Chapter 21: One Bows Out, Another Steps In

The Grand Tutor's mansion gleamed with gold and jade, its pavilions and towers arranged in elegant disarray. The flying eaves curled upward, ornate beams painted with vibrant colors, and everywhere the eye wandered: mountains, water, pools with fish, flowers, birds, bamboo, and trees mingled together in a riot of beauty.

Chen Cong, feeling much like a country bumpkin entering a grand garden, found everything fresh and fascinating.

Seated high in the great hall was a corpulent man—surely the infamous Dong Zhuo, the first formidable boss in the struggle for supremacy at the end of the Han. Truly, that face, thick with flesh that could crush a mosquito, was enough to frighten a child into tears.

Standing below him was the so-called human demon, the Tiger of Jiuyuan, the wielder of the Sky-Halberd infamous for stabbing his adoptive fathers—Lu Bu, the man with three surnames.

He looked nothing like his depiction in dramas. Lu Bu was nearly ten feet tall, built like a bear with shoulders broad as a door, arms thicker than most men's thighs, muscles bulging at his neck, and when he stood there, he seemed as immovable as a mountain. With his fierce halberd—taller than a man, and terrifyingly jagged—he radiated an oppressive aura.

The woman perched on Dong Zhuo's lap had a striking figure, and she looked vaguely familiar... Chen Cong recalled that she was the one who had covered her face and fled from Cao Cao’s study the other day!

The woman leaning into Dong Zhuo’s embrace was unknown to him, but her attire suggested she was a palace concubine.

Liu Xie was eight years old—far too young to take a concubine. One wonders what Liu Hong's spirit would think of this situation.

This circle was truly chaotic, Chen Cong thought, and quietly marveled.

After the two finished their formal greetings, Dong Zhuo invited Cao Cao to sit and then turned his gaze to Chen Cong.

“So, this young man is Mengde’s esteemed son-in-law? Handsome indeed.”

Chen Cong grinned, set down the chest, and saluted Dong Zhuo.

“Beauty is but surface, Grand Tutor—true manhood belongs to you.”

Dong Zhuo roared with laughter, then nodded toward Li Jue. “Reward him—one hundred gold.”

“Understood.”

Chen Cong quietly curled his lip, then saluted in gratitude.

In the past, he might not have cared, but now he was a man of some wealth and had a rough sense of the value of money.

In Han times, one jin was sixteen liang, and one liang about fifteen grams by modern measure. Calculating by the highest modern gold prices, a hundred gold would be roughly seven hundred fifty thousand. But gold was rare and hard to mine, so its value was higher than today’s, though purity was low, requiring a discount.

All things considered, a hundred gold at this time would not exceed one million in modern money.

Cao Cao had brought a sword and a beauty as gifts, but was this all?

Not counting the value of the Seven Star Sword, just the presence of Dong Bai was enough—if one tied her up and demanded ransom from Dong Zhuo, it would far exceed this sum.

It seemed that his father-in-law was still the most generous—he’d handed him a thousand gold as spending money.

As Chen Cong grumbled inwardly, Lu Bu strode over.

“Open the chest. Inspection.”

Cao Cao broke into a cold sweat and hurried to rise. “Grand Tutor…”

Dong Zhuo knew well that the chest contained the beauty Cao Cao meant to present, so he raised his hand to stop Lu Bu. “Fengxian, stand down.”

Lu Bu was already fuming from earlier. The beauty wasn’t given to him, he had to speak behind others’ backs, and now he was forbidden even from inspecting the chest. Not only Dong Zhuo, but Li Jue, Cao Cao, and even Chen Cong, Cao Cao’s son-in-law, knew what was inside—yet he, the adopted son, was somehow unworthy to know?

He immediately clasped his fists and said stiffly, “It is my duty—to ensure my father’s safety. Forgive your son for not obeying.”

With the tone set so high, what else could Dong Zhuo say? “For your own good,” implied, no one could argue further.

It was only a beauty—let him look, then.

Cao Cao quickly interjected, “The beauty is shy and dislikes strangers. Opening the chest now would endanger her life, Lord Marquis.”

Lu Bu sneered, “Is the Commander of Cavalry hiding something?”

“What makes you say so, Fengxian?”

“If the inspection is not thorough, how can I know whether you’re presenting a beauty or an assassin?”

Cao Cao was sweating, unconsciously reaching for the sword at his waist, then letting go.

Perhaps Chen Cong could delay Lu Bu, but he had no confidence in