With Cao Cao by my side, what do I have to fear from the world?

Chapter 75, Liu Xie's Open Card
Cao Pi squatted on the wooden frame for a full hour before Wang Yue finally took him down.

Then, with a blank expression, he pointed to the stone lock on the ground and said, "Young Master Pi, keep going. If you don't finish, don't go home."

"You... this is outrageous!" Cao Pi said defiantly, but there was nothing he could do.

Despite their burning resentment, they could only grit their teeth and continue lifting the stone weights.

He had been pampered since childhood, and at only eleven years old, he was at an age where he was prone to playing. Liu Xie believed that he wouldn't be able to maintain this lifestyle for many more days.

Unlike Liu Xie, Cao Pi had a very strong sense of urgency to become stronger, and this feeling did not diminish even after his situation in Xuchang improved slightly.

Looking at Cao Cao's life as a whole, it can be said that he was absolutely loyal to the Han Dynasty in the first half of his life.

Before welcoming Emperor Xian, Cao Cao was an absolutely loyal subject!
After welcoming Emperor Xian, and until the pacification of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao maintained basic respect for the emperor, and the relationship between the emperor and his minister was relatively harmonious.

However, after pacifying Yuan Shao and unifying the north, Cao Cao's desires began to swell, and his ambitions gradually spiraled out of control. Even after the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao's political greed did not stop!

People change, and the Battle of Guandu was just three years away. You can imagine how urgent it was for Liu Xie.

Cao Pi gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face, as he repeatedly lifted the stone weight while crying.

After he finished lifting the weights two hundred times, it was already dark. Liu Xie had a guard escort him away.

Liu Xie remained silent for a while, watching Cao Pi's departing figure.

Zhao Yun walked over and said, "Your Majesty, actually, his performance was already quite good for the first time."

"Yes, I do not deny that!"

Despite crying in frustration and wanting to give up many times, the resilience shown by the eleven-year-old Cao Pi's tender body couldn't help but attract Liu Xie's attention.

Liu Xie shook his head. Although he had the advantage of being a time traveler, he lacked a capable strategist, which sometimes left him feeling somewhat disappointed.

This is just like the first half of Liu Bei's life. Even with top-notch generals like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, he still encountered setbacks everywhere, acting haphazardly and lacking clear guidance.

Cao Cao now has a large number of top strategists around him. Even for the smallest matter, Cao Cao can consult with several strategists to choose the best solution.

Xun Yu, Xun You, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Xi Zhicai, hmm? Liu Xie suddenly thought of a name, Liu Ye, who had not yet submitted to Cao Cao.

Although his abilities were somewhat inferior to those of Guo Jia and the others, Liu Ye still had a special connection. He was also a member of the Han imperial family, a descendant of Liu Yan, the Prince of Fuling and son of Emperor Guangwu (Liu Xiu).

As long as they were members of the Han imperial family, Liu Xie could use them to his advantage. Even if he couldn't win them over, it wouldn't do him any harm.

Cao Pi arrived home exhausted and limping. Cao Cao, seeing this, didn't take it to heart at all. After asking a few simple questions, he sternly reprimanded him, "It was you who insisted on learning swordsmanship from Wang Yue. You can't blame anyone else for this."

Seeing her son's hands covered in blisters, Bian felt heartbroken and burst into tears.

Despite her heartache, Lady Bian still gave her son an encouraging look. She deliberately spoke loudly, "Go again tomorrow. Don't forget, you are Cao Sikong's son; you absolutely cannot give up halfway!"

On Yuan Shu's side, he thought that by winning over Lü Bu, he could first take Xiaopei and then turn around and destroy Lü Bu. However, Liu Bei surrendered to Cao Cao, and Lü Bu was fickle and even killed Han Yin, the envoy sent by Yuan Shu to propose marriage.

Yuan Shu was immediately enraged and divided his troops into seven routes to attack Lü Bu. However, Lü Bu defeated them one by one, and Yuan Shu suffered a crushing defeat.

Yuan Shu was defeated by Lü Bu, but he did not obediently restrain himself!
The food shortage in Huainan was getting worse, and Yuan Shu turned his attention to Chen Wang, who had killed Zhang Kai, and launched the War of Chen.

This time, Yuan Shu personally led his troops, a vast and mighty army sweeping all the way to Yuzhou.

Yuan Shu had two purposes in sending troops: one was to seek revenge, and the other was to seize grain. Everyone knew that the State of Chen was wealthy, and in recent years, under Luo Jun's rule, the State of Chen had accumulated a lot of wealth.

Yuan Shu harbored resentment towards the King of Chen and personally led troops to attack the State of Chen. The King of Chen immediately wrote a letter to Liu Xie.

The letter only needs to be delivered to Hongyun Restaurant.

After reading the letter, Liu Xie immediately replied to Prince Chen, instructing him to openly and legitimately seek help from Cao Cao. However, Cao Cao remained silent for a long time.

Yuan Shu's advance was unstoppable, capturing Qiyang and Ku County in succession. His military might was at its peak, and he seemed poised to sweep everything away!

Liu Xie and Zhao Yun discussed this matter while having dinner at a restaurant.

Liu Xie said, "Cao Cao is behaving very strangely this time, delaying the dispatch of troops."

Zhao Yun pondered for a moment and replied, "I'm afraid Cao Cao isn't incapable of sending troops, but rather he doesn't want to for the time being. Prince Chen is a member of the Han imperial family and commands 30,000 troops. Cao Cao must already consider Prince Chen a major threat! He's deliberately not sending troops."

Liu Xie nodded. "Zilong, you're right. Cao Cao has always been cunning and treacherous. It seems he wants to use Yuan Shu to weaken Prince Chen's forces."

Because of Liu Xie's intervention, Prince Chen was not assassinated, and his troops became a significant threat to Cao Cao.

It's not so bad to be a member of the Han imperial family, but it's not so bad that Cao Cao would sleep soundly if he had a member of the Han imperial family who commanded tens of thousands of troops lying next to him.

Zhao Yun sighed, "I really can't believe it. Prince Chen was a magnanimous and heroic man. He even helped Cao Cao avenge his father's death, but Cao Cao repaid kindness with enmity. He was so narrow-minded."

Liu Xie, however, said firmly, "Xu Shao once commented on Cao Cao, saying that he was a capable minister in times of peace and a ruthless hero in times of chaos. If I cannot control him, he will become a ruthless hero; if I can control him, he will become a capable minister in times of peace. Cao Cao is not narrow-minded, but he is naturally vigilant and suspicious. Despite our good relationship, he has never relaxed his surveillance on me."

Zhao Yun remained silent for a while, his mood somewhat heavy. "It seems we can't let our guard down anytime from now on."

After a while, Zhao Yun asked, "Since Cao Cao is wary of Prince Chen, why doesn't Your Majesty have Prince Chen hand over his troops to Cao Cao?"

Liu Xie shook his head. "Zilong, although I do not compete with Cao Cao and try my best to yield to him, I cannot retreat without principle. Dong Cheng, the emperor's brother-in-law in Xuchang, and the Prince of Chen outside Xuchang are my two trump cards."

"Cao Cao knows they are close to me, and I don't mind if Cao Cao is wary of them. But I must do my best to protect these two, because with them around, we can constantly remind Cao Cao that he is a Han subject!"

(End of this chapter)