Tan Shihuai and Li Ru talked until sunset before he reluctantly saw Li Ru off from the palace.

After Li Ru left, Tan Shihuai also sent someone to find Han Sui.

Before Han Sui could even bow, Tan Shihuai spoke up, "Mr. Wenyue, this Li Ru is a rare talent. Do you have any ideas on how to keep him here?"

Han Sui was slightly taken aback, feeling a little uneasy.

You're not bad yourself, so why do you insist on keeping him?

While inwardly grumbling, Han Sui dared not delay and pondered a feasible solution.

Although Han Sui was very jealous of Li Ru and did not want him to stay, he dared not disobey Tan Shihuai's will.

Han Sui pondered for a moment, then said, "Great Chief, in my opinion, in order to win people's hearts, in addition to being generous, we must also leave them with no way out."

Tan Shihuai asked, "How can we ensure they have no way out?"

"Just make the Northern Wuhuan disappear!" Han Sui replied.

Tan Shihuai shook his head: "I've thought about that too, but the situation of the Northern Wuhuan is unclear. If we send troops rashly, there might be unforeseen consequences."

Furthermore, Li Ru has served the Northern Wuhuan for many years. If we were to destroy the Northern Wuhuan, what if he held a grudge against us?

"Great Chief, I believe that Li Ru has exaggerated. The reason why the Northern Wuhuan dare not send troops is because they have no troops left to send. You only need to find his attendants and ask them to eliminate him."

Once you understand the situation of the Northern Wuhuan, you can send an elite force disguised as bandits from the grasslands to wipe them out.

Then, under the guise of revenge, you can hunt down the bandits. This way, you can not only keep Li Ru here, but also obtain all the supplies from the Northern Wuhuan.

Upon hearing this, Tan Shihuai's eyes lit up, and he whispered, "You'll handle this matter. Make sure it's done discreetly!"

"yes!"

Han Sui agreed, then bowed and withdrew.

Meanwhile, Li Ru, back at his residence, hid alone in his room and began to copy the map, marking the Xianbei tribes he had set up on it, and wrote a secret letter.

After doing all this, Li Ru summoned a close aide, handed him the map and the secret letter, and instructed him: "Immediately follow this map southwards and deliver the map and the secret letter to Bingzhou."

The attendant took the map and the secret letter, and said hesitantly, "Sir, if I leave, Tan Shihuai will definitely become suspicious. What will you do then?"

Li Ru smiled and said, "No, I brought so many followers from Wuhuan. Even if one or two are missing, Tan Shihuai won't say anything. He might even apologize to me."

"Then please take good care of yourself, Shangguan!"

Seeing Li Ru's confident expression, Qin Sui said no more, put away the map and the secret letter, and turned to leave.

Under the cover of night, the attendant secretly left the Xianbei royal court, stole a fast horse, and galloped south.

As night deepened, Han Sui sent several men with sleeping powder to the inn, where they captured two Northern Wuhuan followers who had come with Li Ru.

After being subjected to torture and forced confession, the two attendants truthfully recounted the situation of the Northern Wuhuan.

"Ha! This Li Ru is indeed just boasting!"

Upon learning that the Northern Wuhuan now numbered only 20,000 able-bodied men, Han Sui couldn't help but sneer, and then hurriedly paid a visit to Tan Shihuai late at night.

Tan Shihuai was also very excited upon hearing this, and then entrusted the task of dispatching the bandits to Han Sui.

The next morning, just as Li Ru was sleeping soundly with A Yue in his arms, a series of urgent knocks on the door suddenly woke him up.

Upon opening the door, a servant stood anxiously outside.

"Sir, something terrible has happened! All our men were drugged last night, and three of them are missing!"

Li Ru's expression changed: "What? Where did they go?"

The attendant shook his head: "I don't know. We slept very soundly last night and didn't hear a sound."

Li Ru frowned: "I understand. You go back first, I'll go find Chief Tan Shihuai right away!"

"Yes, sir!"

After his entourage left, Li Ru changed his clothes and rushed to the palace.

Upon learning that Li Ru's attendant had gone missing without explanation, Tan Shihuai feigned surprise, reassuring Li Ru while simultaneously dispatching his men to conduct a city-wide search in a perfunctory manner.

Amidst the chaos within the city, in the eastern part of the Xianbei royal court, a force of 5,000 elite Xianbei soldiers disguised as bandits sped toward the encampment of the Northern Wuhuan.

...

Bingzhou is located north of the Great Wall.

A cavalry force of nearly five thousand men galloped at high speed across the vast grassland.

The soldiers in this unit were all dressed in black iron armor, with standard sabers at their waists and standard rifles on their backs. Each of them had a repeating crossbow on the left side of their horse's back. The unit's equipment was so sophisticated that it was astonishing.

At the front of the procession, a large banner with Chinese characters fluttered in the wind. On each side of the banner were two large flags with black backgrounds and red borders. One flag had a large "吕" (Lü) character on it, while the other was embroidered with a wolf-shaped pattern.

This unit was none other than the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry under Lü Bu's command.

Lu Bu, clad in gleaming armor, rode a magnificent Akhal-Teke horse at the forefront.

Since returning to Bingzhou last year, Lü Bu has led the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, together with the Southern Xiongnu, to launch one surprise attack after another against the Xianbei people who have migrated south.

Since returning to Bingzhou, Lü Bu has completely let loose, spending his days either fighting or on his way to fight.

Lu Bu's once handsome and fair face now showed signs of vicissitude and composure, but the only thing that remained unchanged was his eyes, which gleamed with a dangerous light.

After a long and rapid journey, Lü Bu led his troops to the foot of the Great Wall.

"General Lü is back!!"

Upon seeing Lü Bu, the soldiers on the pass shouted excitedly and hurriedly opened the gate.

Gao Shun, who was stationed here, also came to greet them with his men.

Upon seeing Lü Bu, Gao Shun's usually cold face broke into a smile, and he stepped forward to give him a big hug.

"Fengxian, you've been gone for half a month. What have you accomplished?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Gao Shun inquired about Lü Bu's expedition.

Lu Bu shook his head: "We found nothing. I led my wolf riders to search the area within a radius of 500 li, but we didn't find a single Xianbei tribe. Due to insufficient food, we had to turn back."

Gao Shun smiled and said, "This is a good thing. It means there are no more Xianbei people in the Great Wall area, so our garrison won't have to work so hard."

Lu Bu said solemnly, "No, it's just not there now. After spring, those Xianbei people will definitely come back!"

Gao Shun nodded in agreement: "That's true. Now that you've driven the Xianbei people to the north, they're all crammed together, and some of them will definitely continue to migrate south."

"By the way, Fengxian, General Zhang sent a letter the other day, asking you to return to the pass and report back to him immediately!"

"Oh? But what happened?"

Lu Bu raised an eyebrow and asked with a puzzled look.