Happily Gaining a Great General

Yuan Shu heard Ju Yi mention the Wang family and smiled as he said to him: 

"What a coincidence, my mother is from the Wang family of Taiyuan, so I can be considered half a Wang family member. 

May I ask what connection this blade has with the Wang family?" 

At this moment, Yuan An added from the side: 

"My young master is the legitimate son of the current Grand Minister of Works, Yuan Feng—he is Young Master Yuan Shu." 

Upon hearing this, Ju Yi quickly bowed and said: 

"So it is Young Master Yuan before me, I have been disrespectful." 

Yuan Shu hurriedly stepped forward to help Ju Yi up and said: 

"I am merely a frivolous young master and do not deserve such a grand courtesy from a valiant warrior." 

Ju Yi straightened himself up, looking at Yuan Shu with a strange feeling in his heart. 

Although he had never met Yuan Shu before, he had heard many rumors about him. 

All the noble sons of Luoyang claimed that Yuan Shu was the number one hedonist of the Han dynasty, a wasteful spendthrift who threw away money like dirt, an arrogant and domineering scoundrel. 

But upon meeting him today, Ju Yi found that this Young Master Yuan was polite and humble, showing great respect for capable individuals—completely unlike the rumors. 

It seemed that rumors could not always be trusted. 

Ju Yi then responded to Yuan Shu: 

"Young Master Yuan, this Seven-Star Blade is a treasured heirloom of the Wang family of Taiyuan, which was lost due to an accident. 

The Wang family has promised that whoever retrieves this blade will be rewarded with one million coins and a military officer's position. 

I have gone through countless hardships and risked my life to retrieve this Seven-Star Blade, and I was just about to return it to the Wang family." 

Hearing Ju Yi's words, Yuan Shu understood everything. 

So this was how Wang Yun came to have the Seven-Star Blade to lend to Cao Cao, and this was how Ju Yi first entered the military—everything matched up. 

However, such a great general was not someone Yuan Shu could afford to let slip away. 

He took a step forward, grabbed Ju Yi's hand, and sincerely said: 

"I feel as if we are old friends at first sight. Since you have the ambition to achieve great things, why not join me? 

I assure you, your talents will never be wasted under my command." 

At this moment, Ju Yi was not yet the proud general who would later crush the White Horse Cavalry. He was merely an unranked soldier willing to risk his life for a promising future. 

Yuan Shu had already shown him great kindness and now appreciated his abilities. 

Ju Yi couldn't help but feel a deep sense of loyalty, the kind of devotion where a warrior would willingly die for his lord. 

A surge of hot-blooded excitement rushed through Ju Yi's heart, and he immediately knelt before Yuan Shu and bowed deeply: 

"I am but a crude and unrefined man. Having received such great kindness from you, and being valued by you, how could I not repay you with my life? 

I am willing to serve under your command, to hold your stirrup and lead your horse—no matter the dangers, I will never regret it!" 

At that moment, a system notification sounded: 

"Ding! Talent Ju Yi has pledged loyalty to the host. Current loyalty: 100 (Absolute Devotion). 

Loyalty Talent Rank: Epic." 

Yuan Shu was overjoyed. 

A general who possessed unique elite troops pledging loyalty to him was practically equivalent to gaining an elite army. 

Moreover, Ju Yi's loyalty was already at maximum value the moment he joined—he was truly an honest and reliable man. 

Yuan Shu recalled Ju Yi's tragic fate in history. 

He had destroyed Gongsun Zan's White Horse Cavalry for Yuan Shao, yet Yuan Shao never truly trusted him. 

In the end, Yuan Shao suspected him of harboring rebellious intentions and had him executed. 

Now, looking at Ju Yi's perfect loyalty score, Yuan Shu couldn't help but sigh in his heart: 

"Yuan Benchu, Yuan Benchu… how could such a loyal and capable general possibly betray you? 

The White Horse Cavalry was destroyed. 

But after killing Ju Yi, how did you plan to counter Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry? 

Truly a ruler doomed to chaos, unworthy of deep planning." 

Yuan Shu took another step forward and personally helped Ju Yi to his feet, saying: 

"You treat me as a statesman, and I shall treat you as a statesman in return!" 

Ju Yi was moved to the point of tears, thinking to himself that he had finally found a wise lord to serve. 

He then took out the Seven-Star Blade from his arms and presented it to Yuan Shu, saying: 

"My lord, since you are also part of the Wang family, this blade should rightfully return to its owner. Please accept it without hesitation!" 

Seeing Ju Yi insist on giving him the Seven-Star Blade, and with such a reasonable argument, Yuan Shu had no choice but to accept it. 

If he refused at this point, it would only make his new general feel disheartened. 

Yuan Shu took the Seven-Star Blade and said to Ju Yi: 

"In that case, I shall accept this Seven-Star Blade. 

However, since I am considered part of the Wang family, it is only right that I fulfill their promise as well. 

Yuan An?"

Hearing Yuan Shu call his name, Yuan An quickly approached and said to Yuan Shu:

"Young Master, I am here."

Yuan Shu said to him, "Ju Yi retrieved the Seven-Star Treasure Blade for me. Reward him with two million coins. Give him the money directly."

"I understand," Yuan An nodded and immediately took out two million coins to hand over to Ju Yi.

Ju Yi's eyes widened; he had never seen so much money before.

As if the money was burning hot in his hands, Ju Yi repeatedly refused, saying:

"It is my duty to ease my lord's worries. How can I accept my lord's money?

No, no, I cannot take this money."

Seeing Ju Yi's embarrassed expression, Yuan Shu found it amusing in his heart, thinking that Ju Yi was truly an honest man.

Yuan Shu smiled and said to Shi A, "Shi A, tell him our rules."

Shi A seriously said to Ju Yi:

"Our lord is always fair with rewards and punishments. If the lord grants you something, you take it. If you refuse, the lord will not be pleased."

Ju Yi thought to himself, Handing out two million coins just like that, and he'll be unhappy if I don't take it? Seems like the rumors about the lord being a spendthrift are not entirely baseless.

Though he secretly complained in his heart, he dared not say it out loud.

Ju Yi accepted the two million coins and bowed to Yuan Shu, saying:

"Since my lord has granted me such a great reward, I dare not refuse. I can only repay my lord by charging through fire and water without hesitation."

After stuffing the two million coins into his robe, Ju Yi felt a heavy weight in his chest.

Two million coins! He never even dared to dream of such an amount before.

With this money, he could buy a nice house in Luoyang, where land was worth its weight in gold, and still have enough left over to live comfortably.

"Ding-dong! Congratulations to the host for completing the third spendthrift mission! You have received 20 attribute points and a Super Resource Lottery Ticket! We hope the protagonist speeds up his progress, squanders more wealth, and helps the system upgrade as soon as possible!"

The system's voice suddenly rang out, and Yuan Shu thought to himself, So even the system considers spending two million on a broken blade a wasteful act.

The system then asked, "Would the host like to settle the mission now?"

Yuan Shu replied, "Settle it!"

Since he had almost spent all his money, he might as well settle the mission, claim his rewards, and unlock the next spendthrift mission quickly.

"Ding! The system is settling the mission. Please allocate your attribute points."

"Add all the points to luck." Every time he increased his luck, Yuan Shu felt his body become more comfortable, making it somewhat addictive.

"Ding! Attribute points successfully added! The host's latest attribute stats are as follows:

Strength: 15, Leadership: 36 (Greedy Wolf Skill +5), Intelligence: 25 (Greedy Wolf Skill +5), Politics: 22, Charisma: 55, Luck: 36

Skills: Mediocre, Arrogant, False Emperor, Greedy Wolf."

With the addition of 20 attribute points, the bad luck lingering around Yuan Shu dissipated by half, making him feel inexplicably comfortable.

A luck value of 36 was no longer a catastrophically bad level—many ordinary people with slightly poor luck were at this level.

Yuan Shu was very satisfied, thinking that at least now he didn't have to worry about tripping and dying while walking.

[Author's Note]:

Note 1: The Seven-Star Treasure Blade, also known as the Seven-Star Sword, originally belonged to Minister Wang Yun.

When Cao Cao attempted to assassinate Dong Zhuo, he borrowed the blade from Wang Yun for the assassination.

However, the plan went awry, and he was nearly discovered by Dong Zhuo. Cao Cao had to make up an excuse about presenting the sword as a gift to escape.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is described: "Zhuo took the sword and examined it. He saw that the blade was over a foot long, inlaid with seven precious gems, extremely sharp—indeed a treasure blade."