Chapter 300

In the Dongjun Prefecture Office,

Cao Cao received the news of Lord Yuan Shu being captured alive and was speechless: "This Lord Yuan Gonglu is truly a good-for-nothing! To suffer such a loss for the second time and still not learn his lesson!"

"Can he not see the gap in strength between himself and Su Boyuan?"

"If it were me, I would have abandoned Nanyang long ago!"

"I just wonder if Su Boyuan will kill Lord Yuan Shu outright this time?"

"Wenruo, what do you think?"

Cao Cao asked, looking at Xun Yu, who stood to the side.

That's right! Xun Yu had indeed joined Cao Cao's ranks.

It had only happened in the last few days.

Previously, Xun Yu had observed Lord Yuan Shao and eventually reached a conclusion.

That was, Lord Yuan Shao was a man who appeared magnanimous but was calculating within; he sought great achievements but cherished his own life, and he would forget righteousness for the sake of small gains.

He was not an enlightened lord!

At the same time, there were too many gentry factions under Lord Yuan Shao. While this gave him many supporters, it also created endless internal conflicts, which was detrimental to future development.

Moreover, Xun Can was already serving Lord Yuan Shao, so there was naturally no need for Xun Yu to choose him as well.

In truth, by now, he also understood that the best choice was actually Su Xuan.

But he was stubborn in his heart; he could not get past his own pride, and he also found it difficult to lower himself to serve Su Xuan.

After all, he had been very hostile and dismissive toward Su Xuan in the past, and had even stated righteously in front of Xun You and Xun Shuang that he could never serve Su Xuan.

If he went back on his word now, wouldn't he become a laughingstock?

Furthermore, Su Xuan did not lack top-tier strategists under his command, and if he went there, he might not be able to fully display his own talents.

It was better to serve Cao Cao, whom he favored.

Although this man was equally deep in his schemes, judging by his past actions, he seemed to still hold a certain loyalty to the Great Han.

Plus, this man was currently in the stage of a "hidden dragon in the abyss." If he could use his own abilities to help this man become a powerful warlord, wouldn't that better prove his own talent?

He wanted to prove his talent to the world, to Xun Shuang, and to Su Xuan—to prove that his choice was not wrong.

That is why! Once a scholar becomes stubborn, it is equally difficult to wake them up.

Facing Cao Cao's question, Xun Yu pondered immediately: "Based on my deduction and the Governor of Jingzhou's past methods, there is a high probability he will not kill Lord Yuan Shu at this point in time;"

"Perhaps he will still choose to demand a large amount of wealth and grain as ransom!"

"Otherwise, he would not have chosen to capture Lord Yuan Shu alive in the first place, but would have killed him directly on the battlefield!"

"The nature of the two is completely different!"

"Even today, the Lord Yuan clan's influence in the world remains significant and has not dissipated much. Killing Lord Yuan Shu now would bring Su Xuan no great benefit; instead, it would create numerous enemies, doing more harm than good!"

"Moreover, having only recently taken Jingzhou, he needs more time to sort out internal affairs and fully digest the province, converting it into strength. At this time, keeping Lord Yuan Shu alive is far better than killing him!"

"Since Su Xuan could easily capture Lord Yuan Shu once, capturing him a second time would surely not be difficult for him;"

"Keeping this buffoon of an opponent, who can be dealt with at any time, to occupy Yuzhou and other areas is more advantageous for Su Xuan;"

"Therefore, I conclude that Su Xuan will not kill Lord Yuan Shu. In fact, he might even ransom back all the troops he captured as well!"

"Not only that, a Lord Yuan Shu who is too weak cannot stabilize Yuzhou and would easily be taken advantage of by other warlords;"

"For example, the Tiger of Jiangdong, Sun Sun Jian, or perhaps you, my lord."

As for Tao Zou Qian and Liu Biao?

Xun Yu did not hold them in any regard.

These two could not even sort out their own internal affairs in the short term, yet they wanted to expand outward?

Pure delusion.

"Haha!"

Cao Cao laughed aloud upon hearing this: "Wenruo sees things clearly indeed!"

"My judgment is the same as yours. Based on my understanding of Su Boyuan, he will absolutely not kill Lord Yuan Shu this time;"

"It does not serve his interests;"

"This fellow is someone who never gets up early unless there is profit to be made!"

"What he loves most is maximizing his gains!"

"If you study him carefully from the time he rose to power, you will find that he seems to have the ability to foresee the future; every step he takes is on the correct path;"

"Every step is taken very steadily;"

"There has never been a time when he miscalculated; every time, he manages to maximize his benefits;"

"And troubles are coincidentally avoided by him;"

"It's just that once or twice is a coincidence, but too many times, and I feel this is not coincidence, but intentional calculation!"

"I can only say that he is the greatest opponent I have encountered so far!"

"A battle between him and me is likely inevitable in the future!"

"Unless I have already lost to Lord Yuan Shao before then!"

"Therefore, Wenruo! I need your help. I need you to help me plan and lay out strategies in advance, so that I can deal with Su Boyuan more calmly in the future. What do you think?"

Relying on himself to make things seamless was too difficult and too exhausting.

He needed top-tier help.

Currently, among his subordinates, only Xun Yu had this ability.

Speaking of talent, Cao Cao realized that under Su Xuan, not only were there fierce generals like clouds, but strategists were like rain as well!

It made him incredibly envious.

He deeply regretted not realizing the importance of talent sooner and not recruiting more top-tier individuals earlier.

He had missed the best window for development!

It was too late for regrets!

"I am honored to comply! Xun Yu is willing to plan for you, my lord!"

Xun Yu said, bowing solemnly.

Even if Cao Cao hadn't asked, he was prepared to have a good struggle against Su Xuan.

"Haha! Good!"

Cao Cao was very happy to see this.

In Changancheng,

"Father-in-law! News has come from Nanyang that Lord Yuan Shu has been captured alive by Su Xuan, and along with him, his tens of thousands of troops have also been taken prisoner by Su Xuan!"

"I heard it took less than a day."

Li Ru reported to Dong Zhuo.

"Oh?"

Dong Zhuo raised an eyebrow slightly and said cheerfully: "Isn't this a good thing? He, the Lord Yuan clan, dared to oppose me, and now he's met his retribution, hasn't he?"

"It would be best if Su Xuan killed this thief directly to satisfy my hatred! Hehe!"

He wished for all the warlords to die and for the world to be handed directly to him.

Unfortunately, he knew this was impossible.

Although he had only arrived in Changancheng recently, Dong Zhuo had already sensed it.

The gentry's rejection of him had become even more severe.

It was now impossible for him to ease the situation.

These people were outwardly submissive but secretly resisted his various policies at every level, making it impossible for him to implement anything.

The tax revenue collected was also dwindling, a situation that made him very stifled and irritable.

Whenever he became irritable, he wanted to kill people.

But the more he killed, the more these people resisted him.

It made him increasingly violent.

Now, he had finally heard some good news.

It made him feel much more at ease.

However, Li Ru frowned slightly upon seeing this: "Father-in-law! Actually, this is not a good thing!"

"Lord Yuan Shu is merely a playboy, a buffoon who is destined to perish sooner or later;"

"On the contrary, that Su Xuan is our true great enemy and threat!"

"This man is skilled in both civil and military affairs, his military strength is terrifying, and he has a sharp mind!"