Patricide

In the year 189, outside the city of Luoyang, in the grand tent of Ding Yuan.

Seeing Lü Bu enter, Ding Yuan, who was reviewing documents, put down his brush and asked curiously, "My son, coming here in the dead of night, what is the purpose?"

Lü Bu shouted sternly, "I am here to take your head!"

Shocked and furious, Ding Yuan demanded, "Have I ever treated you poorly in the past?"

Lü Bu let out a cold snort, "You always treated me as a mere Chief Registrar."

Ding Yuan gave a bitter smile. "My son, do you know what a Chief Registrar's role entails?"

Lü Bu hesitated and said, "This... I do not know."

Ding Yuan sighed. "The Chief Registrar is the post entrusted with the vital secrets of the entire army."

Lü Bu argued sophistically, "You—you are conspiring with the Yuan family to usurp the throne!"

The moment he stepped into the tent, he had already cut off all paths of retreat.

Ding Yuan took a deep breath. "When one wants to condemn someone, pretexts are never lacking."

Lü Bu said with a heavy heart, "To ensure the peace of the Bingzhou army, take good care of yourself."

Ding Yuan tossed aside his documents. "So be it. As you wish, but do not regret this."

"Adoptive father, take care." With that, Lü Bu crossed his arms and wielded the Halberd of Heavenly Might.

From that moment on, after killing his adoptive father Ding Yuan, in all the vast world, there would no longer be a place for Lü Bu to call home.

After regicide, Lü Bu incorporated the majority of Ding Yuan's soldiers and defected to Dong Zhuo.

However, a small faction of soldiers remained unwilling to surrender. Led by Zhang Liao, they fled eastward, with their destination being the camp of the Yuan family.

Meanwhile, the movements of the Bingzhou army were already under the control of Zhang Hong’s covert guards.

Of course, the covert guards had only recently been established. To become like the Black Ice Sharpshooters of the Qin Dynasty, the covert guards still had a very, very long journey ahead of them.

Thus, Yuan Xi, accompanied by Xu Chu and others, intercepted Zhang Liao halfway to await his arrival. Because Yuan Xi had previously sent him a warning, Zhang Liao smoothly pledged his allegiance to the Yuan family.

To be precise, Zhang Liao pledged allegiance to Yuan Shao rather than Yuan Xi. Given Yuan Xi’s current strength, it was not yet enough to make Zhang Liao submit in admiration. However, once inside the door of the Yuan family, there would be room to maneuver future events. Good food is never afraid of being late.

I do not know why history chose Yuan Xi.

This character is very complex; he cannot be called entirely good, nor is he all that bad.

Yet the era chose such a person. Truly, the Way of Heaven is hard to fathom! Perhaps unconventional methods are unavoidable in the early stages of founding an enterprise.

During the consolidation phase, however, righteous methods must be adopted. This is why the great Jin could endure for four hundred years: one may conquer by unorthodox means, but must govern by orthodox ones.

The interplay of Yin and Yang is called the Dao. In this world, two paths exist.

Luoyang, the Office of the Excellency of Works.

The corpulent and bloated Dong Zhuo held a wine goblet in one hand while embracing a famous dancing girl with the other. Standing in respectful attendance behind him was his son-in-law, Li Ru, who possessed the refined temperament of a scholar.

And of course, there was the hero of the hour, Colonel-General Li Su.

Seeing Lü Bu and Li Su arrive, Dong Zhuo knew that the strategy of using material temptations to lure Lü Bu into killing Ding Yuan and swallowing the Bingzhou army had succeeded. Thus, he was in high spirits.

Kneeling below was a tall, robust, and handsome general in his thirties.

The general possessed prominent, outward-slanting brows and exceptionally piercing eyes. His well-muscled physique radiated explosive power, perceptible even through his armor.

With both hands, he respectfully held aloft a bloody human head—none other than Ding Yuan, the Inspector of Bingzhou. The killer was none other than Lü Bu, Lü Fengxian, the foremost warrior of the Three Kingdoms.

"I have beheaded Ding Yuan, and now I present his head to Your Excellency, the Excellency of Works, to repay your kindness in recognizing my worth," Lü Bu said deferentially, bowing low to the ground.

Dong Zhuo praised, "The General's valor is truly extraordinary. My heart is exceedingly gratified."

No sooner had Dong Zhuo finished speaking than Lü Bu suddenly blurted out, "I have long admired Your Excellency, and meeting you today feels like reuniting with an old friend. I wish to take Your Excellency as my adoptive father, if you would permit it."

Dong Zhuo was somewhat taken aback by this request and momentarily froze. Was there really someone who begged to adopt a father? "Uh, well, as for this..."

Li Ru felt this was an opportunity to win over Lü Bu and make him a trusted confidant. Seizing the moment, he said to Dong Zhuo, "Congratulations, Father-in-law, on gaining such a talented adopted son."

Catching the meaningful glance from Li Ru, Dong Zhuo understood and said, "Ah, precisely! Exactly! To be able to accept Fengxian as my adopted son is truly the greatest fortune of this old man's life."

With that, Dong Zhuo stepped forward and helped Lü Bu to his feet.

Li Su also chimed in, "Congratulations, Excellency, on acquiring such a fierce warrior."

For the sake of the greater picture, Dong Zhuo hypocritically accepted Lü Bu as his adopted son.

Of course, to play it safe, Dong Zhuo secretly planted many of his own men within the Bingzhou army and remained deeply guarded against Lü Bu day and night. After all—

Despite Dong Zhuo's wariness toward Lü Bu, in the end, he still could not escape the curse of Lü Bu killing his adoptive father. Of course, in this spacetime, Lü Bu did not get the chance.

Yuan Xi had stolen the prize, which could be considered the ultimate sign of respect toward Lü Bu.

"I am willing to use the iron halberd in my hand to clear away all obstacles for my adoptive father."

Seeing this, Lü Bu pressed his advantage and expressed his absolute loyalty to Dong Zhuo.

"Hahaha!" "Hahaha!" "Hahaha!"

The men looked at each other and laughed heartily, everything tacitly understood without needing further words.

Dong Zhuo laughed uninhibitedly. After a long while, he finally subsided, though he truly possessed the qualifications to be arrogant at the moment, much like Erzhu Rong of the Northern Wei.

From General of the Palace Gentlemen of the Capital Ding Yuan leading troops to battle Dong Zhuo in the outskirts of Luoyang...

To his assassination by the traitor Lü Bu, following which Dong Zhuo annexed Ding Yuan’s forces...

Up to this very moment, Dong Zhuo commanded an army approaching two hundred thousand, with a thousand battle chariots and a cloud of fierce generals. The political landscape had transformed overnight; no one in the realm could contend with him.

Having integrated the Bingzhou army, Dong Zhuo’s influence in Luoyang reached the peak among all warlords, and the balance of power between him and the Yuan family underwent a subversive shift.

At this time, in terms of political maneuvering and methods, Dong Zhuo ranked among the most formidable of all the warlords. If Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao were placed on equal footing and backgrounds, Dong Zhuo’s chances of winning might have been somewhat higher—of course, merely perhaps.

After the banquet, Dong Zhuo dismissed those whose presence was unnecessary.

Li Ru seized the moment to speak. "My lord, Wuyou has a matter to report."

Dong Zhuo asked curiously, "Oh? Wuyou. What is it?"

"It concerns the integration of a fraction of the Bingzhou army. We can ask General Lü about this matter," Li Ru said, casting a glance at Lü Bu.

Dong Zhuo looked at Lü Bu. "Fengxian, what went wrong with the Bingzhou army?"

Seeing Li Ru bring this up, Lü Bu’s heart tightened, and he secretly thought it ill omened.

He hurriedly replied, "Reporting to my adoptive father, it is nothing major. It's just that previously, under the old scoundrel Ding Yuan, there was a general who refused to submit to my command. He privately led a force of fewer than a thousand men and broke away from our ranks. I was just about to ask for Your Excellency's instructions."

Hearing that it was merely a thousand men or so, Dong Zhuo instantly lost interest. "Ah, so it was just remnants of Ding Yuan's forces. I thought it was some major issue. If they want to run, let them run."

Li Ru spoke again, "General Lü has rendered a great service, and My Lord should reward him."

Dong Zhuo understood and said, "Quite right. Fengxian shall take the post of Cavalry Commandant."

Lü Bu expressed his gratitude, "I thank Your Excellency for your grace in promoting me."

Although the post of Cavalry Commandant was not large, its significance was extraordinary, for it was the very office Ding Yuan had held before becoming the Inspector of Bingzhou.

By making this move, Dong Zhuo let Lü Bu know that under Ding Yuan, he had been nothing more than a lowly civilian Chief Registrar. Yet upon defecting to Dong Zhuo, he immediately attained the status Ding Yuan had spent decades striving to achieve.

This demonstration of Dong Zhuo's emphasis on Lü Bu, combining benevolence with authority, also provided favorable conditions for Dong Zhuo to later plant his own agents within the Bingzhou army.

This Dong Zhuo truly was a hero of a troubled era—at least during the early and middle stages, he was.