Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 692 Trapped in Dilemma
Zhuge Liang pulled Huang Yueying into the house. He closed the door and saw that no one was outside before sighing: "What a pity."

"According to Jia Wenhe's status, he has treated me quite politely."

"But there is really an irreconcilable gap between my ideas and his. When I left, I think he must have been a little disappointed."

"Obviously I live in seclusion in the mountains. Logically speaking, I am indifferent to the world and keep to myself. This approach should be very similar to his creed of being wise and self-protective."

Huang Yueying smiled and said: "But my husband is not that kind of person."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "What kind of person do you think I am, madam?"

Huang Yueying thought for a while, her face turned red, and she pursed her lips and said, "My husband is cold on the outside and hot on the inside."

Zhuge Liang did not hear Huang Yueying's pun for a moment. He looked at the heavy snow still falling outside the window and said with a worried look: "Since I am not going to join Zhang Xiu, there are only two ways."

"Either go to Jingzhou Nanjun, or leave Jingzhou."

Huang Yueying asked curiously: "Why don't you go back to Nanyang?"

Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "I watch the stars at night, Nanyang is no longer safe."

"My stargazing skills are still very rudimentary. I can only predict what may happen, but I cannot know when it will happen."

"But at least it should be true that Nanyang is about to fall into war."

Huang Yueying thought that her husband was talking about stargazing again, so let him explain, but he couldn't explain why. In fact, it was just the intelligence he had access to, and he was unconsciously predicting the future situation, right?
She said: "Who will come to fight Nanyang?"

Zhuge Liang replied: "Of course it's Cao Cao."

"He captured Sili, and then defeated Liu Bei and captured Yingchuan. The next step is naturally to capture Jingzhou."

Huang Yueying asked, "Why not Yangzhou?"

"The fierce tiger still occupies Jiujiang in the south of Yuzhou, right?"

"If we can conquer Jiujiang and gain Shouchun, wouldn't we be able to completely control the Huai River?"

Zhuge Liang explained: "Indeed, but only if we can win."

"But Cao Jun's navy is not strong enough and has no chance of winning against the fierce tiger navy."

"And after he joined forces with Ma Teng and Han Sui, he obtained a large number of war horses, so he naturally had to use his strengths and avoid his weaknesses."

"And Jingzhou is adjacent to Sili and Yuzhou, and the battle line supplies are also very close. As long as Nanyang is captured and the gate of Jingzhou is lost, Nanjun will be completely undefended."

"Once Nanjun is lost, Wuling, Changsha, Guiyang and other counties in the south will be in dire straits."

"Jiangxia to the east will be cut off, and the navy will no longer have any use. Cao Jun can defeat Huang Zu and surrender Jiangxia, and form a huge navy."

"More importantly, once Jingzhou, especially Nanjun, is captured, the gateway from Hanzhong to Yizhou will be opened."

"Zhang Lu of Hanzhong believed in the Tao of the Heavenly Master, and Liu Yan could not control it. If Cao Cao could capture Jingzhou and Yizhou, plus Ma Teng and Han Sui's Liangzhou, he would need soldiers, horses, and naval forces to flow down the river. If we attack the Yangtze River, who in the world can be its opponent?"

"So Cao Cao is bound to win Nanyang, and I suspect that he has already started planning. If it hadn't been for the heavy snow this winter, he might have already used troops against Nanyang."

Huang Yueying doubted: "The four states in the North are still in the hands of the Yuan family, how can Cao Cao be so unscrupulous now?"

Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "If Yuan Benchu ​​was still here, maybe Cao Cao wouldn't act so unscrupulously."

"However, the three sons of the Yuan family were constantly fighting within themselves and could not act in unison with the outside world. Cao Cao seized the opportunity to seize the emperor and gained the upper hand. Naturally, the next step was to deal with the weakest party first."

Huang Yueying sighed: "Yuan Benchu's death at this time is really unexpected, but the three sons of the Yuan family will have to decide the winner. When the time comes, with the power of the four states, Cao Cao will dare to win easily, right?"

Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Yes, but according to my calculation, this will take at least three years."

"Of course, there are also smart people among the Yuan family, such as the fierce tiger."

"If Cao Cao dares to attack Nanyang, he will definitely try his best to sabotage it."

"I think Cao Cao is also quite afraid of Fierce Tiger, so he will definitely find ways to raid Nanjun and capture Jingzhou before the opponent can react."

"If this is the case, the world will be very victorious, and Cao Cao will win at least seven points."

Huang Yueying's eyes flashed, "I also know that Nanyang is important, but my husband said this, and it suddenly dawned on me. Doesn't that mean that Nanyang now determines the fate of the world?"

Zhuge Liang looked solemn, "Yes, I had the intention to remind Jia Wenhe about this matter to prevent Nanyang from falling."

"But I finally discovered that he had the idea of ​​​​taking refuge with Cao Cao!"

"I didn't say anything at the time, but I suddenly realized this and broke out in a cold sweat. I'm afraid that I had long wanted to join Cao Cao. If I spoke rashly, I might be harmed by him!"

Huang Yueying's face turned pale after hearing this, "Then what should we do now?"

"Leave Nanyang as soon as possible?"

Zhuge Liang fell silent, with a tangled look on his face.

After a long time, he sighed: "What Jia Wenhe said is actually quite right."

"In the face of the general trend of the world, the power of one person is still too small."

"Even if I could predict the situation in Nanyang, I wouldn't be able to reverse it. Instead, it might kill you and me."

"If I were Cao Cao, I would have launched an offensive against Nanyang as soon as winter passed."

"He came prepared. Zhang Xiu is weak, so he will definitely ask Jia Xu what he wants. At that time, Jia Xu will most likely suggest that he surrender to Cao Cao."

"When Cao Cao takes Jingzhou, connects Ma Teng and Han Sui, and has Yuan Shu's help, his strength will increase greatly. Even if the three sons of the Yuan family unite, they will hardly be able to match him. Then everything will be over. Huang Yueying saw Zhuge Liang's expression , said softly: "My husband must be very unwilling to let the person you hate the most take over the world, right? "

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly, but heard Huang Yueying say: "In that case, why don't you try to change it?"

Zhuge Liang heard this and said helplessly: "I have thought about it too."

"But now it seems that no one can stop Cao Cao."

"Liu Jingsheng was controlled by the Cai family, and his ambition gradually waned, and he was unable to mobilize troops and horses to attack Jingzhou."

"Liu Yuzhou was newly defeated. There were only a few thousand remaining troops. I heard that they fled to the junction of Nanyang and Jiujiang for refuge."

"Sun Ce was assassinated, leaving Jiangdong without a leader. It would be a blessing if there was no civil strife, and it would be impossible to lead troops in the Northern Expedition."

"Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were fighting among themselves. They had Jizhou, Qingzhou and other places, but they could not consolidate their forces and contain Cao Cao."

"Fierce Tiger has been confronting Cao Cao, but its territory is an enclave, making defense and management extremely difficult. For a while, it was impossible to organize effective forces."

"When he returns to Youzhou, he should be preparing to expand in the direction of Bingzhou and Liaodong to stabilize the situation in Youzhou. But in this way, he will no longer be able to intervene in disputes in the Central Plains within three to five years."

"I'm afraid that when he comes back in the future, the overall situation of the Central Plains has been decided. Even if he can have Jizhou and Qingzhou, I'm afraid he won't be able to save it."

Huang Yueying thought for a while, then suddenly pursed her lips and smiled, "My husband actually really wants to remind Xihu, right?"

Zhuge Liang looked helpless, "The one who knows me is my wife."

Huang Yueying asked curiously: "My husband seems to have a high regard for that fierce tiger?"

Zhuge Liang said: "I owed him the favor of saving my life in Xuzhou. Now it seems that it is difficult to repay this favor."

"He is now in Youzhou. According to the information I got, he seems to be attacking Lelang and wants to take back the four Han counties."

"Although this move is quite manly, it is a pity that this move is inappropriate."

"If it were me, I should keep an eye on Cao Cao and guard against his actions."

"It's such a pity that Yuan Shang from Jizhou and Yuan Tan from Qingzhou are still fighting for the position of the head of the family. He who really has his eyes on the world is the furthest away."

"I really don't understand. The battle in Yecheng started in an angry way and ended in a tailspin. Cao Cao took advantage of Huaicheng, and the fierce tiger just went back."

"If I could be by my side, I would definitely advise him not to give up, to give Cao Cao a chance to breathe. Could it be that he was too smooth sailing in the past and lost his spirit when encountering setbacks?"

Seeing Zhuge Liang shaking his head and sighing, Huang Yueying smiled and said: "I heard that Xiu Hu has a big problem, that is, he is lustful."

"It is said that no woman he has ever seen can escape his grasp."

"And she is a very good wife. Whether she is Gongsun Zan's widow or Empress Yuan Shu, they all seem to be taken into his palace. They are so daring."

"I didn't expect that my husband would be interested in someone like this."

After hearing this, Zhuge Liang said helplessly: "No one is perfect in the world, not to mention that rumors may not be true. What you hear is false, and what you see is true..."

When he said this, he was suddenly stunned.

Huang Yueying saw Zhuge Liang deep in thought, so she kept silent and waited quietly.

After a while, Zhuge Liang clapped his hands and sighed: "I made a huge mistake."

"There are so many heroes in the world. I am just an ordinary villager. How do I know that other wise men have not counted him among them?"

"I heard that Fierce Tiger has an expert in stargazing under his command. If this is true, everything will be revealed in the battle in Nanyang next year!"

Huang Yueying understood and said softly: "My husband is saying that the evil tiger has figured out Cao Cao's actions, so he must take some measures?"

"What if the rumors are false and there are no stargazing experts?"

Zhuge Liang knew that Huang Yueying had never believed in stargazing, so he could only sigh: "If this is really the case, it means that is all he has."

"Regardless of his character, Cao Cao is indeed a man of great talent and strategy. Even among the counselors in the world, he is one of the best."

"Since he is attacking Nanyang, he must have anticipated many consequences, including the forces that may intervene."

"So when the time comes, he will definitely ask Ma Teng, Han Sui and Yuan Shu to help him defend his retreat."

"In this way, even if Fierce Tiger wants to intervene, I'm afraid he won't be able to do it."

Huang Yueying said: "My husband actually wants to participate in it, right?"

Zhuge Liang sighed: "Who doesn't want to think about the crucial battle that determines the fate of the world?"

"But I'm just an ordinary person, and there are countless people in the world who are better than me. What's more, I am unknown, so how can I have the power to change the general trend of the world in a very short period of time?"

"In another year and a half, the overall situation of the world has been decided, and it is not something you or I can change."

"Everything is just wishful thinking on my part."

"At that time, we'd better find a place to live in seclusion in the mountains."

Huang Yueying listened and said softly: "No matter where your husband goes, I will accompany you."

The two raised their heads and looked at the sky outside the window. In the distance, dark clouds were sweeping in.

(End of this chapter)