Chapter Seventeen: Rekindling Passion

  Guandu, the main camp of Yuan's army.

  In the main tent of the Chinese army, Yuan Shao stared at the map with a gloomy face.

  For several months, he exhausted his mind and used all kinds of methods, killing and wounding nearly 10,000 soldiers, but still could not break through Cao's camp at Guandu.

  At first, with a heroic spirit and momentum, they marched south to attack Cao Cao, thinking that they could easily defeat him like crushing ants.

  In fact, an army of 100,000 was repelled by a force one-tenth its size at Guandu and could not advance even an inch.

  The proud Yuan Shao felt his dignity had been humiliated.

  Wow!

  Yuan Shao's big hand waved, and the map on the case was overturned along with the pen and ink.

  The attendants all changed color and did not dare to utter a word, fearing that they would be dragged into the emperor's anger.

  The curtain was lifted, and a person stepped in, who turned out to be Feng Ji.

  Looking at the mess on the ground, Ong Ji was stunned for a moment, and then a sly smile flashed across his mouth.

  "I have an urgent secret report to present to Your Excellency." Gong Ji stepped forward and bowed, then pulled out a letter from his sleeve.

  Zhengnan is actually the courtesy name of Zheng Yi.

  Yuan Shao was annoyed and distracted, and didn't want to look at him. He waved his hand and said: "What urgent news do you have from the south? Speak quickly."

  Ji opened the silk letter, carefully examined it for half a day with a pretentious air, and then said with a serious expression: "Zheng Nan says in the letter that when Xu Ziyuan was in Jizhou, he often received money and goods from the people, and his nephews also took taxes and grain as their own. Zheng Nan has investigated extensively and proved it to be true, and has already put his nephews in prison."

  Yuan Shao was already furious, and upon hearing this, his face turned even darker, "Bang" he slammed his fist on the table in rage.

  "Now at the critical moment of the great war, Xuzi Yuan indulges his sons and nephews to wreak havoc in the rear, really not knowing what is important!" Yuan Shao angrily rebuked.

  "When Master says it's extreme, this Xu Ziyuan is also too unaware of being considerate to Master. "Jiang Ji took the opportunity to fan the flames and said, "There is still one thing that subordinates are worried about Xu Ziyuan, I don't know if they should say it or not."

  "Quickly, what other good deeds has he done?" Yuan Shao shouted with his eyes wide open.

  When Ji Zong met him, he lowered his voice and said: "That Xu You has always had an old relationship with Cao Cao. Now that the two armies are at war, I'm afraid he will think of the old friendship and secretly communicate with Cao Cao. Just look at the White Horse incident last time, his intelligence was wrong, and our lord fell into Cao Cao's trick. I'm afraid he did it on purpose."

  Ji's choice of timing and the reasons for framing him were all perfectly calculated, and he had a very accurate grasp of Yuan Shao's thoughts.

  Yuan Shao heard this and suddenly became enraged, sternly saying: "I treated Xu You generously, yet he secretly collaborated with the treacherous Cao, truly detestable!"

  In a fit of rage, Yuan Shao immediately ordered someone to go and bring Xu You back for questioning.

  Ji Kong hastily said, "Xu You is in control of the secret agents network. If our lord openly sends someone to arrest him and he finds out beforehand, it would be bad if he defects to Cao Cao first."

  "What should we do then?" Yuan Shao asked with a huff.

  He met Ji Miao secretly and smiled, then leaned in close to Yuan Shao's ear and presented a plan.

  Yu Nan, An Cheng.

  It has been ten days since Cao Ren was defeated.

  In these ten days, Yan Liang reorganized Liu Pi's troops and the remnants left by Gong Du.

  Yan Liang selected the strong and vigorous, eliminated the old and weak, and finally compiled 5,000 infantrymen. In the name of Yuan Shao, he appointed Zhou Cang and Liu Bi as Duwei, each in charge of a department.

  Together with a thousand cavalrymen, Yan Liang currently has six thousand infantry and cavalry at his disposal.

  Cao Ren was defeated and returned, Cao Cao would soon lead his army to come, Yan Liang could not stay in Runan for too long, these six thousand infantry and cavalry were the first pot of gold he could dig up.

  Yan Liang originally planned to lead the six thousand cavalrymen to leave Runan for Jingzhou as soon as possible, but considering the bet with Xu You, Yan Liang decided to postpone the departure and temporarily stay in Runan, on the one hand, to intensify training of newly recruited soldiers, on the other hand, to send people to Hebei to gather information.

  It was noon on that day when Yan Liang received a secret order sent by Yuan Shao from the front line of Guandu.

  When Yan Liang opened the sealed letter and took a look, a smile appeared on his face.

  Just then, the door opened and Zhou Cang hurried in, bowing his hands: "General, my man just came to report that a stranger has arrived at Mr. Xu's house. After talking with him, Mr. Xu suddenly became very agitated."

  These days, Yan Liang has been secretly monitoring Xu You under the orders of Zhou Cang. After all, before confirming his true loyalty, Yan Liang still had to be on guard against this wise strategist.

  "What a wonderful day today is, haha~~"

  Yan Liang got up with a big laugh and went straight to see Xu You with Yuan Shao's secret order.

  When he pushed open the door, Yan Liang saw a red-faced, gritted teeth, extremely angry Xu You.

  He clutched a letter tightly in his hand, the joints crackling with a faint sound, as if he couldn't wait to crush the letter into pieces.

  Seeing Xu You like this, Yan Liang knew that everything was within his expectation.

  "Mr. Zi Yuan is like this, if I'm not mistaken, your family has suffered the poisonous hand of the matchmaker." Yan Liang asked calmly.

  Xu You tore the silk book in his hand to shreds and said with hatred: "Xun Yu, you treacherous dog, if I don't avenge this grudge, Xu You will not be a man!"

  "It seems I was right, but I would rather be wrong. I don't want Mr.'s family to suffer this misfortune." Yan Liang sighed.

  Yan Liang was secretly delighted that Xu You's family had been harmed, which meant that the rift between Xu You and Yuan Shao was imminent, and this was exactly what he had hoped for.

  But in front of Xu You, how could he show a celebratory and gloating attitude, that would only make Xu You feel disgusted.

  Xu You's face, filled with grief and indignation, suddenly flashed a hint of shock.

  He remembered that bet and Yan Liang's prediction. At this moment, he had an indescribable shock towards Yan Liang.

  A martial artist who was considered reckless just a few months ago has such unbelievable foresight today, and even Xun Yu, who has always thought himself cleverer than others, lost to him - how could this not shock Xun Yu?

  "General Ziyu......" Xu You's mind was already in disarray, and he was so agitated that he didn't know what to say.

  Seeing Xu You's shocked expression, Yan Liang felt a sense of pride in his heart.

  "Zi Yuan, actually you are wrong. The one who truly harmed you is not Shen Pei. If you only think of finding him to avenge yourself, then that would be putting the cart before the horse." Yan Liang said with deep meaning.

  Xu You regained his composure from the shock and said in a daze, "Obviously Xun Yu framed me, if I don't take revenge on him, who else can I take it out on?"

  "After you've read this, you'll naturally understand." Yan Liang took out the secret order from Yuan Shao's sleeve and handed it to him.

  Yuan Shao ordered in a secret decree that Yan Liang arrest Xu You on the spot and secretly send him back to Guandu's main camp.

  Xu You opened the secret letter and took a look, his already angry face suddenly turned pale, his whole body trembling like a withered leaf in the wind.

  "Governor Yuan actually wants to put me in prison!"

  Xu You's voice was hoarse, and his disappointed expression was even more sorrowful and indignant.

  Yan Liang coldly said: "If it weren't for Yuan Benchu's indulgence, Shen Pei wouldn't have dared to throw your family into prison. Now he has secretly ordered me to arrest you. Who is the real culprit trying to harm you? Can't you understand that?"

  After all the preparations, Yan Liang launched his strongest attack.

  Xu You's heart was struck as if by a heavy hammer, his head spinning and his eyes dizzying, almost fainting.

  Taking a few deep breaths, Xu You easily calmed down and gritted his teeth: "I have been running around for Yuan Shao all my life, even if I didn't have any achievements, at least I had hardships. Who would have thought that he would be so heartless? Treating me like this is really unfeeling, hateful, hateful..."

  Xu You was furious to the extreme, his teeth chattering with rage.

  Looking at his expression, Yan Liang knew that Xu You had completely lost hope in Yuan Shao, which was exactly the effect he wanted.

  Taking advantage of Xu You's lingering anger, Yan Liang said: "Sir, you have been busy for half your life for Yuan Shao, but ended up in such a situation. I fought bloody battles on the battlefield for Yuan Shao and made great contributions, but he suspected me instead. Such an unjust person who cannot distinguish between loyalty and treachery, if we two continue to sacrifice ourselves for him, wouldn't people laugh at us for being foolish?"

  Anger subsided, Xu You's expression gradually calmed down, but a few hints of doubt flashed across his eyes.

  Although he had already fallen out with Yuan Shao, Xu You was still hesitant about whether to follow Yan Liang or not.

  Although Yan Liang has shown himself to be a brilliant commander over the past few months, he still only has less than 10,000 troops under his command and is no match for Zhou Yu or Liu Bei.

  Xu You was thinking: would assisting such a poor and weak lord have any future prospects?

  Yan Liang also saw through his mind, and said with a sigh: "In the past, Han Gaozu rose from being a village head to establish an unparalleled foundation. How can I, Yan Mou, be compared to him? Mr. Zi Yuan dared to plot to assassinate Emperor Ling of Han in those days, showing that his courage was beyond ordinary people. Is it not true that your ambition and iron heart have dissipated today?"

  Xu You's expression suddenly changed, Yan Liang's passionate and stirring words rekindled his fighting spirit.

  He seemed to feel the long-dormant blood gradually boiling up.

  After a long silence, Xu You suddenly raised his head and stared at Yan Liang's sharp gaze, saying proudly: "There has never been anything in the world that I, Xu You, am afraid of. General Yan, I'd like to make a bet with you!"