Chapter 8, Attending the Banquet

Having persuaded Wang Yue, Xu Cheng walked out of Huibin Building, humming a tune, feeling quite pleased. Behind him followed the confused Yang Er and Xu Huang, along with two personal guards. After they left, Huibin Building began to close its doors, as Wang Yue was preparing to enlist with his disciples.

Although Xu Cheng looked down on Lü Bu, this notorious traitor, he could not afford to disrespect him at this moment. Moreover, he genuinely wanted to take a closer look at this legendary and unparalleled warrior, to see what he truly looked like. His time on the battlefield had been too brief, and he had not had the chance to observe him clearly.

But this time he had found the wrong person. Xu Chengli did not pay him any attention, merely smiling as he looked at him, shaking his head as he watched. At this moment, even a clay figurine could be provoked to anger by Xu Cheng, let alone Yuan Shao, who was accustomed to being arrogant and overbearing. He gave a glance to a sword-wielding general beside him, and the general naturally understood his meaning, parting the guards and stepping forward to speak.

Xu Huang wanted to remind him a few more things, after all, the Yuan family was different from others, but he was stopped by Yang Er. Yang Er leaned in and whispered to him: "The general is already a senior officer in the army, sooner or later he will have a conflict with Yuan Shao, the central officer. Originally, he planned to confront him today in the military camp, but unexpectedly that guy was not present. Now that they have met, they are not showing any respect, so naturally, it will not be polite. You need not ask further; the general has his reasons for acting as he does."

No one on Yuan Shao's side anticipated this, including Cao Cao, who was left on the sidelines. No one expected Xu Cheng to take action first. Even more surprising was that Chunyu Qiong, one of the eight commanders of the prestigious Western Garden Imperial Guard, was taken down by Xu Cheng's two personal guards without even having a proper encounter.

Chunyu Qiong!" Yuan Shao called out urgently, and the people behind him were also in disarray. Immediately, someone stepped forward to seize Chunyu Qiong, while at that moment, two of Xu Cheng's personal guards had already retreated behind him

Returning to the military camp, I saw Pang Pei leading a small team of five hundred people, chasing around the camp a large army of nearly one hundred thousand. If anyone from the large army was caught, they would immediately be subjected to a beating, and then thrown aside, whereupon someone would come over to place a sandbag on them.

Xu Cheng glanced at Pang Pei and gave him a few instructions, asking him to prepare accommodations for Wang Yue and his disciples, as well as for Xu Huang, regardless of the fact that Xu Huang was not yet his subordinate at that moment. At this time, Dong Zhuo sent someone to convey a message, inviting Xu Cheng to a banquet. Upon inquiry, he learned that Li Su had fulfilled his mission and persuaded Lü Bu to surrender. Lü Bu had killed Ding Yuan the previous night and came to submit to Dong Zhuo this morning. Dong Zhuo was overjoyed, recognized him as an adopted son, and held a grand banquet, inviting all the officials to congratulate him, naturally including Xu Cheng, who was currently a prominent figure.

Xu Cheng gazed deeply at Yuan Shao and smiled, saying: "It seems that Lord Yuan has some dissatisfaction with our Lord Dong! Your words are indeed sowing discord!"

Thus, Wang Yue, the foremost swordsman of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, along with his hundreds of disciples, was lured by the military officer Xu Cheng to join Xu Cheng's forces, initially forming the embryonic shape of the formidable "Martial Arts Army" that would later dominate the world.

"General, do you know whom you have just offended?" After everyone had left, Xu Huang asked.

The general should also be aware that the Yuan family has produced four generations of three dukes, with their former students and officials spread throughout the land, even Dong Xiang must give way to them, so why does the general instead ... ... " Xu Huang looked puzzled

Yuan Shao, seeing that Xu Cheng was ignoring him, became even more emboldened. He let out a cold laugh and said loudly: "I have heard that Colonel Xu is the foremost general under Lord Dong, capable of being compared with Lü Bu, also known as Lü Fengxian. Why does Lord Dong only acknowledge Lü Bu as his adopted son, yet not recognize Colonel Xu?"

Xu Cheng was so excited, today he truly had a stroke of luck, hahaha, he really wanted to laugh out loud three times towards the sky. Just kidding, who is Wang Yue? The foremost swordsman of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Since he has encountered him today, how could he let this opportunity slip away? That would surely invite divine retribution.

He had not yet reacted when this great general of the court, a capable subordinate of Chancellor Dong Zhuo, began to flatter him, praising him as an unparalleled master, unmatched in the heavens and on earth, a swordsman unique throughout history. He continued this flattery for about half an hour, after which the general made his proposal, "Mr. Wang, what do you think? Come under my command, and I will immediately grant you the position of Deputy Commander. If you are not satisfied, we can discuss it further!" While speaking, he also poured him a drink.

Upon arriving at the Dong residence, the banquet had already commenced, with dignitaries and nobles gathered in abundance. Xu Cheng had just arrived and sent a message to announce his presence, then casually found a seat on the periphery and sat down. He observed the crowd in the hall as they brewed wine and sang, but he did not see Dong Zhuo, nor the renowned warrior of the Three Kingdoms, Lü Bu, and even Li Ru was absent, which left him feeling quite perplexed

Now, he unexpectedly saw a high-ranking general of the court smiling at him. He thought he must have seen it wrong, and disregarding etiquette, rubbed his eyes. The smiling face before him remained unchanged, not a bit different, it was undoubtedly a sycophantic smile

In this world, what truly matters is strength. Giving him some leeway does not mean I am afraid of him. Moreover, he is merely a wayward son, ambitious yet lacking in talent. No matter how impressive he appears on the surface, it is merely a facade.

Yuan Shao was nearly beside himself with anger; he had never endured such humiliation. Just as he was about to step forward, he felt his sleeve being grasped. Turning around, he saw that it was the scholar who had just accompanied him, shaking his head at him. After all, he was not a fool; he managed to suppress the fury within him. He cast a resentful glance at the smiling Xu Cheng, waved his hand, and shouted, "We are leaving!" With that, he flicked his sleeve, turned, and got into the carriage, departing swiftly, followed closely by the crowd behind him.

Yuan Shao quickly denied it, claiming that he was merely curious

At the strong insistence of Xu Cheng, the great swordsman Wang Yue stepped out from the back hall to meet this General Xu. He had just witnessed the conflict between Xu Cheng and Yuan Shao, but he could not afford to offend either side, so he had to keep his distance. To his surprise, upon hearing that he was the owner of this gathering place, Xu Cheng became so agitated that Wang Yue had no choice but to brace himself and come out.

Yuan Shao's words were quite venomous, and the hall fell into silence as everyone turned to Xu Cheng, eager to see how he would respond

Thus, accompanied by his personal guards, Xu Cheng and Xu Laoda headed straight towards the Dong residence

After entering for a short while, Xu Cheng's roar came from inside, "What? Wang Yue! Your boss is Wang Yue!"

Unexpectedly, two of Xu Cheng's personal guards approached him without saying a word, and hurled their swords and scabbards at him. He was taken aback, as he had not seen Xu Cheng give any signal or indication to these two guards. They had suddenly started attacking. However, being skilled in martial arts, he quickly drew his sword to block. The clash of blades produced only a crisp "ding" sound, with no force behind the strike. The alertness of the military officer made him feel uneasy, but the opponents did not give him time to react. With a muffled groan, a sharp pain in his abdomen caused him to bend over uncontrollably. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the guard who had just struck him retreating. He felt a moment of relief, but then another heavy blow struck him at the back of his head, and he promptly lost consciousness.

Xu Cheng was almost unable to restrain himself from wanting to strangle Yuan Shao. However, while this could resolve the current situation, it was clearly impractical. Yet, not responding was not an option, as that would be tantamount to acquiescence. At that point, it would not only be others; even Lü Bu alone would be enough for Xu Cheng to face death dozens of times.

Wang Yuemeng was stunned, but there was one thing he heard clearly: the Colonel, this General Xu Cheng, a senior officer from the military academy, was going to grant him the title of Colonel. This was his lifelong aspiration

Upon hearing this, Xu Huang fell silent and followed Xu Cheng into this guesthouse.

At this moment, only Xu Cheng's group and Cao Cao remained in the field. Cao Cao cast a cold smile at the backs of Yuan Shao and the others, then turned to look at Xu Cheng, only to find Xu Cheng was also looking at him, his face still bearing that unusual smile. This made Cao Cao's heart feel a slight chill, so he no longer lingered. He clasped his hands in salute, and without waiting for Xu Cheng to return the gesture, mounted the horse brought by his attendants and rode away.

Xu Cheng also ignored him, sitting there by himself, but in his heart, he was wondering how this bastard ended up here. Wasn't he supposed to be a sworn enemy of Dong Zhuo?

Xu Cheng, seeing that Yuan Shao had already lost his composure, no longer held back and said: "Lord Yuan claims that I am the foremost general under Lord Dong, but I cannot accept such praise. General Hua Xiong's great sword is truly the number one in Xiliang. As for Lü Bu, also known as Lü Fengxian, to be honest, I believe he is the greatest warrior of our time. At least among those I know, no one can remain undefeated under Lü Fengxian's halberd. Just the troops under his command, the Xianzheng Camp, are enough to instill fear in me. As for Lord Dong's army, there are many generals available for command, such as General Li Cui, General Guo Si, and several others like Xu Rong, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou, all of whom are top-tier commanding generals. In Xiliang, these generals already struck fear into the Qiang and Hu tribes. As for me, I am merely a pretender among them. It is laughable that Lord Yuan would think of me as the best and compare me to Lü Fengxian. Could it be that the Yuan family, with its four generations of three dukes, has fostered such limited insight in you?"

Yuan Shao! Is that correct? Xu Cheng replied

However, the anticipated storm did not arrive; instead, what appeared before him was Xu Cheng's face, filled with a smile. To be precise, it resembled a face brimming with sycophantic smiles. This left him quite astonished, for Wang Yue was a man enamored with officialdom. After making a name for himself in Liaodong, he had always aspired to obtain an official position through this. Yet, years had passed, and no matter how he ingratiated himself, he was met with nothing but cold faces. Any official could act arrogantly in front of him, and despite possessing formidable martial skills, he had no right even to sit in the homes of the nobility. This truly astonished him, as he was well aware of his own obsession with officialdom. After making a name for himself in Liaodong, he had always aspired to obtain an official position through this. Yet, years had passed, and no matter how he ingratiated himself, he was met with nothing but cold faces. Any official could act arrogantly in front of him, and despite possessing formidable martial skills, he had no right even to sit in the homes of the nobility. Everyone treated him as if he did not exist, yet he became increasingly irritable, insisting on securing an official position, and thus, he remained in Luoyang for many years.

Isn't this Colonel Xu? Why is he sitting here all alone? Could it be that there is no seat for Colonel Xu above? A sharp voice came from nearby, and Xu Cheng looked over to see it was Yuan Shao