When Li Yang was lost, Yuan Tan led dozens of defeated cavalry soldiers to flee to Yecheng in a panic under Cao Cao's intentional release.

After barely crossing Baigou, they found Yuan Shang's defeated by Cao Cao in Dangyin. At this time, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan were both defeated generals. When they met, they couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and humiliated.

Now that Li Yang, who was stationed by Yuan Tan, has been lost, he has no place to live, and he has to complacently support Yuan Shang:

"Third brother..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Yuan Tan realized that the usual name Yuan Shang seemed to be inappropriate. After gritting his teeth and clenching, he endured the strong humiliation and lowered his tone:

"Lord, now Li Yang has obtained it for Cao Cao. We need to work together to defend the enemy to preserve the land of Hebei."

Yuan Shang heard Yuan Tan's idea of ​​returning to Yecheng. He didn't want to agree, but he saw Shen Pei winked at him and suggested that he agreed to Yuan Tan's request. Although Yuan Shang, who relied on Shen Pei on weekdays, he still slowed down his tone to Yuan Tan:

"Brother, we were brothers of blood and bones. Now that the enemy is in front of us, we should share the same hatred against the enemy and resist the Cao thief. In the future, my strength will be further enhanced with your help. I believe that Cao Cao will feel timid when he sees our brothers abandoning their past grudges."

When Yuan Shang spoke in the tone of treating Yuan Tan as a minister, Guo Tu and Xin Ping behind Yuan Tan were dissatisfied, but for the sake of the situation, they had to bury their emotions in their hearts.

Soon the news that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang joined hands to return to Yecheng reached Xudu, and the court officials were shocked. Many people were worried that the Yuan brothers would work together and the morale of Hebei would be well gathered, which would be greatly detrimental to the court's future conquest of Yuan.

For this reason, many ministers privately complained that Cao Cao should not deliberately let Yuan Tan go, which led to endless troubles.

On the contrary, Cao Cao didn't care about such concerns at all, and explained to Liu Xie in the court:

"Report to Your Majesty, the reason why I did this is that the rift between the Yuan brothers is not as shallow as the court officials see. On the contrary, this rift has been deeply stinging in the hands of Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. They both wanted to kill each other. The tighter they held their hands, the deeper the damage they hurt each other and the deeper the struggle. Therefore, I deliberately let Yuan Tan go to Yuan Shang's side."

After hearing Cao Cao's words, Liu Xie nodded slightly: "Your dear is very much, please let go as soon as possible, I support you."

After obtaining Liu Xie's permission, the ministers who were already afraid of Cao Cao's power no longer dared to say anything.

After the scattering court, Cao Cao received a letter from Xiahou Yuan from Chenggao. After reading it, Cao Cao smiled slightly and threw the bamboo slips aside. Seeing this, Cao Hong bent down and picked up the bamboo slips and looked at them. He found that the content reported by Xiahou Yuan said that Sima Yi was indeed infected with wind numbness and could not take care of himself and needed someone to take care of him.

"Zi Lian, you can rest assured now..."

Cao Cao's words meant to blame Cao Hong for harming the wise. Cao Hong hurriedly bent down and apologized and said:

"Brother, although I blame Sima Yi for your mistake, the starting point is for your own good. Please don't blame me."

Seeing that Cao Hong was frightened by his words, Cao Cao reached out and raised Cao Hong's arm and smiled:

"Miaocai is our brother. He will definitely not shelter Sima Yi. That's all for Sima Yi."

Three days later, Guo Jia and Xiahou Yuan returned to Xudu to report, and Cao Cao was eager to seize Hebei and asked Guo Jia about his plan.

Guo Jia pondered for a moment and replied: "I originally wanted to wait until the previous conflict between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang is irreconcilable before asking you to send troops. Since you have no patience to wait, you are not helpless."

"Oh? What kind of tricks does Guo Jia have? Let me tell you quickly!"

Cao Cao, who could not wait, saw that Guo Jia had made some progress in his words, so he quickly asked.

"The year is approaching, and soldiers outside miss their hometowns. Cao Gong can order the soldiers guarding Liyang City to return home to reunite with their wives and children."

Cao Hong, who was standing beside him, felt very inappropriate: "Sir, we finally captured Li Yang and opened the door to Jizhou. If we withdraw troops at this time, Yuan Tan will definitely lead our troops to retake him. Wouldn't we be in vain?"

At first, Cao Cao was difficult to understand when he heard Guo Jia's words, but soon he realized what Guo Jia meant, and then laughed:

"A clever plan. Yuan Shang finally controlled Yuan Tan in his hands. How could he let him occupy the city and add risks to himself? Yuan Tan will definitely be angry and upset to attack Yuan Shang. We will have a good show..."

Cao Cao's words also made Cao Hong understand Guo Jia's intention, but he still felt a little worried:

"Even if Yuan Shang controls Yuan Tan and refuses to counterattack Li Yang, what if Yuan Shang sends troops to seize it on his own?"

Cao Cao patted Cao Hong on the shoulder and smiled, "Zi Lian, have you forgotten how miserable you set up an ambush in Baigou and defeated Yuan Shang's troops? Yuan Shang is a man who doesn't know much about military tactics. After that great defeat, he was also surprised why we suddenly withdrew our troops. Even if we open the city gates and welcome him in line, he doesn't have the courage to take Li Yang..."

Although Yuan Tan received good treatment from Yuan Shang since he returned to Yecheng, he felt deeply saddened by Li Yang's defeat. He thought about counterattacking Li Yang day and night that all his troops were arranged by Yuan Shang in the outer city. He was alone in Yecheng and was no different from the hostages. For this reason, he was often angry, because the banquet between Guo Tu and others showed that Yuan Tan was inconsistent and complained.

At this moment, Guo Tu hurried over and said to Yuan Tan:

"Young Master, good news. The spies I deployed in Liyang City have reported secret reports. Because the soldiers of the year are approaching, Cao Cao has already asked all the soldiers stationed in Liyang to retreat. Now Liyang is an empty city. If we pursue it at this time, we might be able to hit the back. The shame of the fall of Qingzhou and the hatred of the breaking of Liyang City."

After hearing this, Yuan Tan thought that the opportunity had finally come, so he quickly asked Yuan Shang to send more troops to help him regain Li Yang.

However, Yuan Shang expressed doubts about Yuan Tan and Cao Cao's motives. As Guo Jia and Cao Cao expected, Yuan Shang doubted whether Cao Cao really retreated, and he also had doubts about Yuan Tan's request for more troops and grain to leave Yecheng at this moment.

Yuan Shang repeatedly rejected Yuan Tan's request for troops for various reasons, which made Yuan Tan furious.

At this time, Guo Tu and Xin Ping, who were unwilling to become subordinates of Shenwei, took this opportunity to suggest to Yuan Tan:

"Yuan Shang has never believed you. This position should be yours. He was the one who tampered with the intention of the first lord and appointed Yuan Shang. If this continues, we may die in Yecheng sooner or later."

In the end, he led Xingye to take Guo Tu and Xin Ping escaped from Yecheng and headed straight to the suburbs. Due to the hasty action, he did not have time to notify Xin Pi who was serving him.

After learning that Yuan Tan had fled, Yuan Shang was furious. He heard that Xin Pi, who was loyal to Yuan Tan, was still in the city, immediately ordered the soldiers to hunt him down. However, he had long seen that Yuan Shang, Xin Pi, who Yuan Tan had to fight for a long time, left Yecheng before Yuan Tan escaped.

After reaching his military camp safely, Yuan Tan immediately raised the banner of attacking Yuan Shang and sent troops to directly attack Yecheng.

Guo Tu charged Yuan Shang with the crime of killing his father and usurping the throne of the crown prince, and encouraged Yuan Tan to issue a call to the high-ranking officials of Bingzhou and Yuan Xi of Youzhou to fight against the thieves. Yuan Tan, who thought he would get a response from everyone, did not expect that although the high-ranking officials agreed to Yuan Tan's willingness to send troops to help, Yuan Tan, who had attacked Yecheng for several days, could not wait for the high-ranking officials' men.

Bad news followed one after another. Yuan Xi, who supported Yuan Tan when Yuan Shao was alive, not only did not agree to Yuan Tan's request to lead his troops south to attack Jizhou, but instead wrote to Yuan Tan to persuade him to stop his troops and put the overall situation first. He must not fight his brothers in internal struggles, so that Cao Cao could take advantage of the opportunity.

The suggestion of putting the overall situation first was not adopted by Yuan Tan, who was blinded. What's more, the soldiers and horses from all over Jizhou had already come to attack Yuan Tan under the order of Yuan Shang. Yuan Tan, who suffered heavy losses and was futile, finally had to withdraw his troops and was chased by Yuan Shang to Nanpi in Bohai County.

Just when the Yuan brothers were in full swing, Liu Bei, who had been defeated by Cao Cao personally, refused to surrender and fled to the territory of Liu Biao in Jingzhou. Liu Biao weighed the pros and consequently decided to take Liu Bei in and greet him outside the city himself.

After the Battle of Guandu, Liu Bei strongly urged Liu Biao to send troops to the northern expedition before Cao Cao's vitality was restored. Liu Biao finally gave Liu Bei thousands of troops to go to Ye County to fight the front station first, and he would then lead the army as the back.

However, when Liu Bei led his army to Ye County, the army was approaching Kunyang, Liu Biao's army was not delayed. Not only that, Liu Bei personally led a large army to conquer Ye County. Liu Bei, who was short of troops, adopted the suggestion of military advisor Xu Shu to pseudo retreat and set up an ambush, intending to lure Xiahou Dun. As a result, Xiahou Dun insisted on sending troops and leading the vanguard to chase after him despite the dissuasion of Li Dian and others. He was eventually defeated by Liu Bei because Li Dian led his army to retreat in a hurry.

Soon, Xiahou Dun, who was dissatisfied, apologized to Cao Cao and asked for advice on how to defeat Liu Bei. At this time, Cao Cao, who was discussing with Guo Jia and others to guide Hebei, entrusted the "Eight Gate Golden Lock Array Map" he had studied to hand over to Xiahou Dun.

Before he could thoroughly study the "Eight Gate Golden Lock Formation", Xiahou Dun sent troops to conquer Ye County again. However, Xu Shu saw through someone's guidance that the formation set by Xiahou Dun was not complete. It seemed indestructible, but it was full of loopholes. So he ordered Zhao Yun to lead a capable man to go straight to Shengmen to cause chaos in the formation of Cao's army. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei took the opportunity to attack his wings and defeat Xiahou Dun in one fell swoop.

Liu Bei's impressive record of winning with less and more made all the officials in Jingzhou sigh. Gradually, Liu Bei's popularity in Jingzhou became higher and higher, which aroused Liu Biao's vigilance and naturally became more alert to Liu Bei and no longer entrusted with important tasks.

Until Cao Cao raised an army to attack Li Yang, Liu Bei once again suggested that Liu Biao should not miss the opportunity, claiming that he was willing to take Xu Du directly to Xiangyang for the vanguard. Although Liu Bei's plan to send troops impressed Liu Biao, Liu Biao refused because Liu Bei might make greater military achievements and endanger his status.

Xu Shu, who was giving advice to Liu Bei, was very worried about Liu Bei's situation. He saw that Liu Bei's appearance was lenient and actually speculative mentality, and was afraid that Liu Bei would be harmed by him in the future, so he went to Zhonglu to ask Sima Hui for advice.

At this time, Sima Hui refused to win over the officials of Liu Biao in Jingzhou and Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu, and lived in the mountains and rivers with Pang Degong, Huang Chengyan and others to discuss the world. When Xu Shu visited, Sima Hui happened to be Sima Hui. Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan were holding a tea party in the courtyard of Huang Chengyan's house. When Xu Shu happened to come, he invited him to sit together.

"The last time you came to ask about the enemy's plan for the 'Eight Gate Golden Lock Formation', it's been a while since."

Sima Hui picked up the teacup and looked at Xu Shu: "I wonder if Yuan Zhi is coming here this time?"

Xu Shu didn't go around in circles and asked straight to the point:

"At this moment, Cao Cao's focus is on Hebei. My lord Xuandegong wanted to persuade Liu Biao to send troops north and attack Xu Du and take back the emperor. However, Liu Biao was polite to the lord and respected him very much, but in fact he only placed him in Xinye small city, but in fact he treated him with cold treatment. As the lord of a state, he defeated the ambition of a swan with unreasonable suspicion. He is really a mediocre master..."

After saying that, Xu Shu realized that Liu Biao's brother-in-law Huang Chengyan was sitting opposite him, and he realized that he had made a mistake:

"Yuan Zhi has always been straightforward, please don't be surprised by Mr. Huang."

Huang Chengyan laughed at Xu Shu’s remarks about Liu Biao:

"What Yuan Zhi said is not false, there is no need to worry about it. It's just that you can see through Liu Biao, but you may not be able to see through Liu Bei."

Before Xu Shu could ask Huang Chengyan in detail what the meaning of his words was, such a voice came from the room:

"Liu Jingsheng has the intention to drive away the tiger, so how could Liu Xuande not have the intention to swallow the wolf?"

Xu Shu heard this person's voice very familiar, and his listening voice was about the same age as him. When he came to ask for advice and broke the formation last time, it was this person who sat in the main hall with a straw curtain to block his figure and refused to show his true face, but he said the key to the "Eight Gate Golden Lock Formation". Now he spoke again, which completely aroused Xu Shu's curiosity about him. He looked at the blurry figure blocked by the door curtain and asked:

"Your words are shocking opinions. I don't know why you don't show them to others in your true face?"

Seeing this, Huang Chengyan explained: "This is Xiao Xu. He is inconvenient in his legs and feet and rarely goes out. Please don't blame Yuan Zhi."

“So that’s what it is…”

Xu Shu originally wanted to go into the house and reveal the true face of this person, but considering that this is Huang Chengyan's home, he did not dare to act rashly. He raised his hand and bowed to the man in the house and asked, "Since this is the case, I don't know what kind of high opinions you have?"

The man in the room replied: "Xu Yuan is directly ranked among the "Eight Scholars of Yingchuan" and enjoys the reputation of "Six Swords". What you have pondered for a long time is to urge Liu Biao to send troops to attack Xu Du in lightning. Even if you can't imagine, you don't have to waste your time. Liu Biao's suspicion for Liu Bei has penetrated into his bones. It is impossible to follow Liu Bei's advice and go to war with Cao Cao rashly."

Just when Xu Shu wanted to refute, the man in the room added: "But there is no way. Now Cao Cao and Yuan are confronting each other on both sides of the Yellow River. You can ask Liu Bei to suggest that Liu Biao reconcile the conflict between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. If the Yuan brothers work together, Cao Cao will definitely be seriously injured. Cao Cao's horror after the Battle of Guandu has forced Liu Biao to pay attention. In this way, even if Liu Biao has no ambitions, he will not miss this opportunity and will definitely form an alliance with the Yuan brothers."

Xu Shu nodded frequently as he listened to the man's words, and he already felt a little admiration in his heart:

"Thank you for your advice. Yuan Zhi will definitely come to ask for advice in person in the future."

After Xu Shu left, Pang Degong looked into the house and smiled, "This method is really feasible?"

The man picked up the teacup on the table and gently pressed it under his lips: "It would be feasible if the Yuan brothers were really willing to obey Liu Biao's harmony. Unfortunately, they could not work together. It would be a matter of time before Hebei earned Cao Cao."

Gong Pang De asked again: "Since that's the case, why do you have to use this strategy to Yuanzhi?"
Chapter completed!