Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Faced with Dong Zhuo's continuous roaring, Li Ru felt his brain was once again being overdrawn and he was starting to feel dizzy.

Regarding Lu Bu's various suspiciously abnormal behaviors, even Li Ru found it difficult to clearly explain each one to Dong Zhuo.

However, Li Ru was even more certain that this was likely a scheme by the Allied forces to sow discord, by calculating Lu Bu's various reactions, thereby creating this coincidence that Lu Bu seemed to have ulterior motives.

Currently, Li Ru knew that it would probably be ineffective to appease and persuade Dong Zhuo, who was in a fit of rage, and could only analyze the situation from a purely rational perspective.

"Prime Minister, Marquis Wen still has over 40,000 Bing Province Wolf Cavalry under his command. To defend Hulao Pass, these 40,000 Bing Province Wolf Cavalry are indispensable."

"Therefore, regardless of whether Marquis Wen has any disloyal intentions, the most important thing right now is undoubtedly to stabilize Marquis Wen, and the Prime Minister must not create any conflict with Marquis Wen, otherwise it will only push Marquis Wen to the side of the Allied forces."

"Once Marquis Wen is forced to rebel, the consequences will be unimaginable! Cough cough cough…"

As Li Ru finished speaking this long passage somewhat hastily, his physical weakness caused him to cough repeatedly.

And these words also caused Dong Zhuo, who was originally in a fit of rage, to quickly calm down, his beady eyes flashing with shrewdness and apprehension at the same time.

After a moment, Dong Zhuo nodded and said in a deep voice.

"What Wen You said is very true. Regardless of whether Fengxian already has ulterior motives, we must first stabilize Fengxian. Even if we want to settle accounts with Fengxian, we must first find a way to take back the military power of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry."

Hearing this, Li Ru couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief.

In any case, he had finally stabilized the relationship between Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu. As long as Lu Bu had no ulterior motives, Li Ru had ways to slowly reconcile and dissolve the misunderstandings between them.

In Li Ru's view, Lu Bu's unparalleled martial prowess was an indispensable force for Dong Zhuo to seize the world.

Especially after seeing the presence of fierce generals such as Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei in the Kanto Allied forces, Li Ru became even more convinced of this.

Immediately, at Li Ru's suggestion, Dong Zhuo sent a large amount of gold, silver, and jewels to Lu Bu as a reward for his military achievements, and also sent several medical officers and precious medicinal materials to Lu Bu to recuperate.

…

Meanwhile, in the Allied forces' camp outside Hulao Pass, a great deal of questioning also arose.

Regarding Zhao Yun's obvious act of letting Lu Bu go, with Yuan Shao's tacit approval, a group of lords led by Yuan Shu began to attack, questioning whether Zhao Yun and even Liu Bei were secretly colluding with Dong Zhuo.

However, Li Ji's casual remark managed to silence all the questions.

"Zilong made a temporary mistake and had to open a gap to save his life. Why are you all so agitated? If you don't believe that Lu Bu is so brave, then the next time Lu Bu comes to challenge, you can personally go up and confirm it once, how about that?"

Immediately, Zhang Fei roared loudly, saying, "Hmph, Mr. Zikun is right. If you have any objections, I won't go next time, let you go first."

Instantly, the lords looked at each other, and none of them dared to step forward to talk.

If before, some people still suspected that Lu Bu's bravery was a false reputation, then at this moment, how could these lords not know the terror of Lu Bu?

And looking at the entire Allied forces' camp, I am afraid that only Liu Bei's command has enough fierce generals to resist Lu Bu.

If the other lords dared to challenge Lu Bu, I am afraid that they would end up like Wang Kuang.

And Liu Bei, seeing that the atmosphere seemed to be deadlocked, spoke with a gentle expression.

"Everyone, Bei has long sworn in this life to never coexist with the traitor Dong, so how could he collude with the traitor Dong? Such words must not be said. Moreover, in order to resist Lu Bu, the generals under my command have fought to the death, disregarding their own lives. If we were colluding with the traitor Dong, why would we need to go to such lengths? I hope you will understand."

Faced with the steps offered by Liu Bei, Yuan Shu, even though he felt somewhat unwilling to let this shoe-selling and mat-weaving man take all the credit, could only helplessly follow the steps down.

At least with the threat of Lu Bu in front, it was not that Liu Bei could not leave the Allied forces, but rather that the Allied forces could not leave Liu Bei now.

Otherwise, if no one could resist Lu Bu in the future, not to mention capturing Hulao Pass, it was not impossible for the Allied forces to be scattered by Lu Bu leading his troops, whom no one could stop.

Afterwards, Yuan Shao, who intentionally diverted the topic, refocused on the deceased Wang Kuang.

For a time, the tent was filled with cries, and the sound of mourning for Wang Kuang was endless, as if each of the lords was a life-and-death friend of Wang Kuang before his death.

Cao Cao even announced with tears that he would do his best to take care of Wang Kuang's widow and orphans, so that the meritorious officials who sacrificed for the Han Dynasty would not shed blood and tears again.

At first glance, compared to the other lords who mourned Wang Kuang in words, Cao Cao was the only one who took practical actions and was willing to take care of Wang Kuang's widow and orphans.

However, Li Ji always felt that Cao Cao might have ulterior motives. In this way, perhaps Wang Kuang would not shed blood and tears again, but it was hard to say that Wang Kuang's widow would have to shed blood and tears.

And after the lords went through a mourning process, and Yuan Shao announced that Wang Kuang would be buried on another day and that the entire army would wear white cloth to mourn Wang Kuang, when the Allied forces, having completed their rest, prepared to attack the city.

Li Ji took the opportunity to advise, "Alliance Leader, in my opinion, Dong Zhuo may send people to raid the camp during this period, so we must be on guard."

This was undoubtedly a possibility, and Dong Zhuo's army had many horses and relied on passes, giving them a great advantage in taking the initiative to attack the camp.

Seeing this, Guo Tu immediately proposed a solution in a tit-for-tat manner, saying, "So simple, just send more scouts scattered around Hulao Pass. If Dong Zhuo sends troops out of the pass, it will definitely not be able to hide from the scouts."

To this, Li Ji smiled and continued, "This is not a bad strategy, but since we know that Dong Zhuo will send people to raid the camp, why not invite the enemy into the urn?"

Guo Tu retorted, "Hmph, Mr. Zikun is afraid that he is just talking on paper, right? The Allied forces' camp is so large, with the lords of each town stationed in a corner, totaling thirty-six… thirty-five towns. How can we know which town Dong Zhuo will attack?"

Li Ji smiled confidently and said, "The attack will definitely be on Cao Mengde! Therefore, we only need to set up an ambush in Cao Mengde's garrison, and the bandits will naturally enter the urn."

As soon as these words came out, the lords present were all shocked.

Especially Cao Cao, who was originally sitting in a corner, pointed at himself subconsciously and said, "Why would it be an attack on Cao's garrison?"

Guo Tu frowned and pondered for a long time, and also did not understand why Dong Zhuo's raid on the camp must be an attack on Cao Cao, and asked back.

"That's right, Mr. Zikun, could it be that you are just making up stories out of thin air?"

"The mystery of it is difficult to explain to Gongze one by one for a while."

After a pause, Li Ji cupped his hands towards Cao Cao and said, "If Mengde believes in me, why don't we discuss how to set up an ambush, how about that? It's just that if the scouts sent by the Allied forces see enemy troops leaving Hulao Pass, please do not alarm the enemy."

Seeing Li Ji's confident appearance, coupled with Li Ji's reputation as a "national scholar" which can be described as being at its peak in today's Han Dynasty, Cao Cao could not help but suspect him.

The other lords were also dubious about this.

Only Guo Tu's entire face had a somewhat liver-colored tendency.

What mystery is difficult to explain for a while?

'It's clear that the dog thief Li Ji is deliberately insulting me!'

As the meeting ended, Guo Tu, who became more and more annoyed in his heart, simply secretly sent someone to release the news within the Allied forces, claiming that the Allied forces would set up an ambush in Cao Cao's garrison.

Just as the Allied forces also secretly placed many spies in the Sili region, Dong Zhuo would inevitably not fail to place even one spy in the Allied forces.

Therefore, Guo Tu's purpose was to spread the news to Dong Zhuo's ears in this way, and then destroy Li Ji's plan and make Li Ji lose face severely in front of the heroes.

However, when the news about this began to spread within the Allied forces, Liu Bei also noticed it, and hurriedly informed Li Ji of this matter.

However, unlike Liu Bei, who had a bit of worry on his face, when Li Ji heard the news, a bit of a smile appeared on his face, and he sighed, saying.

"Alas, Guo Gongze ah, Guo Gongze, your tolerance is still so narrow, how can you achieve great things? It's really a pity."

Hearing this, Liu Bei on the side couldn't help but frown, slapped the table, and said angrily.

"Guo Tu's actions are really hateful! Bei will go to find Yuan Benchu immediately, and must make Yuan Benchu give me an explanation, how can we let that Guo Tu use such petty schemes to ruin Zikun's reputation and the Allied forces' plan?"

Seeing Liu Bei pressing his sword and preparing to get up, Li Ji quickly grabbed Liu Bei and said.

"My lord has misunderstood! This is what Ji did on purpose?"

"Huh?" Liu Bei looked at Li Ji in confusion.

Li Ji explained unhurriedly.

"I expected that Guo Gongze's tolerance was narrow, so I deliberately provoked him with words, intending to guide Guo Gongze to secretly release the news in the Allied forces, and then pass it on to the traitor Dong."

Liu Bei pondered for a while, but still asked in confusion.

"What does Zikun mean by this? If the traitor Dong knows that our army has set up an ambush in Mengde's garrison, he will definitely not come again, even if he sends troops to raid, he will choose another direction."

"This is precisely the beauty of it, even if the lord is an outsider, it is difficult to see through it, then the traitor Dong will undoubtedly fall into the trap!"

Li Ji opened his folding fan, fanned himself, and then continued. "My intention is not a victory or defeat in whether or not to raid the camp, but to use this plan to sow discord between the traitor Dong and Lu Bu."

Immediately, Liu Bei thought of Li Ji's previous secret order to Zhao Yun to let Lu Bu go.

It was just that after returning to the camp, he was busy dealing with various large and small affairs, and Liu Bei did not have time to ask about the intention in detail.

Seeing Li Ji mention it again now, Liu Bei quickly asked.

"I would like to hear the details."

Li Ji said calmly and confidently.

"The trust between the traitor Dong and Lu Bu is already unstable, and is entirely maintained by interests."

Zilong's actions after his previous battle might sow seeds of doubt between the Dong tyrant and Lu Bu. However, with their interests aligned and the wise Li Ru mediating, they wouldn't turn against each other so easily.

As for how to further drive a wedge between the Dong tyrant and Lu Bu, I have prepared an answer for the Dong tyrant. As long as the answer is agreed upon beforehand, the Dong tyrant… might fill in the blanks of the process himself.