Chapter Thirty-Five: Chen Lin is Captured

  More than 200 people, with more than a dozen large carts loaded with clothes, armor, and food (Yuan Shao still had to give some travel expenses), left Luoyang. Li Zhong finally burst out laughing, these days he had been too oppressed, although he had gained many benefits, but every step, Li Zhong had taken was like walking on thin ice, now that he was back in his element, he wanted to vent properly.

  Not just Li Chong, Liao Hua and Taishi Ci also had the same feeling, following Li Chong's hearty laughter.

  Seeing the three leaders laugh, their subordinates naturally couldn't keep a straight face and hurriedly followed suit, laughing along even though they didn't know what was so funny.

  After laughing for a long time, Li Zhong stopped his laughter and looked at the surrounding soldiers, saying loudly: "I have some good news to tell you. From today on, you are no longer wandering bandits. We have our own territory now."

  "Hurrah......" The soldiers suddenly became noisy, some even took off their helmets and threw them into the air, this action instantly triggered a chain reaction, and soon the sky was filled with flying helmets.

  Li Chong smiled and watched these people, not stopping them. He also knew that the Yellow Turban soldiers had long been tired of their fugitive lives, and being able to find a place to settle down was the greatest wish for these people.

  Taking advantage of the cheers, Li Chong said to Taishi Ci: "Zi Yi, how about this? I'll go to Guangwu with Liao Hua first, you lead some troops back to the mountain stronghold, inform Guan Yu, and then return home to pick up Old Lady Gan?"

  Tai Shi smiled and heard that Li Chong had not forgotten his mother, feeling very moved in his heart. He shook his head and said: "It's not suitable, Yanmen County is a place where thieves are rampant, you bring these soldiers, armor and food, afraid... It's better to let Liao Hua return to Qingzhou, I'll write a letter to my mother again."

  "Ah..." Li Chong secretly let out a sigh of relief. To be honest, he didn't want Tai Shi Ci to return to Qingzhou either, but he still had to show his attitude.

  Liao Hua looked at Taishi Ci with a grateful glance, this time in the battle of Tiger Trap Pass, he finally understood that he had previously been narrow-minded, not to mention Lü Bu, even an ordinary general under Cao Cao's command was more than a match for him, and he really didn't have the confidence to safely escort these military supplies to Guangwu.

  Once I join forces with Guan Hai, it's a different story. At the very least, the mountain stronghold's people will be able to protect Tai Shi Lao Furen without any issues.

  Li Chong was so anxious to arrange for Tai Shi's old wife because he was frightened by Xu Si's experience. With Xu Si as a warning, how could he not take it to heart? In case Kong Rong detained Tai Shi's old wife, Li Chong would be at a loss what to do.

  Having made arrangements, Liao Hua led fifty cavalrymen and hastily returned to Qingzhou.

  Watching Liao Huayuan disappear into the distance, the splashed snowflakes slowly fell down, only then did he turn around.

  Li Chong and Taishi Ci led over 150 men, braving the wind and snow to cross the great river, heading straight for He Nei, taking the road through Xiang and Jinyang, and rushing towards Guangwu.

  Tao Qian laughed on the way: "If I had known that Hebei's weather was so cold, it would be better to change Liao Hua."

  Li Chong also laughed and scolded: "Liao Hua will definitely take the road to Yangzhou, and he's having a great time along the way. He didn't even mention bringing back a beauty for you."

  On this day, Li Chong and others passed through Jinyang and arrived in the territory of Langmeng County. Suddenly, strong winds and heavy snow made it difficult to travel, so everyone had to stop and stay put.

  Three days passed and the wind and snow finally stopped, and everyone set off on their journey again.

  After passing Wolf's Gate, the road became increasingly treacherous and bandits frequently appeared. However, with a fierce general like Taishi Ci guarding us, nothing went wrong.

  Just as they were about to enter the Xingzhou County, they were suddenly blocked by a group of bandits. The leader burst out laughing and said: "We really have to thank heaven for this, if it wasn't for the wind and snow blocking our way, we would have missed this flock of fat sheep."

  Li Chong looked at this group of people and found that their armor was neat, not like ordinary bandits, but with a taste of imperial army. He shouted loudly: "The bandits in front quickly get out of the way, don't you know we are the imperial army?"

  "Hahaha..." The bandit leader burst into a fit of laughter and said with great satisfaction: "What kind of imperial army are you? You look like thieves, we are the real imperial army. Leave everything on the carriage behind, put down your weapons, surrender and kneel down, otherwise we will definitely kill you all."

  Li Chong was taken aback by the words, he didn't expect these bandits to be regular soldiers. Where did regular soldiers rob on the road? No, Li Chong suddenly understood, this is Zhang Yan's troops from Hei Shan, only these bandits who were pardoned by the imperial court would do such a thing.

  "Are you a subordinate of Zhang Yan, the Lang general of Pingnan?" Li shouted sternly.

  The leader of the thieves was taken aback and didn't expect Li Chong to call out Zhang Yan's name, he couldn't help but feel some doubt, and asked: "Who are you?"

  Li Chong took out the imperial seal and held it above his head, shouting loudly: "We are the imperial army, this is the official seal of the court, come over and take a look!"

  The leader of the bandits was stunned, he dared to rob passing merchants, but he really didn't dare to rob the imperial army, this is a crime similar to rebellion, if he hadn't seen that Li Chong and others were not wearing imperial uniforms (the quality of the clothes of the Ji family was even better), he wouldn't have made such a move.

  The leader of the thieves beckoned to his men and shouted: "Bring that... whoever it is, let him take a look at the imperial seal and see if it's real or not."

  As they spoke, a commotion arose in the crowd, and two soldiers pushed out a white-faced scholar. The white-faced scholar was extremely handsome, with wide robes and large sleeves, sporting three long whiskers, his face full of sorrow and indignation.

  The leader of the thieves shouted loudly: "Bring that token here and let me verify it. If it's real, I'll let you pass."

  Li Chong angrily said: "How dare you, the imperial seal is not something for you to play with at will, if you want to see it, send someone over to take a look."

  The thief's face turned green and red, what Li Chong said was indeed correct. The court official would not put the seal in someone else's hands, scolding him was also useless. After a while, he angrily said: "You, go check if the seal is real or fake, don't play tricks, otherwise... humph!"

  Bai Mian Shu Sheng's eyes turned red, he lowered his head and slowly walked to Li Chong Ma's front, making a long bow: "Shayang Chen Lin, Chen Kong Zhang has seen this general."

  "Are you Chen Lin?" Li Zhong was shocked and blurted out. In Li Zhong's impression, Chen Lin should have defected to Yuan Shao by now, how could he be caught by the half-official and half-bandit Zhang Yan? It was really inexplicable.

  Chen Lin was also very surprised. At his current age of just over 30, he didn't look like much, and yet the general in front of him had actually heard of him.

  It is known that the Seven Masters of Jian'an were named by later generations, not by Chen Lin himself. In ancient times, many people became famous only after their death. If Chen Lin had not written a letter denouncing Cao Cao, he would also have been unknown.

  But Chen Lin, now as a prisoner of war, didn't have the right to ask questions, and could only hide her doubts in her heart, receiving the letter with both hands.

  Chen Lin took the letter and looked at it, also exclaiming: "Chen Lin has eyes but fails to recognize Mount Tai, sir is actually Li Zihui of Pingzhou!"

  "Day!" Li Chong covered his forehead, how did I also become famous?