C176

The skies to the east had just revealed the whiteness of the fish's belly when Yuan Shao impatiently left the prefectural governor's mansion. Under the protection of a large group of bodyguards, he walked onto the streets, preparing to inspect the losses caused by the brief disturbance last night.

Apart from Yuan Jun's patrol team, there was no one else on the street. There were a lot of shoes and hats, bloody sticks, torn clothes, and other sundries on the ground. The dried blood that could be seen everywhere indicated that many people had either died or been injured in the riots last night. At this time, the doors and windows of the houses were tightly closed, and sounds of horse hooves could be heard. Countless pairs of eyes peeked behind the windows, looking at Yuan Shao with all sorts of complicated expressions.

When Mo Bingmei left the Qinghe County City, he had the two brothers, Chen Da who cheated's nephew, continue to lurk within the city with their twenty-odd Mo Sect Disciple s. They would create chaos whenever they had the chance. The sudden appearance of the Jizhou Cauldron caused the hearts of the people in the city to float. Chen Da Chen Er felt that this was a good opportunity, so he prepared to set fire to the surroundings of the prefectural governor's mansion and cause chaos. When the fire started, Chen Da Chen Er had just bewitched a group of houses that had been burnt to ashes and prepared to attack prefectural governor's mansion. He did not expect that Gao Gan would suddenly lead his army to surround them and the two of them would flee quickly when they saw that the situation was not good, but the people that they instigated and the tens of Mo Sect Disciple s that they did not have the time to flee from, were all killed on the spot by Gao Gan.

Yuan Shao's decisive action had stopped a great disturbance that might have engulfed the entire city, but they had lost the support of the citizens in an instant. The citizens did not care who set the fire, and did not even care if there were spies preparing to rob the city. After Yuan Shao seized the Jizhou, in order to get the people's support, he removed the influence of Han Fu and Gongsun Zan, and sent people to all over to publicize his benevolence. He used to make small favors to win the hearts of people, and indeed, he deceived many ignorant commoners. However, all of the efforts that Yuan Shao had made vanished from the moment he gave the order to suppress the Ancient Slaughterer. Furthermore, it had attracted the enmity and hatred of the citizens of the city.

Yuan Shao noticed the hateful stares from behind the doors and windows, but he did not give the order to capture, only feeling somewhat confused in his heart. Back then, when he had successfully snatched the Jizhou from Han Fu's hands, he was immediately filled with high spirits, and confidently prepared to use the Jizhou as his foundation to take over the world. From then on, his battle with Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yan would often have the upper hand, so why did he suddenly fall into such a situation in a short few months?

"My lord, this subordinate has something to report!"

Ju Shou's voice suddenly came from behind him. When Yuan Shao turned around, he saw Ju Shou and Gao Gan standing three steps away with serious expressions. His heart immediately thumped as he made a gesture for the guards to scatter. He walked in front of Ju Shou with a sullen face, preparing to hear the bad news.

Ju Shou leaned forward and lowered his voice, saying, "Master, this subordinate and General Gao have discovered some clues. It seems that someone is preparing to open the city gates to welcome Gongsun Zan's great army!"

When Yuan Shao heard this, he only frowned. He thought that Ju Shou was talking about the spies in the city, but he felt that Ju Shou was making a big fuss out of nothing. The purpose of those spies infiltrating the city was obvious, it was not strange at all.

"My lord!" Ju Shou detected Yuan Shao's disapproval, and cried out anxiously, speaking extremely quickly: "What this subordinate is talking about is not those spies! When this subordinate was trying to suppress the disturbance with General Gao last night, I accidentally discovered the figure of the old butler from Guo Gongze's residence. As a result, General Gao sent someone to follow him and sent someone to report that the fellow took advantage of the chaos to shoot an arrow outside of the city! "

"What?!" Yuan Shao was startled and angry at the same time. He clenched his fists and bellowed: "You did not recognize the wrong person?"

He had shot an arrow out of the city in the middle of the night. It was definitely not to kill the enemy, but to use an arrow to send a message. Without Guo Tu's permission, his old butler would definitely not have done such a thing, and Guo Tu was Yuan Shao's very trusted and valued advisor.

He admitted that he had sent a letter outside the city. He was not clear about the contents of the letter, but he said that Guo Tu seemed to be plotting to open the city gates and go to the Old Bastard Gongsun. That was why I guessed that Guo Tu's letter should be about opening the city gates.

"Good!" Great! Guo Tu, you truly are my good subordinate! " Yuan Shao was furious, if Guo Tu was in front of him right now, he would definitely not say a word and pull out his sword.

Ju Shou asked softly: "Master, do you want to personally interrogate Guo Gongze's old butler?"

"Go!" "Of course!" Yuan Shao turned around and looked at the house that he had bestowed to Guo Tu hundreds of steps away. He furiously waved his hand and said, "Yuan Cai, go and capture Guo Tu personally. Oh right, take care of his family. Don't let even one of them get away! "

"Here!" Gao Qian bowed and accepted the order, then led the hundred over men to swiftly rush over.

Yuan Shao's eyes burned with rage as he stared at the door of Guo Tu's residence, veins on his forehead as he panted heavily. When he thought of how he had given Guo Tu all his trust and preferential treatment in exchange for betrayal, he wanted to personally tear Guo Tu's corpse into pieces.

Ju Shou sighed inwardly, and said in a low voice: "I ask that you please hold your anger for a while, this subordinate still has things to report."

Yuan Shao said angrily: "What bad news do you have now?"

'It seems like the lord has lost his mind from anger. This is not a good thing! ' Ju Shou sighed in his heart, bowed and said respectfully: "Master, it is not bad news! This subordinate would like to request Master to abandon the city and bring the army to the Henei County to meet up with the Envoy Cao.

"Break through?" Hearing that, Yuan Shao was furious, he pointed at Ju Shou and bellowed: "Do you also want to learn from Guo Gongze? This old man will lead your troops and break through the encirclement, and you will be joining the Old Bastard Gongsun at the right time? "

"My lord!" Ju Shou kneeled on the ground with a plop, and cried miserably: "The people in the city are currently in a state of chaos, there are a large number of people who detest their masters, and there are also many unscrupulous people in the army waiting for an opportunity. There are also spies spying on them, and they could cause another commotion at any time, and they will no longer be able to defend the city with their lives! As the saying goes, leaving mountains and burning firewood is not a problem. Our master's main army did not suffer too much damage, so breaking through should not be difficult. Only by joining with the Envoy Cao's army, would we have a chance to fight back! [What I said from the bottom of my heart... I didn't have any ill intentions!] If you suspect that your subordinate has ulterior motives, please give me a death order. I will not complain, I only hope that you can order me to break out of the encirclement as soon as possible! "

"Get up!" Yuan Shao let out a long sigh, extended his hand to help Ju Shou up, and comforted him softly. It was just a moment of anger just now, please forgive me Gong Yu! "

Ju Shou cupped his hands in gratitude: "Thank you, my lord, for your magnanimity! "My lord, your subordinate sent many people last night to secretly inquire about the situation, but the news they received was not optimistic!" "Now that the people in the city have turned against us, it is too dangerous for our lord to stay here!"

Yuan Shao sighed to the sky: "This old man came from the fourth generation and third generation's house, yet relied on his own hard work to obtain a place to stay. After entering the Jizhou, I did not punish too harshly the commoners, why did I end up in such a situation?"

The corner of Ju Shou's mouth moved a little, but he did not say anything at the beginning. In recent months, in order to cope with the combined army of Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yan, Ju Shou had already collected taxes several times, which had already caused the people to resent him a lot. did not know about this, but the people who lost their properties did not care about it, and only knew that Mrs Liu was Yuan Shao's wife, so all of their actions were definitely Yuan Shao's doing, and thought that Yuan Shao was the culprit! It was just that there was no external pressure previously, so they did not say anything. Now that they were surrounded by Gongsun Zan's army, they took the chance to create trouble for him.

Ju Shou was sure that the reason for last night's chaos was not only because of the spy's enticement, but also because those people had added fuel to the fire. If it weren't for Gao Qian leading his men to suppress the enemies in time, who knows how the chaos would have ended up like in the end!

Yuan Shao was obviously not prepared to hear the answer from Ju Shou either. He said in a deep voice, "Gong Yu is completely loyal, and this old man is very pleased. However, the matter of breaking through the encirclement is of great importance, so this old man is prepared to gather everyone for a discussion before making a decision! "

Ju Shou sighed in his heart, he knew that Yuan Shao's indecisive personality was back to normal, if he continued to persuade her, it would be a waste of time, so he unwillingly nodded his head.

Just then, Gao Gan walked over with Guo Tu in tow. Upon seeing Yuan Shao, Guo Tu threw himself forward and kneeled on the ground, then cried loudly: "My lord, it is unjustly accused! I have no intention to betray you! This subordinate did indeed had someone send a letter outside the city last night, but the letter definitely did not mention anything that should not have been said. Furthermore, the letter was not sent to Old Bastard Gongsun, but to Tian Feng! Master should know that this subordinate is obsessed with the path of metal, and upon seeing the famous Jizhou Cauldron, I was unable to suppress my curiosity for a moment, and had other thoughts as well. Thus, I sent a private letter to Tian Feng, requesting his help in imprinting the pattern on the Jizhou Cauldron! "

"Hehe." Yuan Shao was so angry that he laughed instead. He kicked Guo Tu over and shouted, "How dare you say such a ridiculous explanation! Do you think I am a three year old child? "

Guo Tu crawled up and kneeled on the ground, then kowtowed again and again: "This subordinate's words are the truth, please enlighten me! "By the way, master, please look at this and you will know that your subordinate has not lied!" As he spoke, he reached into his bosom, seemingly intending to take something out.

"Guo Tu, what are you planning to do?" Gao Qian shouted as he pulled out his blade and placed it on Guo Tu's neck.

Guo Tu felt the cold weapon around his neck, and immediately shouted: "General Gao! General Gao, please calm down! I just took out a few pieces of paper. "

"How many pieces of paper?" Gao Qian was startled, and raised his head to look at Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao waved his hand, gesturing for Guo Tu to take it out and take a look.

"Thank you, my lord, for giving this subordinate a chance to defend himself!" "Master is open-minded, no one can compare to you!" Guo Tu habitually flattered a little, then took out a few rolls of paper from his bosom and handed them over to Yuan Shao respectfully.

Yuan Shao did not accept it, but nodded to Ju Shou instead.

Ju Shou went forward and took the papers, and slowly opened them in front of Yuan Shao's eyes.

Yuan Shao looked at the picture on the paper, and could not help but be startled, and asked in shock: "Isn't this the Jizhou Cauldron?"

Guo Tu smiled obsequiously: "Master is truly enlightened, it is precisely the Jizhou Cauldron!"

"Why are you drawing this?" Yuan Shao asked, puzzled.

"My lord, yesterday, this subordinate saw the Old Bastard Gongsun proudly showing off the Jizhou Cauldron, immediately becoming filled with righteous indignation, and wanted to pounce over and snatch the cauldron back to present to my lord! Unfortunately, I can only think about it. This subordinate really doesn't have that capability! After this subordinate came back, I thought about it and felt that the Jizhou Cauldron would definitely be able to raise my prestige greatly. If master also had the Nine Prefectures Cauldron, this subordinate would have used my memories to draw out the appearance of the cauldron and then sent a letter to Tian Feng last night. If he could help me make a copy of the pattern on the Nine Prefectures Cauldron, this subordinate would have been able to make a few of the Nine Prefectures Cauldrons Cauldron. At that time, what face does the Old Bastard Gongsun have to show off in front of Master? "

Guo Tu's words were spoken with deep emotion, and the expression on his face kept changing. Anger, guilt, and grievance continuously appeared, and no matter how one looked at it, he was a loyal and devoted good subordinate.

"Is that true?" Yuan Shao was still half believing and half doubting, he shook the paper in his hand and looked at the Jizhou Cauldron painted on it with suspicion.

Guo Tu wiped away his tears, raised his right palm and solemnly said: "This subordinate swears to the heavens, if there is even a single lie, let me die randomly from having my arrow pierced through my heart, after I die, I will never be able to return from the eighteen levels of hell!"

Hearing this, Yuan Shao's expression immediately eased up. No one would dare to so easily speak out such a venomous oath, it seemed like Guo Tu had been wrongly accused! He was so close to Guo Tu, and Guo Tu had always been so loyal to him, she had never interacted with the Old Bastard Gongsun before.

How could Ju Shou let him go just like that? He cupped his hands and said gratefully: "My lord, Guo Gongze is good with words and commands, his flowery words are definitely not trustworthy! I humbly request that Master personally interrogate his butler so that he can expose Guo Gongze's true colors! "

"Ju Gong Yu!" Guo Tu screamed: "What hatred do you and I have for each other? You want to frame me like this?"

Ju Shou sneered: "This old man and you do not have any personal grudges, all of my actions are out of loyalty to Master!"

"Bah!" Guo Tu said angrily: "Don't think that this old man doesn't know what you are thinking. You have always wanted eldest young master to inherit his inheritance in a hundred years time, while this old man, Zhong Zhi and George have always been thinking about Third Young Master who has already revealed his abilities. "My lord, you have seen through everything, how could you be fooled by such underhanded tricks!"

Yuan Shao had always wanted Yuan Shang to inherit his foundation in the future, so everyone knew about this. However, Yuan Tan was the eldest son, and the upright and straightforward Ju Shou had always been against crippling his own family, while Guo Tu and the Xin brothers had always strongly supported Yuan Shang. They had always been able to compromise on other things, but on this matter, they were as incompatible as fire and water.

Yuan Shao was also aware of this matter, so after hearing Guo Tu's words, he could not help but suspect Ju Shou a little. But Ju Shou had always been a loyal and straightforward person, logically speaking, he wouldn't use such methods to suppress Guo Tu right! Yuan Shao thought left and right, but couldn't come to a decision. His mind was in a mess, and he didn't know what to do.

Seeing that, Ju Shou could once again sigh in his heart. Usually, Yuan Shao was still a wise master, but every time he was in a critical moment, he would be indecisive, Guo Tu was obviously using his words to deceive Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao was as if he was captivated. The soul. It was as if he was half believing and half doubting! At this time, Ju Shou could not help but feel disheartened, and could not help but regret joining Yuan Shao's army.

Seeing that the atmosphere was too weird, Gao Qian stepped forward to smooth things over, "Uncle, why don't we temporarily put Mr. Guo in jail and wait for Uncle to figure out the truth before deciding?"

Yuan Shao let out a light breath and nodded: "Yuan Cai is right, let's do it this way. When I return, bring Guo Tu's butler here, this old man will personally inquire! "

Guo Tu was ecstatic, he kowtowed and sobbed: Thank you for not killing me, this subordinate is definitely innocent, I hope that you will understand everything, and do not be bewitched by this lowly one!

Yuan Shao's heart was agitated, he waved his hand and shouted: "Enough, enough, enough! Hurry and take him away! "

Guo Tu quickly crawled up, and when he turned around, he glared at Ju Shou fiercely.

Ju Shou coldly snorted, feeling extremely infuriated in his heart.

Gao Qian brought a few people with him as they escorted Guo Tu towards the prison of prefectural governor's mansion.

Yuan Shao waited until Gao Qian and Guo Tu were far away, and then whispered to Ju Shou: "Gong Yu, this old man actually knows that Guo Gongze is not speaking the truth, it's just that in the face of a great enemy, if this old man relied on only one side of his words to decisively punish Guo Gongze, it would definitely cause a lot of panic, and at that time, the situation would become unmanageable! If it was said that I was guarding this place with my life, I would have killed Guo Gongze earlier.

Ju Shou was startled, and then he exclaimed: "Master agreed to break out of the encirclement?"

Yuan Shao nodded, his gaze sweeping around, and sighed: "Just as you said, this Qinghe County City seems to be unable to hold on, why not break out of the encirclement earlier!"

Ju Shou heaved a sigh of relief and asked anxiously: "Master, when are you preparing to give the order to break out of the encirclement?"

"About this …" Yuan Shao hesitated for a moment before forcing a smile, "There's no rush. Come, let's go to the top of the city and take a look, Old Bastard Gongsun will definitely continue his siege today. "

Ju Shou heaved a sigh of relief and quickly followed.