Chapter 360: Ambitions Difficult to Achieve

When Yuan Xi heard Ju Su talking about this, he asked in confusion, "Why is there such a mess in Huaicheng?"

"Attack the city outside, rebel inside the city, and cooperate with the outside?"

When Ju Shou sent the letter previously, he only said that the Huaicheng rebellion had been quelled, but the letter was unable to elaborate on the specific circumstances. Now that Ju Shou had spoken, Yuan Xi immediately realized that something was wrong.

If it's a coincidence, it's too coincidental and unlikely!

Ju Su sighed, "If it weren't for Zilong stopping Cao's army, Huaicheng would have been lost."

He told the story of how Hao Meng, under the instructions of Yuan Shu, rebelled in the city, and Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan of Cao's army took the opportunity to attack the city from outside, but were blocked by Zhao Yun in the camp.

When Yuan Xi heard that these two were the generals of Cao's army, he quickly asked, "Is Zilong okay?"

"How many soldiers were killed?"

Ju Su heard this and replied, "I was attending a banquet in the city at that time. Thanks to Zilong for stopping Cao's army, only a hundred or so people were killed or wounded, which was the best situation for a night battle."

Yuan Xi thought about it. According to Lu Lingqi, when she and Qu Yi fled the city that day, they were chased by a rebellious army from behind and blocked by the enemy who was fighting with Zhao Yun in front, so they fled north in panic.

He was startled and asked Ju Su, "Could Cao Cao and Yuan Shu have joined forces?"

Ju Su pondered for a while, then shook his head and said, "Not really."

"If the two sides joined forces, their cooperation would not be so flawed."

"If Hao Meng was colluding with Cao's army, he should have opened the city gates to welcome Cao's army into the city instead of setting fire to the city gates. He also chose the north gate where Zhao Yun and I were stationed to confront each other."

"It seems that Cao Cao knew about Yuan Shu's actions in advance and took advantage of the situation to rob him."

Yuan Xi asked in confusion, "Isn't burning the city gates to prevent us and Gao Shun's trap camp from entering the city to relieve the siege?"

Ju Su said, "No, according to the confessions of several arson soldiers captured by Zilong later, they did not obey orders from Hao Meng, but from Yang Chou."

"What!" Yuan Xi was puzzled. "Yang Chou is Zhang Yang's man, but he has done so many things!"

"He was instructed by Zhang Yang?"

Ju Shou denied it again, "Zhang Yang is good friends with Lu Bu, he would not do such a thing, it should be Yang Chou who was instigated to cause trouble."

"The most direct evidence is that Zhang Yang, who was in Hedong welcoming the emperor, heard about Yang Chou's rebellion and had already set out for Henei."

"If he was the mastermind behind this, he would never come back so calmly."

Yuan Xi asked in confusion: "How did Mr. Gongyu know so much about the inside story?"

Ju Shou smiled and said, "This is the good opportunity I was talking about."

"Many of the generals under Marquis Wen are suspected of this rebellion, which has caused him to not trust his subordinates easily."

"On the contrary, we were the ones who stopped Cao Cao for him and helped him a lot in suppressing the rebellion. Now you have saved his daughter and shot Yang Chou to death."

"More importantly," Ju Shou sighed, "Dezhou also died because of this. For Lu Bu, if we really put on a show to deceive him, the price we paid would be too high."

"So the fact that he came here in person might be a way of showing goodwill to you and winning over the Youzhou army as a helper."

"He told me a lot of inside information during the conversation, as if he was asking me to help him make a decision."

After listening to Ju Su's words, Yuan Xi suddenly realized, "Indeed, if you are desperate and betrayed by your trusted people, you will be more likely to trust outsiders."

But he immediately wondered, "There are many mysteries surrounding Yang Chou."

"He fled to Black Mountain, and Yang Feng came to pick him up. When I shot him to death, Yang Feng reacted violently. I guess the two of them had a close relationship."

"This Black Mountain Army is really good at launching rebellions in the city."

Ju Su knew that Yuan Xi was talking about the surprise attack on Yecheng that year. His expression changed, he looked around, and whispered, "I don't understand one thing."

Seeing his serious expression, Yuan Xi said, "Please ask, sir."

Ju Su said sternly, "Sir, who do you think is the mastermind behind the riot in Ye City?"

Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "I don't have any evidence, but I want to say that Cao Cao is the most suspicious. Sir, you will definitely think I am talking nonsense, right?"

Ju Su's face showed surprise, "Why do you think so, sir?"

Yuan Xi naturally could not tell Ju Su that the basis for his speculation mostly came from the records of the fall of Yecheng in later generations, which mentioned the betrayal of Shen Pei's nephew Shen Rong.

When he first read this history, he was very confused. Shen Pei was the main general guarding Yecheng, and his nephew Shen Rong was the captain of the east gate of Yecheng. This position was extremely critical, and only a confidant or close person would be entrusted with such an important task.

But it was this nephew who had problems. He rebelled, opened the city gate, and led Cao's army into the city. His reason was that he had always been on good terms with Xin Pi, and was dissatisfied with Shen Pei because Shen Pei killed Xin Pi's entire family?

In aristocratic families, bloodline kinship is extremely important. Yuan Xi really doesn't understand the idea of ​​killing one's own family members for outsiders.

Yuan Xi suspected that Shen Rong definitely did not act on impulse, because they had defended Yecheng for more than half a year, and it was definitely not the case that his men would gather together to support him just by saying that the city would be opened to betray.

There must be something wrong when something is abnormal, but the real reason is probably impossible to verify.

Now that Yuan Xi wanted to explain why he suspected Cao Cao, he naturally could not use this excuse. So he thought for a while and decided to change to a reason that would convince Ju Su.

He started by talking about Cao Cao's status in Taoism, saying that many Taoists from all over the world came to him and became his eyes and ears. Yecheng was no exception. The same was true for the Black Mountain Army, the White Wave Bandits, the Qingzhou Army and other remnants of the Yellow Turbans who believed in the Taiping Dao.

He also mentioned that Cao Cao had several ill intentions towards Yecheng, including crossing the river to attack Yecheng when he attacked Gongsun Zan in Jizhou, which showed that Cao Cao had long been unwilling to rely on Yuan Shao.

Finally, Yuan Xi said: "So I suspect that Cao Cao has already laid many hidden chess pieces, including around the emperor."

Ju Su's eyes gleamed, "Sir, who do you think is Cao Cao's man around the emperor?"

Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said, "Dong Cheng, Zhong Yao, Ding Chong."

Ju Su listened, and a look of relief appeared on his face. "Young Master's ability is beyond my expectations."

"Although I also believe that Cao Cao has evil intentions, I actually have no evidence. It's all just speculation."

"But I still have some clues about the fact that Cao Cao has already laid ambush pawns beside the emperor."

"Cao Cao relied on the Cao family's connections to secretly win over a group of people, who were of great help to him."

"Dong Cheng, Zhong Yao and Ding Chong are the people who may have colluded with Cao Cao. I'm afraid they have already started planning to welcome the emperor a long time ago."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Since you are so sure, I'm afraid there must be someone around the emperor, right?"

Ju Su sighed, "Originally there was."

"What a pity."

Yuan Xi's heart was moved, "But was it Ju Jun, the Archer Captain, who was killed by Li Jue for protecting the emperor?"

Ju Shou raised his head in surprise, then his expression returned to normal, "Yes, you are amazing, young master."

"Ju Jun was an outstanding person in my Ju family. His death is a loss to the Ju family."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "This is why I asked you and Zilong to welcome the emperor."

"Sir, you now have the most elite troops in Youzhou. If you can get to the emperor, you will definitely find a chance to kill Li Jue and avenge him."

Ju Su was very excited when he heard this. He sat up straight and said, "In the eyes of other counselors, I am out of tune with them and my ideas are absurd."

"But it was because Ju Jun told me about the things happening around the emperor that I was able to be sure that Cao Cao would be the Yuan family's greatest enemy in the future."

"It's a pity that Lord Benchu ​​doesn't believe me. By the time he realizes what's happening, I'm afraid he won't be able to control Cao Cao anymore."

"Your Excellency is the only one among the Yuan family members who shares my opinion on Cao Cao."

"Sir, if you think you can trust me, I will definitely help you with all my strength."

Yuan Xi knew that Ju Su's several good strategies were not adopted, so he felt quite aggrieved and wanted to prove to others that he was right.

Yuan Shao did not give him this opportunity, so Ju Su could only place the bet on Yuan Xi, which was a good deal for Yuan Xi.

You know, it is very difficult to gain the loyalty of someone as arrogant as Ju Su. If he had not had no way to take revenge and was forced to this point, he would not have humbled himself and shown his loyalty to Yuan Xi!

On the other hand, Yuan Xi also proved his ability in conquering Guangling, attacking Heishan, and planning Huaicheng. If he had behaved incompetently, Ju Su would not have been so frank.

He suppressed his inner joy and bowed deeply three times to Ju Shou, "Thank you for your appreciation, sir. I will not let you down."

When Ju Su saw this, he also bowed solemnly in return.

The two men straightened up, expressions of relief on their faces.

Ju Su was in a good mood and said, "Sir, this opportunity is rare."

"Whether we send troops to Hedong or attack Black Mountain, it will be difficult to succeed without Lu Bu's help."

"Although Youzhou nominally joined forces with Lu Bu last time, Lu Bu was suspicious and his promises were not entirely trustworthy."

"It's different now. Lu Bu is in urgent need of our help. Although he is fickle, if we take the opportunity to establish a close relationship with him, I think Lu Bu will not betray us easily."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi asked in confusion: "Intimate relationship?"

Ju Su said, "Sir, the daughter of Marquis Wen is an excellent link."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and asked, "Did Mr. Gongyu discuss this with Mr. Fengxiao in advance?"

Ju Su stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Feng Xiao's vision is no less than mine. Since we all agree with this move, why is your Excellency so opposed?"

Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "I already have a wife. How could Marquis Wen let his daughter be someone else's concubine? You can't ask me to divorce my wife, right?"

"Mr. Fengxiao did come up with this idea, but I really can't do it."

"Just imagine if I could divorce my wife, would anyone in the world still trust me?"

Ju Su heard this and laughed, "So this is what Feng Xiao thinks?"

"But I have another idea."

"As for whether Wen Hou agrees or not, it depends on what he thinks."

"Of course, in order to impress Marquis Wen, you have to offer some extra benefits."

In the nearby tent, Lu Bu held Lu Lingqi's hand distressedly, "What happened to your injuries?"

"Whoever hurts you, I will tear him into pieces!"

Lu Lingqi thought to herself, not to mention the soldiers who were chasing her, some of the things were done by Yuan Xi, can you really tear him to pieces?