C27

Longevity County, prefectural governor's mansion, Guest Hall.

Pow! Yuan Shu slammed the letter in his hands onto the table, looked at Yuan Lu who was kneeling in front of him and shouted angrily: "Uncle Gongsun has gone too far! "What is the use of you if you can't even do such a simple thing?"

The person seated on the first seat on the left of Yuan Shu cupped his hands and asked: "Did Gongsun Zan reject your request for a marriage?"

He was dressed in a black robe, with a square face and a moustache, he was the number one general under Yuan Shu's command, Qiao Rui.

"Take a look for yourself." Yuan Shu snorted, and threw the letter back to Qiao Rui.

A long bearded scholar sat beside Qiao Rui. He was dressed in an elegant gray robe, looking elegant and graceful. This person was Yuan Shu's younger brother, and at the same time, he was also Yuan Shu's strategist.

On the right side of Yuan Shu sat a young martial general wearing a helmet and armor. He looked extremely handsome, and was actually Yuan Shu's son-in-law, Huang Yi.

These three people present were the people Yuan Shu trusted the most.

Although Yuan Shu was Sikong Yuan Feng's eldest son, compared to his half-brother Yuan Shao, whether it was in terms of popularity or abilities, there was still a huge difference. Currently, the soldiers under Yuan Shao's command were strong and sturdy, occupying more than half of the Jizhou and its surroundings. As for the background left behind by the Four Great Clans, Yuan Shu was defeated by Yuan Shao and Lv Bu one after the other. Even though they had over a hundred thousand troops under their command, they still lacked capable strategists and generals, which was why they had shamelessly asked Gongsun Zan for horses and cavalry.

After reading the letter, Qiao Rui's face also became ugly, and he advised: "Master, please calm your anger! Although Uncle Gongsun didn't agree to the marriage, he gave away a lot of men and horses. It seemed that the relationship between the two parties was still very strong. Please forgive this subordinate's bluntness, but our Huainan's situation isn't very good right now, and it won't be easy for us to fall out again! "

In the letter, Gongsun Zan tactfully rejected the marriage, and even indistinctly pointed out that Yuan Lu wanted to do something against Gongsun Rui in the Marquis of Ji's Mansion, and immediately pushed the responsibility of refusing the marriage onto Yuan Lu. The pitiful Yuan Lu had first been beaten up by Gongsun Xu and it took him a while to regain his dignity from the maid that Guan Jing gifted him. Actually, the main fault laid with Yuan Shu. He wanted to get more help to get married to Gongsun Zan, but he looked down on his inferior status, so he did not let his eldest son Yuan Yao come out. Instead, he sent his son, Yuan Lu, to Ji County.

Yuan Yin cupped his hands in agreement, "General Qiao is right. Master, please think twice."

Huang Yi continued to speak: "Yuan Shao has ill intentions. Liu Bei is ambitious and Lv Bu is a disciple of the tiger and the wolf. Our Huainan has already become enemies with these three families and our only reliable ally is the Youzhou. Please enlighten me, father-in-law. "

Yuan Shu's heart was stifled, seeing Yuan Lu who was kneeling down and kowtowing, a nameless flame ignited in his heart. He grabbed his inkstone and threw it forward: "Un, f * ck off!"

Yuan Lu was struck on the forehead by the ink stone, causing him to bleed profusely but he did not dare to wipe it clean.

"Let go of the marriage with Uncle Gongsun!" Yuan Shu sighed, rubbed his forehead and asked: Tell me, where do you think my Huainan should go now?

Qiao Rui took the lead and said: "My lord, now that Liu Bei has sent troops to the Xiao Pei, Xuzhou Tao already has the intention of giving them back, if he is allowed to smoothly control the Xuzhou, our situation will become even more serious. From the looks of it, it would be better to take the initiative to attack Liu Bei! "

"The words of Zhong Qi (Qiao Rui calligraphy, made up by the author) are reasonable." Yuan Shu nodded his head in agreement, and sighed: "Selling shoes for children (Liu Bei used to sell grass shoes in the past) is most adept at seducing people's hearts. Tao Dianzu (Tao Qian's word) is also a brainless person, but he actually lured a wolf into his house! If we let that child,, gain control of the Xuzhou, he will be able to take control of the situation in a short period of time. The relationship between and Jingzhou is very deep, if we attack together, our Huainan will be in danger! It's just that when my army attacks Liu Bei, Liu Biao is taking the opportunity to attack the Nine Rivers, what should I do? "

Yuan Yin muttered to himself: "Liu Bei's troops are less than twenty thousand, Master should be able to obtain complete victory by sending fifty thousand troops."

"That's not right!" Huang Yi shook his head in opposition, "If Xuzhou Army comes out of the city to help Liu Bei, what can I do?"

Yuan Shu shouted: "Liu Bei, I will attack! But how should the Jingzhou handle this situation? "

Qiao Rui and the other two looked at each other.

"Master, Sect Master Yan requests an audience." At this moment, a servant reported from outside the door.

Yuan Shu was overjoyed, "Quick, invite him in!"

After a while, a dignified green-robed scholar walked in, and greeted Yuan Shu with a bow.

His name was Yan Xiang, and he had the character Jing Xing. He was the head of the Nine River County and could be considered the number one strategist under Yuan Shu's command.

Yuan Shu smiled and extended his hand: "Jing Xing, sit down and talk, this old man has a matter that I am unclear on."

Yan Xiang thanked him, sat down, and cupped his hands: "This subordinate had already heard all of you speak outside the door earlier. My lord, if you want to guard against Liu Biao, you only need to send a letter to one person!"

"Who?" Yuan Shu asked anxiously.

"Hehe." Yan Xiang smiled as he stroked his beard, and asked in reply, "Could it be that Master has forgotten about the Jiangdong's little overlord?"

"Sun Ce!" Yuan Shu was overjoyed, "Jing Xing's words woke her up! That's right, only Sun Ce can intimidate Liu Biao, and he will not dare to take the chance to enter the north! "

The Sun Ce character, Bo Fu, was the son of the Changsha prefecture chief's Sun Jian. He was the most courageous and warlike, and was known as the little tyrant of the Jiangdong.

Two years ago, Sun Jian led his army and attacked Liu Biao, but was ambushed and killed by Huang Zu, who was a general under his command, while the remaining parts were swallowed up by Yuan Shu.

Earlier in the year, Sun Ce had completed his filial duty and came north to ask for Sun Jian's old tribe from the Jiujiang River. He also pledged the Imperial Jade Seal to Yuan Shu to borrow another ten thousand troops, which Yuan Shu agreed to do, and even gifted him an additional four hundred horses. Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu suddenly went back on his words and allowed his trusted aide Chen Ji to become the prefecture chief of the nine rivers, and even let Sun Ce attack the Lujiang's Lu Kang. He also said that if he managed to attack the Lujiang, he would definitely make Sun Ce the prefecture chief. Unexpectedly, Sun Ce went down the Lujiang after another battle, and Yuan Shu actually went back on his word and allowed his subordinate, Liu Xun, to become the Lujiang.

How could Sun Ce continue to work for Yuetao who went back on his words? In a fit of anger, he brought his subordinates to Li Yang (Anhui and prefecture), no longer listening to Yuan Shu's orders. However, Sun Ce had the grudge of killing his father, as long as Yuan Shu was willing to give him enough money, he would definitely go with the flow and attack Liu Biao.

"Who is willing to go to Li Yang?" Yuan Shu suppressed his joy and asked.

Yan Xiang stood up and said: "Master, this subordinate is willing to go to Li Yang, and will definitely be able to persuade Sun Ce to attack Liu Biao. However, our lord still needs to finance some food and money. "

"Yes!" Yuan Shu heroically waved his hand, and continued to calculate for a long time before painfully saying: "I'll give Sun Ce two million and four hundred million, and food two thousand, and food three thousand and five hundred stones."

"Master is wise, this subordinate can go to Li Yang! Your subordinate will take his leave! "

After Yan Xiang left, Yuan Shu walked to the wall, looked at the location of the Xuzhou on the map, and muttered: "Kid, how will you respond when this old man's army presses down upon the land?"

— —

When Yuan Shu was reciting Liu Bei, Liu Bei, who was in the Xiao Pei's magistrate court's study, had a face full of shock. Looking at the grief-stricken Mi Zhu in front of him, he cried out: "Zi Zhong (Mi Zhu), what did you say just now?! The son is dead? "How is this possible!?"

Mi Zhu cried out in grief: "Master Xuan De, this is absolutely true! The ashes of the child have already been sent back by Zhao Yun. "

"Zhao Yun?" Liu Bei was startled, and asked anxiously: "Did the letter from Zi Long say how the son died?"

"Yes." Mi Zhu weakly nodded his head, "Zhao Yun said that when Zi Fang Ye was staying in Chang Shan Town, the Black Mountain Thief had went to burn and plunder, the Chaos Neutron Fang was killed and Zhao Yun's brother, Zhao Feng, was also severely injured. He was sent to Youzhou to look for a famous doctor for help."

Liu Bei sat down in disappointment, wiping his tears, and muttered: "Zi Zhong, I let you down!"

"Sigh." Mi Zhu let out a long sigh, endured the pain, and advised: "Duke Xuan De, please don't be too sad, this son's death is worth it."

It's fine if Mi Zhu didn't advise, but instead, Liu Bei cried loudly, "Even so, my heart will never be able to forgive you! "Zi Fang, ah Zi Fang, I was just thinking of sharing wealth with you, how did you end up like this?"

Mi Zhu was crying so hard that his nose turned sour and tears started streaming down his face unknowingly. Other than the Mi Zhu brothers, there was only one other sister, Mei Lan. Now that Mi Fang had died, only the brother and sister were left to each other.

At this time, two people quickly walked in from outside the door. The one at the front asked loudly, "Big Brother, what happened?"

This man was over eight feet tall, with a huge head and two ring-like eyes. A thick beard covered his entire face, and he was none other than Liu Bei's sworn third brother, Zhang Yide.

The person at the back was even taller than Zhang Fei, with a long beard that extended down to his chest, black and red face, and raised eyebrows. He was Liu Bei's sworn second brother, Guan Yunchang.

"Ai!" Liu Bei lowered his head and sighed, "Second brother, third brother, Mei Zi Fang has gone!"

Zhang Fei's heart relaxed, thinking that if a mere merchant died, then so be it. If it wasn't for the fact that Mi Zhu was present, these words would have slipped out of his mouth.

Guan Yu also felt that it was not worth it for Liu Bei to place so much importance on Mei Family, but he opened his mouth to advise her, and comforted her with some kind words.

Zhang Fei sat down, picked up his teacup and drank a mouthful of tea, then wiped his mouth and asked: "Big brother, how did Mei Zi Fang die?"

"This is all my fault!" Liu Bei lightly tapped his forehead and said: "Zhao Zilong was not what Uncle Gongsun had said. Therefore, I had Mi Zhu go forward to help him.

Zhang Fei nodded, he was regretful that Zhao Yun was not able to become his subordinate, he was not interested in Mi Zhu's death at all.

However, Guan Yu asked: "Isn't Zhang Yan that guy always claiming to be righteous? Why would they rob the villagers? "

Liu Bei was also puzzled, "I do not know the inner workings either. Zi Long did not mention anything in his letter. Second brother, isn't third brother training soldiers? Why did you come together to meet your brother? "

"Um …" Guan Yu looked at Mi Zhu, not knowing what to say.

Mi Zhu's heart turned cold, he had given Liu Bei money and food worth more than a million dollars! He had worked so hard for the sake of Liu Bei, but who would have thought that he would still not have any status in Guan Yu's heart!

"What is there to hide!" Liu Bei's face turned slightly angry. He pointed at Mi Zhu and said, "Zi Zhong is the person I trust the most, and also the most important person to me. There is no need to hide anything from him!"

"Thank you, my lord!" Mi Zhu's heart warmed, and he bowed to thank her.

Guan Yu said with a serious expression: "Big brother, the scouts have come to report, saying that Lv Bu is short of food. Under Chen Gong's suggestion, Lv Bu is prepared to personally lead a fifty thousand strong army to attack Xuzhou! "

Earlier in the year, Cao Cao wanted to take revenge and attack the Xuzhou. However, under the persuasion of Chen Liu and prefecture chief Zhang Miaomiao, as well as his subordinate, Chen Gong, Cao Cao Cao had no choice but to return to the army to help. After that, the two sides faced off against each other in Yanzhou for more than a hundred days. Lv Bu was short of food and thus retreated into the great wilderness to rest.

"AHH!" Lv Fengxian is coming? " Liu Bei turned pale with fright. He subconsciously wanted to get up and escape, he had personally experienced the bravery of Lv Bu before he entered the Tiger Prison.

Guan Yu cupped his hands and said: "Big Brother, the distance from the Big Wilderness to the Xiao Pei is only a hundred li or so, it could be said that we arrived early, we need to be on guard at all times!"

Liu Bei took a deep breath, barely able to calm down, and nodded: "What second brother said is true! Pass down the order, close the city gates, reinforce the city walls, and send people to ask for help from Master Tao! "

Mi Zhu originally wanted to say something to Liu Bei, but he could not care about it now. He got up and said: "Master Xuan De, I'm going to ask for help from the Lord Prefecture Overseer."

The Mei Family lived in the Xuzhou City, and Mi Zhu had been personally appointed by Tao Qian to conduct his business (His official title was the most important among all the officials, and he had gained his name by car when the Prefecture Overseer went on patrol). It was most suitable for him to inform Tao Qian of this matter.

Liu Bei bowed: "If that's the case, then I'll be troubling Zi Zhong."

"Master Xuan De is too polite, I will take my leave."

After Mi Zhu left the room, he finally could no longer hold on and fiercely wiped her cold sweat. He already regretted it in his heart. If he had known that the Xuzhou would be spied on by a group of tiger wolves, he wouldn't have left Gongsun Zan to head south! Using Gongsun Zan's power to slowly accumulate wealth, and wait for the time to mature before setting up their own sect, that was the best plan!