Then said Wang Yun, “A great question like the deposition and substitution of emperors is not one to be decided after a wine party. Let it be put off till another time.”
So the guests dispersed. Dong Zhuo stood at the gate with drawn sword watching them depart. Standing thus, Dong Zhuo noticed a spearman galloping to and fro on a fiery steed and asked Li Ru who that was.
“That is Lu Bu, the adopted son of Ding Yuan. You must keep out of his way, my lord.”
Dong Zhuo went inside the gate so that he could not be seen. But next day a man reported to him that Ding Yuan had come out of the city with a small army and was challenging to a battle. Dong Zhuo, with his army, went forth to accept the challenge. And the two armies were drawn up in proper array.
Lu Bu was a conspicuous figure in the forefront. His hair was arranged under a handsome headdress of gold, and he had donned a embroidered thousand-flower fighting robe, a pheasant-tailed helmet, and breast plate, and round his waist was a gleaming jade belt with a lion's head clasp. With spear set he rode close behind his master Ding Yuan.
Ding Yuan, riding forth, pointing his finger at Dong Zhuo, began to revile him.
“Unhappy indeed was this state when the eunuchs became so powerful that the people were as if trodden into the mire under their feet. Now you, devoid of the least merit, dare to talk of deposing the rightful emperor and setting up another. This is to desire rebellion and no less.”
Dong Zhuo could not reply for Lu Bu, eager for the fight, rode straight at him. Dong Zhuo fled and Ding Yuan's army came on. The battle went in Ding Yuan's favor, and the beaten troops retired ten miles and made another camp. Here Dong Zhuo called his officers to a council.
“This Lu Bu is a marvel,” said Dong Zhuo. “If he were only on my side, I would defy the whole world.”
At this a man advanced saying, “Be content, O my lord! I am a fellow villager of his and know him well, his bravery, his prowess, his cupidity, and his unscrupulousness. With this little, blarneying tongue of mine, I can persuade him to put up his hands and come over to your side.”
Dong Zhuo was delighted and gazed admiringly at the speaker. It was Li Su, a general in the Imperial Tiger Army.
“What arguments will you use with him?” asked Dong Zhuo.
“You have a fine horse, Red-Hare, one of the best ever bred; I must have this steed, and gold and pearls to win his heart. Then will I go and persuade him. He will certainly abandon Ding Yuan's service for yours.”
“What think you?” said Dong Zhuo to his adviser Li Ru.
“One cannot grudge a horse to win an empire,” was the reply.
So they grave Li Su what he demanded — a thousand ounces of gold, ten strings of beautiful pearls, a jeweled belt, and Red-Hare — and these accompanied Li Su on his visit to his fellow villager.
Li Su reached the camp and said to the guard, “Please tell General Lu Bu that a very old friend has come to visit him.” He was admitted forthwith.
“Worthy brother, have you been well since we last met?” greeted Li Su while bowing.
“How long it is since we last saw each other!” replied Lu Bu, bowing in return. “And where are you now?”
“I am a general in the Imperial Tiger Army. When I learned you were a strong supporter of the Throne, I could not say how I rejoiced. I have come now to present to you a really fine horse, a five-hundred-mile-a-day horse, one that crosses rivers and goes up mountains as if they were the level plain. Its name is Red-Hare. It will be a fitting aid to your valor.”
Lu Bu bade his guards lead out the horse. It was of a uniform color like glowing sun red; not a hair of another color. It measured ten spans from head to tail and from hoof to neck eight spans. When it neighed, the sound filled the empyrean and shook the ocean.
Lu Bu was delighted with the horse and said, “What return can I hope to make for such a creature?”
“What return can I hope for? I came to you out of a sense of what is right,” replied Li Su.
Wine was brought in and they drank.
“We have seen very little of each other, but I am constantly meeting your honorable father,” said Li Su.
“You are drunk,” said Lu Bu. “My father has been dead for years.”
“Not so; I spoke of Ding Yuan, the man of the day.”
Lu Bu started. “Yes, I am with him but only because I can do no better.”
