Chapter 67: Wang Yun's Blunder

  However, Li Ru was as cunning as a fox and saw that things were not going well, so he disguised himself and escaped. The soldiers who came to capture Li Ru could only return empty-handed.

  Li Ru ranked first, and Li Jue ranked second. Li Jue was Dong Zhuo's top confidant general, with both bravery and strategy, commanding 30,000 Flying Bear Army (Dong Zhuo's most elite troops).

  At that time, Li Jue's position in Dong Zhuo's army was below Niu Fu and Dong Min, but the two people in front of him died in Chang'an, so Li Jue became the most powerful side among the Liangzhou faction warlords. However, at this time, Wang Yun made a mistake, Li Ru was indeed loyal to Dong Zhuo, but after Dong Zhuo's death, he also became a rootless reed and could not stir up any waves.

  Wang Yun's wisest move would have been to issue a decree, declaring that Li Jue and his cohorts would not be held accountable for their crimes, or at most receive a light punishment. However, Wang Yun was extremely stubborn and instead ordered that Li Jue and the others would not be spared, with Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou all being named on the list.

  This has stirred up a hornet's nest. Originally, these people still had plans to escape, but now they see that Wang Yun is going to exterminate them all! Under the threat of death, these people quickly rallied around Li Jue and began attacking Chang'an, vowing to cut Wang Yun into a thousand pieces to eliminate future troubles.

  But Wang Yun still felt that he had not made enough enemies, and his gaze fell on Cai Yong.

  Cai Yong was forced to serve by Dong Zhuo, who at the time followed Li Ru's advice "to promote famous scholars and win over public opinion." Cai Yong had originally not intended to be an official, but Dong Zhuo secretly sent a message to Cai Yong: "If you don't give me face and come out to be an official, I will kill your whole family!"

  However, Dong Zhuo highly valued Cai Yong and continuously promoted him, also listening to some of his opinions.

  So Cai Yong shed a few tears and sighed after Dong Zhuo's death.

  Wang Yun had always been jealous of Cai Yong's talent, and immediately found a pretext to condemn him. He accused Cai Yong: "Dong Zhuo is the great thief of the state, a cruel minister who killed his lord, hated by heaven and earth, and detested by gods and men. As a minister of the king, you have received Han's grace for generations, but when the monarch was in danger, you did not turn against Dong Zhuo and eliminate him. Why are you sighing and grieving now that Dong Zhuo has been punished by heaven?" He immediately ordered Cai Yong to be arrested and handed over to the廷尉 (a high-ranking official) for punishment.

  This is the crime of adding to the guilt, what's the worry about not having an excuse? Dong Zhuo died, Cai Yong just sighed a few times, this is also human nature. If you say that not turning against and eliminating Dong Zhuo is a crime, then almost everyone on the court would have to go to prison.

  Cai Yong did not expect that Wang Yun was determined to bring about his own death, and he opened his mouth to plead guilty: "Although I did not personally kill Dong Zhuo, I can still recognize the great righteousness. The safety of ancient and modern times, I have heard a lot and talked about it many times. How can I betray the country and lean towards Dong Zhuo? I would rather be tattooed on my face as punishment and continue to write the history of Han."

  Many officials also spoke out to plead for Cai Yong, thinking that this was not a serious crime. Seeing how well-connected Cai Yong was, Wang Yun became even more determined to get rid of him and had the imprisoned Cai Yong strangled to death.

  Cai Yong died, the world was shocked, scholars from all over the country shed tears, Zheng Xuan sighed and said: "Cai Yong is dead, who can still tell the history of the Han Dynasty clearly?"

  Of course, soon after that, little loli Cai Yan would receive this message, and Wang Yun would also add Li Chong's name to the list of enemies.

  Li Jue and Guo Si, however, upon learning that Wang Yun refused to pardon them, took the advice of Jia Xu, gathered their forces from various places, and attacked Chang'an.

  Lü Bu heard that Li Jue and others were gathering troops to attack Chang'an, so he was furious. He immediately led more than 10,000 cavalry and infantry out of Tong Pass to confront Li Jue.

  The Gukou is located in the northwest of Chang'an, north of the Jing River and south of the Qinling Mountains, which is exactly where the northwest gate of the capital city of Chang'an is.

  Lü Bu arrived at the valley entrance just as Li Jue was leading his troops to the front. Lü Bu, a seasoned veteran of many battles, saw that Li Jue's army was exhausted from their long journey and had not yet stabilized their footing. He immediately led his troops in an attack. Lü Bu rode forward on horseback, wielding his "Sky-Piercing" halberd, directly targeting Li Jue. Zhang Liao and Gao Shun attacked Li Jue fiercely from the sides.

  Li Jue's martial arts were not weak, but after exchanging more than a dozen blows with Lü Bu, he felt that every move was fraught with danger, and his whole body was sweating. In desperation, he could only turn his horse around and flee.

  Lü Bu took advantage of the momentum to pursue and defeat Li Jue, causing Li Jue to lose nearly 10,000 soldiers in one battle. He had no choice but to set up camp at the foot of a mountain. Li Jue and his men returned to their tent to discuss matters and figure out how to defeat Lü Bu.

  Inside the leather tent, Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, Fan Chou, and Jia Xu surrounded the map to examine it carefully. After a while, Li Jue said: "Lü Bu is brave and fierce, we can use the tactics of Peng Yue against Chu to defeat him. Tomorrow I will lead the army to fight Lü Bu, ambush troops on the mountain, use bows and crossbows to kill Lü Bu's soldiers, Guo Si leads the army to cut off his rear path, so that Lü Bu cannot respond from head to tail. Generals Zhang Ji and Fan Chou take a detour to capture Chang'an, we can defeat Lü Bu greatly."

  Guo Si and others were very confident in Li Jue's military ability, and they agreed to it immediately, each leading their troops to prepare for battle.

  The next morning, Lü Bu led his troops to challenge Li Jue to battle. Li Jue led his army to meet the enemy, and both sides engaged in a fierce battle at the foot of the mountain. After half an hour of fighting, Li Jue retreated up the mountain with his troops. Lü Bu pursued him relentlessly, and when he reached the foot of the mountain, the ambushers on the mountain suddenly rose up, shooting arrows like rain. Lü Bu, relying on his exceptional martial arts skills, was fearless, and his halberd, the "Heavenly Halberd", almost became a golden light shield, shattering the arrows into dust. His Red Hare horse was even more extraordinary, its speed hardly decreasing as it climbed up the mountain.

  Just then, Lü Bu suddenly heard a great commotion behind him. He hastily turned his head to look, and saw that a team of cavalry was fiercely attacking his rear troops. A large flag fluttered in the wind, with a single character "Guo" written on it.

  Lü Bu's eyes blazed with fury as he gritted his teeth and cursed: "Guo Si..."

  Anger begets anger. Lü Bu also knew that in this situation, he could not break through Li Jue's camp at all, and could only turn his head to meet Guo Si.

  Lü Bu was indeed valiant, relying on his swift horse, like a red flame, he returned to the rear ranks in the blink of an eye and commanded his troops to counterattack against Guo Si.

  Guo Si could not withstand Lü Bu's bravery and could only fight and retreat. Just as Guo Si's army was about to collapse, a drumbeat sounded from the mountain, and Li Jue led his troops to charge out. Lü Bu let out a long sigh and had no choice but to lead his troops back to their camp, defending it without coming out.

  Seeing Lü Bu retreat, Li Jue and Guo Si were also unwilling to entangle with Lü Bu, delaying time was naturally satisfactory, it would be best if Lü Bu could hold on for dozens of days here.

  Lü Bu returned to the main camp, feeling very frustrated with this battle, so he had someone send over wine and dishes, and drank wine in the big tent to relieve his boredom. Zhang Liao and others tried to persuade him but to no avail, and could only shake their heads and return to their own tents to rest.

  The next morning, a sudden sound of war drums came from outside the camp. Lü Bu hastily put on his armor and went out to take a look, only to see Li Jue leading a group of cavalrymen in front of the camp, challenging them to battle.

  Lü Bu immediately led his men to fight, but as soon as the battle began, Li Jue turned around and ran. Lü Bu was furious with Li Jue and chased after him on horseback, vowing to kill him with one spear thrust. However, just as he had pursued for a hundred paces, he suddenly felt that something was amiss - could it be that Li Jue was trying to repeat the trick of yesterday and attack his rear army?

  Lü Bu suppressed his anger and led his troops back to their camp, preparing to defend themselves without engaging in battle.