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Chapter 21: Trapped in Kaiyang

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Kaiyang was a big city in the Langye region. However, it was currently empty, like a deserted city!

The whole city was intact without a single sign of battle. However, the city's banner and its troops were all gone! The gate was also without guards! The whole city was like a naked young woman waving its hands at the incoming army!

Effortlessly, the Lu Bu army entered the city. Once entered, they immediately closed the gates!

"What's with this?! Where's Zang Ba?! How come there isn't a single soldier in Kaiyang?!" Lu Bu frowned. Had Cao Cao attacked Langye, then it would be impossible for there to be no sign of battle in Kaiyang! If Cao Cao didn't attack, then how come Kaiyang was completely without any defense or fortifications?!

Perhaps Zang Ba surrendered to Cao Cao? Impossible! If he did surrender, then they would not be able to enter the city!

"My lord, we have asked around and obtained information! Zang Ba, he, he dismissed the troops!" Zhang Liao had taken some people with him and inquired some remnant soldiers that had not yet left the city.

"Dismissed the troops?!" Lu Bu was stunned. In this chaotic era, how could one survive without troops?! Lu Bu thus burst into rage. "Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao, I originally thought you were a person of standing, never would I have expected that you are such a spineless coward!"

"My lord, please quell your anger! Please quell your anger!" Chen Gong came forward "Dear Lord of mine, did you know that when Xiapi was under siege by Cao Cao, the only general who was sending troops to help you break the siege was general Zang Ba?!"

"Is that so?!" Lu Bu's anger ceased but a bit. Immediately he returned to his irritable state! The only reason for him to come to Langye was to obtain troops from Zang Ba and steady himself for a chance to make a comeback! Now that Zang Ba had dismissed his troops, where are the troops for him to obtain?! How could he possibly make a comeback now?!"

"Zang Ba, where is he now?!" Lu Bu rubbed his head and asked.

"General Zang is currently rushing over!" When Zhang Liao found Zang Ba, Zang Ba was already packed up and ready to flee. This was certainly not something that Zhang Liao could say. Thus, he could only say that Zang Ba was on his way here!

Soon Zang Ba entered the city donning a war armor!

"My lord, Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao, is here to pay his respects!" Zang Ba was extremely formal! Unlike Lu Bu's other generals, he wasn't someone who have fought life and death battles with Lu Bu! Instead, he was someone who had his ass handed to him by Lu Bu!

Toward Lu Bu, Zang Ba admired him wholly! He originally thought that Lu Bu cannot escape being trapped in Xiapi! After all, being flooded from all sides was not something anyone could resolve! Zang Be had also once sent force to help. However, his forces was driven back by the Cao army!

Lu Bu's gone. Zang Ba's heart too grew cold. For Lu Bu to not be able to stand up against Cao Cao, how could he, Zang Ba, possibly be able take on Cao Cao?! Thus Zang Ba dismissed his troops and was set to flee to the countryside to and become a wealthy man there!

Now that he had seen Lu Bu was alive in front of him, Zang Ba's heart began to liven once again.

"Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao! You still know how to call me as your lord? Oh how silly you are! Silly to the extreme!" Seeing that Zang Ba came all donned in armor, Lu Bu's anger subsided a bit. How could he possibly not know what Zang Ba was thinking. "You thought that I, Lu Bu, lost and that when the Cao army comes, you would simply be no match against them. You'll be caught by the Cao army and nothing good would come out of that, isn't that right?! So you decided to dismiss your troops, flee to the countryside, change your name and become a wealthy man there?!"

"My lord?!" Having his whole thought laid out in front of him by Lu Bu, Zang Ba's face was red full of shame!

"Zang Ba, Zang Ba, oh how silly you are!" As they said, heros think alike! Lu Bu was genuinely fond of people like Zang Ba who had the same arrogance as himself!

"Although I, Lu Bu, am known as being unparalleled in the world, I still dared not to take on the world alone. Why do you think that is?!" Lu Bu said pointing at Zang Ba. "Two fists cannot rival four hands! Had you not dismissed your troops, then Cao Cao may still fear you and will persuade you to surrender to him! However, once you dismissed your troops, you've became a fish on the chopping block! Cao Cao could dispatch any ordinary battalion of troops and you, Zang Ba, would be captured and executed by him just like that!"

"I…?!" Zang Ba was totally ashamed.

"Reporting!" A scout ran forward and kneeled to the ground. "Reporting to the lord, outside the city… the Cao cavalry was found outside the city!"

"Oh?!" Lu Bu finally let Zang Ba go, he brought all his generals and ran toward the front of the city.

Underneath the city walls was a bunch of black armored cavalries arranged neatly in numerous rows. Under the leadership of a leading general, the army of cavalries surrounded the city in absolute silence and without any movement. This army of cavalries was certainly the elite amongst elites!

"Ferocious Cavalry!" Lu Bu narrowed his eyes as he watched the heavily armored cavalry that surrounded the city.

Once upon a time Lu Bu also had cavalries that rivals the Ferocious Cavalry that currently surrounded him - Bing Province Cavalry! With them, Lu Bu was able to go wherever he wishes, rushing into armies of tens of thousand like taking a stroll! No one could stop him in his tracks!

Alas, now! Although the Bing Province Cavalry still remained, their horses are gone! From the breakthrough of Xiapi, the Bing Province Cavalry that once numbered in the tens of thousands now only had a thousand remaining.

All of them were brothers who had followed Lu Bu all the way from Bing Province!

"Had we had our mounts then I, Zhang Liao, would rush out to have a match against the Ferocious Cavalry!" Zhang Liao regrets not being able to go out. Although the Ferocious Cavalry are elites, in the eyes of Zhang Liao, they are nothing! The Bing Province Cavalry never fear challenges!

"Enough!" Lu Bu stopped Zhang Liao's discontent and turned to Chen Gong. "Gongtai, what should we do now?!" Their original plan was to replenish their troops from Langye and then distant themselves from Xu Province.

However, currently in the whole city of Kaiyang, there was only the less than ten thousand troops that he brought with him! And outside the city there's the Cao army's Ferocious Cavalry!

The Ferocious Cavalry belonged to the Heavy Cavalry class troops. Although they aren't capable of besieging a city, their movement was fast. Should they decide to coil around the city, the Lu Bu army would really be trapped inside the city!

For infantries to try to break through cavalries was more difficult than hard! Having just escaped Xiapi, are they to be trapped in Kaiyang now?!

Lu Bu closed his eyes. He was full of rage! He fears that should he not close his eyes, he might not be able to resist his urge to kill Zang Ba!

"Sigh!" Chen Gong too did not expect that this Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao, would do things so thoroughly! To dismiss his troops, this was a task that must take a certain amount of resolve!

"General Zang, are you aware of how much provisions, armors, weapons and war horses are currently left in Kaiyang?!" Chen Gong held his fist toward Zang Ba.

"This!" Zang Ba was brought to an awkward situation. Having dismissed the troops, naturally he would've distributed the provisions. Currently in the city there remains less than five thousand stones worth of provisions!

[TL: 1 stone = one hundred liters.]

Zang Ba braced himself and said "There remains five thousand stones worth of provisions. The amount of weapons and armors was also lacking. At most, it's only enough for a battalion! As for war horses…!" Xu Province belonged to the central region where there wasn't a lot of horses to begin with! "...there's less than a hundred war horses!"

"Five thousand stones! One hundred horses! A battalion worth of weapons?!" Although Kaiyang was a big city, it could not compare to Xiapi. Although ten thousand troops was a lot, it could not compare to the seventy thousand that Lu Bu once had!

An army numbering ten thousand would eat over a hundred stones worth of provisions in a single day! Five thousand stones, it would only be enough for a bit over a month!

"Zang Xuangao, good, very good!" Lu Bu was determined enough to kill Zang Ba now!

"My lord, quell your anger! The only thing we can do now is to wait for the opportunity! We shall see if we can break through at night!" Chen Gong too was at a loss Once they are trapped here by the Ferocious Cavalry the Cao main army will come and then they will be unable to escape for sure!

Now, this was all that they could do!

Zhang Liao, Gao Shun and them soon arranged the tasks for the city defenses to the troops. They were extra careful because of the newly surrendered soldiers that they took in. Once the situations turns bad, these soldiers are likely to revolt!

"Lu Bu? Kaiyang?!" Cao Chun who was outside the city laughed! Had the Lu Bu army decided to take the side roads to Mount Tai, then perhaps he, Cao Chun, could not do anything to Lu Bu! However, Lu Bu was silly, he decided to enter Kaiyang to obtain reinforcement from Zang Ba!

Cao Chun had obtained information from the refugees enroute here. He knew that in Kaiyang, Zang Ba had dismissed his troops. The whole population of Kaiyang had already left to take refuge! Thus, in the whole Kaiyang, there was only ten thousand troops who could stand up against the Cao army!

"Since Xiapi did not take your life! Let this Kaiyang be your grave!" Cao Chun said with a smile. "Pass my orders, send my message to the Prime Minister. Tell him that the tiger was trapped waiting for the tiger killer!"

"Yes!" The messenger took the order and left!

"Ferocious Cavalry soldiers, listen up! Divide into groups of two hundreds and alternate to patrol Kaiyang day and night! You are not to allow a single Lu Bu soldier to escape!"

"Yes!" Two hundred heavy cavalries was something that cannot be beaten without at least a thousand infantries! In this amount of time needed to beat them, the rest of the Ferocious Cavalry would have quickly came to their assistance!

Although the Ferocious Riders cannot besiege a city, but to fight on the fields! Heng heng, even if it's the Lu Bu army's strongest Formation Breaker, Cao Chun dared to take them on!

Chapter 22: Long Distance Surprise Attack

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

"Fucking hell! Why can't I go back?!" Liu Mang watched as the button to return darkened. Boss Lu had been trapped in Kaiyang! Outside, Boss Cao's people had surrounded the whole Kaiyang!

Back in Xiapi, they were able to break through because it was a whole chaotic mess and the sky was dark! With such a mighty general like Boss Lu, of course they'll be able to escape!

However, it's different now! The people outside was the Ferocious Cavalry! Boss Lu and them had fought against the Ferocious Cavalry before and thus knew of their might!

Liu Mang, on the other hand, knew of their strength from the history books. This Ferocious Cavalry was a trump card!

Not mentioning the battles the Ferocious Cavalry had against other warlords, their most famous accomplishment was the battle against the Wuhuan - five thousand against a hundred thousand! That battle crippled the Wuhuan people! The Wuhuan were nomadic people! They knew of the horse much better than the Han! Even so, they were defeated by the Ferocious Cavalry!

Seeing that Boss Lu no longer had a future, Liu Mang was ready to escape! However, the CD was still dark even though it had been over a day since he came here!

"What the fuck?!" Liu mang didn't want to break through with Boss Lu under the threat of the Ferocious Cavalry! Not only could two legged people not run faster than four legged beasts but these heavy cavalries, once on the field, how could they possibly stop them?!

Had the Formation Breaker been okay, then perhaps it would've been a different story. However, the Formation Breaker was already crippled! You can't possibly had the few hundred remnant soldiers of the Formation Breaker go out and try to stop thousands of heavy cavalries!

"Big brother! When are you going to help me find my mother?!" A clever looking jade like child pulled on Liu Mang's trousers.

"Lil Stone be good. In a couple day, just a couple days, big brother will take you to find your mother!" Liu Mang picked up Lil Stone. This was the lost child he encountered earlier outside of Kaiyang. Lil Stone was taken away by Miss Lu to have a clean up, his original dirty appearance disappeared and came back looking like he had on powdered makeups!

As Liu Mag held Lil Stone, his will to leave began to waver. True that he could leave but what about the child?! Like what Liu Mang had said, should he abandon the child, he would be forever disturbed!

As he thought of that, he began to put on the Aries Gold Cloth. "Lil Stone be good. Big brother will be right back! You must be good! Stay here and sleep. If you're afraid then go find big sister Lu!" Having left Lil Stone, Liu Mang started walking toward the front of the city. Lu Bu and the others were currently there thinking about when to break through.

"Sire!" The first person that saw Liu Mang was Cheng Yu. He was currently leading some soldiers patrolling.

"Where is Boss Lu and them?" As Liu Mang had called Lu Bu by Boss Lu the whole time, the Lu Bu soldiers had already gotten used to it.

"General and them are all on the city tower. Sire, do you want me to bring you there?!" Asked Cheng Yu.

"No need. You can continue your patrol!" Liu Mang shook his head. The tension is currently very high in Kaiyang. Who knows when a mutiny might occur amongst these soldiers defending the city. Thus, patrolling the city was something that must be done!

"Okay! Then sire, I shall take my leave!" Cheng Yu nodded and left with his soldiers.

Liu Mang arrived on the city tower. Chen Gong and Lu Bu was there. Zhang Liao had also left to do patrolling. Gao Shun had returned back to rest. The battle earlier in the day had crippled his Formation Breaker and left him both physically and mentally exhausted.

"So my worthy son in law had came!" Lu Bu was also very tired. However, he cannot rest for he is the soul of the whole Lu Bu army. With him standing, the whole Lu Bu army could burst forward a greater strength!

Chen Gong looked at Liu Mang and nodded.

"Worthy son in law?!" Liu Mang's forehead twitched. He really didn't enjoy being called that. "Boss Lu, please call me by my courtesy name Hanyang instead!"

"Boss Lu? Still calling me Boss Lu?!" Lu Bu's face dropped cold.

The fuck! I've heard of those who force others into prostitution and drug trafficking but never have I ever heard of those who forces others to marry their daughter!

Liu Mang helplessly yelled. "Father in law!"

"Hanyang?!" Chen Gong took another look at Liu Mang.

"That's better! Now that's like family! Better treat my precious Ling-er well!" Lu Bu stood up and patted Liu Mang's shoulder almost patting him all the way to the ground!

What intense strength!

"Father in law, about the situation outside…?!"Liu Mang asked out what he was most concern for.

"Outside?!" Lu Bu frowned. To be trapped by the Ferocious Cavalry was a great shame for Lu Bu! What is the origin of Lu Bu?! He started from a the heavy cavalry! Starting from the Bing Province, he had driven back the foreigners! Then he went to Luoyang to intimate Dong Zhou. Although Dong Zhou had the Xiliang Heavy Cavalry, he dared not to do anything to Lu Bu!

Finally when eighteen warlords fought against Dong Zhou, Lu Bu was still able to come and go as he pleases with his Bing Province Cavalry!

Never had Lu Bu ever been trapped by cavalries!

And now his retribution came! Back then, the Bing Province Cavalry had almost took Old Cao's life. Thus Cao Cao decided firmly to create a cavalry unit himself - the Ferocious Cavalry. And now, this Ferocious Cavalry have trapped Boss Lu.

Lu Bu did not speak, however, just from Lu Bu's demeanor, Liu Mang knew that the situation was bad.

Chen Gong spoke. "Let me call you Hanyang too!" Chen Gong is already middle aged now. For him to call Liu Mang by his courtesy name was something that is acceptable. "The commander of the cavalries outside should be Cao Chun. This Cao Chun is familiar with the art of war, he knew both the strength and weakness of cavalries. His cavalry unit numbered fifteen hundred. They surrounded Kaiyang with two hundred cavalries per gate!"

"Two hundred cavalries per gate?!" Liu Mang was completely ignorant of the arts of war, thus he stupidly asked "two hundred people, we have thousands! Can't we just send a thousand troops to destroy those two hundred cavalries?!"

"Hehe!" Chen Gong did not blame Liu Mang for being ignorant. Instead he had a wry smile and said. "If it was that easy then we would've already done it instead of debating about what to do! Although two hundred heavy cavalries cannot possibly break through the gates we also cannot go out! Cao Chun still have with him seven hundred Ferocious Cavalry soldiers! Upon trying to destroy their two hundred cavalries outside the gate, he will immediately send his seven hundred cavalries over as reinforcement!"

"Even if we are to fight them with more people, we cannot win. And if we are to fight them with less people, then we might be the one being destroyed!" Chen Gong explained to Liu Mang.

"Is there really nothing we can do?!" unable to accept it, Liu Mang asked.

"Yes, there's a way! We can attack with our whole army and break through with all our force!" said Chen Gong. "However, in that case, our causality will certainly be very high! But there's nothing we can do about that!"

"Break through with all our force? When?!" Liu Mang knew that there's no way for him to escape. It would appear that this will be another battle.

"Tonight when the moon is high up in the sky!" said Chen Gong. The Xu Province have no shortage of forests. As long as they can break through and enter the forest, they will be able to escape! Not to mention there's also Zang Ba, a local of Langye. Once they enter Mount Tai, they'll be able to escape!

"Okay!" Liu Mang nodded his head. He decided to go rest himself up before the break through.

"Reporting! Reporting to the lord! The situation has turned bad!" Cheng Yu who had just left suddenly rushed in. "Reporting to the lord, outside, outside the city there's suddenly a couple thousands more troops! They have surrounded Kaiyang!"

"Couple thousands more troops?!" Lu Bu was shocked. The original fifteen hundred Ferocious Cavalry had already left Lu Bu with a headache. And now, there's an addition of a couple thousands more troops?! Had it been before then perhaps Lu Bu wouldn't care much of it. However, he had only now decided that they are going to break through when the moon is high up in the sky and such a thing happened.

"Xiahou Yuan's troops!" said Liu Mang and Chen Gong at the same time.

Chen Gong knew that this was Xiahou Yuan's troops because he had already looked into all of Cao Cao's advisors and generals when he was setting up plans for Lu Bu. Liu Mang knew that this was Xiahou Yuan's troops thanks to the help of the Baidu Encyclopedia of the modern times.

Xiahou Yuan's troops. not as elite as the Formation Breaker, not as strong as the Dangyang soldiers and not as strong against cavalries compared to the Vanguard Battalion. However, his troops one distinguishing features that others don't have - they specialize in long distance surprise attacks!

[TL: translating 先登营 as a Vanguard Battalion.]

From the Xiapi to Kaiyang was distance worth four days and he arrived in just two days!

Time is of essence in the battlefield!

This time, Xiahou Yuan's arrival in a timely manner was like a strike to Boss Lu's balls!

"The commander shouldn't be Xiahou Miaocai. Cao Cao really have an unending supply of great generals!" Chen Gong sighed with lament. Xiahou Miaocai was already deeply injured by Lu Bu, something that he couldn't recover in short period of time.

For the Xiahou Yuan's troops to obey, this commander must also be another great Cao general.

"What to do now?!" asked Liu Mang. Lu Bu too looked toward Chen Gong.

What to do now? How would I possibly know what to do? Chen Gong with a helpless expression said "let's observe the situation!"

Chapter 23: Too Big of a Joke

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

After taking a rest, Liu Mang noticed that the ground was beginning to tremble. He knew that it was the arrival of Boss Cao's troops.

Dawn. Liu Mang walked up to the city tower. The scene he saw there left him completely stunned.

Rows upon rows of units arranged in square formations. Spears like the rains. Bows and arrows like the clouds.

"How many people is this?!" Liu Mang swallowed his saliva. The whole city was densely surrounded by people.

"An army of a hundred thousand!" Lu Bu had appeared next to Liu Mang without him knowing.

"A hundred thousand?!" Lu Mang was about to faint. Although population have grew a lot in modern times, to see so many soldiers gathered together wasn't something that happen often. Even if it's to review troops they would have at most some tens of thousands of soldiers gathered, nowhere near the hundred thousand that's here now.

"Cao Cao really think highly of this Lu Bu!" Lu Bu's eyes radiate all around. He was correct. Cao Cao has been disturbed ever since Lu Bu escaped from Xiapi. One must know that Lu Bu wasn't some kind of peaceful house cat, he's a tiger, a fierce tiger, a tiger that eats people! Even if you don't mess with the tiger, you must still be careful of its claws! Old Cao, on the other hand, actually decided to steal this tiger's base!

"Can we even win?!" There's only ten thousand people inside the city. For them to fight a hundred thousand, even if one thinks with his ass, he'll know that they can't possibly win! Liu Mang's question had no other effect other than lowering the morale.

"Are we not to fight just because we can't win?!" Had it been before then Lu Bu might've been like Liu Mang, unable to have the idea of resisting such an army. However, now it's different. Having experienced Xiapi, Lu Bu had already given up on the idea of surrendering to Old Cao. He even almost managed to take Old Cao's life and seriously injured Xiahou Yuan.

The Xiahou clan was the root of Old Cao. It was impossible for Old Cao to give up his entire clan for a single Lu Bu.

"Sigh!" Liu Mang wanted to sigh but was stopped by Lu Bu.

Lu Bu whispered. "You can be afraid. You can panic. However, you cannot show those emotions in front of the army! If the commander was to become uneasy, to become nervous, then how would the subordinates be able to risk their lives for you?!"

Lu Bu's eyes showed both strictness and concern. This gave Liu Mang a weird feeling. Liu Mang had only experienced this kind of eyes from his father before. However, unlike Boss Lu who praised Liu Mang constantly, his father held a lot of disdain toward him for being ignorant, incompetent and neglecting his studies!

"Dong dong dong!" The Cao army that surrounded the city began drumming. Was this drum signaling the attack?!

"These are drums signaling truce!" Lu Bu explained. Lu Bu had only a single daughter. To marry his daughter is the same as being his son.

"Truce?!" How could there be a truce before a battle starts? What kind of logic is this? Perhaps Boss Cao is scared of Boss Lu? Wasn't that precisely the reason why Boss Cao wanted to kill Boss Lu?!

A group of people separated themselves from the Cao army. Amongst them was a black fatty wearing an official gown. Although he was both short and ugly, when donned in the official gown, it appears that he was someone powerful.

"Is he Boss Cao?!" Liu Mang dared not underestimate Boss Cao. Although he looked unprepossessing, he was an remarkable individual. From being an official in Luoyang in his early days, he placed rows of multicolored stakes outside his office and ordered his deputies to flog those who violated the law, regardless of their status. Then he gathered soldiers to suppress Dong Zhou and finally the contend for hegemony, they were all things that this black fatty did!

Emperor Wu of Wei ah, although he was never an emperor when he was alive, he was posthumously named one. This was not merely because of his talents in the general and military affairs, he was also a remarkable statesman, military expert, writer and calligrapher of the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Mang had read his poems starting from primary school all the way till college. There's the Through the Tortoise Lives Long and the Watching the Azure Sea! He was the representative of the Jianan style poetry!

Had it not been meeting each other on the battlefield, Liu Mang would've picked up pen and paper for Boss Cao to sign!

"Fengxian, I trust you have been well since we last met!" Cao Cao stopped his tracks at a distance a couple hundred li away from the city. From there, the archers cannot hit him and his voice was loud enough to be heard. Next to him was imposing and staunch man with a height of eight foot and a waist of ten wei. This fat fellow who appeared to be full of courage and strength was constantly checking around, watching attentively of the surroundings and protecting the safety of Old Cao.

"Mengde, Bu has been well" Although Lu Bu was surrounded by Boss Cao's troops, he was still able to laugh.

"Sigh! Oh Fengxian, during our battle in Xiapi, I had thought that us two would have an opportunity to sit down and drink wine with each other. Who would have imagined that the Heaven will play us for fools and allow us to cross path again." laughed Cao Cao. Although he appeared friendly, he was opening old scars.

What Old Cao meant was 'In the battle of Xiapi, you had already lost and almost became my prisoner. Now, I am meeting you as the winner of our last battle.'

"Oh Mende, we will cross path much more often, why concern yourself over a single occasion? Rather Mende you almost met the late emperor on the White Gate Tower. Hmmm, how come I don't see Mende's subordinate, your great general Xiahou Miaocai?!" Boss Lu wasn't someone easy to deal with. Not only did he mentioned the fact that Old Cao almost got killed by him, he also brought out Xiahou Yuan to greet Cao Cao.

"Humph!" Cao Cao facial expression dropped and was about to get angry. However, he closed his eyes, took a breath and swallowed his anger. Cao Cao continued smiling. "Oh Fengxian, this time we must meet in Kaiyang!"

"That's right, Mende, Bu would look forward to your great chariot!" Lu Bu too was tightlipped.

"Cao Aman, you certainly didn't come here to sprout these meaningless words now!" Who in the Lu Bu army was the most dissatisfied with Cao Cao? That'll be none other than Chen Gong.

"Oh, so it's Gongtai!" Boss Cao spoke as if he's at home chatting with his friend. "That day in White Gate Tower, Cao was unable to find you and thought that you had also fallen down the city walls. For Gongtai to be here, Cao was able to lift this matter off his mind!" Cao Cao really admire Chen Gong. Were it not for the fact that Chen Gong and Cao Cao's ideology were completely opposite then perhaps Cao Cao's number one advisor would've been Chen Gong instead of Guo Jia!

"No need for Cao Aman you to worry!"

"My arrival this time, other than catching up with Fengxian, I also wanted to meet the little teacher whose stratagem almost cost me my life in Xiapi - Liu Mang!" said Cao Cao with a smile.

"What?!' Liu Mang who was watching from the side noticed that something was wrong. Why did everyone cast their eyes on him? Only then did he noticed that Old Cao had named him.

"I believe you are Liu Mang?!" said Old Cao as he held his fist toward Liu Mang respectfully. As expected of Cao Cao, a towering figure of a generation. He would respect the wise. He would clean the bed to greet his guests. If you had talent, Old Cao would even had his children be your servant.

"Yes, yes!" Liu Mang almost stuttered his speech. This is Boss Cao! This is Cao Cao! This is the Emperor Wu of Wei! He was someone who had conquered China! And this someone actually held his fist toward him respectfully with a low posture!

"Hanyang!" Thanks to Lu Bu grabbing Liu Mang did he not shame himself on the scene.

Liu Mang composed himself and responded politely. "This humble person is Liu Mang, Liu Hanyang. Paying respects to Prime Minister Cao!"

"Hanyang?!" Cao Cao's gaze grew more profound as he muttered Liu Mang's courtesy name. "Rumor has it that Hanyang is a Han imperial clansman!"

Well shit, who knows where Old Cao got the information of his self declared Han imperial clansman status. And now he's asking.

"Han imperial clansman?!" Within the Cao army there's a middle aged man with long hair and big ears. He was also watching the Liu Mang who stood atop the city walls with a flickering gaze.

To be pointed out by Old Cao, Liu Mang could only put a bold face and lie blantly. "Mang is indeed a Han imperial clansman. His majesty is my elder brother!"

"Oh?!" Old Cao was just asking to see. He had already checked the Han imperial clan's family tree. There was indeed a Liu Mang. However, it was a child that had long since disappeared before the chaos started. Who would've expect for that child to reappear here.

"In that case, Hanyang is of royal kin to our great Han!" Old Cao's posture dropped even lower.

How would Liu Mang possibly be an opponent of this old fox Cao Cao. Thus he could only nod.

Chen Gong frowned. This Cao Cao certainly had something planned. He knew of this Cao Cao better than he knew himself.

Surely enough, Cao Cao's following speech was like a strike directly aimed at Liu Mang's balls. "Hanyang is both an imperial clansman and also His Majesty's brother, you ought to return to the Xudu with this lowly Cao Cao and assist His Majesty in promptly pacifying the world, returning it to the Han people!"

Old Cao's words were devout, righteous and inspires reverence. Had Liu Mang not knew of Cao Cao character from history books, he really would've been moved by Old Cao. But Liu Mang knew of Cao Cao's character and what's on his mind - hold the emperor and you shall control his vassals! Had it been peaceful times, Cao Cao would've been a great statesman for certain. However, it is currently a period of chaos and the prestige of the Han Dynasty had already dropped to its lowest point!

Starting from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to Dong Zhou deposing Emperor Shao and finally Yuan Shu declaring himself emperor, how many Han imperial clansman are left?! Was Cao Cao really a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty? Even if he was to be loyal, his trusted aides and subordinates would never allow him to be loyal. Did you really think that Cao Cao would return the nation to Emperor Xian of Han?!

Stop dreaming, okay? If he returned the nation to Emperor Xian of Han then on one hand there's the emperor and his family and on the other hand there's Cao Cao, a subject and his family, Emperor Xian of Han will certainly eliminate Old Cao's trusted aides and replace them with his own.

And who will be the ones that gets eliminated? No one knows for certain and no one was willing to gamble their lives!

Thus, even if Old Cao wanted to be a loyal subject, sooner or later he will still take on the emperor's gown.

This was precisely what happened to Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of Song Dynasty!

"Trying to woo me?!" Liu Mang knew what Old Cao was thinking of - he wanted to obtain Liu Mang. Old Cao was indeed a formidable person to be trying to obtain he who almost caused his death!

"My lord. My lord, it's impossible for you to obtain Liu Mang!" said a sickly Cao scholar.

Old Cao looked at Liu Mang with a flickering gaze and said. "Hanyang, currently the Emperor is lacking young and talented individuals like yourself. This Cao Cao was also very impressed by you, Hanyang! I have a daughter who's of age and is currently seeking a husband. Say, Hanyang, what do you think?!"

"Fucking hell!" Why did Boss Cao also turned shameless like Boss Lu?! Now only did he try to woo me over, he's also presenting his daughter! Is their daughter ugly?! Is their daughter unable to get married?! Why the fuck are they all in a hurry to marry them off?!

You don't say, following Boss Cao was certainly a better choice than following Boss Lu. In another year, after the Battle of Guandu, Boss Cao will have eliminated Old Yua and obtained a third of the world! No matter what happened, I would not be risking my life the whole time like I am with Boss Lu right now.

Not to mention there's an addition of a wife. To accept or not to accept?! Liu Mang was indeterminant. However, before he was able to give an answer, Chen Gong already blocked the road.

"Cao Aman, you need not waste your efforts! Hanyang was already my Lord's son in law! Soon, he will be marrying our young Miss. Thus, you might as well find another person for your daughter!"

"Is this true, Hanyang?!" Asked Cao Cao toward Liu Mang.

Liu Mang could only nod his head. He believed that should he say that wasn't the case, then Boss Lu will certainly kill him on the spot.

"It's a shame! " Cao Cao was full of regret. He wanted to obtain Liu Mang. So what if he had to marry a daughter? To not turn a great talent into a threat, that was something that Cao Cao needed.

Cao Cao was prepared to leave on his horse.

Liu Mang suddenly, out of nowhere, decided to call out. "Wait a moment!"

"Oh?!" Cao Cao ceased the reins on his hands. "Perhaps Hanyang had came to a realization?!" His expression and words were full of happiness.

"You really want to go to Xudu and marry Cao Cao, Cao Aman's daughter?!" Chen Gong had lost his grace, he had already long since lost his calm toward his foe Cao Cao.

"No, that's not it!" Liu Mang shook his head. He turned toward Cao Cao and asked. "Cao, your mother, is she well?"

[TL: 操,你,娘好吗?--> Cao, your mother, is she well? --> Fuck. your. mother. okay?!

Cao Cao's given name 操 also means fuck (slang). 操(Cao, conduct) sounds the same as 肏(Cao, fuck). So there you have it. ]

"Ah?!" Boss Cao was totally confused. "Hanyang, why did you bring up Cao's late mother? She had departed long ago!"

"Oh!" Liu Mang asked again. "Cao, your wife, is she well?!"

[TL: 操,你,夫人,好嘛?!--> Cao, your wife, is she well? --> Fuck. your. wife. okay?!]

What's with this Liu Hanyang?! Cao Cao frowned. "My wives are all in Xudu!"

"Puu!" Before Liu Mang was able to do anything the city walls were already full of laughter. In the few days that Liu Mang was in the Lu Bu army he who was completely ignorant of military affairs, in order to intimate himself with the soldiers, could only use sexual jokes to become fellows with the soldiers. Even Chen Gong and Lu Bu came to understand a bit and now they too began laughing upon hearing Liu Mang's questions.

Cao Cao wasn't stupid, upon seeing that the whole city wall was full of laughter, he knew that he was played with. With ashen complexion, he brandished his horsewhip. "Liu Mang, Liu Hanyang, had I, Cao Mende, ever offended you?!"

"Nope!" Liu Mang shook his head.

"Then had I, Cao Mende, ever disrespected you?!"

"Nope!" Liu Mang shook his head again.

"In that case, why must you play with this Cao?! Did you really thought that I, Cao Cao, waves around a blunt sword?!" Old Cao was also someone who kills without blinking, his murderous aura no less than Lu Bu's.

"Shit, joked too hard!" Seeing Old Cao's expression, Liu Mang knew he fucked up.

"Rascal Liu Mang, you dared insult I! Soldiers, lay siege to the city with all your might!"

Chapter 24: If We're Going To Do It, Then We're Going Big

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Although there were neither guns nor cannons in the era of cold weapon, it had something that weapons could not replace - the reek and sight of blood.

From Cao Cao's single command, the whole Cao army, like ants, began to rush toward the city walls.

North, South, West and East, all four gates were being besieged. Waves after waves of Cao troops had dyed the walls red with blood.

Although Zang Ba had dismissed his troops, he had been stationed in Kaiyang for a long time. Thus, the defenses of Kaiyang was no worse than Xiapi. In fact, had Xiapi not been protected by rivers on all sides, its defense might not even be able to match Kaiyang's!

Boss Lu was at the front gate. As for the other three gates, there's Gao Shun, Zhang Liao and Zang Ba. Their presence managed to keep the morale in place.

Having just finished killing a wave of Cao troops that have climbed the walls, before Liu Mang was able to take a rest, another wave of Cao troops had already climbed up the walls.

Four gates. Each of them were being attacked by twenty thousand Cao troops. Underneath the gates there's the also the Ferocious Cavalry gazing upon and waiting for their opportunity.

"Kaiyang. Kaiyang!" Cao Cao narrowed his eyes as he looked upon the city in front of him. He had originally thought it to be just a county city in outskirts of Xu Province, never did he imaged it to have defenses comparable to strategic cities like Xiapi. Even though he had the number advantage and the siege tools he was still met with disastrous amount of casualties.

"Fengxiao, do you know who was the originally guarding this Kaiyang?!" inquired Cao Cao.

As if knowing what Cao Cao was thinking, Guo Fengxiao drank his wine and said. "Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao, originally from Huaxian of Mount Tai, his father is called Zang Jie, he had two sons, Zang Ai and Zang Shun. When he was young, he had once gathered numerous people to rescue his father who had committed a crime and had been drifting all over the place ever since. Later entered the service of Tao Qian and was tasked with resisting the Yellow Turbans. With Sun Guan, Yin Li and others, he had gathered soldiers in Kaiyang and created an independent power. In the second year of Jianan, he defeated Xiao Jian and occupied the city of Ju. This led to Lu Bu dispatching his army to attack Zang Ba. After that, the two men reconciled!"

[TL: Second year of Jianan = 198 AD]

[TL: Xiao Jian was Lu Bu's ally.]

"Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao?!" Cao Cao lowered his head and began to ponder.

"This Kaiyang was originally Zang Ba's base. Prior to being subdued by Lu Bu, this Kaiyang was the reason why Zang Ba was able to negotiate with Tao Qian!" To be able to transform Kaiyang into something like a capital city, this Zang Ba was certainly a great talent.

"My dear lord, you shouldn't always think of obtaining talents. You want to obtain Zang Ba too? Well, the South Gate is currently guarded by him. General Xiahou Dun had already dispatched multiple waves against it but was still unable to even reach the city walls!" What a headache it must be for Guo Jia. This lord of his have a disposition for suspicion but also wanted to obtain every single talented individual he met. If it really was that easy to obtain talents, then why would they come all the way to Langye?!

"My lord, this general is asking for permission to enter the battle!" next to Cao Cao, Xu Huang grew anxious seeing that his subordinates had already attacked Kaiyang for so long but was still unable to enter the city.

"Gongming ah!" Cao Cao looked at Xu Huang and shook his head. "Don't be anxious, it is still not the time yet!" On the city walls of the main gate, there's a golden armored general standing underneath the radiant sunshine. With his armor glittering, he was like the God of War! This was Lu Bu, as long as he's standing there his army will never be defeated.

[TL: Xu Huang's courtesy name = Gongming.]

How could he, Cao Cao, send forward his generals when Lu Bu had yet to make a move?! Xu Huang, Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin and Li Dian were all Old Cao's top generals. However, none of these people were able to match Lu Bu. If they were to be sent out, Cao Cao would only be presenting to Lu Bu their heads!

Men cannot win against a tiger alone. However, men could use stratagems to win against a tiger - stratagem of attrition! To constantly attack the city, both day and dusk, for Cao Cao had plenty of people! As long as he could kill Lu Bu after tiring him out, then it would all be worth regardless of the amount of casualties!

"Pity that my E Lai is already no longer by my side!" Old Cao had a gloomy expression.

[TL: E Lai referred to Dian Wei. E Lai = Fei Lian's son and a man of great strength. Fei Lian is the chinese god of the wind. Hence by calling Dian Wei E Lai, Cao Cao is praising him.]

Guo Jia knew that Cao Cao was thinking of Dian Wei again. In the Battle of Wancheng, Cao Cao lost both his precious son and a fierce general.

The sky gradually darkened. The sun was about to set and both the Cao and Lu soldiers felt a relieve. Unlike modern times, there's no light in the night other than the moon. Thus, whether sieging a city or fighting a battle, both are usually conducted on daytime.

"Beat the gong to recall the troops!" Cao Cao looked at the golden armored man atop the city walls. Lu Bu, as if knowing Cao Cao was watching him, also looked at Cao Cao. Their two sights met and a spark belonging to heroes of the warring era surged amidst the empty air.

"How's the casualties?!" Lu Bu asked one of his officer.

"Over three hundred and eighty wounded, one hundred and twenty two dead!" By wounded, the officer meant seriously injured and unable to return to the battlefield. From just a single day, there's already five hundred casualties. Take into account that there's four walls, the total casualties would number more than two thousand.

How many people do Lu Bu have? He have less than ten thousand! Can he only last for five days?!

As to the amount of Cao casualties, no one bothered to pay attention to it for there's already more than three thousand corpses underneath the city walls. But so what if they had more casualties? Cao Cao could afford to waste but Lu Bu cannot!

"Do you know of where Gongtai is?!" Lu Bu had never been like today, actively seeking out his advisor in hope of creating a strategy to cause Cao Cao's army to retreat.

"Fengxian!" Chen Gong also had a bleak expression, they were all screwed over by Zang Ba. Had Zang Ba not dismissed his troops, with the thirty thousand Mount Tai soldiers and the ten thousand Chen family soldiers, then Lu Bu would have forty thousand troops in hand. With forty thousand troops, even Cao Cao would not dare to do anything rashly. However the thirty thousand soldiers were gone and all that remains were some five thousand stones of provisions, a few hundred armor and less than a hundred war horses.

The current situation was even more severe than Xiapi. There's already no where outside of Xu Province that would have soldiers to reinforce them now!

"Sigh!" Lu Bu sighed. He too knew that he was already at a dead end. From the battle of Xiapi, he already knew that there is no such thing as an unbreakable city.

"If there's really nothing we can do then Gongtai, breakthrough with my daughter, Liu Mang, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, Zang Ba and them on the hundred war horses that's in the city!" Lu Bu's eyes shined. "With I, Lu Bu, here, I will certainly be able to help you delay them for a day or two!"

"My lord! You absolutely cannot!" The Lu Bu army was called the Lu Bu army precisely because of Lu Bu. If Lu Bu's gone, then would they still be the Lu Bu army?!

Liu Mang was standing on the side. He did not speak but he was moved. In such a critical moment, Lu Bu did not think of himself but instead thought of Liu Mang and his daughter. Liu Mang, if one thinks of it, was but a worker working for Lu Bu. However, the Boss was actually thinking of his worker! That kind of feeling was like, yep, it's like the feeling of an elder had toward those who come after.

The transfer button Liu Mang had with him once again began to shine. Liu Mang originally planned to leave but now…

"Give me money!" said Liu Mang calmly.

"Ah?!" Chen Gong frowned. What kind of situation is it to think of money?!

"I said to give me money!" Liu Mang repeated. Seeing the confused expression of Lu Bu and Chen Gong, Liu Mang explained. "Three days, as long as you all can withstand three days, I will be able to come back! Didn't general Zhang Liao said that as long as he have enough horses, his Bing Province Cavalry will be unstoppable?! I can bring you horses and armor but I need money, lots of money!"

"Is this true?!" Lu Bu's eyes lit up. Once his Bing Province Cavalry was to have horses, only then are they the real Bing Province Cavalry. Ferocious Cavalry, Righteous White Cavalry and the Heavy Cavalry of Western Liang, none of them could even bother Lu Bu.

"When have I ever lied to you?!" Liu Mang gave a supercilious look. "But I need a large amount of gold!"

"How much do you need?!" Chen Gong was still with a face full of distress. Kaiyang does not have a lot of money left. In the warring era horses became things of strategic importance and were all in the control of a few frontier warlords, people like Yuan Shao, Ma Teng, Han Sui and them. None of them were willing to sell their horses. Even if they were to sell them, it'll be tens of gold per horse. With this kind of pricing, how many could they possibly be able to purchase with the money left in Kaiyang?!

Liu Mang wasn't profound in the arts of purchasing horses. But alas, he had a classmate whose family breeds horses. Liu Mang learned from that classmate that an ordinary adult horse was only some ten thousand yuan and only race horses would cost several millions. He also knew that there's a huge horse farm in the city of Hongwei of Shandong Province.

Gold. The market price of gold was three hundred yuan per gram before Liu Mang came here. To purchase a horse, it'll cost him thirty five grams of gold. For one hundred horses, three thousand five hundred grams.

"How many horses do you need?!" Liu Mang asked instead.

"A thousand war horses?!" Chen Gong carefully said a number.

"A thousand?" Liu Mang began calculating. He figured that it'll be thirty five thousand grams of gold. That's seventy pounds of gold and according to the gold weight of the Three Kingdoms period, it'll be a thousand and a hundred twenty gold.

Liu Mang rounded off the number. "A thousand two hundred gold!"

"What?!" Lu Bu was so shocked that he jumped.

"That's impossible!" Chen Gong wasn't calm either. This pricing was too unrealistic.

"Too expensive?!" Liu Mang didn't know of the pricing of horses in the Three Kingdoms period. However, this was precisely the price of horses in modern times. "If it's too expensive, I can negotiate with the other side!" Buying a thousand horses was a transaction of more than ten million. A transition this large will certainly be eligible for a discount!

"No! No!" Lu Bu and Chen Gong quickly shook their head.

"How much gold is left in the Kaiyang palace?!" Lu Bu fought back his happiness as he asked Chen Gong.

"There remains less than two thousand gold. However, General Zang Ba should have a couple thousand gold!" Zang Ba was already planning to retire to the countryside. Thus, he certainly would've taken a lot of Kaiyang's assets.

"Good!" Lu Bu composed himself and said. "Borrow five thousand gold from Zang Ba. Tell him I will return him twice fold in the future! Then give all these seven thousand gold to Hanyang. I want five thousand warhorses!" said Lu Bu as he held out five fingers.

"Five thousand?!" Liu Mang looked at Lu Bu with eyes shocked wide open. "That's seven thousand gold, even if I purchase five thousand horses, there's still two thousand gold!" Was the rest of the gold to purchase armor?!

Boss Lu was prepared to go big.

Chapter 25: Selling Gold

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Seven thousand golds, roughly five hundred pounds worth of gold. Liu Mang found a large sack for all these gold.

Liu Mang looked at Lu Bu and Chen Gong.

Chen Gong handed the sack full of gold to Liu Mang. He said "Hanyang, it's all up to you now!" Whether or not they could break through Kaiyang, whether or not the Lu Bu army could rise again, it was all now depending on Lin Mang's return.

Although Lu Bu didn't say anything, he had eyes full of encouragement as he looked at Liu Mang.

"Three days! Just resist them for three days and I will be back!" Liu Mang nodded.

"Don't mention three days, as long as this Lu Bu is alive, Cao Cao could forget about entering Kaiyang!" Lu Bu had his pride for he was the number one general under heaven, his presence is like that of the God of War.

"Take care!" Liu Mang pressed the button to transport him back.

Golden light once again radiated the whole room. This time Lu Bu and Chen Gong was a lot more calm, after all, Liu Mang had already did this miracle once before.

The golden light soon disappeared and along with it Liu Mang.

Lu Bu laughed. "Let's go Gongtai, it would appear that we must fight alongside this time around!"

"Hehe, my lord needn't speak like so for I, Chen Gongtai, was more than just a mere scholar!" Chen Gong too laughed. Half a day ago they were still in despair and now they had found hope. As long as Liu Mang brings back the five thousand war horses and armor, then they will certainly will certainly have the means to break out of this siege.

------------------------------------------------------------

Modern times. Jinling. An ancient city that was the capital city of six different dynasties. A city that currently the capital city of a single province.

[TL: China's original capital was Nanjing aka. Jinling, a much more strategic location compared to Beijing. Some dumb emperor decided to move to Beijing, a place in the middle of nowhere.]

Liu Mang appeared in the middle of the street naturally and without drawing any attention. It was as if he was originally there.

"PM value was still 2.5! It's still that familiar smell, it's still that sentiment hazy sky!" Liu Mang affectionately breathed in a deep gulp of air. Those corpses that surrounded Kaiyang, those smell of blood that was in the air the whole time, Liu Mang had enough of them. He who originally detested the polluted air of modern day now loved it. He even though that the hazy sky was cute.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I, Liu Mang, am back again!" Liu Mang suddenly loudly shouted, frightening many passersby.

"This man is obviously crazy!" A pair of lovers who was next to Liu Mang was startled by his scream.

"A crazy bastard! Heck are you shouting about in broad daylight, we know you're a molester, okay?!"

[TL: remember that Liu Mang's name sounds the same as molester.]

"This bro got guts. Never had I heard someone self declaring to be a molester!" A fatty passerby who, upon hearing Liu Mang's words, turned to him and gave him a thumbs up.

"Molester?!" All the women who thought that they were some beauties decided to cover their skirt tightly.

Actually, in the eyes of Liu Mang, those women was wasting their efforts. That short, only idiots would not be able to tell the colors of the panties!

Fortunately Liu Mang changed onto the clean clothes he had brought with him the last time he transported. Otherwise, if he came back wearing ancient robes, then he'll certainly be sent to the police station.

"Five hundred pounds of gold!" Liu Mang was totally excited as he held onto the sack.

Back in Kaiyang, Liu Mang was already about to drool over the gold. However, he held himself back just so that he doesn't shame himself in front of everyone. Now that he's back, he began to feel the bumpy parts of the sack. This feeling, this material, he could not help but be excited.

Five hundred pounds of gold, that was certainly something that Liu Mang could not carry by himself. Luckily, he still had five thousand bucks on him. Thus, he called a taxi and drove toward the direction of the university.

Liu Mang didn't know much profound knowledges, however he knew of one thing - one must not show his money! If he were to try to sell these five hundred pounds of gold directly, then only one thing could happen - he will be left with nothing! This was seventy five million yuan worth of gold! Who wouldn't want it?!

Thus, there was only one person who could help him - Chen Yi. Liu Mang doesn't know what Chen Yi's family does, however he knew that they are very rich and not just ordinary rich!

He had once been to Chen Yi's house. She lived in the Mount Huan villa region! Jinling was a place of high land cost, ordinary houses that's a single square already cost some twenty thousand and those houses in the Mount Huan villa region cost about a hundred thousand per square. Chen Yi's house was at least five squares! All the gold that Liu Mang had here was only enough to purchase her house!

"Wei? Who's this?!" Chen Yi was at home. It was already late afternoon. There's no class in the afternoon so Chen Yi had went home. Just as she arrived home, she received a call from an unknown number.

With doubt, Chen Yi pressed the accept button on her cellphone.

"It's me Chen Yi, it's me, Liu Mang!" Liu Mang said toward the phone.

"Liu Mang?!" Chen Yi noticed too. This voice was certainly Liu Mang's. "Liu Mang, I was looking for you!" Chen Yi had a lot of things she wanted to ask him. That general gown she purchased from Liu Mang, upon bring it back home, was noticed by her grandfather! After identifying it, they found out that general gown was a governor's general gown from the Eastern Han Dynasty! To be able to wear that gown, the person had to be at least a Province Governor!

Stuffs from the Eastern Han Dynasty, even if they didn't had any archaeological value, it was still an antiques that worth several millions! A single Wang Mang coin was able to sell for a hundred million!

[TL: Wang Mang 45BC-23AD, Wang Mang usurped power from the Liu imperial family back during the Han dynasty between the period of Former Han and Latter (Eastern) Han. So one of his coins he made when he took over cost a hundred million yuan.]

But this gown was purchased from Liu Mang for only twenty thousand! This caused Chen Yi to feel bad. She initially wanted to find Liu Mang and return the gown to him but the gown was instead taken away by her grandfather.

"Perfect timing! I was just about to find you!" Liu Mang froze for a moment. Why did Chen Yi wanted to find him? Was it because of those two pairs of armor?

"Where are you?!" The two of them both asked the same question in unison.

"Let's meet up in the university!" Once again in unison. This caused the two to fall silent until Liu Mang finally broke it by saying. "I will wait for you in the animation and manga club room!"

"Okay! I'll drive there immediately!" Chen Yi immediately hung up. She dressed herself and was about the leave the house.

"Lil Yi, where are you going?!" This voice was Chen Yi's mother. She was a successful career woman. In the business world, her swift and decisive reaction had earned her the will of the people.

"Mom, I gotta go to the university to do something!" replied Chen Yi.

"University? Wasn't there no class today?!" Chen Yi's mother confused.

"Yes, there's no class! It's that the owner of that general gown had returned. I'm on my way to see him and purchase the gown from him!" replied Chen Yi. Her grandfather was too fond of the gown, thus it was already impossible for her to return Liu Mang the gown. Thus, she could only use money to compensate Liu Mang.

"Is it your grandfather's gown?!" Chen Yi's mother was surprised. She remembered that her father in law had recently fell in love with an ancient Han clothing, wearing it everyday and showing off saying it's some kind of general gown.

"That's right!" Chen Yi nodded.

"To purchase the gown, do you have enough money?!" Although Chen Yi's wasn't profound in the knowledge of antiques, she knew of their values. A well preserved Han Dynasty general gown was certainly not going to be cheap. "Take this card! There's fifty million in the card!" The card was a bonus she received this time around. Chen Yi's mother just shoved the card to Chen Yi like it was something totally worthless.

"Fifty million?!" Chen Yi didn't take the card. "Mom, I don't need this much. At most I'd been a couple million!" If it's a couple millions, then Chen Yi's card had enough money.

"Take it first! Just give it back to mom afterwards!" Chen Yi's mother once again handed her the card.

"Okay. Then mom, I'll be going!"

"Take care and be careful on the road!"

"I got it, Mom!" Chen Yi entered the garage and started up her car.

Hong (Red) University's Animation and Manga Clubroom. Liu Mang spent a great deal of effort to finally move the five hundred pounds worth of gold into the club room. Once he finished, he laid down onto the floor completely exhausted.

"Ka ka!" The club room's door was opened. A beautiful figure came in.

The two looked at each other and said at the same time.

"Liu Mang."

"Chen Yi."

The two stopped. They paused and waited for the other to speak first and when neither does, they began to speak again at the same time.

"You speak first!" "You speak fist!"

The two's eyes both widened.

"I have something I need you for!" "I have something I need you for!"

Their mouth started twitching. They wanted to laugh but cannot laugh.

"Regarding that robe!" Their thought came together.

"Yeah, it's that robe!" Chen Yi nodded.

"Did you regret buying it?!"asked Liu Mang. He had sold the gown to Chen Yi for twenty thousand. Had Chen Yi regretted buying it earlier, then Liu Mang had no way of returning her the money. However, he currently had a lot of gold. If she regret buying it now, then he could always just return her the money after selling the gold.

"No, that's not it!" Chen Yi shook her head. "It's just that the gown turned out to be more expensive than I thought!"

"So you didn't regret buying it. Then just let it be, don't bother over the extra money!" In Liu Mang's opinion, how could there be a lot of extra money. At most, the gold thread might weigh a couple more grams than expected. Now that he had five hundred pounds of gold, he couldn't care less about the extra money from the gown.

"No!" Chen Yi didn't agree with him. "That gown is worth over three million!"

"Aiya, we don't have to bother over that little amount of money!..." Right after saying those words, Liu Mang was stunned. "...you… what did you say?!"

"I said that robe might be worth more than three million yuan. I didn't bother to determine its exact value but according to the less Xiang Jiang auction, they had sold a general gown that was a bit damaged for three million and five hundred fifty thousand!" explained Chen Yi.

"In that case, that gown's worth over three million?!" Liu Mang swallowed a mouthful of saliva. That gown was just some ordinary clothes that Lu Bu gave to him after his original clothes were damaged.

A single piece of Boss Lu's clothes was worth over three million?!

"Yep!" Chen Yi continued. "I had previously given you twenty thousand so I still owe you three million five hundred and thirty thousand! Come, let's go to the bank to transfer the money!"

"Over three million? A single outfit cost more than three million?!" Liu Mang finally knew how wasteful Boss Lu was. Even the wealthy people in this world wouldn't buy an outfit for over three million!

Chen Yi saw the stunned Liu Mang. She was ready to bring him to the bank to transfer the money.

"Wait a moment!" Liu Mang shook his head vigorously to abandon the distractions in his mind. He was stunned by the three million and almost forgot about what he came to do this time around.

"Yeah?" puzzled, Chen Yi looked at Liu Mang.

"Chen Yi, regarding that robe, we can put that off to the side for now. I want to ask you a favor!" said Liu Mang earnestly.

"Put that off to the side? A favor?!" Chen Yi was confused. Liu Mang doesn't seem like some kind of wealthy person. Three million, that's an amount that he might not necessarily be able to make in his whole life time. To put that off to the side, was there something even more important to Liu Mang than the three million?

"Other than the gown, I want you to help me sell this!" said Liu Mang as he pointed at the rag sack.

"Sell thing?!" Chen Yi was even more confused. What is it that's more important than three million? That bag of things in that rag sack?

"Are you selling gold or what? To even put three million aside!" teased Chen Yi.

"You guessed correctly! I am selling gold!" Liu Mang rapidly went to open the rag sack.

A sack of gold was shining under the light exhibiting a great brilliance.