Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 561
A carriage slowly drove into Hefei City. Several medical doctors were waiting for it. After the leader opened the door, he checked the injuries of the people inside, then shook his head and got off the carriage.

His companion saw it and asked, "Why, it can't be cured?"

The doctor said: "It's very troublesome. If Mr. Yuanhua takes action, it might be possible."

Not long after, the carriage arrived at the post house, and the entourage helped the person inside. It was Qiao Rui. His cheeks were sunken and his face was pale. Although he was supported by others, his steps were still sloppy and he almost fell down several times. He could not tell at all. Previously he was the powerful General Yuan Shu.

Everyone helped him to rest on the couch. He breathed a few hard breaths and said, "I want to see Yuan Shijun now."

The attendant advised: "Mr. Qiao, how can you act like this?"

"How about you please come over?"

Qiao Rui frowned and said, "I am sending an envoy on behalf of Duke Zhong. Isn't this disrespectful?"

He wanted to stand up, but couldn't sit still several times, so he had no choice but to say: "That's all, take my invitation and go and plead guilty to Yuan Shijun."

The entourage responded quickly, and as soon as he took the Qiao Rui greeting card and went out, a motorcade came outside and stopped at the door of the post house.

On the first carriage, Yuan Xi jumped down, stepped aside from Hua Tuo behind him, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Lao."

Hua Tuo nodded and went in first, followed by Yuan Xi. Qiao Rui heard a noise in the house and turned to look. It was Yuan Xi who was here. He quickly got up. Yuan Xi said: "Mr. Qiao, there's no need to get up. First, Let Mr. Yuanhua take a look."

Hua Tuo asked others to stay away, sat in front of Qiao Rui, lifted off his anesthesia clothes, and immediately frowned.

There were several layers of silk linen underneath the linen clothes, but they had all turned into a mixture of yellow, brown and dark red, and emitted an unpleasant smell. It was obvious that the wound had not healed.

Hua Tuo carefully opened the bottom layer of silk, and the adhering skin and flesh gradually separated, making an unpleasant sound. Qiao Rui frowned in pain, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

When the silk cloth was completely uncovered, the people next to him, including Yuan Xi, took a deep breath.

Not only were Qiao Rui's wounds not sutured, but simply covered with a few layers of cloth, several of the wounds on her body were so deep that one could even see the squirming internal organs. The wounds had already festered and fester, and the skin and flesh were even dark brown, even inside. The internal organs also turned into the same color.

Hua Tuo wondered: "How could this be so?"

"There are no doctors in Shouchun City?"

After hearing this, Qiao Rui smiled bitterly and said: "I hated Duke Zhong because I delivered a message to Sun Bofu for the emperor. Later, I was afraid that my family would be implicated, so I went into battle to fight Cao Jun. Unexpectedly, I was inferior to others and was defeated by Xiahou Dun. I escaped by chance. He survived, but was seriously injured, so he had to return to Shouchun to plead guilty."

"But Zhonggong was angry that I had lost the battle, so he only ordered me to be imprisoned until I could be punished. Under such circumstances, how could any doctor dare to treat me?"

Hua Tuo frowned and said, "Isn't it more than that?"

"Looking at Mr. Qiao's weak appearance, is he afraid that he hasn't even eaten well?"

"Otherwise, we wouldn't be in such a desperate situation."

After hearing this, Qiao Rui said: "There is a shortage of food in Shouchun City. Even the ministers are hungry, let alone me, a defeated general."

Yuan Xi sighed: "I'm afraid it's all the generals who are starving. Yuan Shu and those noble nobles of high birth are living quite well, right?"

Qiao Rui smiled bitterly and said, "Young Master understands Mr. Zhong, that's true."

Yuan Xi snorted coldly: "What Zhong Gong? There is no need to mention this name again. Yuan Shu has made people angry and resentful. Qiao Gong serves for him, but he secretly casts his name."

Qiao Rui said helplessly: "After all, I came from an ordinary background back then. Fortunately, I was promoted by the highway official. Otherwise, I wouldn't have the status I have today. I can only do a little to help the master."

"Rui is here this time to deliver a letter for the highway officer. I hope you will be of the same Yuan family and show your respect." After saying this, he took out a silk letter from his arms.

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Does Mr. Qiao think it's possible?"

Qiao Rui smiled bitterly and said: "I am only responsible for delivering the letter, and the rest is left to the Young Master to decide."

Yuan Xi nodded and took it, without looking at it, and said to Qiao Rui: "Mr. Qiao is recovering from his injuries in peace these days. I will let Mr. Yuan Hua treat him."

Hua Tuo checked it carefully again and said, "Is there any fever?"

"Yes." Qiao Rui replied.

"several times?"

"I can't remember exactly, at least five or six times."

"How long has it been since the injury?"

"About two months."

"Do you feel any pain in your body now?"

"It was very painful before, but the pain has gradually reduced in the past half month, but sometimes it hurts."

Hua Tuo looked at the wound carefully again, checked Qiao Rui's eyelids and tongue coating, and checked his pulse for a long time. He took out a golden needle and applied more than ten needles around Qiao Rui's wound. The five-inch long golden needle was inserted until it was inserted all the way to the bridge. Ruicai seemed to be in pain.

Hua Tuo worked hard for half an hour, pulled out the golden needles, put them away, and said, "You will eat the herbs I brought later, one pair a day."

Qiao Rui felt her body relaxed a lot and said happily: "Sir, you are indeed worthy of your reputation. Thank you very much."

Yuan Xi watched quietly. After he and Hua Tuo came out and got into the carriage together, and on the way back, he said, "Sir, how is the situation?"

Hua Tuo said, "It can be as long as three months at most and one month at least."

Yuan Xi said: "Sir's medicine is so effective?"

Hua Tuo glanced at Yuan Xi, "No, it's hopeless."

"Young Master, really can't you tell?" Yuan Xi sighed: "I have a vague feeling, but I always feel that there is still a glimmer of hope."

"The medicine you gave me just now was diluted Ma Fei Powder, right?"

Hua Tuo nodded, "It's not completely successful, but it's enough to relieve pain."

Yuan Xi was speechless. He returned to his study room, opened Yuan Shu's letter, read it, and then asked Lu Xun to come over.

Lu Xun entered the study and saw Yuan Xi pointing to the silk book on the desk and said, "Yuan Shu has written a letter to win over me. Boyan has a look."

After hearing this, Lu Xun unfolded the silk book and read it word by word. He found that Yuan Shu had written a long article in it, which was nothing more than trying to drive a wedge between Yuan Xi and Yuan Shao and promising huge profits.

He said that Yuan Xi was extremely talented, but as a concubine of the Yuan family, he suffered a lot of cold shoulder and was not taken seriously by his family. Instead, he was overpowered by his two brothers.

Now Yuan Xi has adopted Yuan Ji's branch. Logically speaking, this is the main branch of the Yuan family, but Yuan Xi is forced to still be attached to Yuan Shao, which is really a pity.

If Yuan Xi can stand on his own feet, Yuan Shu will fully support Yuan Xi, and he can even be given the title of emperor and return to Yuan Xi.

When Lu Xun saw this, he couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile on his face, and said, "This divorce plan is too clumsy."

"Not to mention that the world is currently fighting, and if you stand on the wrong team, you will be doomed. Who will stand on their sinking ship?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Maybe it's because they are about to drown, so even if there are a few straws floating around, they will try their best to catch them."

Lu Xun shook his head and said: "Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, which indeed created a lot of momentum, and successfully convinced many people that he was the one who was worthy of the prophecy. That's why so many scholars, even the clan surnamed Liu, have taken refuge in him."

"But he misjudged the situation, which resulted in him being besieged on all sides. He even lost his original retreat, Jiangdong. Young Master should learn from this lesson."

"If Sun Bofuhu were to occupy Jiangdong, he would be able to become the overlord of one party. Being independent would be a good way, but now the young master's territory is not protected by nature."

"Young Master seems to have occupied a lot of territory, but in fact, he relies on Ben Chu Gong's momentum. Others dare not easily covet it. If Ben Chu Gong can fully support Young Master, of course he can do anything, but this is obviously impossible."

"Whether it is Youzhou, Xuzhou, or Lujiang, they are all places where many powerful people are entrenched. If the young master rushes to stand on his own, I am afraid that if he suffers a setback, the territory will fall apart."

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "I only know what Boyan wants to say. Don't worry, I won't be confused."

"However, Yuan Shu at least left an excuse for me so that I could clearly capture Yanshun's territory. It would be a pity if I didn't make good use of this letter."

Lu Xun said: "With all due respect, I'm afraid Yuan Shu also sent a letter to other people. I'm afraid he wants two peaches to kill three people, so that several parties can restrain each other."

Yuan Xi laughed and said: "Bo Yan is right. The only way they can do this now is to make us stop suspecting each other and be on guard against each other, so that they can get a chance to breathe."

"Runan is rich. If we can help him regain his breath, it will be difficult to fight."

"But I want to fight quickly, but my strength does not allow it. Cao Cao, Yuan Tan, and Yuan Shang are all waiting to take advantage from behind."

Lu Xun thought for a while and said, "How about this?"

"Reply to Yuan Shu and ask him to give up Shouchun and come to Hefei to surrender to us."

"If they can really do this, we will definitely speak up in front of the emperor and save their lives."

"If they can't even show this sincerity, then there's no need to talk about it."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Bo Yan is trying to force them to death. Can they agree to it willingly?"

Lu Xun smiled and said, "We can afford to wait anyway."

"Because we are the only ones with few soldiers, right?"

Now in order to defeat Yuan Shu, both Cao Cao and Yuan Tan have gathered an army of more than [-]. The cost of military rations is staggering, and they are transported by land, which will cause even greater losses. It is absolutely impossible to sustain them for more than two months.

Yuan Xi laughed after hearing this, "That's what Boyan said."

"But Liu Yuzhou seems to have a lot of troops there."

"If we keep supplying them with food, our side can only survive for one more month."

After hearing this, Lu Xun thought about it and nodded: "This is indeed a problem."

"But at present, it seems that it is still cost-effective. There are not many generals who can rival Guan Zhang."

"Although I don't want to say it, Liu Yuzhou has great ambitions."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed: "I know."

"That's why I need him to be in charge of Yuzhou in the future."

Lu Xun said: "Young Master has thought clearly, so there is no need to say more."

The next day, Yuan Xi found Qiao Rui and handed him the reply letter to Yuan Shu. Qiao Rui was surprised, "So fast?"

He smiled bitterly and said: "Then I will leave immediately to return to Shouchun and hand it over to the highway official."

Yuan Xi said softly: "Mr. Qiao, let someone else deliver the letter."

"I have met Mr. Qiao's two daughters before. Now it's time for Mr. Qiao to go back and meet them, otherwise it will be too late."

Qiao Rui heard the implication of Yuan Xi's words and couldn't help but change his expression.

(End of this chapter)