Diao Chan was so frightened that she ran out of the corridor, held her hand against the wall to catch her breath for a moment, and then shouted in a panic: "Someone is coming -! Come on, someone!"

"Mistress!" The maids gathered around her.

"What's wrong, mistress?"

"Someone come quickly and help the mistress back..."

Diao Chan clutched the handkerchief and waved her hand, looking frightened and livid: "Call all the men in the house!"

"No, no..." Diao Chan changed her mind again: "Don't say anything! It's okay!"

Diao Chan, like stepping on cotton, took three breaths with each step. She arrived in front of the corridor, dismissed the servants, pushed the door open and went straight into the room.

Lu Bu was lying on the couch, staring blankly at the roof, and scolded: "Get out."

Diao Chan said intermittently: "Master Hou, Master Hou..."

Lu Bu was indifferent and said nothing.

"I saw, I saw a... monster!" Diao Chan covered her heart with a handkerchief, her eyes filled with tears.

"Monster?" Lu Bu mocked.

Diao Chan said: "In...in the military advisor's room! The military advisor is..."

"What did you say!" Lu Bu suddenly turned over and sat up.

Diao Chan turned pale, and Lu Bu rushed out of the hospital with his upper body bare, only a pair of underpants, and his bare feet, shouting: "Qilin!"

Qilin returned to his human form, curled up, hugged the ragged pheasant tail crest, lay on his side on the bed, and fell asleep.

The room was damp and cold, the sunlight was dim at dusk, and there was a big hole in the window. The wind was blowing in. Qilin was covered with a quilt, shivering from the cold in his sleep.

"Qilin." Lu Bu shouted.

Qilin moved but did not answer.

Lu Bu's eyes were red. He stretched out his fingers and pulled out the war crown that Qilin was holding. He said regretfully: "Why are you here? I'll fix it..."

Qilin was lying on his side, facing the wall. After a while, he heard the sound of nailing boards again, and Lu Bu personally patched up the window outside.

After nailing the planks for a full quarter of an hour, there was the sound of removing the planks again - Lu Bu nailed it smoothly and accidentally sealed the door.

The room became warm, and the red light of the charcoal fire lit up.

Lu Bu ordered: "Bring the rice over and send a message to Diao Chan to let her eat by herself."

The maid agreed, and Lu Bu said again: "Help the military advisor clear the table. What do you do? There is no one to serve you on weekdays."

"When we returned to the Marquis, there were two personal soldiers sent by General Gao to guard the courtyard. The mistress said it was inconvenient for the men in the house, so she sent them back."

The servants set up the food box, and Lu Bu said, "Eat, I know you're awake."

Qilin took a long breath and stood up, with a splitting headache.

"Send a personal soldier." Qilin said, "Get a token... No, you wait."

Lu Bu said: "What's the matter?"

Qilin didn't dare to ask Lu Bu to send someone to do it, but felt that he was unreliable, so he hurriedly checked the contents of the box.

Lu Bu took out his private seal and handed it over. Qilin stamped it on the paper and wrote a few lines.

Qilin said: "Here comes someone."

The maid outside the door answered, and Qilin felt a little strange. Why was there always someone guarding outside?

Qilin said: "You send someone here, forget it, just you. You take the letter and notify General Zhang and ask him to send someone to deliver the letter to Chen Gongtai. It is very important. Don't delay."

The maid bowed and went, passing by the court, and was about to leave the house. Diao Chan smiled and said: "Why did you come out? Didn't I tell you to look at the lord? What are you carrying? Take it out and let me see."

Wang Yun was sitting in the hall, pouring himself a drink. He looked at the letter and said leisurely: "Xun's prediction is true. Marquis Wen is indeed going to use troops in this winter. Just follow Qilin's instructions and deliver the letter. My daughter, get the pen and ink."

Come on, I have to write a letter as a father!"

Diao Chan sighed and said, "Father, what are you going to do?"

Diao Chan was grinding the ink and Wang Yun was writing. The more Diao Chan read, the more frightened she became: "Father... you, you want to write a letter to Han Sui!?"

Wang Yun smiled kindly and said: "Don't worry, daughter, I will never harm my son-in-law, and I will ensure that you get what you want."

Lu Bu said: "You want to attack Wuwei?"

Qilin nodded and said: "This is a great opportunity that fell from the sky. Chen Gong and Brother Gao went to buy food. In my letter, I asked them to sneak into Wuwei City in batches; wait in the city and Quan should respond internally."

"Now there is an internal fight in Wuwei, and Ma Chao has escaped. In a few days, when it doesn't snow, you can send me 20,000 soldiers."

Lu Bu: "Twenty thousand?! This is almost half of the Marquis's wealth!"

Qilin said: "Don't believe me?"

Lu Bu replied: "Of course I believe you, I will go with you."

Qilin frowned and said, "You can't go, you have to stay in Longxi."

"I marched hurriedly to the outside of Wuwei City. Chen Gong responded shunnily. Ma Chao and I joined forces to fight quickly."

"According to the intelligence given by the spies last time, there were 8,000 defenders in the city, many of whom were taking orders from Ma Chao. Now that Cheng Yi has seized power, Ma Chao was plotted and escaped from Wuwei City. Cheng Yi was unable to subdue the entire city's defenders.

It's a good time to march, as long as Ma Chao can enter the city, it only takes one day to occupy Wuwei."

Lu Bu said: "Okay, I will listen to you, don't be angry."

Qilin whispered: "I'm not angry, I'm just angry at myself... Forget it."

Lu Bu held the cup and clinked it with Qilin. They had different thoughts. They drank and ate. They seemed to have something in mind and didn't bother to do anything in advance.

After dinner, Qilin handed Lu Bu a piece of paper and said, "Just memorize what's written on the paper and leave everything to me tomorrow. I have something to do now. I need to go see Cai Yong. I'll talk about it later when I'm free."

Lu Bu had no choice but to go back to his room.

The next day, Ma Chao woke up. When Qilin arrived, Ma Chao and Zhang Liao were in high spirits and chatted happily.

Ma Chao is a descendant of General Fubo Ma Yuan. Although his family was poor when he was young, he prides himself on being noble and disdainful of being associated with wild men. Zhang Liao's ancestor was the descendant of Nie Zheng, one of the four great assassins of the Warring States Period. The two discussed their family backgrounds and immediately hit it off.

They all talked happily and excitedly.

When Qilin entered the house, Zhang Liao hurriedly got up to greet him. Ma Chao had recovered from his trauma, but his face was pale and he couldn't stop coughing. Qilin signaled that there was no need to be polite and said, "What are you talking about?"

Zhang Liao smiled and said: "Brother Meng Qi is talking about killing the Huns."

Ma Chao's old face turned red and said: "Sister-in-law... I'm just kidding. Five days ago, I went out to patrol the city in Wuwei to suppress the Xiongnu. Unexpectedly, I was ambushed. Three hundred guards were lost and I had to flee all the way east. Thank you, little brother."

The grace of saving my life will be repaid generously when I return to Wuwei."

Qilin said: "I'm afraid the Huns weren't ambushing me. Can you think more carefully about the situation that day?"

Ma Chao said in astonishment: "Why do you say this?"

Qilin said: "Did anyone enter Wuwei Mansion a few days before you were attacked? Did anyone bring a letter? Has the news about your father Ma Teng been sent back?"

Ma Chao's expression suddenly changed: "Do you know the news about my father?"

Qilin smiled and said: "Just think about it first and see what was wrong with the attack. I will take you to see your elder brother later, and we can help you think of a solution."

Qilin came out of the hall and ordered people to prepare the car. Zhang Liao said: "What did your lord say?"

Qilin said: "We agreed last night to lead the troops and take over Wuwei within ten days."

Zhang Liao said: "Ten days! A forced march will take at least three days..."

Qilin said: "We arrived that night and immediately launched a sneak attack. Chen Gong and Brother Gao are still in Wuwei City. Leave it to me."

Before Zhang Liao could ask any more questions, Ma Chao had already come out of the room.

Qilin said: "What?"

Ma Chao said in a deep voice: "In your opinion, Cheng Yi did it to ambush me?"

Qilin nodded and said, "Follow me, and everything will be clear to you."

Qilin got into the car and took Ma Chao back to the Hou Mansion with Zhang Liao.

Lu Bu cooperated this time. According to Qilin's advance plan, he held a banquet and waited in the inner hall of the palace.

Ma Chao was surprised when he saw Lu Bu, and Lu Bu said: "My dear brother, please have a seat."

Ma Chao had not seen Lu Bu yet, but when he saw that posture, he had heard about Lu Bu's majesty when he was young, and he couldn't help but think of the God of War. He had already vaguely guessed something about it from Qilin, and said in a trembling voice: "My eldest brother is... surnamed Lu?"

Lu Bu nodded and said, "To be fair, my eldest brother, my eldest brother's surname is Lu, his courtesy name is Fengxian, Marquis Wen, and General Fenwu."

Ma Chao was horrified and knelt down on one knee. Lu Bu sat high in the hall and made a gesture of invitation and said: "My dear brother, military advisor, please take a seat. There is no need to be polite."

Ma Chao came to the table and said, "I didn't know it was Lord Marquis before, so I offended you so much." As he said this, he raised his hands to the two old men next door, neither of whom knew him.

Lu Bu said: "Master Cai, Master Wang."

Qilin raised his eyebrows, why was Wang Yun here? It was probably Diao Chan's fault again, and he felt unspeakable resentment in his heart. He just wanted someone to take care of this old immortal.

As soon as Ma Chao took his seat, Lu Bu said: "Try the wine brewed by Brother Yu, your sister-in-law... and Qilin Commander."

Ma Chao's face was solemn, befitting his brother Wen Hou, and his thoughts were complicated and unspeakable. He drank the wine in one gulp, and Qilin signaled Lu Bu with his eyes that he could start acting.

Lu Bu turned a blind eye and asked, "How does it taste?"
To be continued...