That night, Yuan Shao's soldiers crept into the tent and killed the person inside, who had covered himself with a blanket, after which they reported that Lü Bu was dead. The following day, Yuan Shao received news that Lü Bu was still alive so he immediately had the gates in his city closed. In fact, Lü Bu had secretly left his tent the previous night without Yuan Shao's soldiers knowing, and had ordered one of his men to remain inside as a decoy. Lü Bu fled to Henei Commandery to join Zhang Yang after his escape. Yuan Shao sent his men to pursue Lü Bu but they were afraid of Lü and did not dare to approach him. Zhang Yang and his subordinates were bribed by Li Jue and Guo Si to kill Lü Bu. When Lü Bu heard about it, he told Zhang Yang, "I'm from the same province as you. If you kill me, you'll become weaker. If you recruit me, you can obtain the same honours and titles as Li Jue and Guo Si." Zhang Yang pretended to agree to help Li Jue and Guo Si kill Lü Bu but he secretly offered refuge to Lü instead. When Li Jue and Guo Si learnt that Zhang Yang had accepted Lü Bu, they became worried so they sent an imperial decree to Henei in Emperor Xian's name, appointing Lü Bu as the Administrator (太守) of Yingchuan Commandery. The account of Lü Bu's association with Zhang Yang in the Sanguozhi differed slightly from that recorded in the Houhanshu. The former mentioned that Lü Bu joined Yuan Shao after he was rejected by Yuan Shu, and then he sought shelter under Zhang Yang after Yuan Shao sent assassins to kill him. In the Houhanshu, however, it was stated that Lü Bu went to join Zhang Yang after leaving Yuan Shu, and he managed to persuade Zhang to ignore Li Jue and Guo Si's urgings to kill him and instead provide him refuge. He left Zhang Yang later and went to join Yuan Shao, but returned to Zhang again after surviving the assassination attempt. On his way to Henei, Lü Bu passed by Chenliu (陳留; around present-day Kaifeng, Henan), where its Administrator, Zhang Miao, received him warmly. Zhang Miao made a pledge of friendship with Lü Bu when he saw him off from Chenliu. Battle of Yan Province Yuan Shao was