Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 604 The Battle of the Roads
After listening to Xun You's words, Xun Yu put down the pen in his hand, picked up the pine ink, and began to grind it on the inkstone.

There was very little water in the inkstone. The pine ink was rubbed on it, making an unusual rustling sound.

Xun You said helplessly: "I know my uncle doesn't agree with some of my actions, but aren't they all for Gong Cao's great cause?"

Xun Yu said slowly: "I didn't say anything."

"You said just now that this situation is not good, but I think this situation is extremely good."

"First, we dealt with a group of unmanageable Qingzhou troops, and then we secretly joined forces with Yuan Shu to cease the war, and mobilized the three sons of the Yuan family to stay away from Yecheng. Every step of this was so wonderful that I couldn't do it even if I thought about it. But Gongda did it simply, I can't help but admire him."

Xun You smiled bitterly and said: "Your uncle said he doesn't care, but he is obviously very dissatisfied with my nephew."

"As I said just now, if that ferocious tiger hadn't been pressing forward every step of the way and hitting our weak spots every time, why would I have taken this dangerous move?"

"From Huaicheng to welcome the emperor, to Xuzhou to fight against the fierce tiger, and then to Jianghuai to fight for Yuan Shu's territory, we seemed to be advancing but actually retreating. Now it seems that we have deceived the enemy by attacking in the east, but this does not necessarily mean that we are advancing eastward. Did it fail?"

"Use stratagem, stratagem, stratagem. When the only way in front of you is stratagem, it means that the situation is very bad!"

Seeing a mocking smile on Xun Yu's lips, Xun You said helplessly: "I know what uncle is most dissatisfied with."

"Is it a matter of a private truce with Yuan Shu?"

"Wen Ruo hated Yuan Shu for his arrogance of self-reliance. He persuaded Duke Cao several times to put aside his previous prejudices, and first worked with other forces to destroy him and clear away the rebellion for the Han Dynasty."

"But in the end, Duke Cao chose to attack Fierce Tiger and completely broke up with him. Is Wen Ruo always worried about this?"

After hearing this, Xun Yu snorted coldly, "I only understand internal affairs, and naturally I dare not comment on external affairs."

Xun You sighed: "My uncle is an upright man and disdains the calculations of flies and dogs, so I took over this dirty work so that my uncle can do it alone."

"But uncle, don't forget how the fierce tiger targeted us before. Did he ever leave us a way out?"

"If we don't fight back, can we let him put the rope around our necks?"

"By then it will be too late!"

Xun Yu's expression softened a little, and he said in a deep voice, "I know, even though we are attacking everywhere during this period, it is actually quite difficult."

"Just looking at the shortage of food and grass supplies every day makes my head grow bigger."

"But have you ever thought that if you use the excuse of not having a choice every time, sooner or later you will go down the wrong path."

Xun You said in a deep voice: "I'm just giving an idea. As for which way to go, it's Duke Cao who decides."

"As a counselor, I only propose ways to solve problems and do not interfere with the lord's decision."

Xun Yu felt a little angry in his heart, "Gongda and I have completely different ideas."

"Whatever the Lord does, what decisions he takes, and what consequences he bears, as a subordinate, he is responsible."

"If everyone only puts one path in front of the Lord, isn't that forcing the Lord to choose this path?"

"My lord made a mistake, and all his subordinates are responsible!"

Xun You sighed: "My uncle is still too ideal. If he were born in the Zhou Dynasty, if he could be in Jiang Ziya's position, my uncle might not be worse than him."

Xun Yu shook his head: "No need to wear a high hat, I'm just a mediocre person who can't turn around."

Both were silent.

After a while, Xun Yu spoke up: "I still can't get over this hurdle regarding Yuan Shu."

"When Mr. Cao comes to the emperor in the future, how should he explain to him?"

Xun You sighed: "Uncle, do you really think the emperor cares?"

"Wen Ruo doesn't know about the little tricks he did in Huaicheng, right?"

Xun Yu's mouth was dry, "But he is the emperor after all!"

Xun You shook his head and said, "I know what my uncle is thinking, and I won't laugh at him or stop him."

"But now that the general trend is turning, the world is in chaos, and the Han Dynasty is in decline. Wen Ruo really thinks, can the Han Dynasty be saved?"

Xun Yu said in a deep voice: "You have to help me even if you can't help me."

Xun You was a little disapproving, "Even if my uncle can resist the falling beam with his shoulders, what will happen a hundred years later?"

"When you and I are already buried in the ground, won't the pillars still fall down?"

After Xun Yu heard this, he unconsciously rubbed the loose ink in his hand on the inkstone, "At that time, someone will come to rescue me."

Xun Yu said with a hint of sarcasm, "But it is also possible that someone will appear who will knock down the pillars."

Xun Yu knew that neither he nor Xun You could convince the other, so he could only say: "Then let's go and see."

"Look at where the general trend of the world is going."

Xun You also felt tired of the argument and nodded: "Yes, every tributary may change the course of the river."

"Now the show has just begun. As for the outcome, whether we can survive or the Yuan clan is destroyed, it all depends on God's decision." Xun Yu shook his head. Is it really God who decides destiny?
So what do you want people like you to do?
In Yecheng, as soldiers lined up in order on the street, and from time to time someone knocked on the door of the mansion and entered the house to search, the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

However, Tian Feng went to Yuan Xi angrily, and Pi Tou asked, "What do you want to do?"

When Yuan Xi saw it was Tian Feng, he stood up with a smile and said, "Mr. Yuan Hao, you are such a rare guest."

"Sit, sit, sit, I brought some tea from Guangling this time. It's really nice to enjoy it with my husband."

Tian Feng said angrily: "I'm not in that mood, can you keep it for yourself?"

"I'm here to ask, are you serious about letting Youruo take charge of searching for traitors in the city, or do you have other motives?"

Yuan Xi said: "Of course I am serious."

"Yecheng is sick, and I want to dig out the disease."

Tian Feng said in disbelief: "Then you still let Xun Chen take charge?"

"Do you know that the Xun family is closely related to the Cao family?"

"Now there are rumors in the city that the envoy has colluded with Cao Cao, taking the opportunity to eliminate dissidents, arrest those who oppose the Cao family, and prepare to open the city gates and surrender in the future!"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "There are still such rumors?"

"It's really a waste of time."

"If this rumor is true, I should arrest Mr. Yuan Hao first."

Tian Feng was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and patted Yuan Xi on the shoulder, "Yes, yes, this sentence is quite to my liking."

"I'm just here to test it out and see how the envoy looks. He should know what he's doing, so I won't stay any longer."

After saying that, Tian Feng turned around and walked out. Yuan Xi couldn't hold him back and said anxiously: "Sir, why don't you stay and say a few more words?"

Tian Feng glared, "You are not a kind person. After Xun Chen came out of your room, he was completely controlled and used Jun Duan's good methods."

"I don't dare to stay any longer, so I'll take my leave."

When Yuan Xi saw Tian Feng running away, he smiled bitterly in his heart, thinking that although Tian Feng sounded unpleasant, he understood it in his heart.

However, he said he was avoiding suspicion, but he still came over. Didn't this implicitly show his support for his actions?
Yuan Xi now used the pretext of being in charge of Yecheng to begin to eliminate the forces targeting the Yuan family. He also made sure that these nobles did not dare to openly oppose him.

After all, under the threat of city destruction, only those who can defend the city have the right to speak, but Yuan Xi cannot be questioned by others in this regard.

After all, he has gained such a reputation in the past few years, has almost never lost a battle, and is even better at defending the city. Now that he is in charge of Yecheng, it has greatly enhanced the confidence of the people in Yecheng.

Therefore, no matter how dissatisfied the nobles are with Yuan Xi, as long as they do not kill their own people, these nobles will still have to swallow their anger and look at Yuan Xi's face.

However, Yuan Xi's reaction was extremely fierce when a clan member was involved in the spies in Yecheng.

Previously, the judge did not know where he found out about Yuan Xi's torture of Shen Rong, so he came to Yuan Xi and said: "I heard that the young master used some methods during the interrogation. It is not convenient for me to comment, but there are clan members in the family. I asked you to say something, and I hope you will forgive me."

Yuan Xi saw that the judge was so polite. After thinking about it, he took out a bamboo tube from the wooden drawer at hand and gave it to the judge, saying, "This is his testimony. I didn't want to show it to you sir."

The judge took it, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly unfolded the bamboo tube. After reading a few lines, his expression changed drastically.

He could naturally see that if these testimonies were true, then Trial Rong would be completely finished!

Yuan Xi said leisurely: "Since Shen Rong has not considered the family, does the Shen family still want to protect him?"

"Or maybe he did this because he wanted to protect the judge?"

"Does that mean there is someone behind him?"

Shen Pei is also a smart man. He immediately handed the bamboo tube back and solemnly said: "I am presumptuous. Please deal with it impartially."

"As for the envoy's words, I will bring them to the entire Shen family."

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Mr. Zhengnan is a smart man. If Xi has offended, please forgive me."

The judge stood up to say goodbye. After leaving the house, his face was gloomy and he sighed. Before he came, he thought it was a big deal, but he didn't expect that it would involve two sons competing for the throne!
In fact, if Shen Rong really collaborated with the enemy, he might still be able to save his life, but fighting for the throne was too sensitive for the Yuan family, especially in this extraordinary period.

Yuan Shao was seriously ill, and the two sides who had already divided their camps were eyeing each other. No one wanted to give the other an excuse, but at this time something like this happened to Shen Rong!
The key point is that in the testimony, Shen Rong sided with Yuan Tan.

The interrogator also found out about the testimony that Xu You had asked about earlier, thinking that if he was instructed by Yuan Shang to prevent Yuan Xi from entering the city, the matter could actually be minimized and dismissed as a misunderstanding.

Because Yuan Shang was originally recognized as the successor of Yuan Shao, he did not allow Yuan Xi to enter the city, which could be said to prevent changes, but it was different if it was Yuan Tan!

It can only be said that he has evil intentions when he blocks the Yuan family's children who are rushing thousands of miles away from the city!

So Shen Pei immediately realized the seriousness of the matter, immediately cut off his arm and cut off the relationship with Shen Rong.

After sending Yuan Xi away for trial, he lamented that indeed none of Yuan Shao's counselors were easy-going, but it was a pity that all their talents were wasted on internal consumption.

After all, most of them still have families behind them and are reluctant to leave Jizhou where they have too many vested interests. Otherwise, wouldn't it be nice to change places like Jushu did?

(End of this chapter)