My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 620

“General! What do we do?” Hao Liu could understand what was going on based on body language. Guo Yi’s expression told him that this young man was the King of Shu. He had offended the King of Shu and his crimes were exposed. He was already on the road to ruin.

“General! I don’t want to die! I still have a mother and a child! General, I can’t let them die either! Please save me!” Hao Liu pulled Guo Yi in hopes that Guo Yi would save him.

Unfortunately, even Guo Yi was powerless to defend himself.

“Get lost!” Guo Yi gritted his teeth as he thought of how to separate himself from Hao Liu. “Do not worry, I will take care of your family.” Guo Yi added carefully. He hoped that Hao Liu would carry all the blame so that Guo Yi would be charged with negligence at most.

Guo Yi’s words was not only to placate Hao Liu but also to threaten Hao Liu. He was saying that if Hao Liu took the blame, then Guo Yi could still help his family. Otherwise, Hao Liu, his family, and Guo Yi would all die together.

This was a good method to use on those who actually value their family. Unfortunately, Hao Liu was someone who beat up his father at the age of fifteen and was willing to sell his wife and child to pay his gambling debts at the age of twenty.

“General! You are the one who made me do this! Have you forgotten that merchant Liu Wu? You also told me to send men to kill the twenty three people from the Qiao Family’s pawnshop! You also told me to lie about the army’s provisions! Have you forgotten?” Hao Liu spoke irresponsibly. He also started to implicate others. “There is also you, deputy general Han! All of you have gained some benefits from me. You also had your part in the killing of the Qiao Family! Wasn’t their jade nice?”

“Shut up!” Some of the officers there started to panic as Hao Liu implicated them. Hao Liu intended to drag all of them down together with him.

“Not good.” Guo Yi’s subordinates were all panicking but Liu Mang and the others don’t seem to be happy at all. This is because they knew that things were spiraling out of control.

All of these crimes were heavy enough that imprisonment would be a lenient sentence. It was even possible for their whole families to be executed.

Everyone wanted Hao Liu to shut up but Hao Liu continued to air out all their dirty laundry in front of their biggest boss, Liu Mang, leaving all of them with no way out. Thanks to that, everyone on both sides wanted to kill Hao Liu.

“Shut up!” Guo Yi roared, frightening Hao Liu. This caused Hao Liu to finally shut his mouth.

“General?” The other officers there looked at Guo Yi. Guo Yi was their pillar.

“Why are you all panicking for? Is the presence of someone who impersonates His Highness the King of Shu enough to make you so panicked?” Guo Yi reprimanded his men. He spoke righteously but he was already preparing to fight.

If Liu Mang was a fake, there wouldn’t have been such fuss, nor would he have needed to slap Hao Liu. They would have already arrested Liu Mang long ago and that would be the end of it.

“Everyone! What should we do if we meet someone impersonating His Highness?” Guo Yi forced himself to calm down. He did not have any other choice. Hao Liu was already hysterical and this action could also save Hao Liu.

“What should we do?” The soldiers calmed down as they heard Guo Yi’s words. Was this King of Shu a fake? How can it be? The tiger tally could not have been a fake.

“I obey the General’s order! We will kill the one pretending to be His Highness the King of Shu!” A few officers gritted their teeth and cupped their fists towards Guo Yi.

“This is obviously the His Highness King of Shu! How can you all say otherwise?” Jiang Wan shouted loudly.

“Brother Jiang, step back.” Liu Mang said to Jiang Wan. How can these people not know his identity? The genuine tiger tally is being treated as a fake on purpose. So arguing with reason would not go anywhere.

Guo Yi would not be shaken as he had no other choice.

“Guo Yi right?” Liu Mang glared at Guo Yi. Guo Yi did not dare to look back directly at Liu Mang.

“I will give you a chance, just like you did earlier! Get down the horse and kneel. I will kill only you. I will spare your family!” Liu Mang said indifferently.

“Kill only me?” Guo Yi had already made up his mind ever since Hao Liu divulged everything. It was a situation where only one side could live. Guo Yi was unwilling to give up. Even if Liu Mang were to spare his family, the Guo Family would still fall prey to the other opportunistic noble families and die anyway. So Guo Yi still believe that fighting is his only option.

“Haha. So you still want to kill your Lord!” Liu Mang said indifferently. All of this happened is because Liu Mang came from Wuxi. He did not dare return to Shouchun because he brought with him Qian Yu, the barbarian princess from Wuxi. He was afraid of his wives and his father-in-law. Besides that, he was chased out of Jingzhou because of Lady Cai and was bringing another woman home. It would be a miracle if they do not beat him to death.

Liu Mang’s fear to return home caused him to take his time and end up at Xinye. He did not expect Guo Yi to take his horse and Hao Liu to try and scam him, resulting in this situation.

Liu Mang could not help but feel admiration. According to Old Xu, the Guo Family was originally just a small family. Besides that, no one told Guo Yi that the nobles were going to relocate to Jingzhou which is why the Guo Family stayed behind. Yet this became a fortune as this allowed the Guo Family to rise in power. Within two months, Guo Yi moved from a county town to Xinye City. He even bought the houses of the nobles that moved out. These houses were all worth thousands of gold.

Liu Mang had heard people mention that there were two types of greedy corrupt officials in the world. The first type had official posts and could command others due to their enormous power and authority. This gave them the ability to be greedy.

The second type were the greedy but relatively powerless. Their corruption is not any less than the first type because they do not fear anything.

The ones with lots of power were greedy because they could. The ones with moderate amounts of power were too afraid. The ones with little power feared nothing and were opportunists.

Guo Yi was frightening because he was both powerful and opportunistic. Despite being a mere officer, he embezzled several thousand gold. One must remember that one of the Huang Family’s heir was almost removed as the heir of the family because of two thousand gold. Yet this officer was so brave he embezzled over a thousand gold.

Liu Mang underestimated Guo Yi. Not only was he greedy. He had the courage to get rid of his superior for his ambition.

“Brothers! This person is impersonating His Highness the King of Shu and must die! Kill him! The one who takes his head will receive a thousand gold!” Guo Yi shouted. He could only survive if Liu Mang dies.

“Where can you go even if you kill me?” Liu Mang asked indifferently. “You are not the only one here. There are thousands of eyes here.” There were thousands of refugees here watching Guo Yi with fear.

“Those people?” Guo Yi showed a malevolent expression. “I will kill them!”

“Kill them? Haha. There are thousands of people here. How will you kill them?”

“So what if there are thousands of them? I will keep on killing for days to silence them if I need to!”

“Good! Well done! Liu Qi actually dared to use such a person!” Liu Mang laughed angrily as he heard Guo Yi’s words. The people were like grass to Guo Yi. Even dogs were treated better. Liu Mang’s face turned ice cold as he placed Guo Yi’s name on the list of people that had to die.

“Then can you guarantee that your own soldiers won’t speak?” Jiang Wan was also very angry at Guo Yi’s heartless intentions. How can one simply kill thousands like this?

“If they dare to speak, I will kill them!”

“Can you finish killing them?”

“I can’t finish killing them? Then I will simply take your head to Jingzhou. I am sure Liu Biao would be very interested in your head. He may even make me a General!” Guo Yi thought he found a nice way out. He would definitely be rewarded if he killed Liu Mang and then escaped to Jingzhou.

“Guo Yi. Do you know? I initially thought of only killing you. But it seems that I cannot spare your Guo Family.” Liu Mang’s tone started to turn flat and dull. Others may not know but Guan Hai and Zhou Cang understood the meaning of this. This was the tone Liu Mang had when he was enraged. Zhou Cang smiled as it would mean he gets to exercise for the first time in a while.

Killing Guo Yi alone would not be able to quell the Guo Family’s greed. On top of that, it would not appease the people.

“Kill my whole family? Haha. Right now, it is me, Guo Yi, who wants your life! Do you think this is your Shouchun?”

“Don’t you know? No matter how many ants there are, they are still ants! A flock of sheep would still be no match for a wolf!” Liu Mang said.

“General! Kill them! Kill them!” The troublemaker Hao Liu continued to shout, after he had seemingly recovered from panic. Once Liu Mang is dead, no one would investigate him. He would not need to die. He was Guo Yi’s dog. If Guo Yi became successfully, Hao Liu would also benefit.

Guo Yi did not disappoint Hao Liu. He raised his hand and commanded the soldiers to attack. His personal guards were the first to charge forward. All of them were extremely loyal to the Guo Family. The other military officers shared a look before joining the attack. They were already on the same boat as Guo Yi so they would have ended up dying together with Guo Yi if this matter blows over. They no longer cared as to whether the King of Shu was an imposter or the real thing.

“Kill! Kill!” Hao Liu also tried to charge forward but quickly found himself unable to do so. He felt a pain and looked down only to see his blood flowing to the floor and a dagger in his waist.

“General?” Hao Liu turned to look at Guo Yi in disbelief. “Why?” It was understandable if Guo Yi wanted to silence Hao Liu earlier but now Guo Yi was already plotting to rebel. Why did he still kill Hao Liu who was like his dog?

“Blame your own big mouth!” Guo Yi replied without any misgivings. Hao Liu was a blabbermouth and even betrayed Guo Yi once. He could definitely do it a second time. That is why Hao Liu needed to die. Besides that, it was Hao Liu’s greed that got them in this mess in the first place that is why Guo Yi hated Hao Liu.

Aside from that, Guo Yi was not an idiot. Yangzhou was more powerful than Jingzhou and it was only a matter of time before Yangzhou actually attacked Jingzhou. In other words, Guo Yi would not have betrayed Yangzhou if he had the choice. Since Yangzhou is becoming more powerful, there was a chance for the officers to get promoted. Guo Yi would need to worry about Yangzhou attacking even if he managed to bring Liu Mang’s head to Liu Biao.

Basically, Guo Yi had plenty of reasons to want Hao Liu dead.

“Guo Yi! I curse you! You will not die a good death! I will wait for you in hell!” Hao Liu cursed malevolently since he was about to die.

Hao Liu was then stabbed again, this time in the stomach, before being kicked off his horse.

“The one who can kill me haven’t been born yet!” Guo Yi replied coldly. He then wiped off the blood from his dagger and sheathed it.

“Zhou Cang. Protect the Lord. Leave this to me.” Guan Hai took out his sword. He showed a cold expression as he watched the approaching enemies. He was at the Peak of Refinement stage and he had come across such a scenario before.

“Brother Guan, this is the first opportunity I have in such a long time and you tell me to protect the Lord? Aren’t you being too unkind?” Zhou Cang complained.

“Then what do you suggest? You want us both to go out and fight? Who would protect the Lord?” Guan Hai furrowed his brows.

“I don’t care! You protect the Lord! I want to fight!”

“Enough. You two go. I do not need to be protected this much!” Liu Mang said to the two. These two were generals yet they barely had a chance to fight when they followed him. Hao Liu’s subordinates were also too few. The battle ended too quickly to satisfy these two. Now there was a chance for these two to satisfy themselves.

“You all!” Jiang Wan was dumbstruck. There were a thousand enemies and only three of them. Yet these three were thinking of fighting instead of running. They were even arguing about who is going to fight and who is going to stay behind.

“Brother Jiang, I suggest you go back. We would not be able to protect you once the battle starts!” Liu Mang said to Jiang Wan.

“Oh, alright!” Jiang Wan reacted. He has not yet fully digested the fact that this Brother Han was the King of Shu.

“Han Yang! Hanyang! Isn’t that His Highness the King of Shu, Liu Mang’s name? I should have known!” Jiang Wan shook his head bitterly. He did not argue and left knowing that he would just be a burden at most. He was really just a scholar that could not fight at all unlike Xu Shu who would be a general if he did not bother studying.

For the other scholars like Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, they believed in learning from experience and thus, travel a lot. Because of this, they also learned some fencing to protect themselves.

However, Jiang Wan was a noble. His experience with martial arts is minimal. He grew up learning that men should be winning wars with strategy. Martial prowess like just like a banner. He only learned that strategies would be jokes without martial prowess after leaving the house.

It is only after Jiang Wan had withdrew that Liu Mang and his two subordinates could fight properly.

“Guan Hai, Zhou Cang. How about we see who can get Guo Yi first?” Liu Mang suggested.

“Milord, then this General will not hold back this time!” Guan Hai replied confidently. Although he spoke politely, it was a provocation saying that he usually held back.

“Speak less, do more! Zhou Cang, you better not learn from your Brother Guan!” Liu Mang rolled his eyes at Guan Hai. Though he knew he was not as strong as Guan Hai, he also know that he is close enough. He is just missing that final step to reach the Peak of Refinement level. He thought that Zhou Cang would at least be simple and honest but then realized that he was wrong.

“Milord. If Brother Guan is second, then I would be first! Milord, you will definitely lose!” Zhou Cang’s words made Liu Mang almost slash in his direction.

“Then let us compare! Zhou Cang, if you lose, I ban you from eating meat for a month!” Liu Mang said to Zhou Cang. Zhou Cang loved to fight and eat meat. So when Zhou Cang was going to be banned from eating meat for a month, he jumped with fright.

“As for you, Guan Hai! If you lose, you better go back to Wuxi and marry that Chang’er!” Liu Mang said to Guan Hai.

“Milord. Please spare me!” Guan Hai replied mournfully. Guan Hai’s face was full of scars so he thought that no one would fancy him. Unfortunately, his scarred face was apparently very popular at Wuxi while pretty boys like Liu Mang wasn’t.

The men at Wuxi all fought ferocious beast in the woods and painted their face. Their face were all brightly colored with decorative designs to scare off animals. However, Guan Hai’s scars were far better than any decorative designs. Such a brave warrior that could hunt was the fancy of the Wuxi barbarians.

Thanks to that, Guan Hai was pretty much flooded by women at Wuxi. This Chan’er happened to be one of them. If it was the women at the Central Plains, Guan Hai would not mind. However, the women at Wuxi were all dark skinned and robust. Their appearance wasn’t any better than Guan Hai. How could Guan Hai fancy them?

“How can Miss Chan’er not be worthy of you? Her appearance was also good!” Liu Mang joked. The Wuxi barbarians all looked similar. They were like monkeys. The men from the Central Plains would get nauseated just looking at them.

However, occasionally there were some odd ones like the barbarian princess. She was born from a barbarian man and a Han woman. This gave her the beauty of a Han woman and the healthy skin color of the barbarians.

Chan’er was one of the half breed so she actually looked quite pretty.

“It is I, Guan Hai, who is unworthy!” Guan Hai gave a gentle smile when reminded of Chan’er. However, the scar on his face caused that gentle smile to turn malevolent. How can such an ugly man accompany such a beautiful woman?

“Don’t talk nonsense! How can you not be worthy? You are my bodyguard and one of Yangzhou’s general! You are also at the Peak of Refinement stage! Wait till we reach Shouchun, I will give you a title! How can you not marry a barbarian woman? Would you prefer to let her marry a barbarian man and forever live on those mountain instead?”

“I…” Guan Hai did not know what to say.

“No need to be so hesitant! Whether you marry her or not depends on the will of the Heavens. If you win, you do not need to marry her. If you lose, go to Wuxi and bring her back!” Liu Mang suggested.

“Alright. We let the Heavens decide. Kill!” Guan Hai nodded. He fancied Chan’er but was afraid of bringing trouble to others. Now that he was forced into this, he simply fought ferociously. The sword in his hand was like the claws of a tiger.

Guan Hai was at the lead while Zhou Cang was not far behind. As Liu Mang was not used to using a sword, he was slower than the two of them.

“Quickly! Kill them! Kill them!” Guo Yi was anxious. Over a hundred of his men have already fallen to the three warriors. Liu Mang’s group was stronger than Guo Yi had anticipated. He did not take Hao Liu’s warning to heart as Hao Liu was just an ordinary hoodlum. Hao Liu would not have been able to meet a real expert before.

Yet it would seem that Hao Liu was correct. These three were highly skilled in martial arts.

“So what if they are strong? If I cannot kill them with a hundred men, then I will send a thousand men! Let us see how long you can persevere!”

“Hm?” Before Liu Mang could pull back his sword after killing one, he found one of Guo Yi’s guards charging over. He realized that Guo Yi was smart enough to have his men make a team effort. At this rate, even if they could fight their way to Guo Yi, they would not have much strength left. Even Zhou Cang was starting to get injured because they all had no armor.

Liu Mang looked at Guo Yi sitting on his good black horse. This good horse did not fear battle. Instead, it became more excited in the face of battle.

“An idea!” Liu Mang took out a bamboo whistle and blew it.

“Milord! You cheater!” Guan Hai and Zhou Cang shouted.

“All’s fair in war!”