Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Li Ru looked at the two women standing with swords in hand, his brows slightly raised: "The arrangements have been made, what are you waiting for?" Dong Bai bit her lower lip, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the Qilin-patterned armor: "My uncle is left alone..." Before he finished speaking, Li Ru raised his head and laughed, shaking the ice spikes on the beam to fall.

"With General Zhang's tens of thousands of troops and three hundred thousand women and children protecting me, my old bones are as solid as a rock!" He suddenly turned around, his bony finger pointing at the breastplate of Zhang Yan's armor. "General Zhang, do you agree?" Zhang Yan froze, then clasped his fists in salute. The sound of armor clashing mixed with the wind and snow. "Please rest assured, my two nobles! With Zhang here, I will ensure that you are unharmed!"

Ma Yunlu and Dong Bai exchanged a glance before finally scrambling to mount their horses. Amid the crisp thud of hooves breaking thin ice, Li Ru brushed the snow off his cloak. "Let's go, General Zhang. With my old face, how dare the Tongguan commander refuse to let us go?"

A northerly wind whipped fine snow against Zhang Yan's visor, and the sweat seeping through the cracks in the armor instantly froze into ice. He watched Li Ru's thin back, wrapped in a sable fur coat, as he walked toward the carriage. A sudden bitterness welled up in his throat—this strategist who had dispersed his hundred thousand troops with a few words was now going to brave the danger alone, traveling to Tongguan with three hundred thousand refugees.

Du Xiong came over clutching his weapon and lowered his voice, saying, "General, what's this old fox up to?" Zhang Yan, however, pressed his deputy's wrist with his backhand, his eyes scorching, "He dares to put his life in our hands. Chang'an's sincerity..." Before he finished speaking, Li Ru's aged voice suddenly pierced through the wind and snow, "Pass the order! The elderly, weak, women and children are given priority to enter the pass, and the young and strong soldiers will cover the rear!"

Thousands of torches snaked across the snowy plains like red dragons. From the refugee group came the cries of children and the coughs of the elderly. Zhang Yan, on his warhorse, made his rounds when he suddenly saw Li Ru lift the curtain of his carriage and reach out the window with a withered hand. "Don't worry, Ma Yunlu and Dong Bai, the two girls, will take care of it. Nothing will go wrong."

At this moment, Zhang Yan finally understood that Li Ru's dismantling of the army was strategic, but his lonesome march was a testament to his courage. As the outline of Tongguan loomed against the snow, he looked at the frost condensing on the brim of Li Ru's hat and suddenly felt that those dismantled formations might be another yoke handed down by Xiliang—but at the very least, this trust, the courage to expose their throats to the enemy, was enough to convince 300,000 people to willingly step into this seemingly warm cage.

Flags fluttered from the top of Tongguan, and the defenders were as if facing a formidable enemy. Arrows shone coldly in the twilight. The commander, standing at the battlement, shouted, "Who are you? Halt!" Zhang Yan and Du Xiong reined in their horses and shouted, "We are from the Black Mountain Army and have come to seek refuge with the King of Liang. We have received permission from Mr. Li Ru and are about to be resettled in Chang'an!" Although the commander had heard the message from Dong Bai and Ma Yunlu earlier, he refused without any official documents, clasping his fists and saying, "General, please forgive me. It is my duty to open the gate without official approval!"

During the stalemate, Li Ru's carriage slowly drove out from the refugee group, the curtain was opened, and the old counselor leaned out: "Brilliant! Am I not as important as your official document?" The guard was shocked when he heard this, and said anxiously: "How dare I think so! It's just...Sir, you are alone in the army, could you be held hostage?" Li Ru's eyes widened with anger, and he slammed the shaft of the carriage heavily: "Absurd! You have fought with Lord Dong for many years, when have you ever seen me, Li Ru, fall into the hands of the enemy? Don't say anything more! If you delay any longer, believe it or not, I will spread the news that you secretly kept a concubine throughout Tongguan!"

A burst of laughter erupted from the top of the city wall. The guard, his face flushed, kept saying, "Sir, please forgive me! Open it now!" With a creaking sound, the heavy city gate slowly opened, and the cold wind carried the cheers of the refugees in. Li Ru had already lowered the curtains and disappeared into the shadow of the carriage, leaving only the guard to hurriedly rush down the city wall to greet him.

A constant stream of refugees streamed through the Tongguan Gate. Li Ru lifted the carriage curtain and watched the ragged crowd, carrying the elderly and children, file in. The defending general, Gao Ming, fell to his knees, his voice trembling: "Sir, please forgive me for my offense just now!" Li Ru raised his hand to signal him to stand up, his eyes sweeping across the banners on the city walls: "It's better to be cautious. Tongguan has a small number of troops. You can defend the gate well, and it means that all the years of fighting have not been in vain."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly pointed at Du Xiong, who was holding the hilt of a knife beside him: "This man has a strong build and is quite brave." His old finger drew an arc in the air, "Leave 10,000 troops here and let him assist Gao Ming in guarding Tongguan." Du Xiong subconsciously looked at Zhang Yan, but saw his general kicking him fiercely: "Why don't you obey my orders immediately!" Staggering, he knelt on one knee and clasped his fists: "I obey my orders!"

After the last of the refugees disappeared behind the pass, Li Ru brushed the snow from his sleeves and said nonchalantly, "Let's go, General Zhang. Chang'an is still a long way off." Amid the rustle of wheels churned through the lingering snow, Zhang Yan gazed at Du Xiong's figure on the city wall, sweat forming on his armored palms. With just a few words, Li Ru dismantled another of his elite troops. As the cold wind whipped up the fine snow, he suddenly realized that this so-called "surrender" to Chang'an had been nothing more than a chess game that was being dismantled step by step.

Tongguan was a short distance from Chang'an, a day's journey on horseback. However, the Black Mountain tribe consisted largely of the elderly, the weak, and the sick, their stumbling footsteps leaving messy tracks on the snow. Li Ru didn't urge them on, but instead allocated provisions to the Tongguan commander. Looking at the refugees' emaciated faces, he even allocated a few extra carts of millet and said gravely, "Let's camp for another day. Don't tire out the women and children."

Zhang Yan gazed at the grain carts piled high, his hands trembling slightly beneath his armor. A chilling wind whipped snowflakes against his visor, yet a warm feeling welled up in his heart. This old strategist, though cunning as a fox, truly valued the lives of three hundred thousand men. That night, curls of smoke rose from the camp. Children smiled as they clutched bowls of warm porridge. Long-lost laughter mingled with the crackling of firewood, echoing through the tents.

Standing in Li Ru's tent, gazing at the dim candlelight, Zhang Yan suddenly realized: Xiliang had handed him not just food and fodder, but also an invisible yoke. But when he turned and saw the refugees sleeping peacefully under their tattered quilts, a bitter taste welled up in his throat. Perhaps in these chaotic times, the price of willingly being "bound" was the price of buying a moment of peace.

The fire pit inside the tent crackled. Li Ru tossed dry branches into the blaze, the dancing flames casting a flickering shadow on his wrinkles. "General Zhang seemed preoccupied." He didn't even look up, his fingertips swirling around the unburned firewood.

Zhang Yan suddenly woke up, his hand beneath his armor unconsciously stroking the broken blade at his waist. "To be honest, sir, since I died in the battle of Niu Jiao Gong, I have led the remaining troops to the Black Mountains. These past few years, when I open my eyes, I see pursuers, and when I close my eyes, I see starving people." His throat rolled as he looked at the twinkling lights of the refugee camps outside the tent. "Yuan Shao wants my soldiers, Gongsun Zan wants my land, but no one is willing to give these 300,000 old and weak a second glance."

Flames suddenly erupted, illuminating the slightly raised corners of Li Ru's mouth. Zhang Yan paused, his voice trembling: "Today, the master not only accepted us, but also allocated food and fodder before we even entered Chang'an..." He suddenly knelt on one knee, the sound of his armor clattering to the ground startling a night owl from under the eaves. "I have been wandering for half my life, and only today did I realize that in this chaotic world, there are people who truly regard lives as worthless as grass."

Li Ru's skinny hand rested on Zhang Yan's armor, leveraging it to lift him to his feet. The sleeves of his mink fur coat brushed against his snow-stained shoulder armor, saying, "General Zhang, you're embarrassing me! Ever since you decided to submit to the King of Liang, we've been tied to the same rope." He turned and stirred the fire, sparks splashing across the tent, leaving scorch marks. "When Lord Dong raised the banner of rebellion, why did we take up arms and mount our horses? Wasn't it just to give the people a good night's sleep and a warm meal?"

The old counselor suddenly leaned forward, his cloudy eyes reflecting the firelight: "When you meet the King of Liang, you will understand what it means to put the people first and the country second."

"Alright, stop imagining this." Li Ru patted Zhang Yan's shoulder, the warmth of the fire pit still lingering on his sleeves. "Tonight, squeeze into this tent with me and spend the night." He looked out at the dark night, where snowflakes rustled against the cowhide tent. "Tomorrow, we'll reach Chang'an. Ma Yunlu and Dong Bai are smart girls and will have prepared a house for you. We'll also find a spacious general's mansion to accommodate your family." The old strategist tapped his folding fan lightly on his palm, making a crisp sound. "If we rush on our journey, how can we accommodate 300,000 elderly, weak, women, and children in such a hurry? Xiliang has always done things to reassure people."

Zhang Yan's throat tightened as he gazed at Li Ru's hunched yet upright back, suddenly feeling his blood boiling beneath his armor. He had initially assumed the other side's splitting of his troops was a political maneuver, but now he realized with a start that behind those seemingly cold decrees lay a careful plan to ensure the survival of three hundred thousand men. The cold wind still howled outside the tent, yet for the first time, he felt that this surrender, a gamble of all his fortunes, might actually buy the lives of those in Black Mountain, young and old.

Inside the Chang'an meeting hall, candlelight flickered as Ma Teng paced, his hands behind his back, his dark cloak sweeping across the blue brick floor with a subtle rustling sound. Suddenly, he heard hurried footsteps outside the corridor. He spun around to see Ma Yunlu rush in, his cheeks flushed, the edges of his cloak still stained with unmelted snow.

"Father!" Ma Yunlu took off his cloak, his eyes flickering, "Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army has led his troops to surrender, with tens of thousands of elite soldiers and generals. This is great news!" Ma Teng raised his thick eyebrows, and the jade pendants on his waist collided with each other, making a clear sound: "Really? This is really a timely help!"

"That's not all!" Ma Yunlu lowered her voice, "Zhang Yan brought urgent news that Yuan Tan and Yan Liang are leading 50,000 troops towards Chang'an. But..." She glanced cunningly at Wei Yan beside her, "Now that we have new troops, General Wei no longer needs to worry about the city's defense."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yan stroked his beard and laughed. The clash of armor startled the sparrows roosting under the eaves and said, "That's great! I'll go and prepare the barracks and make sure the new brothers have a comfortable place to stay!" Ma Teng patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you, General Wei! Send out orders tonight. The city gates will remain open all night. Prepare hot porridge and ginger soup to welcome the Black Mountain Army into the city!"

Ma Teng's expression, which had just relaxed, suddenly tensed. He glanced at everyone in the hall, "Wait a minute! Why aren't Dong Bai and Mr. Wenyou here?" Before he finished speaking, Ma Yunlu had already brushed the snow off his cloak and said with a crisp smile, "Don't worry, father! The Black Mountain Army has surrendered this time, bringing with them not only tens of thousands of soldiers but also three hundred thousand women and children. Resettling them is a complex matter. Mr. Wenyou specifically stayed behind to take care of them and ordered Sister Dong Bai and me to return to the city to make preparations."

Ma Teng's face suddenly grew solemn, his voice tense. "Mr. Wen You is actually left alone in the Black Mountain Army? Three hundred thousand men, with their families, face numerous uncertainties along the way, and he doesn't even have a single personal escort!" He pressed his palm heavily on the tiger talisman in the meeting room, shaking the bronze lines with a cold glow. "What if the Zhang Yan army becomes disloyal, or Yuan Tan's pursuit forces suddenly attack..."

Ma Yunlu hurriedly stepped forward, icicles rustling off his silver armor. "Don't worry, father! Don't you know that old fox's methods? Back in the tent, with just a few words, he made Zhang Yan kowtow and surrender in public, and even his generals were completely subdued. Now, 300,000 refugees and the army have become a barrier to protect him." He smiled slyly, "To be honest, I'm afraid Zhang Yan is more afraid of Mr. Wen You's misfortune than we are. After all, the lives of 300,000 people depend on him!"