Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Yue Ji and his men rushed forward, pointing their weapons at Ma Chao, fearing that Ma Chao would injure Che Li Ji. Ma Chao laughed and threw his spear away. Che Li Ji angrily scolded his men, "Who told you to act rashly? A duel is a duel, and a loss is a loss. When have we, the Qiang people, become so unreasonable?" He then said to Ma Chao, "I lose, and I lose with conviction. You were exhausted, and I had the upper hand, but you still couldn't defeat me. This is enough to prove your strength. I, the Qiang people, are brave enough to take responsibility. Since you have lost, you can take me away, King Ma. I have nothing to say."

Ma Chao smiled and said, "As the saying goes, 'No fight, no friendship.' I see that you, Prince, are a man of integrity. You could have just snatched it away, and I couldn't have stopped you, yet you were willing to fight me fair and square. Even though you were defeated, you didn't get angry, but faced it calmly. This is enough to prove your generosity. I have sensed your sincerity. Good things are common, but true friends are hard to find. You sought this good thing to fulfill your filial piety, and I am willing to help you achieve your wish."

Cheliji was overjoyed and ordered his men to settle down, light a fire and roast meat, and chat and drink with Ma Chao. Both of them were heroic men and had a very pleasant conversation.

The two men talked about their ages, Cheliji was 18 and Ma Chao was 14. They called each other brothers and talked about their ambitions and martial arts. They became more and more excited until the moon was at its zenith and a bonfire was lit. Ma Chao and Cheliji were both drunk and were helped by their subordinates to the tent to rest.

The next morning, Cheliji repeatedly invited Ma Chao to visit the royal tent, but Ma Chao politely declined, stating he would visit in the future. Seeing Ma Chao's insistence, Cheliji didn't force him. Ma Chao went to the Qiang tribe to seek meteorite iron, but if he went with Cheliji, it would be too ulterior, a bit like offering a horse in exchange for meteorite iron, which might damage their friendship.

Before leaving, Cheliji took off the dagger from his waist and gave it to Ma Chao, saying: "Brother Mengqi, since you insist on not going with me, I don't have anything to give you before you leave. This dagger was forged together with the Seven-Star Sword. This dagger was worn by my father in the past, and later he gave it to me. I like it very much, wear it every day, and never leave it. I give it to you today, just like you and I have never left each other." The scabbard and handle of the dagger were decorated with gold and gems. It looked extremely precious, and the blade was extremely sharp. When Ma Chao heard that it was so expensive, he refused to accept it. Cheliji was displeased and said: "Brother, you can give me a BMW, why can't you accept my sword? Isn't brotherhood less valuable than material possessions?" He forced it on Ma Chao, and Ma Chao had no choice but to accept it.

Ma Chao had lost all his weapons and baggage in pursuit of the horse, and had nothing to return. After a moment's thought, he took off his cloak, which was a little tattered from the dust and dirt he had traveled, and offered it to the master with both hands, saying, "Yesterday, in my haste to chase the horse, I lost all my baggage. All I have is this tattered robe, which my mother painstakingly made with every stitch of her hand. Though it's torn, it truly reflects my mother's love for her son. I hope you won't despise it, brother."

Cheliji took it with both hands, quickly put it on, looked around, and was overjoyed. "This is made by my uncle, I love it so much. It makes me happier than you giving me a fortune. This is what a good brother does."

Cheliji presented Ma Chao with the red horse he had captured the previous day, along with weapons, gold, and silver. Touched by Cheliji's sincerity, Ma Chao accepted everything. The two reluctantly parted, neither willing to leave first. Finally, Ma Chao had no choice but to bow and say goodbye. After galloping off, he could still see Cheliji and his men waving. Ma Chao thought to himself, Cheliji truly is someone he can trust. For this visit to the Qiang King, he needed to prepare a thoughtful gift, not something too simple.

Only when Ma Chao was within sight did Cheliji lead his men to the royal court. Along the way, Cheliji was in high spirits, making friends and obtaining this peerless horse king. Imagine his father's joy, and Cheliji felt so happy that he didn't even feel tired from the journey.

In the Qiang King's tribe, tribal leaders were gradually arriving, and the Qiang King's brother, Tuguli, was in charge of welcoming and seeing off the leaders. The Qiang King no longer had the courage of his youth. In recent years, the tribes had been stable, and Tuguli had been constantly offering beauties to the Qiang King, causing the Qiang King to indulge in wine, women, and pleasure. Many Qiang affairs were handled by Tuguli. Once a person has tasted the taste of power, many inappropriate thoughts will arise. Tuguli used his power to secretly win over some tribal leaders. Some small tribes, already oppressed by larger tribes and not valued by the Qiang King, secretly pledged allegiance to Tuguli after being won over. Tuguli favored the tribes loyal to him and secretly instigated tribes loyal to the Qiang King, thus accumulating tremendous power.

On the Qiang King's birthday, news of another herd of wild horses spread. Young and hot-headed, Cheliji's words stirred his passion, and he insisted on retrieving the Horse King to celebrate his father's birthday. The old Qiang King, deeply in love with his son, took Cheliji with him, along with his elite guards. This gave Tuguli an opportunity. As the various tribal leaders came to celebrate the old Qiang King's birthday, Tuguli urged those loyal to the Qiang King to send their personal guards out to hunt the Horse King, both to celebrate the King's birthday and to gain close ties with Cheliji, the future Qiang King. Tuguli was so well hidden, the other leaders didn't suspect anything and, believing his suggestion was a good one, dispatched their elite troops. Meanwhile, the tribal leaders loyal to Tuguli held their troops in check, unifying their personal guards under Tuguli's command.

Tuguli arranged the tribal leaders loyal to him around the king's tent, and marginalized the tribal leaders loyal to the Qiang King. After making all these arrangements, he waited for all the tribal leaders to arrive. When the Qiang King held a banquet to entertain the leaders, he launched a mutiny to seize power.

Just when Cheliji, Ma Chao and others discovered the traces of the Wild Horse King on the grassland, all the leaders in the royal tent were settled and the Qiang King held a banquet.

Tuguli had deployed the rebels around the royal tent in advance. When the Qiang King's banquet was halfway through, Tuguli left on the pretext of something and led his troops to surround the royal tent. Most of the guards in the royal tent had not reacted yet. Hearing the noise inside, he was about to go out to check, but the leaders loyal to Tuguli suddenly attacked at the banquet and directly killed the Qiang King. The Qiang King's trusted leaders had no time to rescue him, and the Qiang King was stabbed to death. The scene was in chaos in an instant. When the Qiang King's trusted leaders saw the Qiang King being killed, they had to rush out in a group. After all, Tuguli was well prepared, and the rebels were numerous and powerful. It didn't take long for them to clear out the guards outside the royal tent. As soon as the trusted leaders rushed out of the royal tent, they found that the outside was densely packed with rebels. Tuguli also promised not to harm the leaders. The Qiang King was dead, and the leaders had no choice but to surrender.

Tuguli had been planning for many years, and taking advantage of this opportunity, he struck a thundering blow and successfully completed the mutiny and rebellion.

Tuguli had the leaders under custody. The rebellion was largely accomplished, leaving only the royal guards led by Cheliji and the elite troops of the various tribes under the patronage of the Qiang King, his trusted advisor. Tuguli, undeterred, quickly dispatched troops to clean up the scene, superficially restoring the previous bustling atmosphere while secretly ambushing his troops, awaiting Cheliji's return.