Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 80 Ji Ling is here, so it's no problem!
As Fu De trembled and walked away, clutching gold and silver, the entire assembly fell silent, and none of the ministers dared to speak.

After all, there were only two factions under Yuan Shu's command: the faction that wanted to become emperor and the faction that wanted to postpone becoming emperor.

Today's events represent a long-awaited major success for the imperial faction, following their previous defeat by choosing the wrong loyal minister Liu Ye of the Yuan family, which led to their decline in morale. This success is enough for them to regroup and rebuild their strength.

As for the faction that delayed declaring himself emperor, they had anticipated this long ago. After all, given the lord's temperament, it was only a matter of time, and they considered it a matter of course.

Caught between these two major factions, there were also those with ulterior motives, such as Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, Lei Bu, and Chen Lan.

But they were caught up in the crowd and couldn't even exercise their own independent will. What could they do in this situation?
Even Sun Ce was pale-faced and on the verge of tears. Oh no! His adoptive father was plotting a rebellion. Now that he was both his adopted son and son-in-law, how could he possibly escape?
After a brief silence, I thought the faction that the emperor-is-kings were on the rise, and Yuan Yin seized the opportunity to bow down first.

"The one who replaced the Han dynasty was Gao of Dangtu!"
My cousin bears the weighty responsibility of the imperial throne; now he should receive the mandate of Heaven, offer thanks to the ancestral temple above, and bring peace to the common people below.

"Outrageous! Insolent! How dare you be so bold!"

To everyone's surprise, before Yuan Yin could finish speaking, Yuan Shu's expression changed drastically.

"The Great Han still has a holy emperor on the throne, and the Yuan family has been loyal and virtuous for generations. How dare you utter such rebellious words?"

"Left and right! Get him out of here!"

Yes, just... fork it out.

Now the courtiers seemed to understand something. It turned out that today was actually the day when their faction of delaying the emperor's coronation would rise to power. Yang Hong bowed down in obeisance.

"My lord is wise, but he acted too impulsively just now."

"Now that the angel has arrived, all we need to do is offer him good wine and meat to lure him back."

However, Yuan Shu shook his head at this, his eyes filled with disdain.
“If the person who comes is indeed carrying out the emperor’s edict and is an envoy of the emperor, then what you say is certainly not wrong.”

But he was clearly acting on Cao Cao's orders. Regardless of whether he was respectful or not, even if he were to present the Imperial Seal today, would the seal really fall into the hands of the Emperor?

I fear that when Cao Cao steals the imperial seal, he will still punish me for not handing it over, branding me a traitor.

What I am doing now is not for the sake of the imperial seal.

This national treasure is too precious for the young emperor to handle. I, as the Grand General, will take charge on behalf of the emperor!
Cao Cao, nominally the Chancellor of Han, is in reality a traitor to Han. With such a monster in the country and such a treacherous official causing havoc in the court, even I, a loyal subject of the Han, am forced to become a thief.

The assembled officials were stunned and speechless.

My lord, if you hadn't just kept saying "a ruler's word is law," we would have almost believed you were a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty.

Lu Xun stepped forward hastily and advised:

"The teacher's words are very thoughtful and correct."

To prevent traitors from misleading the emperor and confusing the world, we should issue a proclamation to the feudal lords, saying that the imperial seal has been presented to the emperor and asking them to bear witness so that Cao Cao will not steal it.

If Cao Cao were to use the pretext that his teacher had refused to hand over the imperial seal and harbored rebellious intentions to issue a proclamation to the world to punish him, then the other warlords would surely become suspicious.

At that time, the teacher said that the imperial seal was stolen by Cao Cao, and Cao Cao said that the teacher refused to hand it over. They accused each other like this. Cao Cao's army and our army were already at war, so slander and attacks were common.

Even if Cao Cao accused his teacher of overstepping his bounds by using the title "朕" (the imperial "I"), the teacher could argue that Cao Cao was acting like a lonely and isolated ruler, thus holding the emperor hostage.

Whether or not the imperial seal was handed over has shifted from a matter of public concern—the teacher's disrespect for the emperor and his disloyalty—to a private feud between the teacher and Cao Cao, a war of words between their two families. No one can say for sure.

The feudal lords, unwilling to get involved in this mess, will certainly not attack.

“What Boyan said is exactly what I think. This is Heaven’s way of sending you to me.”

Seeing Yuan Shu nod, Zhou Yu glanced at Sun Ce beside him, whose expression was complicated. Sun Ce was both Yuan Shu's adopted son and Yuan Shu's son-in-law.

When the nest is overturned, how can any egg remain intact? He finally sighed and offered his advice.

"The emperor is now held hostage by Cao Cao, and the feudal lords will surely be suspicious of any edicts he issues."

For example, Bo Yan suggested that Yuan Shao could argue with Cao Cao, giving the other warlords a way to disobey the imperial edict and watch us fight amongst ourselves.

Therefore, Yu predicted that if the matter was only about the imperial seal, the feudal lords would not attack Yuan Gong.

Only one person.

He surveyed the crowd, his elegant demeanor radiating with a flick of his sleeve. "Liu Bei, Liu Xuande!"

He was honored by the emperor as the emperor's uncle and always thought of supporting the Han dynasty.

The other lords had long harbored rebellious intentions, so they did not really care whether Yuan Gong would present the imperial seal or not.

Therefore, Boyan's strategy was able to be implemented, and a way out was provided for the feudal lords to step down.

But people like Liu Bei, even if there were a way out, would not take it, because they had a strong sense of righteousness and a determination to support the country, and they would not regret it even if they died a hundred times.

Although Cao Cao is now holding the emperor hostage, Liu Bei's decision to accept the imperial edict and become the governor of Yu Province without attacking Cao Cao shows that he still respects the imperial edicts in order to maintain the dignity of the Han Dynasty.

Even if we follow Lu Boyan's plan, Liu Bei will not believe that Yuan Gong will offer up the imperial seal, and will still lead his troops to attack.

This is because the one he serves is not Cao Cao, but the imperial court!

“What Gongjin said is similar to what I think. I am also well aware of the false reputation of the big-eared traitor.”

Even if I were to offer up the imperial seal, Liu Bei would find it hard to believe. He already harbored prejudice against me and believed that my refusal to offer up the seal indicated disloyalty, and thus he was acting on the emperor's edict to attack me.

It is a pity that my efforts to safeguard the imperial seal on behalf of the emperor, and the Yuan-Liu alliance that I painstakingly maintained, have all collapsed in an instant.

This is a calculated move by Cao Cao's forces.

Yuan Shu said it was a pity, but there was no trace of regret on his face. Liu Ye, a loyal and virtuous man of the Yuan family, was delighted to see this, and also pretended to be sad, and stepped forward to bow.

"If that's the case, Lord Yuan might as well make plans early? Perhaps he could lift the siege of Xu County, withdraw his troops from Yu Province, and guard against Liu Bei."

"Withdraw troops from Yuzhou?"

Yuan Shu gave him a meaningful look and chuckled.

"With Ji Ling here, there's no problem!"

Liu Ye: "???"

He could probably guess what Xi Zhicai and others in Cao Cao's camp were thinking.

As long as the emperor sends an envoy to demand the imperial seal, regardless of whether Yuan Shu actually offers it or not, Liu Bei's invasion is irreversible, and he will inevitably have to withdraw his troops to defend Yuzhou.

In this way, the siege of Xu County will be lifted, and Cao Cao's army, which has fought many battles, will be able to rest and recuperate.

But what did Yuan Shu mean just now?
Ji Ling?

What kind of general is he? Could he possibly stop Guan Yu, who famously killed Hua Xiong with a cup of warm wine at Hulao Pass?
Before he could think it over, Yuan Shu had already given the order.

"Order Ji Ling to be vigilant against Liu Bei's attack, and to defend the city of Yuzhou to the death, while I lead my troops to its aid."

He then ordered Taishi Ci to lead 30,000 troops from Runan north to take over the Yingchuan defense zone.

When Yuan Shu marched north, he led an army of 100,000 to coerce Liu Xun, Lei Bu, and Chen Lan into taking control of their troops.

At that time, they exchanged their own troops, totaling 30,000 men, for the northward-bound army, and also transferred 30,000 new troops from the main army to garrison Runan for Taishi Ci to train.

Therefore, despite the rotation of troops, the number of troops heading north remained at 100,000.

This time, he was going to lead his main force back eastward to attack Liu Bei, which conveniently allowed him to bring up the newly trained army of Runan, which was being trained by Taishi Ci, in preparation for Cao Cao's campaign.

Before that, however, he led his men out of the camp and looked at the Xu County city walls that stood tall in the afterglow of the setting sun.

"Sir, how are the preparations going for the items that were made in Yingchuan as part of the work-for-relief program?"

Among those present, he often addressed them as "sir," but only Yang Hong was seen bowing to answer.

"Reporting to my lord, all construction has been completed, and the remaining parts are still being transported. The original plan was to make all preparations before launching a full-scale attack and breaching the city in an instant."

"There's no time to lose. Let's get started. Before we leave, let's take down Xu County, the gateway to Yanzhou, so that it will always be under the sway of our iron hooves."

(End of this chapter)