As soon as Lü Bu finished speaking, the hall fell so silent that a pin drop could have been heard.
The assembled civil and military officials—including Zhang Jing himself—couldn’t help twitching the corners of their mouths.
The way they looked at Lü Bu had become decidedly strange.
“Lü Bu does have a point.”
The straightforward Dian Wei spoke up.
“As for an enlightened lord, there’s no one in the world who compares to my lord. If it were anyone else, I’d be the first to object!”
“I agree!”
“We all agree!”
The officials hurriedly rose to salute.
After all, no one could really argue with Dian Wei’s statement— nor did anyone dare.
“Enough.”
Seeing the discussion veering off course, Zhang Jing waved his hand with an odd expression.
“Xi Zhicai’s concerns aren’t without merit. Does anyone have any other opinions?”
“I do!”
Before anyone else could speak, Lü Bu anxiously blurted out, “Everything that fellow Zhicai just said is complete nonsense!”
“I’ve only spent the first half of my life lamenting that I never met a worthy lord.”
“I am a man of unmatched loyalty and righteousness!”
“I’ve already said I’m willing to serve you!”
“What must I do before you’ll believe me?”
At that moment, Lü Bu was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
The people before him were anything but easy to deal with.
They had killed his beloved Red Hare horse without the slightest hesitation, and they continued to treat him with obvious distance.
He, the mighty General Who Inspires Martial Valor, the Marquis of Wen, the famed Flying General of Bing Province— had fallen so low that even offering his allegiance depended on someone else’s approval.
“Fengxiao.”
Ignoring Lü Bu entirely, Zhang Jing turned toward Guo Jia.
…
Lü Bu also hurriedly looked at Guo Jia— the young strategist responsible for reducing him to a prisoner.
“My lord.”
Guo Jia glanced at the anxious Lü Bu before bowing.
After a moment’s thought, he said, “I still believe Lü Bu is not without redeeming qualities.”
“He grew up on the frontier and has always relied upon his martial prowess. Because of that, he was easily manipulated by others, which ultimately led him to his present circumstances.”
“However, He is also exceptionally proud and difficult to control.”
“How he should be dealt with is for my lord to decide.”
After hearing this, quite a few officials frowned, though none voiced any objections.
Instead, all eyes turned toward Zhang Jing.
“General Zhang!”
Lü Bu hurriedly interjected.
“That gentleman is right—I was manipulated!”
“Just spare me, and from this day forward I’ll win victories for you, charge into battle, and slay your enemies!”
“No one under Heaven will be a match for you—”
“Zhicai.”
Zhang Jing cut him off before he could continue.
Turning to Xi Zhicai, he asked, “How are Gao Shun and Zhang Liao?”
“My lord.”
Xi Zhicai bowed respectfully.
“Over these past few days, neither has relented.”
“However, I believe I have some chance of persuading Zhang Liao.”
“As for Gao Shun…”
“He refuses to yield no matter what is offered.”
“His only wish is to die alongside Lü Bu.”
Over the past several days, Xi Zhicai had been responsible for persuading Lü Bu’s former officers to surrender.
Most had accepted quickly once they were promised their lives would be spared.
Only a handful still clung to their loyalty— or rather, to the principles they refused to abandon.
Among them, the commander of the Camp Crusher Camp, Gao Shun, was by far Xi Zhicai’s greatest headache.
“Pan Zhang.”
Zhang Jing nodded slightly.
“Bring Gao Shun here.”
As for Lü Bu, Zhang Jing had already made peace with the possibility of giving up on recruiting him.
But Gao Shun, he genuinely admired.
Among all the generals of the late Han and Three Kingdoms era, Gao Shun ranked comfortably in Zhang Jing’s personal top five.
“Yes, my lord.”
Pan Zhang saluted and quickly departed.
“Lü Bu.”
Zhang Jing looked directly at him.
“It isn’t that I refuse to accept you.”
“It’s simply that the examples of Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo force me to be cautious.”
“Had you not surrendered for the sake of your wife and children, I would never have allowed you to live.”
“General, I was framed!”
Lü Bu immediately protested, sounding as though he had suffered a tremendous injustice.
“Framed?”
Zhang Jing’s expression remained indifferent.
“Betraying your lord twice in pursuit of glory isn’t something that can be dismissed with a single word like ‘framed.'”
“Wanting rank, wealth, and fame is only human.”
“But what you should never have done was murder the benefactors who had elevated you in order to obtain those things.”
“How is such conduct any different from that of a beast?”
In this era, loyalty and filial piety were regarded as the highest virtues.
Lü Bu’s actions had, in many people’s eyes, made him an outcast beneath Heaven.
Even Zhang Jing couldn’t bring himself to trust him.
To him, Lü Bu was becoming something of a chicken rib— valuable enough that it felt wasteful to discard, yet impossible to consume with peace of mind.
Perhaps Cao Cao had once faced this very dilemma himself.
His solution had simply been to execute Lü Bu, bringing the matter to a definitive end.
…
“I… I was deceived by villains.”
After hearing this, Lü Bu no longer sounded nearly as confident.
He tried to defend himself.
“They all said it was putting righteousness above family… that it was for the sake of the Han court…”
“Your fate…”
Zhang Jing interrupted with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“…will be decided by Gao Shun.”
“If Gao Shun chooses to submit to me, then you may serve as a junior officer under his command.”
The moment Lü Bu uttered the phrase “putting righteousness above family,” Zhang Jing lost all desire to continue the argument.
In Zhang Jing’s view, throughout history, those who claimed to practice “righteousness over kinship” rarely met a good end.
“……”
Lü Bu opened his mouth as if to argue, but in the end said nothing.
Instead, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that he would probably survive after all.
Before long, Gao Shun was brought into the hall.
Unlike Lü Bu, who was tightly bound from head to toe, Gao Shun was treated much better.
Only his hands were tied.
“Gao Shun,” Zhang Jing said, looking at him.
“Lü Bu has expressed his willingness to serve me. However, I still have doubts about his character.”
“You enjoy an excellent reputation within the army. Therefore, I have made a decision.”
“If you are willing to join the Taiping Army, I will appoint you as a Military Marquis.”
“And Lü Bu may live—serving under your command.”
“What do you think?”
In truth, Zhang Jing wanted to see whether Gao Shun could keep Lü Bu in line.
If the once-invincible Flying General became a subordinate in Gao Shun’s unit, perhaps Gao Shun’s strict discipline would whip him into shape.
“Bo Ping…”
Before Gao Shun could answer, Lü Bu called out anxiously.
“Why does General Zhang value me so highly?”
Gao Shun frowned at Zhang Jing, confusion evident in his eyes.
“Because I admire you,” Zhang Jing replied.
“You enforce strict discipline and excel at training soldiers.”
“But above all, it is because your Camp Crushers inflicted tremendous casualties upon my Forlorn Hope Battalion in our last battle.”
“On the battlefield, however, each man serves his own master. I bear no grudge over that.”
“With your ability, I believe you can forge an elite force in the Taiping Army—one that is invincible in battle.”
“And in doing so, you can help build a peaceful and prosperous realm.”
Lü Bu’s feelings became rather complicated.
He, the unrivaled warrior under heaven, was standing right there—yet Zhang Jing valued his subordinate Gao Shun more than himself.
After a moment’s silence, Gao Shun spoke solemnly.
“I am willing to serve you, General.”
“But General Lü was once my lord.”
“How could he now become a subordinate under my command?”
“My only request is that you spare his life.”
“You have no choice.”
After a brief moment of thought, Zhang Jing shook his head.
He truly did not want Lü Bu causing trouble in the future.
Putting him under Gao Shun’s command seemed like the best solution.
Lü Bu would owe his life to Gao Shun.
Since Gao Shun had once been his subordinate, perhaps Gao Shun’s uncompromising personality could keep him in check if he ever entertained any foolish ideas.
It might even serve as a form of tempering for Lü Bu himself.
“Bo Ping!”
Seeing the struggle on Gao Shun’s face, Lü Bu hurriedly urged, “What are you hesitating for? Just agree already!”
Gao Shun frowned deeply before turning to Lü Bu.
“My lord… do you truly wish to go this far?”
“A true man need fear no death.”
“Why must you demean yourself like this?”
— The end of the Chapter–
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