Chapter 6: Cleverly Refuting Slanderous Words

  Yan Liang immediately felt that someone must be slandering him in front of Yuan Shao.

  He glanced around Yuan Shao, and caught sight of Guo Tu on the left, stroking his mustache, with a hint of complacency flashing in the two narrowed slits of his eyes that was hard to detect.

  The person at the right front, Ji, had a solemn expression and was secretly making eye contact with him.

  Yan Liang suddenly understood that this must be another open and secret struggle between the scholars of Ru and Hebei, and he had become a "fish in the pond" who was affected by it.

  At that time, Yuan Shao obtained Ji Province from Han Fu by deceit and trickery, relying on the assistance of Ru Ying scholars led by Xu You, Guo Tu, and Xin Ping.

  However, after Yuan Shao obtained Ji Province, he was afraid that the Yu family would become too powerful, so he employed many Hebei scholars such as Xun You, Feng Yi and Tian Feng. On one hand, this was to win over the local people; on the other hand, it was also to counterbalance the power of the Yu family.

  Unfortunately, Yuan Shao's way of using people was not as strict and law-abiding as Cao Cao's. The more he tried to mediate between the two factions, the more fiercely they fought each other.

  Xun Yu, the leader of the Confucian scholars, was precisely because he saw through the fatal weakness of the Yuan Shao group that he resolutely defected to Cao Cao, who was still weak at the time.

  Yan Liang was a man from Hebei Province and also a general in charge of the army, so he was naturally one of the main targets for the soldiers of Ru Yin to attack.

  "Looking at Guo Tu's expression, it was probably his slanderous words that had reached Yuan Shao..."

  Yan Liang sneered inwardly and instantly came up with a countermeasure.

  "I report to Your Excellency, I have received intelligence from Zixuan that Cao's bandit is heading west towards Yangping, so I intensified the attack on Baima, intending to relieve some of the pressure on Yangping for Your Excellency. Who would have expected that Cao's bandit suddenly appeared at Baima? I hastily rallied my troops and fought bravely, fortunately, thanks to the bravery of our officers and men, we managed to barely repel the enemy's surprise attack."

  Yan Liang calmly explained and glanced at Xu You on his right side, obviously referring to the fact that Xu You's intelligence was not true.

  Xu You's expression immediately became uneasy, pretending to be unrelated, turning his head to one side, not daring to look directly at Yan Liang's gaze.

  Yan Liang continued, "Although the final general won a small victory, Cao Cao's main force is several times larger than the final general's troops. Moreover, it forms a pincer movement with the enemy in White Horse City against the final general. The final general only fears that he cannot hold out alone, and if there is any difference, it will damage the morale of our army and harm the prestige of the lord. Therefore, I decided to prioritize stability and retreated back to Linyang on my own initiative, please enlighten the lord."

  Yan Liang's words subtly mentioned his own merits in defeating the Cao army, and cleverly shifted the responsibility to Xu You, which was just right.

  The originally proud Guo Tu suddenly showed a look of surprise and anger on his face, he was obviously somewhat unbelievable, the seemingly rough and ignorant Yan Liang, with three inches of tongue in his mouth, was so good.

  Ji's face flashed with a hint of pride, and he immediately cupped his hands and said: "Your Excellency, General Yan was able to defeat the Cao army in a hurry, boosting our military morale, which is truly remarkable. As for him withdrawing troops from Luoyang on his own initiative, it was indeed also for the sake of the overall situation. The merits and demerits cancel each other out, and Ji thinks that Your Excellency can consider not pursuing this matter further."

  He took advantage of the opportunity to defend Yan Liang, a fellow northerner.

  After a moment, Yuan Shao's eyes rolled over and his originally cold expression suddenly broke into a smile.

  "Zi Yi has made our army's flag open to victory, this is a great achievement. Why should I blame him? I should heavily reward him instead."

  Yuan Shao's face changed quickly, just a moment ago he was still angrily interrogating Yan Liang, but in the blink of an eye he wanted to reward him.

  Guo Tu's face changed again, that mournful expression was clearly a false accusation, and he seemed somewhat flustered.

  "In the end, we were able to gain a small victory over the enemy army, all thanks to the bravery of our officers and soldiers. If you want to reward us, please reward those who fought bravely."

  Yan Liang attributed the merits to his subordinates. In the future, if he wanted to achieve something, he would still have to rely on these soldiers under his command to sacrifice for him. Yan Liang's request for rewards was also a way of winning over the hearts of his generals.

  Yuan Shao was a man of noble birth and had an arrogant air about him. What he detested most was his subordinates showing off in front of him.

  Ju Yi's death that year was related to Yuan Shao's narrow-mindedness, but it also had something to do with his own arrogance.

  Now seeing Yan Liang as greedy for merit, so humble, Yuan Shao was delighted in his heart and immediately agreed to Yan Liang's request, ordering a reward for the troops who participated in the Battle of White Horse under Yan Liang.

  "My lord, this time we fell into Cao's treacherous plan. The mistake in intelligence cannot be underestimated. Fortunately, we have General Yan, if it were another general, I'm afraid the Battle of White Horse would have ended in a great defeat. If we had lost the first battle, wouldn't the morale of our army have been greatly damaged?"

  The matter is not over yet, Guo Tu took the initiative to provoke, Feng Ji wanted to counterattack, and the spearhead pointed directly at Xu You.

  Xu You had followed Yuan Shao since his early years and was in charge of intelligence work in the Yuan army, with his intelligence network extending across the north and south of the great river.

  Yuan Shao's face fell at Gong Ji's words, and he turned to ask Zhou Yu: "Zhou Yu, what is going on with your scouts? Such important information was incorrect, and it nearly led to disaster."

  "Your Excellency, this..." Xu You's expression was somewhat dejected, as if he had something difficult to say.

  Yan Liang knew that Xu You was a bit wronged. This time's White Horse danger actually had nothing much to do with him.

  Cao Cao's main force was indeed a feint to attack Yangwu Ferry, while Xu You was stationed on the south bank as a scout, only reporting the movements of Cao's army truthfully.

  As for the later sudden turn of Cao's army, it was because Yanjin and Baima were too close, and the scouts did not have time to send new intelligence to the north shore when Cao's army had already killed its way to Baima.

  After all, it was because Yuan Shao misjudged Cao Cao's intention and fell into his trap, making a wrong deployment. He couldn't save face, so he took the opportunity to shift the blame onto Xu You.

  "This time, he grasped Yuan Shao's mind so accurately that his subordinates all focused on dealing with their political enemies. It would be strange if Yuan Shao didn't lose..."

  Yan Liang weighed the pros and cons without a word, seeing Xu You's embarrassed expression, suddenly an idea occurred to him.

  "My lord, I think that this matter of strategy has nothing to do with Mr. Ziyuan."

  As soon as these words came out, not only was Feng Ji startled, but even Guo Tu and Xu You themselves were shocked.

  Ji frowned repeatedly on that side, while Xu You had a strange expression on his face. They naturally didn't understand why Yan Liang wanted to make excuses for Xu You.

  Yan Liang had his own plan.

  Xu You was known as "having a belly full of strategies". During the Battle of Guandu, his clever plan to set fire to Cao Cao's camp led to the downfall of the Yuan clan.

  Such a wise and resourceful man is naturally a thorn in the eyes of Hebei scholars. At this moment, Xun Yu and others who stayed behind to guard the rear are probably thinking of using Xu You's family's greed for wealth to attack him.

  This is to say that Xu You will eventually betray Yuan Shao, and then he can be considered a "like-minded" person with himself.

  Since that's the case, he would have the opportunity to recruit Xu You for himself. If Yan Liang wanted to establish himself as a hero, what he needed most was talent. If he could recruit someone like Xu You, it would be equivalent to having 100,000 elite soldiers.

  So he wanted to speak for Xu You and win his favor by doing so.

  "Zi Yi, what do you mean by this?" Yuan Shao's tone was somewhat displeased.

  "Yanjin is close to Baima, Mr. Xu's fine work can't even deliver the new intelligence to the lord in time, as for the matter of Baima, I think it's strange that Cao Ze is too cunning."

  Yan Liang spoke out as a political enemy, fairly expressing Xu You's inner voice, and Xu You's face couldn't help but flash with gratitude.

  Yuan Shao's expression became increasingly gloomy, apparently Yan Liang's explanation seemed to him as if he was praising Cao Cao's cunning and cleverness rather than criticizing his treachery.

  This was very unpleasant for Yuan Shao to hear.

  Yan Liang had already guessed Yuan Shao's thoughts, and immediately sneered: "It's just a pity that Cao's treachery is nothing but a clown in front of the lord. The lord has the hearts of all under heaven, with the banner of justice, and 100,000 brave soldiers marching south. Even if Cao Cao gained a small advantage through deceitful means in yesterday's Battle of White Horse, it was still just a mayfly trying to shake a tree, unable to defeat the lord's mighty army."

  Yuan Shao felt relieved upon hearing this, and the phrase "jumping clown" made him feel delighted, his gloomy face suddenly cleared up.

  In Yuan Shao's eyes, all the lords of the world were like ants, and Cao Cao was just a clown.

  Yan Liang's words hit exactly the weak point of Yuan Shao.

  "Haha——" Yuan Shao stroked his beard and laughed loudly, "Zi Yi's words are reasonable. With my army of 100,000 pressing down on the south, how can Cao's treacherous plots and cunning plans withstand my heavenly might?"

  Yuan Shao was flattered by Ma's words and immediately threw away his blame towards Xu You, ordering the whole army to cross the river and attack Baima again.

  The military meeting ended, and Xu You, who was secretly relieved, returned to his account with a furious Guo Tu.

  "Zi Yuan, you said that Yan Liang became so eloquent and cunning when? Obviously we designed him, but in the end he was deceived by him, making our master so happy." Guo Tu's face was full of doubt.

  Xu You also wondered, "Yes, I too find it unbelievable. Yan Liang has always been brave but lacking in strategy. Today's performance in front of our lord is really beyond my expectations. Moreover, there's another thing I don't understand - why did he take the initiative to defend me?"

  Guo Tu shook his head, and the two of them looked at each other in dismay.

  After a moment of silence, Guo Tu said with hatred: "Yan Liang has made our master lose face in front of the lord today. This account must be settled, I will not let it go easily."

  "I think you should hold back your anger for now, after all the big battle is imminent, Yan Liang can be used as a brave general, revenge will not be late in the future, and it must not ruin the great cause of Lord Yuan."

  Xu You was grateful to Yan Liang for defending him just now, so he didn't want to target Yan Liang again.

  Kuo Tu let out a cold snort, and the resentful look between his eyebrows only grew stronger.