Chapter 97: Driving the Tiger to Devour the Wolf

Yuan Xi felt that Gao Lan was actually quite pitiful.

The major matter he considered a secret was, in Yuan Shao's eyes, not a big deal at all.

What Yuan Shao truly feared were Qu Yi's vanguard of death-defying soldiers, but now they had all been incorporated and dispersed into various units, losing their threat.

As for Qu Yi, who was left with only half a life and was all alone, in Yuan Shao's eyes, he was nothing more than a stray dog.

Yuan Xi had been in Beixin City for three years, how could Yuan Shao possibly not pay attention and not plant a single spy?

Yuan Xi and Yuan Shao, this father and son pair, were truly awkward, clearly knowing what the other was doing, yet both pretending not to know.

Yuan Xi discovered that his behavior was strangely similar to his stubbornness with his father when he first started working in his previous life, remaining unchanged even after rebirth.

Was it that he was still immature and hadn't grown up, or was the delicate relationship between father and son something that had never changed for thousands of years?

Seeing that Yuan Xi didn't answer, Yuan Shao, thinking about what had happened a few days ago, softened his tone, "I know your difficulties, but after all, we are family."

"Let's end it here."

Yuan Xi understood and had no choice but to bow and say, "I respectfully obey Father's command."

Since Yuan Shao had said so, then his and Yuan Shang's open conflict could only end here.

Yuan Xi opened his mouth and said, "Then what about my marriage?"

Yuan Shao hesitated for a moment, "I'll think about it."

Alright, Yuan Xi was certain that Madam Liu had been whispering in Yuan Shao's ear.

A lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth, who told him to be so close to Yuan Shao?

This was also the reason for Yuan Tan's indignation; no matter how well he did outside, the words that eventually reached Yuan Shao's ears were all processed by Madam Liu and Yuan Shang, reducing his accomplishments to only five or six tenths.

Yuan Xi's marriage was also like this; Yuan Shao was more hesitant in such family matters than he was in strategic decisions on the battlefield.

Yuan Xi knew that if he missed this opportunity, it would be even more troublesome in the future, so he had to say, "The matter of the fourth daughter of the Zhen family was due to bewitchment, and if she is punished for this, I'm afraid it will cause controversy."

"Moreover, the incident occurred in the Yuan family, among the people present, who is innocent?"

"Ziyuan will marry a daughter of the Zhen family to quell rumors at the outset."

Yuan Shao listened and nodded slightly, "Xianyi has a good heart, I'll go back and talk to your mother about it."

Yuan Xi sighed inwardly; with Madam Liu interfering, this matter would not go smoothly no matter what, but he couldn't bypass her when it came to marriage and betrothal.

He had no choice but to respond, "Yes."

A trace of gratification flashed in Yuan Shao's eyes, "You have indeed grown up a lot in these past few years, and these recent plans have also proven your ability."

"Regarding the next major trend of the world, have you asked that extraordinary person?"

Yuan Xi thought, here it comes, this is the main event.

"That extraordinary person has mentioned the direction of the next few years."

"Oh?" Yuan Shao stared into Yuan Xi's eyes, "Including what happened in Yanzhou?"

Yuan Xi was shocked, "Yanzhou has rebelled?"

The locust plague had only occurred a few days ago, and Zhang Miao and Lu Bu had already taken action?

Was it because he had pretended to be Hidden Tiger and said that the locust plague would definitely occur within a month, making them deeply believe his words, so they decisively launched the rebellion?

Thinking about it, it made sense; Cao Cao's main force was all within the territory of Xuzhou, so the timing was also suitable.

If they had waited a few more days, until Cao Cao's army was short of food, then Cao Cao would have been in a dilemma, and their chances of winning would have been greater.

But the good thing was that many fewer people would die in Xuzhou.

Yuan Shao spoke, "You really do know."

"That extraordinary person is not simple, think of a way, I want to meet him."

Yuan Xi thought, should I just stick on a beard in front of you?

It would be strange if you couldn't recognize me.

So he said, "That extraordinary person is elusive, I only met him by chance, if there is another opportunity, I will definitely bring him to see Father."

Yuan Shao nodded and said, "This time, the rebellion in Yanzhou happened yesterday, and Chenliu Commandery, which is adjacent to Wei Commandery, has rebelled throughout the entire commandery."

"Puyang City in Chenliu Commandery is only two hundred miles away from Ye City, and it is said that Lu Bu is currently in the city."

"Jizhou has already sent troops to defend, but Lu Bu is an enemy, not a friend, the situation is unclear, and the offensive on the Qingzhou side may be delayed."

Hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Lu Bu will definitely not attack Jizhou; Cao Cao will definitely return his troops immediately to attack him, and neither side will be able to do anything to the other in a short period of time."

"I think we can take advantage of the situation on both sides and reap the benefits."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao said in surprise, "The strategists are mostly divided into two factions, one faction supports Cao Cao, and some people want to support Lu Bu, your idea of taking advantage of both sides is only similar to Tian Feng's."

"Tell me about it."

Yuan Xi hurriedly said, "My son is speaking nonsense and making a fool of himself."

"Now, the north of Jizhou is not yet pacified, and there are many enemies in the south, but what our Yuan family ultimately wants to defeat is Yuan Gonglu."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded, "That's right."

Yuan Xi said, "At present, the Black Mountain bandits and White Wave bandits in Bingzhou are difficult to eradicate, we can only attack north or south, but neither Gongsun Zan in the north nor Yuan Shu in the south are opponents that can be taken down in a short period of time."

"Jizhou is not yet strong enough to divide its forces, but if we have to choose, attacking Qingzhou and Youzhou to the north is easier than attacking south."

"Yuan Shu in the south occupies Yuzhou and Yangzhou, relying on the dangers of the Yangtze River, which cannot be taken down in a short time."

"But if we wait for him to grow stronger, he will become a stubborn disease, so we need to keep him in check on three fronts."

"The best situation would be for Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei to be used by our Yuan family to attack Yuan Shu together."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao shook his head, "How is this possible? The three sides regard each other as enemies, Liu Bei and Lu Bu have always had grievances with the Yuan family, your idea is too naive."

Yuan Xi said, "It's not possible normally, but now is the best opportunity."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao said, "Go on."

Yuan Xi said, "Normally, Lu Bu and Cao Cao are both unwilling to submit to others, but now that Cao Cao is attacking Xuzhou and Lu Bu is taking the opportunity to rebel, the situation has become delicate."

"Tao Qian and Liu Bei are in Xuzhou, Cao Cao is under attack from both sides, but Cao Cao has complete strategists and generals, and Tao Qian and Lu Bu cannot contend with him at all."

Yuan Shao spoke, "You still think Cao Cao is very dangerous?"

"Always," Yuan Xi said, "Cao Mengde is much more dangerous than Yuan Gonglu."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao hesitated for a moment and said, "Without evidence, if he does not betray me, I cannot break my promise first."

Seeing that Yuan Shao was thinking of old friendship and couldn't bring himself to be ruthless, Yuan Xi thought that by the time Cao Cao welcomed the emperor to command the lords, you would find that the number of people loyal to the Han Dynasty far exceeded your imagination, and it would be too late to deal with Cao Cao.

He had no choice but to say, "Although that is the case, now is a good opportunity, and it will be difficult to find it again if we miss it."

"On the Xuzhou side, Tao Qian and Yuan Shu are nominally allies, but they have actually broken up, and Liu Bei, who is under him, has even broken away from Gongsun Zan."

"It is said that Tao Qian is seriously ill and will not live long, and Liu Bei will definitely obtain Xuzhou and become his own faction, and will not be controlled by Yuan Shu."

"As long as we show goodwill to Liu Bei, he is very likely to rely on us and form an alliance, after all, Xuzhou is sandwiched between our Yuan family and Yuan Shu, who calls himself the Earl of Xuzhou, and he doesn't want to make enemies on both sides."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded slightly.

Yuan Xi continued, "Yanzhou is Cao Cao's base camp, and he will definitely not give it up, so he can only retreat from Xuzhou and attack Lu Bu."

"Lu Bu and Cao Cao are not easy people to deal with, and the two sides may fight for a long time."

"When the two sides are exhausted and short of food, Father can send someone to mediate and take the opportunity to propose conditions to let the two sides attack south."

Yuan Shao said, "The two sides can fight for a long time?"

"I don't believe they have that much food."

Yuan Xi said, "When pushed to the limit, they will eat people."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded without saying a word.

Yuan Xi took the opportunity to say, "At that time, Jizhou can use food and soldiers to temporarily use Cao Cao and Lu Bu for our Yuan family."

Yuan Shao shook his head and said, "Earlier, I suggested that Cao Mengde move his family to Ye City, but he understood my intention and resolutely refused."

"Not all of them," Yuan Xi said decisively, "Half of the family members will do, the eldest son Cao Ang can stay."

Yuan Shao shook his head and said, "Cao Ang is his eldest son, others added together are not worth as much as him."

"Cao Ang has a short life," Yuan Xi said.

Yuan Shao was stunned, "Really?"

"Really."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao finally relaxed a little, "You have changed, Xianyi."

"Well done."

Yuan Xi respectfully said, "All thanks to Father's concern."

Yuan Shao nodded and said, "I'll think about it carefully, you can go."

He paused for a moment, "Qu Yi is not allowed to step into Jizhou again."

Yuan Xi bowed again, retreated out of the door, and gently closed the door.

Yuan Shao stared at the door, thinking that Yuan Xi's words had already begun to come true one by one.

The name and courtesy name he had given Yuan Xi at that time were both accidental, but now it seemed that he was the person of destiny in the prophecy?

It was just that he was the least likely to inherit the Yuan family, if that were the case...

Yuan Xi returned to the room, and Wu Zhao hurriedly greeted him, helped him change into a new robe, and brought tea.

Yuan Xi picked up the teacup and took a big gulp, and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Seeing that Yuan Xi looked tired, Wu Zhao said, "It is the master who has worked hard, these days, he has been dealing with the official reports day and night, and he has lost a lot of weight."

Yuan Xi stretched out his hand and put his arm around Wu Zhao's waist, "I have also learned a lot."

"The more I understand these things, the more I can benefit the people, fortunately, Jizhou's food reserves are still abundant this time, and the locust plague has little impact, but it is hard to say in other places."

Wu Zhao said softly, "In Ye City, are there no gentry clans willing to rely on the master? It is impossible for the master to handle it all by himself."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Aren't you the same?"

"Pouring tea and water, these things should be done by the maids, why do you have to do it yourself?"

"You could have been a female teacher, and you still have to silently copy and organize books at night, it is really tiring to do these things again."

Wu Zhao whispered, "Since the third master did such a thing last time, I have been worried about the maids in the mansion, so it is better to do it myself."

Yuan Xi sighed, "Aren't I the same? It is too difficult to find someone you can trust, if our affairs are exposed, they will all be life-threatening."

Wu Zhao's heart was sweet when she heard the word 'our'.

Her second half of her life was probably tied to the master.

Dark clouds gradually gathered outside, and the sky gradually darkened. Wu Zhao lit the oil lamp and saw that there were already drops of rain falling outside, and sighed, "There is so much rain this autumn."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "Fortunately, the grain harvest is almost over."

"But the people of Xuzhou are miserable, suffering from war and locust plagues, I wonder how many people can sleep peacefully on this rainy night."

Wu Zhao leaned in Yuan Xi's arms, recalled the scene of the chaos in Luoyang, and spoke softly.

"The city walls are mountains and forests, and the courtyards are overgrown with thorns and weeds.

No one knows whose white bones they are, lying horizontally and vertically, not covered.

No sound comes from the door, only jackals howling and barking.

Alone, facing the lonely scene, my liver and lungs are filled with sadness..."