Chapter 362: Catering to His Interests

Gao Shun was so frustrated by Yuan Xi that he had to tell him a few tips on training troops. How could he not see that Yuan Xi had ill intentions towards him? But the more this happened, the more he could not show any closeness to Yuan Xi.

It's nothing, his current situation is too embarrassing.

Gao Shun also knew that his style of doing things was incompatible with Lu Bu and his subordinates. Even with Zhang Liao, who was closest to him, their relationship was only superficial.

For various reasons, he left Yuan family and joined Lu Bu. Although Lu Bu valued him very much in the beginning and gave him the same position of general as Chen Gong, Gao Shun knew that Lu Bu was always afraid of him.

Lu Bu was suspicious by nature. He had betrayed his leader twice, so he was naturally afraid that his capable subordinates would betray him. Unfortunately, Gao Shun was incompatible with everyone else and was in control of the Xianzhen Camp, which made Lu Bu unconsciously guard against him.

The Huaicheng Rebellion became the last straw that broke the camel's back. Except for his relative Wei Xu, Lu Bu found that he dared not trust anyone anymore, so he took the opportunity to reduce Gao Shun's military power.

Although Gao Shun was dissatisfied, he had no other choice. Lu Bu had betrayed his sponsor twice and was notorious. He had betrayed Yuan Shi before, so how could he betray Lu Bu again?

So when Yuan Xi openly revealed his intention to recruit Gao Shun, Gao Shun refused after a little hesitation. If he went back to join the Yuan family, wouldn't he appear to be an erratic villain?

Yuan Xi was secretly proud of Gao Shun's conflicted look. Gao Shun's talents could not be fully utilized under Lu Bu. It was really a waste of his talents. Moreover, now that he was targeted by me, he still wanted to run away?

Look how I force myself on you!

He held Gao Shun's hand like a sticky candy and poured him a lot of sweet talk, bringing him to the brink of collapse. Then, a cough was heard. Yuan Xi turned his head and saw Lu Bu staring at him with a bad face behind him.

When Gao Shun saw this, he took the opportunity to pull his hand out and said, "Marquis Wen."

He didn't explain anything, nor did he bother to explain. That was just his temper.

Yuan Xi reluctantly withdrew his hand and said to Lu Bu, "General Gao and I are very close. I even want to exchange half of Bingzhou with Marquis Wen."

Gao Shun's face froze. How can you talk like that?

Lu Bu's expression became more and more unsightly. He snorted coldly, "Xionghu, our friendship is our friendship, but when you deceived me, you didn't have any good intentions at all!"

Yuan Xi forced a smile and said, "Marquis Wen has wronged me. Yuan and Cao are good friends, and as a member of the Yuan family, I am helping Marquis Wen to fight against the Cao family, which also puts me at risk."

Lu Bu angrily said: "Who knows what you are up to? You are using stargazing to deceive me. You are full of lies!"

Yuan Xi's expression remained unchanged. "Whether astrology is true or not, Lord Wen should know better than me."

"Marquis Wen should understand that if I hadn't been optimistic about the prospect of joining forces with Marquis Wen, I wouldn't be here."

After hearing this, Lu Bu softened his tone a little, "How do you prove your sincerity?"

Yuan Xi made a gesture of invitation and said with a smile, "Why don't you come in and discuss it in detail, Lord Wen?"

Zhang Liao and Gao Shun were standing outside the tent respectively, and they couldn't help but look at each other.

Lu Bu went in alone, while Yuan Xi brought Ju Shou in with him. Although this does not mean anything, in terms of being open and honest with his subordinates, Yuan Xi is obviously more generous than Lu Bu.

Lü Bu, Yuan Xi and Ju Shou sat down in the tent. Lü Bu did not beat around the bush and asked, "Are you really serious about joining forces with me?"

"I'm not in a good situation now, what good can I do for you?"

"What benefit can you give me?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "I'm afraid that Marquis Wen has not yet made up his mind about what to do next."

"Indeed, now south of Hanoi, Yuan Shu's army is marching out from Yuzhou and is ready to take action."

"Cao's army reached out from Yanzhou and eyed Huaicheng covetously. Their plot almost succeeded."

"During the Huaicheng Rebellion, the Black Mountain Army was clearly behind the scenes, and Marquis Wen was attacked from three sides."

"It just so happens that among Marquis Wen's subordinates, there is a high possibility that there are still people plotting rebellion, and there may even be more than one or two, so Marquis Wen dare not trust anyone."

"Under these circumstances, I'm afraid that Marquis Wen has already lost confidence in welcoming the emperor, right?"

After hearing this, Lu Bu clenched his fists. Yuan Xi was indeed right. One thing after another happened, and he had no idea what direction to take next.

He is not cut out to be a lord by nature. He just wants to be a general and be able to fight in the battlefield. Using his brain and coming up with strategies is too difficult for him!

He said coldly: "I admit that what you said makes sense, so you plan to take advantage of the situation?"

Yuan Xi replied: "No, I just want to be the most reliable ally of Marquis Wen, that's all."

Lu Bu listened and said nothing, "Can you solve my dilemma?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi saw that Lü Bu had taken the bait, so he said, "Mr. Gongyu has explained it more clearly than I have. I would like to ask him to answer it for me."

When Ju Shou and Lu Bu were both under Yuan Shao, Ju Shou was also ranked in the top three among Yuan Shao's subordinates, which was much higher than Lu Bu's status. So when Lu Bu heard this, his expression eased a little and he said, "Then I'll listen."

Ju Shou bowed to the two of them and said, "Marquis Wen is facing internal and external troubles now. If it weren't for your help, I'm afraid the situation would be critical."

Lu Bu snorted coldly.

Ju Su added: "Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, Black Mountain, and the traitors may seem troublesome, but they can be divided and conquered."

"And the key lies in welcoming the emperor."

"As long as we can welcome the emperor to Huaicheng, we can at least solve the three problems."

Lu Bu was a little interested and said in a deep voice, "I would like to hear the details."

Ju Su knew that Lü Bu didn't trust anyone at this time, so this was a good opportunity to convince him, so he said, "Although the Han Dynasty is in decline, it is not doomed after all, otherwise there wouldn't be so many parties fighting for the fate of the emperor."

"Marquis Wen has always been on good terms with the emperor, and the emperor also issued an imperial edict last time asking Marquis Wen to come and receive him. It's a pity that Marquis Wen missed this opportunity."

"If the emperor is in Huaicheng, people from all over the world who are loyal to the Han Dynasty will come one after another, and Marquis Wen will be able to strengthen his army. How can Cao Cao dare to plot easily? How can the Black Mountain Army, which has been granted a title by the Han court, dare to rebel again? The traitors will not dare to act rashly, and thus bear the crime of plotting to assassinate the emperor?"

"It can be said that today's emperor is the greatest amulet for Wen Hou, and he should never be missed!"

Lu Bu was immediately persuaded and slapped his thigh excitedly, "Well said!" But he immediately calmed down and frowned, "There are so many forces competing for the throne, how can I possibly win?"

"Moreover, Li Jue and Guo Si are determined to capture the emperor. Even Chang'an has been destroyed. If they come to attack me, I am afraid I will not be able to stop them."

Ju Shou stroked his beard and said, "If you say they will definitely not attack Huaicheng, I can't guarantee it."

"But to welcome the Emperor, do we have to kill everyone else?"

"If Marquis Wen can rush to the emperor as quickly as possible and gain his trust, he can snatch the emperor from Cao Cao."

"Although the Baibo bandits are behaving badly, as long as Marquis Wen joins forces with the Youzhou army to suppress them, and if we can subdue them and use them as our help, Li Jue and Guo Si will not be our opponents!"

Lu Bu was completely tempted this time, but he knew that things would not go so smoothly, so he said: "I can send out several thousand soldiers, and Youzhou can only send out two thousand soldiers, right?"

"Can these people alone really subdue the Baibo bandits and defeat Li Jue and Guo Si?"

Yuan Xi thought that Lu Bu was really afraid of Li Jue and Guo Si, but when he thought about it, Lu Bu's good situation back then was ruined overnight after Li Jue and Guo Si captured Chang'an.

The Feixiong Army led by the other side was the elite of the Xiliang Army. The emperor's convoy was defeated by it several times, which showed their extraordinary strength.

Ju Su heard this and said, "Indeed, so we need Wen Hou to find some help, such as Duan Wei who returned to Huayin."

Lu Bu was stunned. Why did he mention this person?

Ju Su told the story of Duan Wei who went to meet the emperor but was driven away due to suspicion. Finally, he said, "Marquis Wen and he were both subordinates of Grand Tutor Dong. He should understand this person."

When Lu Bu heard Dong Zhuo's name, a hint of unnaturalness flashed across his face, and then he said: "Indeed, although Duan Wei is a general from Liang Province, he is an outlier, and his behavior is somewhat like Gao Shun."

Ju Su said: "This man hates Li Jue and Guo Si to the core. If Marquis Wen sends a letter inviting him to attack Li Jue and Guo Si together, he will definitely agree."

"And if Marquis Wen welcomes the emperor first, it will prevent others from acting rashly for quite a while."

"Even Cao Cao has to make new plans, so that Marquis Wen can have a chance to catch his breath."

Lü Bu listened, nodded, and then said: "I know the benefits of welcoming the emperor, but if Yuan Shu wants to become emperor, he will definitely attack me. I am afraid he will not obey the emperor, right?"

Ju Su heard this and said, "That's right, the battle between Wen Hou and Yuan Shu is unavoidable."

"But from another perspective, isn't Yuan Shu an enemy of the world?"

"As long as there is the name of welcoming the emperor, there will definitely be many people willing to help Wen Hou. Wen Hou will never fight alone!"

Ju Su finally said: "So the key to everything lies in the emperor!"

"First, welcome the emperor to Huaicheng, then use the emperor's name to recruit allies and defeat Yuan Shu. Great things will come!"

Lu Bu was completely persuaded. On the one hand, Ju Shou's statement was reasonable and he came up with a feasible blueprint based on Lu Bu's psychology.

On the other hand, as a top strategist, Ju Shou's vision and eloquence were indeed much better than Chen Gong's. Chen Gong sometimes understood the situation in his heart, but due to his own temper and experience, he often failed to convince Lu Bu and instead got stuck in a dead end.

Lü Bu finally thought of a question, "I have a grudge against the Yuan family, why is Youzhou helping me so much?"

Ju Su smiled and said, "Of course, the young master is optimistic about Wen Hou."

How could Lu Bu be fooled by such words? He asked, "How do you prove it?"

"How should I know? Did you use me and then kick me out, just like Yuan Shao did?"

Ju Su knew that Lü Bu was still upset about being assassinated by Yuan Shao, so he looked at Yuan Xi and said, "The two sides can form an alliance through marriage."

Lu Bu was startled, then reacted and pointed at Yuan Xi and said, "Aren't you married?"

"You want to divorce your wife?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "That won't happen."

"What!" Lu Bu was instantly filled with murderous intent, "You want to take my daughter as a concubine?"

"You're looking for death!"