Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1323 Withdrawal
Liu Xie finally packed his luggage. Yuan Xi ordered the army to send the best cotton-padded clothes and other items to the carriage. Liu Xie came alone and said goodbye to Yuan Xi: "I remember everything that King Jin did, but from my position, I can't get close to King Jin no matter what. I hope King Jin will forgive me."

Yuan Xi bowed back and said, "Your Majesty, what are you saying? Your Majesty has given me the righteous name of Jin State with your call. I am very grateful for this. This is more than enough to offset the insignificant help I have given you before."

Liu Xie shook his head and said, "King Jin, you don't have to be grateful to me. I was just helpless and wanted to protect myself at that time."

"Besides, Xie was forced to make the plan of diverting disaster to the east because he was the emperor and was guilty of possessing a treasure. Among all the people in the world, only the King of Jin had the strength to fight against the State of Wei."

"Prince Jin was chosen because of his achievements over the years, and only Prince Jin can bear this title. If I give this title to Prince Hannan, it will harm him instead."

"It was Prince Jin who made me understand that in this world, one can only rely on oneself and can only be self-reliant and self-reliant. Everything else is false."

"If you help others, you will save yourself. If I hadn't called for it on the abdication platform, making Wei think that the King of Jin was extremely obsessed with the title of emperor, how could they have easily let me go and wanted to cause a fight between Jin and Hannan?"

"If I had been obedient and submitted to others, I might have died in Xudu after abdicating."

"It's a pity that I understood these truths too late."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Your Majesty is so insightful. If he is the Tianping envoy, he must be a wise ruler. How can we stand a chance?"

"Your Majesty, it's just that you are unlucky and it's not the right time."

Liu Xie laughed and said, "Thank you, King Jin, for saving my face. If I were the King Jin, I wouldn't be here today."

"I bid you farewell now. I am able to meet the King of Jin today and fulfill one of my wishes."

Yuan Xi bowed and escorted Liu Xie and Cao to the carriage. Liu He and his wife came over to say goodbye. After Liu He finished speaking, Yuan took the opportunity to get closer and whispered a few words. Finally, she said, "I hope the king will take care of me for my sake."

Yuan Xi said: "Don't worry, sister, I won't force her to do anything against her will."

Yuan's face froze, and she thought to herself, this is too blunt, I didn't say anything, right?
Guan Yu rode over, dismounted, saluted Yuan Xi, and without saying anything, led his troops to escort the carriage out of the village gate and headed south back to Changsha.

After Liu Xie left, Zhuge Liang came out. Yuan Xi asked jokingly, "Why, Prime Minister, are you too embarrassed to face the Emperor of the Former Han Dynasty?"

Zhuge Liang said frankly: "A little bit."

"On the one hand, seeing the end of the Han Dynasty like this, I do feel a little complicated, but on the other hand, Liang can understand that this is the best choice for him and the world today."

"Too many people have died in the past twenty years. The world can no longer withstand major turmoil."

"The only way for the world to recover as soon as possible is to resist the future disasters that the lord has mentioned and that Liang has seen through the stars."

Yuan Xi was silent, thinking to himself that it was indeed true. After the unification of the Wei and Jin dynasties, the world had not yet fully recovered when it encountered the Five Barbarians' Invasion. Now it seems that the pace of unification has been advanced, but who knows if the day when the foreign barbarians will move south has also been advanced?
He let out a long sigh and said, "I hope that in the next ten years, the whole country will be unified, the Central Plains will regain its vitality, and we will unite against the outside world."

The news of Liu Xie's departure soon reached the city of Xudu. When the officials of Cao Wei learned the details, they found that the armies of Yuan Xi and Guan Yu did not break out in dispute as they had expected. Instead, the Jin State was generous enough to hand Liu Xie over to Guan Yu.

This made Cao Pi unable to conceal his anger in the court, and he said, "They were supposed to fight over this?"

"I was such a clown that I thought there was a rift between them, but now it seems like they are in the same group!"

An official immediately said, "Your Majesty is right. Xionghu has a wife who is Liu Bei's adopted daughter. The two sides are as close as family, so naturally they will not easily have a dispute."

"Bullshit!" Cao Pi shouted, "Why didn't you say it during the court meeting a few days ago? What's the point of saying it now?"

The official knelt on the ground, his face red and unable to speak. Someone close to him came to his rescue and said, "The emperor of the former Han Dynasty is seriously ill and will not survive for more than a few days. Perhaps Jin saw this and did him a favor."

"After all, the Han Dynasty has been inherited by the Wei Dynasty. What kind of trouble can a former emperor cause?"

After hearing this, Cao Pi's face turned even uglier, and the official was so frightened that he dared not say anything more. Cao Pi looked around at the ministers and said sinisterly: "Then tell me, if we just send the emperor of the Former Han Dynasty away without exchanging prisoners, how can we lift the siege of Xudu?"

"The fierce tiger is still lurking outside the city. Are you just going to let him take down all the outer cities and then surround Xudu?"

"Where are the three armies that I have high hopes for? Why haven't they sent back to rescue Xudu when it's in this state?"

"Where's Sima Yi?"

At this time Xin Pi stepped out and said, "Military Advisor Sima defeated the Jin general Wei Yan who was blocking the way, and he is already rushing back. I'm afraid he will arrive in the next few days. If we cooperate well, we can attack from the front and back and force the Jin army to retreat." A few days ago, Cui Jun went out of the city to negotiate with the Jin army. The first condition put forward by Zhuge Liang was to release Xin Pi.

After Cui Jun came back, he naturally told Cao Pi all the conditions. Cao Pi hated Yuan Xi deeply for his two harsh conditions and he also wanted to kill Xin Pi. What good thing could be protected by such a fierce tiger?

But he changed his mind and calmed down. If Xin Pi was really Xiong Hu's man, why would the other party ask him to release him so blatantly?

This might be a strategy of sowing discord, to use my own hands to kill those who pose a threat to the State of Jin, right?

When Cao Pi thought of this, he personally checked Xin Pi's case file. After a quick glance, he found that Xin Pi really didn't find any problems. Yuan Shang, whom Xin Pi had previously defected to, was not on good terms with Yuan Xi and had even come up with many ideas against Yuan Xi.

Moreover, after Xin Pi defected, his leadership of the army was also remarkable. It could be said that he was the strategist who suffered the least losses in the war with the State of Jin. As a result, his threat to Xionghu was the strongest among all the officials and generals of Cao Wei.

That makes sense!

So Xin Pi was released and reinstated the next day, while Dong Zhao, who was Cao Cao's regent, remained in prison and there is still no clear explanation for his whereabouts.

Xin Pi was now feeling more and more uneasy. After learning what happened before and after he was released, he thought that the evil tiger might have tricked Cao Pi again.

Although Xin Pi did not have a secret relationship with Yuan Xi, Yuan Xi would not have said this so quickly. As a result, even if Xin Pi was able to lead the troops in the future, he would not fight to the death when facing the Jin army. This would turn Xin Pi into a half-nail of the Jin State.

If Xin Pi fought desperately to prove himself, it would be tantamount to breaking certain unspoken rules, and the Xin clan members in Jizhou, including Xin Pi's highly respected brother Xin Ping, would probably be affected.

Thinking of this, Xin Pi felt a chill down his spine. The evil tiger's ability to figure out and exploit people's hearts was truly too terrifying.

Although Xin Pi is out of prison now, he has severed most of his interpersonal relationships. He urgently needs to find a reliable ally, so he naturally sets his sights on Sima Yi, who is on good terms with him. So when Cao Pi questioned Sima Yi, he stood up to excuse him.

Cao Pi was just worried about not being able to find anyone to vent his anger on. Seeing Xin Pi jumping out, he said, "It turned out to be Chief Secretary Xin. Seeing how confident Chief Secretary is, he must be confident in repelling the Jin army."

"The general is still in need of a military advisor. Go to the top of the city and find him now."

Xin Pi's face froze and he had to back away, thinking that he had been too talkative. He had thought that Cao Pi might test his loyalty, but he still walked into trouble. How blind he was.

After Xin Pi left, Cao Pi looked around at everyone and saw that all the officials dared not breathe, for fear that they would also be exiled to the military camp. Seeing this scene of silence, Cao Pi was shocked.

He had followed Cao Cao for a long time since he was a child. At that time, Cao Wei, from top to bottom, from generals to counselors, were all filled with confidence in victory. Even when facing a ferocious tiger, they were able to remain calm and composed. But it has only been five or six years, how come the court has become like this?
Is it because I became the King of Wei, and not because of my father?

Do not!impossible!
Cao Pi drove this thought out of his mind. Is it a crime for a monarch to be not good at fighting?
Isn't this what the subordinates are supposed to do?

These incompetent people who were just filling in the positions were doing nothing when my father was in power, hoping that he would come to the rescue. But as soon as I came to power, their true colors were exposed!
But now that the situation has deteriorated, who can I trust?
Cao Pi looked at Zhu Shuo, Wu Zhi and others below and felt even more troubled. He had many direct officials and generals, but most of them were civilian officials. Those who were good at fighting were either military generals whom he did not trust, or had more or less problems.

Because of the issue of offspring, Cao Pi was very wary of the Cao and Xiahou families. After eliminating these people, there were only a few candidates left. Among the few people he could trust, Chen Qun was not good at military affairs, Zhong Yao's mind was unpredictable, and Xun You was seriously ill. Compared with several extremely outstanding counselors in Jin State, Cao Pi actually had no one to use for a while.

Is it really true, as my father believes, that Sima Yi is the best candidate to save Cao Wei?
While Cao Pi was thinking, a guard rushed in and said, "Report, the Jin army outside the city has begun to withdraw!"

Cao Pi and his ministers were all shocked. Cao Pi could not help but stand up and asked, "Withdraw the troops?"

"Aren't they here to attack Xudu?"

"Why did you retreat like that?"

"Tell General Xiahou to send someone to investigate and see if the other party is faking defeat!"

The guards hurried out and rushed to the top of the city wall to inform Xiahou Dun. At that time, Xiahou Dun was guarding the top of the city wall, watching the flags of the Jin army retreat far away, and chatting with Xin Pi who had just been exiled. After hearing the guards' instructions from Cao Pi, he said, "Please report to His Majesty that Xiahou Dun has sent people to follow the Jin army to investigate."

Xiahou Dun was also full of doubts. Logically speaking, the Jin army had already arrived here, so how could they return empty-handed? Moreover, with the low morale of the troops in Xu Du, even if Guan Yu had not withdrawn his troops, the Jin army would have more than a 50% chance of capturing Xu Du if they attacked by force. But they just retreated like this. Was there any precedent in the past?
After a day and a night, the spies came back and said that the Jin army had retreated more than fifty miles and was nearly a hundred miles away from Xu Du. Even if they turned around and attacked, Xu Du could deal with it calmly.

When the news reached the palace, Cao Wei officials all hugged each other and congratulated each other, and Cao Pi also felt relieved.

At that time, Yuan Xi was riding on a horse and said to Zhuge Liang with a smile: "In my eyes, Xu Du is no match for Sima Yi."

"This time, let me see if the military advisor has guessed Sima Yi's route back."

(End of this chapter)