Chapter 205

If he could attain the rank of one of the Three Excellencies or Nine Ministers, that would be even better.

Only in chaos would he have his opportunity.

Otherwise, if things remained calm and peaceful, it would be even harder for him to achieve anything.

Pulling chestnuts from the fire—this was nothing more than that.

Time slipped away rapidly under these circumstances.

Lord Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and their men spent over a day successfully locating and catching up to Zhang Rang and his party along the banks of the Yellow River.

In the end, Zhang Rang was driven into a corner and had no choice but to throw himself into the river to commit suicide.

At the moment he jumped, Zhang Rang couldn't help but glance toward the south, sighing in his heart: "Perhaps I should have found a way to contact Su Xuan back then and let him lead his troops into Luoyang to save the throne!"

"Perhaps then I could have saved my own life, but alas, it is already too late!"

With this thought, Zhang Rang regretfully ended his wicked life.

Afterward, Cao Cao and Lord Yuan Shao led the Young Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and their party toward Luoyang.

As a result, halfway there, they first encountered Dong Zhuo, and then they encountered Lu Bu.

It was only by relying on Lu Bu and Ding Lord Yuan that they were able to temporarily rout Dong Zhuo.

In the end, Dong Zhuo and Ding Lord Yuan each occupied half of Luoyang.

Furthermore, the troops of the Colonel of the Capital and the Eight Schools of the Western Garden were swallowed up by Dong Zhuo during this process.

For a time, Dong Zhuo and Ding Lord Yuan began to confront and skirmish with each other, using Luoyang as their center.

At the Lord Yuan Fu,

"Damn it! Benchu, why did it turn out like this? Why would Dong Zhuo betray us?"

"And how exactly did you lose the troops of the Eight Schools of the Western Garden and the Colonel of the Capital?"

Lord Yuan Kui looked at Lord Yuan Shao with a gloomy face and questioned him.

Lord Yuan Shu, standing to the side, wore a look of schadenfreude.

Lord Yuan Ji, however, also had a dark expression.

This result was not what he had imagined!

At this time, shouldn't he already be enjoying the fruits of victory?

Hearing this, Lord Yuan Shao's face also turned ugly as he said: "Uncle, how could I have known?"

"I should be the one asking you! Didn't you say Dong Zhuo was one of our Lord Yuan clan's people and absolutely reliable?"

"That is why I suggested to He Jin that he be summoned;"

"You agreed to this point as well! And what was the result?"

"This man is nothing but a wolf with wild ambitions, the kind that is completely impossible to tame;"

"How did you judge back then that this man would have no problems?"

"You..."

Lord Yuan Kui was actually rendered speechless by Lord Yuan Shao's retort for a moment.

There was no helping it; he had indeed said that back then.

It could only be said that his judgment had been wrong.

He had never expected Dong Zhuo to be such an ambitious person.

It could only be said that Dong Zhuo had disguised himself too well in front of him, deceiving even his late brother, Lord Yuan Feng.

"As for the troops of the Colonel of the Capital and the Eight Schools of the Western Garden!"

Speaking of this, Lord Yuan Shao also said angrily: "At the time, Cao Cao and I only took a few hundred troops to pursue Zhang Rang;"

"The rest were all scattered to search for His Majesty and Zhang Rang according to your orders, Uncle!"

"How was I to know that Dong Zhuo would strike at that moment, and in the process, swallow up all those scattered troops one by one?"

This point was indeed somewhat beyond Lord Yuan Shao's expectations.

Originally, he had even harbored the idea of taking those troops with him to Bohai!

As a result, through a moment of carelessness, he had made a wedding dress for Dong Zhuo.

This made Lord Yuan Shao hate Dong Zhuo, that dog thief, to the extreme.

Lord Yuan Kui was once again rendered speechless, and for a moment, he felt very displeased with this rebellious son, Lord Yuan Shao.

Not only was he incapable of accomplishing anything, but he also liked to talk back.

Was this still the obedient child Lord Yuan Benchu from before?

At this moment, Lord Yuan Ji felt that continuing like this was not a solution, so he immediately stepped in to resolve the tension for his father: "Father, Benchu, now is not the time to talk about these things. Should we not think about what we should do next?"

"The situation in Luoyang is now out of control;"

"Dong Zhuo controls a massive number of troops; I fear it will be difficult for us to regain the initiative in Luoyang!"

"Unless Ding Lord Yuan can defeat Dong Zhuo;"

"But I fear Ding Lord Yuan's ambitions are likely no smaller!"

"If he truly wins, I worry that he will be just like Dong Zhuo, revealing his true nature and ignoring us;"

"Therefore, it would be better for us to make plans early."

Hearing this, Lord Yuan Kui immediately suppressed the anger on his face, looked at Lord Yuan Ji with satisfaction, and nodded: "It is still you, Ji'er, who considers things more thoroughly!"

"Indeed, now is not the time for arguing;"

"Next, let us fully support Ding Lord Yuan in dealing with Dong Zhuo!"

"Although Ding Lord Yuan's ambitions may not be small, compared to that brute Dong Zhuo, he is relatively more respectful of the rules;"

"At the very least, it will be better than if Dong Zhuo wins."

"Furthermore,"

Speaking of this, Lord Yuan Kui looked at Lord Yuan Shao and Lord Yuan Shu: "We have already lost military power and the initiative here in Luoyang;"

"To avoid being too passive in the future, I hope that both you, Benchu, and Gonglu will leave Luoyang and take up posts in the provinces;"

"Then, recruit troops, buy horses, and accumulate strength to await the changing times."

Since the Luoyang plan had failed, they could only change their strategy and choose to surround Luoyang from the provinces.

Without military power in his hands, Lord Yuan Kui felt no sense of security at any moment.

"This..."

Hearing this, Lord Yuan Shao pretended to show a hint of dissatisfaction, then nodded helplessly: "I agree!"

"As for me, I will go to Bohai in Jizhou!"

"I previously held a post there, so I am relatively familiar with it, and I already have a foundation there, making it easier to develop."

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about going to Runan or Nanyang.

But he knew that his good elder brother Lord Yuan Ji, his good younger brother Lord Yuan Shu, and even his good uncle Lord Yuan Kui would likely not agree.

Therefore, he simply chose to go to Bohai.

In any case, he had been managing that place for several years, and it had long since become his base of operations.

Besides, once Lord Yuan Kui and Lord Yuan Ji were dead, he could fully draw a large group of Lord Yuan clan members and disciples from Runan and all over the Great Han.

It was much better than staying in Runan.

That place had been developed for too long and was already filled with the scent of decay; there were constraints everywhere, and Lord Yuan Shao did not like it at all.

He would rather start from scratch and develop on his own than go to Runan.

"Oh?"

The three of them, Lord Yuan Kui, were slightly taken aback upon hearing Lord Yuan Shao's words, and they looked at him with some surprise.

Clearly, they had not expected Lord Yuan Shao to make such a choice.

All three of them felt a sense of secret delight.

This meant that Lord Yuan Shao had voluntarily conceded.

This was a good thing for them.

Lord Yuan Kui immediately spoke up: "Good! Benchu, you are very sensible! Rest assured, since you are willing to make sacrifices for the family, I will not let you suffer a loss. I will draw a group of personnel and supplies from the clan to send to Bohai to help you!"

"Many thanks, Uncle!"

Hearing this, Lord Yuan Shao was instantly overjoyed and hurriedly bowed in thanks.

This was great! He hadn't expected an unexpected gain.

At the same time, Lord Yuan Shao said to Lord Yuan Kui in his heart: "Uncle, just for this, once you are killed, I will at least give you a grand funeral."

As for whether Lord Yuan Kui and the others wouldn't die?

Impossible! As long as his subsequent plans were implemented, Lord Yuan Kui and the others would not be able to escape if they remained in Luoyang.