Chapter 2458: New Year's Festival

When he saw Li Youu, Lyu Bu was indeed startled. For those who know Li Youu’s true identity, especially those who went through those events back then, there is a kind of instinctive fear toward him.

This man, besides possessing extraordinary wisdom, also has a mental fortitude strong enough to fully exert that wisdom. He is a terrifying figure, from the inside out.

Therefore, when Li Youu came to visit, Lyu Bu immediately put on a guarded posture. Although in his impression Li Youu should have died long ago, it’s not strange that he didn’t. Even Lyu Bu knew that people of this level of intelligence don’t die that easily.

Li Youu didn’t care at all about Lyu Bu’s wariness. Since he dared to come, he could guarantee that Lyu Bu wouldn’t make a move on him. As for the events with Dong Zhuo back then, and the matter of Diao Chan behind Lyu Bu, Li Youu could only say that he’d been negligent in educating Dong Zhuo about wine, women, wealth, and desire.

Say “the past is like smoke,” and let it go. He had once struggled hard and come infinitely close to his ideal, but now he has begun to transcend that former ideal. Coming to see Lyu Bu, aside from avoiding some trouble, to be honest, is more because of Lyu Bu’s already abnormal martial prowess. Even Li Youu has to acknowledge Lyu Bu’s combat ability.

For a long period, Li Youu had a certain contempt for pure warriors. In his eyes, a valiant general who doesn’t know how to command troops and only has brute strength is nothing more than a Charging General—once on the battlefield, you just create opportunities, catch the opponent off guard, and it’s easy to take them down.

However, that only applies to conventional levels of courage and strength. Faced with Lyu Bu’s terrifying combat power, even Li Youu’s intelligence has to weigh things carefully. It’s true: devising strategies and directing the battlefield are the core duties in large army operations. But in this world, there is another system called Brave Warfare!

As long as the general is peerlessly brave, there is no need to talk about any stratagems—just charge head‑on, crush with sheer violence, madly raise morale, and establish an absolute belief in invincibility. Until the entire army believes that as long as they follow you into frontal clashes, they will not lose, and no matter what stands opposite, it can be smashed.

The combat power of such an army is extremely frightening, and compared with legions that win by strategy and command, this kind of army is even more capable of creating miracles.

Of course, the Brave Faction is extremely dangerous; out of ten who play this way, more than nine are finished. As for the cause of death—it’s naturally that they’re not strong enough. But if you replace them with Lyu Bu, then there’s no need to care about “strong enough” anymore.

Therefore, when facing this kind of martial prowess that can be called invincible, even Li Youu has to give it due respect. Let the past pass; let’s sit down and talk properly.

After negotiations, Lyu Bu and Li Youu reached an agreement: neither side would cause trouble for the other; what happened in the past would be treated as if it never occurred; and when necessary, Lyu Bu would provide Li Youu with military support.

The reason this condition is so generous to Li Youu is largely because Lyu Bu was completely crushed by Li Youu on the level of intellect.

Lyu Bu’s martial force is indeed reliable, but in this kind of negotiation that depends on words and intelligence, the gap between Lyu Bu and Li Youu is enormous. The only reason Li Youu didn’t swallow him whole, flesh and bones together, is that Lyu Bu’s strength is simply too hard, forcing Li Youu to maintain a basic level of respect.

As for Diao Chan, she actually had a lot she wanted to say, but she didn’t want to make things difficult for Lyu Bu, so in the end she could only keep her mouth shut.

Instead, it was Li Youu who noticed Diao Chan’s hesitation standing behind Lyu Bu. Taking into account Lyu Bu’s already completely abnormal combat power, Li Youu stated that he could provide implicit protection for the Wang Family, with a protection period of twenty years.

After all, the people of the Wang Family of Taiyuan could not possibly be brought back to life. Now, with only Wang Ling left of the Wang Family of Taiyuan, they really needed such a protection period. Hence, after thinking it over, Diao Chan also agreed to Li Youu’s proposal.

Although Li Youu has all sorts of traits that make Lyu Bu and Diao Chan unhappy, as a Strategist, as a Think Tank, he can be called one of the top figures of his time. His guarantee carries considerable weight.

Of course, Diao Chan didn’t know that this proposal was just something Li Youu used to bind Lyu Bu.

Li Youu had already met Wang Ling before. In his eyes, Wang Ling can be classified as upper‑grade—a young man with an excellent disposition. Perhaps because of the calamity that befell the Wang Family of Taiyuan, Wang Ling attained enlightenment amidst the chaos.

His intelligence may not be called supreme, but his temperament truly satisfies Li Youu. In Li Youu’s words, this guy wouldn’t have any problem even if he were just left to grow on his own.

This is also an important reason why Li Youu is willing to offer protection for the Wang Family of Taiyuan as an exchange—because it’s hassle‑free. He doesn’t need to worry about anything; the Wang Family of Taiyuan can basically handle all affairs by themselves, while he gets the benefits of Lyu Bu for free.

Afterward, once it was confirmed that Lyu Bu intended to settle down here, practically all the civil servants and military generals under Liu Bei’s command came to pay their respects. No matter what, Lyu Bu’s martial force had to be acknowledged.

Liu Bei even came in person, granting Lyu Bu a peaceful residence, saving him the trouble of spending money to buy one himself.

To be honest, at that time Lyu Bu had already found a suitable courtyard, but just because Lyu Bu’s political IQ is low doesn’t mean Diao Chan doesn’t understand what this gesture signifies.

In the end, Lyu Bu moved into this area where Liu Bei’s high‑level officials are concentrated. Although its location is somewhat off to the side, the meaning behind it is self‑evident.

“I heard you’re planning to head to Western Asia after the festival?” After Lyu Bu left the house, Zhao Yun, even though he felt a bit hesitant, couldn’t very well go against his father‑in‑law’s wishes during the New Year, so he followed along. Fortunately, Lyu Bu did not attack him directly as he had in the past.

“This should be military secrets of our army, right.” Zhao Yun frowned and said.

“With this kind of thing, do you think if I open my mouth and ask, they would deliberately hide it from me?” Lyu Bu said, carrying his usual arrogance and conceit.

Zhao Yun nodded at these words, having no choice but to admit that Lyu Bu’s martial force, enough to be called invincible under heaven—fine, in actual fact already invincible under heaven—brought him an absurd amount of convenience.

Even someone as cold and proud as Guan Yu, if Lyu Bu asked, unless it involved some truly top‑level secret, Guan Yu wouldn’t hide anything from Lyu Bu. This is the benefit of absolute strength.

“Rome has quite a few experts. That Sulinarari, in terms of strength, may already be approaching me.” Lyu Bu slowly said. Zhao Yun’s eyes lit up at these words.

“Approaching Marquis Wenn already?” Zhao Yun spoke with a barely suppressed urge to test himself.

Lyu Bu turned sideways and swept his gaze up and down Zhao Yun, then manifested a thread of Inner Qi in his hand and threw it to Zhao Yun. “When you see him, release this.”

Zhao Yun looked completely puzzled, but still absorbed that wisp of Inner Qi and nodded, somewhat unable to figure out why Lyu Bu suddenly said such things.

“Get yourself mentally prepared. His control over his own strength is very good, he can bring out the level he should have. Don’t let my daughter become a widow.” Lyu Bu said coldly. Even at New Year he didn’t feel like saying pleasant things, which inexplicably made Zhao Yun feel a bit embarrassed.

“All right, I’ll be careful when the time comes.” Zhao Yun nodded. He was very clear that Lyu Bu’s relationship with him was not good; for Lyu Bu to come and say this was more for his own daughter. Likewise, for Lyu Bu to go so far as to run over and say this kind of thing, Sulinarari’s strength had already reached a rather terrifying level.

Lyu Bu swept a glance over Zhao Yun at these words and didn’t say anything more. If it were someone else going to clash with Su, even if Lyu Bu knew they were going to their death, he’d be too lazy to care. As for Zhao Yun, on the one hand, in Lyu Bu’s eyes his strength could indeed be considered to have stepped onto the stage, and on the other hand it was also for his own daughter’s sake.

Though there were plenty of things about Zhao Yun that Lyu Bu was displeased with, for his daughter’s sake, Lyu Bu wouldn’t really do anything terrible to Zhao Yun. On the contrary, if one day Zhao Yun fell into misfortune, the likelihood of Lyu Bu helping with a dark face was far greater than that of kicking him when he was down.

You have to admit, Lyu Bu really was worrying himself sick over his family.

Elsewhere, Li Youu expressionlessly accepted the New Year gifts Cai Yan had brought, then for once sent Cai Yan a return gift.

Today the Li Family residence was completely emptied out; Li Youu’s status had officially shifted to that of an empty‑nest old man. His only daughter had already gone to the Western Regions, and at New Year the house looked a lot more desolate.

However, Li Youu didn’t seem to care about these things. If Cai Yan didn’t come to see him, odds are that after a while he’d go over to Jia Xu’s place and muddle through a day there—Empty Nest Old Li…

Cai Yan didn’t stay long either and soon left. The Li Family courtyard fell quiet once again, with not the slightest trace of New Year atmosphere.

“Yo, isn’t this the young lady.” Chen Xi habitually waved when he saw Cai Yan. Cai Yan, dressed in palace attire, bent and gave a formal salute without saying anything.

“Mm, I remember the young lady seems entitled to New Year’s money.” Seeing Cai Yan’s indifferent reaction, Chen Xi smiled and reached into his sleeve, ready to take out a gift for her.

At the instant Chen Xi opened his mouth, he didn’t know if it was his imagination, but it seemed Cai Yan shot him a subtle sideways look.

“All right, husband, if you keep this up, Sister Zhaoji might end up hitting someone.” Fan Jian shook Chen Xi’s shoulder and said with a laugh. Compared to the faint awe she’d had toward Zhaoji back then, Fan Jian now didn’t have much on her mind anymore.

“Okay, okay, happy New Year.” Chen Xi laughed as he put his things away and offered his congratulations. Cai Zhaoji watched Fan Jian and Chen Xi’s joking with a smile, and nodded.

Watching Chen Xi and Fan Jian leave, Cai Yan’s eyes were incomparably clear. Fan Jian’s changes were something she understood all too well; as for Chen Xi, he probably hadn’t changed one bit—or rather, was exactly the same as before.

In the Ye City Black Prison, Lul Xun and Lul Ji each carried a big box of food as they came to visit Lul Jun. Normally, for a major criminal in a big case like Lul Jun, Lul Xun and Lul Ji wouldn’t be allowed to see him, but with Gan Ning around, letting the three reunite for New Year was still doable.

“Jir Cai, spending New Year squatting in the black prison—want to write some reflections?” Gan Ning prodded at Lul Jun’s nerves. Although Lul Jun’s situation was not very good right now, relying on his own connections, Gan Ning had more or less settled on a handling plan. It looked like Lul Jun’s life was preserved; as for what his future would be like, that would depend on Lul Jun’s own performance.

“Gan Xingba, you bastard, give me back my Seventh Generation Ship!” Hearing Gan Ning’s voice, Lul Jun charged over in fury, slammed into the bars of the cell, and roared at Gan Ning.