Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1088 Blackmail
Yuan Xi's confidence and courage came from his knowledge and vision that were beyond his time. In a few decades, steamships might become popular, and the Yangtze River would no longer serve as a natural barrier.

Moreover, at this moment, even the outlet to the sea of ​​Jiangdong had been blocked by Yuan Xi, the arteries on which it relied for its livelihood had been cut off, and its vitality had been severely damaged, so it could no longer cause much trouble.

However, the remaining states and counties still have a lot of troops. If he continues to attack Jiangdong with all his strength, he might be dragged into the quagmire, making Yuan Xi's limited troops ineffective.

Therefore, the better alchemists nowadays would use their military forces mainly to deal with Cao Cao, while taking their time to deal with Jiangdong and let it die a slow death.

That was why Yuan Xi wanted to use Madam Wu to bring Lu Su and Jiang Qin to pretend to be on good terms with Jiangdong for the time being, so as to buy time for himself to focus on dealing with Cao Cao.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi couldn't help but feel ashamed. He said that he wanted to give the people under his rule a chance to recuperate, but in the end he still launched a war against Baekje. Although he successfully kicked Jiangdong out and destroyed Baekje, he also spent most of the family fortune that he had accumulated with great difficulty.

However, it is almost late autumn now, and there should be no fighting before the New Year. The next six months will be a time to strengthen the army in Youzhou and prepare for the attack on Jizhou next year.

This is a real battle against Cao's army. If Cao Cao is in good health, he will definitely go to the front line and fight with him.

The strength of Cao's army would be completely different if Cao Cao led the army himself or not. From Yuan Xi's point of view, he certainly didn't want Cao Cao to be in charge.

Thinking of this, he thought that a lot of information about Cao Cao's physical condition had been passed to him. His subordinates analyzed that if the information was true, Cao Cao would not live more than two years, but up to now, Cao Cao still had not completely collapsed.

Moreover, Cao's army's attack on Yizhou seemed to be going smoothly. It advanced step by step on the Jinniu Road and was getting closer to Chengdu. When Yuan Xi heard that the military advisor of this Cao army was Sima Yi, he knew that Liu Zhang was in great danger.

This made Yuan Xi somewhat impatient, because if Cao's army had captured Yizhou before the New Year, their strength would have greatly increased, and it would have been much more difficult for him to go to war with Cao the following year.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi wondered whether he should use some tactics that were not worthy of being shown on the public. Anyway, to deal with a man like Cao Cao, he was willing to try any method without any bottom line. After all, this was related to the lives of tens or even hundreds of thousands of people.

Thinking of this, he walked into the yard and wanted to go out to find the residence where Mrs. Ding was imprisoned.

As a result, he met Cao Xian in the yard. Seeing the anxious look on his face, he realized that he had come to Jicheng in the past few years, so he left in a hurry, invisibly ignoring the other party a lot, and said, "I'm going out to see Madam Ding, you come with me."

After hearing this, Cao Xian jumped over happily and said with a smile: "My husband still thinks of me. I am really happy."

Yuan Xi pulled her into the carriage and said with a smile, "You have been conferred the title of Madam, why are you still so childish?"

Cao Xian pretended to be worried and said, "Other wives had children later than me. I have been with my husband for six or seven years, but I still have no children. Isn't it just a child?"

Yuan Xi tapped Cao Xian's forehead and said, "Among all the girls, you are the most clever. I was afraid that you were too young, so I didn't dare to stand up and kick."

Cao Xian let out a cry, looking confused, "What do you mean by stand up... that what?"

Yuan Xi was embarrassed and evaded the question: "Don't worry about it. It's fine now. Just come to see me in the evening."

Cao Xian looked at the carriage wall with an understanding expression and whispered, "Actually, this place is also quite good. I am not picky about places."

Yuan Xi was overwhelmed, so he grabbed Cao Xian, pressed him on the knee and hit him hard a few times, "What are you thinking about all day long?"

"If someone outside were to assassinate us, wouldn't we just sit there and wait for death?"

Cao Xian was about to reach out to grab Yuan Xi, but after hearing this, she sat up obediently, snuggled into Yuan Xi's arms, and said, "My husband has made many enemies in the past few years. You must be very tired, right?"

"Besides, now that my husband has been crowned king, a big tree attracts the wind. I'm afraid there will be even more people who are jealous of him."

Yuan Xi hugged Cao Xian and said calmly: "Most of them are just people who are unwilling to fail."

"Once I eliminate Cao Cao, there won't be many people who have the courage to do this."

Cao Xian laughed and said, "Isn't this a coincidence? My husband took advantage of the situation and married Madam Ding. Wouldn't that just make Cao Cao angry to death?"

"I heard that your husband released Cao Cao's daughter. Was she too ugly and not pleasing to your eyes?"

"Otherwise, when the two women are together, won't Cao Cao be so angry that he will die on the spot?"

Yuan Xi couldn't help laughing, but he knew that Cao Xian hated Cao Cao to the core because of family feud, and what he said just now was serious.

He thought for a moment and said to Cao Xian, "It is human nature that you cannot forget hatred. It would be abnormal if you could forget it."

"You can keep hatred in your heart, but don't let it affect you. Don't live under its shadow and be bound by it day and night."

"In comparison, I hope you can live happily every day."

Cao Xian listened and nodded silently, "I understand your husband's painstaking efforts very well."

"I will remember it."

The two men's carriage went all the way to the mansion where Madam Ding was imprisoned. It was said that she was imprisoned, but in fact Yuan Xi found a mansion and kept Madam Ding in custody alone, without affecting her diet and daily life.

He was not worried about Madam Ding escaping. After all, there was Cao Ang in Cao County. Of course, the same was true for Cao Ang. The two sides were restraining each other, which could be said to be an invisible two-way chain in this invisible prison. When Yuan Xi pulled Cao Xian out of the car, he saw a carriage in the yard and asked the guard, "Who is here?"

The guard quickly replied, "It belongs to Madam Huan."

Yuan Xi then remembered that a few days ago, Madam Huan asked him if she could come to see Madam Ding. Yuan Xi agreed without thinking, after all, it was not a big deal.

Thinking about it now, Yuan Xi felt a little guilty. Could it be that Madam Huan brought people here to take revenge on Madam Ding?
When he and Cao Xian entered the room, they found that what he was worried about did not happen. Madam Huan and Madam Ding were sitting opposite each other and did not do anything excessive.

Madam Huan was also a little surprised to see Yuan Xi bringing Cao Xian over. She stood up and came over, whispering, "Your Majesty, are you here to vent your anger on Cao Xian?"

"This child is acting ridiculously and boldly. Your Majesty, please do not listen to her."

Cao Xian cried out in grievance: "Mother, what are you thinking about?"

"Am I that kind of person?"

Madam Huan glared, "You are my child, and I don't know you?"

"Without the king watching, you would have fallen off the roof in the morning!"

After hearing this, Cao Xian muttered angrily, "Mother, you are so mean..."

Seeing the two people bickering, Yuan Xi couldn't help but shake his head helplessly. He remembered that Madam Huan was only in her thirties this year. She became a widow at a young age and experienced many tragic things, and the instigator was Cao Cao.

But from the looks of it, Mrs. Huan doesn't seem to hate Mrs. Ding that much.

He whispered a few words, and Madam Huan listened with a calm face, "I do hate Cao Cao very much, but when I was in the inner house, Madam Ding was very nice to me, so I can't hate her."

"After all, we are all miserable people. How can anyone live better than anyone else?"

Madam Ding heard the conversation between the two and felt mixed emotions. She said, "Madam, you don't have to make excuses for me. My ex-husband did a lot of things that angered the gods and the people. As his family member, I deserve the retribution from the gods."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi turned around and smiled, "Madam, you can think this way, which saves me a lot of trouble."

"I came here today to ask Madam for something."

As soon as Yuan Xi changed his words, the expressions of the three women present became interesting. They naturally did not think that Yuan Xi came here specifically for something insignificant, but it must be something that was extremely unfavorable to Mrs. Ding.

The meaning of these words is extremely complicated, ranging from marrying Madam Ding to even taking her life, all are possible. Madam Ding's face turned pale, and Madam Huan became anxious and wanted to persuade her, but Cao Xian had an expression of gloating.

Yuan Xi looked at Madam Ding and said, "I want a set of old clothes that Madam has worn, preferably one that was worn in Xuchang."

Mrs. Ding thought about it for a moment and immediately understood what Yuan Xi wanted to do. "Give my old clothes to disturb that man?"

"Forgive me for being frank, but in that person's heart, I may not be as important as you think."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "How can we know if we don't try? Didn't the King of Wei in Shouchun also withdraw his troops?"

Madam Ding pursed her lips and said, "Your Majesty, you really think too much. How could an army of 100,000 retreat for my sake? If that were the case, how could that person have come to this point today?"

"It doesn't matter. If you want it, just take it."

"I got some old clothes in Xudu, and I only have this one on. Would you like to take it now, sir?"

She was originally speaking with sarcasm, but Yuan Xi laughed shamelessly and said, "Well, now Madam, take it off for me, I don't mind."

After these words came out, Madam Huan covered her face with her sleeves, Cao Xian burst out laughing, and Madam Ding did not expect Yuan Xi to be so single. Her face turned red, and she stamped her feet in anger, walked into the house, and said angrily: "Please wait a moment, Your Majesty."

Seeing that he had one foot in the threshold and was about to close the door, Yuan Xi said, "You need your underwear too, Madam. Don't forget."

This time Cao Xian couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter. Mrs. Ding was so angry that she turned around, glared at Yuan Xi, and then slammed the door.

Madam Huan heard Madam Ding taking off her clothes angrily in the room, and whispered: "The king is not such a person..."

Yuan Xi sighed, "There's nothing I can do. If a set of clothes could save the lives of thousands of soldiers, I would come here every day to force Madam Ding to take off her clothes."

Mrs. Ding, who was taking off her clothes in the room, heard this and her face turned red. She couldn't help but spit and thought to herself, are all those who fight for the world so shameless?

But then she thought of what Cao Cao had done, and could not help but fall silent again. Her experiences were all retribution for Cao Cao's evil deeds. Perhaps only someone like Xionghu could fight against Cao Cao?

(End of this chapter)