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

Inside the Jianghuai Imperial Palace.

"Zhou Hengzhong's family swears to kill you."

Yuan Shu was so angry he gritted his teeth.

He kicked over the cutting board in front of him right there.

Yes, it took a full month for Yuan Shu to receive the battle report from Xuzhou.

This is not to say that Jianghuai is too far from Xuzhou.

It will take a full month for Ji Ling to tell Yuan Shu this news.

Instead, Ji Ling knew Yuan Shu's temperament.

Yuan Shu was busy with his coronation ceremony, which was when he was in the best mood.

You suddenly tell him bad news at this moment.

One can imagine Yuan Shu's feelings.

I'm afraid he won't even be in the mood for the coronation ceremony.

However, if Yuan Shu is in a bad mood, he will also suffer the consequences.

No matter what, he was the military commander of Xuzhou.

Regardless of whether he or she fell for his scheme, she is still culpable.

Ji Ling would never be so foolish.

So after much deliberation, Ji Ling decided to wait until after the coronation ceremony to tell Yuan Shu.

This back and forth went on for a full half month.

In addition, Ji Ling was unaware that she had fallen into Zhou Heng's trap.

He was shocked to see that the promise to seize Xuzhou had actually been taken by Zhou Heng.

And after putting in so much effort, I didn't get any benefit at all.

Instead, they were blocked by Lü Bu outside Xiaopei.

Only then did he realize that he had fallen into Zhou Heng's trap.

This is why it took a full month to complete.

Yuan Shu, who had just ascended the throne as emperor, finally received a battle report from Xuzhou.

I was so angry that I felt terrible.

It's important to understand why he chose to ascend the throne at this time.

A major reason for this was the belief that Xuzhou was already under their control.

They can't cause any major trouble at all.

In this way, he simultaneously controlled Yangzhou and Xuzhou, as well as parts of Yuzhou and Jingzhou.

It could be said that the momentum was overwhelming.

If not now, when?

And then you told me...

Xuzhou, which was already 100% certain to fall into their hands, was actually outmaneuvered by Zhou Heng.

So it turns out the clown was himself?

How could he possibly tolerate this?

So Yuan Shu was furious on the spot.

"I swear I will not rest until I avenge this wrong."

Originally, he didn't take Zhou Heng seriously at all.

At best, they were just a slightly more powerful bandit gang.

Being able to write a letter to the other person is already a tremendous blessing.

Not to mention plotting against oneself.

After all, Zhang Yan was incredibly powerful.

It can't even be considered a feudal lord.

He can only be considered a lone wolf.

He was defeated by Yuan Shao, whom he had always looked down upon, and was forced to hide in the Taihang Mountains, living in constant fear.

No matter how powerful Zhou Heng is, he is still somewhat inferior to Zhang Yan.

How could I possibly scheme against myself?

Who am I? The legitimate son of a family that has produced four generations of high-ranking officials.

The person with the greatest chance of ascending to the throne.

result.........

"By order of the Zhong family, Ji Ling is to lead an army of 100,000 men to massacre Xuzhou..."

Yuan Shu was furious.

The order was given immediately.

The plan is to have Ji Ling lead an army of 100,000 to wipe out Xuzhou, so that Zhou Heng will know the consequences of offending him.

"Absolutely not, Your Majesty!"

But just then, a startled voice interrupted Yuan Shu's order.

It was Yan Xiang, the second-in-command of Yuan Shu's advisors.

Yan Xiang was Yuan Shu's second-in-command, second only to Yuan Shu's chief strategist, Yang Hong.

Yan Xiang was extremely unwilling to accept Yuan Shu's declaration of himself as emperor.

In his view, declaring himself emperor at this time would be tantamount to courting his own destruction.

After all, although the Han Dynasty existed in name only, its prestige remained.

If you were to declare yourself emperor now.

Perhaps the Han Dynasty had no good solutions, but for the feudal lords of the land, it was a rare opportunity.

They will surely rise up and attack.

That's why I've been trying to persuade them for so long.

However, his abilities are limited on his own.

In addition, Yuan Shu also very much wanted to become emperor, and most of his subordinates supported him.

No matter how much Yan Xiang objected, there was nothing he could do.

Now, Yuan Shu has finally succeeded in declaring himself emperor.

Instead of properly developing your power, you are constantly preparing to face attacks from all the feudal lords in the land.

Instead, they attacked Xuzhou at this time.

Isn't this courting disaster?

How could he possibly resist?

Therefore, when the other party said that, he immediately stood up to object.

"What do you mean by that, my dear minister?"

Yuan Shu was somewhat displeased.

His very first order upon ascending the throne was so ruthlessly contradicted by his own subordinates.

Yuan Shu also felt somewhat embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, our greatest enemy now is Cao Cao, not Zhou Heng of Xuzhou!"

"Zhou Heng is nothing more than a minor disturbance to us; he can't cause any real trouble."

"Moreover, the other party's background is that of a commoner, which is his major weakness."

"They pose no threat to us."

"But Cao Cao was different."

"Cao Cao is our biggest threat!"

"We have just ascended the throne and become emperor. Cao Cao holds the emperor in his hands. He will certainly not sit idly by and watch such a thing happen."

"If I'm not mistaken, within seven days at most, a warrant for the surrender of the thieves will arrive."

"Will all the feudal lords of the land then respond and rise up to attack us?"

"How similar is this to the campaign of the eighteen warlords against Dong Zhuo?"

"We are barely able to protect ourselves. If we send troops to attack Xuzhou at this time, wouldn't that be courting our own destruction?"

Yan Xiang said earnestly.

"Indeed, Your Majesty, Zhou Heng's actions are merely minor; the real threat is Cao Cao."

"This man has the emperor in his hands and uses the emperor to command the feudal lords."

"No matter what he thinks in his heart, it cannot change the fact that the emperor is in his hands and he is the legitimate ruler of the Han Dynasty."

“If we declare ourselves emperor and he remains indifferent, then the emperor in his hands will be of no use.”

"It greatly diminished the majesty of the Han emperor."

"Cao Cao would naturally not allow such a thing to happen."

"Because, compared to us and the other warlords in the world, Cao Cao's greatest advantage is that he has the emperor in his hands."

"So if I'm not mistaken, the other side will definitely not let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Will it surely prompt the emperor to issue a proclamation to punish the traitors?"

“At that time we were surrounded by enemies on all sides. It would be extremely unwise for us to send troops to attack Xuzhou now.”

Although Yang Hong and Yan Xiang have always been at odds.

Everyone knows the seriousness of this matter; this is not the time for the two of them to be petty.

Naturally, it was impossible to support Yuan Shu's foolish decision.

"Cao Cao? He wouldn't dare."

Yuan Shu was somewhat disdainful. As the eldest son of a family that had held high office for four generations, Yuan Shu had always looked down on Cao Cao, who was born into a family of eunuchs.

He looked down on not only Cao Cao, but also Yuan Shao.

Not to mention, he has now ascended the throne and become the Son of Heaven.

How could a nobody like Cao Cao dare to provoke the tiger at this time?

They're simply asking for trouble.