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

"you mean........."

Yuan Shao frowned.

"My lord, why don't we think about this from a different perspective?"

"Although Zhou Heng has a deep-seated hatred for us."

"But during this trip to Jizhou, he offended more than just one person, including us."

"And Zhang Yan, and Cao Cao."

"Especially Cao Cao, who was unfairly burdened with two huge accusations."

Do you think he'll swallow this insult?

"If we were to take action against Zhou Heng, it would naturally be a case of more harm than good."

"Whether it's Gongsun Zan, Zhang Yan, or even Cao Cao, they all wish we would take action against Zhou Heng."

"It buys them a lot of time."

"It greatly delays our progress."

"If that's the case, why not think about it from the opposite perspective?"

"If Cao Cao had done this, the outcome would have been very different."

"If I'm not mistaken, Liu Bei and Lü Bu's move to Xuzhou was largely influenced by Cao Cao."

"In other words, even if we don't make a move, Cao Cao will definitely make a move."

"If that's the case, why don't we sit back and watch the tigers fight?"

"Why did they have to deliberately wade into these muddy waters?"

"If the two sides clash."

"No matter how this ends, it will be entirely beneficial to us."

"If Cao Cao wins, he will naturally avenge our lord."

"If Cao Cao loses, it can buy the lord a lot of time."

"In the short term, they cannot pose an effective threat to our Jizhou."

"If that's the case, why should we bother doing this ourselves?"

"What if we don't manage to eliminate Zhou Heng in a short time?"

"Once Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shu, and then another three major warlords come to besiege us, and perhaps Zhou Heng is added to the mix, we will be surrounded by enemies and isolated without any help. Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?"

"But isn't Yuan Shu always the one to save the day?"

Xin Ping said calmly.

He directly expressed his thoughts.

This instantly made all the civil and military officials around him light up.

"good."

Although Ju Shou was not Yuan Shao's chief strategist, he was still one of the top strategists in the Three Kingdoms period.

I realized it immediately.

"Given our current situation, we naturally cannot touch Zhou Heng."

Even if we trap him in Jizhou, we might not be able to kill him.

"It might even delay things for a lot of time because of Zhou Heng."

"If we get bogged down in Zhou Heng's war quagmire..."

"They even sent troops to Xuzhou to annihilate Zhou Heng."

"This will greatly delay our efforts to deal with Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yan."

“The gain is not worth the loss.”

"Most importantly, if Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shu and then joins forces with Zhang Yan and Gongsun Zan again, we will be in danger."

"Nobody knows whether Yuan Shu will appear at such a timely moment again next time."

"If that's the case, why don't we release Zhou Heng out of Ji Province?"

"Free up your hands and focus on dealing with Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yan."

"With Zhang Yan and Gongsun Zan dealt with, Cao Cao alone, even if he defeats Yuan Shu, will not pose an effective threat to us."

"We can even sit back and watch the tigers fight."

"Although Zhou Heng is weak, he is full of clever ideas."

"Able to manipulate all the feudal lords under heaven at the same time."

"How could he be an ordinary person?"

"If the other side can weaken Cao Cao's strength."

"It is naturally all beneficial to us."

"If I die at the hands of Cao Cao, it will be a way to avenge my lord."

"If that's the case, why not do it?"

"Zhongzhi's brilliant plan is truly admirable."

As Xin Ping finished speaking, everyone present suddenly realized what was going on.

"My lord, I think Zhongzhi makes a very good point."

"It is really not advisable for us to launch another major attack now; we should at least address the problems within our own borders first."

"Only then will we have enough power to do what we want to do."

Even Xu You, who had remained silent, agreed with Xin Ping's words.

Although Yuan Shao's strategists all belonged to their own factions.

They put the interests of their family first.

But this was under the condition that Yuan Shao was safe.

If Yuan Shao were to be defeated and killed.

Wouldn't my family perish along with Yuan Shao?

This is certainly not what they want to see.

Therefore, it is a rare occasion that opinions are unified and a united front is formed against external forces.

"But........."

Yuan Shao was still somewhat hesitant.

As a feudal lord, he had to use others to avenge his own hatred.

How could he possibly accept this?

"My lord has no excuses."

"Our most urgent task is to resolve our internal problems before we can deal with external threats."

"Never let small gains lead to big losses."

"As long as we solve our internal problems, Zhou Heng is nothing more than a flick of the finger to destroy him."

"Right now, we're just using him to hold Cao Cao back."

"What is there to worry about?"

"Moreover, even with Cao Cao's abilities, he might not be able to deal with Zhou Heng."

"Won't it all end up back in the lord's hands anyway?"

"At that time, our lord could deal with Zhou Heng however he wanted."

"However, we must prioritize the overall situation right now."

Xin Ping waved his hand.

He was utterly speechless at Yuan Shao's indecisive nature.

The benefits have become so obvious.

It's still there, but... but...

But that's nothing.

If the other party wasn't his lord, he would be tempted to hurl insults.

However, he also knew Yuan Shao's personality.

You can only coax him; you absolutely cannot go against him.

So after thinking about it, I said it again.

"Moreover, it can also disrupt Cao Cao's plans."

Xin Ping dropped another bombshell.

Yuan Shao was startled: "Cao Cao's plan? Does Cao Cao have some other plan in mind?"

"good."

"If I'm not mistaken, the reason he changed his tune later, going from denying it to admitting it, is because the person who allegedly seized the Zhen family property was either his own or his son."

"The main purpose is to put us in direct confrontation with Zhou Heng."

"The lord's high regard for his son is known throughout the land."

"Not to mention that they've been scheming against us like this."

"This will inevitably attract the lord's hatred."

"So that he can reap the benefits without lifting a finger."

"If we can kill Zhou Heng, he can naturally take over Xuzhou and also avenge Zhou Heng for making him take the blame."

"Even if we fail to capture Zhou Heng, it will still greatly tie down our forces."

"Once he defeats Yuan Shu, he will once again be surrounded by enemies on all sides."

"We'll really be sitting ducks."

"If we actually intercept Zhou Heng now, we will have fallen right into Cao Cao's trap."

"Therefore, we release Zhou Heng at this time."

"It's entirely beneficial with no drawbacks."