Cao Cao stood on the tower of the small city of Wancheng, looking at the Yuan Shu camp in the distance, his eyebrows frowning slightly.

He Xian stood aside, his eye sockets were sunken, and his face was thinned a whole circle. He had already received news from his mother Zhang's family that the He family was captured by Sun Ce, and because of his mother's relationship with the Zhang family, Sun Ce let her go back to Zhang's family in Sui County. His wife Yin Ji was not spared, and together with the entire He family, she became Sun Ce's spoils.

The hatred of breaking the family and taking his wife made He Xian almost run wild, and he couldn't wait to go out of the city to duel with Sun Ce. But he didn't have the courage and the strength. Cao Cao was beaten by Sun Ce and fled, Cao Chun and Cao Ang were injured and are still bedridden.

"I don't know what method Sun Ce used, he got it so quickly." Cao Cao patted the battlements and sighed. Two days ago, Yuan Shu forced to Wancheng again, arraying across the water. At first, he didn't pay much attention to it, but in the past two days, people and horses have been joining Yuan Shu's camp, which makes him very uneasy.

Xiangyang has been lost, the big tribe of Jingzhou has fallen into the hands of Yuan Shu, and the two counties of Nanjun and Jiangxia have been recently, as long as Yuan Shu sends people to receive them, the troops and money and food of these two counties will be sent in a steady stream, and Yuan Shu's strength will increase rapidly. Once Nanyang is also controlled by him, he will have the strength to keep pace with Yuan Shao, at least in the short term.

Jingzhou's hukou is only a lot more than that of Jizhou, and Jingzhou has no strong enemies around it except for Nanyang, but it has a broader space for development, which can control Yangzhou to the east, connect Yizhou to the west, and have Jiaozhou to the south. And Jizhou is the sea to the east, Taihang to the southwest, and Youzhou to the north has the strong and hostile Gongsun Zhan, before defeating Gongsun Zhan, Yuan Shao did not have the strength to go south to capture Yanyu Qingxu.

However, Yuan Shuyou has already sent Sun Jian to Yuzhou, and his intention to fight for the Central Plains is very obvious. If it weren't for Wancheng, Yuan Shu might even attack Yanzhou himself. He is now the last nail that drags Yuan Shu, and if Wancheng is lost, he will be Yuan Shao's sinner.

But how long it can be delayed, he has no bottom in his heart. Originally, he thought that the manors of each family were strong, and even if they couldn't block Yuan Shu's attack, they would be able to delay some time, but Sun Ce only took half a day to break through the He family, and also broke their last glimmer of hope. At this rate, it won't be long before Yuan Shu will take the initiative and force Nanyang Haoqiang to make the final choice.

In the face of the life and death of the family, these century-old families may not be more virtuous than ordinary people.

Cao Cao was sad and in a dilemma.

Hurried footsteps sounded behind him, Cao Cao turned around and saw that Lou Gui walked quickly, and bowed his hand far away. "General, Yuan Shu has sent a messenger here."

Cao Cao quickly put away his thoughts, and said in a light tone: "Do you know what he wants to say?" ”

Lou Gui glanced at He Xian, showing some embarrassment. He Xian chuckled in his heart, his heart seemed to be grabbed, and he couldn't breathe. Cao Cao stretched out his hand and pressed it on his shoulder, and sighed. "Is Yuan Highway going to be forced to surrender? If you don't surrender, you will kill the He family cleanly? ”

Lou Gui nodded, hung his head in embarrassment, and didn't dare to look at He Xian again. He led 10,000 horses to save the He family, but was defeated by Sun Ce, losing more than half of his life. If Cao Cao hadn't put the heads of the families under house arrest in the small city in advance, he would probably have been torn to pieces by those people. Now that Sun Ce's revenge is coming, He Xian is facing a life-and-death choice, where does he still have the face to look at He Xian.

"Got it, good life, let the messenger wait for a while."

"Whoa." Lou Gui bowed respectfully and turned to go down.

Cao Cao turned to look at He Xian, stopped talking, and sighed again. "Whether you want to go or stay, you decide for yourself."

He Xian's face twitched for a moment, and he said hatefully: "Even if I go out of the city and surrender, what can I do, can Yuan Highway return the He family to me, and can Sun Ce return my wife to me?" Hehe, even if Sun Ce is willing to pay it back, the slut may not be willing. When she married into my He family, she wanted to climb my He family, and now that the big tree of the He family has fallen, why does she need me. ”

Cao Cao sighed again. "The eldest husband is alive, and the rare one is only famous. Once you have a fame, why bother without a wife? ”

He Xian didn't say a word, turned around and left.

——

"Shaft dares!" Yuan Shu was furious, kicked over the desk in front of him, drew a knife in his hand, and was murderous. "Does he think I won't dare to destroy his family?"

Yan Xiang hurriedly got up and stopped Yuan Shu. "The general thinks twice, and must not be impulsive."

Yuan Shu's eyes slanted. "What do you want to say?"

Yan Xiang smiled bitterly and said, "General, don't forget, our family members are all in the city. If you destroy the He family, Cao Cao will also take revenge. He Xian can't do anything with Cao Cao, but is the general willing to see his subordinates deviate from morality, and everyone is uneasy? ”

Yuan Shu was suddenly short of breath, and returned the knife into the sheath in a daze. "So what should I do?"

"Lead but not start, leap as well. With these hostages in hand, our families in the city will be safe. When they are safe, the generals will be at ease. He Xian is not enough, but if the Nanyang family unites to negotiate with Cao Cao, will Cao Cao still dare to go his own way? really annoyed the Nanyang family, even Yuan Benchu couldn't explain it. ”

Yuan Shu rolled his eyes and returned to his seat.

Yan Xiang breathed a sigh of relief and moved closer. "General, Sun Bofu and Zhou Gongjin are young and don't do things well enough, they have robbed each family's property, but they left the murder to the general, and the general can't let them come anymore."

Yuan Shu touched the scabbard on his waist, rolled his eyelids, and was about to scold Yan Xiang, when the words came to his mouth, he swallowed back again, and changed his expression to be obedient. "Yuantu, what should I do then?"

"General, I have three strategies for the general's staff."

Yuan Shu looked at Yan Xiang, couldn't help laughing, and felt rude, so he hurriedly forced himself to be serious, but he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes. "Oh, there are three more strategies, you can talk about it."

Yan Xiang feigned not to see. "The best policy is to send an envoy to make peace with his respected brother Yuan Benchu, and ask him to order Cao Cao to withdraw from Wancheng. He has Jizhou, you have Jingzhou, the brothers have joined forces to resist the enemy, and Yanyu Qingxu is equally divided. ”

Yuan Shu rolled his eyes, noncommittal. "Where's the middle strategy?"

"Send an envoy to negotiate with Cao Cao and exchange hostages. We will return the family members of the Nanyang family to him, and he will return our family members to us and withdraw from Wancheng. ”

Yuan Shu touched the beard on his chin and nodded repeatedly. "What's next?"

Yan Xiang stared at Yuan Shu's eyes, his gaze burning. "Send Sun Bofu to attack the city, and assign other generals to capture the Nanyang families."

Yuan Shu's eyes shrank, squinted at Yan Xiang, and sneered: "You are red-eyed Sun Bofu who has made a fortune, and you also want to get a piece of the pie, right?" Yuantu, how much benefit do they promise you? ”

Yan Xiang was unmoved. "General, the commander will be based on checks and balances, and you can't take sides. The tail of the Sun family is not only bad for the general, but also bad for them. For the sake of the general, but also for the Sun family's father and son, the general should not be favored. ”

Yuan Shu raised his eyebrows, thoughtful.

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