Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Chapter 748: Arrogant! Extremely Arrogant!

Who is the Thief?

Cao Cao's rhetorical question was full of contempt.

The victor is king, the loser is bandit.

Cao Cao's Machiavellian mindset was on full display.

Cheng Yu's capture and the truth about the Yellow River breach being revealed by Liu Bei in "A Proclamation to Protect the People" undoubtedly exceeded Cao Cao's expectations.

However, these things did not affect Cao Cao's will and judgment.

In terms of results, breaching the Yellow River, even at the cost of submerging Jinan, had bought Cao Cao enough time, eliminating concerns about Qingzhou falling into enemy hands.

With a wave of his hand, Cao Cao pointed directly north and said loudly.

“Everyone, there is no need to worry about the south, the enemy… is in the north, defeat Yuan and seize Ji, dominate Hebei!”

Cao Cao's ambition and spirit undoubtedly quickly dispelled the worries in the hearts of many civil and military officials, and they were even unconsciously infected by Cao Cao, shouting in unison in response.

“Defeat Yuan and seize Ji, dominate Hebei!”

… …

Now, the Yuan and Cao factions confronted each other at Jieqiao, confronting each other at this location with special significance for Jizhou.

And Cao Cao was in the south, and Yuan Shao was in the north.

Even if Yuan Shao was hesitant at first, hoping to negotiate to get his beloved son and a group of civil and military officials' family members back, and then make plans later.

However, as Cao Cao continued to delay, he initially brought the Bohai Commandery, Wei Commandery, and Qinghe State under his control.

More importantly, the news that Yuan Shu was about to be destroyed was like a head-on blow to Yuan Shao.

No matter how much Yuan Shao disliked Yuan Shu, he understood the importance of Yuzhou, which Yuan Shu occupied, to the Yuan family.

The reason why Yuan Shao initially had enough patience to negotiate with Cao Cao, in addition to his own indecisiveness, was more importantly because he felt that Yuan Shu was echoing Cao Cao's south.

Even if Cao Cao could be rampant for a while, it would be difficult to hide the fact that he had offended Liu Bei and the Yuan family at the same time, as if he was trapped in a quagmire, struggling to his death.

It was just that the sudden turn of events made Yuan Shao, who was originally angry, gradually feel a suffocating sense of crisis.

The Yuan family, whose situation was originally considered to be very good, seemed to be deeply in trouble.

To this end, Yuan Shao did not forget to send people to lobby Lu Bu, hoping to persuade Lu Bu to assist Yuzhou in resisting Li Ji, and also hoped that the court could personally order Liu Bei to withdraw his troops.

However, Yuan Shao, who was stationed in Jieqiao and attacking Cao Cao fiercely, had not waited for the court's results before he first waited for Lu Bu to lead his troops to attack Yanzhou, and the "Proclamation to Protect the People" that quickly spread to the army.

At this moment, Yuan Shao looked at the "Proclamation to Protect the People" in front of him, and his heart was both annoyed and angry.

“What qualifications does Liu Da'er have to issue this proclamation? Does he regard himself as the leader of the heroes?”

Yuan Shao, who was arrogant and regarded himself as a model for the world, looked at Liu Bei's attitude in the "Proclamation to Protect the People", as if he was not targeting any princes or families, but threatening and warning everyone, which made Yuan Shao feel that Liu Bei had completely ridden on his head.

“What does Liu Da'er mean by this? If I, Yuan Benchu, slaughtered a city to deter some bandits, is he going to destroy my Yuan family's three clans?”

“Arrogant! Extremely Arrogant!”

“Is this "Proclamation to Protect the People" talking about Cao Cao, but in essence, is it showing off to me?”

Faced with Yuan Shao's long-suppressed anger that broke out all at once, most of the civil and military officials in the military tent were silent, not daring to touch Yuan Shao's bad luck.

Only Tian Feng saw that Yuan Shao was becoming more and more out of control, so he stood up and saluted.

“Why is the lord so angry? This "Proclamation to Protect the People" is not necessarily a good thing for the lord.”

“If the Cao army sees this article, they will definitely be panicked and their morale will be shaken. We can make a big fuss about this, declare that we will fully support Liu Xuande, and send people to form an alliance with Liu Xuande, preparing to join forces to attack Cao in the near future.”

“In this way, even if Cao Cao knows that there is fraud, the Cao army will inevitably be suspicious and have the intention of retreating to Qingzhou.”

However, after Tian Feng's words fell.

Yuan Shao stared at Tian Feng with some annoyed and angry eyes, and questioned him.

“Does Tian Yuanhao think that if I don’t borrow Liu Da'er's power, and don’t form an alliance with Liu Da'er, I will be defeated by Cao Cao?”

Such a hat was personally put on Tian Feng's head by Yuan Shao himself, but it made Tian Feng feel a little dizzy.

Tian Feng's heart ached, and he blurted out to defend himself. “Lord, please be clear, I have absolutely no intention of insulting the Lord, but I am discussing matters on their merits…”

However, it would have been better if Tian Feng hadn't said this. These words, when heard by Yuan Shao, were tantamount to adding fuel to the fire. He slammed the table and interrupted Tian Feng's words, saying.

“Bold Tian Feng, you still dare to disrupt my army's morale here? Someone come!”

In Tian Feng's stunned expression, Yuan Shao ordered the two personal guards who broke into the military tent.

“Take this man down and imprison him.”

“Yes.”

Immediately, two personal guards dragged Tian Feng out, one on the left and one on the right.

At this point, Tian Feng, who had just reacted, not only did not beg for mercy, but instead let out a self-deprecating laugh and shouted.

“Hahaha, Yuan Benchu, if you don’t listen to my words, you will be defeated by others one day.”

As soon as these words came out, Yuan Shao's face became even more ugly. Not only did the people in the tent dare not speak up to plead for Tian Feng, but each of them lowered their heads by three points, for fear that Yuan Shao's anger would affect them.

Among them, Xu You, who was originally sitting next to Tian Feng, felt even more like he was sitting on pins and needles.

The alliance with Cao Cao was promoted by Xu You alone…

Knowing Yuan Shao's character well, Xu You understood that this alone was enough to become the cause of his death.

Xu You, feeling uneasy, couldn't help but secretly glance at Yuan Shao, and suddenly found that Yuan Shao was staring at him deeply.

This made Xu You's whole body tense, his heart beat faster unconsciously, and he felt a chill in his neck.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao moved his gaze away after staring for a few breaths.

Immediately afterwards, in order to speed up the attack on Cao Cao's defense line on the south bank, Yuan Shao made a lot of detailed arrangements in the big tent, and Xu You also echoed absently.

It was not until the end of this oppressive military meeting that Xu You, who returned to his tent with unease, drank three pots of tea in a row before his heart gradually calmed down.

However, Xu You understood that this did not mean that Yuan Shao would lightly let everything go.

Based on Xu You's understanding of Yuan Shao, after Yuan Shao was stimulated by the "Proclamation to Protect the People" and sent Tian Feng to prison, he must have quickly woken up.

However, unlike Cao Cao, who was shameless, Yuan Shao especially valued face and prestige.

Even if Yuan Shao later learned that Tian Feng was innocent, he was afraid that he would not let Tian Feng go, let alone apologize to Tian Feng.

If Tian Feng was innocent, wouldn't it indirectly prove that Yuan Shao's rage and gaffe stemmed from his jealousy of Liu Bei?

More importantly, Xu You knew that even if Tian Feng let Yuan Shao vent his anger for a while, he would calm down and understand that it was not appropriate to pursue the faults of others.

But now that Yuan Shang was in Cao Cao's hands, if something happened to Yuan Shang, or if the attack on Cao Cao was frustrated again, Xu You could still be settled by Yuan Shao at any time.