Chapter 516: Silver tongue! (Fathers, sorry for the long wait!)
After listening to Lu Bu’s temptation, Chen Lin’s mood changed unconsciously.

This Lu Bu, it was clearly the first time they met each other, how come he knew everything about his preferences?

No wonder the other party can control seven states and more than forty counties!

It seems that it is not just relying on one’s own bravery and that terrible gunpowder pot.

The other party’s means of controlling people are equally extraordinary!
And what the other party said was right. His greatest hobby in life was making friends through literature.

He had heard before that some of the most outstanding poems were written by this Lu Bu.

He didn’t believe it at first.

Later I learned that Lu Bu had once been a chief clerk, so it is possible that he could write such an excellent fu.

Now seeing that the other party was speaking fluently and eloquently, he felt that the legend should not be false.

It would be a blessing to be able to exchange poetry and songs with such a person instead of talking about fighting on the battlefield…

Thinking of this, Chen Lin finally put aside his arrogance as a scholar and said with a sigh:
“I originally planned to die to show my loyalty to the Han Dynasty, but Lord Chu treated me with such courtesy that I am deeply moved.

“Although Lin is not talented, I am willing to help Lord Chu with all my heart!”

As he spoke, Chen Lin bowed to Lu Bu.

Seeing that Chen Lin was finally persuaded, Lu Bu felt relieved and quickly supported Chen Lin’s elbow and said:
“It is my good fortune that Mr. Chen has turned from evil to good!
“Come on, come on, please take a seat!”

Having said that, Lu Bu arranged a seat next to the main seat and treated Chen Lin very well.

Chen Lin was quite touched by this, but being smart, he also understood the other party’s purpose.

So before sitting down, he bowed ninety degrees to Lu Bu and said:

“If you need my help, please let me know!
“Although Lin longs for the life that Ming Gong promised, she also knows that the world is not stable and it is difficult to maintain the Pure Land.

“If I can contribute to the early stability of the world, I will not hesitate to die!”

After hearing Chen Lin’s words, Lu Bu was shocked and pulled the other person away from the table:

“Although Kong Zhang is a scholar, he has the spirit of a warrior!

“In this case, I will speak frankly.

“After we captured Danshui County this time, no one escaped.

“So the people at Hangu Pass probably didn’t know about the fall of the city yet.

“I hope Mr. Chen can lead several hundred remnant troops disguised as our soldiers to escape to Hangu Pass.

“When I attack Hangu Pass, Mr. Chen will be my insider and persuade the garrison commander to surrender!”

After hearing what Lu Bu said, Chen Lin’s eyes lit up slightly, but then he frowned and said:
“It is indeed a brilliant move to let me lead the remaining troops to retreat to Hangu Pass as an internal support.

“But the man guarding Hangu Pass is Grand Tutor Ma Ritian, who is also a close confidant of Your Majesty.

“My Lord, if you want me to persuade the other party to surrender, it will be very difficult unless the situation is extremely critical…”

There was a flash of surprise in Lu Bu’s eyes.

This Ma Ritian is indeed a prominent figure.

At a young age, he inherited Ma Rong’s teachings, and later became as famous as Cai Yong, Lu Zhi and others.

And now he holds the position of Taifu, one of the three highest officials in the country, so it is indeed difficult to persuade him to surrender.

However, Lu Bu still smiled and said:

“Don’t worry, Kong Zhang, you just need to be the insider and act according to the situation.

“As for how to break Ma Riti’s defense, leave it to me!”

Seeing the man full of confidence, although Chen Lin was suspicious, he also knew that the other party was not Dong Cheng’s kind.

So he said solemnly:

“There is no time to lose. I should lead my troops to Hangu Pass immediately!”

Lu Bu grabbed the other’s wrist and said with a smile:
“It won’t be too late to leave after the banquet.”

Chen Lin shook her head and refused:
“Since we are pretending to be defeated, we should look hungry and miserable so as to deceive the enemy.

“Otherwise, if we are well fed and greasy, I am afraid the people guarding the pass will not believe us.” Seeing that what Chen Lin said made sense, Lu Bu nodded in agreement and suspended the banquet.

He personally led the soldiers to escort Chen Lin and more than 600 soldiers out of the city.

These more than 600 soldiers were all Lu Bu’s soldiers, but now they were all wearing the clothes of court soldiers.

Many people even suffered serious injuries in this battle.

Lu Bu personally visited every wounded soldier and promised to give each of them a generous reward.

The soldiers were quite moved by this.

Even though I know this mission is dangerous, I am willing to fight to the death for my lord!

Chen Lin saw all of this and praised secretly:
“As expected of a man with a military background, he knows how to get along with the soldiers.

“It’s hard for a monarch like this not to achieve great things!”

After saying goodbye to Lu Bu, Chen Lin led the 600 remaining troops and rushed to Hangu Pass.

……

Hangu Pass.

This pass is located on the plateau in the west, faces a steep ravine in the east, connects to the Qinling Mountains in the south, and blocks the Yellow River in the north.

Because the pass is located in a valley and is as deep and dangerous as a box, it is called Hangu Pass.

It is one of the earliest fortresses in Chinese history!

At this moment, Taifu Ma Riti was standing on the city gate, looking towards Danshui County.

Although Hangu Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack, it is a natural barrier.

But Ma Riti knew very well that he was just a civil servant and had no experience in leading troops in battle.

Most of the court’s elite soldiers and generals were transferred to Liangzhou.

Once Danshui County falls, all the burdens will fall on him.

After all, once Hangu Pass is broken, the entire Hongnong County will be lost.

And he recently heard a piece of news.

The Xiongnu in the north, who were once repelled by Your Majesty, have begun to move southward and attack Bingzhou again!

And for some reason, the lack of military strength in Bingzhou was discovered by those northern barbarians.

They attacked very aggressively!
However, due to insufficient manpower, most of the defending generals were unable to resist and allowed the Huns to reach Hexi County!
Once Hexi County is lost, they will join forces with Lu Bu’s army to attack Hedong County.

If Hedong County is lost again, the connection between Henei and Henan and the imperial court will be completely cut off.

Most importantly, the imperial court’s territory would be surrounded by the Xiongnu and Lu Bu’s army, and it would lose contact with its allied Liu Bei army…

Combined with Lu Bu’s sudden attack on Hongnong County.

It is hard not to wonder whether there is some unknown conspiracy between the Huns and Lu Bu!

Just when Ma Riti was feeling anxious, he suddenly saw a group of hundreds of people fleeing in a panic from the direction of Danshui County.

Seeing this scene, a bad feeling suddenly surged into Ma Riti’s heart!

Soon, the team arrived at the foot of the pass.

The leader had disheveled hair and was dressed in scholar’s clothes. He cried out to Guan Shang:
“We are the defenders of Danshui County!
“Now that the father-in-law Dong Cheng has died in battle and Danshui City has been lost, we have risked our lives to protect the father-in-law’s body and come here to beg for entry!”

Ma Riti was horrified and wanted to order someone to open the door and let him in.

At this time, the historian and famous scholar Bian Rang immediately dissuaded him:

“Lü Bu’s army has many strategists, and they are extremely cunning. The commander must be on guard!”

Ma Riti, who was already worried, thought that what Bian Rang said made sense, and asked quickly:

“But how can we refuse to let the father-in-law’s body in?”

Bian Rang looked at the general beside him who had a strong build, messy hair, a thin face, and a mouth full of stubble, and said:
“Wen Ze, you and I will lead the army down to see if it is the remains of the emperor’s father-in-law!”

(End of this chapter)