Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1087 Family

Madam Wu knew that Yuan Xi had a very bad temper, so she spoke up to smooth things over, saying, "You two served the Sun family loyally before. At that time, I was in charge of the Sun family. I feel deeply that you two worked diligently and for that I am very grateful."

"But my position has changed now. I really can't persuade you two to change your allegiance. But there is one thing I want to make clear."

"When I was in Jiangdong, the most I did was to try my best to promote the alliance between Jin and Wu. I did not leak any information or communicate with the King of Jin."

Lu Su and Jiang Qin still respected Madam Wu very much. After all, when Sun Ce had a bad temper and wanted to punish his subordinates, it was Madam Wu who persuaded him, so all the generals were very grateful to Madam Wu.

Madam Wu continued, "But Quan'er has always regarded the King of Jin as his greatest opponent, and finally chose to join forces with Cao Cao. Although I do not agree with this, I am powerless to stop him, and can only let him make his own decision."

"You two have seen the final result. In the head-on confrontation, Quan'er lost because his strength and decision-making were not as good as those of King Jin. You two should be well aware of this."

Lu Su and the other man were speechless, and Jiang Qin kept his head down in silence. After all, he was the commander-in-chief and general, and he fell into Yuan Xi's trap, which led to the almost annihilation of the entire army. He could not escape responsibility.

Yuan Xi knew that it was difficult to say the following words, so he could only be the bad guy, so he nodded to Madam Wu and took over the conversation, "The reason why I kept the two of you, especially the method of detaining Mr. Zijing, was not so fair, but I also had my considerations."

"Sun Quan was determined to be my enemy. I tried to make friends with him several times, but he always refused. In the end, he joined forces with Cao Cao and launched a large army to attack me several times. I had no choice but to face him head-on and defeat him."

"I believe that I have done my best in this matter. The Yuan family's enemy from the beginning to the end has always been Cao Cao, but Sun Quan just had to run into him. Who can I blame?"

Lu Su was also full of bitterness. He had advised Sun Quan several times that fighting a ferocious tiger was not a good idea, but Sun Quan insisted on doing so.

He glanced at Yuan Qian and seemed to realize something. Could it be that Sun Quan had guessed something and wanted to kill Yuan Xi?

But although Sun Quan's strategies and tactics were acceptable, his ability on the battlefield was indeed not as good as Yuan Xi's. Now he has lost half of Jiangdong and even lost his own mother. I don't know if he regrets it now.

Lu Su shook his head and drove the thought out of his mind, then he heard Yuan Xi continue, "Now I have occupied most of Wu County. The Kuaiji navy was almost completely annihilated after the battle on the peninsula and has lost its ability to resist. My fleet will soon move south and occupy Kuaiji."

"In this way, Sun Quan and I will share Jiangdong equally, and without the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, Sun Quan will no longer be able to compete with me on land."

"Plus, Liu Yuzhou has already started to cooperate with me in attacking Yuzhang. Sun Quan can't handle it alone. Failure is inevitable."

"Of course, it doesn't make sense for me to kill them all, and I really want to avoid unnecessary conflict and casualties on both sides."

"You two should understand that even without you two, I can still completely defeat Sun Quan, but if the two sides fight, many people may die."

"As far as I'm concerned, I don't want to see this kind of result. The more people die, the harder it will be to resolve the hatred."

"You two are both known for your loyalty and honesty in the Jiangdong army. The reason why I have put so much effort into this is not only for myself, but also to give the people of Jiangdong a chance to survive. I believe that you two can make a difference."

"Of course I can ask Madam Wu to come forward, but if this matter gets out, it will be bad for the Sun and Wu families, and even for my reputation. As she is my wife, I don't want to embarrass her."

"If you two can help me, I will be grateful. The people of Jiangdong and even the major families don't want to end up on a dead end."

"I will also let you two turn around and fight against your former Jiangdong counterparts on the battlefield. I only ask that you two can persuade those who have no hope of winning and are determined to resist to the end, and prevent them from dragging the entire city's people down with them."

Lu Su and Jiang Qin looked at each other and saw the hesitation in each other's eyes, but they both still had some concerns, so they fell silent for a while.

When Yuan Xi saw this, he dropped another bombshell at the right time.

"To be honest, Cao Cao and even Sun Quan say that my Yuan family is a traitor. I don't really deny this. After all, there is only a thin layer of window paper between fighting for the world and pacifying the world."

"But in fact, when it comes to justice, Liu Yuzhou and I are much more legitimate than Cao Cao and Sun Quan."

"Let's not talk about Cao Cao. He held the emperor hostage and threatened him. His intentions are known to everyone. Sun Quan is even more ridiculous. His title of King of Wu also says "King of Wei's memorial". Can this be the emperor's original intention?"

Lu Su and Jiang Qin were speechless. When this matter first fermented, some people in the world jokingly called Sun Quan the King of Wu of the Wei Dynasty, which was extremely embarrassing for the two of them.

Yuan Xi added: "You two may not know that Liu Yuzhou and I were both crowned kings by the emperor's personal decree."

"What!" Lu Su and Jiang Qin were both shocked. Although they had just heard Yuan Xi mention it when he came in, no one took it seriously. But from the looks of it, there seemed to be something going on. Could it be another Yidaizhao incident?

Yuan Xi took out the imperial edict from his bosom and threw it to Lu Su casually, "You two can take a look."

Lu Su unfolded the imperial edict and Jiang Qin leaned over. They both looked at it carefully for a while and their faces gradually became ugly.

They had all seen Sun Quan's edict of ennobling the king. The notes on both sides were obviously different. Sun Quan's was neatly written, and it was obvious that it was written by an official.

Yuan Xi's handwriting was a little sloppy, but it revealed an unquestionable majesty, and his tone and words were much more intense, full of resentment, and he even used the words "hold the imperial edict to fight against the rebellion". Lu Su held the imperial edict, feeling doubtful. He saw Jiang Qinshou move his hand, as if he wanted to snatch the imperial edict and tear it into pieces, and he subconsciously retracted his hand out of fear.

He understood that Jiang Qin was also shaken. If this edict was true, then Cao Cao would be a traitor, and Sun Quan would be an accomplice in aiding and abetting the tyrant.
In this case, the last bit of legitimacy left in Jiangdong would be gone. After all this time, I turned out to be the traitor?
Lu Su looked at it for a long time and finally found two questions. "The font of the word Jin seems to be slightly different?"

"And this seal, the King of Wu's edict only has one, but the King of Jin seems to have two more?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "As expected of Mr. Zijing."

"The title of king in this edict is left blank, which shows how much the emperor is thinking."

Yuan Xi said this, but he also knew that Liu Xie had a trick up his sleeve. This edict was a reward for him rescuing Fu Shou, but Liu Xie was still reluctant to make him a king, so he subconsciously did not write the title. It seemed that he was considering Yuan Xi, but in fact he was also leaving a trick.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi couldn't help but laugh. Liu Xie had the same awkward side to his personality as Yuan Xi, but Yuan Xi didn't hate it. It was precisely because of this that Liu Xie was more like a flesh-and-blood person.

After all, Liu Xie had just reached the age of twenty, and before that, since he was enthroned as the emperor at the age of nine, he had been threatened all the time and had no control over his life. It was not easy for him to achieve the current level. Yuan Xi thought to himself that if he were in his place, he might not be much better.

He said, "As for the two extra seals, one is one of the seven seals of the emperor."

"There are three seals on my edict. The top seal is the emperor's seal, used to seal states. This is on both my edict and Sun Quan's edict."

"The one below is the third seal added by the emperor, called the Emperor's Seal of Faith."

Lu Su and Jiang Qin looked at each other. As core officials, they naturally knew the purpose of this seal. It was used by the emperor to send troops, and its significance was self-evident!

Yuan Xi's next words shocked the two of them even more.

"The one at the bottom is the imperial seal, which I stamped myself."

"This is the largest of the seven seals. It certainly has its own unique significance."

The two of them naturally knew what this meant. Lu Su said in a hoarse voice, "When Lord Sun entered Luoyang, he found the imperial seal in a dry well and later gave it to Yuan Shu. Now this imperial seal is here."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "That's right, now the imperial seal is in my hands."

"I can't keep Sun, I can't keep Yuan Shu, and I may not be able to keep him forever. The capable ones will take over. I want to see if Cao Cao can just take it away from me."

"As for Sun Quan, he doesn't have the ability, so don't even think about it."

After hearing Yuan Xi's domineering words, the two were speechless. With Yuan Xi's current strength, he is indeed qualified to say such words.

Yuan Xi said, "The world situation has already passed the middle stage. There is not much time left for you two to get on board."

"I naturally admire your love for your reputation, but sometimes, in order to save the people, it takes greater courage to bear the stigma."

"Even if you don't care about your family, you can at least think about the people of Jiangdong. After all, all the people are dead. Even if the world is peaceful, what's the point of a Jiangdong that is left in ruins?"

After hearing this, Lu Su and Jiang Qin both hesitated. Finally, Yuan Xi gave them a way out. "I still hope to resolve the Jiangdong issue peacefully. I don't want to go to war unless it is absolutely necessary."

"So I would like to ask you two to be guest officials for the time being, not to participate in the war with Jiangdong, but to do some training and advice."

"After all, Sun Quan was born to Madam Wu, and I don't want to do anything extreme."

"If possible, you two can temporarily follow Madam Wu to handle government affairs."

Yuan Xi had said this, and Lu Su and Jiang Qin thought that Madam Wu would not be so cruel as to kill their son, so they said, "Thanks to the King of Jin for not abandoning us, we are willing to do our best."

After Madam Wu followed Yuan Xi out and got on the carriage, she looked worried and said, "It's not appropriate to let me participate in government affairs."

"My husband wants to gain control of the world, so he naturally cultivates a legitimate son. If I become powerful, I'm afraid I'll be criticized. Madam Zhen..."

Yuan Xi waved his hand, "That's about ruling the world, not conquering it."

"Besides, even if I make Yuan Qian the king of Jiangdong, I am not afraid that he will have other ideas in the future. After all, the future is an era of sea transportation. What kind of natural barrier is the Yangtze River?"

Mrs. Wu's doubts were gone after hearing this, and she exclaimed, "My husband is really a man of foresight."

(End of this chapter)