Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Yecheng, the inner courtyard of Yuan Mansion.

Yuan Shao leaned on a soft pillow, his face very pale. He was exhausted after traveling all the way back from Hongnong. In addition, Liu Xie had passed away, and Lu Bu, the ferocious tiger, might pounce on him at any time. He was extremely nervous and panicked, and finally fell ill again.

"Gong Yu, what's the situation outside? Have all the troops been transferred to Weijun? Has Lu Bu sent out his troops? Are there any unusual movements from Gongsun Bogui's side?" Yuan Shao's tired and sick face was filled with tension.

Ju Su said, "Don't worry, my lord. All the troops in Jizhou have been transferred to Weijun. Lü Fengxian has not yet sent his troops, and there is no news from Youzhou."

"That's good! That's good!"

Yuan Shao slowly breathed a sigh of relief, but Tian Feng beside him sighed heavily and said, "My lord, this is definitely not a long-term solution!"

"So what? That fellow Lu Bu has accused me of this crime and vowed to fight against the rebellion. Now I can only protect Weijun first and then find a way out."

"My lord, do you think Weijun can be defended? Ever since that manifesto spread throughout Jizhou, discussions have raged everywhere, and people are unsettled. Many may even be considering joining Lü Bu."

In addition to the instability among the people, Feng Ji also told him some bad news today, but seeing Yuan Shao's current appearance, Tian Feng really didn't dare to say it out loud.

Yuan Shao's face turned increasingly pale as he angrily demanded, "Who wants to surrender? Investigate for me, and kill anyone who finds out! Also, who is talking nonsense behind my back? I'm offering a reward for reporting it. Anyone who speaks ill of me will be arrested!"

"It is more difficult to guard against the people's mouths than to guard against the river. My lord, doing this will only make people more divided."

"Then tell me what we should do? What should we do? Cough cough cough..." Yuan Shao roared agitatedly, and after saying just two sentences, he covered his mouth and started coughing violently.

The eldest son, Yuan Tan, quickly stepped forward to pat him on the back to calm him down, saying, "Father, please don't be angry. Your health is more important!"

Yuan Shao's emotions grew increasingly agitated, and he coughed as he spoke, "I... cough cough... was badly tricked by that fellow Lu Bu, cough cough... It was clearly him who wanted to murder the emperor, but he pinned the blame on me. And, there was also Mr. Zhang, who deceived me from the beginning to the end, cough cough... You, you may have imagined that she was actually the daughter of Minister Wang! She had been deceiving me since Luoyang..."

"And Cao Mengde, why didn't he tell me earlier that she was a girl? If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have let her deceive him that day at Jie Bridge... He wouldn't have let her go... Mr. Zhang, the daughter of Wang Situ, and the young doctor are all the same person..."

Tian Feng and Ju Su exchanged bewildered glances. Even if Ms. Zhang was a woman, Lü Bu's wife, she had been helping her lord at Luoyang, Sishui Pass, and even at Jie Bridge. Had she not rescued Qu Junyi's men at Jie Bridge with her smoke, Gongsun Zan would have overrun the camp. So what did she have to do with this incident? Why had her lord dragged her into this?

Tian Feng said, "My lord, regardless of whether Lü Bu was behind this, the incident has already occurred, and we have no evidence to point to him. If you want to reassure people, you should write a letter of apology, stating that what happened that day was an accident."

Ju Su disagreed, "How can this be possible? Isn't this the same as admitting it?"

Tian Feng asked, "If we don't admit it, can we just pretend it didn't happen?"

He looked at Yuan Shao and said, "My lord, you can say this: the emperor fled Chang'an and a secret decree was issued for you to go and greet him. Unexpectedly, Lü Bu learned of the news and took the emperor hostage. The emperor begged you for help, but Lü Bu refused to release him. Forced to do so, you and your two men mobilized your troops. During the fight, you accidentally startled the emperor's mount, leading to the accident. You must admit that you were at fault, but Lü Bu was even more at fault."

Yuan Shao calmed down after hearing this and asked, "Can the world believe it?"

"My lord, your family has held three ministers for four generations, and you once fought against Dong Zhuo. No matter how Lü Bu tries to exonerate himself, the fact that he was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law cannot be changed. It's not surprising that he would do something like Dong Zhuo, holding the emperor hostage. I believe there are many who trust you, my lord. Furthermore, this letter of self-criticism is merely a statement to reassure people. The emperor is now deceased, and the Han Dynasty has no successor. Everything will depend on strength."

Yuan Shao nodded, but then added, "The problem is, Ji Province is no longer as powerful as Bing Province. How can we rely on our strength? Even if we can restore our reputation, Lü Bu will still send troops. Can Wei County be defended?"

Tian Feng said, "To be honest, if we don't ask for external help, we can't hold on!"

"External aid?" Yuan Shao smiled bitterly. "Cao Mengde is already busy with his own affairs, who else can help me?"

"Besides Lord Cao, there are many people who can provide external support for my lord. It all depends on whether you can swallow your pride."

Tian Feng listed them one by one, "The first one is your brother, Yuan Gonglu. He now controls two states and has hundreds of thousands of soldiers. If you are willing to ask him to send troops from Henan Yin to harass Hanoi, he can help you share some of Lü Bu's military strength."

Yuan Shao looked unwilling. "This brat has been against me since childhood. Ever since I became the leader of the coalition and took Jizhou, his hostility towards me has only intensified. Asking him for help would only bring humiliation upon myself. He won't help me."

"At this time, my lord, you still care about your face? How do you know that he won't help you if you don't try?" Tian Feng said coldly.

Yuan Shao's expression froze, "Let's talk about the others!"

Tian Feng continued, "Secondly, Li Su is Lü Bu's mortal enemy. Now that His Majesty is dead, he and Li Jue have reduced Guanzhong to a desolate and barren land. He is now completely helpless. If Lü Bu takes Jizhou, won't he be the next to deal with this traitor? Whether he's looking for support or an ally, if the Lord shows him friendship and asks him to send troops to harass Hedong County, he will surely not refuse!"

Yuan Shao nodded. "Of course, it's possible, but this official is extremely greedy. If I don't give him some benefits first, he may not immediately send troops. Guanzhong has suffered from drought and insect infestations this year. What he wants most is food. Jizhou is far away, and it's impossible to transport food to him."

Tian Feng sighed and said, "Even if the lord wants to send him food, we don't have any extra food to send."

"How can there be no food?" Yuan Shao was surprised. "Jizhou is a major grain-producing province. Even though we suffered from an insect plague this year, we will definitely not be short of food."

Tian Feng shook his head helplessly, looked at Ju Su, and chose to tell the truth.

"Three years ago, a wealthy merchant arrived in Bingzhou and bought up large quantities of raw hemp from Jizhou, sparking a surge in hemp cultivation. Over the past two years, grain planting has decreased by nearly 30% compared to previous years. In some places, even half the land has been used for hemp cultivation. Furthermore, the lord has been sending troops to Bingzhou and supplying grain to Cao Gong for the past year. This year, there's also been a famine, and the government warehouses are almost empty. Let alone providing grain to Li Su, if we don't replenish it, our own army won't even make it to next autumn harvest."

"How could this be?" Yuan Shao asked in disbelief. "Where's Feng Ji? What does he do for a living? Why didn't he notice? And why did he allow the people to grow hemp and that spy to disrupt Jizhou's economy?"

Tian Feng said, "Yuantu noticed it last year. If there hadn't been an insect plague this year, we could have managed to survive. But God didn't give us food, and we just had a famine. Now the price of grain in Guanzhong and Guandong has skyrocketed. Even if we have money, we can't buy food!"

Yuan Shao had originally thought that if he couldn't resist Lü Bu, he could just hold Yecheng for a year or two, until Lü Bu's army could no longer withstand the pressure and had to retreat. But now, with no food, how could he hold on? Yuan Shao felt dizzy and his breath was choking.

Tian Feng saw this and said hurriedly, "Don't worry, my lord. We in Jizhou have a third foreign aid, Liu Jingsheng from Jingzhou."

Yuan Shao took a deep breath and listened to Tian Feng. "My lord, please write a letter of apology first, explaining the emperor's death clearly. Liu Jingsheng is my ally and will surely offer some support. Then, we only need to send someone to Wuguan, south of Jingzhao Yin, to take over and deliver the grain directly to Li Su, inviting him and Li Jue to march to Hedong."

"If Yuan Gonglu and Li Su's troops continue to disrupt Bingzhou's rear, my lord, if you rally and fight hard, there's still hope of holding onto Weijun."