Disciplining Emperor Gaozu of Han

Chapter 39 Cao Cao's Ancestor

"Lu Wan?" Liu Bang was praising Liu Ying when he heard Lü Ze and Fan Kuai's words. He took a closer look and realized it really was Lu Wan and the other two. He dismounted and jogged over to Lu Wan. He drew his sword, cut the ropes binding Lu Wan's wrists and legs, and pulled the rag from her mouth.

"Brother!" As soon as Lu Wan's mouth was freed, tears welled up in her eyes before she could even speak. She jumped up from the ground and threw herself into Liu Bang's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Tears streamed down her face like a child's: "I thought I would never see you again!"

"Good brother!" Liu Bang put his arms around Lu Wan, holding him tightly, and patted his back gently, comforting him, "Don't be sad, it's all over now."

"Yes." Lu Wan nodded heavily.

Seeing the intense bromance between Lu and Liu, Liu Ying found it hard to believe. How could Liu Bang, who was shameless and ruthless enough to kick his own flesh and blood off the chariot to his death, have such bromance?

For Liu Bang, Lu Wan was not just a mere follower.

The fathers of the two men, Liu Taigong and Lu Taigong, were close friends, practically family acquaintances. Most coincidentally, Liu Bang and Lu Wan were born on the same day, month, and year, with Liu Bang being slightly older than Lu Wan, thus making him the elder brother.

Such is the strangeness of life.

The two played together and grew up together since childhood, sharing a deep bromance.

Lu Wan was born to follow Liu Bang around. He had been with Liu Bang since childhood and always obeyed him. He would do whatever Liu Bang asked without any hesitation.

Because of this relationship, Liu Bang took Lu Wan with him wherever he went. When sending convicts to Xianyang, he would take Lu Wan with him. Too many convicts had escaped, so Liu Bang released them, and the two of them became outlaws and mountain kings.

At that time, Liu Bang lacked prestige, and these convicts had no respect for him. So Liu Bang asked Lu Wan to fabricate a myth, which led to the story of "slaying the white snake".

Without Lu Wan's assistance, Liu Bang would not be where he is today.

Therefore, for Liu Bang, Lu Wan was more than a brother.

Emotionally speaking, he was superior to his own brothers Liu Bo and Liu Zhong, and even his younger brother Liu Jiao.

It was precisely for this reason that, despite Lu Wan's merits not being sufficient for a kingship, Liu Bang insisted on granting him the title of King of Yan.

Unfortunately, the ship of friendship capsized so easily. After becoming the King of Yan, Lu Wan harbored ulterior motives and eventually defected to the Xiongnu. He was enfeoffed by the Xiongnu as the King of Donghu and died in the icy snow of Donghu.

Before he died, he longed for the Central Plains, and his wife and children returned.

At that time, Empress Lü was in power. Out of consideration for their close family ties, she did not pursue the matter of Lu Wan's defection to the Xiongnu and treated him as before.

"Brother, how could there be a wild child in your army? He was so rude, daring to treat me like that! You must stand up for me!" Lu Wan gritted her teeth, her resentment soaring. "My back was almost torn off!"

The horses dragged forward, and the stones pulled backward; their destructive power was far greater than that of a woman's legs.

Lu Wan's back almost broke.

"You unfilial son, come and apologize!" Liu Bang roared angrily, glaring at Liu Ying.

Liu Bang had been trying to please Liu Ying and rarely got angry, but now he was truly enraged. By taking action against Lu Wan, he was essentially taking action against him.

"Who told him to be so rude and unreasonable?" Liu Ying remained seated on his horse.

"He is... Liu Ying?" Lu Wan stared wide-eyed at Liu Ying, completely unable to believe it. She rubbed her eyes so hard they almost burst, but finally had to accept it, utterly shocked.

He recognized Liu Ying from birth, but when he left Pei County four years ago, Liu Ying was still an infant. After four years apart, Liu Ying had changed drastically, vaguely resembling the infant he remembered.

If Liu Bang hadn't pointed it out, he really wouldn't have believed it.

"Come here!" Liu Bang shouted.

Liu Ying wouldn't move.

"Brother, let it go, let it go." Lu Wan hurriedly advised, "It's all my fault. I was too domineering, calling you 'Master' all the time. It was wrong of me."

"You are him, what did you do wrong?" Liu Bang's anger had not subsided.

"Brother, you really can't blame your nephew." Lu Wan quickly took the blame upon himself: "As an elder, it was my mistake not to recognize my nephew. Not to mention, I was also so arrogant, which was really wrong."

"You remember this," Liu Bang glared at Liu Ying, then turned to Lu Wan with concern: "Are you alright?"

"I was injured when I escaped, but they were all superficial wounds and nothing serious." Lu Wan looked at Zhou Bo, who had been untied and was now free, and said, "Brother, I was able to escape this time thanks to Zhou Bo. He risked his life to save me."

"Zhou Bo?" Liu Bang was somewhat surprised.

Zhou Bo worked a menial job to support his family, which Liu Bang looked down upon and made things difficult for him. Even though Zhou Bo followed him in his quest for the throne, he did not gain much trust from Liu Bang.

Lu Wan was one of those who bullied Zhou Bo back then, and her ruthlessness towards Zhou Bo even surpassed that of Liu Bang. Logically, Zhou Bo should have taken advantage of his misfortune and retaliated. Unexpectedly, Zhou Bo disregarded past grievances and risked his life to save Lu Wan.

"Really." Lu Wan spoke up for Zhou Bo: "I swear from this day forward that I will regard Zhou Bo as my own brother."

"Your brother is my brother too." Liu Bang gestured to Zhou Bo with his right hand.

Zhou Bo hurried over, stood in front of Liu Bang, clasped his hands in a fist salute, bowed deeply, and said respectfully, "Greetings, King of Han."

Liu Bang put his right arm around Lu Wan's neck and his left arm around Zhou Bo's neck, hugging him tightly, and laughed, "From this day forward, Zhou Bo is my own brother."

"This... Your Majesty, this is unacceptable! The rites must not be disregarded!" Zhou Bo exclaimed in surprise.

"Since you call yourself the King of Han, my word carries weight," Liu Bang declared firmly.

"Thank you, Brother Han..." Zhou Bo was overjoyed.

"Fan Kuai, go catch a wild dog, a fat one. I want to personally stew dog meat for my two brothers to welcome them back," Liu Bang said, embracing Lu Zhou.

"I'll go catch it right away," Fan Kuai said happily.

Liu Bang ordered his men to examine and treat the two men's injuries. After the examination, they were found to be unharmed, and Liu Bang was relieved. Then, the two men went to wash up and change into clean clothes.

After eating and drinking their fill, the two regained their energy and spirits.

As expected of someone who came from a dog-butchering background, Fan Kuai caught an unusually large wild dog, weighing several dozen kilograms, right after the two finished eating. Fan Kuai killed the dog, skinned it, and did it all in one swift motion, finishing very quickly.

The rest of the work was Liu Bang's responsibility.

Liu Bang chopped the dog meat into pieces, soaked it in hot water for an hour to remove the blood. Then, he put it into a bronze pot to stew. Before long, the dog meat was fragrant, just as good as Fan Kuai's stewed dog meat.

As expected of the "Dog Meat Emperor," Liu Bang's stewed dog meat was fresh, fragrant, and delicious, no less so than Fan Kuai's stewed dog meat. Liu Le and Liu Ying swung their chopsticks like whirlwinds.

Liu Bang had Lu Wan sit to his right and Zhou Bo to his left, the three of them in a row, showing that Liu Bang truly regarded Lu Wan and Zhou Bo as brothers. Lü Ze, Fan Kuai, and Xiahou Ying accompanied them, eating dog meat and drinking wine, having a great time.

~~~~~~

Cao Shen was neither very tall nor very short, about seven feet four inches, or about 1.7 meters tall.

Wearing a tattered leather armor riddled with holes, panting heavily, he led over five hundred defeated soldiers, struggling forward.

After the defeat at Pengcheng, Cao Shen seized a warhorse and fled. On the way, he rallied his defeated troops, and more than five hundred soldiers followed him. Although they encountered pursuit from the Chu army, under his command, the defeated soldiers counterattacked and managed to drive back the Chu army before continuing their escape.

However, without supplies and being hunted down, life was very difficult.

During the most difficult times, when they were extremely hungry, they could only gnaw on tree bark, eat grass roots, and even eat dirt.

They finally escaped their pursuers and successfully fled west.

"General, our comrades are about to collapse. This can't go on." Guan Ying walked beside Cao Can, panting heavily, looking at the exhausted and defeated soldiers with deep concern.

"I know you're all exhausted, and I'm just as tired as you are," Cao Can said, looking at the defeated soldiers who could barely stand. He encouraged them, "We'll be at Xingyang soon."

Poof! Poof!

Defeated soldiers kept falling to the ground, each one so exhausted that they didn't even have the strength to move a finger.