Chapter 502: Peaceful Peace

When Yuan Xi shot that arrow, Ju Shou and Lu Xun behind him were scared half to death. They were afraid that Cao's army would become angry and turn around to attack. If that happened, the Youzhou army would be exposed immediately.

Fortunately, perhaps because of Yuan Xi's move, Cao's army was unable to judge the strength of the Youzhou army, so they retreated.

In fact, neither side knew that after fighting to this point, both armies had reached their limits.

At this time, everyone in Cao's camp was wiping the sweat from their foreheads. A doctor on the side pulled out the arrow from Cheng Yu's arm in the carriage. Cheng Yu couldn't help but scream loudly.

He was very heartbroken. Originally, Cao Cao had sent him, a very talented strategist, to the battlefield to make the final decision. He did not expect that not only would the battle end in a lose-lose situation, but also that Xionghu, as the commander-in-chief, personally shot and killed him who was delivering the message. This was too ungentlemanly of him!

The world is becoming more corrupt and people's hearts are no longer the same as they used to be!

However, when Yuan Xi took action just now, everyone in Cao's camp was frightened, fearing that it was a signal for the Youzhou army to attack. If another army showed up, Cao's army would have to die here!

In this great battle, which lasted several days, only half of Cao's army of tens of thousands of people returned, but it was still not considered a serious loss.

Because Cao Cao had taken advantage of Yuan Shu's attack on the State of Chen in Yuzhou and his attempt to expel Chen Wang Liu Chong to raid Yuan Shu's army from behind and repel it, gaining tens of thousands of soldiers from the State of Chen, who were now secretly stationed on the border between Yuzhou and Xuzhou.

Most of the soldiers killed and wounded in this battle were from Qingzhou. They were numerous, unruly and difficult to manage. After tens of thousands of Qingzhou soldiers were killed and wounded, their power weakened. They could be made to behave themselves temporarily and a lot of military rations could be saved.

This was not a bad thing for Cao Cao, who was about to take action against Yuan Shu.

The generals looked at Cao Cao with a calm expression and thought that the general was becoming more and more dignified like their lord. Now Cao's army was rapidly getting stronger in battle after battle. After the test of time, what was left was the real gold!

Cao Cao, however, felt very unhappy because his generals were mediocre. Except for a few, no one could compare to the opponent's generals Zhao Yun and Guan Yu!

My next step is to think carefully about how to recruit powerful generals and heroes!

Yuan Xi ordered his personal guards to lift the wounded soldiers onto carts and transport them to the rear for treatment. He also sent people to look for the people hiding everywhere and asked them to take refuge in Haixi.

After a while, Guan Yu came over and Yuan Xi bowed and said, "Thank you for saving me, General."

Guan Yu waved his hand and said, "I will always remember your kindness in saving my life under the city of Guangling."

He told Yuan Xi about Liu Bei, and Yuan Xi sighed, "Now Cao's army is about to occupy Tancheng, and it will be difficult for the people of Xia Pi to come here again."

"There is Ling County between Guangling and Xiapi, which is closest to where the envoy disappeared. If the general does not abandon us, we can temporarily station there, while continuing to search for Liu Yuzhou with General Zhang."

He took out a token and handed it to Guan Yu, "General, take my token. Ling County can open the city to welcome you."

"As for the envoy's wife, she was seriously injured and should not travel far. I am looking for someone to treat her. Once she recovers, I will send someone to Ling County."

Guan Yu thanked him and said, "I will never forget your kindness, Your Excellency."

Yuan Xi replied: "You are too polite, General. If it weren't for your help today, it would be difficult for me to stop Cao's army."

Guan Yu was anxious to find Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, so he said goodbye to Yuan Xi and took his soldiers to Ling County.

After seeing Guan Yu off, Yuan Xi felt extremely tired. He swayed and was about to fall. Seeing this, Lu Lingqi reached out to help him, but she herself had no strength left, and they both fell to the ground.

When the two men saw each other falling down and covered in blood, they couldn't help but smile bitterly at each other.

The two men found a big tree, leaned against the trunk, and kept breathing heavily. On the battlefield in front of them, the soldiers were silently cleaning the battlefield, stripping off the armor of their own soldiers' bodies and burying the bodies on the spot.

Yuan Xi's heart was bleeding. Many of the soldiers who died in the battle were the seeds he had cultivated with great difficulty. After the fighting in the past few days, it was roughly estimated that there were at least thousands of casualties, and the loss was not small.

But this battle had to be fought because it was in Xuzhou.

As long as Yuan Xi holds the title of Governor of Xuzhou, he must be responsible for the people of Xuzhou.

If he were a lord like Yuan Shu who didn't care about the lives of the people under his rule, he would be abandoned by the people sooner or later.

He stood up with difficulty, holding onto the tree trunk, and stretched out his hand to Lu Lingqi, saying, "Let's go back."

The inside story of the Battle of Xuzhou soon spread throughout the world, and everyone who learned of the inside story was shocked.

Yuan Shu launched a massive attack on Liu Bei, and the timing was indeed very good. He captured Xia Pi in one fell swoop, allowing Yuan Shu's forces to finally enter Xuzhou.

This was a powerful response to the Han court's edict against Yuan Shikai. It was like a loud slap in the face, leaving many Han court officials with a burning feeling on their faces.

Yuan Shu was powerful, so it was not surprising that Liu Bei, who was alone and weak, was defeated. However, as a member of the anti-Yuan imperial edict, he did not receive any help from his allies from beginning to end. On the contrary, he was ambushed. This marked the beginning of an internal conflict in the anti-Yuan alliance!

This slap was more severe than the previous one. The Han court was in an uproar. What Liu Xie faced in the past few days was endless quarrels and impeachments from the ministers.

Kong Rong was talking with spit flying all over the place, "Cao Mengde has evil ambitions and openly attacked the loyal officials of the Han court. He is so audacious and his crime is unforgivable!"

"Liu Yuzhou resisted Yuan Shu, but Cao Cao stabbed him in the back and openly occupied his city. He is totally unscrupulous!"

As soon as this was said, Zhang Miao and his brother from Kong Rong's faction also stood up to support him. Ding Chong quickly stepped out and said, "What nonsense!"

"It's Liu Yuzhou who can't stop Yuan Shu. What does it have to do with Lord Cao?"

"Liu Yuzhou's army was defeated and scattered. If General Cao does not take over the city, will he just hand it over to Yuan Shu for nothing?"

Kong Rong sneered: "That's bullshit!"

"Ding Chong, you are such a heartless person. Did Cao Cao sneak attack the retreating soldiers of Liu Yuzhou and the fleeing civilians to guard against Yuan Shu?"

Ding Chong argued: "Who knows the inside story?"

"Maybe it was dark and I made a mistake, or maybe those people were Yuan Shu's army in disguise!"

Kong Rong was furious: "Open your eyes and fart!"

"Which eye of yours saw that it was Yuan Shu's army?"

Ding Chong asked in return: "Which eye did Wen Jugong see it with?"

"Was Lord Wen Ju present at the time?"

Kong Rong did not expect Ding Chong to be so shameless and acted like a cheat. He flew into a rage and immediately started to curse and cite scriptures, exposing Ding Chong's past and scolding his ancestors for eighteen generations.

Seeing that more and more people from both sides joined the verbal fight, Liu Xie on the seat cursed inwardly, saying that he had done more harm than good. To be honest, he felt a little regretful, as he had let Liu Bei down.

The edict he issued was too hasty and careless.

By making the names of the anti-Yuan coalition forces known to the world in advance, wouldn't this allow Yuan Shu to attack the weakest targets?

However, Liu Xie had not anticipated that Cao Cao and Yuan Xi had such a big conflict in private. The two armies attacked without hesitation and did not take the overall situation of attacking Yuan Shu into consideration at all!

This not only made Liu Xie very unhappy, but also put him in a dilemma.

Because he was the one who led the campaign against Yuan Shu, and intended to attack from multiple directions so that Yuan Shu would be distracted, the first group to set off was Lu Bu who was in Huaicheng.

Half a month ago, Lu Bu, along with Zhang Liao and other generals, led tens of thousands of soldiers recruited from Sili and headed south to Yuzhou to attack Yuan Shu's rear.

Liu Xie's intention was to let Lu Bu pull Yuan Shu's defense line and make him separate part of Shouchun, where heavy troops were stationed, to defend, thereby reducing the pressure on Liu Bei's offensive route.

At that time, the news of the Battle of Xuzhou had not yet arrived, so according to the time, Lu Bu should have entered Yuzhou.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu took action first. Liu Bei's whereabouts were unknown after being defeated. Yuan Xi and Cao Cao had an internal conflict. The anti-Yuan alliance became a joke, and even the Han court's edict became a joke!

And the final joke became Liu Xie himself.

They've already started internal strife before the fighting even begins. How can he, the emperor, keep his dignity?

Liu Xie looked at the people who were arguing in the hall, suppressed his irritation, raised his hand and said: "My dear ministers, arguing will not solve the problem. Now I want you to give me some advice on how to deal with it and how to remedy it!"

When the ministers heard this, they all returned to their seats. Zhong Yao took the opportunity to come out and said, "Your Majesty is wise. It is difficult to determine who is right and who is wrong in the matter of Xuzhou. It is better to reconcile the two sides and let them turn hostility into friendship."

When this was said, Kong Rong and others cursed him inwardly for being shameless. Xuzhou was destroyed, and it was said that tens of thousands of people were killed and wounded on both sides. How could they turn hostility into friendship? That's easy to say!

Kong Rong said sarcastically, "Your Excellency Yuan was the governor of Xuzhou, but Cao Cao took advantage of the situation and occupied most of Xuzhou. It is not something that ordinary people can do to turn hostility into friendship."

"How about Minister Zhong go to Xuzhou to mediate this matter?"

Zhong Yao cursed in his heart, do you want me to die?

It is said that the fierce tiger has no aristocratic demeanor at all. If he gets angry, he might really chop off his own head!

He forced a smile and said, "Mr. Wen Ju is joking. The fierce tiger may not be wrong. He may have evil intentions and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to annex Yanzhou, so he fought with Lord Cao."

Kong Rong said coldly: "The thief cries thief, only a villain would judge a gentleman by his own heart."

Zhong Yao's face was gloomy and he secretly felt murderous in his heart. He thought to himself, "Kong Rong, just jump. Lu Bu won't be back for a while and he has plenty of ways to deal with you!"

Zhong Yao has already received a promise from Cao Cao that when he succeeds Cao Cao as the Inspector of the Imperial Capital and has the power to command the army, he will cooperate with Zhang Yan and killing Kong Rong will be as easy as killing a chicken!

But Zhong Yao knew that the time was not right yet, so he suppressed his anger and bowed to Liu Xie, saying, "The overall situation is more important. The most urgent task is to eliminate Yuan Shu."

"The emperor can issue edicts to appease all parties separately, which is the appropriate strategy."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers spoke in agreement. After all, things had turned out like this, so what else could they do?

We can't just take sides and stir up conflict between the two sides again, letting them attack each other, right?

If this continues, the imperial edict to punish Yuan Shikai will really become a joke!

So sometimes the truth is not important, and it doesn't matter who is right or wrong. What is important is how everyone can keep the peace and save face and current position.

After all, so many people died in Xuzhou, what does it have to do with the Han court officials?

Mi Zhen opened the door and saw Yuan Xi standing at the door. She bowed her head and said, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

Yuan Xi replied: "Hello, young lady. How is Mrs. Liu Yuzhou?"

Mi Zhen whispered, "It's very bad. I have been having a fever. Today I can hardly open my eyes. The doctor said that the knife cuts hurt my internal organs. I'm afraid..."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed and said, "In that case, I won't bother you anymore. Just tell your wife that I was here."

"By the way, may I trouble you to ask if Madam has any other requests? I will try my best to satisfy them."

Mi Zhen hurriedly said, "Please wait a moment, sir."

She went back into the house, and after a while she came out and said, "Madam, please let the envoy in."