Chapter 38: The Change in Ye City (Part 2)

  Yuan Shao, although his evaluation in history is not very good, but actually speaking, he is indeed a character.

  He's handsome, capable, has a good family background, and a career that everyone envies. He's also very family-oriented and loves his children dearly.

  Apart from being indecisive and soft-hearted, he is relatively true to his feelings. By modern standards, Yuan Shao is the epitome of a diamond bachelor, a rare breed who is not only rich but also has emotions and integrity, making him an exceptional catch.

  Unfortunately, Yuan Shao was born in the wrong era!

  At the end of Han Dynasty, in a chaotic world, Yuan Shao's so-called strengths and weaknesses seem out of place in the grand framework of "the world".

  Yuan Shao was so worried about his young son's illness that he lost his appetite and couldn't sleep, to the point where he even missed the best opportunity for battle. His skin wasn't thick enough, his heart wasn't black enough, and his methods weren't ruthless enough. The most fatal thing was that all of this was clearly known by both his best friend and greatest enemy.

  Outside the east gate of Ye City, Qin Xu heard the city guard call the young man in front of him with a white face and wearing a small suit of armor "Third Young Master".

  Although he had never met Yuan Shang before, he was able to address him as "School Lieutenant", and hastened to fawn on him; apart from that young son of Yuan Shao, there was no one else.

  Before, the city gate officer was uncertain about Qin Xu's identity and others. With Yuan Shao newly obtaining Ye City, he was very generous to the large families inside the city, but did not dare to be too excessive. However, seeing these people blocking the way of the third son Yuan Shang made him unhappy. Under the guise of tiger power, the officer's tone naturally became tougher.

  "What? Could it be Yuan Xianfu, the third son of the Yuan family?"

  Just as the city gate lieutenant thought Qin Xu and others would either retreat or be driven away by Yuan Shang's impatient followers, he never expected that this young man with a literary appearance would suddenly call out Yuan Shang's name.

  In this day and age, it's not easy to call someone by their name. Sometimes calling the wrong person can lead to a dispute, and even bloodshed is not unheard of. To be able to address someone directly, at the very least, you need to know each other.

  "Huh? Who are you? How do you know me?" Yuan Shang, who was already impatient, found this even more strange. Originally, he was tightly restrained by his mother, Lady Liu, and couldn't easily come out to hunt for a while. Moreover, with the recent news of the Black Mountain bandits' attack spreading far and wide, if they delayed their return home now, who knows when they would be able to come out again?

  "In the lower Qin nine, it is a subordinate official in the mansion of General Zhang, the governor of Henan!" Qin Xu replied. Having come to Han for many days, he had also learned various rituals and etiquette, but he didn't lose his dignity until he arrived at Ye City.

  "Governor of Hebei? Zhang Yang?" Seeing Qin Xu's literary attire and elegant demeanor, Yuan Shang originally thought he could call out his own name, wondering if it was someone from a family he had met while following his father Yuan Shao to win over the city's aristocratic families. But unexpectedly, it turned out to be an outside official of his father's, yet he still had an air of familiarity about him, which made Yuan Shang feel displeased at heart.

  Looking at Yuan Shang's furrowed brow, Qin Xu calmly showed a puzzled expression and said: "We all came to Ye City under the orders of Mr. Xu You, and Mr. Xu repeatedly instructed me that when I arrived in Ye City, I must visit Young Master Yuan Shang, didn't you know, Third Master?"

  "Did Mr. Xu really say that you must visit me in Ye City?" Yuan Shang was favored by his father, the old Yuan, and some similarities with Yuan Shao's character also played a significant role, at least this temperament inherited seven-tenths of Yuan Shao's legacy. Originally seeing Qin Xu recognize himself, although he was just an official under Zhang Yang, he didn't have any difficult thoughts, and he wanted to urge Qin Xu to leave quickly, but unexpectedly Qin Xu brought up Xu You.

  Who is Xu You? That was Yuan Shao's buddy when he was in Luoyang. One of the three evils of Luoyang at that time, especially after Cao Cao left Yuan Shao, Xu You firmly followed Yuan Shao to Hebei, and his right to speak within Yuan Shao's forces was extremely great.

  Although Yuan Shao is now in his prime and his power is not very great, at least Gongsun Zan dares to contend with this former ally; but Yuan Shao after all represents the prestige of the four generations of the Yuan family, which has been a thorn in the hearts of the three Yuan brothers since birth.

  Xun Yu has not explicitly expressed his support for any of Yuan Shao's sons, but for the youngest, Yuan Shang, who has not yet formally entered the decision-making circle of Yuan Shao's faction, although he is currently favored by Yuan Shao, unfortunately, in this era, the appeal of both older brothers is stronger than Yuan Shang in every aspect. However, if he gains the support of Xun Yu, one of the four major strategists of the Yuan Shao faction, even if it is secret support...

  "Ah! Ha! I remember now, you're that, that......"

  "Down with Qin Jiu!" Qin Xu said calmly and elegantly, with a hint of implication.

  "Right, Qin Jiu! I remembered." Yuan Shang rubbed his forehead, pretending to have just recalled Qin Xu's words, and said: "Now that you've seen the situation in Ye City, Mr. Xu left in a hurry that day and didn't say much, as you can see from my memory. But I don't know if Mr. Xu has any other instructions for me besides sending you here?"

  "This... " Qin Xu pointed to the horse carriage blocking the city gate and the city gate captain standing beside it, trembling with fear.

  "Right, right!" Yuan Shang repeatedly nodded in agreement, and instructed the attendants beside him: "Quickly take Lord Qin and Lady Zhang's family to the post house to rest. I will go back to report to my mother before visiting again."

  It's no wonder that Yuan Shang believed Qin Xu so easily, with his words full of loopholes. As the son of the Yuan family, Yuan Shang knew some secrets about Xu You secretly going to Hebei, so when Qin Xu mentioned Zhang Yang and Xu You, Yuan Shang already half-believed him.

  Looking at the guards beside Qin Xu, they were obviously military personnel, and there was also a woman in the carriage. Thinking of Xu You's habit of being cautious in his actions, combined with his father Yuan Shao's repeated use of Zhang Yang to fight for the Yuan family, Yuan Shang unfortunately filled in the reason why Xu You invited Zhang Yang's "niece" to Ye City as a guest.

  Xu You invited them to come and play, probably because Xu You was afraid that Zhang Yang would not take it seriously, so he sent the hostages to Ye City.

  Yuan Shang, who thought he had figured everything out, became more and more excited as he thought about it. He hastily ordered his attendants to send Qin Xu and others to the post house for a good reception, while he himself rushed to report the good news to Liu's family.

  "Was that little white face just Yuan Shang? How can he be so stupid? He was deceived by you so easily! With this kind of stupidity, Father still wants me to marry him? However, you are a big scammer! Haha!" Lü Linggui was originally a restless and mischievous girl. As soon as she was arranged by Yuan Shang's attendants in the most luxurious inn, she sneaked into Qin Xu's room.

  "Big sister, didn't we agree on that? Don't stir up trouble." Qin Xu was arranging for Old Xu and Sima Mao to go undercover as buyers of goods to probe the situation in Yan City, while also putting on a show of being regular residents to calm down Yuan Shang's emotions. Unexpectedly, Lü Linggui appeared out of nowhere.

  As soon as Qin Xu saw Lv Linggui's excited appearance, he knew it was going to be a disaster. Upon hearing Lv Linggui mention Yuan Shang, Qin Xu immediately realized that she had remembered the proposal between Xu You and Lü Bu a few days ago, which must have made this young lady unhappy again.

  Lü Dàjiě's bad temper and tendency to hit people when she's unhappy, Qin Xù was the first direct victim, of course he knows very clearly.

  "We've come to Ye City for a reason." Qin Xue said with a bitter tone, speaking to Lü Linggui. Having known her for so long, Qin Xue had also roughly figured out Lü Linggui's temperament. If he didn't make things clear to this lass, who knows when she would stir up trouble again.

  "We're also friends now, that day you were eavesdropping outside the door, you must have known about my bet with General Cheng Jian too, right? You don't want me to lose to him either, do you?" Qin Xu played the emotional card.

  "Friend?" Lü Linggui heard Qin Xu mention these two words, and she was slightly taken aback, repeating them unconsciously. However, she quickly recovered and said with a bad tone: "Forget it, forget it, I know you, Qin... the steward will definitely not lose to the old and cunning one. Moreover, there is still Uncle Gao outside the city. When Uncle Gao succeeds, at worst, we can learn from Yuan Shao's takeover of Han Fu's foundation and directly take over this Ye City."

  No wonder she's Lü Bu's daughter, truly domineering! Qin Xu thought helplessly.

  The garrison of Ye City was only over a thousand, and the density and shift frequency of the guards in the four cities could not deceive Old Xu, who had been through many battles. He probably took a glance and estimated that it was about eight or nine out of ten.

  Simmao also found out the approximate location of the granary, but the news that there were as many as 700 or 800 guards and temporarily recruited strong men made Qin Xu frown.

  It's still too simple. There is a way to transport grain, although the weight of 100,000 stones of grain and grass is nearly 600,000 catties, but fortunately, Yuan Shao wants to win over Lü Bu, and wisely does not plan to fight against Gongsun Zan with cavalry, so there are still more than 2,000 war horses left in Ye City, averaging only three hundred catties per horse, which doesn't affect their speed much. If used properly, it's enough to empty the grain depot in Ye City before Yuan Shao returns.

  But if you add the 700 or 800 strong men guarding the grain depot, although they are not trained, it would be very troublesome to entangle them, and there is a great possibility that the identity of the ambush camp will be exposed. If such a thing really happens, then Lu Bu and Yuan Shao's deadly feud will have been formed, and it will be worth it.

  "It seems that Yuan Shao doesn't really care about Yuan Shang's safety, leaving only a small number of troops in Ye City. Isn't he afraid that someone will kidnap his precious son?" Lü Linggui said with a tone of boredom, seeing Qin Xu's furrowed brow and contemplative expression.

  "What did you say?" Qin Xu suddenly felt a flash of inspiration, as if he had thought of something but couldn't grasp the clue. He hastily grabbed Lu Lingxue's small hand and asked repeatedly.

  "I...I said...then I'm not afraid of being tied up by Yuan Shao's son..." Lü Linggui's small hand was grasped by Qin Xu, and she tried to struggle free but found that Qin Xu's grip was really "very strong". Her cheeks flushed with a hint of red as she stuttered.

  "Previous sentence!" Qin Xu frowned and said.

  "Yuan Shao doesn't really care about Yuan Shang's pale face!"

  "Right, Yuan Shang!" How could I have forgotten about this guy? Qin Xu let go of Lü Lingxue's hand and didn't notice the girl's hopeful eyes waiting for him to say something apologetic. With an excited look on his face, he muttered to himself: "I reckon now that Yuan Xiao San is being tormented by a lie full of loopholes, and he can't wait for Qin Xu and others to visit him."

  Lü Linggui saw Qin Xu as if he had forgotten that he had just grasped her small hand and didn't let go, but instead muttered to himself about Yuan Shang, his face red with anger, and slammed the door shut without noticing Qin Xu letting out a sigh of relief when Lü Linggui turned around.

  "Wow, almost didn't find it..."

  Calm down, calm down.