Chapter 454

If he could win Sun Jian's favor, perhaps he could get Sun Jian to defect to him again, or even offer him the Imperial Jade Seal directly?

Of course, in Yuan Shu's heart, it would be best if Sun Jian died.

But Sun Jian's eldest son, Sun Ce, had martial talent even greater than his father's, and Yuan Shu had long been coveting him.

If Sun Jian died, he could use the favor of revealing the information and the friendship of a former lord to win over Sun Ce and gain his service.

By then, the jade seal would be his, and the generals and troops under Sun Jian would also be his.

How good would that be?

It was simply a four-win situation.

Yeah! He alone wins four times.

He would have dealt with, struck, and utilized Yuan Shao, eliminated Sun Jian, recruited Sun Jian's generals and troops, and obtained the Imperial Jade Seal.

"I am simply a genius~!"

Yuan Shu thought happily.

"That's true!"

Yuan Shao nodded affirmatively: "Then let's do as you say! Will you send the letter to Liu Biao, or shall I?"

Yuan Shao certainly hoped to do it himself.

This way, he could take the opportunity to befriend Liu Biao for future use.

"You do it!"

Yuan Shu said without hesitation: "My relationship with Liu Biao is very average, and he might not think much of me!"

"Plus, I have designs on Yangzhou, and my relationship with him is not harmonious; we will inevitably become great enemies in the future;"

"Liu Biao must be aware of this;"

"If I really send him a letter, it might ruin things."

This was not a lie.

"Hmm! Then I will do it!"

Yuan Shao naturally understood that what Yuan Shu said was true and agreed with a smile.

Yuan Shu saw this and also smiled faintly, thinking: "You, Yuan Shao, are actually no smarter than me! Look, you took the bait so easily, you idiot! Hehe!"

Su Xuan and Cao Cao, under the protection of Xu Chu and the others, left the palace ruins directly after leaving the hall.

Then, Su Xuan looked at Cao Cao: "Brother Meng De! I am preparing to return to Nanyang. What about you? What are your plans?"

Cao Cao looked to the west and sighed: "Sigh! Although I was prepared for it, I didn't expect this crusade against Dong to end so hastily!"

"I didn't even get to see the Son of Heaven;"

"I suppose there is almost no chance to rescue the Son of Heaven now! I should start living for myself and my family!"

"So, I plan to go to Yanzhou first, and I will likely develop there in the future!"

"I don't know when we will meet again! Or what our positions will be."

"I only hope that the day you and I stand on opposite sides doesn't come so soon."

Although he didn't want to be enemies with Su Xuan, he knew this day would come sooner or later.

It couldn't be changed.

Unless he was willing to give up his ambition to vie for hegemony and defect to Su Xuan directly.

But this clearly didn't fit the ambition in Cao Cao's heart.

He also wanted to vie for this world!

"Haha! Let's hope so!"

Su Xuan laughed loudly, reached out and patted Cao Cao on the shoulder: "Take care!"

"Hmm! You too!"

Cao Cao nodded.

"Brother Meng De! Brother Boyuan! Wait a moment, shall we go together?"

At this moment, Sun Jian walked over quickly, saw the two, his eyes lit up slightly, and he called out.

Mainly, he was worried that it wouldn't be safe for him to be alone.

After all, he didn't have many troops, only about ten thousand.

Many of them were those he had just surrendered and reorganized.

And the troops in the hands of the Yuan brothers added up to at least seventy or eighty thousand.

Plus those warlords who were just followers of the Yuan brothers.

Even though he had left the palace, as long as he wasn't far from the vortex of Luoyang and Hulao Pass, Sun Jian didn't dare to relax for a moment.

If he could pull Su Xuan and Cao Cao to go with him, his safety would be much higher.

"Oh? Is that Brother Wentai?"

Cao Cao and Su Xuan heard the call, turned their heads, and saw Sun Jian walking over quickly.

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, thinking: "It seems this Sun Jian really did get the Imperial Jade Seal! Otherwise, he wouldn't be so nervous and careful!"

"Acting like this now is clearly a sign of a guilty conscience!"

"What a pity! A generation of fierce tigers of Jiangdong, reduced to this for a stone, it's quite worthless!"

Cao Cao knew very well that since Sun Jian had obtained the Imperial Jade Seal and had been targeted by Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Even if Sun Jian left Luoyang safely this time, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu wouldn't let it go.

There would inevitably be further schemes waiting for Sun Jian.

Sun Jian's future situation could be imagined; it would definitely not be easy.

If he wasn't careful, death was also possible.

To vie for the world, the Yuan family had prepared too much.

They would absolutely not allow anyone to threaten them.

Therefore, although Cao Cao also had the ambition to vie for hegemony, he didn't plan to stand out quickly. Instead, he prepared to find ways to continue to associate with Yuan Shao, superficially relying on him to rapidly develop his own forces.

When he couldn't rely on him anymore, or when his own strength was sufficient, he would turn around and swallow Yuan Shao in one bite.

Su Xuan quietly activated his Eyes of Destiny to look at the top of Sun Jian's head.

Immediately, he saw Sun Jian's soaring pillar of destiny covered by destiny backlash and calamity energy, as if dark clouds were covering the top.

Su Xuan's mouth curled slightly, thinking: "As expected, it all worked! It seems the secret technique I researched and created, and the fake Imperial Jade Seal I crafted, successfully transferred the hidden traps and dangers of the real Imperial Jade Seal into this fake one!"

"This way, I can safely collect and use the real Imperial Jade Seal;"

"My way of destiny and the method of the Imperial Dynasty should be possible to complete this time!"

He had been waiting for this for a long time.

"If Brother Wentai is willing to travel together, we naturally don't mind! Let's go together!"

Cao Cao said with a smile.

In any case, there was no need to offend Sun Jian for now, and doing him a favor was good.

Su Xuan said: "I plan to return to Jingzhou via Yique Pass, so we can only travel together until we leave the city!"

"However, Brother Wentai, considering our past friendship in the crusade against the Huang Jin thieves, I still want to give you a piece of advice;"

"If you really obtained the Imperial Jade Seal, it is best not to keep it in your hands!"

"Otherwise, there will be great disaster!"

Having said this, seeing Sun Jian's face darken, ready to retort.

Su Xuan continued: "Of course, whether you have it or not, whether you listen or not is up to you! I am just speaking words that might be too deep for our shallow acquaintance."

At this moment, Cao Cao also said: "What Boyuan said is actually correct! Brother Wentai, why bother offending the Yuan brothers for a stone?"

"They are powerful now, and offending them will bring no benefits!"

Sun Jian heard this, calmed his expression slightly, and bowed to Su Xuan: "I have noted your words! Thank you for your concern!"

"However, I really didn't obtain any Imperial Jade Seal; this is all just Yuan Shu and the others wanting to harm me."

"You also know that when we attacked Sisi Pass, Yuan Shu and even Yuan Shao had intended to plot against me once, causing me to lose troops and generals!"

"We have long been unable to coexist peacefully;"

"Added to this current framing, it is even more so!"

"However, thank you for your concern and advice."

"Hmm!"

Cao Cao and Su Xuan didn't say anything more.

They directly called Sun Jian to go together, first returning to their respective military camps, and then arriving at the East Gate to rendezvous.