The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chen Er wanted to laugh when he heard this. He wanted to ask who "everyone" was and why suppressing the two of them would promote stability within the Bingzhou army.

But he didn't say it; he thought about it for a moment:

“My lord, since you have put it that way, I might as well speak frankly. My brother and I know that we are but lowly people, not as powerful as General Dian, but we are not pushovers either! This matter cannot be left like this.”

Chen Er had lost patience with Ding Yuan. Ding Yuan had no intention of seriously reflecting on his actions, so why should he waste his time here?

Even if he couldn't stay in the entire Bingzhou region anymore, so what? The world is vast, and chaos is imminent; he and Zhang Liao will eventually rise to prominence. Staying with the Bingzhou army, on the other hand, might lead to him being assassinated by Dian Wei at any time.

After all, Dian Wei was the main force of the Bingzhou army, while Chen Er and Zhang Liao were not. Just the fact that they were constantly being given a hard time was enough to make things difficult for them.

Ding Yuan's face darkened further. He hadn't expected that Chen Er would dare to speak to him like that when he tried to reason with him politely!

"While you two are quite talented, don't forget, this is still Bingzhou. Even if I'm not the best, I am still a governor. If I deliberately make things difficult for you two, not only will you not be able to enter Bingzhou, but you won't even have a place to stay in the whole world!"

Ding Yuan spoke sharply and sternly, but Chen Er was already prepared for this and didn't take it seriously at all.

"My lord, I believe that with your abilities, you can prevent us two brothers from rising to prominence. However, can you suppress us for a time, or for a lifetime? Moreover, with the world suffering from disasters year after year, there are plenty of opportunities for military generals to rise to prominence. My lord, are you sure you can suppress us forever?"

Chen Er felt deeply sorry for Ding Yuan. He did all this for his adopted son, Dian Wei, but how could he know that Dian Wei was actually a heartless and ungrateful person who wasn't worth his efforts? From this perspective, Ding Yuan was also a pitiful person.

However, Chen Er wouldn't do anything just because he felt sorry for him. On the contrary, he believed that those who are pitiful often have something hateful about them. If Ding Yuan hadn't indulged Dian Wei so much, Dian Wei wouldn't have been able to so easily control the Bingzhou army after killing him. Ultimately, Ding Yuan thought he had cultivated a successor, but in reality, he had cultivated a treacherous wolf!

Ding Yuan's face turned ashen, but he couldn't utter a word. The reason was simple: Chen Er had touched a raw nerve.

To be fair, Ding Yuan admired these two young men and believed they were destined for great things. Logically, as the leader of the Bingzhou army, he should have been pleased to see two such figures emerge. However, the problem lay in the strained relationship between Dian Wei, his chosen successor whom he had been grooming for a long time, and these two young men.

The father-son relationship was there; although he was only an adopted son, it meant that no matter how amazing Zhang Liao and Chen Er's talents were, he would habitually favor Dian Wei. There was no way around it; it was just human nature.

However, this raises a problem. He can suppress these two young men and temper their arrogance, making them willingly become Dian Wei's second-in-command for a short period of time. But what about in the long run? Or what if he can no longer suppress these two young men?

He's too old! He doesn't have the time or energy to gamble with two young men on such a high-stakes game! The stakes are the future of the Bingzhou Army, and he can't afford to gamble!

“My lord, you are old, and Bingzhou has never been a place where your word is law.” Chen Er looked at Ding Yuan’s face and added another cruel blow.

This statement undoubtedly struck Ding Yuan squarely where it hurt.

Yes, he's old!

"So what exactly do you two want before you're willing to work with my son Dian Wei?"

This reminded him of his younger self, proud and unyielding, refusing to submit to the powerful. But times have changed, and now he himself is the one suppressing the young.

He was a high-ranking official, and in principle, he shouldn't be so wary of two military officers who hadn't yet achieved any official rank. However, these two were registered in the Warrior Tower [Heavenly Pavilion], and the [Apostle of Heaven] held them in high regard.

This is troublesome. No matter how much Ding Yuan favors Dian Wei, he can't just cause trouble and find an excuse to deal with Zhang Liao and Chen Er. After all, he is only a temporary master of Bingzhou. The real and unchanging master of Bingzhou is actually Wushita.

He was acutely aware of this, especially in this era of declining imperial power. Although Ding Yuan was loyal to the Han Dynasty, he also understood the general trend of the world; otherwise, he would not have been able to rise to the position of a regional governor.

All these factors combined led to the current situation. Ding Yuan lost patience, but realized he couldn't control these two young men. Therefore, he had no choice but to settle for a solution that would satisfy them.

In his view, the conflict between Chen Er, Zhang Liao, and Dian Wei was merely a young man's petty squabble, nothing serious as there was no deep-seated hatred. But how could he know how proud and arrogant these three young men were, and how utterly disdainful of reconciliation they were?

"My lord, to tell you the truth, my brother and I have no intention of reconciling with General Dian Wei," Chen Er said to Ding Yuan without hesitation.

Ding Yuan looked at Zhang Liao with a livid expression:

"Wen Yuan, do you think so too?"

"What my elder brother means is what I mean. What my elder brother decides is what I decide."

Zhang Liao didn't want to say much to Ding Yuan; in his view, it was all nonsense. But since Ding Yuan had already asked the question, it would be inappropriate for him not to answer.

His answer left Ding Yuan speechless. He hadn't expected Zhang Liao to respond in this way.

The room fell silent again. A suffocating sense of oppression hung in the air between the three of them.

After a long while, Ding Yuan was the first to sigh:

"I understand what you two mean. I will no longer force you two to reconcile with Dian Wei."

Ding Yuan's face was etched with deep weariness and disappointment. Faced with these two determined young men, he could only compromise in the end.

I'm afraid even if we try to reconcile with Dian Wei, he probably won't be willing to. Someone as arrogant and incompetent as him, having been publicly humiliated by Wen Yuan, how could he possibly let it go?