Your Majesty, please spare Diao Chan; your yang energy is too strong.

"Report."

At this critical moment.

Suddenly, another messenger rushed in, looking flustered.

"What's all this panic? What kind of behavior is this?"

Yuan Shao was somewhat displeased.

After all, he had just been falsely accused by his subordinates that his own son had been ambushed in his hometown.

How could he possibly be in a good mood?

"Reporting to my lord, the governor of Zhongshan has just sent word that the second young master was ambushed by rebels in Zhongshan and his entire army was wiped out."

"His whereabouts are currently unknown."

"The traitors took advantage of the situation and forced the entire Zhen family to marry out."

"The wedding has already been held in Zhongshan, but I'm afraid..."

The messenger spoke cautiously.

"Om."

This statement came out.

For everyone in the hall, it was like being struck by lightning.

Not to mention Yuan Shao.

He just vehemently denied that his son would be attacked in his own hometown.

As a result, they were instantly slapped in the face.

However, after the initial shock came an endless stream of anger.

"No way, absolutely impossible."

"Jizhou is my stronghold, with tens of thousands of soldiers. Who dares to launch a sneak attack on my stronghold?"

"Who is qualified?"

"Who has that ability?"

“You can lay a hand on my son in Jizhou.”

"Impossible, absolutely impossible, I absolutely do not believe it, you must be spreading false information."

"Tell me who you really are and why you are spreading false information."

Yuan Shao was furious.

A frantic roar.

He even drew his longsword, intending to kill the messenger.

It makes sense, if the enemy could break into your own base and come to capture your son.

Does that mean you can also break into your own residence and kill yourself?

How could he possibly believe it?

You have to understand that Jizhou is his stronghold.

These years of operation have made it as solid as a rock.

Now you're telling me that in your own base camp, my son led tens of thousands of troops, only to have them all wiped out.

Even their future financial future has fallen into the hands of others.

Are you kidding me?

Can I understand this to mean that if that traitor wanted to, he could even march on his own city, Ye, and capture his lord as well?

How could he possibly believe that?

"I've heard... I've heard it's Cao Cao..."

The messenger didn't dare to breathe loudly and stammered as he spoke.

"Impossible, you must be faking the message."

"Under my management, Jizhou has long been as solid as a rock."

"How could Cao Cao possibly have gotten in?"

"Moreover, he is currently issuing a proclamation to punish the traitors and is focusing all his efforts on dealing with Yuan Shu."

"How could they possibly launch a sneak attack on my Ji Province at this time?"

Yuan Shao's eyes were practically spitting fire, and even his voice changed.

Trembling, he grabbed the messenger's hand and said.

"My lord, it's entirely possible."

Just now.

Tian Feng, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

"It is precisely because Cao Cao is currently dealing with Yuan Shu with all his might that he wants to launch a sneak attack on our lord."

"After all, our lord and Yuan Shu are now the number one and number two warlords in the land."

"And it's the Yuan family again, which has a history of producing four generations of high-ranking officials."

"If the two sides join forces, the world will fall to Yuan, and there will be no point in continuing the conflict."

"Cao Cao must have been afraid that our lord would join forces with Yuan Shu, which is why he was thinking of taking a desperate gamble."

"After all, our lord is still being restrained by Gongsun Zan, so it's impossible for him to mobilize all his forces to besiege him."

"At this moment, a surprise attack and assist would have at least three major advantages for him."

"First: Capture the lord's son. Everyone knows that the lord loves his son dearly. If the lord's son falls into Cao Cao's hands, it will surely make the lord hesitate to act rashly and dare not easily ally with Yuan Shu again."

"Second: to disrupt the marriage alliance between our lord and the Zhen family. The Zhen family is the richest family in the world, with wealth far exceeding ten thousand pieces of gold. If our lord gains the support of the Zhen family, it will greatly increase his strength, which is definitely not a good thing for him. After Yuan Shu's defeat and death, Cao Cao's biggest opponent will be our lord. As long as Cao Cao is not stupid, he will definitely take precautions."

"Thirdly, we can also take advantage of the situation to intercept the Zhen family and turn what was originally the lord's money bag into his own."

"So from any perspective, this is possible."

"Because Cao Cao had this reason."

"In fact, he is not afraid of the lord. Not to mention the lord, the main force is currently tied down in Youzhou, making it difficult to mobilize a large army to launch an effective attack against him."

"Even if it's our lord, with his army currently in Ji Province, he's not afraid at all."

"Because if our lord were to send troops to attack him at this time, it would indirectly show the world that our lord supports Yuan Shu."

"In this way, he can use the people of the world to deal with the lord."

"It's much better than facing my lord alone in the future."

Overall, this matter only brought benefits to Cao Cao and had no drawbacks.

Tian Feng said seriously.

Perhaps at first he also found this unbelievable.

Cao Cao is still facing Yuan Shu.

How can they possibly fight on multiple fronts when they are already struggling to take care of themselves?

And at this critical juncture, he offended Yuan Shao.

A seasoned military strategist and politician would never make such a foolish decision at this time.

However, if you search carefully...

Yet, everything also seemed so reasonable.

Cao Cao held the emperor in his hands.

Now is the best time to destroy Yuan Shu.

Anyone who associates with Yuan Shu is doomed to destruction.

When the time comes, all the feudal lords of the land will unite to punish him.

Forcibly binding Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao together now would only bring them benefits, not harm.

Cao Cao may face immense pressure in the short term.

However, from a long-term perspective...

That's a brilliant plan.

Even though Yuan Shao saw through his plan.

I want to state in advance that I have no connection with Yuan Shu whatsoever.

But since everyone in the world can see that they were born into the same family, who would believe it?

Even if Yuan Shao did not take the initiative to attack Cao Cao.

This matter still had benefits for Cao Cao.

First and foremost is the Zhen family's money bag.

By breaking up the marriage alliance between Yuan Shao and the Zhen family, Yuan Shao's strength was weakened.

If we could bring them under our control, that would be an immense benefit.

As a second choice, we settled for second best.

Yuan Shao's love for his son was known throughout the land.

Having Yuan Shao's son in hand would make Yuan Shao hesitant to act rashly.

From any perspective.

This is a tremendous benefit.

He has every reason to do so.

"But I will not cooperate with Yuan Shu, much less be foolish enough to get involved with him at this time."

Yuan Shao said angrily.

"But the people of the world don't know that. They only know that our lord's surname is Yuan."

“They are family with Yuan Shu.”