanting Han Yin to know that he had been to Lu Su's place.

Quietly arriving at the backyard, the residence, which should have been quiet after resting, was now brightly lit.

Chen Deng entered the room and bowed to the person above him: "Greetings, my lord. Your subject has already met with Lu Su."

The man at the head of the table was tall and strong, with a clean face and no beard (Note 1), and rough hands. He was none other than Liu Bei, who had succeeded as governor of Xuzhou.

Sitting on either side of Liu Bei were two brothers, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang. There was also a man, Jian Yong, who exuded a chill, clearly having just returned from outside, like Chen Deng.

Upon seeing Chen Deng, Jian Yong immediately waved his hand: "It seems that Yuanlong and Lu Zijing get along quite well! Unlike me, I just had a few words with Han Yin and then I didn't want to talk to him anymore."

Chen Deng sat down next to Jian Yong: "Lu Zijing is upright and dignified, not fond of frivolous pursuits, frugal both inside and out, does not indulge in worldly pleasures, is always reading, is good at conversation, can compose prose, has a broad and far-sighted mind, and has extraordinary insight."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room looked at Chen Deng in surprise.

Chen Deng was known for his eccentric and unruly nature, and few people could earn such high praise from him!
Previously, a famous scholar named Xu Si came to visit Chen Deng, but Chen Deng showed no courtesy to the guest and ignored him for a long time, instead lying down on the large bed, clearly not taking Xu Si seriously.

Xu Si of Nanjun is known as a national hero! Chen Deng disdains him, yet he has such confidence when facing Lu Su, which clearly shows that Lu Su is no ordinary person!
Upon hearing this, Jian Yong was filled with envy: "If only I had gone to see Lu Zijing instead."

"Han Yin's words are all about self-interest, whether it's coercion or enticement, he has no merit whatsoever. If I had to be polite to him, I wouldn't want to say a single word to him."

Jian Yong told Liu Bei directly, "Xuande, Han Yin only said that you should obey Yuan Shu and jointly attack Cao Cao to help him take back Yanzhou."

It was the same old story, and after hearing it, everyone lost interest and turned to look at Chen Deng. Chen Deng then took out Liu Miao's letter and handed it over.

"Instead of having Lu Zijing speak, it would be better to have Liu Zhongshan speak to our lord himself."

After Liu Bei took the letter and read it, he suddenly burst into tears!
"Knowing that there are people like Zhongshan in the world, why should I, Liu Bei, feel lonely?"

Neither side understood, but Liu Bei kept the letter in his bosom: "Such heartfelt words are not something that can be easily shown to others."

“Zhongshan has the ambition to restore the Han Dynasty, while Yuan Shu only has the ambition to compete with Cao Cao for supremacy. I don’t need to say more about who to choose.”

The following day, Liu Bei continued to warmly entertain Han Yin and Lu Su. During the visit, Liu Bei praised their talents and wanted them to stay in Xuzhou, but they both declined.

Afterwards, Han Yin deliberately teased Lu Su: "Just now, Liu Bei's eyes were on you the whole time. Why didn't you stay in Xuzhou to serve Liu Bei? Did you think Liu Bei was inferior to Zhongshan?"

"Of course not."

"Where is it inferior?"

Lu Su continued to smile without saying a word.

The shortcoming, of course, was that Liu Bei was not ruthless enough.

If it had been Liu Miao, he would most likely have already ordered Han Yin to be captured, then sent Han Yin's head to Yuan Shu, forcing Liu Miao to go to war with Yuan Shu, and then he would have waited for an opportunity to act in Xuzhou.

But Liu Bei continued to entertain Han Yin as usual. Whether it was because he didn't want to start a war with Yuan Shu now or because he didn't want to frame Liu Miao... In any case, with such a mindset, Lu Su really couldn't see any hope that Liu Bei could achieve great things.

Unless Liu Bei is willing to do something against his conscience, given his personality, he is unlikely to become a hegemon.

However, Lu Su quickly understood.

If Liu Bei were truly that kind of person, he wouldn't dare to make an alliance with Liu Bei on Liu Miao's behalf.

With a mindset like Liu Bei's, he was clearly the perfect ally!
Han Yin and Lu Su, carrying Liu Bei's reply to Yuan Shu and Liu Miao, rushed to Xiaopei to meet that person.

Lu Bu, the Marquis of Wen!
Lu Su was quite shocked when he saw Lü Bu, not knowing that there was such a magnificent figure in the world!
Zhou Tai and Chen Wu, who often followed Liu Miao, were already extremely robust and could be considered heroes! But in front of Lü Bu, they were somewhat inferior.

Lu Bu was nine feet tall with a waist ten spans in circumference. He was as majestic as a mountain and as upright as a pine tree. His arms were bulging with muscles like cast iron. He moved with the force of a tiger, inspiring awe!

Upon seeing Lü Bu's fierce and general-like demeanor, Lu Su lost his composure and exclaimed in admiration, "Even if Xiang Yu were reborn, he would probably be no different from Marquis Wen."

Although Lu Bu was pleased with Lu Su's praise, he arrogantly said, "Xiang Yu is called a hegemon, but in reality he is a stray dog. I disdain to associate with him!"

Lu Su: ...

Unlike with Liu Bei, Lu Su did not discuss anything else, but simply carried out his mission as an envoy, and openly presented Lü Bu with a thousand gold pieces in front of Han Yin.

Han Yin, also using this opportunity to flatter, said: "Lord Wen has valiant strength, and General Hou has a formidable reputation. If they join forces, what is there to fear from Cao Cao?"

Lu Bu was already excited after seeing the thousand gold pieces, and when he heard that he was to deal with Cao Cao, he immediately agreed: "The traitor Cao is immoral, so we should attack him!"

Afterwards, Han Yin also thanked Lu Su.

"When General Hou sent me as an envoy, he did not give me any money or goods. Today, thanks to Zijing's thousand gold pieces, otherwise I'm afraid Lü Bu would not have agreed so easily."

Lu Su: "Liu Yangzhou and General Hou are relatives, why speak of such a thing as two separate families?"

Han Yin was deeply moved once again, realizing that he had not misjudged Liu Miao's loyalty to Yuan Shu after all!
Han Yin then asked Lu Su, "Zijing, do you think that with Lü Bu's assistance, General Hou will be able to defeat Cao Cao?"

Lu Su, of course, already had the answer.

Although Lü Bu possessed the courage of a fierce tiger, he lacked strategic brilliance and was solely driven by self-interest.

The alliance between Yuan Shu and Lü Bu merely meant gaining another skilled general.

When it comes to being good at fighting, Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui, and Ji Ling under Yuan Shu were all generals capable of commanding tens of thousands of troops.

Is what Yuan Shu lacks now really a fierce and capable general?
If someone can't even see their own weaknesses and yet tries to win over allies at will, they'll probably fail no matter how hard they try.

However, Lu Su did not reveal his true thoughts, but respectfully said, "Lord Wen has the makings of a great general! His cavalry are brave and skilled in battle. The reason they were defeated by Cao Cao was simply because, like General Hou, they were careless for a moment. As long as General Hou and Lord Wen join forces, they will surely be invincible and there will be no more obstacles in the world!"

Han Yin was naturally pleased to hear this and wanted to take Lu Su back to Huainan to see Yuan Shu, but Lu Su refused.

"Liu Yangzhou has always been devoted to the emperor, and he is determined to go to the north this time no matter what."

When Han Yin heard that Liu Miao had actually asked Lu Su to go to the emperor's court, he was puzzled but couldn't think of a reason to stop him. He could only tell Lu Su to be careful.

After bidding farewell to Han Yin, Lu Su set off from Xiaopei, but instead of heading east, he crossed the river at Zhencheng and headed north.

After a month of traveling and stopping, Lu Su finally arrived at Ye City, the heartland of the most powerful state in the land!
　From *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, Volume 42, *Book of Shu*, Chapter 12, *Biographies of Du, Zhou, Du, Xu, Meng, Lai, Yin, Li, Qiao, and Xi*: Initially, when Liu Bei met Liu Zhang at Fu, Yu was serving as Zhang's aide and was sitting with him. This man had a thick beard, and Liu Bei mocked him, saying, "When I lived in Zhuo County, there were many people with the surname Mao. East, west, south, and north were all Mao people. The magistrate of Zhuo said, 'Do all the Mao people live around Zhuo?'" Yu immediately replied, "There was once a man who served as the magistrate of Lu in Shangdang, and was later promoted to magistrate of Zhuo. When the magistrate of Zhuo resigned and returned home, people wrote to him, but if they wanted to write 'Lu,' they couldn't write 'Zhuo,' so they wrote 'Lord of Lu-Zhuo.'" Liu Bei had no beard, so Yu used this analogy to tease him.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)