Chapter 312: Fate is unpredictable

Yuan Xi opened his eyes early in the morning and held Zhen Mi, who was still sleeping, in his arms. The pale sunlight outside the window seeped through the curtains, and light came in faintly.

Yuan Xi gently brushed Zhen Mi's scattered dark hair, thinking of her performance last night. He thought that although Zhen Mi didn't say it, it was obvious that she was still very eager for a child. She was obviously stimulated by Madam Wu.

But this is normal, after all, everyone loves their own children the most.

Speaking of which, in later history, after Yuan Xi's death, Zhen Mi was married to Cao Pi and gave birth to Cao Rui and Princess Dongxiang. Cao Rui's three sons all died young, and Princess Dongxiang was not mentioned in any records later. It can be said that she probably had no descendants.

Ironically, after Yuan Xi was killed, he left behind his son Yuan Qian, born to his first wife Wu, who was adopted and protected by Zhen Mi. When Yuan Qian grew up, he became the governor of Xiliang and kept this branch of the family going.

It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the seventh generation grandson of Yuan Xi, Yuan Tiangang, who wrote the Tuibei Tu, and his family, the Dongguang Yuan family, also became a prominent family.

In contrast, the bloodlines of Cao Pi and Zhen Mi in later generations became extinct early.

Yuan Xi thought about things that happened in different times and spaces, and thought that sometimes fate is so wonderful. In the historical torrent of time, the fate of a person, a family, or even an emperor is actually so insignificant.

No matter how great the things they had done, after their death they turned into a few bubbles on the crest of the waves that burst with a loud bang, a few lines of cold black words on bamboo slips, and the gossip of peddlers that was difficult to distinguish between true and false.

Yuan Xi sat up slowly, revealing Zhen Mi's white jade-like shoulders. Yuan Xi pulled the quilt over her, gently covering her, then got up and went downstairs.

He walked to the window and opened it a little, letting in a breeze. Although the weather had become warmer, the chill still gave Yuan Xi goose bumps.

There was still a little light coming through in the study. It was Cai Zhaoji who had gotten up early in the morning to revise the classics. Ah Xiang's crying could be heard from Madam Wu's room. A little smoke was rising from the kitchen in the corner, and the sounds of Cao Xian and Cao Hua's quarreling and making fun of each other could be heard from inside.

After breakfast, he would lead his subordinates to embark on the journey to attack Black Mountain.

Yuan Xi took a deep breath. He was living a new life with an uncertain future. He could only do his best to live up to the people who cared about him.

As for the struggle for hegemony in the world, no one can guarantee that he will be the final winner, but Yuan Xi believes that even if he is not there, there will be people who will continue to explore ways to make China a better place in the subsequent changes of dynasties.

No one is a savior. Strictly speaking, it is possible for one person to change the course of history, but if there is no successor, the course will rage, change direction, or even flow in the opposite direction.

Only when everyone keeps working hard and goes through a long period of time can we reach the other side of our ideal.

In the end, the only way to completely save the people is to rely on the people themselves.

As for Yuan Xi, he knew that all he could do was to contribute a little to make people all over the world understand this truth as soon as possible.

That's all.

With a ding sound, a stray arrow hit the iron armor on Yu Jin's chest and was bounced away.

He looked at the top of Puyang City. The enemy was still shooting arrows, and the sky was gradually getting dark. He felt a little anxious.

He led his soldiers as the vanguard and had been attacking the city for half a month, but still failed to take it.

Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao are so difficult to beat!

Yu Jin knew clearly that on the one hand it was difficult to attack a strong city, and on the other hand it was also because the Yanzhou gentry were extremely hostile to Cao Cao.

There were many people in Yanzhou who were disloyal to Cao Cao, and they were also afraid of a massacre after the city was captured, so the soldiers and civilians in the city defended the city with all their might.

Just when Yu Jin was hesitating whether to launch a final attack, a call for troops to retreat was sounded from the camp behind him. Yu Jin breathed a sigh of relief and led his troops to slowly retreat.

By the time Jin returned to the camp, all the generals had returned to their tents to report to the commander-in-chief Cao Ren.

After listening to everyone's explanation of today's situation, Cao Ren's face looked a little unhappy. Cao Chun and Yu Jin had led the army and fought for a whole day, but apart from a few hundred casualties, they had achieved nothing.

Yu Jin did try his best, but the key was that the newly formed cavalry led by Cao Chun did not play a big role in siege warfare, so it was not even an opportunity to train the troops.

Cao Ren thought about it and sent a letter to Juancheng, telling him that Puyang was difficult to capture.

A few days later, Cao Cao received the letter and called everyone together to discuss the matter. Some of his advisers suggested sending more troops, while others suggested waiting and watching.

Xun You said: "The enemy is currently gaining momentum. Even if we send more troops to defeat them, it will be a bitter victory with heavy losses."

"Chenliu will be taken sooner or later. We just need to surround it and wait until the city runs out of food and its morale collapses."

"There are two things we need to guard against right now. The first is whether Jizhou will send reinforcements."

"I heard that Zang Hong kneeled in front of Yuan Benchu's residence every day in Jizhou to ask for help."

Hearing the name Zang Hong, Cheng Yu sneered, "Gongda doesn't need to worry, he won't amount to anything."

"If it takes a little longer, he should give up."

Cheng Yu had a plan in mind. Jizhou's military affairs were all in charge of Yuan Shang. He had already established connections with Yuan Shang and sent the Five-Stone Powder to him. As long as Yuan Shang whispered a few words into Yuan Shao's ear, Zang Hong would return empty-handed.

Xiahou Dun said: "The best way now is to surround but not attack. Puyang will surely collapse within three months."

"As long as we take Chenliu, we will have a way to enter Henei County."

"We need to conserve our strength and wipe out all the forces in Hanoi. If we waste too much manpower in Chenliu, it will not be conducive to future operations."

Everyone nodded, and Xun Yu said, "But isn't it a little late to wait so long to welcome the emperor?"

Xun You said, "I know Wen Ruo is anxious, but even if we open the road to Hanoi now, we still have to face the forces of Li Jue, Guo Si and the Baibo bandits."

"Why don't we just sit back and watch the tigers fight, let them both lose, and then we can wait for an opportunity to act?"

Cao Cao listened and praised: "Gongda is right. Now is indeed not the best time to enter Hanoi."

"What is Gongda's second concern?"

Xun You added: "The second thing that I am worried about is the marriage between Yuan Shu and Lu Bu."

When everyone heard this, their faces turned serious. This matter had already spread out, and it put everyone under a lot of pressure.

Because if Yuan Shu and Lu Bu joined forces, they would block Cao Cao's advance route in Hanoi.

If Cao Cao took the route to Henan Yin, south of Henei, Yuan Shu of Yuzhou could seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Cao Cao's hinterland in Yanzhou.

In this way, Cao Cao would be attacked from all sides, and it would become extremely difficult to welcome the emperor.

Cao Cao said decisively: "Find a way to disrupt the marriage between Lü Bu and Yuan Shu."

Xun You laughed and said, "Why don't you send a letter to Marquis Wen to ask for the daughter of the Lu family to marry Cao Ang?"

After hearing this, Cao Cao was immediately inspired. If this was true, with Lu Bu's help, there would be no need to worry about not being able to accomplish great things.

Cheng Yu said at this time: "You can try, but the possibility is not high."

"You should know that Lu Bu's strategist is Chen Gong, who is determined to go against you, my Lord."

When everyone heard this, their faces froze. They had all heard to some extent that Cao Cao parted ways with Chen Gong because he killed Lü Bushe's family.

Cheng Yu is so bold. He is just bringing up things that are not relevant to the topic.

Cheng Yu also knew that he had spoken out of turn, and hurriedly said, "If you want to destroy the marriage between the two families, there are other ways."

Cao Cao understood and left Chen Yu to talk alone.

Yuan Xi, who was thousands of miles away, would never have thought that his idea of ​​destroying the marriage between Yuan Shu and Lu Bu actually coincided with Cao Cao's.

Now the two parties, unaware of each other, are working in tacit understanding using their own methods to achieve the same goal.

After several days of trekking with thousands of soldiers and horses, Yuan Xi finally returned to the place where he first made his fortune, Beixincheng.

Compared with when he came alone several years ago, the advisers and generals he brought with him this time were truly luxurious.

Ju Shou, Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, Tian Yu, and Yan Rou are all capable heroes.

These people gathered together just to deal with the Montenegrin Army.

Yuan Xi always believed that if he didn't fight, he would not fight at all. But if he did fight, he would do his best to kill the opponent and never hold back. This was what he did when he sent all his generals to attack Guan Yu.

He doesn't understand what a fair duel is.

Outside the city gate, Xu You and a group of officials were respectfully welcoming Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi jumped off his horse and took Xu You's hand. The two chatted and laughed cheerfully. It was hard to tell that a few months ago, Yuan Xi ordered his men to chop off Xu You's nephew's head and hang it on the city wall.

After that, Xu You immediately sent his son and relatives who held important positions in Beixincheng back to Yecheng.

The reason why Xu You still dares to stand here is, firstly, Yuan Xi has not caught any evidence against him, and secondly, Xu You must have someone behind the scenes who has guaranteed him, so he has reasons to stay here.

When Yuan Xi first discussed using Beixincheng as a frontline base for launching an attack on the Black Mountain Army, Ju Su expressed his concerns.

He believed that Xu You might interfere and affect Yuan Xi's plan to send troops.

Moreover, his nephew was killed by Yuan Xi. How could we know whether Xu You would hold a grudge against him?

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Isn't that better?"

"He's doing this right under my nose, is he really going to die?"

"If he is a smart man, he will definitely work harder to avoid giving me an excuse."

Yuan Xi hoped that Xu You's bomb would explode as soon as possible to prevent him from turning against him during the Battle of Guandu.

But then again, Xu You rebelled because Cao Cao could give him benefits. What could he get by betraying him and joining the Black Mountain Army at this time?

Even if Yuan Shang was behind him and wanted to sabotage his attack on the Black Mountain Army, could he have let Xu You betray him and tip off the Black Mountain Army?

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi sneered slightly. Even if Xu You had this idea, it would be much more difficult than he imagined to run out of Beixin City to deliver the letter.

After hearing this, Ju Su said, "Since you are so confident, I must have been worrying too much."

"If he dares to interfere with the war, I have my own way."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Thank you very much, sir."

With Ju Shou, a vengeful man, staring at Xu You, I'm afraid Xu You wouldn't dare to act rashly.