Chapter 458

"Aren't you afraid I’ll defect to Cao Cao? Then I’ll really defect and show you!"

"Anyway, I had dealings with Cao Cao before, and he still owes me a favor!"

"If I defect to Cao Cao with intelligence now and help him defeat you, Lord Yuan Shao, then I will definitely be heavily used by Cao Cao in the future;"

"In fact, my status under Cao Cao will be higher than it was under you, hmph!"

If this place doesn't keep me, there will be a place that does; he wasn't going to serve him anymore.

With this thought, that very night, Xu You used the connections he had left in the army and, with the help of a few of his death-sworn men, successfully escaped his place of detention.

Then, under the cover of night, he silently escaped Lord Yuan Shao’s army camp and fled toward Cao Cao’s camp with all his might.

By the time Lord Yuan Shao and the others discovered that Xu You had escaped, several hours had already passed.

By then, Xu You had already successfully fled to the Cao army camp and successfully met Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was ecstatic to hear that Xu You had come, welcoming him with his shoes on backward!

He was so excited that he didn't even put his shoes on properly before running out of the tent to welcome Xu You: "Haha! Xu Ziyuan! You’re here! I’ve been longing for you! Quick! Please come in!"

Saying this, Cao Cao pulled Xu You toward his tent.

Xu You, seeing Cao Cao’s enthusiastic appearance and seeing that Cao Cao hadn't even put his shoes on properly before rushing out to welcome him,

compared to Lord Yuan Shao’s past attitude toward him, Xu You felt his eyes grow hot and was moved: "What virtue or ability do I, Xu You, have to deserve such courtesy from you, King of Han!"

"Haha!"

Cao Cao laughed loudly: "Xu Ziyuan, you are my close friend and a great talent; you deserve it!"

Soon, the two entered the tent, and Cao Cao pretended to be puzzled and asked: "Xu Ziyuan! I don't know what brings you here this time? Shouldn't you be serving Lord Yuan Shao in his camp right now?"

"Could it be that Lord Yuan Shao has some mission and sent you to visit me?"

Having said this, Cao Cao looked up and down at the somewhat disheveled and messy Xu You, frowning slightly: "Looking at your situation, that shouldn't be it? Did something happen on the road?"

"This won't do; I’ll have someone take you to wash up and change into clean clothes! I cannot neglect you, Xu Ziyuan!"

Saying this, Cao Cao prepared to stand up and call someone.

"Mengde, wait!"

Xu You hurriedly stopped Cao Cao and looked at him with emotion: "You are truly sincere to me, Mengde!"

"To tell you the truth! I actually escaped from Lord Yuan Shao’s side and want to defect to you, Mengde!"

"What?"

Cao Cao looked astonished: "Xu Ziyuan, you must be joking, right? You are Lord Yuan Shao’s number one strategist; how could you escape from him? That is absolutely impossible~!"

When he said this, Cao Cao was already overjoyed in his heart, thinking: "I didn't expect the efficiency of the School of Affairs to be so high! It seems I should reward them well later!"

However, what Cao Cao didn't know was that at this moment, the leader of the School of Affairs received news that Xu You had escaped Lord Yuan Shao’s side and come to his lord, and he was also completely bewildered.

"I haven't even really started the plan yet, so how did this Xu You run over here? Could it be that Lord Yuan Shao was already prepared to take action against him?"

"That shouldn't be!"

The leader of the School of Affairs was also speechless.

He could only attribute it to coincidence.

On Cao Cao’s side,

Xu You, hearing Cao Cao’s words, immediately told Cao Cao about his experience.

Cao Cao, hearing this, immediately stood up for Xu You: "Benchu has gone too far! Just because of this, he wants to put you to death; that is no way to do things!"

"Has he forgotten the great contributions you made for him in the past?"

"Isn't it just some money and grain?"

"Are the contributions you made for him not worth this bit of money and grain?"

"Even if he wanted to punish you, Xu Ziyuan, he should have just made you return the money and grain! To kill you directly is too much!"

"Alas! In the end, it’s Benchu whose heart has changed! His heart has become narrow!"

"Of course, it’s more likely that Benchu’s family foundation is too thick and he has too many strategists under his command! Perhaps he doesn't care about your contributions at all, Xu Ziyuan?"

"Alas!"

Having said this, Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh again: "Speaking of which, I envy Benchu! To have so many strategists supporting him and assisting him!"

"Unlike me, I don't have many strategists under my command who can help me plan! Many things still require me to come up with countermeasures myself; I am suffering, Xu Ziyuan!"

Hearing Cao Cao speak up for him and complain, Xu You felt moved and his mind became active: "It seems I made the right choice to defect to Cao Cao this time!"

"Perhaps I should have come to Cao Cao’s side long ago!"

"Indeed, Lord Yuan Shao has too many usable strategists under his command; this has caused him to not value me at all;"

"When I am useful, he will appear enthusiastic, but once I commit a fault, he can easily harden his heart and abandon me!"

"But it would be completely different on Cao Cao’s side!"

It wasn't that he was boasting, but he felt that none of the strategists under Cao Cao could compare to him.

Even Xun Yu, at most, was only on par with him!

Hmm! Xu You felt that in terms of government affairs, Xun Yu was still stronger than him, but in terms of strategy, he felt he was far superior to Xun Yu.

Thinking this through, Xu You immediately stood up and bowed to Cao Cao: "I, Xu You, still have some ability; if you don't mind, Lord Cao, I am willing to serve you!"

"Really?"

Cao Cao was overjoyed, hurriedly stood up and helped Xu You up, laughing loudly: "Hahaha! With your help, Xu Ziyuan, it is worth ten thousand elite soldiers!"

"Now, Lord Yuan Shao will definitely be defeated!"

Hearing Cao Cao say this, Xu You felt extremely comfortable in his heart.

He couldn't help but compare himself with Lord Yuan Shao, and he felt even more that his choice was correct.

"No! I must help Cao Cao defeat Lord Yuan Shao as soon as possible; only then can I prove my talent to Cao Cao, gain a firm foothold under him, and be heavily used by Cao Cao;"

"At the same time, I can also take fierce revenge on Lord Yuan Shao."

He wanted Lord Yuan Shao to be defeated by Cao Cao, and even eventually be completely eliminated by Cao Cao.

The kind where his whole clan dies; only then could he dispel the hatred in his heart.

Only then could he repay the hatred for his family being killed by Lord Yuan Shao!

Indeed, at this moment, his family in Yecheng should not have been killed by Lord Yuan Shao yet.

But that was only a matter of time.

Xu You no longer held any hope for his family’s safety.

At this moment, Lord Yuan Shao must already know the news that he had escaped.

Lord Yuan Shao must be furious, and even at Guo Tu’s instigation, he must have sent people to capture his family in Yecheng.

"Guo Tu, you just wait! My family is gone, and you won't have a good time in the future either; your family won't escape either!"

Xu You thought hatefully.

If it weren't for Guo Tu, how could he have ended up in this situation today?

Although he truly felt that defecting to Cao Cao might be his most correct choice,

in his heart, Cao Cao was still not as glorious as Lord Yuan Shao.

And all of this had been ruined by Guo Tu.

Thinking that he was wise for a lifetime, yet he ended up losing to Guo Tu, how could he be reconciled?

No matter what, he had to win it back.

— Author's Notes —

PS: Seeking first subscriptions, custom subscriptions, and support!

PS: Seeking first subscriptions, custom subscriptions, and support!