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At this time when Lie Fan is still inspecting the outer wall, a messenger riding toward their location and presents a letter to Lie Fan saying that it is from Xun You, after opening the letter Lie Fan is surprised as Xun You reports that the Oriole informed him that in 3 days Huang Zhong and the Qinglong army will arrive, bringing Li Yan a prisoner and Lu Su a scholar from Lujiang Commandery.
Lie Fan knew about Li Yan's arrival due to Oriole's report about the battle at Jiangxia, where Li Yan leads the reinforcement for Huang Zu bringing 100,000 men, but he did expect that there would be Lu Su, and from the looks of it he come joined in as a guest.
Lu Su was a very important advisor and played a heavy role in the Three Kingdom Era, especially during Sun Quan's rule in Wu where he brokered the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and also replaced Zhou Yu as the Military Advisor of Sun Quan.
Also alongside Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, and Lu Meng the four of them were known as the Four Governors of Wu, as they played an important role in the rise of Wu to become one of the three kingdoms.
Lie Fan turned to Jia Xu and asked him about Lu Su, and why he hadn't received any report about him whatsoever, and suddenly now he could join one of his armies to go to Xiapi.
Listening to Lie Fan's question, Jia Xu informed Lie Fan that there were reports concerning Lu Su from the Oriole, but he shelved the information because he considered it to be mediocre information.
He then continued by saying that the first report about Lu Su was from Oriole members that were guarding Wang Lang and Lu Fan, where Wang Lang and Lu Fan goes to Lu Sun's hometown near Lujiang and borrow one of his granaries filled with crops for supplying the campaign effort on Jiangxia as they were in urgent need of supplies.
Next Lu Su then goes to Lujiang with Wang Lang and Lu Fan, helping them in governing Lujiang and advising them daily on domestic matters, and showed his talent in governing and domestic matters.
As for the reason why he joined Huang Zhong and the Qinlong Army, it's because Wang Lang and Lu Fan promised Lu Su that his granary will be paid back double.
Also, Wang Lang requested Huang Zhong who passed through to bring Lu Su alongside him, as he thinks Lu Su has a great talent and he thinks it's of great value so he wanted to recommend Lu Su to Lie Fan, and that's all the report he has concerning Lu Su.
Lie Fan hearing this nodded his head and heaved a sigh of relief that at least the advisors he had under him weren't short sighted advisors like Guo Tu and Shen Pei who served Yuan Shao.
Of course, he would never recruit or invite that kind of advisor he now had that kind of reputation, but he never knew about the history of the advisors he has under him now, because, in a certain way, the advisors that have good reputations were put very kindly in the history book, and not their true personality.
Lie Fan folded the letter and ordered for it to be burned because it contained information about the Oriole, something that shouldn't be known by anyone. After all, if it was thrown out carelessly, someone could pick it up and read it.
Man Chong took the letter from Lie Fan's hand and after tearing it into several pieces, he approached one of the campfires that was used by the cook for the labor forces and threw the pieces of the letters on its fire.
Seeing Man Chong's action, Lie Fan nodded his head in appreciation of what Man Chong had just done and began to think that he could be another candidate for Oriole Grandmaster's rank, joining Jia Xu and Xu Kai.
With that in mind, Lie Fan leads his advisors to return back to the Governor's Castle and await the arrival of Huang Zhong and the Qinlong army alongside Li Yan and Lu Su to Xiapi.
Three days passed by in the blink of an eye, and Huang Zhong and the Qinlong Army finally arrived at Xiapi, Lie Fan accompanied by Jia Xu and Xun You welcomed them at the Southern Gate of Xiapi.
Huang Zhong and Liu Ba were mesmerized by the outer wall which was 50% completed, as its height, size, and length were one they never had seen before.
Lu Su who rides in his carriage, opens the curtain of his carriage and sees the onerous structure surprising him, as he never thought that Lie Fan dared to show his ambition openly now.
He is sure that someone with high intelligence and foresight would surely know the reason Lie Fan why Lie Fan suddenly renovated and expanded Xiapi, as he began to leave the facade of being loyal to the Han Dynasty.
Li Yan also thinks the same as Lu Su, he could see through the construction of the ambition that Lie Fan harbored. In his mind, even Cao Cao doesn't dare to act so obviously but right now the prestige of the Han Dynasty has long waned, especially after the crusade against Gongsun Zan.
Even if Cao Cao bestowed the titles and promoted several Warlords through the Emperor, the Han Dynasty's prestige in the eyes of common people was eroded, especially when a Warlord like Lie Fan cared more for the common people than the Emperor.
The two people then saw Huang Zhong and Liu Ba conversing with a heroic man, accompanied by two men whom they knew from the way they acted were advisors, and they immediately concluded that the heroic man was Lie Fan.
Lie Fan: "Hansheng and Zichu! It's been a long time since I saw the two of you, especially you Hansheng even though you can be said to be one of the earliest generals that followed me, the time we met became more less."
Huang Zhong: "Haha! My Lord don't be unhappy, my son Huang Sheng now almost fully recovered from his sickness, maybe he could accompany My Lord in the future as one of your bodyguards or military adjutant, don't worry his bowskill could rival mine!"
Lie Fan: "Oh? Truly a tiger would never have a wolf as a son! Then I await his full recovery, hearing how high your praise about his bow skill makes me want to have a competition with him in archery."
Jia Xu: "Ahem My lord, sorry for interrupting your conversation but I think we can continue inside the castle, as we still have a guest to host and a prisoner of war to interrogate."
Liu Ba: "What Master Jia Xu said is true My Lord, I have conversed with Lu Su along the way and I could surely say that his talent in domestic could rival even Master Chen Qun and Jia Xu."
Liu Ba's praise immediately garnered Jia Xu and Xun You's interest more for Lu Su, while Lie Fan acted surprised even though he already knew more or less the kind of talent that Lu Su had from the history and novels.
Lie Fan, Jia Xu, Xun You, Huang Zhong, and Liu Ba ride their horse toward the castle, guarded by Lie Fan's bodyguard and 100 of Huang Zhong's elite guards with Lu Su's carriage and Li Yan's prisoner carriage followed suit.
When they arrived, Lie Fan awaited Lu Su who got down from his carriage. seeing him Lie Fan immediately greeted Lu Su with respect and welcomed him to Xiapi while also thanking him for loaning his granary to his army.
Lu Su who was greeted by Lie Fan respectfully was surprised by it because he didn't have any standing in the scholar world except for his hometown, so he admired Lie Fan's character while greeting him back and said that it was a big deal for him to loan his granary.
Lie Fan then led Lu Su with his advisors toward the main hall of the castle, while Huang Zhong and Liu Ba brought Li Yan out from the prisoner carriage and took him to the side hall to wait for Lie Fan's meeting with Lu Su to end.
In the main hall, Lie Fan and Lu Su were having a conversation about many topics, especially about Lu Su's life experience in his hometown and his impression of helping Wang Lang and Lu Fan.
Lu Su: "That's all about my experiences in my hometown, I think I was just more fortunate than the common people with me being born into such a great family, and as for helping Master Wang Lang and Lu Fan in Lujiang, I have never seen a more efficient government bureaucracy and learned many things while helping the two of them. "
Lie Fan: "Haha thank you for the praise Sir Lu Su, I hoped that the bureaucracy of my government would become more efficient, especially since I have experienced how slow the bureaucracy of the Han Dynasty was."
Lu Su: " Hah.. What Lord Lie Fan said is true, I also have somewhat experienced it even though I was very young at the time, but after Master Lu Kang took over Lujiang Commandery it's somewhat improved but not by much."
Lie Fan: 'I see, it's okay at least Master Lu Kang tries to improve it. I could see now why both Wang Lang and Lu Fan praised the two of you, Liu Ba also praise you when I was talking to him previously, Sir Lu Su I would like to invite you to serve me as my advisors, are you willing?"
Lu Su: "This... Am I even qualified Lord Lie Fan to become one of your advisors at my age? I have heard about many of your advisors such as Master Jia Xu and Master Xun You besides you, I don't think I'm qualified and also I have to take care of my grandmother in my hometown."
Lie Fan: "Of course you're qualified! Age doesn't matter in my eyes, as long as you have the talent and will to enhance your skills, and for your grandmother why don't you relocate her to Xiapi, it's much safer here than in your hometown."
Lu Su heard what Lie Fan said and was somewhat touched because in the past, due to his age, many people didn't listen to what he said and only came to him for the resources he had, Lie Fan is different as he valued his talent more and his care for the wellbeing of his grandmother was also a positive point for him, which makes Lu Su think that maybe having Lie Fan as his lord was a good choice.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu
Age: 30 (197 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 825
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 936 (+20)
VIT: 598 (+20)
AGI: 583 (+10)
INT: 587
CHR: 96
WIS: 509
WILL: 397
ATR Points: 0