I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 133 What does this have to do with me, Liu Miao?

The shed wasn't very big, only about ten feet long and two steps wide. At the far end of the room was a straw mat, and in front of Liu Miao was a table with an oil lamp. That was all the furnishings in the room.

At this moment, Madam Wu stood in front of Liu Miao. Light and shadow pierced through her not-so-thick clothes, outlining Madam Wu's figure.

Square shoulders and a slender waist, a beauty of unparalleled grace.

At this moment, her body was stretched out, and her plump thighs were much longer than her calves, yet they did not appear cumbersome at all. She stood there, resolute yet graceful.

Liu Miao looked up and saw that Madam Wu's usually aloof and dignified face now showed a hint of melancholy unique to widows.

"Madam, how may I ask you for my help?"

Madam Wu placed her hand on her abdomen and then gently tugged at the belt tied around her waist.

... (This part has been blocked)

"Actually, you don't have to keep enduring it."

"The child, the child is here."

"understood!"

Liu Miao leaned against the wall, still holding Madam Wu's ankle in his hand.

"This time, I came here specifically to find Bo Fu."

"What I told you before was true: Bo Fu has not yet made any contributions and should not be promoted casually, otherwise the generals will be dissatisfied."

"But there is a battle right now that is perfect for Bo Fu to fight!"

Liu Miao wasn't sure if the expressionless Madam Wu had taken his words to heart. After settling things, he left the thatched hut and returned to his own residence.

The next day.

Sun Ce, looking exhausted, went to Liu Miao's place.

Although he looked tired, his eyes were bright and alert, clearly indicating that his long talk with Zhou Yu yesterday had resolved some of the knots in his heart.

"Bo Fu, your mourning period is over. Do you have any thoughts about entering officialdom?"

It's unclear whether Zhou Yu and Sun Ce discussed something last night, or if Sun Ce overheard something he shouldn't have. However, Sun Ce was completely different from his sharp edge in Lujiang when facing Liu Miao, bowing respectfully and saying, "If my lord permits, I will certainly serve you with great merit!"

"good!"

Upon hearing Sun Ce's words, Liu Miao knew that bringing Zhou Yu along was the right decision!
"I will write a letter to the General of the Rear right away!"

"This time, I'm going to take back everything you've lost!"

Sun Ce tilted his head, clearly not understanding what Liu Miao was saying, nor what he had lost earlier...

The letter quickly reached Yuan Shu's hands.

To emphasize the urgency, Liu Miao even affixed a red feather label to it!

Even Yuan Shu was somewhat surprised when he saw the letter: "Has Zhongshan encountered some kind of crisis?"

Even when Zu Lang attacked Danyang and Liu Yao went to Jiangdong, Liu Miao had never been this anxious!

This time, the red feather was pasted on the letter. Could it be that something terrible has really happened?

However, when Yuan Shu nervously opened the letter, his expression immediately turned strange...

The letter with the red feather attached did not indicate that Liu Miao had encountered any urgent matter.

Or rather, it wasn't an urgent matter that people of Yuan Shu's or Liu Miao's rank should have.

"General Hou, what has happened?"

Chief Secretary Yang Hong was right beside him at that moment and also saw the red-feathered letter that Liu Miao had sent, but he didn't know why Liu Miao had done this.

Yang Hong thought about many things in an instant.

However, he did not believe that anything could happen in Jiangdong that would threaten Liu Miao, so he became increasingly puzzled.

Yuan Shu sighed, then tore off the red feather from the letter.

"Was I being a little too suspicious before?"

Yang Hong didn't understand what Yuan Shu meant, so Yuan Shu told Yang Hong to read the letter himself.

After reading it, Yang Hong's expression became just like Yuan Shu's... twisted, strange, and speechless.

The reason Liu Miao wanted Yuan Shu to help him send a memorial to the court, so that Sun Ce could inherit Sun Jian's position as General Who Destroys the Barbarians and Marquis of Wucheng.

Liu Miao also clearly explained the reason.

"That Liu Zhongshan! He's only doing this to curry favor with Sun Ce's mother, Lady Wu, and to hasten their marriage???"

Yang Hong couldn't believe it.

Why would Liu Miao seek Yuan Shu's help over such a trivial matter?

It was all for a woman?
Liu Miao, Liu Miao, will you ever amount to anything?
Yang Hong now understood why Yuan Shu called him "suspicious".

Yuan Shu and others had actually suspected this man, suspecting that he also harbored ambitions to dominate the world... Yuan Shu sighed.

Lately, many things have been going wrong for him.

It wasn't just that Liu Bei was unwilling to obey his orders, but also because the treasury in Huainan was truly empty.

When Liu Miao went to Jiangdong, he not only took away 100,000 households, but also absconded with the treasury of Lujiang County.

The consequences of Yuan Shu's tyrannical rule are now becoming apparent, resulting in a harvest in Huainan this year that is far below expectations, even falling short of half of last year's. This is clearly unacceptable to Yuan Shu.

Now Liu Miao was bothering him with such trivial matters, and Yuan Shu seemed to have caught the same ailment as his old friend Cao Cao—headache!
"I approve of Liu Miao's request. In any case, it's not a bad thing that the power of Sun Jian's former subordinates has grown under Liu Miao's command."

At this moment, Yuan Shu suddenly remembered that not long ago, when Lu Su, who was an envoy, came here, he had given him a full ear of rice.

"Having heard that Jiangdong has had a bumper harvest this year, I ordered Zhongshan to transport 100,000 bushels of grain for military supplies."

"And send another envoy to Liu Bei! If he remains obstinate, then he can't blame me!"

"Here!"

Yang Hong accepted the order and left, but Yuan Shu's eyes flickered with an inscrutable expression, as if he were deep in thought.

He walked into the side hall and habitually stroked the Imperial Seal of the State that Liu Miao had given him.

Alongside these imperial seals were divine weapons unearthed from the site of the Heavenly Fire, and ears of rice that Lu Su called "auspicious omens."

In addition, officials from Huainan have recently been reporting sightings of white wolves, red hares, blue birds, crimson geese, auspicious grains, and fragrant herbs in various locations...

Yuan Shu stroked the Imperial Seal of the State, looking at all the things in the room, as if something inside him was about to burst out!

"It's one thing if I can't even defeat the son of a maid or the offspring of a eunuch, but now even someone like Liu Bei, who weaves mats and sells shoes, dares to defy me?"

"The Liu family's rule is now in decline, and the country is in turmoil. Our Yuan family has been high-ranking officials for four generations, and the people are willing to submit to us. As long as... then we will surely... succeed!"

Yuan Shu held the Imperial Seal of the State in his arms again, looking at the stone tenderly, as if he were looking at a woman he had glimpsed in Luoyang many years ago.

"Come on, come on..."

------

Liu Miao successfully obtained Yuan Shu's edict, but he almost collapsed when he heard that Yuan Shu wanted him to hand over 100,000 bushels of grain.

"Yuan Shu truly doesn't treat people like human beings!!"

100,000 bushels of grain and fodder?
Would you want 100,000 lives?
While Liu Miao remained silent, a sense of crisis rose in his heart once again.

Using the excuse that it would take time to prepare provisions, Liu Miao temporarily stalled Yuan Shu. Seeing that the time was right, he issued another decree.

It was less of a government decree and more of a self-criticism.

It's less a confession and more a judgment...

In the official document issued by Liu Miao, he sincerely expressed his apology, believing that it was all due to his lack of consideration and that those fortified villages and farms should not have been demolished.

When they first saw this part, all the scholars of Wu County raised their arms and shouted, clearly believing that they had won the battle!
Although the people of Wu County did not know what had happened, they were happy as long as they saw people of higher status apologizing to them! As for the specific reasons for their happiness, no one could say for sure, but it was nothing more than the belief that justice would prevail!
But when they saw the second half of the edict, they couldn't laugh.

"I, Liu Miao, only now realize the importance of fortified villages and estates in defending against the Shanyue people. This is clearly my dereliction of duty! The thought that the people of Wu Commandery have to rely on themselves to defend against the Shanyue people every time often brings tears to my eyes! Therefore, I, Liu Miao, have decided to request General Sun Ce to send soldiers to garrison the various fortified villages and estates to defend against the Shanyue people and ensure everyone's safety!"

Screw your protection of everyone's safety!

This is outrageous robbery!

Help! This is outrageous! Liu Miao is competing with the people for profit! This blatant plundering is nothing short of thuggery!

Those fortified villages and those estates, weren't they all built with the hard work of my grandfather and father? Now you, Liu Miao, open your mouth and want to take all of these things back? Liu Miao, are you even human?

But soon, the scholars of Wu County discovered that the people of Wu County were not standing with them this time.

"Liu Yangzhou has realized his mistake and even took the initiative to send soldiers to help him garrison the area. Shouldn't we be happy about that?"

The common people not only did not choose to stand with the gentry of Wu County, but they also did not understand why the owners of these fortified villages and estates were so furious.

Didn't we say before that these fortified villages and farms existed to protect them?
Why are they unwilling to help Liu Miao defend now?
The scholars of Wu County all had faces as black as charcoal; anyone who didn't know better would think they were all children of Jiang Qin born in Wu County.

Because their claim of protecting the people is false, but the fact that those fortified villages and estates are their livelihood is true!
If Liu Miao were to successfully seize all these fortified villages and estates, where would they keep their private armies? Where would they keep the hidden population? And how would they protect the land they had seized?

Immediately, someone came to plead with Liu Miao, asking him to show leniency!
To everyone's surprise, Liu Miao readily agreed!
"it is good!"

"Is Liu Yangzhou telling the truth?"

"Of course it's true!"

Before the smile on the other party's face could fade, Liu Miao said with difficulty, "But I have already asked General Sun Ce to handle this matter... As you all know, it is the duty of General Sun Ce to quell the mountain bandits. Although I am the Governor of Yangzhou and General Who Conquers the East, I do not actually have the authority to mobilize General Sun Ce since there is no foreign invasion."

"So whatever you want to discuss, you should go talk to Sun Taolu!"

The other party was completely dumbfounded: "But that Sun Bofu... is still a child!"

Liu Miao: "Just because he's a child! Please don't let him go!"

"Bo Fu is currently in the outer camp; you can go find him yourselves!"

　I received a message in the middle of the night saying that this chapter has been blocked. Sigh... I surrender to the censors!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)