I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 242 Xu You's Defection!
Yecheng.

Lu Jun reluctantly arrived here again and reluctantly knocked on Xu You's door.

"Cai Wenji? Cai Yong's daughter?"

Xu You's house was extremely luxurious.

The tiger stripes on the carpet were clearly visible, while the table shimmered with golden light. The oil lamp was made of rhinoceros horn, the wine cup was carved from ivory, and even the maids' clothes were not cheap linen, but silk from the Wu and Shu regions, smooth and flat against their curvaceous figures as if they were nothing!

Lu Jun came to Xu You's side, carrying a huge white porcelain plate with him.

Xu You reclined on the couch, and upon seeing the porcelain plate, he showed some disdain: "Jingzhou white porcelain?"

This item is extremely rare elsewhere in Hebei, but in Xu You's hands, it could fill a whole banquet table!
Therefore, this thing was simply not worthy of Xu You's attention.

"This is no ordinary white porcelain!"

Lu Jun presented the porcelain plate: "This is white porcelain specially made for you by General Liu!"

Xu You then became interested, took the porcelain plate and looked at it. Sure enough, he found that the huge bottom of the plate was divided into eight sides, each painted with a picture of one of the Eight Filial Exemplars: Yu Shun's Filial Piety Moved Heaven, Tan Zi's Offering of Deer Milk to His Parents, Zhong You's Carrying Rice for a Hundred Miles, Zeng Shen Biting His Finger in Pain, Min Sun Wearing Reed Clothes to Obey His Mother, Cai Shun Picking Mulberries in Different Containers, Dong Yong Selling Himself to Bury His Father, and Huang Xiang Fanning His Pillow and Warming His Bed!
In the very center, although there is the inscription "Jingzhou White Porcelain", the words "Nanyang Xu Ziyuan" are also written next to it.

"Tsk, General Liu, you've really put your heart into this!"

Xu You was clearly quite satisfied with the "Eight Filial Piety Painted Plate" specially made for him.

Accepting the porcelain plate signifies Xu You's willingness to help resolve the matter.
"Why does General Liu insist on marrying Cai Yong's daughter?"

Xu You found it strange.

"Putting everything else aside, how many beautiful women could buy this porcelain plate? Why do they specifically want Cai Wenji, who has already been captured by the Xiongnu?"

Lu Jun smiled and said, "General Liu does have this quirk, so please don't ask any further questions."

"Tsk!"

Xu You clicked his tongue, it was hard to tell whether he admired or disliked her.

"In that case, I'll ask around for you."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Xu!"

Lu Jun quickly thanked him, but Xu You stopped him.

Xu You stroked his long beard, looking at Lu Jun with a half-smile: "General Liu now controls Jing and Yang, occupying all the former lands of Chu. He must be extremely wealthy, right?"

"Was it because I helped you with what happened last time...? Hehe~"

Lu Jun had no choice but to bite the bullet and discuss many things with Xu You again. Only then was Xu You satisfied: "Leave this to me!"

Xu You had just seen Lu Jun off when a servant came to report that Guo Tu had come to pay his respects.

Both men were Yuan Shao's confidants and neither had a good relationship with Shen Pei, so Xu You did not suspect anything and directly hosted a banquet for Guo Tu.

Because Guo Tu arrived in such a hurry, Xu You didn't even put away the large white porcelain plate that Lu Jun had given him, and placed it openly in the center. Naturally, Guo Tu saw this, but he didn't make a fuss about it.

After drinking with Xu You, Guo Tu immediately went to Yuan Tan's residence to report the situation to him.

"The furnishings of Xu You's house are so luxurious that even Lord Yuan's mansion can't compare! And, young master, guess what I saw?"

"what?"

"Jingzhou white porcelain!"

After Yuan Tan returned from Jiangdong, he became much more composed.

Even so, my eyelids still twitched when I heard the name Jingzhou white porcelain!
However, Yuan Tan forced himself to remain calm and said, "There are also merchants who come to Hebei from Jingzhou. Xu You's family is well-off, so it is not unreasonable for him to buy a few pieces of white porcelain."

"No!"

Guo Tu described the white porcelain he had seen to Yuan Tan—

"Its shape is exquisite, and the paint on it is so vibrant that it seems to overflow from the porcelain surface! How could an ordinary merchant possibly afford it?"

"Moreover, I heard that during the time the eldest young master was away, Xu You suddenly instructed his family to buy up land on a large scale! The money and grain spent must have been more than ten million. Although Xu You has a habit of accepting bribes, in Hebei, even if he accepted a lot of bribes, how much could it be?"

At this point, Guo Tu's implication is quite clear.

Yuan Tan's face also darkened: "You mean, is it really...?"

"It must be!"

Guo Tu said angrily, "If it weren't for Xu You's interference, why would Lord Yuan refuse to give Lü Bu money and provisions?"

"If Yuan Shao had truly given Lü Bu money and provisions back then, why would I have needed to resort to such a scheme?"

"If it weren't for that scheme, why would the eldest young master have to suffer humiliation with me?"

Yuan Tan clenched his fists, but soon sighed helplessly.

“Xu You and Father have always been old friends. Now, without any evidence, how can Father easily believe me and punish Xu You?”

"Young Master, there's no need to worry about this!"

Guo Tu confidently declared, "There is someone who can help us!"

"Who?"

"He was entrusted with a trusted position by Yuan Gong, and appointed as the Chief Administrator and the head of the General Staff, Shen Pei! Shen Zhengnan!"

……

Shen Pei did not like Guo Tu at first.

Shen Pei was a native of Hebei, but Guo Tu was an outsider who came from Yingchuan with Yuan Shao, so the two were inherently at odds.

"What are you here for?"

"I have urgent business and need Zheng Nan's help!"

Seeing Guo Tu's humble posture, Shen Pei asked with suspicion, "What exactly is this matter?"

Guo Tu didn't explain directly, but instead asked Shen Pei, "When I wrote to Yuan Shu asking him to allocate money and provisions to Lü Bu, did Xu You try to stop me?" "Hmph!"

Shen Pei was clearly somewhat indignant when the matter was brought up!
"Xu You is short-sighted! He's not worth planning anything with!"

"If he hadn't obstructed me simply because we didn't get along, how could Lord Yuan have lost Qingzhou and watched Lü Bu swagger around like that?"

Guo Tu said in a deep voice, "What if... Xu You wasn't obstructing because he disagreed with Zheng Nan?"

Shen Pei asked in alarm, "What does Gongze mean?"

"What if I said that Liu Miao secretly sent someone to bribe Xu You, wanting Xu You to interfere in order to protect his Jiangdong?"

Shen Pei instantly stood up, his face utterly terrifying: "How dare Xu You do this???"

"Otherwise what? He has no relation to Liu Miao, so why would he want to interfere in this matter?"

"Moreover, Xu You is quite clever. Although he accepted bribes from Liu Miao, he did not directly help Liu Miao. Instead, he worked on Lü Bu, which is why Zheng Nan never suspected him, right?"

Shen Pei paced back and forth anxiously: "How dare Xu You do this? How dare Xu You do this? I don't say anything to him when he breaks the law and accepts bribes, but how dare he obstruct such a matter of national importance?"

Shen Pei was in a hurry to leave, but Guo Tu stopped him, asking, "Zheng Nan, where are you going?"

"What should we do? Naturally, we should report to Lord Yuan and ask him to thoroughly investigate this matter!"

Shen Pei gritted his teeth and said, "If things are really as Gong Ze guessed, then killing Xu You is not enough to appease public anger!"

Yuan Tan's capture, along with the loss of Qingzhou, was almost the biggest loss Yuan Shao had ever suffered since he entered the political arena!
At first, the people in Hebei thought it was just an accident, but they never expected that there was a mole within their own ranks!
Shen Pei was by nature fierce and upright; how could he allow such a thing to happen?

After accusing Yuan Shao, Shen Pei will personally lead troops to Xu You and skin him alive!

"Wait a minute, due south!"

Guo Tu quickly grabbed Shen Pei.

"We have no evidence right now, and we're just making baseless accusations. How can Lord Yuan believe us? Hmm?"

Even if others don't know Yuan Shao, does he not know Yuan Shao?

Yuan Shao has always been outwardly lenient but inwardly suspicious. Now, without any evidence, he goes to Xu You empty-handed. Yuan Shao might think that Shen Pei has joined forces with Guo Tu to attack Xu You!
"Zheng Nan! We must find evidence! And it must be irrefutable evidence that Xu You was bribed by Liu Miao! Otherwise, it will be difficult to completely bring Xu You down!"

Shen Pei closed his eyes, suppressing his anger: "Then what does Gongze think should be done?"

"I saw Jingzhou white porcelain at Xu You's house!"

Guo Tu said, "Liu Miao entrusted such a valuable item to Xu You, so he must be asking him to do something important!"

"Xu You has always been greedy, so it's impossible that a piece of white porcelain could motivate him to do things."

"If we lie low for a while and gather irrefutable evidence of his dealings with Liu Miao, even Lord Yuan won't let him off the hook!"

Shen Pei remained silent for a long time before finally nodding: "In that case, we'll have to rely entirely on Gongze's plan!"

……

"Xu You is really greedy!"

Lu Jun once again took a large sum of money to Ye City.

But just as he was unloading the money ashore, he was stopped by a group of soldiers who said they wanted to inspect the goods.

Lu Jun asked suspiciously, "This is money destined for Xu You! What are you planning to do?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Get out of the way!"

Seeing that these people were not deterred by Xu You's reputation, Lu Jun suddenly felt a sense of unease.

Ignoring the money, Lu Jun rode directly to Xu You's house to inform him of the situation.

"What??"

Xu You was also greatly surprised upon hearing this: "Even if they said my name, those soldiers didn't stop me?"

"Yes!"

Lu Jun said anxiously, "Please go to the dock yourself and get back the money and grain!"

Xu You, however, remained gloomy and stagnant...

Something is wrong!
Something's definitely not right!
Xu You always possesses an extraordinary sensitivity to danger!

As early as the fifth year of the Zhongping era, Xu You, together with Wang Fen, the governor of Ji Province, Zhou Jing of Pei State, and other heroes, conspired to depose Emperor Ling of Han and install the Marquis of Hefei as emperor.

Later, the plot fell apart, and Wang Fen, Zhou Jing, and others all met with bad ends. Only Xu You sensed something was wrong and escaped unscathed.

This time, Xu You also felt that chill that went deep into his bones!
Do you have any other caravans?

Lu Jun didn't understand why Xu You asked this, but he nodded nonetheless: "There are a few more."

"go!"

Lu Jun was dumbfounded: "Where to?"

"Go to Mengde's place!"

Xu You said anxiously, "I'm afraid we can't stay here any longer, Benchu! Now! Immediately! Quickly disguise yourselves and go to Henan with me as ordinary merchants!"

Lu Jun didn't know how Xu You discovered it, but he still hurriedly fled Ye City with Xu You.

Just a quarter of an hour later, Shen Pei led a troop of fully armed elite soldiers from Hebei to Xu You's residence.

Where is Xu You?

“I don’t know!”

A thorough search of the entire Xu residence yielded no trace of Xu You, not even by his servants. This immediately filled Shen Pei with unease: "Could it be that Xu You has already defected?"

(End of this chapter)