I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 245 Did Liu Miao do it too?
Xu You, along with Guo Tu and others, served as advisors to Yuan Shao, and must have been fully aware of Yuan Shao's intelligence.

It was precisely because Xu You came to Cao Cao that he was able to find out where Yuan Shao had stored his grain, and then he wiped out Wuchao in one fell swoop, winning the Battle of Guandu.

Now that the war between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao has not yet begun, what is the significance of Xu You joining Cao Cao now?
Moreover, Liu Miao also noticed that the generals sent by Yuan Shao to pacify Qingzhou were none other than Zhang He and Gao Lan.

Once these two are stationed in Qingzhou, who knows if Yuan Shao will transfer them away in the future?
If they are not transferred away and neither of them appears on the front lines, how can Cao Cao defeat Yuan Shao?

"hiss……"

Liu Miao originally intended to leisurely sit in the south and watch Yuan Shao and Cao Cao fight it out, then reap the benefits himself.

But the current situation has undoubtedly dealt Liu Miao a heavy blow.

If Liu Miao did not go to support Cao Cao, he genuinely doubted whether Cao Cao could hold out against Yuan Shao.

"Can't these people just be a little more assertive?"

Liu Miao slammed the letter on the table.

"Send Sun Ce and Xu Huang to lead cavalry to Huainan and keep a close watch on the north."

Whether or not one believes Yuan Shao's advance southward march is one thing, and whether or not one takes precautions is another.

Although Yuan Shao should have been able to completely eliminate Gongsun Zan and pacify Hebei by next year, no one dared to gamble on whether a Hebei overlord with a million soldiers might change his mind and take advantage of the chaos to march south!

Liu Miao could only hope that Liu Bei wouldn't mess things up and that he could use his prestige to quickly seize Xuzhou, preventing Zhang He and Gao Lan from taking advantage of the situation to covet it.

Otherwise, if Yuan Shao discovers that there is an opportunity to take advantage of the situation, it will be a catastrophic disaster for Liu Miao, who has not yet been able to digest Jingzhou, and Cao Cao, who is not yet ready!

"Xuande! This time, we're really counting on you!"

------

This time, Liu Bei certainly did not disappoint Liu Miao.

With Chen Deng as an inside agent, Liu Bei easily seized Xiaopei in the blink of an eye during the troop rotation of Xuzhou soldiers!

Just as Liu Bei was about to press on and take Xuzhou to the east, a fire suddenly broke out in Xuchang in his rear!

After Liu Bei left Xuchang, Dong Cheng and others became increasingly panicked.

"Now that Xuande has left, who can kill Cao Cao?"

Dong Cheng worried, "Besides, there was no previous news that Cao Cao was going to send Xuande on an expedition. Now that he has suddenly transferred Xuande away, could it be that the plan has been leaked?"

Upon hearing this, both Prince Fu and Zhong Ji became frightened.

"In that case, we should strike first and not repeat He Jin's mistake!"

"Correct!"

After discussing it, the group decided to kill Cao Cao at the city gate the day after tomorrow when he went to court, imitating Dong Zhuo's past actions!
Although Dong Cheng had experienced many storms, the thought of doing something as important as killing Cao Cao still made him pale and his hands and feet tremble.

To avoid arousing suspicion from others, Wang Zifu went home with Dong Cheng to rest and recuperate, and did not talk to anyone else.

After settling Wang Zifu in, Dong Cheng instinctively went to the room of his newly acquired concubine, seeking solace in his heart.

But as soon as he got close, Dong Cheng's expression changed!
Inside the room, there was a soft rustling sound, clearly the sounds of a man and woman making love!
Dong Cheng was all too familiar with those breaths that were sometimes rapid and sometimes relaxed!

Dong Cheng was immediately enraged, drew his sword from his waist and rushed into the house!
On a large couch, two pale figures were entangled, one was his concubine, and the other was just a woodcutter servant!
"An dare, thief!"

Dong Cheng shouted and swung his sword down heavily!

"what!!!"

The servant couldn't dodge in time, and his ear was cut off, falling right into the concubine's mouth, making her eat a mouthful of blood!

The others in the courtyard were drawn by the sound, and the one who ran the fastest was Prince Fu, who was also feeling uneasy.

Upon seeing the man and woman on the bed, Prince Fu guessed what had happened to Dong Cheng and couldn't help but feel sympathy.

But Wang Zifu stepped forward and pulled back the enraged Dong Cheng: "General Wei! You can't kill him!"

Seeing that he couldn't stop the enraged Dong Cheng, Wang Zifu quickly retorted, "General Wei, have you forgotten our great cause? Are you trying to kill us by acting like this?"

Dong Cheng then regained some composure, and Wang Zifu pressed on, saying, "If someone dies, and the Court of Justice is brought here, then everything will be over!"

"We have hidden a considerable amount of armor and crossbows in General Wei's house to plot this! If Cao Cao's men find these, how can we even talk about killing Cao Cao?"

On one hand, there's the indignation of being cheated on.

On one hand, there is the obsession with touching the highest authority of the Han Dynasty!

Dong Cheng was panting heavily, and his eyes were bloodshot, almost as if blood was about to flow out!

"Humph!"

Faced with the temptation of that supreme power, Dong Cheng still chose to compromise.

He glanced coldly at the servant missing an ear and the naked concubine kneeling on the spot: "Tie these two scoundrels up for now! I'll come back to take their lives after this is done!"

At the same time, Dong Cheng glared fiercely at the servants around him: "Just pretend this never happened! You didn't see anything! You didn't hear anything! Otherwise... humph!"

Everyone around was silent, and Wang Zifu took the opportunity to snatch the sword from Dong Cheng's hand and pulled Dong Cheng into the house to drink and relieve his worries.

The one-eared servant was tied up and thrown between the troughs of the livestock, and he was terrified!
Although he only had one ear left, he could hear clearly. Dong Cheng did not say that he would let him go, but only that he would take his life after the matter was completed!

Such words naturally terrified him, and in his struggle, he began to think of ways to save himself.

"Ok?"

The one-eared servant quickly realized that the rope binding his hands was not secure!
"Have it!"

This servant was nimble-fingered, which is why she was able to get involved with Dong Cheng's concubine.

After slowly testing him until midnight, he actually managed to break free of his restraints and escape from the Dong residence by climbing over the wall!
But he soon found himself in trouble.

Dong Cheng is now a General of the Imperial Guard of the Han Dynasty! He holds a high position and wields great power!

Even if I can escape now, can I escape forever?

suddenly!

The one-eared servant suddenly remembered what Prince Fu had said.

"Could it be that General Wei is plotting to assassinate Minister Cao?"

Without further hesitation, he immediately ran towards Cao Cao's residence!
Regardless of whether the story was true or false, he knew that this might be his only chance to survive!
He had just arrived at the Sikong Mansion when he was arrested by the guards.

"I want to see Sikong! I want to see Sikong!"

"Bullshit! Do you think you can just see Sikong whenever you want?"

"I've heard someone intends to harm you, Master Sikong, so I've come to warn you!!!"

The guards in charge of the mansion were Dian Wei and Xu Chu.

Upon hearing this, neither of the two generals dared to be negligent.

But it was already late at night, and they couldn't bear to disturb Cao Cao, so they could only ask Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, to interrogate the man.

After hearing the whole story, Cao Ang felt a chill run down his spine.

"This person probably didn't make it up!"

"General Dian, please lead your troops to surround Dong Cheng's residence immediately! I'll go wake my father right now!"

Cao Cao and Lady Huan had just finished preparing Cao Chong and were exhausted when they saw Cao Ang enter. They were startled!
However, upon seeing Xu Chu beside Cao Ang, Cao Cao immediately felt relieved and hurriedly asked, "What is it, Zixiu?"

"Father! General Wei, Dong Cheng, and others are plotting a rebellion!"

Cao Cao's eyes widened immediately: "Where did you get this information?"

"It was a servant from Dong Cheng's household who came to inform on us!"

Cao Cao put on a cloak and went outside. After hearing the one-eared servant repeat what he had heard, he immediately closed his eyes.

But Cao Cao's trembling hands on his knees undoubtedly revealed the turmoil in his heart.

“Father, I have already sent General Dian to surround Dong Cheng’s residence.”

Cao Ang asked for instructions: "But Dong Cheng is, after all, a high-ranking official with a generous salary, and I dare not trespass on his behalf."

Cao Cao kept his eyes closed, but opened them a few breaths later.

"Zixiu, what time is it now? Why are you still worrying about these things?" "Go in and search immediately!"

"If it's a misunderstanding, I'll send this servant's head to Dong Cheng as an apology; but if it isn't..."

A cold glint flashed in Cao Cao's eyes!
"Then you can't blame me!"

……

Although they were well hidden, Dian Wei still managed to find them all.

Armor and Han crossbow.

These contraband items were simply placed in Dong Cheng's residence, bathed in the pale light of the moon.

But none of this could compare to the blood-stained edict that Cao Cao pulled from Dong Cheng's arms, which enraged him even more.

"What a fine emperor!"

When Dong Cheng and Wang Zifu realized their scheme had been exposed, they didn't back down to Cao Cao; instead, they launched into a tirade of insults against him.

"You traitor Cao! You have insulted the Emperor; you call yourself a Han official, but you are in reality a traitor to Han!"

"Although we have failed this time, there will surely be loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty who will want to get rid of you as soon as possible!"

Cao Cao, clutching the blood-stained imperial edict, asked with a forced smile, "Who are these loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty that you speak of?"

"Zhong Ji, Colonel of the Yue Cavalry, Wu Shuo, Gentleman of the Palace, Liu Bei, General of the Left, and Liu Miao, General of the Flying Cavalry, have all received the Emperor's edict and are ordered to suppress the rebels!"

Veins gradually bulged on Cao Cao's arms and forehead!

Upon hearing the last two names, Cao Cao was almost dizzy!

"Liu Bei? Liu Miao? They did it too?"

"You traitor Cao! What loyal and righteous person could stand idly by and watch you commit such a crime?"

Dong Cheng roared, "Today's events are merely a matter of bad luck! If it were another day, we would surely meet again in the afterlife!"

Cao Cao was now clutching his chest, gasping for breath.

"Father!"

Upon seeing this, Cao Ang quickly stepped forward to support Cao Cao.

Dian Wei and Xu Chu also stepped forward, each kicking Dong Cheng, smashing his jaw so badly that he fell backward to the ground, his life hanging in the balance.

"Father!"

Cao Ang looked worriedly at Cao Cao, whose figure was getting shorter and shorter, and quickly patted Cao Cao's back to help him catch his breath.

"Hahahahahaha."

But at that moment, Cao Cao actually laughed in his anger!

"A loyal minister? What a loyal minister! Hahahaha!"

"Will killing me bring peace to the world?"

"Dong Cheng! Don't forget that it was you who couldn't stand Yang Feng and Han Xian's power back then, so you wrote to me to conspire to bring the emperor back to the Central Plains!"

"And Wang Zifu, Zhong Ji, Wu Shuo..."

"If I hadn't gone to help you, you would all have starved to death in Luoyang long ago!"

"Now they claim to be loyal ministers, how laughable! How laughable! Hahahaha!"

Cao Cao laughed loudly, but his laughter made those close to him shrink back.

Behind that loud laughter lay Cao Cao's boundless hatred!

Even this terrifying hatred has not yet fully erupted!

What Cao Cao truly hated was the emperor who wrote that blood-stained edict! It was Liu Bei, who had pretended to know nothing in front of him just a few days ago!

"Yeah!"

At this moment, Cao Cao actually put on his armor and ordered Dian Wei and Xu Chu to clear the way, rushing towards the palace!

This scene terrified the officials in Xuchang, but there were also some brave people who quickly chased after Cao Cao and grabbed his sleeve.

This man was none other than Xun Yu.

Xun Yu asked anxiously, "Why did you, my lord, lead your soldiers to the emperor's residence in the middle of the night?"

Cao Cao did not want to discuss the matter in detail with Xun Yu, but simply threw the blood-stained imperial edict to him.

Xun Yu read the contents by the light of the torch, and his heart skipped a beat!
The next moment, Xun Yu knelt down directly in front of Cao Cao.

"My lord, are you about to commit the heinous act of a subject murdering his ruler?"

Cao Cao gripped the Yitian sword at his waist and looked down at Xun Yu.

Xun Yu is now in his prime, but his hair has already turned white.

His white hair was particularly striking in the firelight, and even Cao Cao could not afford to ignore it.

Cao Cao tried to leave, but Xun Yu grabbed Cao Cao's ankle.

"Ming Gong!"

"My lord! If you really do such a thing, everything will be over! Your reputation! Your ambition! Everything you have! You will lose everything!"

Xun Yu burst into tears at this moment, and Cao Cao finally softened.

"Wenruo has misunderstood."

"My purpose in going here is not to harm the Emperor, but to capture Dong Cheng's daughter."

“Those who plot rebellion shall have their entire family executed! I am acting in accordance with the laws of the Han Dynasty.”

Cao Cao knelt down and helped Xun Yu up.

"There are some things I wouldn't do before, I won't do now, and I certainly won't do in the future!"

"But there are some things that I will do even if Wenruo stands in my way!"

Xun Yu said with tears in his eyes, "But I heard that Consort Dong is now pregnant with the Emperor's child!"

"Now there is no imperial concubine, only the traitors of the Dong family!"

Cao Cao refused to back down even an inch.

Furthermore, Cao Cao asked Xun Yu a question—

"If Dong Cheng succeeds, does Wenruo really think that the Emperor will spare my child?"

The last person to be killed in this way was Dong Zhuo.

After killing Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun's next task was to send Huangfu Song to Meiwu to kill all of Dong's clan members!

They even executed Dong Zhuo's own granddaughter, Dong Bai, the Lady of Weiyang, who was only a teenager, leaving no trace of her remains.

With such a precedent before him, how could Cao Cao not hate it?

"Wenruo, let go."

Cao Cao will not let anyone associated with Dong Cheng go!

Even if it was the emperor's concubine who was pregnant, Cao Cao would still kill her without hesitation!

Because Cao Cao knew that if he didn't win, the fate of his wife and children would be even more tragic!
"Also, immediately gather the troops!"

"I must personally go to Xuzhou to attack Liu Bei!"

Thinking of how he had personally fed Liu Bei green plums before he left, Cao Cao couldn't help but feel nauseous!

"I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me."

"I will never let the world betray me!"

(End of this chapter)