Chapter 42: Beheading Ding Yuan

  Lü Bu galloped for over twenty miles, breaking a sweat and feeling exhilarated. The gloom of the past few days was swept away. He dismounted his horse, stroking its slightly damp neck, reluctant to let go, exclaiming repeatedly: "Good horse, good horse!"

  The red rabbit gave him a glance, twitched its whiskers, shook its horse's mane, and wagged its tail, looking utterly helpless.

  "It seems Your Majesty is right, only a brave warrior like Gong Sun Zan can subdue a fierce steed like Red Hare."

  Lü Bu burst out laughing, extremely pleased with himself.

  Jia Xu stroked his beard, a smile on his face: "With such a dragon steed, if paired with the Halberd of the Conqueror, Zhang Fei could conquer all under heaven."

  " Halberd of the Overlord?" Lü Bu suddenly remembered Zhang Yue's treasured spear that could withstand the infusion of true energy, and his heart skipped a beat: "What halberd of the overlord can compare to the spear in Zhang Yue's hand?"

  "The halberd of the Hegemon King is the weapon of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon King of Western Chu. How can the spear of the Hegemon King be compared to it?"

  Jia Xu smiled slightly and recounted the process of how Zhang Liao obtained the Halberd of Lu Bu. After listening, Lu Bu's eyes gleamed with excitement, his heart racing like a drum, and his face turned red with eagerness. Jia Xu saw this and knew that the time was ripe, so he sighed and said: "Alright, I'll go and transmit the imperial edict first. Fengxian, are you coming with me?"

  ……

  Ding Yuan sat in his tent, staring at Jia Xiu who walked in slowly, motionless.

  Jia Yu's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his face showed a look of unintentional expression. The guards behind him had tense faces, their complexions pale.

  Lü Bu led Zhang Liao and Gao Shun in quickly, standing behind Ding Yuan. Only then did Ding Yuan raise his hand to beckon to Jia Xu: "Speak."

  Jia Xun didn't mind, took the imperial edict from the hands of the guards behind him, slowly opened it, read it once, and then looked at Ding Yuan.

  The imperial edict was simple in content, first praising Ding Yuan's achievements in Bingzhou, then saying that to ensure the border is safe and the people of Bingzhou live in peace and prosperity, rewarding Ding Yuan for his loyalty, appointing him as the Administrator of Bingzhou, and ordering him to return to Bingzhou immediately to take office.

  Ding Yuan sneered and remained silent. The governor of Bianzhou was, of course, a high-ranking official, with actual power far greater than that of the Golden Guard. However, he could not accept this appointment, as he had already attached himself to the Yuan family, serving as the Golden Guard in order to help the Yuan family grasp control of Luoyang's situation. At this moment, how could he possibly accept the emperor's appointment and leave Luoyang, abandoning the Yuan family?

  Ding Yuan curled his lip and spoke politely, but with a very arrogant attitude: "The situation in Luoyang is not yet stable, the young master is suspicious, the general has passed away, and there are many things to attend to. At this moment, how can I leave Luoyang? I'm afraid I cannot obey your order."

  Jia Xu had long been prepared and put away the imperial edict: "So, General Ding is going to defy the edict?"

  Ding Yuan said loudly: "The Emperor has not yet worn the crown, and has not yet taken personal control of government. Without an edict from the Empress Dowager, how can he issue an edict to appoint officials? This is a chaotic order. Although I, Ding Yuan, am rough and unrefined, I have some knowledge of loyalty and righteousness, and I dare not obey this edict."

  Jia Xian cleared his throat and coughed: "Your Majesty has a decree."

  Ding Yuan raised an eyebrow and looked away disdainfully.

  "Ding Yuan obeys the imperial edict and takes office, then he is a loyal minister to the state, I will treat him well. If Ding Yuan does not obey the imperial edict, he disrespects his superiors, has ulterior motives, behead him, to serve as a warning to others."

  Ding Yuan was somewhat astonished, raised his eyelids, and slanted his eyes at Jia Xian, laughing in extreme anger: "Kill me? Jia Xian, who can kill me?"

  Behind him, the sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard was heard. Ding Yuan did not need to turn his head to know that it was Lü Bu drawing his sword. He let out a cold laugh and pointed at Jia Xu: "Fengxian, execute this Xiliang dog for me, to uphold justice."

  "Lü Bu let out a loud shout: 'Yes! Rebel officials and treacherous sons, anyone can kill them!' Kill!"

  Ding Yuan was shocked, turned around, and a flash of knife light came down. He hadn't had time to react, his head had already rolled to the ground, and a bellyful of blood gushed out. Jia Xu had been prepared in advance, dodged to one side in time, and didn't get a single drop of blood on him. He smiled at Lü Bu, nodding his head.

  "Bring the men, drag Ding Yuan out to show the crowd, and warn the whole army what the fate of a treacherous minister is." Lü Bu glanced at Ding Yuan's corpse with disdain, using his toes to push Ding Yuan's head to one side, opening wide his eyes. "Wen Rang, package this bandit's head well, and bring it to His Majesty. Zi Ping (Gao Shun), you stay behind to tidy up the camp, if there are those who do not obey, kill them all."

  Zhang Liao and Gao Shun bowed their heads to accept the order.

  ……

  "What a pity!" Liu Bian gazed at the head of Ding Yuan in the wooden box, his eyes wide open in death. He had ultimately died, not because of Dong Zhuo, nor Li Ru, but because of himself and Jia Xu. Perhaps this was just the inertia of history?

  Lü Bu felt somewhat embarrassed, thinking that if Emperor said Ding Yuan was a pity, then what about himself?

  "The ancients said, 'All can start well, but few can end well.' It seems to be referring to people like Ding Yuan." Liu Bian gently covered the wooden box: "I pity his talent. I originally wanted him to guard Pingzhou and defend the country, but he disappointed my good intentions."

  Lü Bu felt a weight lift off his shoulders, and his original worries vanished into thin air. His guilt towards Ding Yuan also lessened somewhat. "Your Majesty's words are indeed wise, I too think that General Ding is a pity. He has been stationed in Pingzhou for many years and has made contributions."

  "Yes." Liu Bei raised his head, sizing up Lü Bu and Zhang Liao. That day in the crowd, he had seen Zhang Liao before, but didn't recognize him. The current Zhang Liao was just twenty years old, a young and tender scallion; who would have thought that he would become one of the Five Tiger Generals? "Lü Bu, I hope you can take Ding Yuan as an example, start well and end well, don't waste your excellent martial arts skills. One day, I hope to lead fierce generals like you to conquer the world, expand our territory, rather than fighting among ourselves."

  "Only!" Lü Bu bowed his head and kowtowed again: "I am willing to go through boiling water and walk through fire for Your Majesty, without any hesitation."

  "Excellent!" Liu Biao nodded, sizing up Lü Bu from head to toe: "Judging by your appearance, you indeed have the air of a peerless and fierce general. It seems that you are worthy of the Halberd of the Conqueror. Let's go take a look."

  Lü Bu was overjoyed, and hastily followed Liu Bei to the armory. Standing in front of the wooden cabinet where the Halberd of the Invincible was stored, Lü Bu's face turned red with excitement, his eyes shining brightly. He clenched his fists tightly, took a step forward, snatched the key from the armory officer, and opened the cabinet door with trembling hands.

  A majestic aura burst forth. Lü Bu took a step back, his body tense, and only then did he steady himself. He turned around with some embarrassment to look at Liu Bei, who was smiling at him with a calm expression, unaffected by the killing intent of the Halberd of the Conqueror, leaving Lü Bu momentarily stunned.

  "Your Majesty... are you not afraid of the murderous aura of the Hegemon-King's halberd?"

  "It's probably... because our auras don't match." Liu Bian self-deprecatingly said: "I have no feeling for it."

  "It's impossible." Lü Bu furrowed his brow and blurted out: "Your Majesty's dragon-like stride and tiger-like pace, the thickness of your true energy is not inferior to mine, how could you not feel it?"

  Liu Bei was taken aback, and then shook his head with a bitter smile. Can Lü Bu also fawn on people? However, the way he flatters is quite out of tune. If I had such a thick true energy, would I still give you the Red Hare and the Halberd of the Conqueror? Do I need to spend so much thought to win you over? Can't I ride the Red Hare, hold the Halberd of the Conqueror, and take down the Yuan family by myself?