Chapter 148: One and a Half Prefectures

Within the imperial palace of Luoyang, Dong Zhuo had been living a life akin to that of an immortal in recent days. At this moment, Dong Zhuo was seated right beside the dragon throne of Liu Xie, observing the civil and military officials assembled below as they conducted the morning court session. Meanwhile, the young Emperor Xian of Han looked down at the officials with trembling fear. After all, Liu Xie was merely a ten-year-old child, and naturally, he harbored a deep terror of Dong Zhuo. As for Lü Bu, he stood closely beside Dong Zhuo, acting as his personal bodyguard. As for the coalition of feudal lords, Dong Zhuo did not hold them in the slightest regard.

"Lord Chancellor," Li Ru said as he walked into the grand hall with a darkened expression, completely ignoring the rows of civil and military officials.

"Oh, it is my dear son-in-law. What is the matter? Do you not see that His Majesty and I are currently holding court?" Dong Zhuo asked with a trace of smugness.

Li Ru stepped closer to Dong Zhuo and lowered his voice, "There is an urgent matter of great importance. It would be best to discuss it away from the crowd."

Seeing the grave expression on Li Ru's face, Dong Zhuo knew that his son-in-law would never make a fuss over nothing. Consequently, he hastily brought the morning audience to a close, and taking Lü Bu and Li Ru with him, he retreated to the inner chambers.

"Son-in-law, what on earth has happened to make you look so tense?" Dong Zhuo asked in confusion.

"You two, come in and report yourselves," Li Ru said with a grim face as he addressed the outside.

At Li Ru's words, two figures stepped through the doorway.

"Li Su, Niu Fu, why are both of you here?" Dong Zhuo cried out, his eyes widening in disbelief. He knew full well that Li Su should have been stationed at Sishui Pass, while Niu Fu should have been far away in his hometown of Longxi in Liangzhou. Instantly, an ominous preordained sense of doom gripped Dong Zhuo's heart.

"Father-in-law! Lord Chancellor!" The two men collapsed onto their knees simultaneously, wailing aloud, but their tears and cries made it impossible for anyone to understand a single word they were saying.

"Silence! Li Su, you speak first," Dong Zhuo roared in exasperation, instantly cutting through the noise and startling the two men into sudden quietness.

Hearing this, Li Su wept and said, "Lord Chancellor, that scoundrel Hua Xiong actually surrendered directly to Liu Yao and led troops to let the coalition forces through the pass! Sishui Pass has fallen!"

"Damn that treacherous Hua Xiong!" Dong Zhuo thundered in fury. "After all the favor I showed him, I never expected Hua Xiong to betray me, and to surrender to Liu Yao of all people!"

Dong Zhuo sprang to his feet with a sudden start, pacing anxiously back and forth as he muttered to himself, "What is to be done? What is to be done? Liu Yao has actually arrived as well. Can it be that Heaven truly intends to destroy me, Dong Zhuo?" Before a single battle had even been fought, Dong Zhuo already felt a deep sense of dread toward Liu Yao, a testament to the immense psychological shadow Liu Yao cast over him.

"Foster Father, in my eyes, those sixteen route lords are nothing more than mere ants. As long as this son of yours leads troops to garrison Hulao Pass, those lords will never be able to step even an inch closer to Luoyang. As for that Liu Yao, he is merely a slightly larger ant. With the Halberd of Heavenly Might in my hands and the Red Hare steed beneath me, I shall ensure they come and never return!" At that moment, Lü Bu stepped forward and declared with absolute confidence.

Seeing Lü Bu step up, Dong Zhuo felt as though he had suddenly found his backbone. Overjoyed, he exclaimed, "My son is truly valiant! With my son guarding Hulao Pass, Luoyang has nothing to fear."

"Father-in-law! There is still someone else!" Li Ru reminded him with an expression of profound anguish.

Only then did Dong Zhuo remember that Niu Fu was also present. He strode forward, grabbed Niu Fu by the collar, and roared, "What on earth is going on here? Were you not garrisoned in my ancestral home of Longxi in Liangzhou? How is it that you have come to Luoyang?"

"Father-in-law, I was indeed properly garrisoned in Longxi, but those twenty thousand Youzhou troops under Liu Yao suddenly emerged from nowhere and caught us completely off guard. Moreover, that brat Ma Teng allied with Liu Yao. While our main forces were locked in a fierce battle with the Youzhou army, they launched a surprise attack from our rear. Now Longxi... Longxi..." At this point, Niu Fu choked up and dared not continue.

"That brat Liu Yao! That scoundrel Ma Teng!" Dong Zhuo roared toward the heavens, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood. Instantly, his vision darkened, and his body slumped helplessly to the side. Although Niu Fu had not finished his sentence, the meaning was painfully clear. Longxi was lost. This meant that Dong Zhuo now had no retreat left. Originally, Dong Zhuo had intended to use Liangzhou as his ultimate stronghold; even if he suffered defeat here in Luoyang, he could always fall back to Liangzhou and start afresh. But everything was different now. If he failed to repel the coalition of lords, he, Dong Zhuo, would be left without a burial place.

"Father-in-law!" Li Ru and Niu Fu scrambled forward to catch Dong Zhuo, preventing him from collapsing to the floor.

Dong Zhuo had merely fainted from an overwhelming surge of fury, but he regained consciousness very quickly.

"Father-in-law, you must take care of your health," Li Ru said with deep concern.

However, once revived, Dong Zhuo did not fly into the blind rage he usually exhibited. Instead, he asked with unnerving calmness, "Niu Fu, what is the current situation in Liangzhou? And what has become of our families?"

"At present, we are locked in a standoff with Liu Yao. The territory north of Longxi has been seized by Ma Teng and Liu Yao, while the territory south of Longxi remains under our control. However, our families... they have all been captured by Liu Yao," Niu Fu said with grief-stricken sorrow. Among the captives were Dong Zhuo's two daughters—who were the wives of Niu Fu and Li Ru, respectively.

Hearing that half of Liangzhou was still in his hands, Dong Zhuo let out a sigh of relief, knowing that his path of retreat was not entirely severed. Yet upon hearing that his family members had all been captured, a sharp pain struck his chest once more. Dong Zhuo had no sons of his own; he cherished his two beloved daughters above all else. Now that they had fallen into Liu Yao's clutches, compounded by the loss of the greater part of Liangzhou, how could Dong Zhuo possibly endure such a blow?

"Father-in-law, do not worry. They will come to no harm. Since Liu Yao has captured them instead of killing them outright, he must have a specific purpose in mind. Therefore, they are certain to be safe. On the contrary, Liu Yao will likely treat them quite well," Li Ru comforted Dong Zhuo, though his own heart ached faintly. After all, his own wife had been captured, and as a human being, how could Li Ru possibly set his mind at ease?

Hearing Li Ru's words, Dong Zhuo felt his heart settle slightly. He declared, "Fengxian, Wenyou, tomorrow the two of you shall accompany me with an army of one hundred and fifty thousand to Hulao Pass. I am determined to meet that scoundrel Liu Yao face-to-face!"

"This son obeys," Lü Bu replied respectfully. Yet, deep within Lü Bu's heart, a wave of surging excitement had already taken root. If Dong Zhuo's entire family were to perish, he, Lü Bu, would have an even greater opportunity in the future to usurp Dong Zhuo's power. Only by seizing such control could he amass sufficient strength to contend for the Central Plains and vie for supremacy under heaven.

Meanwhile, a month prior, Zhang Fei, Xi Zhicai, Zhang He, and Tian Feng had each led twenty thousand troops to launch a direct assault upon the nine commanderies of Bingzhou. Along their journey, they advanced as if traversing unpopulated territory; no one could stem the momentum of the Youzhou forces. In many places, upon merely hearing that the approaching army belonged to Liu Yao, the cities promptly opened their gates in surrender, welcoming Liu Yao's grand army within. This was clear evidence that Liu Yao's reputation was exceptionally high not only in Youzhou but in Bingzhou as well.

Consequently, within the span of a month, Zhang Fei and his companions successfully captured all eight commanderies of Bingzhou, leaving only Taiyuan. Finally, the two forces converged, mustering a total of forty thousand troops to march against Taiyuan Commandery. At that very moment, the pitiable Administrator of Shangdang, Zhang Yang, who was currently residing in Luoyang, remained entirely oblivious to the fact that his territory had already been annexed by Liu Yao.

Taiyuan Commandery held merely a minor general left behind by Ding Yuan, along with a garrison of twenty thousand men. This force was easily lured out of Taiyuan by Xi Zhicai using a strategy of drawing the tiger away from its mountain lair. In open-field combat, who could possibly stand as a match for the Youzhou army? Moreover, the Youzhou army possessed forty thousand soldiers—double the strength of Taiyuan's garrison. They swiftly shattered the opposing force and secured Taiyuan Commandery, while the minor general was run through by Zhang He's spear. In this manner, the entire province of Bingzhou fell completely into Liu Yao's hands.

Meanwhile, Gao Shun, Cang Ba, and Cheng Yu, taking advantage of the period when Zhang Fei and the others were locked in heavy combat with the Bingzhou forces, slipped through Bingzhou amidst the chaos and made a direct dash for Longxi in Liangzhou, Dong Zhuo's ancestral homeland. Before Niu Fu could even react, the ten-thousand-strong Trapping Corps split into ten detachments and seized all the other ten counties of Longxi Commandery, save for Lintao County. Ultimately, they confronted Niu Fu in a standoff at Lintao.

At that crucial juncture, Ma Teng led thirty thousand Liangzhou cavalrymen to strike Lintao from the rear, unleashing a massive fire that incinerated all of Niu Fu's grain supplies. This disaster dealt a crushing blow to the morale of Niu Fu's army, leaving them utterly routed by the combined forces of Gao Shun and Ma Teng.

It had to be said that Niu Fu possessed a measure of genuine capability. Recognizing the hopelessness of the situation, he immediately led his retreating troops to garrison Jincheng, refusing to sally forth, and reinforced his position by summoning fifty thousand additional troops from elsewhere in Liangzhou, bringing his total garrison at Jincheng to one hundred thousand. For a time, even Cheng Yu could find no effective countermeasure, forcing him to fall back to Longxi to deliberate his next move. Meanwhile, Niu Fu took advantage of the cover of night, slipped out with two thousand cavalrymen, and galloped straight toward Luoyang to deliver the alarming report to Dong Zhuo.