I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 174 Is he going to mess with me?
Liu Miao had actually considered whether he should also invite Lü Bu along.

But when he thought about how Lü Bu would most likely point his finger at Cao Cao and berate him, and then fight him to the death, he ultimately decided to give up the idea.

Moreover, the sight of Lü Bu, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei sitting at the same table was rather frightening. Considering Cao Cao's physical and mental health, Liu Miao ultimately didn't go to such extremes...

A few days later, Liu Bei accompanied Zhang Fei to Huainan.

"Zhongshan!"

Liu Bei was incredibly eager to see Liu Miao. He immediately grabbed Liu Miao tightly with his arms that hung down to his knees, saying, "Zhongshan, I'm so glad to finally see you today!"

Liu Bei's ears were indeed long and wide. Although he had no beard, he did not appear weak; instead, he looked more capable.

“Zhongshan, if it weren’t for you back in Guangling, I’m afraid I would have no place to live by now!”

Zhang Fei, standing beside him, also bowed respectfully to Liu Miao with his piercing eyes and said, "Thank you for your help, Lord Liu!"

The loss of Xuzhou was not entirely Zhang Fei's fault, but he was at least 60-70% responsible.

In particular, Zhang Fei even lost Liu Bei's family members. In ancient times, it wouldn't have been an exaggeration for Zhang Fei to commit suicide to atone for his sins! If Liu Miao hadn't asked Lü Bu to retrieve Liu Bei's family members, Zhang Fei wouldn't know how he would have any face left to follow and accompany Liu Bei!

Almost all the civil and military officials in Liu Bei's group shared a consensus—

Everyone must acknowledge Liu Miao's kindness!

Liu Miao quickly waved his hand, saying, "We're all family, why are you saying such things?"

Upon hearing Liu Miao refer to him as family, Liu Bei's face beamed with joy.

"Zhongshan, even if we are family, such kindness is a bit too much! Besides, the campaign against Yuan Shu was entirely your doing, we really have no merit to deserve such a reward!"

"Brother, what are you saying!"

Liu Miao declined again.

"How could I have done this alone? First, my elder brother blocked Yuan Shu in Guangling, and then the Minister of Works provided strong assistance. If it weren't for that, how could we have defeated Yuan Shu?"

When Liu Bei heard Liu Miao mention Cao Cao, he whispered in Liu Miao's ear, "Zhongshan! Now that Cao Cao is here, are you really at ease?"

Liu Miao patted his chest: "What's there to be worried about?"

"Brother, why don't you guess why I called you here?"

Liu Bei hesitated and said, "Didn't we say we were going to attend the victory banquet after the campaign against Yuan Shu?"

"No!"

Liu Miao took the initiative and grabbed Liu Bei's wrist, saying, "This time, I'm also here to completely resolve the feud between my brother and Cao Cao!"

"Brother, although you now have Xiaopei as a base, you are surrounded by Cao Cao on the left and Lü Bu on the right. I'm afraid you can't sleep or eat in peace! Why don't we take this opportunity today to make an agreement with Cao Cao so that he will stop harassing Xuzhou?"

Liu Bei stood there, stunned.

The next moment, Liu Bei burst into tears!
"Zhongshan, how can this be? This, this... Could Cao Cao possibly agree to this?"

"It's alright, brother. Cao Cao needs my help now, so he should still agree to this!"

Since Liu Miao had summoned Liu Bei from Xiaopei, he naturally intended to help him to the end.

Although Liu Bei now has Xiaopei as his base, he is surrounded by wolves on the left and tigers on the right, and he is probably in a state of constant anxiety.

In any case, Cao Cao's attention is currently focused on Zhang Xiu in Nanyang, and Liu Miao is certain that Cao Cao will not focus his attention on Liu Bei at this time, so there is a high probability that this matter can be successfully negotiated.

Most importantly, this would also prevent Cao Cao from expanding into Xuzhou and thus avoid his unification of the Central Plains.

Maintaining the status quo in Xuzhou is far better than letting Cao Cao occupy it directly.

Therefore, Liu Miao believed that getting Cao Cao and Liu Bei to agree to peaceful coexistence was not a pipe dream, and it was also in the interest of Yangzhou.

But Liu Bei was unaware of these things.

The more he looks at Liu Miao now, the more he sees him as a good person! A truly good person!

Liu Bei was moved to tears: "Thank you very much, Zhongshan. But I don't know what I can do for you, brother?"

"Nothing is needed. Just have my brother, Yun Chang, and Yi De stand behind me!"

As for the others, Liu Miao planned to bring Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, and Sun Ce.

With such military strength, even if Cao Cao used smashing a cup as a signal, he would probably still be able to fight his way out.

……

……

Cao Cao had already erected a high platform on the north bank of the Huai River several days earlier.

Looking out from the high vantage point, Cao Cao saw the Huai River flowing gently and the Eight Immortals towering high, and a sense of regret began to well up in his heart again.

"They actually handed over this great Huainan so easily...sigh."

Guo Jia, who had originally suggested that Liu Miao deal with Yuan Shu, was now speechless.

The "borrowing a knife to kill" strategy itself wasn't problematic.

It wasn't until Guo Jia personally visited Liu Miao's camp that he realized he had underestimated the heroes of the world.

Yes, in Guo Jia's eyes, Liu Miao was a hero!
Even Yuan Shao was not considered as threatening to Cao Cao as Liu Miao in Guo Jia's eyes.

Therefore, Guo Jia has been considering these past few days whether to take this opportunity to imprison Liu Miao...

The day we had agreed upon finally arrived.

Cao Cao led Guo Jia to the ferry to welcome Liu Miao.

Upon seeing Liu Miao for the first time, the two completely abandoned their plan to force Liu Miao to stay at the banquet!
Liu Miao was dressed in gold and silver scale armor, covered by a moon-colored brocade robe. Instead of the iron armor he wore for battle, he wore a large military cap adorned with gold earrings, cicada patterns, and sable tails! His attire was undeniably magnificent! Cao Cao initially thought he was seeing things, as if he were witnessing a young Yuan Shao arriving by boat!

What made Cao Cao's heart skip a beat even more were the people behind Liu Miao.

Zhou Tai was a burly man with a thick waist, his hand on the hilt of his sword, exuding a fierce aura. In Cao Cao's eyes, he was no less than his beloved general Dian Wei!
Chen Wu was handsome and had sharp eyes. He appeared gentle on the surface, but he was always keeping a close eye on everything around him, scanning the surroundings for any movement.

Sun Ce was the most unruly, but his tiger-like physique, inherited from Sun Jian, made him seem like a mountain lord on patrol, giving the impression that he was about to suddenly strike and kill someone!
As for the remaining three, they were three people that Cao Cao knew very well.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

As a long-time adversary who had clashed several times on the battlefield of Xuzhou, Cao Cao was extremely familiar with the three men.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, in particular, were both known as "enemies of ten thousand men," taking heads as easily as taking something out of a bag. Their bravery and skill in battle were beyond that of ordinary people!
With these men standing behind Liu Miao, Cao Cao no longer had any intention of forcing Liu Miao to stay.
Cao Cao even became wary: "Could it be that Liu Miao is planning to take this opportunity to capture me and bring me back to Jiangdong?"

"..."

Guo Jia also swallowed hard.

If it were anyone else, Guo Jia would bet Cao Cao that such a thing wouldn't happen.

But if it were Liu Miao, he really couldn't say!

"Please be careful, my lord!"

At the same time, Guo Jia also reminded Dian Wei and Xu Chu: "The two generals must be careful of Liu Miao and be wary of any signal he might give by smashing a cup!"

"Here!"

Liu Miao and his men's boats finally approached the ferry, and dozens of fully armed, heavily armored soldiers immediately disembarked and lined up on both sides.

Upon seeing these heavily armored soldiers, Cao Cao narrowed his eyes again.

Even in the north, heavy armor is an absolute strategic resource.

These soldiers are all wearing heavy armor, making it hard not to suspect that Liu Miao wants to show off his strength.

Liu Miao finally disembarked and, upon seeing Cao Cao, immediately stepped forward and grasped his hand as if they were old friends: "Mengde! I'm so glad to finally meet you today!"

Cao Cao reacted quickly, grabbing Liu Miao in one arm: "Zhongshan!"

"Mengde!"

"Zhongshan!"

"Mengde!!!"

"Zhongshan!!!"

The two chatted back and forth, without the slightest hint of misunderstanding.

Even if they were biological brothers who hadn't seen each other for many years, they probably wouldn't be as close as Liu Miao and Cao Cao are now!
However, Cao Cao soon found himself unable to withstand the strain.

It's not that Cao Cao was thin-skinned or shy.

It was simply because Liu Miao was a head taller than Cao Cao and wore a majestic military cap, making him appear even more imposing, which made Cao Cao seem like a child clinging to his father...

Cao Cao pulled away from Liu Miao's embrace: "Zhongshan has done a great job in defeating Yuan Shu and eliminating the Han traitors!"

"But it's my duty!"

Cao Cao exclaimed with delight, "In any case, now that the traitors of Han have been executed, the state is unified, and the imperial regalia has been returned to its rightful place, all that remains are petty villains! The restoration of the Han dynasty is probably just around the corner!"

Liu Miao looked puzzled: "A divine artifact?"

"Yes!"

Cao Cao looked at Liu Miao with suspicion.

"Didn't Zhongshan mistakenly give the Imperial Seal of the State to Yuan Shu before? Now that Yuan Shu has been defeated, shouldn't the imperial seal naturally be returned to its rightful place?"

Liu Miao immediately sighed and said, "So, Mengde was referring to the Imperial Seal of the State!"

"What a pity! What a pity!"

Cao Cao's heart suddenly skipped a beat: "What's the pity about Zhongshan?"

Liu Miao said, "After I captured Shouchun, I found many letters in Yuan Shu's palace. One of them was written to Yuan Shao, saying that he wanted to give Yuan Shao the imperial title."

"Furthermore, I searched the entire city of Shouchun but couldn't find the Imperial Seal of the State. It must have been taken by Yuan Shu's confidants and given to Yuan Shao, right?"

"No, Zhongshan, you..."

Cao Cao never expected that Liu Miao would publicly reveal that Yuan Shu intended to relinquish the imperial title to Yuan Shao!

If this gets out, won't everyone in the world know that Yuan Shao agreed to accept Yuan Shu and had the intention of inheriting the imperial title?
But Cao Cao's eyes quickly shifted, and he immediately realized that this was not necessarily a bad thing!
Weakening Yuan Shao's reputation was something that both Liu Miao and Cao Cao were happy to see.

Moreover, since Liu Miao said that the letter was found in Yuan Shu's palace, it had nothing to do with Cao Cao. There was no need to worry that Yuan Shao would blame him for it. Why not take advantage of such a wonderful opportunity?

As for the Imperial Seal of the State...

Cao Cao thought it was roughly fifty-fifty.

He couldn't tell whether Liu Miao's words were true or false.

Whether this national treasure was in Liu Miao's hands or had fallen into Yuan Shao's hands, only Liu Miao and Yuan Shao probably knew.

But no matter what Liu Miao says now, Cao Cao has to believe him.

Otherwise, would Cao Cao have led his troops across the river and personally searched Yangzhou?
Immediately, Cao Cao sighed, echoing Liu Miao's words, "It is truly a pity."

Thus, the two reached a consensus.

Yuan Shao will have to take the blame for the "Imperial Seal of the State" whether he likes it or not!
(End of this chapter)