Chapter 337: Escort Convoy

That day, the weather was fine, and sunlight filtered through the gaps of the camp tent, casting shadows on the ground.

Liu Bei was sitting inside the tent, and in this light, he focused intently on sharpening his sword.

Suddenly, from outside the tent came a rapid, drum‑like pounding of footsteps, accompanied by Zhang Fei's characteristic, bell‑like yet clearly anxious shout:

"Elder brother! Elder brother! Something terrible has happened—!"

Liu Bei's movement halted, he looked up, and saw the tent curtain ripped open violently as Zhang Fei's towering figure burst in with a gust of wind; his leopard‑like eyes were now wide and round, his face a mixture of sweat, shock, and anger.

"Third brother, what makes you so restless?" Liu Bei set aside his sword and whetstone, furrowed his brows slightly, and asked calmly, "Did you discover the trail of the Yellow Turban bandits?"

"No, no, no, elder brother, it's not bandits!" Zhang Fei waved his hands repeatedly, panting heavily, his voice growing louder with urgency, "It's… it's about your teacher, Lu Zhi, Lu Zhonglang!"

Liu Bei's heart tightened, a vague unease rising, and he pressed, "The teacher? What happened to him?"

"A serious matter has gone awry!"

Zhang Fei stamped his foot hard, the ground seeming to tremble, and shouted angrily, "I just heard that Master Lu has been dismissed by the court! Now… now he's being put on a prison cart and sent toward Luoyang!"

"What?!"

Liu Bei was struck as if by a thunderclap, leapt up from his seat, his complexion draining instantly, filled with astonishment and an unacceptably fierce anger:

"Is that true?! How could this be?! The teacher… could he have been defeated by Zhang Jiao? Yet just days ago we received news of a great victory, slaying over ten thousand Yellow Turbans!"

Zhang Fei, seeing Liu Bei's anxiety and knowing the matter's gravity, stopped hiding and spilled the details he had gathered like beans: "I heard it was a little eunuch named Zuo Feng, a minor yellow‑gate official, who went to inspect the army."

"Someone suggested bribing that eunuch to Master Lu, but the teacher is upright and would never heed such scum. The eunuch bore a grudge, and after returning to Luoyang, he slandered your imperial family to the emperor!"

He mimicked the slander's tone, coarse yet spot‑on: "He said, 'I think Guangzong Xian city is easy to capture, but Lu Zhi holds his troops, is he waiting for Heaven to strike down Zhang Jiao?'"

Zhang Fei, at this point grinding his teeth, said, "Your imperial family… hum, they're also clueless fools… hum, anyway they believed that eunuch's lies, raged, and issued an edict dismissing Master Lu, then put him on a prison cart to be taken back to the capital for prosecution!"

Liu Bei, after hearing, froze completely.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but nothing came out.

Finally, all the roiling emotions turned into a heavy, prolonged sigh; he sagged back into his seat, as if his strength had been drained.

He clenched his fists tightly, trembling slightly.

Sunlight fell on his face, yet could not dispel the deep disappointment and sorrow.

He lowered his head, watching the flickering light patches on the ground, and forced a suppressed, endless lament from between his teeth:

"Incompetent… and a petty man…!"

"How can we save the Han Empire.............. how can we!"

For a moment the tent fell into dead silence, broken only by Zhang Fei's heavy breathing and the faint creaking of Liu Bei's clenched fists.

The once bright weather seemed to acquire an inescapable gloom, as if tainted by the court's absurd decree.

"Elder brother, please don't be like this."

Zhang Fei, perhaps unable to bear seeing his elder brother so despondent, spoke comfortingly:

"In my view, it's because there are too many petty people around your family; if everyone were like you, elder brother, there wouldn't be these problems now."

"When, in the future, you become a high official, rank among the Three Dukes, and are granted some title… to your imperial family............"

Before his comforting words finished, another set of footsteps sounded.

Guan Yu entered from outside, not bothering to ask why Liu Bei looked like that, and said:

"Elder brother, third brother, twelve li west there is a Yellow Turban uprising!"

Hearing this, Liu Bei could no longer linger in despondency; he inhaled deeply, grasped his long sword, and said:

"Deploy troops!"

A street corner of the county town.

Yu Lin and Diao Chan sat on small stools at an open‑air food stall, each holding a bowl of steaming noodle soup.

After these days of recuperation, Diao Chan's change was quite evident.

Although her figure remained slender and slight, her face was no longer the sallow, withered look of first meeting, now faintly showing a healthy rosiness.

After the thick grime was washed away, her features revealed a delicate, refined contour; large eyes clear black and white, lively and spirited. Though her clothes were still plain cloth, hints of a future unparalleled beauty could be seen, yet her youth added a touch of naivety.

The two ate their noodles quietly until Yu Lin took out a cloth to wipe his mouth, his gaze casually drifting toward the main street not far away.

There, crowds of villagers who had heard the news had already surrounded the area, the throng restless, murmuring, the air thick with an odd tension and resentment.

Soon, accompanied by a suppressed gasp and louder chatter, an escort convoy slowly moved in from the other end of the street.

At the convoy's core was a wooden prison cart; inside stood a man, dressed in prison garb, his sideburns slightly disheveled, yet his upright aura remained unmistakable.

The townsfolk, upon seeing the man in the cart, did not curse but each wore looks of excitement and indignation, and the crowd repeatedly voiced shouts full of lament and outrage:

"Master Lu!! So unjust!"

"What crime does Master Lu have?! Why must he endure this humiliation!"

"It must be treacherous officials in the court framing the loyal!"

"Heaven turns a blind eye, letting Master Lu suffer this undeserved injustice!"

Some even choked, unable to hide their grief and anger.

Lu Zhi in the cart seemed deaf to the surrounding roar of support and protest.

His gaze was hollow, looking ahead; the sharp, wise look he once had when commanding troops was gone, replaced by a dead, gray emptiness, as if he had seen through the court's folly and the world's absurdity, his heart like dead ash.

The Official Messengers escorting the convoy, seeing this, wore grim faces, fearing trouble, and hurriedly shouted sternly:

"Silence! All silence!"

"This is a court‑appointed offender; no clamor!"

"If you dare speak nonsense again, you will be dealt with as a traitor!"

They brandished their weapons, trying to disperse the over‑excited crowd, keeping the convoy moving forward with difficulty.

The escort convoy gradually receded, the noisy voices fading, leaving only a sighing, resentful silence.

Diao Chan drank the last sip of noodle broth from her bowl, licked her lips contentedly, and only then turned her attention to the escort convoy.

She stretched out her small hand, gently tugged Yu Lin's sleeve, lifted her little face, and curiously asked, "Brother, who was that person in the prison carriage just now? Why were those uncles and elders so sad?"

Yu Lin withdrew his gaze that had been looking toward the direction where the squad disappeared, lowered his head to look at Diao Chan's inquisitive little face, and gave a faint smile, "He…"

"He can be considered the teacher of your brother—my elder brother."

"In the future, if you encounter any hardship, go find someone named Liu Bei, someone named Guan Yu, and someone named Zhang Fei."

"In the future, they …"