I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 146 How could you bear to make me sad?
At this time, Yuan Shu was unaware that Liu Miao was already trying to get him to surrender.

Fortunately, we didn't need to know these things in the first place.

Yuan Shu usurped the throne from the Han dynasty and declared himself emperor, enjoying great success.

The frequent reports of auspicious omens from his subordinates made Yuan Shu extremely happy!

"The Han dynasty has long lost the empire. The emperor is in charge, the government is held by the family, heroes vie for power, and the territory is divided!"

"At this time, the people of the world yearn for stability. I am following the will of Heaven and ascending the throne. I will surely win the allegiance of the feudal lords!"

Yuan Shu, beaming with pride, said to those around him, "The chaotic world is finally about to be ended by me!"

The general trend of the world, the long-term division must be united, and the long-term unity must be divided.

The world has been in chaos for far too long! Everyone is hoping for a wise ruler to appear and end this turmoil! And who else could be this wise ruler but Yuan Shu?

All the officials around him responded in agreement, except for the chief clerk, Yan Xiang, who continued to advise Yuan Shu, hoping that Yuan Shu would change his mind.

"Back then, the Zhou people, from their ancestor Houji to King Wen, accumulated virtue and merit, and it could be said that they owned two-thirds of the world. Yet they still cautiously served as subjects of the Yin Shang Dynasty. Although Your Majesty has held high office and enjoyed great wealth for generations, I'm afraid you are not as prosperous as the Ji family, are you? Although the Han Dynasty is currently in decline, it seems that it cannot be compared with the cruel and tyrannical King Zhou of Yin, can it?"

"The feudal lords do not currently trust you, but they still remain loyal to the Han Dynasty. Please do not think of relying on them!"

Seeing that Yan Xiang was still stubbornly clinging to his own opinions, Yuan Shu had no choice but to let the facts speak for themselves.

"I have already dispatched envoys to Xiapi, Xiaopei, and Jiangdong. We will soon receive responses from Liu Bei, Lü Bu, and Liu Miao. You just need to wait!"

Yuan Shu firmly believed that as long as he declared himself emperor, all the warlords would obey him! This instantly turned the previously fragmented Xuzhou and Yangzhou into a unified entity!
On this day, Yuan Shu even wore the emperor's crown and robes to receive the envoy who came to report.

Seemingly in order to compete with Yan Xiang, Yuan Shu even invited him to his side to witness the benefits brought by his ascension to the throne, in order to prove Yuan Shu's foresight!
The first to return was the envoy who had been sent to Xiaopei to pay his respects to Lü Bu.

"Your Majesty, Lü Bu was about to accept your imperial edict and seal of office, but his strategist Chen Gong stopped him. He only accepted the gold and silver that were sent to him, but did not openly declare his loyalty to Zhongshi."

Yuan Shu's originally rosy face turned pale instantly, but he did not show much emotion.

“That Lü Bu is a military man who doesn’t know etiquette. If I write him a letter in the future, he will surely change his mind.”

Yuan Shu still stubbornly believed that Lü Bu's act of accepting the gifts was already a sign of loyalty to him.

Meanwhile, the envoy sent to Liu Bei had already returned.

The moment Yuan Shu saw the envoy, he had a bad feeling.

The envoy was bruised and swollen, and had lost all of his former poise and demeanor.
as predicted!

The envoy arrived at the palace gates and began to weep and wail, "Your Majesty! Please, Your Majesty, grant me justice!"

"Upon hearing my purpose, Liu Bei immediately ordered a burly, dark-faced man behind him to tie me to a tree in the courtyard and whip me with a horsewhip... Your Majesty! Liu Bei is insane! He was clearly beating me, yet he started crying! Saying he was sorry to the Han Dynasty. Waaah! Please, Your Majesty, do justice for me!"

Yuan Shu's eyelids twitched, but he still asked with a glimmer of hope, "Did Liu Bei accept the imperial edict and seal?"

"No, after he scribbled something on it with red ink, he told me to bring the edict back and present it to His Majesty."

Immediately, palace servants brought the edict over, only to discover that it wasn't some random scribbles at all. It was clearly written in cursive script with a large character for "execution"!

"Liu Bei! He's infuriating me!"

Yuan Shu could no longer deceive himself. He grabbed the imperial edict and started tearing it apart, venting his anger on it!

However, the material used for this edict was indeed sturdy! It was clearly made of silk, yet Yuan Shu couldn't tear it no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he could only throw it heavily to the ground: "Liu Bei! Liu Xuande! You're just an unknown man who weaves mats and sells shoes! How dare you insult me ​​like this?"

"When Tao Qian died, if it weren't for my approval, he would still be wandering around like a stray dog! And now he shows absolutely no gratitude! Disgraceful! Scoundrel! Despicable man!!!"

Yuan Shu's roar almost lifted the roof off, and the twelve tassels on his imperial crown trembled constantly. Where was the demeanor of an emperor?

"Damn it! Send troops! Send troops for me! Reclaim Xuzhou! I want to see if Liu Bei is still this powerful when he's been captured!"

"His Majesty."

"Your Majesty, calm down."

"Your Majesty, please don't harm your health."

The eunuchs around Yuan Shu quickly came forward to comfort him, some patting his back, others handing him water... Such extravagance was no different from that of the young emperors in the Han palace.

Yan Xiang also sighed, "Your Majesty, you should get some rest."

"No! Get away! All of you, get away!"

Yuan Shu forcefully pushed aside the eunuchs and palace servants around him.

"I want to stay here! I still have Zhongshan!"

"Even if the whole world has betrayed me, Zhongshan will not betray me!"

"It was Zhongshan who personally delivered the Imperial Seal to me! It was Zhongshan who brought me auspicious omens! He brought me divine weapons! Even the old man with double pupils in my dream mentioned Zhongshan to me! He mentioned heavenly fire! And! It was Zhongshan who told me, 'The one who will replace the Han dynasty is Gao of Dangtu!' Have you all forgotten? I also married the daughter of the Yuan family to him, and I also granted him Jiangdong! These are all my favors to him! Have you all forgotten?"

Yuan Shu appeared to be insane, like a drowning man desperately searching for a piece of driftwood.

Liu Miao was the lifeline that could save Yuan Shu!

From the seal hidden in the belly of a carp to the descent of heavenly fire.

From the water god of the Huai River to the auspicious omen of Yuanshan.

All of this was told to him by Liu Miao!

Although Liu Miao had previously refused to give him provisions, Yuan Shu only refused to give him provisions because Liu Miao was greedy!

Now that he has declared himself emperor, Liu Miao will certainly not dare to act rashly!

"As long as Jiangdong exists! As long as Yangzhou exists! Liu Bei, Lü Bu, the descendants of eunuchs, and the children born to maids are nothing!"

"Just wait! In the future, the iron hooves of my Great Zhong will surely make you lowly villains submit!!!"

Seeing Yuan Shu's state, Yan Xiang knew that he could not persuade him otherwise. After a long sigh, he could only wait with Yuan Shu.

Waiting...

Wait a minute...

The messenger sent to Liu Miao has not even appeared!

It wasn't until evening that Yuan Shu and Yan Xiang finally received news.

A palace servant, trembling with fear, approached Yuan Shu with a wooden box and knelt down with a thud.

Yan Xiang hurried forward, but upon seeing what was in the box, he immediately turned his head away.

"What's in the box?"

Yuan Shu asked a question, but the palace maid's lips trembled like a sieve, completely at a loss for words. Yan Xiang also remained silent, not daring to speak to Yuan Shu.

"What exactly is it?!"

Seeing that the two men remained silent, Yuan Shu disregarded the imperial etiquette he had not yet learned and went directly to them, looking into the box.

A bloody human head!
Upon closer inspection, who else could this be but an envoy sent to Jiangdong?
"Who did it?"

Yuan Shu was furious.

"Who did this??"

"This is the envoy I sent to Jiangdong! He also has the imperial edict I gave to Zhongshan! The golden seal! Who is so audacious? Hmm? Where are the items? Are they still on him?"

The palace servant trembled: "Your Majesty, the imperial edict and the golden seal have been thrown into the Yangtze River..."

"It's reversed!"

Yuan Shu was furious, but he quickly ordered the palace servants: "Quickly have someone rewrite the edict, make a golden seal, and send it to Zhongshan again!"

"Oh!"

The palace servant was so frightened by Yuan Shu's harsh words that his hand trembled, and he dropped the wooden box on the ground, causing the human head inside to roll to Yuan Shu's feet.

With tears in his eyes, the other person kowtowed to the ground: "Your Majesty! The one who killed the envoy and threw the imperial edict and the golden seal into the Yangtze River was none other than Liu Miao, the governor of Yangzhou!"

"what?"

Yuan Shu indicated that he hadn't heard clearly, and immediately drew his sword from his waist and placed it against the palace servant's neck: "Who did you say? Say it again! Who is it!"

The palace maid's body trembled violently, and a foul odor suddenly emanated from her lower body, slowly soaking the silk floor of the palace...

"You're looking for death!"

Yuan Shu was furious and was about to swing his sword when Yan Xiang stepped in front of the palace servants.

Yan Xiang's expression darkened: "Your Majesty, please do not take your anger out on innocent people anymore."

"It was Liu Miao who did it, you heard me right."

"None of Lü Bu, Liu Bei, or Liu Miao chose to serve you."

"Now, we are truly all alone."

Yuan Shu stared blankly at Yan Xiang, then suddenly let out a cold laugh. Dejected, he turned away, his body now resembling a lump of mud, melting away and gradually losing its shape.

"Okay, okay, okay."

"So that's what 'a lonely man' means, well!"

Yuan Shu was uttering some incomprehensible words, but just as he was about to ascend the jade steps reserved exclusively for the emperor, his legs gave way and he fell to the side, his imperial crown also stumbling and falling to the side.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

"Ming Gong!"

The palace attendants on both sides, as well as Yan Xiang, immediately stepped forward to help Yuan Shu up.

"Get out! All of you get out! Get out of here!"

Yuan Shu pushed away those who came to help him up and insisted on getting up from the ground on his own.

Having finally managed to stand up, Yuan Shu saw something that enraged him even more—

The divine iron that Liu Miao presented at that time!
"Liu Miao! Liu Zhongshan! What a divine iron! What an auspicious omen!"

Yuan Shu stepped forward, grasped the divine iron, and began to slash at the auspicious creature beside him!

In particular, the single ear of wheat that Lu Su presented was enough to cause Yuan Shu to be torn to pieces!

"What else did Liu Miao give us! Bring it all here! I want to kill him! Kill him!"

The gifts that Liu Miao had presented in the past had all been brought out by the palace servants.

Only when all these things are put together can you see what kind of junk Liu Miao sent!
It wasn't rice ears, but some kind of stone, or some kind of white clay... But because Liu Miao would make up a story for each one he presented, no one noticed at the time.

Looking at these things now, Yuan Shu felt even more ashamed and resentful!

"Good! Good for you, Liu Miao! You actually try to fob me off with these things! Every time I send him gold! Warhorses! Oxen! Liu Miao! You beast!"

Yuan Shu slashed wildly, but just as he was about to hit something, he quickly flicked his wrist to the side. Looking at the deep mark on the table, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

"Damn it! Which bastard took the Imperial Seal of the State? Are they looking for death?"

A palace maid looked aggrieved: "Your Majesty, you said you wanted to move all the things that Liu Miao presented here..."

"You idiot!"

Yuan Shu pounced on the palace servant and pinned her down, raining blows on her fists and feet.

"Fools! Fools! It's all because of you fools that I've ended up like this! How could I have trusted that scoundrel Liu Miao!"

Seeing that the palace servant beneath Yuan Shu was on the verge of death, Yan Xiang quickly stepped forward to stop him—

"His Majesty!"

"His Majesty!"

"Ming Gong!!!"

This final statement finally made Yuan Shu stop, and at the same time, he looked at Yan Xiang with a slightly confused expression.

"My lord, do you think the current predicament can be resolved by killing a palace servant?"

Yan Xiang advised Yuan Shu against this.

"Furthermore, why does Your Excellency only see the reactions of the foreign lords, but not the determination of your own soldiers?"

"After you became emperor, all the soldiers were greatly encouraged! They only hoped to fight bravely for you, compete for military merit, and pacify the world. Did you not see any of this?"

"Even if people like Liu Bei and Liu Miao are not convinced by you, you can always wait until you are strong enough to wipe them out!"

"Wouldn't it make you feel even better to have them submit to you then?"

Yuan Shu's heart, which was on the verge of exploding, finally began to calm down.

"Yes, what Liu Miao, what Liu Bei, they are all just servants! Scoundrels! How could they possibly defeat me?"

Yuan Shu gritted his teeth: "If that's the case, I will immediately lead a large army to conquer Jiangdong! I will definitely cut Liu Miao down!"

"I want to ask him if he has ever been loyal to me for even a single day! Is there a single word he has ever said to me that is the truth!"

"No!"

Yan Xiang knew Yuan Shu was in a hurry, but he still begged Yuan Shu not to rush.

"Jiangdong has the natural barrier of the Yangtze River; it is not easy to conquer it."

"Now that Liu Miao has generals like Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu under his command, crossing the Yangtze River to conquer Jiangdong will be even more difficult!"

"On the contrary, Xuzhou is flat and prosperous, rich in resources and its people are wealthy, making it a suitable base for your hegemony!"

"Furthermore, I have heard that Liu Bei is at odds with the gentry of Xuzhou. As long as Your Excellency's troops enter Xuzhou, the officials and generals will naturally be terrified and abandon Liu Bei!"

"Furthermore, although Lü Bu's attitude was ambiguous, he must have known that if he wanted to contend with Cao Cao, he could not do without your support, and he would definitely follow you to conquer Xuzhou."

"Now, our lord has a bowl of easy-to-eat fatty meat but insists on snatching millet from someone else's bowl. Is this the demeanor of a king?"

Although Yuan Shu thought Yan Xiang's words made sense, he still couldn't forget Liu Miao.

"What about Liu Miao? Should we just let him roam freely in Jiangdong?"

"That's not the case."

Yan Xiang whispered something to Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shu finally showed a satisfied smile.

"So good!"

"Liu Miao, Liu Zhongshan! Humph! Haha!"

The amount of love Yuan Shu felt for Liu Miao at the moment he obtained the Imperial Seal is equal to the amount of hatred Yuan Shu feels for Liu Miao now that Liu Miao has rejected him!
Liu Miao's current status in Yuan Shu's court has surpassed that of Cao Cao, who was the descendant of a eunuch, and is second only to Yuan Shao, the son of a concubine who, in Yuan Shu's eyes, took away half of his power!
"Liu Miao! You'd better not fall into my hands."

Otherwise, you'll be in real trouble!
The newly established Zhong clan was in a diplomatic predicament, so Yuan Shu simply tore off the veil of pretense and began to mobilize a large army!
Because Huainan was short of food and could not get support from Jiangdong, Yuan Shu sent people directly to the Chen Kingdom in the north to ask King Liu Chong of Chen for grain.

Liu Chong also did not give face to Yuan Shu, the "Son of Heaven," and directly rejected him.

"Another one surnamed Liu! Another member of the Han imperial family!"

Yuan Shu was so angry that he laughed instead.

In the past, when he used his retainers to commit murder, he still had some reservations.

For example, when Yuan Shu assassinated Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, he even knew to have someone spread the rumor that Chen Wen had died of illness in Yangzhou.

But now, because of Liu Miao's affair, Yuan Shu has completely lost his mind.

"So what if they are Liu clan princes? I will kill two of them sooner or later! No! Three! And there's Liu Biao of Jingzhou..."

Yuan Shu directly summoned Zhang Kai, who had previously killed Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, and plundered his wealth.

"When Cao Cao was chasing you, no one could protect you. Only I hid you in Huainan and saved your life. Now that I am in trouble, you must share my burden!"

Zhang Kai, acting on Yuan Shu's orders, infiltrated the State of Chen and assassinated King Liu Chong and Chancellor Luo Jun. The entire realm was in uproar!

The last time something like this happened was when Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou.

Subsequently, Gongsun Zan was hated by the people of Hebei, and overnight he went from being an invincible general on the White Horse to a local warlord who was suppressed by Yuan Shao and could not move in Youzhou.

Not to mention that Liu Chong, the Prince of Chen, was a direct descendant of Emperor Ming of Han, Liu Zhuang, and his bloodline was far superior to that of Liu Yu! Yet Yuan Shu killed such a high-ranking and powerful prince of the Han Dynasty without hesitation?
Furthermore, when Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, he at least fabricated a reason for Liu Yu to usurp the throne, and even went so far as to send Liu Yu's head to Luoyang to clear his name. But Yuan Shu didn't even bother with that; he killed Liu Chong simply because Liu Chong refused to provide food?

"Yuan Gonglu...has completely gone mad!"

The chaotic world did not become more stable after the emperor fled Guanzhong; on the contrary, it became increasingly chaotic as Yuan Shu declared himself emperor!
After gathering provisions, Yuan Shu immediately ordered Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui to lead 30,000 infantry and cavalry to directly attack Liu Bei from the Xuyi and Huaiyin areas! He was determined to completely seize Xuzhou and never let it become a threat to him again!
At the same time, Liu Miao also began to follow Zhou Yu's plan to wear down Yuan Shu's morale, leading the Jiangdong troops in a grand march towards Wan County.

……

"Who?"

"Tell me, who went to attack Wan County?"

"Your Majesty, it is Liu Miao, the newly appointed General of the Cavalry."

Yuan Shu murmured, "Liu Miao, Liu Miao."

The murmur quickly turned into an excited roar: "Liu Miao! Liu Miao!"

"I didn't go looking for you, yet you dare to come to me on your own initiative! Good! Very good indeed!"

At this point, Yuan Shu was desperate; he only wanted to see Liu Miao at any cost! To ask him if his heart was truly black!

"I, the Emperor, will personally lead the army into battle!"

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Happy Dragon Boat Festival and Happy Children's Day everyone!
(End of this chapter)