Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 637 The plot failed
Yuan Xi originally thought that Jushou would try to convince him again, but he didn't expect that Jushou only said one sentence.

"Young Master's choice may not be the best, but it is the most suitable."

He stood up and said, "As a lord, you should be open to opinions, but you should also have your own ideas and the confidence to stick to them."

"I'll go back and pack my bags, and I'll be at your disposal at any time."

Yuan Xi bowed and sent Jushou out.

Outside, on the streets of the outer city, soldiers began to post obituary notices and mourning letters. The people in the city gradually began to learn the news of Yuan Shao's death. With panic and grief, the mournful voices from every household echoed over Yecheng.

After all, Yuan Shao has been doing good things to the local people and nobles in Jizhou during the years he has occupied Jizhou. If the people can have enough to eat, they are already grateful and will naturally feel sad.

For the Jizhou nobles, their ambitions and expectations were originally placed on Yuan Shao, but now this hope suddenly came to nothing, leaving them at a loss for what to do.

When the news reached outside the city, Yuan Tan, who was waiting inside the camp, suddenly stood up, his face full of shock and disbelief. He subconsciously walked out. Guo Tu said at the side: "Where do you want to go?"

Yuan Tan subconsciously said: "I want to go to the city, and I want to see with my own eyes whether the news of my father's death is true!"

Guo Tu said sadly: "You are confused. If you enter the city at this time, can you still come out?"

Yuan Tan Liushenwuzhu said: "But if I don't attend my father's funeral, wouldn't I be an unfaithful and unfilial person?"

Guo Tu said anxiously: "Your Majesty, if the news of Duke Benchu's death is true, that will be our best excuse and our last chance!"

"The best strategy is to take advantage of the chaos in the city and attack the city quickly!"

Yuan Tan was startled and then heard Guo Tu say: "Now we just need to kill Yuan Shang for plotting to kill Lord Ben Chu and demand entry into the city to expose his true face. If Yuan Shang doesn't open the city gate, we will send troops to attack the city!"

"When the time comes, the people who support us in the city will definitely respond in large numbers. If we cooperate inside and outside, great things can be accomplished!"

After Yuan Tan heard this, heaven and man began to fight in his heart.

He and Guo Tu had planned to deal with this kind of situation before, so he was naturally not surprised by Guo Tu's proposal. But when the matter came to pass, he hesitated in his heart because he was not sure what Yuan Shang had done and Yuan Shao's death. Does it matter?

The excuse he gave Yuan Shangan was more like a groundless excuse to incriminate him. If there was no evidence, how could he convince the public?
When Guo Tu saw it, he took out a piece of brocade silk from his sleeve, handed it to Yuan Tan, and said, "This was sent from Cao's camp."

"Although the witness in the city may not be there, the Five Stone Powder in Yuan Shang's hand must be inseparable from the worsening of Lord Benchu's condition."

Yuan Tan took the brocade and looked even worse after reading it, "Doesn't this mean that Cao Ying has been involved in this matter a long time ago?"

"Third brother was probably deceived by others and did not take the initiative."

Guo Tu whispered: "What you have done is what you have done, Sir, don't delve into other things!"

"Let me think about what will happen if we don't win Yecheng!"

"Now that Lord Benchu ​​is dead, this is the best chance for us not to acknowledge his death. If we leave Yecheng now, we will undoubtedly acquiesce to Lord Benchu's arrangement, and we will never have another chance!"

"Let Junyi make an early decision!"

Yuan Tan felt his mouth was astringent, "There is only the third brother in the city, and the second brother's soldiers are also a variable. What can be done?"

Guo Tu came close to Yuan Tan's ear and whispered a few words. After hearing this, Yuan Tan's expression changed drastically and he said, "That's inappropriate."

Guo Tu whispered: "The fierce tiger riding into the city alone is already the best opportunity. His ambition is not small, and he will become a serious problem for you sooner or later!"

"If we use all the assassins in the city to kill him at this time, his subordinates will definitely be defeated. When we collect them, our strength will be raised to a higher level, and we will be more confident in conquering Ye City!"

Yuan Tan's face turned livid after hearing this. Although he acted in an extreme way, it still made him unable to make up his mind when it involved directly assassinating the brothers.

He raised his head and said, "With these assassins, wouldn't it be good to directly assassinate the third brother?"

Guo Tu shook his head and said: "Yuan Shang is mourning for Benchu ​​Gong now, and he is surrounded by people all the time, so it is not easy to get close to him."

"And if the matter is exposed, we will give people an excuse. On the other hand, if Yuan Xi is assassinated, we can blame it on Yuan Shang."

"Moreover, Yuan Xi is openly standing with Yuan Shang, but in fact Yuan Shang really hopes that Yuan Xi is dead. After all, this person is the biggest threat!"

After hearing this, Yuan Tan clenched his fists involuntarily. He had to admit that Yuan Xi had become a stumbling block for everyone in the world to strive for hegemony, including himself!
To kill, or not to kill?

Time passed by, and Yuan Tan still couldn't make up his mind. Just as Guo Tu was about to persuade him, he heard a lot of noise coming from Yuan Xi's camp in the distance, and it seemed that he had taken action.

Both of them were shocked and quickly issued orders to alert the soldiers in the camp. At the same time, they sent people out to inquire about the news. Not long after, the spies came back and said that someone saw Yuan Xi coming down from the city and returning to his barracks. He was reorganizing the army. soldiers.

As soon as these words came out, Yuan Tan and Guo Tu's faces turned ugly. They had almost made up their minds to assassinate Yuan Xi, but the other side left Yecheng and returned to the military camp as if they had no idea!
A thought came up in their minds at the same time. Could it be that Yuan Xi was really good at stargazing and could predict good or bad luck?

Yuan Xi actually didn't know Yuan Tan's plan. He just felt that it was not safe to stay in Yecheng at this time.

He can trust Yuan Shao, but he does not trust Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan. Now that Yuan Shao has passed away, both the situation and the psychology of all the forces have changed dramatically.

Yuan Shao's death is a huge crisis, but also a huge opportunity. Yuan Xi cannot guarantee whether the previous friendship and relationship can be maintained under such a huge temptation.

He remembered a saying from his previous life: Don't try to test people's bottom line. In the face of large enough interests, most of the time what is tested is not the sincerity, but the unfathomable lower limit.So Yuan Xi met Yuan Shang directly and expressed his request to leave the city.

He convinced Yuan Shang with just one sentence.

"If there is no news about me in the city, my subordinates may help Yuan Tan."

After hearing this, Yuan Shang agreed to send Yuan Xi out of the city without any hesitation. After all, Yuan Xi being in the city seemed to be of no benefit to him.

As for whether Yuan Xi would join Yuan Tan in attacking the city after he left, Yuan Shang didn't quite believe it. After all, if Yuan Xi wanted to take action, he would have already done so. If Yuan Xi had closed the city gate tightly, Yuan Shang would not even be able to enter the city.

He sent Yuan Xi to the top of the city and said to Yuan Xi: "Please help me, second brother, for my father's sake. I will definitely live up to my second brother."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi patted Yuan Shang on the shoulder and took Sun Li Jushou down to the city.

As soon as Yuan Xi returned to the camp, he asked all the troops to start mobilizing, bypassing the west side of Yecheng and heading north.

He mobilized all the soldiers directly to the north of Yecheng, and then began to order the soldiers to set up camp and dig new trenches. It seemed that he and Yecheng were horns with each other.

At the same time, Yan Rouxian Yufu's cavalry troops were divided into two groups to clean the left and right wings leading to Youzhou respectively to ensure that the food road was open.

Yuan Xi summoned everyone and said: "Dong Benchu ​​has passed away, and now there is an urgent matter."

The generals were thinking, are they going to attack Yuan Tan?
Unexpectedly, what Yuan Xi said next was beyond their expectations, "I want to send someone to Huaicheng from the Black Mountain Pass."

Everyone was stunned. What were they doing in Huaicheng at this time?
Yuan Xi briefly explained a few changes that might happen in Huaicheng, and said: "I need to stay here for a few days to deter Yuan Tan and stabilize the situation in case there is a change in Yecheng."

"But we can't delay going to Huaicheng. Cao Cao may have begun to be unfavorable to Huaicheng, and many people may die."

"So I will send an army now to Huaicheng to defeat Cao Jun's conspiracy and save as many ministers as possible."

He looked at everyone, hesitated, and said, "This time I want Ziyi and Gongming to go."

There is a reason why he arranged it this way.

Since there is a rush to march, of course the cavalry will be the main force, Gao Shun is not suitable. Zhao Yun also needs to help Yuan Xi stabilize the morale of the army. Yan Rouxian Yufu does not have a close relationship with the Han court and cannot take charge alone.

Xu Huang has a good personality and makes many friends, and has old ties with many ministers and generals of the Han Dynasty. Taishi Ci is smooth and adaptable, so he is the most suitable candidate at the moment.

Seeing the two men taking orders, Yuan Xi added: "When the situation here stabilizes, I will rush over to respond, and at the same time ask Beixin City to mobilize troops from the Black Mountain Passage to support you."

Tai Shici said: "There is no problem with the internal passage. Should Mr. Xianfu's southern passage be bypassed?"

Yuan Xi took out a token and handed it to Taishi Ci and said, "I told Xianfu that it is fastest to go directly to his passage."

"But you still have to be careful. There may be harassment from Cao Ying's forces inside."

Taishi Ci took the token and said, "Please rest assured, Sir, Ci Ding will live up to his mission!"

He and Xu Huang bowed to Yuan Xi, and the two of them immediately rode forward to the south pass of Black Mountain.

Yuan Xi led the crowd and watched the large number of cavalry rolling away and soon disappearing on the horizon. His heart was full of worries. Although he knew it might be too late, he was always unwilling to give it a try.

His heart was heavy. This time, Cao Cao took the lead again, but the confrontation between him and Cao Cao had just begun to heat up.

Thinking of the Five Stone Powder that caused Yuan Shao's condition to worsen and was related to Cao Ying, Yuan Xi's face became gloomy. He would get back this debt sooner or later!

He wanted to retaliate in kind, but the same method would definitely not work against Cao Cao. Is there any other way?

South of Huaicheng, Lu Bu was discussing matters with Zhang Liao. After hearing the information, he was a little unhappy and said to Zhang Liao, "It seems that today's grain and grass have not arrived?"

"Although the army still has two days' surplus of food, the hundred-mile road is so close and there is no problem with the food road. Why is it that such a simple matter in Huaicheng is delayed?"

"It stands to reason that if Gongtai is in charge in the city, he would never make such a mistake, right?"

Zhang Liao heard this and said, "Do you want me to take someone back to have a look?"

Lu Bu thought for a while and said, "No, wait one more day."

"If the food and grass haven't arrived yet, we will retreat slowly to avoid being taken advantage of by Yuan Shu."

Zhang Liao was still worried and said, "How about sending a few spies back to investigate the situation?"

Lu Bu listened and nodded in agreement.

Then half a day later, the spy came back. Not only was he seriously injured, but he also brought back extremely bad news.

Huaicheng probably fell.

(End of this chapter)