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

"Enough... That scoundrel Zhou Heng schemed against the Zhong family, and now the Zhong family is expected to lower themselves to win him over? Are you kidding me?"

Yuan Shu was so angry that he was completely devastated.

If these two people weren't his most trusted advisors, he would suspect that they had received some kind of benefit from Zhou Heng.

Otherwise, why would I always say nice things to them?

"Your Majesty... this is the best solution we can do right now."

"Otherwise, destruction will surely await us."

Yan Xiang earnestly advised.

"Bullshit."

"The Zhong family, having gained control of two parts of the empire, commands hundreds of thousands of armored soldiers."

"Who can defeat the Zhong family?"

"Moreover, if even we are no match for them, how can Zhou Heng's rabble of only 20,000 men possibly help us?"

"That's complete nonsense."

Yuan Shu said coldly.

"Besides, this is just your speculation. We don't know if Cao Cao has the guts to offend the Zhong family."

"How dare he........."

Yuan Shu wanted to say something, but before he could finish speaking, an urgent report came from outside the palace.

"Report."

"Your Majesty, an urgent report has arrived from Yanzhou. Cao Cao issued a warrant to quell the rebellion a month ago."

"Now the world is responding... Lü Bu, Liu Bei, Liu Biao, Sun Ce have all responded and are preparing to help Cao Cao... They have already gathered their troops and will probably launch an attack on our Jianghuai region soon."

boom.

"what?"

These words immediately shocked all the civil and military officials present.

Even Yuan Shu's expression changed.

Just moments ago, people were saying that Cao Cao didn't have the guts, but in the blink of an eye, he had already issued a warrant to punish the rebels.

And the whole world responded.

For a moment, Yuan Shu felt both ashamed and embarrassed.

"Damn it! How dare Cao Cao, a mere descendant of a eunuch, do such a thing!"

Yuan Shu gritted his teeth in hatred.

"And then there's Sun Ce. If he hadn't done it himself, he would have already been defeated and killed by Liu Biao."

"If you want money, give money. If you want people, give people."

"How dare they rebel!"

"An, you're infuriating me..."

Enraged, Yuan Shu slammed his hand on the dragon throne and roared furiously.

If Cao Cao's issuance of the edict to punish the rebels had already made him extremely angry, then this was already a very serious matter.

Sun Ce's betrayal infuriated him even more.

You should know that Sun Jian had always been his subordinate before.

Without myself.

The entire Sun family is long gone now.

As a result, he showed no gratitude.

They actually dared to respond to the call to punish the traitors and wanted to come and attack me.

It's simply the reverse of Tiangang.

How could this not make him angry?

"Men, send troops! I want to tear that dog Sun Ce to pieces!"

"And Cao Cao, since he dares to attack me, I will directly attack his Yan Province."

Yuan Shu was so angry that he stopped calling Zhongjia (a nickname for a family member).

He was clearly so angry that he was about to lose his temper.

He never imagined that he was once the most powerful and influential lord in the land, someone whom everyone respected.

As a result, he ended up all alone.

Not only did everyone in the world condemn them, but they were also universally hated.

Even his former subordinates betrayed him.

How could this not make him angry?

How could he not find it unbelievable?

"Your Majesty, calm down."

"Cao Cao and Sun Ce, those two scoundrels, are certainly hateful, but what we need to do most right now is not to immediately send troops to attack them."

"Instead, we should fortify our defenses and strengthen our own power, so that we are ready to resist the feudal lords of the world at any time."

"Cao Cao now has the emperor in his hands, so he can rightfully use the emperor to command the other lords."

“Whether we send troops to attack us or call on the world to send troops, we will have a legitimate reason to do so.”

"Our ascension to the throne has already made us traitors and rebels in the eyes of the people."

"I suspect this is the start of a military operation to encircle and suppress them."

"It wasn't just Lü Bu; Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and a few others also responded."

“Even the major feudal lords of the world might respond.”

"After all, this is the best opportunity to seize the Central Plains."

"Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Liu Zhang of Yizhou were originally relatives of the Han imperial family, so it is understandable that they sent troops."

"Ma Teng and Han Sui of Xiliang have long harbored rebellious intentions and are constantly plotting against the Central Plains."

"It's just that there hasn't been an opportunity yet."

"Now that this opportunity has come, I'm afraid that given their personality, they definitely won't let it slip by?"

"In this case... I'm afraid that apart from Yuan Shao in name only, almost all the major warlords in the world regard us as enemies."

"What we should do most now is to hold the Jianghuai region firmly, rather than take the initiative to attack."

"It would be best to win Zhou Heng over."

"In this way... at least we are not alone."

"If things really come to that point, I'll have a friend I can rely on."

Yang Hong quickly offered some words of advice.

The matter of forming an alliance with Zhou Heng was put back on the agenda.

Because he knew all too well how important an ally was to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu's ascension to the throne and declaration of himself as emperor was a blatant violation of the will of the people.

Basically, no one in the world was willing to form an alliance with Yuan Shu.

Even Yuan Shao was no exception.

It's already quite good that they didn't send troops to attack him.

Don't even think about getting Yuan Shao to ally with you.

Even if Yuan Shao is really as stupid as you.

But not all of his subordinates are idiots.

The only person they could win over, and the one most likely to win over, was Zhou Heng.

Because compared to other feudal lords in the land.

Zhou Heng's troops were originally from the Yellow Turban Army, and their previous activities were rebellion.

Is he the only one who doesn't care about this?

"An alliance?" Yuan Shu frowned, but ultimately did not object. "Very well, send someone to Xuzhou to talk to him. As long as he agrees to form an alliance with me, not only will the previous matter be wiped clean, but the Zhong family can also grant her official titles and ranks, and provide her with money and people as needed. However, the matter of marriage still needs to be discussed..."

The Skeleton King stopped insisting at this point, clearly frightened by the alliance of lords.

Don't cooperate with people who scheme against you.

However, she still has no intention of marrying Zhou Heng.

After all, what kind of person would he consider to be able to marry into his family?

They should at least be on the same level as Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, or even the Yang family, who were all from families that had held high office for four generations.

Zhou Heng is not qualified.

"This... My lord, please reconsider. While bestowing official titles and honors is certainly tempting, people's hearts are complex these days, especially given the difficulties we are currently facing."

"Simply offering some external material things is unlikely to make him willing to help in a dangerous situation."

"After all, an alliance without kinship is far too unstable."