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

"To find out who did this, we need to know who most wants us to confront Yuan Shao right now, and who benefits from doing this."

Guo Jia said calmly.

"Oh, isn't the lord the biggest beneficiary?"

Xun You asked, puzzled.

"On the surface, it is indeed the lord, but this is based on the premise that the lord takes action."

"If it is our lord who takes action."

"Then our lord has not only eliminated the possibility of the two Yuan brothers joining forces."

"They also captured Yuan Shao's son, making him hesitant to act rashly."

"It even weakened Yuan Shao's power, putting the Zhen family's marriage alliance in the hands of our lord."

"However, since it wasn't our lord who made the move, all these speculations are invalid now."

"First of all, the one who is going to marry into the Zhen family is not our lord."

"Although weakening Yuan Shao's strength has also brought some benefits to our lord, the Zhen family is not in our hands. In other words, we have only gained some superficial benefits. In fact, the real benefits have been taken away by the person who made the move in secret."

"And we became the perfect scapegoats for him."

Guo Jia said calmly.

"But why did he do this, and why did he give Yuan Xi to us?"

Cheng Yu asked.

"That's because he had no choice but to give it away. Only by handing Yuan Xi over to us could he successfully shift the blame to the east."

"To draw all of Yuan Shao's attention to us."

"To escape unscathed."

"If he doesn't give it to him, do you think Yuan Shao will let him go?"

Guo Jia said.

"But, but... why would he do this, and who would have the guts to do that?"

The crowd was puzzled.

Although I think Guo Jia's words make a lot of sense, it's one thing to make sense than another.

Apart from Cao Cao, they really couldn't understand who had the audacity to offend Yuan Shao at this time.

You have to understand that if this matter is exposed...

But then they'd be completely out of luck.

The most crucial question is... how did he manage to capture Yuan Xi from Yuan Shao's stronghold?

So many troops entered Jizhou.

Was Yuan Shao a fool? He just stood by and watched.

"Naturally, it's for the Zhen family."

"The Zhen family is the richest family in the world, and the resources they control are beyond your imagination."

"If we can get their support, we will be able to develop our strength in a very short time."

"So if you want to know who this person is, you need to know who is eager to improve their strength."

"As for how they captured Yuan Shao's son and how they brought the army into Ji Province."

"Don't forget, although Ji Province is under Yuan Shao's control, it doesn't mean that Ji Province is a monolithic entity."

"And there's also Zhang Yan from the Taihang Mountains, eyeing us covetously."

"If we get Zhang Yan's support, it's not impossible to achieve this."

Guo Jia said.

"Indeed, it may seem incredible for us to enter Ji Province now, but it is not entirely impossible."

"As long as we can get Zhang Yan's support, we can accomplish this seemingly impossible task."

"However, Zhang Yan is not stupid; he would not use the entire Yellow Turban Army as collateral."

"As far as I know, this person has always liked to take shortcuts."

"So I guess this person acted without Zhang Yan's consent, which means that not only us, but also Zhang Yan were tricked by him."

Xun Yu also figured it out.

His expression changed slightly as he spoke.

"Now that you've said that, I understand. On the surface, it seems like we've benefited, but in reality, we've just been taking the blame for others."

"The benefits have all been taken by others, leaving us standing in front of Yuan Shao."

"This explains why he handed Yuan Xi over to us."

"Because he has to give it; if he doesn't, he won't be able to draw Yuan Shao's attention to us."

"He will never be able to escape unscathed."

"If I'm not mistaken, Yuan Shao should be focusing all his attention on us."

"And then there's Zhang Yan."

"This gave him an opportunity."

"In other words, he took all the benefits, while we and Zhang Yan became his biggest scapegoats."

Everyone nodded.

After their analysis, most people understood.

This also applies to Cao Cao.

So who could this person be?

"At the same time, they are plotting against me, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Zhang Yan, the three major forces."

"Isn't he afraid of getting into trouble?"

Cao Cao's face was extremely grim.

This was the first time he'd been outmaneuvered like this; how could his expression possibly worsen?

Cao Cao, since his debut, has always been the one who manipulates others at will.

But now they are being manipulated by others.

"Yuan Shu, Liu Bei, Lü Bu, Liu Biao, or perhaps someone else?"

Everyone frowned slightly and began to speculate.

“Yuan Shu is impossible. At this time, Yuan Shu can barely protect himself, so how could he possibly plot against Yuan Shao?”

"Zhang Yan is no fool; she would never choose to support the other side when she knows they are doomed to defeat."

Therefore, Yuan Shu is the first to be ruled out.

"Liu Bei is even more so. He is still in our hands and has no right to do so. It's not that I look down on him, but he is not smart enough to think of such a thing."

"As for Lü Bu and Liu Biao, Chen Gong is good, but he is slow to act, so I'm afraid he will not be able to do it."

"Liu Biao is old and has long lost the desire to contend for the world, so it is even more impossible for him."

"Others, such as Sun Ce, Ma Chao of Xiliang, Zhang Xiu, Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu, are too far away from the Empress Dowager, and they wouldn't even think of such a thing."

"So it's almost certainly not possible."

Xun Yu analyzed.

"Who could that be?"

Everyone frowned; this counted almost all the feudal lords in the land.

Who else could it be besides these people?

"It seems that everyone has forgotten something. Have you noticed that this plan is somewhat similar to the one in Xuzhou back then?"

Just now.

Guo Jia, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up.

"Xuzhou, you mean Zhou Heng?"

"But he is just a commoner. Born into poverty, he has no right to compete for the world. It's impossible, absolutely impossible."

Cheng Yu immediately shook his head.

"Even we think it's impossible, so what do you think the feudal lords of the world will think?"

"Often, the most incredible thing is the most likely possibility."

"Isn't it?"

"If we were to ask who in the world most wants to increase their strength right now, without a doubt, Zhou Heng would be the first choice."

"And haven't you forgotten one thing? Precisely because he was born into humble circumstances, he couldn't possibly gain the support of aristocratic families, so the only option is..."