Chapter 71: The Struggle Between Humble Clans and Aristocratic Houses: The Two Yuans Unite

Luoyang.

The atmosphere was incredibly serious.

Liu Dai sat upon the dragon throne, staring at the sharp-eyed ministers, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"My loyal ministers. I. I."

His voice trembled slightly, as if he wanted to say something but could not utter a word.

"Your Majesty."

Yuan Kui stood at the head of the ministers, his gaze deep as a abyss, fixed on Liu Dai: "The Imperial Seal is Heaven's gift."

"To this day, rumors spread across the land."

"Will you still not tell us the truth?"

Yuan Kui was truly furious; originally, they had not understood why Gu Chen had so easily abandoned Luoyang.

Now, the answer was clear.

Seeing Liu Dai's condition, how could the ministers not know the Imperial Seal was lost?

And who among them would dare touch the Imperial Seal? Did they need to think?

Only Gu Chen!

He is a man who dared kill the Empress Dowager.

To steal the so-called Imperial Seal is but natural to him.

Hearing this, Liu Dai's body instantly collapsed, slumping down, his face filled with despair.

"My loyal ministers."

"I"

The ministers watched Liu Dai with cold indifference, their contempt growing thicker.

"Your Majesty," Yuan Kui cut Liu Dai off directly, "the only course now is for you to proclaim to the realm, to quell the rumors."

"Tell the people the Imperial Seal has not been lost."

"You remain the Emperor who inherited Heaven's Mandate."

For everyone in the court, this rumor must be suppressed.

Though the moral standards of today's Han have sunk far below those of the past, they have not yet sunk to the point where no one cares about reputation.

This is the Emperor they supported!

How can an Emperor not blessed by Heaven's Mandate bring peace to the realm?

Liu Dai stared blankly at them, his expression broken, yet unable to speak a word.

His spirit and vigor were utterly drained; even the dignity he once held as Governor of Yan Province was gone.

Before these men,

he had begun to feel fear.

Without his Emperor's approval, the edict proclaiming the truth spread instantly to all four corners.

But in this moment, what use was such an edict?

Rumors could not be silenced by any mere proclamation.

Unless the world truly improved.

Otherwise, the claim that he had not inherited Heaven's Mandate could never be fully dispelled.

Qingzhou.

Lu Zhi would not let this opportunity slip.

Though he did not know whether the rumor was true.

He still acted at once.

—In the fourth year of Han Xing, third month.

He held a grand sacrificial ceremony, publicly denouncing the crimes of the Yuan clan, calling upon all Han ministers to unite and punish them!

The news spread rapidly.

Most crucially—Liu Bei had already arrived in Qingzhou.

With this so-called Han royal relative present, the sacrificial ceremony gained far greater legitimacy.

Rumors erupted, spreading faster than ever before.

Under these circumstances,

—finally, Ding Yuan mobilized his troops from Bingzhou!

Three forces now marched against Jizhou.

The battlefield shifted instantly!

—As Liu Bei arrived in Qingzhou, Lu Zhi gained a mighty wing; Gao Lan and Zhang He could no longer hold out.

Less than a month after the sacrifice,

they were decisively defeated by Lu Zhi at Jinan.

Jinan Commandery fell; the two were forced to retreat to Pingyuan.

At the same time, Ding Yuan mobilized from Shangdang, advancing toward the heart of Jizhou—Wei Jun!

This sudden turn of events shattered Yuan Shao's original battle plan.

Wei Jun lay at the heart of Jizhou.

Ye City was Yuan Shao's designated capital.

He could never allow Ding Yuan to breach Wei Jun.

In desperation, Yuan Shao personally led his army back to Wei Jun to resist Ding Yuan, entrusting the entire Zhongshan front to Chunyu Qiong.

The battle, which had been going relatively smoothly, immediately grew tense.

Ye City.

Yuan Shao's expression was unusually serious.

"Good! Good!"

"What a Gu clan! What a Gu Ziyan!"

"To use such tactics, to bring me to this state!"

His tone was filled with rage.

By now, how could he not understand the cause and effect of all this?

Gu Chen was plotting against them!

He took the Imperial Seal, then struck at the critical moment!

"My Lord, you have treated the Gu clan so well, yet this Gu Ziyan still betrays you in secret—why not first massacre the Julu Gu clan and force Gu Ziyan to hand over the Imperial Seal?"

Yan Liang spoke at once, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.

"Indeed!" Wen Chou also nodded, "When you first came to Jizhou, your very first act was to sacrifice to the Gu clan's ancestors—you gave them face."

"To this day, we have never wronged them."

"How dare this Gu Ziyan forget his debt and betray us?"

Forget his debt and betray us?

Yuan Shao's expression grew even darker; he looked at his trusted generals, his lips twitching as if to roar—but he said nothing.

"No."

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "If we move against the Gu clan now, my position as Lord of Jizhou will be over."

Anger aside, Yuan Shao remained extremely calm.

Moving against the Gu clan was impossible.

He needed to resolve the current crisis.

"Send messengers to Yanzhou immediately—no matter what, we must make Meng De launch an attack on Qingzhou to aid me in breaking the enemy."

He swiftly made arrangements, his gaze growing deeper. "Also send word to Yangzhou—tell Gonglu, this is no time for brotherly squabbles."

Lu Zhi has proclaimed the crimes of the Yuan clan.

Whether it is Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu, neither can escape blame.

Yuan Shao remained remarkably calm at this moment.

Though he disliked Yuan Shu.

But at this juncture, the best solution is for the two brothers to unite and break the deadlock.

As for the lost face—what does it matter?

"My Lord, your wisdom is profound!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Feng and the others immediately bowed deeply to Yuan Shao.

They truly admired Yuan Shao's character.

He did not cling to trifles in times of great crisis.

In this situation, if they still cared about so-called face, they would have no chance of survival.

Yuan Shao paid no heed to their flattery, but turned again to the defense of Wei Jun.

He intended to meet Ding Yuan head-on!

No matter what, he could not let the battle drag on any longer.

Even if Jizhou was strong, it could not withstand prolonged warfare on three fronts simultaneously.

He must break the deadlock first!

This was also one of Yuan Shao's key reasons for returning to Ye City.

Ding Yuan had only seized two commanderies of Bingzhou—he was the weakest on paper among the three forces.

If we break one force first,

Yuan Shao did not believe the troops of Qingzhou and Youzhou would remain unaffected!

Yuan Shao had prepared thoroughly for this battle.

His trusted generals were nearly all at his side, all aiming to crush Ding Yuan in one decisive strike and tear open a breach.

——Han Xing Year Four, late April.

Yuan Shao personally led forty thousand troops to the border of Wei Jun and clashed with Ding Yuan.

Ding Yuan's strength was indeed weak; his troops now numbered fewer than twenty thousand.

Logically, he had no chance of victory.

Yet under these very conditions, he utterly shattered Yuan Shao's army at the border.

His general, Lu Bu, was like a god of slaughter, rampaging across the battlefield, venting his fury.

Yan Liang, Wen Chou, even Qu Yi—all Yuan Shao's trusted generals—could not stand against him for a single blow.

Several generals attacked him together, yet he broke through them and even killed two!

This act completely shattered Yuan Shao's morale.

With no choice, Yuan Shao shifted from offense to defense—the situation grew even more dire.

Yanzhou.

Cao Cao received the news immediately and met the envoy sent by Yuan Shao.

Compared to before, this envoy was far more respectful toward him—even bringing gifts.

They wanted Cao Cao to launch troops immediately and attack Qingzhou.

"Rest assured, envoy; carry my message to Brother Benchu."

"Cao Cao will surely aid the court in crushing the rebels!"

Cao Cao smiled broadly, his demeanor unchanged from before, and immediately agreed to the matter.

"If so, then this humble servant thanks Lord Cao."

The envoy was equally delighted, quickly bowed to Cao Cao, then slowly walked out of the hall.

"My lord, in this campaign against Qingzhou, I volunteer as vanguard!"

As soon as the envoy stepped out of the hall, Xiahou Yuan rose at once to request battle!

Seeing this, the officers in the hall all began speaking up.

Cao Cao's smile gradually faded; he looked at the officers and waved his hand, silencing them all, then said slowly: "When did I say I would attack Qingzhou?"

At these words, the hall fell instantly silent.

All the officers stared at Cao Cao, stunned and bewildered.

Didn't he just say he'd aid the court in crushing the rebels?

Then why not attack Qingzhou?

Over this long period, many under Cao Cao had assumed they were allied with Yuan Shao.

Hearing this now, they were naturally bewildered.

"Gentlemen, generals."

At that moment, a refined and gentle voice spoke: "Our lord said he would aid the court in crushing the rebels."

"But he never promised to aid Yuan Shao."

Everyone immediately turned to look—the speaker was a man with a slightly pale complexion.

—Xi Zhicai!

"Exactly!" Cao Cao's face broke into a smile again.

Seeing the bewildered expressions of the officers, he laughed twice more, then said: "My Cao clan are loyal ministers of the Han!"

"Now all under heaven say the false emperor holds no mandate of heaven, and the Yuan clan helped him ascend the throne."

"How could I aid such rebels?"

Cao Cao's face turned stern and righteous; he suddenly stood up: "Issue my order: prepare the entire army—I lead us to attack Jizhou!"

Jizhou was a piece of rich land no one did not desire.

Already, the three-way assault on Jizhou had drawn Yuan Shao into peril.

If I now join in, defeat becomes impossible.

Cao Cao had long planned everything.

For a man like Yuan Shao,

either do not strike at all—or strike at his vital point, one blow to kill!

—Han Xing Year Four, sixth month.

Cao Cao finally moved his troops.

But the direction of his advance surprised everyone.

Spies from all sides swiftly carried the news back.

In an instant, an invisible gloom settled over Jizhou.

Attack Jizhou?

At this moment, could he possibly be going to aid Yuan Shao?

Yuan Shao had never anticipated this turn of events.

In his mind, Cao Cao had always been the younger brother who followed him—how could he suddenly betray him?

But what could he do now?

This was an enemy from all four sides!

Youzhou, Bingzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou.

Jizhou was now surrounded on all sides by these forces.

Even if Jizhou were mighty, how could it possibly withstand this?

But at this very moment, Sun Jian broke into Yuzhou's Liang Kingdom, under Yuan Shu's orders, his spear aimed at Chen Liu and Jiyin in Yanzhou.

The situation changed again!

Yuan Shu's move directly blocked Cao Cao's ambition to move against Jizhou.

The two Yuans had allied!

No matter how deep their rift, under this situation they had no choice but to unite.

How could he watch Yuan Shao perish under such circumstances?

Lu Zhi had proclaimed the Yuan clan's crimes, placing the entire Yuan family squarely in the open.

If Yuan Shao perished, what awaited him next would be a coalition of four directions attacking him.

Yuan Shu was arrogant, but not to this extreme.

For Yuan Shu, this was a question with no choice—even if his heart burned with resentment, he had no option but to act this way.

Across the entire Central Plains, a great chaos erupted, centered on the six provinces: Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Bingzhou, Yuzhou, and Youzhou.

The so-called court had become a complete laughingstock.

It did not surprise Gu Yi.

This chaos had become a great struggle between aristocratic clans and commoner families—a class conflict descending prematurely upon the land of Huaxia.

What would this bring to all of Huaxia?

Gu Yi currently has no way of knowing.

But clearly, given the current political situation, a great upheaval will surely occur throughout Huaxia!

Within Ye City.

When Yuan Shao heard this news, he immediately stood up, and his eyes once again sparkled with light.

He had been demoralized for several days.

The attacks from all sides had left him seeing no path to survival.

People are always like this.

When matters have sunk to utter despair, even a glimmer of hope can bring unimaginable encouragement to one's spirit.

The ministers were no different.

They quickly began a round of discussion.

Tian Feng stood up first and bowed deeply to Yuan Shao.

"My Lord, at this moment, we must summon troops from all quarters to first crush Ding Yuan and relieve the siege of Wei Jun!"

Regardless of cost, we must first ease the battlefield situation in Wei Jun—even abandoning Pingyuan and Zhongshan prefectures is acceptable.

This was universally regarded as the only solution.

If we continue along this path, only defeat and destruction await us.

"Abandon Zhongshan, Pingyuan."

Yuan Shao murmured softly to himself, his mind flooded with thoughts as he fell into deep contemplation.

But just then.

Xu You's voice suddenly rang out.

"My Lord, I have a strategy."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao immediately turned to Xu You: "Zi Yuan, what is your plan?"

"My Lord."

Xu You rose slowly, bowed respectfully to Yuan Shao, and said earnestly: "In recent days, I have heard that Lu Bu has repeatedly complained in drunkenness that his talents have gone unused."

"My Lord, you are well aware of Lu Bu's valor."

"If My Lord can offer him high rank and generous salary to turn Lu Bu against Ding Yuan's forces—"

"How could they possibly stand against My Lord?"

In an instant, Yuan Shao's eyebrows shot up sharply.

He stared at Xu You, stunned.

His expression at that moment was extraordinarily vivid.

In his mind, the image of Lu Bu wielding his halberd on the battlefield, cutting through enemies as if they were nothing, flashed repeatedly.

Yuan Shao nodded slowly, murmuring to himself: "Brilliant! Brilliant!"

This time, he did not ponder long—he made his decision instantly.

"Good!"

"Zi Yuan! I entrust this matter to you!"

"If you succeed and help me turn the tide, you shall earn Primary Merit!"

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(End of Chapter)