The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

After Wang Zhan finished speaking, he immediately led his five hundred men westward. Although the surrounding people were reluctant to see them go, they dared not make any other moves in the face of the fully armed autonomous region army. They could only watch Wang Zhan and his men leave quietly, placing all their hopes on Alliance Leader Yuan, whom Wang Zhan had just mentioned. They hoped that Alliance Leader Yuan would open the city gates, let them go home, and provide them with relief. All their food had been looted by the Xiliang army. If it weren't for the autonomous region army's aid these past two days, and the fact that they had just been driven from their homes and were still able to hold on, many of them would have starved to death on the road long ago.

"What about people!"

Upon receiving the report, Yuan Shao led his men to the west city wall in a hurry, but by then he could no longer see the autonomous region's army; outside the city wall were only countless refugees.

"Where did they go?" Yuan Shao asked the captain on the city wall. The captain replied meekly, "My lord, the autonomous region's troops had already left before you arrived. Because they were a bit far away, I didn't hear what they were saying. I only heard something about Lord Yuan being benevolent."

"Mercy?" Upon hearing the captain's report, Yuan Shao felt a little uneasy. For someone from the autonomous region to claim that he was merciful, there must be something fishy going on.

"My lord, what should we do now?" Ju Yi asked Yuan Shao. With so many civilians outside the city, the consequences could be dire if they weren't dealt with quickly. The people of the autonomous region said these were Luoyang residents rescued from the clutches of the Xiliang army; if they weren't released into the city soon, it could spark a popular uprising.

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?!" Yuan Shao roared at Ju Yi.

Just as Yuan Shao hesitated, Tao Qian and others arrived after hearing the news. Looking at the people outside the city, Tao Qian asked Yuan Shao, "Alliance Leader Yuan, why haven't you let the people into the city yet?"

Yuan Shao, already furious, answered the question from behind without thinking, "Who knows if Chen Er's spies are among them?"

"Chen Er's spy?" Upon hearing Yuan Shao's words, Tao Qian and Kong Rong exclaimed in unison, "We never expected that Alliance Leader Yuan would be such a petty person, even doubting his own allies. What's the point of such an alliance!"

After speaking, the two left one after the other. Kong Rong, in particular, did not bring up the past, even though Yuan Shao had attacked Qingzhou before. In the allied forces, the Northern Army, though small in number, was composed of elite troops and obeyed the commands of Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao. Hearing Yuan Shao's words, Kong Rong was furious. Whether it was out of anger towards Yuan Shao or because of his good relationship with Chen Er in the Northern Autonomous Region, which was almost like a unit, Kong Rong simply turned and left.

Yuan Shao had just finished speaking and didn't think anything of it at first, but he felt someone pulling him from behind. When Yuan Shao turned around, he saw Kong Rong and Tao Qian say their second sentence, and Yuan Shao immediately regretted it!

He really wanted to slap himself for speaking so recklessly. However, Tao Qian and Kong Rong had already descended the city wall under the protection of their personal guards. It was too late for Yuan Shao to try to dissuade them. He could only vent his anger on Ju Yi: "Why didn't you stop me just now!"

Ju Yi tried to explain, but Yuan Shao didn't give him a chance and launched into a tirade of abuse. Then Yuan Shao said to Ju Yi, "You stay here and keep watch. No civilians are allowed to enter the city!"

"Yes, my lord!" At this moment, Ju Yi, who had originally intended to defend the people, also shut his mouth. Although Ju Yi, who was born into a poor family, understood the hardships of the people, he cherished his hard-won position even more. Thus, the people outside the city were selectively forgotten.

Half an hour later, the people outside the city still hadn't seen the city gates open, and they started to get restless. Some of them shouted at the city tower, "Why are the city gates still open? We want to go home!"

"We want to go home!"

Hearing the shouts outside the city, Ju Yi knew that the main event of the day had arrived. Ju Yi ordered a soldier to step forward and shout, "Alliance Leader Yuan has ordered! No one is allowed to approach within fifty meters of the city wall!"

"What! Isn't Alliance Leader Yuan the most benevolent official in the land? Why won't you let us go home!"

"That's right! Why won't they let us go home!"

The people were all shouting, "Why won't they be allowed to go home!" Hearing their cries, Ju Yi finally understood Chen Er's intentions. Perhaps there were Chen Er's spies among these people, but that wasn't the point. The point was that this was a calculated scheme! A completely calculated scheme. The autonomous region's army had rescued the people, but they were short of supplies, and these were all residents of Luoyang. Yuan Shao, the leader of the allied forces, wouldn't allow the autonomous region's army into the city. Fine, the world might just think Yuan Shao was still holding a grudge, or that the two sides couldn't truly trust each other. But now that the people were going home, Yuan Shao was actually blocking all of them from entering the city—that was a huge problem! How could Yuan Shao, so inconsiderate of the people's plight, be a powerful lord in the future? Who would dare join his army and become his subjects?

"Quickly, immediately inform the lord of the situation here!" Ju Yi said to a messenger. "Report as quickly as possible, understand?"

"Yes, General, I'll go right away!" The messenger hurried off to the former Yuan residence in the city to find Yuan Shao.

However, it seemed to be too late. The people outside the city were already getting impatient, and they were cursing angrily: "Yuan Shao is nothing but a liar! What benevolence! How could the allied forces let such a person be their leader? Those warlords are all blind!"

At this time, Tao Qian and Kong Rong's forces, who had already prepared to withdraw from Luoyang, opened the south gate and sent out several cavalrymen to notify the people outside the west city to enter the city through the south gate. Since only a part of the Bingzhou army was stationed at the south gate, Lu Zhi would probably not make things difficult for the people of Luoyang. By the time Yuan Shao realized what was happening, it was too late.

Before Yuan Shao even reached the west city wall, the people outside the city, led by Kong Rong's cavalry, had already begun heading towards the south city.

Seeing some of the people gradually leaving and heading towards the south of the city, Ju Yi immediately understood what was going on. He couldn't care less about anything else now and directly ordered the city gates to be opened. He interrupted his deputy's attempts to dissuade him, saying, "I will take full responsibility. If we don't open the city gates, our lord's reputation will be ruined!"

"Yes, General, I will have the city gates opened immediately!" The deputy general also knew that their lord had made a mistake, but as his subordinates, they were powerless to do anything about it. Ju Yi, in particular, was extremely helpless, as he was the one directly carrying out the orders and might even be the one to take the blame.