gnovel Chapter 9 How can you manage the Zhong family well while you're with these insects?
Chapter 9 How can you manage the Zhong family well while you're with these insects?
The fallen leaves carried the news.
To be precise, there are two pieces of news.
The first piece of news is that Miss Lü Lingqi, whom Yuan Yao has been longing for, has finally been released by Cao Cao and is on her way from Xudu to Shouchun.
This time, thankfully, nothing else went wrong. A few days later, the guards Yuan Yao sent successfully spotted a carriage near the border between the two families.
Upon finally witnessing the safe return of Lü Bu's only daughter, Cao Xing could no longer contain himself. He dismounted, collapsed to the ground, and wept bitterly, wailing incessantly.
After venting his emotions, Cao Xing turned around and bowed deeply to Yuan Yao: "Your Excellency has not failed Marquis Wen, and I, Cao Xing, dare not fail you. I am unworthy, possessing only a bow and a sword. I am grateful for your kindness and am willing to serve you with utmost loyalty!"
Yuan Yao was overjoyed and quickly helped Cao Xing up, saying, "Having you, General, is like a fish finding water!"
Yuan Yao was overjoyed to finally gain the loyalty of Cao Xing and the remnants of Lü Bu's army under his command. He was so happy that he would even agree to let him marry Lü Lingqi again.
Oh, right, Lü Lingqi.
Yuan Yao looked up and saw his fiancée just getting off the carriage.
"hiss--"
Yuan Yao gasped in astonishment. Those long legs!
After taking a closer look, Yuan Yao broke into a wide grin.
Well, you can always trust Lü Bu's judgment. His father-in-law was troubled by wine and women for most of his life, and only on his deathbed did he reluctantly swear to quit drinking.
Therefore, Miss Lü's appearance was naturally impeccable, and she also inherited some of Lü Bu's excellent genes, making her extremely tall and outstanding.
If I had to pinpoint a problem, it would be that I've been living in fear and anxiety lately, which has made me quite thin and my complexion a little pale.
In conclusion, Yuan Yao was very satisfied with the operation. Although the process was somewhat tortuous, the final result was very pleasing. He even felt that Yang Hong's initial offer of 100,000 coins was quite reasonable.
Until he heard the second message from Xudu.
"What?! Cao Cao is going to attack Huainan?!"
Yuan Yao stared wide-eyed, his mind reeling with disbelief.
This was completely unexpected.
Logically speaking, this was not the best time for Cao Cao to attack Huainan.
It's not that there were any difficulties or obstacles in the act of fighting Yuan Shu; that didn't exist.
It's simply that Yuan Shu's army was too weak, so weak that there was no need to prioritize annihilating them. We could have been busy with other things first, and then casually spare a finger to crush them when we had some free time.
In fact, Cao Cao did have more important things to do during this period.
Just this February, Zhang Yang, the governor of Hanoi, was killed by his subordinate Yang Chou, who openly responded to Cao Cao. However, he was killed by Sui Gu within two days and then switched allegiance to Yuan Shao.
This matter is far more important than kicking Yuan Shu to death, who was just a roadside ditch.
It was obvious to everyone that after unifying the Central Plains, Cao Cao would inevitably engage in a major battle with Yuan Shao, the ruler of Hebei, to vie for control of the entire north.
Hanoi County, situated precisely between the Central Plains and Hebei, was a strategically vital location controlling the north and south.
Moreover, Yuan Shao is currently busy besieging Gongsun Zan in Yijing, and the war between the two sides has reached a critical juncture, so he cannot get away from it at all.
This created an excellent opportunity for Cao Cao to seize the Hanoi Commandery by taking advantage of the chaos caused by Yang Chou and Sui Gu. Otherwise, it would be much more difficult to take action after Yuan Shao killed Gongsun Zan and his army returned south.
Indeed, according to scout reports, Cao Cao had recently transferred his main force back from Xuzhou to Changyi in Yanzhou, which is not far from Hanoi. The court in Xudu was also discussing the military situation in Hanoi, and it seemed that launching an attack on Sui Gu was a foregone conclusion.
Until today, Yuan Yao suddenly learned that Cao Cao had changed his mind and wanted to take advantage of Yuan Shu, the weakest link.
This news made him fall into deep thought.
What was Cao Cao really thinking?
Did they reassess the situation and conclude that Huainan was more valuable than Hanoi?
Or did they realize that Yuan Shu's army's annexation of Lujiang posed a risk of resurgence and needed to be nipped in the bud?
Or perhaps they were simply annoyed by the matter of Lü Bu's daughter and decided to indulge in some perverse pleasure, sending her away one moment and then launching an attack the next.
Yuan Yao couldn't figure it out for a moment.
But he didn't have time to figure it out.
The news that Cao Cao's army was about to attack Huainan quickly spread throughout Shouchun City and reached the ears of every official of the Zhong clan.
At this moment, Yuan Yao truly felt the pressure of being the number one person in the Three Kingdoms.
Just two months ago, when the Zhong family was trapped in Shouchun and barely had enough to eat, everyone looked miserable, sighing and feeling anxious every day.
The atmosphere changed after Yuan Yao proposed using the pretext of a southern campaign against Sun Ce to seize the opportunity to annex Lujiang, and successfully implemented this plan to alleviate his own predicament.
Everyone's backs no longer ache, their legs no longer hurt, and they even have the energy to argue with others in court. They've all put on their old airs again, pretending to discuss various important military and political matters.
So much so that even though Yuan Yao knew these guys were all scoundrels, he was almost fooled and believed their false claim of being upright and righteous.
This time, Cao Cao hadn't even really made a move yet; he had only given a hint of it, and most people had already revealed their true colors.
The entire scene can be described as utterly disgraceful.
Some fled overnight, some fell ill from fright, some were so nervous they couldn't even speak, and some even became defeatist strategists, advising Yuan Shu to immediately move the capital to Lujiang.
It can only be said that Cao Cao's fearsome reputation was too authoritative for Yuan Shu's army.
But this is actually a very reasonable result.
Throughout Cao Cao's life, he was not without his losses, nor were they limited to just one or two individuals. However, he maintained an astonishing record of complete victory against Yuan Shu, making him arguably the most stern father of the Zhong family.
Even the reason why Yuan Shu, who started his career in Nanyang, ended up in Huainan was ultimately because he suffered a crushing defeat in the Central Plains war against Cao Cao and was chased there like a dog.
Therefore, even though Yuan Yao tried to calm people's hearts and suggested that Hanoi might be more important to Cao Cao and that the other side might not launch a full-scale attack on Huainan, no one listened to him at all.
In everyone's eyes, Cao Cao's plan to destroy his own family was as simple as saying, "It's getting cold, let's bankrupt the Zhong Group." He didn't need any motive or reason; he could just run away and be done with it.
Thus, before Yuan Yao could react, a major decision was reached in the court with astonishing speed:
Move the capital!
They moved from Shouchun, which directly faced the threat of Cao Cao's army, to Wancheng, the core of Lujiang County in the rear!
Thus, Yuan Yao, who had just subdued the remnants of Lü Bu's army, was forced to move south to Wancheng with Yuan Shu, completely bewildered, before he could even warm his wife.
But that wasn't the most infuriating thing for Yuan Yao.
On their way to Wancheng, perhaps because Cao Cao's army was now off the ground, their cowardice subsided and their intelligence took over, some of them began to wonder why Cao Cao would attack at this time.
Then they actually turned their attention to Yuan Yao himself.
Some people believe that Zhong was dragged down by Yuan Yao this time. He had to go to Cao Cao several times to ask for Lü Bu's daughter. Cao Cao had forgotten about Huainan, but this reminder brought him back to his mind.
Of course, most people wouldn't be that outrageous, but one thing has gradually become a consensus.
That was Lü Bu's daughter; the identity of the deceased is unknown.
Soon, the very next day, on Yuan Yin's advice, Yuan Shu officially canceled the engagement between Yuan Yao and Lü Bu's daughter.
The reason given was: "How can a tiger's son marry a dog's daughter?"
When the news reached Yuan Yao, Cao Xing was shocked and rushed to the military camp to find Yuan Yao.
Then they saw Yuan Yao sitting at the desk, his face dark and silent.
Cao Xing stepped forward and cautiously asked, "Young Master?"
"Bang!"
Yuan Yao slammed his fist on the table in anger, cursing, "How can we govern a country well by associating with these vermin!"