Chapter 171

Su Xuan smiled, pinched Xun Cai's nose, and said, "Do you all not trust your husband?"

"Setting other things aside, the Star Qi Refining Method alone grants a 200-year lifespan upon reaching Foundation Establishment, and 500 to 1, 00 years upon reaching the Golden Core realm."

"By then, let alone great-grandchildren, having ten generations living under one roof won't be anything special!"

In the future, their goal was eternal immortality.

"Wow! That is truly... hard to believe!"

Not to mention Xun Cai, even Zhen Jiang and the others were filled with astonishment upon hearing this.

Once they imagined that scene, their desire for children indeed became less urgent.

It seemed that waiting a few years wouldn't be so bad.

The news of Xun Cai's pregnancy soon spread throughout the entire General's Mansion. At the same time, Xun Shuang and the civil and military officials under Su Xuan learned of it immediately.

They came one after another to offer their congratulations.

Time flowed by rapidly.

With the addition of tens of thousands of rebel captives, Nan County changed even faster.

It was no exaggeration to say it was changing with each passing day.

At the same time, Su Xuan used the Su Family Chamber of Commerce to gradually extend his influence into the surrounding commanderies.

His power within the various commanderies of Jingzhou also began to grow step by step.

However, the vast majority of this remained hidden in the shadows, unknown to others.

They were waiting for a suitable opportunity to move from the shadows into the light, which would be the moment he easily seized all of Jingzhou.

Meanwhile, all parts of the Great Han were becoming increasingly turbulent.

At the end of the year, seeing the Great Han becoming increasingly chaotic and weak, the Xianbei felt there was an opportunity to be exploited and began large-scale border raids, leading armies to invade Youzhou and Bingzhou.

The following year, which was 187 AD,

First, the Southern Xiongnu rebelled against the Han. Then, Zhang Chun of Yuyang and his fellow villager Zhang Ju rebelled against the Han, allied with the Wuhuan, and raided Jixian, Youbeiping Commandery, and Liaodong Commandery.

The Han court issued an edict for Commandant Gongsun Zan to lead troops to suppress them.

Gongsun Zan fought Zhang Chun at Shimen and crushed him.

Gongsun Zan also received rewards for his merit and began to make a name for himself.

The reputation of his White Horse Followers also began to grow increasingly famous in Youzhou.

"My lord! The Secret Guard in Youzhou has sent word confirming that Gongsun Zan has successfully led his White Horse Followers to form a military formation and has mastered the art of military formations."

"His strength has also begun to improve rapidly."

This day, Jia San reported to Su Xuan.

"Oh?"

Su Xuan was slightly surprised upon hearing this and said, "He actually mastered the art of military formations? And without any inheritance? He is truly not simple!"

"This man is indeed a talent for a great general, but unfortunately..."

Su Xuan did not tell Jia San exactly what was unfortunate.

Knowing the history of his past life, he was very clear that Gongsun Zan was excellent as a general.

He was worthy of the name 'White Horse General.'

But if he were to be a regional warlord, he was completely unqualified.

This was because his governing ability and his skill in political maneuvering were very mediocre.

Yet, to become a warlord, these two things were extremely important.

If nothing unexpected happened, if he became a warlord in the future, his end would still not be good.

However, that was none of Su Xuan's business.

Xun Cai's belly was gradually growing, and he set aside more time every day to accompany her.

Additionally, he checked on her condition every day to ensure the baby's health.

He even created and refined a type of fetal-calming pill, which was a type of elixir.

It could not only calm the fetus but also allow the baby to grow more robustly and possess stronger talent after birth.

For the sake of his offspring, he could be considered to have put in plenty of effort.

Furthermore, relying on his medical skills and strength, although the child was only three months along, he had already confirmed that it was indeed a boy.

This made Xun Cai, Zou Zou Qian, and the others very happy.

Three months later, Qu Xing in Changsha Commandery suddenly raised an army to rebel. The momentum was not small, and within just a few days, he had occupied more than half of Changsha Commandery.

Su Xuan naturally received the news the moment the uprising began.

"Should I say this Qu Xing is bold, or should I say he is stupid?"

"Has he not seen the cautionary tale of Zhao Ci? He actually dares to stir up trouble in Jingzhou?"

Su Xuan truly could not understand this guy's thought process.

He had originally thought that with him as a variable in Jingzhou, plus the precedent of Zhao Ci being easily wiped out by him,

the rebellion of Qu Xing would not happen.

But now it seemed he had underestimated this person's courage and stupidity.

Of course, there were actually barbarians mixed in as well.

It was not surprising that there was barbarian support behind Qu Xing!

Although his name, Su Xuan, was very famous, it was mainly among the Han people; it might not be the same among the barbarians.

The barbarians themselves were still relatively isolated.

Moreover, they might not necessarily care about the so-called reputation of the Han people.

Unless they were truly hurt.

Su Xuan thought for a moment and immediately summoned Xi Zhicai, Xun You, Guo Jia, Tian Feng, and others to discuss countermeasures.

"My lord, it is better to report this matter to the imperial court first, hoping the court will issue an edict for you to suppress the rebellion soon!"

Xun You spoke up immediately.

"Hmm! That is what I was thinking too!"

Su Xuan nodded.

"Congratulations, my lord, on having another opportunity to perform meritorious service! I wonder what kind of reward you will receive this time."

Cheng Yu immediately smiled and offered his congratulations to Su Xuan in advance.

"Haha! Then I will take your kind words, Zhongde!"

Su Xuan could not help but laugh.

However, at this moment, Guo Jia stroked his chin and pondered, "My lord! I feel that we might not get our wish here!"

"Hmm?"

Su Xuan and the others could not help but look at Guo Jia: "What do you mean?"

Guo Jia continued, "My lord, you said that ever since you quelled the Yellow Turban Rebellion, His Majesty has been quite wary of you and even developed the idea of suppressing you, right?"

"Correct!"

Su Xuan nodded affirmatively. At this moment, he also understood what Guo Jia wanted to say, and his brows furrowed slightly: "You mean that this time, His Majesty might be wary of me and worried that I will become too powerful in Jingzhou, so he will not allow me to suppress the rebellion, but will instead send someone else?"

Xun You and the others furrowed their brows upon hearing this.

This was truly not impossible.

"Exactly!"

Guo Jia nodded affirmatively: "Last time, there was no other choice. Zhao Ci came too fiercely, and the court felt he was very strong;"

"Plus, the place he occupied was Nanyang, which is too important and could threaten Luoyang at any time;"

"Therefore, even though His Majesty was wary of you, my lord, and worried about you becoming too powerful, he did not hesitate to agree to let you suppress the rebellion."

"Furthermore, the Son of Heaven also knew that the Lord Yuan family was coveting Nanyang, and since Nanyang is very close to Luoyang, even if you successfully suppressed the rebellion, you could not erode the authority of Nanyang and become too powerful there;"

"But Changsha is different. It belongs to Jingnan, where the mountains are high and the Emperor is far away;"

"If you, my lord, take the opportunity of suppressing the rebellion to erode Changsha Commandery, even the Son of Heaven would be unable to stop it for a time."

"Therefore, this time, there is a high probability that you, my lord, will not be able to obtain this opportunity to lead troops to suppress the bandits."

At this time, Tian Feng could not help but sneer and add, "It is not just the Son of Heaven; the alliance of scholar-officials led by the Lord Yuan family, as well as Grand General He Jin, will likely prevent you, my lord, from obtaining this opportunity to suppress the rebellion this time!"

"You are already the Marquis of Jiangling and General Who Conquers the South;"

"If you quell the rebellion again, how should you be rewarded?"

"Appoint you as one of the four generals of the front, rear, left, and right?"

"That is too much of a threat to He Jin, and the military power would be too great; the Son of Heaven might not be at ease either."