Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1315: Hiding from Heaven
Wu did not have time to leave, so she retreated to the back hall. She did not wait long before she saw Madam Yuan hurried over and said, "Madam, please go back first. I have something to do."

She lowered her voice and said, "Madam, you can pack your bags secretly and wait for any unexpected changes."

When Mrs. Wu heard this, she was shocked and guessed something. She nodded quickly and got on the carriage back.

After Wu left, Madam Yuan sat on the couch with a gloomy look on her face. The person who had just come told her that they would find a way to save Liu He, but they could not guarantee whether they would succeed.

If the plan failed, Liu He would be implicated, so the person who came asked Mrs. Yuan to choose what to do: wait and see, leave everything to fate, or go all out and take the initiative.

Mrs. Yuan thought it over again and again, and finally made up her mind to cooperate with the visitor. After all, considering Liu He's condition yesterday, who knew how many days he could last if he was tortured like this?

She could guess who sent the other party, and thought that in this case, she could only place her hopes on the head of the Yuan family.

Soon, a letter secretly accusing Sima Yi of collaborating with the enemy was placed on Cao Pi's desk. The letter was very convincing and included some evidence of Sima Yi's secret dealings with the Yingchuan faction. It was obvious that the person in the letter knew the inside story.

But Cao Pi just responded with a sneer. The commander-in-chief he appointed was reported by someone not long after he sent out the troops. Did he really think he didn't know that this was a plot to sow discord?

But at the same time, the other two letters made Cao Pi a little uneasy.

The two letters contain the same content, saying that Ma Chao had privately exchanged letters with the State of Jin many times, and also listed a lot of evidence. One of the senders was a spy planted by Cao Pi next to Ma Chao, and the other was Han Sui.

This confirmed his previous suspicions. Considering Ma Chao's mediocre performance in the past two years, Cao Pi became angry. No wonder Ma Chao retreated again and again. It turned out that he was just working without putting in any effort!
But with Sima Yi being framed, Cao Pi also became cautious. Was it possible that Jin was deliberately creating confusion and exposing false information to Han Sui and others, with the real purpose of luring him to force Sima Yi and Ma Chao to withdraw their troops?
Not long after, the third letter was placed on Cao Pi's desk. After reading it, he became even more uneasy. The letter said that Sima Yi nominally resisted the Jin army, but actually secretly let the enemy's main force go. Now the enemy might have approached Xuchang!
These letters are a summary of the intelligence from the Wei State's spies in the Imperial Household Department. Cao Pi was extremely angry after reading them. "Chen Qun is now in charge of the Imperial Household Department, but he doesn't know how to screen the intelligence and make judgments. Is he asking me to guess on my own?"

In recent years, the Wei State's School Affairs Office has been played around by the spies of the Jin State's Procuratorial Office. It has done more harm than good!
What made Cao Pi even more upset was that Cao Cao's old enemy, and his future formidable foe, finally announced to the world that he was going to be emperor.

The roar that Liu Xie made on the Fengshan Terrace that day put Cao Pi in an awkward situation, and instead gave the ferocious tiger a reputation. People all over the world were against him!
Calculating the time, Xionghu had already proclaimed himself emperor and ascended the throne in Yecheng a few days ago, right?

The more Cao Pi thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He threw the bamboo slips on the ground and walked straight to the harem to vent his anger on Madam Liu.

The next morning, Cao Pi was still dreaming beside Madam Liu, who was covered in wounds and huddled up in a ball, when he was awakened by a eunuch who rushed in and said there was urgent military intelligence.

When Cao Pi woke up with sleepy eyes and rushed to the front hall with a lot of anger, Hua Xin was already kneeling there, holding a memorial and saying, "Your Majesty, the enemy has already reached within a hundred miles of Xudu!"

Cao Pi was shocked when he heard this and asked in disbelief, "How is this possible?"

"Where's Ma Chao?"

"Where's Cao Hong?"

"Where's Sima Yi?"

Hua Xin said in a hoarse voice: "I just received an urgent report from the spies outside the city. I don't know whether the generals know about this matter. That's why I rushed here to report to Your Majesty and ask you to return to help."

After a brief panic, Cao Pi gradually calmed down and asked, "Do you think the other side will release false information?"

Hua Xin said in a hoarse voice: "It's not impossible, but I think we should send someone to verify the authenticity of the news immediately, and at the same time strengthen the city's defense!"

"Most of Xudu's troops have been deployed to the periphery. If the enemy attacks the city, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to defend it with Xudu's troops, or even worse consequences!"

Cao Pi said, "Go and meet with Zhong Yao and Xun You and come up with an idea. I want to hear it today!"

Hua Xin obeyed the order grudgingly. He sent someone to confirm the authenticity of the news while he discussed countermeasures with Zhong Yao, Xun You and others. But before he could figure out a clue, news came again that the enemy was approaching for real, and that it was Jin and Hannan who had joined forces. It was expected that by tomorrow, they would be within fifty miles of Xu Du!

Moreover, the person leading the army also shocked those who heard the exact news, because the general on the Hannan side was Guan Yu, while on the Jin side, the newly proclaimed emperor Yuan Xi led the army in person!

Guan Yu was approaching from the southwest, while Yuan Xi was approaching from the northeast. At the same time, there was news that troops had been sent from Huaicheng to attack Luoyang. If Luoyang was lost, Xu Du would be threatened from the northwest, and there would only be one way left to retreat to Chang'an and Jingyi!
When Zhong Yao heard the news, he blurted out, "Isn't this the Jin State repeating its old tricks and recreating the Battle of Yecheng?"

Xun You's face was also very ugly, "This King of Jin is really insidious, the timing of his sending troops is too strange, he just proclaimed himself emperor a few days ago, could he set out on the same day?" Xun You guessed correctly, Yuan Xi's proclaiming ceremony this time was extremely hasty, and he didn't even put too much effort into summoning officials and subordinates, because his original plan was to use the proclaiming ceremony as a cover-up to secretly pass through Chencang and approach Xu Du. These ceremonies that others attached great importance to were nothing more than opportunities to send troops in his eyes.

Zhong Yao said in a deep voice: "It's OK with the King of Jin, but what's going on with Zhongda?"

"Didn't Guan Yu station troops in Fancheng across the river after he conquered Xiangyang?"

"If he wants to attack Xuchang, he must take the passage from northeast of Fancheng to Xuchang. Didn't Zhongda set up an ambush at the passage a long time ago?"

"How did Guan Yu travel four or five hundred miles without fighting with Zhongda and arrive safely near Xudu?"

"Was Zhongda bypassed or defeated?"

Xun You whispered: "Someone reported that Zhongda was colluding with the enemy.
Zhong Yao heard this and shook his head, saying, "Impossible, Zhongda is not that kind of person."

"I watched him grow up with my own eyes. He is not the kind of person who would surrender to the enemy in the face of adversity."

Xun You felt a little jealous after hearing this. Zhong Yao had no children so far, and he had been supporting Sima Yi. In fact, he was raising him as his adopted son. He thought about it and said, "It should be that Zhongda was fooled by him. I'm afraid things will be troublesome."

Zhong Yao stood up and said, "Let's go and see the king together. This time, Jin and Guan Yu came prepared, but there are not many generals left in the city who can support the situation. It may be more troublesome than the last time in Yecheng."

The two of them had guessed correctly. Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang's previous actions were intended to kick out Sima Yi, who posed the greatest threat. Now Sima Yi was being attacked fiercely by the Jin army from two directions, and he was complaining bitterly.

He ambushed on the road and finally blocked the army of Hannan that was heading straight for Xu Du. After a fierce battle, the two sides were unable to defeat the other, so they retreated to the road and set up camps to confront each other.

Sima Yi had not yet achieved his goal, but seeing that the Hannan army was blocked by him, he had already achieved his goal, so he started an offensive and defensive battle with the enemy with peace of mind.

However, after fighting for several days, Sima Yi began to realize that something was wrong.

The enemy was extremely skilled in attacking and defending the city, but they were extremely cautious when advancing. Their fighting style was nothing like the fearless Guan Yu army!
Sima Yi sent people to investigate and finally discovered that the enemy was not the Hannan Army at all, but the Jin Army, and the general was not Guan Yu at all, but Wei Yan!

After hearing the news, Sima Yi's heart sank. If Guan Yu was not here, where did he go?

In fact, Guan Yu had already gone down the river from Xiangyang several days ago, then entered Shouchun by water, and then turned northwest and headed southeast of Xu Du!
At that time, this direction was where Huang Zhong and Cao Hong were confronting each other. Huang Zhong did not launch an offensive, and Cao Hong, who had been injured, was happy to set up a camp for defense. As a result, Guan Yu led his troops to attack suddenly, and together with Huang Zhong, they suddenly broke through Cao Hong's camp. Cao's army was defeated and dispersed. Cao Hong escaped during the night attack and disappeared, and his whereabouts have been unknown to this day.

Afterwards, Guan Yu hurriedly marched hundreds of miles and headed straight for Xu Du. Although he took a big detour, he avoided a battle with Sima Yi, who was the best prepared. In fact, he arrived a few days faster than previously planned.

Moreover, if he could rescue the emperor from Xudu, he could go directly south and attack Sima Yi together with Wei Yan, who was acting as a diversion, to kill him without a burial place!

However, what Guan Yu has to face now is how to capture Xu Du. To do this, he lacks siege equipment and needs the cooperation of the Jin army, which is Yuan Xi's surprise force.

Yuan Xi had already planned a route out of Yecheng to the west. He and Zhuge Liang had already devised a scheme to conceal the truth from the world.

The day before he proclaimed himself emperor, Zhuge Liang set out with his army, ostensibly to cooperate with Zhao Yun in Huaicheng to attack Luoyang. As soon as Yuan Xi's proclaiming himself emperor ceremony was over, he ostensibly returned to his mansion, but in fact he immediately led hundreds of cavalry out of the city and traveled day and night to catch up with Zhuge Liang.

Because he was so fast, the Cao Wei spies in Yecheng had no time to report the news, and Yuan Xi had already met up with Zhuge Liang and approached Xu Du.

The Guanzhong Passage had already been cleared due to the battle between Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao and Ma Chao's army. And because they received false news about the attack on Luoyang, Xiahou Shang and others went to deploy defenses near Luoyang. How could they have known that Yuan Xi had gone to attack Xu Du?
Now, while marching, Yuan Xi said to Zhuge Liang beside him: "Cao Pi also wants to learn from me to defend the country, but the situation around Xudu is too complicated. This time, he made a mistake by a hair's breadth and a thousand miles away."

Zhuge Liang spoke up: "But the Wei army's advisers calculated the distance of the defense very well. They also know that we can launch a surprise attack, but they will not be able to arrive in time with siege weapons."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "That's right. If we take our siege weapons and attack the city step by step, it will be the same as the last battle of Yecheng. Cao's army will not give us this opportunity. They have deployed their troops to the cities around Xudu and will be able to return to support in less than a day. So the last method will not work."

The biggest challenge Yuan Xi is facing now is how to achieve his goal with a light assault and without siege weapons.

(End of this chapter)