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Near Mount Mang to the northwest of Luoyang, in a military camp, a commotion caught Lü Bu's attention. He hurried toward the source of the noise.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Lü Bu bellowed, storming over in a rage. With a few swift movements, he yanked apart the soldiers who were brawling and shoved them to either side, his brow furrowed in anger.
Military discipline was strict, and thankfully, the men involved in the fight had enough sense not to use their weapons. They had resorted to fists and feet instead, so the situation hadn't escalated too far.
The brawlers—veteran soldiers from Bingzhou—immediately dropped to their knees and pleaded guilty upon seeing Lü Bu. They quickly explained the reason for the fight.
Ever since Lü Bu and his Bingzhou troops had defected to Dong Zhuo's side, they had been split into different units. Some were under Zhang Liao's command, others followed Gao Shun, and Lü Bu himself retained a few hundred of his original cavalrymen. The division had been haphazard.
At first, Lü Bu had been too caught up in the excitement of his sudden rise in status to pay much attention. By the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Later, when the Xiliang troops swarmed into Luoyang, the already outnumbered Bingzhou forces became even more scattered and isolated.
This time, the fight had broken out between the Bingzhou soldiers and the Xiliang troops over a verbal spat. The reason was simple: recently, while tomb-raiding along the Mount Mang range, the Bingzhou soldiers had been relegated to menial labor while the Xiliang troops took all the profitable tasks.
The Bingzhou soldiers were originally frontline troops. At first, they had assumed the labor duties would rotate and hadn't complained. But as days passed, they realized they were being treated as nothing more than auxiliary troops, which bred resentment.
Today, a few Xiliang soldiers had come to drag more Bingzhou men away for chores, and on top of that, they had been insulting. That was what had sparked the fight.
Lü Bu listened to his men's account with a frown, then turned to the Xiliang soldiers and snapped, "Go back and tell your general that from today onward, each unit handles its own damn chores! Got it?! Now scram!"
The Xiliang soldiers fled in terror.
Lü Bu then glared at his own men. "You couldn't even beat a bunch of useless cowards like that?! Go report to the disciplinary officer—three lashes each!"
The Bingzhou veterans thanked Lü Bu and went off to accept their punishment. They understood that this was Lü Bu's way of settling the matter. Once they took the lashes, the incident would be considered closed. Even if the Xiliang side came back to stir trouble, Lü Bu wouldn't punish them again.
Lü Bu turned and entered his tent, seething with frustration.
"What kind of bullshit is this?!"
Being sent to Mount Mang for tomb-raiding was bad enough, but having to work under Hu Zhen, a Xiliang officer who constantly belittled the Bingzhou troops, made it even worse. The man never missed a chance to run his mouth, and Lü Bu was sick of it.
Wei Xu, one of Lü Bu's subordinates, hurried over and followed him into the tent. After saluting, he admitted fault for failing to maintain discipline and asked for punishment.
Wei Xu had been promoted by Lü Bu after he became Cavalry Commandant. The two were also related by marriage, so Lü Bu had brought him along on this tomb-raiding mission.
Lü Bu shook his head and ordered, "Tell the men to rest early tonight. We're breaking camp an hour earlier tomorrow!" Since things had already escalated, there was no point in pretending to get along with Hu Zhen.
Wei Xu acknowledged the order and left.
Lü Bu, however, fell into a daze. He was beginning to realize that defecting to Dong Zhuo hadn't turned out as gloriously as he'd imagined.
Back then, Lü Bu had killed Ding Yuan in a fit of rage and joined Dong Zhuo. Part of it was because he felt Ding Yuan had deceived him, treating him as nothing more than a tool. But he couldn't deny that Dong Zhuo's promises of high rank and wealth had also tempted him.
Lü Bu had thought Dong Zhuo, having personally led campaigns against the Qiang and Xianbei in the north, would be different from Ding Yuan. But before long, he realized that in Dong Zhuo's eyes, he wasn't all that special either.
Things had been simpler back in Bingzhou…
At least there hadn't been this kind of nonsense. Now he was stuck digging up graves at Mount Mang!
And to make matters worse, he had to deal with Hu Zhen.
Lü Bu understood Hu Zhen's petty mindset. The man had fought alongside Dong Zhuo in Xiliang for years, yet he remained a mere subordinate general with no special titles to his name. Of course he was bitter.
Understanding didn't mean tolerating, though. If Hu Zhen wanted to take his frustrations out on Lü Bu, he had another thing coming. Lü Bu looked down on Hu Zhen and would never have worked with him if not for Li Ru's orders.
Speaking of Li Ru, Lü Bu felt a twinge of unease. That man was sharp-eyed and not someone to trifle with.
After all, Lü Bu now had a little secret he didn't want anyone to discover…
Previously, Lü Bu had been tasked with guarding Dong Zhuo's inner residence. But ever since that day, something had changed…
"She looks so much like her…"
She reminded him so much of the girl who had lived across from him years ago. But back then, when the Xianbei invaded, many had fled south and never returned…
Lü Bu had secretly inquired and learned that she was also from Bingzhou!
What a coincidence!
Perhaps she was even from one of those families that had wandered to Luoyang and settled there…
As he thought about it, a slightly foolish smile crept onto his face.
Suddenly, another commotion at the camp gates snapped him out of his thoughts. Hu Zhen had arrived with a group of soldiers, demanding that Lü Bu hand over the Bingzhou troops who had fought.
Lü Bu replied coldly, "Those men have already been punished for breaking discipline. If you have nothing else to discuss, General Hu, that's the end of it." He turned to leave.
Hu Zhen refused to back down and reached out to grab Lü Bu, only for Lü Bu to seize his wrist in a crushing grip.
"Is there something else, General Hu?" Lü Bu asked, tightening his grip.
Hu Zhen struggled desperately, but Lü Bu's hold was unshakable. Pain shot through his wrist as if it were about to snap. Gritting his teeth, he forced out, "N-nothing!"
Lü Bu released him with a shove, sending Hu Zhen stumbling back. With a slight mocking salute, Lü Bu turned and strode back into his camp.
The gates slammed shut behind him, leaving Hu Zhen standing outside, humiliated.
Rubbing his wrist, Hu Zhen's face flushed crimson with rage. After a long moment, he spat on the ground and cursed, "You half-faced bastard! Just you wait—I'll flatten you one of these days!"