Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1314 Doubt

Sima Yi has been in a bad mood recently because he feels very uncomfortable being fooled.

He had prepared himself mentally and led his troops from Xu Du, ready to have a big fight with the coalition forces of Yuan Xi and Liu Bei, and was prepared to deal with any possibility. However, he never expected that the State of Jin would retreat instead of advance, and even withdraw the front line by a hundred miles!

This completely confused Sima Yi, because according to his prediction, the other party would never retreat no matter what. After all, let's not talk about the State of Jin. Isn't Guan Yu trying to rescue the emperor? How could he stop at this time?

Moreover, Xu Du was preparing to publicly execute suspected officials from Liu Xie's faction. Did the State of Jin just not care about their lives?
This move was beyond Sima Yi's expectations. It was not until he heard the news that Yuan Xi was preparing to proclaim himself emperor that he suddenly realized what was going on. No wonder this ferocious tiger didn't intend to save anyone in order to become emperor. He had really lost all his face!

You keep saying that you are sending troops in the name of saving people, but in fact it is just bluffing. The title of the emperor was given to you by Liu Xie, but you just sit there and do nothing. How hypocritical! Too hypocritical!

Sima Yi was indignant. He pretended to be so righteous, but under the temptation of becoming emperor, he watched Wei eliminate the faction that supported Han. In this way, the pressure came to Wei instead. It was really despicable!

According to Sima Yi's suggestion before he left, the Cao Wei court would spread the rumor that pro-Han officials would be severely punished, and at the same time, torture and extract confessions, the news would be released to lure the Southern Kingdom of Han and accelerate the advance. Then Sima Yi would take advantage of the opponent's aggressive psychology and set up ambushes layer by layer to achieve the goal of weakening and defeating the opponent.

This idea was indeed very good, and counselors including Xun You also affirmed Sima Yi's idea. Even the most pessimistic one believed that Jin might sit idly by, but Guan Yu would definitely attack Xu Du as quickly as possible, just like last time.

However, Sima Yi had been lying in ambush at the Fancheng Pass for five or six days, but Guan Yu's army had not arrived yet and was instead resting inside Fancheng!

This made Sima Yi so sad that he wanted to vomit blood. Was Guan Yu sick or dead? Otherwise, it was impossible.

In fact, Sima Yi's guess was correct. Guan Yu was indeed very anxious, but unlike Sima Yi, Guan Yu had a deeper understanding of Yuan Xi's actions over the years, so he could still suppress his anxiety and wait.

Opposite him was Wei Yan who had rushed over. Guan Yu said with a stern face: "Your Majesty, you are proclaiming yourself emperor. Do you want to sit back and watch the Emperor of Han being killed by Cao Wei?"

Wei Yan said, "Of course not. My lord said that he must find a way to save the Emperor of Han, but he can't act too hastily."

"Cao Wei would never risk the world's disgrace to kill the Han emperor. They just want to use the Han emperor to make us behave in a disorderly manner and make mistakes in military operations."

"Now that we are standing still, it is not us who are anxious, but they are."

Guan Yu snorted coldly: "The Han emperor may be fine, but Cao Wei can kill officials who are close to the Han Dynasty!"

Wei Yan said, "Regarding this matter, please rest assured, General. The lord has said that he will do his best to find a solution."

"General, please think about it. Even if we join forces to attack the city of Xudu, can we rescue those people?"

"Cao Wei will only use their lives to threaten us, so that we can back out of the dilemma!"

After hearing this, Guan Yu had to admit that Wei Yan's words made sense. He said in a low voice: "What should we do now?"

"You know, my elder brother has been seriously injured. I am eager to go home. If he hadn't asked me to rescue the emperor before returning to Changsha, I might have withdrawn my troops and returned to see him now!"

Wei Yan took out a secret letter from his sleeve and said, "This is a letter from the lord to the general."

"It said that after the general read the letter, he asked Yan to cooperate with the general. Whether it will succeed or not depends on the general."

After Guan Yu took it and read it, he was surprised, "This strategy is unexpected."

"Will the other party be fooled?"

Wei Yan replied: "The enemy's leader is Sima Yi, the most difficult man in Cao Wei, and we are not sure about this either."

"Even if the plan is leaked, I will do my best to delay him and create opportunities for the general."

"What happens next will all depend on the general's ability to adapt to changing circumstances, as well as the will of heaven."

Guan Yu hesitated for a moment, then nodded decisively and said, "Okay, I will follow your plan!"

At the same time, Xudu was experiencing a great deal of turmoil. Not only was there news that Yuan Xi was about to become emperor, but there were also rumors that the main force of the Jin army had set out from the border of the Wei army, bypassed Luoyang through the Guanzhong Passage, and was approaching Xudu.

In coordination with this, Xiahou Shang and Ma Chao, who were holding back near Huaicheng, were also attacked by the Jin cavalry and were forced to retreat a hundred miles and give up the Guanzhong Pass.

In this battle, Ma Chao was attacked by Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun who suddenly appeared, and suffered serious injuries. When the officials and generals in Xudu talked privately about it, they all said that Ma Chao had been unlucky since he became Cao Cao's adopted son, and his injuries never stopped. This was probably the retribution from God for his unfilial behavior.

Another piece of news was that the State of Jin had sent captives including Yu Jin to the border of Yuzhou, waiting to exchange hostages with Cao Wei at any time. Zhong Yao, Xun You and others naturally opposed this, saying that the other party was taking such action at this time just to shake the morale of Cao Wei's army.

Although this makes sense, Yu Jin's experience has won sympathy from many generals of other surnames. After all, Yu Jin has been an old man who has served Cao Wei for nearly 20 years. Now that he is exchanged as a prisoner, it at least shows that he has not surrendered. If Cao Wei ignores him, it would be too disheartening.

The last thing was that some officials began to plead for Liu, Dong Zhao and others who were imprisoned, saying that they were only suspects but had no concrete evidence, and that it was really arbitrary to detain them like this.

Hua Xin, who was in charge of handling the matter, was under increasing pressure. He didn't know whether the Yingchuan faction was taking advantage of the situation, or someone was coveting his position as one of the Three Dukes, or for other reasons. However, facing more and more impeachments, he could no longer hold on. After all, there were very few officials from the Qingzhou faction in Cao Wei, and there were few who were willing to speak for him.

In fact, Hua Xin was thinking too complicatedly. Among the Cao Wei officials who impeached him, most of them were paid to do things, and the one who gave the money was naturally Yuan Xi.

Xudu was actually quite wary of the merchant caravans that traded back and forth, and imposed quite strict restrictions on the caravans of the Zhen and Mi families that were under their control. However, what they didn't know was that Yuan Xi had previously presided over a reorganization that split up the caravans of the Mi and Zhen families, and allowed them to trade under the names of other families, many of which were also connected with the families of Cao Wei officials.

Through this method of transferring money from one hand to the other, Jin State has penetrated Cao Wei's business network like a sieve over the years. The spies of the Procuratorate sent gifts through these large and small caravans in Xudu, and the price was to exonerate Liu He and others.

Of course, if they pleaded directly, they would be suspected of being spies from the State of Jin. Therefore, under the instruction of Lu Yu, the head of the Procuratorate who entered Xu Du, the officials who accepted bribes adopted the method of impeaching Hua Xin.

Because Cao Cao valued talent over morality, many of Cao Wei's officials were paid to do their jobs, so they had no pressure in doing their jobs. Within just a few days, they turned their attention to Hua Xin.

At the same time, Cao Pi also received several carts full of wealth. These were sent by the Zhen family caravan, and it was obviously instructed by Xiong Hu. But the problem was that the person who sent the gifts said that the King of Jin did not bring any words to Cao Pi.

This made the suspicious Cao Pi even more suspicious. What did this ferocious tiger mean?
Does he want me to turn a blind eye to the Jin spies, or does he want me to deceive me and make me make the wrong decision?

Could it be that among those captured, there were people whom Xionghu wanted to die, so he did the opposite?
Under this confusion, Cao Pi, who still had a poor grasp of people's hearts, also became lost. Wu Zhi and Zhu Shuo, who were of similar age to him, could not give any useful advice.

Cao Pi did not want to ask Zhong Yao. Although Zhong Yao was his confidant, he did not want to rely on Zhong Yao for everything. Moreover, there was someone that Zhong Yao obviously needed to avoid in this matter, and that was Dong Zhao.

Cao Pi still cannot be sure whether Dong Zhao is a vicious person as Zhong Yao said, so he might as well kill him, but what if he is not?
Is it true that there is nothing wrong with Zhong Yao himself?

In the Huaicheng assassination, why did Ding Chong die but Zhong Yao survived?
Cao Pi is actually very similar to Cao Cao in one respect. He trusts no one but himself, especially the Cao clan. However, in order to make judgments, he has to accept the testimonies of different people, which undoubtedly puts him in a vicious circle.

While Cao Pi was struggling, in Liu He's mansion in the city, Wu came to visit Madam Yuan and said, "The Minister is in prison, is there anything I can do to help?"

Madam Yuan smiled bitterly after hearing this and said, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Madam. I just went to visit my husband the day before yesterday." She paused, "My husband was tortured, and I think he is determined to die."

Wu was shocked when she heard this. "What will Madam do if something happens to this assistant minister?"

Madam Yuan pursed her lips and said, "If my husband dies, I naturally cannot live alone."

"I'm just sorry, Madam. My husband is in such a predicament now that I can't help you out. I feel guilty."

Mrs. Wu couldn't help showing a sad look on her face after hearing this. "Madam, don't say that. I have already caused a lot of trouble."

"You two are deeply in love, and I don't know what to say, but I still have something to say. Madam, please forgive me."

"If it was in Yizhou, it would be fine. I could still be of some use to you. But now that the Minister and his wife are gone, what about my young son?"

When Mrs. Yuan heard this, her body trembled. She and Liu He had a young son who was three or four years old. If both of them died now, how could the child survive?
Mrs. Yuan thought about it over and over, but she was at a loss as to what to do. She could only hug Mrs. Wu and cry quietly. The two of them felt sorry for each other, which made Mrs. Wu's eyes red. But Mrs. Wu was very unwilling to accept this. She had not yet avenged her husband. If Liu He and his wife died, she was afraid that sooner or later she would be betrayed by Liu Zhang. Not to mention revenge, she would be living a life worse than death. She was really unwilling to accept this.

But at this moment, a maid came to report that someone wanted to see her.

Mrs. Yuan looked at the business card and found that it was from a small family. She was puzzled and wondered what this stranger was doing here?
Could it be that she has an old relationship with her husband?
(End of this chapter)