Lü Bu was an extremely image-conscious person. The crude shoving by Ding Yuan's personal guards made Lü Bu feel greatly humiliated in front of his fellow townsman, Li Su. Although he harbored immense resentment in his heart, he couldn't act on it at the moment. He could only grit his teeth and suppress his temper, being pushed into the tent.
Upon entering the tent, he saw Ding Yuan sitting high on the main seat, his face full of anger, while the other generals were seated on either side.
As soon as Ding Yuan saw Lü Bu enter, he glared, his eyes wide with fury, and angrily demanded, "Who is this person who came to see you? When did you acquire a fellow townsman in the capital?"
Lü Bu quickly replied, "Foster Father, please calm your anger. This, this is my fellow townsman Li Su. He serves under Dong Gong. Yesterday, he recognized me on the battlefield and specifically came to catch up."
Ding Yuan heard this, stared at Lü Bu, and said sternly, "Lü Bu, don't you know who Dong Zhuo is? His soldiers, how can you just meet them whenever you want? Do you still have military law in your eyes? Was it truly as simple as just catching up for the two of you?"
Lü Bu hastily defended himself, "It truly was just that, please investigate, Foster Father!"
Ding Yuan was now beside himself with rage, roaring, "You, you think I'm that easy to deceive? Don't you speak first, let your fellow townsman speak!"
Li Su, however, was unhurried. He calmly straightened his clothes, then unhurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Lord Jianyang, I am Li Su, a Zhonglang General under Dong Gong. It is only because my master cherishes Lü Bu's talent, and has seen several times on the battlefield how Lü Bu's performance was affected by not having a good horse during combat, that he specifically sent me, as I am Lü Bu's fellow townsman, to present him with a fine horse."
When Ding Yuan heard this, he immediately roared, "Lü Bu, you unfilial son, is this what you meant by merely catching up?"
Ding Yuan angrily ordered his soldiers to seize this man from the Dong Army, and then had everyone go and seize Li Su.
Seeing this, Lü Bu hurriedly knelt down and pleaded, "Foster Father, after all, Li Su is my fellow townsman, and although Dong Gong said he wanted to send a good horse, I did not accept it! Please, Foster Father, spare him, for the sake of not executing envoys during a war between two armies!"
However, before Lü Bu could finish his words, Ding Yuan was already furious beyond measure, and he loudly rebuked, "You scoundrel, don't call me Foster Father anymore! You've been exchanging glances with that Dong Army spy, where in your eyes do you still see this old man?! This is no envoy at all, he's clearly here to be your persuader! If I were foolish enough to believe you two again, perhaps tomorrow my head would be cut off by you without me even knowing! Guards, immediately seize this unfilial son and this Dong Army envoy together!"
The generals quickly pleaded for him, as they were all quite familiar with Lü Bu's character, and Lü Bu's formidable martial arts prowess commanded their immense admiration. In their hearts, Lü Bu was practically an object of their worship.
Lü Bu watched helplessly as this unfolded, unjustly suffering this undeserved accusation, his heart filled with grievance. Yet, with the generals pleading on his behalf, and Lü Bu himself not fiercely resisting, he was pressed down onto the ground.
Ding Yuan continued, "Since he is a persuader, there is probably more than this. Quickly go to his tent and search carefully to see if there are any other items."
His personal guards acknowledged the order and quickly departed, returning shortly with a bag of gold, silver, and jewels, which they presented.
Ding Yuan opened it and saw that it was filled with precious items like gold, silver, and jewels. He was instantly enraged, picking up the bag and smashing it fiercely at Lü Bu, roaring furiously, "Look at yourself! I have tolerated you again and again, yet you haven't told me a single truth! How can I ever trust you again? Men, take this fellow out and execute him! Take both of these men out and execute them!"
At this moment, Ding Yuan's heart was filled with disappointment and anger towards Lü Bu. He felt that his long-standing trust and affection for Lü Bu had been wantonly trampled upon by Lü Bu, and Lü Bu's actions made him feel greatly betrayed.
In Ding Yuan's view, the collusion between Lü Bu and the Dong Army envoy was a serious challenge to his authority and a fatal blow to their relationship. This conflict was not merely a superficial disagreement, but a deeper crisis of trust, instantly plunging their formerly close relationship into the abyss.
The personal guards received the order and were about to escort Lü Bu and Li Su away for execution.
Lü Bu heard Ding Yuan's words, and his heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, an endless despair instantly surging within him. He violently broke free from the soldiers' restraints, his eyes turning blood-red, his teeth gnashing, and he cried out hoarsely, "Foster Father, I'll call you Foster Father one last time! Leaving aside whether he is a persuader or not, when have you ever truly trusted me? Since I followed you, I have fought in battles everywhere, north and south, east and west. I am clearly a military general, yet you insisted on making me handle civil affairs! I have repeatedly achieved merits, yet I have never seen any promotion!
Even in this confrontation, I fought desperately outside for several rounds until my energy was exhausted. But what about you? You reprimanded me again and again, completely devoid of any father-son affection! Now that my fellow townsman has come, you are going to execute me without distinguishing right from wrong! If that's the case, from now on, our father-son bond is severed! I will return to the frontier and become an ordinary herdsman, and I will never come back to protect you!"
Upon hearing this, Ding Yuan was instantly enraged, his eyes seemingly spitting fire as he shrieked hysterically, "Kill him! Immediately kill him!"
The personal guards, wielding their weapons, swarmed forward. Lü Bu, bare-handed, snatched a long spear and in a few rounds rendered the personal guards completely unable to resist.
Ding Yuan was practically driven to madness, roaring frantically, "Quick, bring the crossbowmen! Quickly bring the crossbowmen! Immediately execute this fellow here!"
Generals such as Wei Xu and Cao Xing all came forward to try and persuade Ding Yuan, while Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, seeing that Ding Yuan was serious, wanted to protect Lü Bu and leave.
The personal guards outside the tent heard Ding Yuan's orders from inside and quickly brought in the crossbowmen. Under the sharp crossbow arrows, all the generals felt the threat of death.
Ding Yuan roared furiously, "Rebellion! Rebellion! You're all rebelling! A bunch of martial brutes, I knew you had ill intentions! I swear today to kill this fellow, and whoever dares to stop me will be executed along with him!"
Subsequently, the generals once again tried to persuade Ding Yuan, but Ding Yuan did not listen at all. He directly ordered the archers and crossbowmen to prepare to fire, completely disregarding everyone else.
Gao Shun, seeing this situation, suddenly stood up in a fit of uncontrollable rage and loudly roared, "You heartless and unrighteous man! We have risked our lives for you, and this is how you treat us? When have you ever considered us your own?"
Gao Shun drew the long sword from his waist and was about to charge at Ding Yuan, but the personal guards quickly blocked him.
On this side, generals like Cao Xing and Wei Xu, seeing this scene, also followed suit and said, "Rebellion then, rebellion then! Since that's the case, if he won't let us live well, then let's kill him first."
With that, they all drew their long swords and charged at Ding Yuan's personal guards.
Ding Yuan at this moment dodged backward in a panic, shouting, "Crossbowmen, fire! Shoot this group of rebellious traitors to death!"
The crossbowmen immediately began to fire arrows, and the central army tent instantly descended into chaos, with the generals all scrambling for cover.
Gao Shun also abandoned his pursuit of Ding Yuan and, alongside Lü Bu and Zhang Liao, broke out of the crossbowmen's encirclement from the flank.
These three generals were like fierce tigers descending from the mountain. Once the crossbowmen were engaged in close quarters, they were momentarily unable to react and were cut down in swathes.
Meanwhile, generals like Cao Xing and Wei Xu caught up to Ding Yuan, and with a swift motion, cut Ding Yuan down inside the tent.
Lü Bu, seeing that matters had reached such a pass, and that Ding Yuan had actually been executed, knew that not rebelling was absolutely impossible. He immediately made decisive arrangements, instructing Gao Shun to quickly gather the Trapped Camp and firmly hold the central army, and then ordered Zhang Liao to lead the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry to suppress those troops who were stubbornly loyal to Ding Yuan.
Originally, Ding Yuan was quite scholarly, valuing literati highly, while being quite dismissive of soldiers, military generals, and even ordinary soldiers, not taking them seriously at all.
Now, the commanding generals had all rebelled. Apart from those who were particularly loyal to Ding Yuan, everyone else laid down their weapons, expressing their willingness to support Lü Bu as their new leader.
And those military generals who were fiercely loyal to Ding Yuan also failed to stir up any significant trouble, quickly collapsing after several charges by the Wolf Cavalry led by Zhang Liao.
Once everything had settled, Lü Bu summoned Li Su again and expressed his intention for the Bing Province Army to surrender to Dong Zhuo.
Li Su, seeing that his scheme had succeeded, suppressed the joy in his heart and patted his chest, swearing that Dong Gong would certainly welcome all the Bing Province generals with high official positions and generous emoluments.
So Li Su went to report this situation in Luoyang City, leaving Lü Bu, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, and others in the camp, feeling uneasy.