I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 248 Who Wins and Who's Right!

Seeing that Liu Miao was really about to leave, Cao Cao finally stopped him, saying, "Forget it!"

"I believe Zhongshan is unaware of this, but I do not know why Zhongshan has suddenly come here?"

"It's all to help my father-in-law!"

Father-in-law?

Cao Cao glanced back.

That location was Xiahou Yuan's military camp.

"It wasn't Xiahou Shi, it was Lü Bu who said he wanted to marry his daughter to me and wanted me to be his son-in-law!"

Upon hearing that Liu Miao now seemed to be an enemy rather than a friend, Cao Cao frowned again: "Is Zhongshan here to help Lü Bu?"

"They seem to be here to help Lü Bu, but in reality, they're here to help Mengde!"

Liu Miao glanced at Xiapi City from afar.

As the capital of Xuzhou Prefecture, its grandeur far surpasses that of other cities in the Central Plains!

Although not as powerful as Nanjing or Xiangyang, it was still a large city that could not be easily conquered.

"Even for Cao Cao, it would probably take him several months to conquer such a city, wouldn't it?"

Liu Miao pointed north: "A few months is enough time for Zhang He and Gao Lan to sweep through Qingzhou and then move south."

"Several months is enough time for Yuan Shao to make all the necessary preparations and launch a frontal assault across the river to attack the Central Plains!"

"When Mengde's men and horses are exhausted in Xuzhou, how will he deal with Yuan Shao's army?"

Seeing that Cao Cao was about to say something more, Liu Miao preemptively said, "When it comes to the determination to resist Yuan Shao, no one is more determined than me."

"What I did in the south was utterly treasonous in the eyes of Yuan Shao and those powerful clans! If Mengde falls into Yuan Shao's hands, he might spare you out of consideration for your past relationship with him; but if I fall into Yuan Shao's hands, he will probably only remember that I bribed Xu You and harmed his son."

Cao Cao looked at Liu Miao with a puzzled expression one last time: "You bribed Xu You?"

Liu Miao looked at Cao Cao with a puzzled expression: "You don't know?"

"I don't know."

"Then what did Xu You say to you?"

"It is said that Yuan Shao was narrow-minded and intolerant of others."

"You believe that? Have you really been so angered by Dong Cheng that you've lost your mind?"

"..."

However, Cao Cao suddenly realized: "So that's why the first thing he did after arriving in Xuchang and seeing me was to redeem Cai Yong's daughter, Cai Yan. It was all for you!"

Having a young married woman would be strange for most people. But for Liu Miao, it seems perfectly normal and reasonable!
Liu Miao hadn't expected Xu You to provide such excellent after-sales service, even remembering the things he had instructed Cao Cao.

Suddenly, Liu Miao thought Xu You was not bad!

Although they charge high fees, they really get things done! It's truly rare to find someone with such a conscience!
Liu Miao ignored Cao Cao's strange focus.

"Therefore, in the current fight against Yuan Shao, I am the only true ally of Mengde!"

"I cannot bear to see Mengde and Lü Bu fighting over their pride, allowing Yuan Shao to reap the benefits. Therefore, I have come to offer my advice!"

Cao Cao stared into Liu Miao's eyes, seemingly trying to determine the truthfulness of Liu Miao's words.

“Zhongshan, let me ask you something.”

"What's the matter?"

"What if I insist on attacking Lü Bu now? Would Zhongshan take action against me because of him?"

"of course not!"

Liu Miao shook his head firmly.

"But if that's the case, I'll have to return to Jiangdong immediately and make two coffins from the Phoebe zhennan trees I bought from Jiaozhou, so that they can fit Mengde and Lü Bu in them in the future."

"I'll bury you two together then, maybe you can even become a bickering couple down there!"

"correct!"

Liu Miao seemed to have thought of something.

"There should be three paintings. Then we can bury Chen Gong between the two of you, so that the three of you can be reunited in the afterlife. This will be the last thing I do for Mengde!"

"..."

Cao Cao gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, wishing he could smash it across Liu Miao's face right now!
To bury himself, Lü Bu, and Chen Gong together—could such a scheme be devised by a human being?

Cao Cao laughed in anger: "If that's the case, I really don't want to die!"

"It's good that you don't want to die! People can only do things when they're alive; once they're dead, they can only be done by others. Mengde must understand this principle."

When Liu Miao saw Cao Cao smile, he wrapped his arms even tighter around Cao Cao's neck. This action startled Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Zhou Tai, and Chen Wu, who were standing nearby! They almost came to blows, but the two men in the middle acted as if they hadn't seen anything and continued to chat intimately.

"Mengde's expedition was originally for Xuande's sake. Now that Xuande has left, why continue the war?"

Cao Cao glanced sideways at Liu Miao: "Is this how you advise me?"

"I'll just coax you like this!"

"Mengde is a smart man. What kind of thing would it be to hand over his own foundation to Yuan Shao just out of spite?"

Cao Cao frowned: "It's not entirely out of spite."

"Lu Bu is a treacherous and unpredictable man. It's really hard to feel at ease having him in Xuzhou!"

"I know!"

Liu Miao also sighed: "Actually, Mengde is wrong about one thing."

"Lu Bu wasn't cunning or treacherous; he was mainly just stupid."

Liu Miao was completely unconcerned that Lü Bu was about to become his father-in-law, and continued to rave about Lü Bu in front of Cao Cao.

“If someone is intelligent, no matter how cunning or unpredictable they may be, they should know how to protect themselves in a chaotic situation.”

"Only fools believe everything they're told. Otherwise, how could Lü Bu have gone so far as to assassinate Dong Zhuo, only to end up with nothing?" Liu Miao always believed that Lü Bu wasn't bad; he was just not obviously clever...

It's indeed extremely difficult to feel at ease having someone like that in Xuzhou.

Who knows what someone might say at any time, and Lu Bu, who was all friendly with you yesterday, might suddenly pull out his dozens-of-foot-long halberd and give you a good whack.

Therefore, Liu Miao could very well understand Cao Cao's current distrust of Lü Bu!
"If Mengde is truly worried about Lü Bu, then I have a plan for you. Would you be willing to listen?"

"What's the plan?"

"Give Xiaopei to me so I can station troops here!"

Liu Miao narrowed his eyes slightly: "Xiaopei is the gateway from Xuzhou to the Central Plains."

"With me stationed here, Lü Bu will certainly not dare to invade the Central Plains again!"

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes as well: "What if Lü Bu still insists on attacking the Central Plains, or even surrenders to Yuan Shao?"

"Then it's not up to Mengde to worry about."

Liu Miao said this without the slightest bit of psychological burden.

"If Lü Bu dares to invade the Central Plains or defect to Yuan Shao, I will personally kill him!"

"Isn't he your father-in-law?"

"Then I'll send Lü Bu to you, Mengde, so you can kill him with your own hands!"

"..."

Cao Cao made a judgment.

Liu Miao's words were absolutely not a lie.

If Lü Bu were to make any move to defect to Yuan Shao, Liu Miao would truly turn against Lü Bu and raise an army to kill him!
Given this, Cao Cao had no reason to hesitate.

However, Cao Cao still wanted to negotiate with Liu Miao.

"I lost many men in the attack on Xiaopei."

"I'll give you weapons and food!"

Cao Cao's eyes widened.

He never expected that Liu Miao, who always tried to take advantage of him but never allowed himself to take advantage of him, would actually say such a human word.
"really?"

"I can send grain supplies from Jingzhou and weapons from Jiangdong to provide support."

Liu Miao's forceful tone made Cao Cao unable to laugh.

"Zhongshan, are you really that afraid of Yuan Shao?"

Apart from Yuan Shao, no one could get Liu Miao to be so generous.

Liu Miao also admitted to this.

"Anyway, right now, I don't see any chance of you winning, Mengde."

"If I had to choose between Yuan Shao and you as the winner, I would rather you win in the end!"

Cao Cao, who had been incredibly gloomy due to the machinations of Dong Cheng, the Emperor, Liu Bei, and others, finally shone brightly in front of Liu Miao today.

Cao Cao shook his head: "Zhongshan, Zhongshan, I really want to keep you by my side now."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tai immediately drew his sword and glared angrily at Cao Cao.

Liu Miao simply pressed down on Zhou Tai's sword: "How could I not want to keep Mengde and Xuande by my side?"

"But now even Mengde himself calls himself a lonely man, which means that we have finally become isolated and alone, and it will be difficult to be as carefree and harmonious as we were on the high platform back then."

After hearing this, Cao Cao hesitated to speak to Liu Miao.

"Mengde, ask whatever you want. Are you afraid I'll leak this information?"

Whether it's Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Zhou Tai, or Chen Wu, they are all the people the two trust the most; otherwise, they wouldn't have brought them along on such a special occasion.

What Cao Cao wanted to ask Liu Miao was only one question: "Zhongshan, in your opinion, who is right and who is wrong, me or Xuande?"

"That's it?"

Liu Miao thought Cao Cao was going to ask him some difficult question, but what troubled the cunning Cao Cao was actually who was right and who was wrong.

"In Zhongshan's opinion, who is right and who is wrong?"

Although Liu Miao thought Cao Cao's question was naive, seeing that Cao Cao seemed to really care about it, he sighed slightly and told Cao Cao his answer.

When Cao Cao heard Liu Miao's answer, he was surprised but also smiled with relief.

“Zhongshan is truly different from ordinary people.”

"You're the one who's different from ordinary people! Your whole family is different from ordinary people!"

Liu Miao took Cao Cao's words as an insult, thinking he was not a normal person, and immediately retorted with insults of his own.

"Alright! Let's withdraw! I still need to see what Lü Bu's daughter looks like! Goodbye!"

Liu Miao had already imagined what Lü Bu's daughter would look like.

It's probably a large cart that inherited Lu Bu's physique?
The daughter of a military general is always quite capable!
Yan Baihu's daughter, Yan Shi, had strong legs and a powerful waist and hips!

If Yan Baihu's daughter is so wild, then Lu Bu's daughter must be so wild!
Anyway, no matter what, it's definitely a million times better than facing the wrinkled and dark Cao Cao!
As Cao Cao watched Liu Miao's departing figure, he was still pondering the answer Liu Miao had given him.

"Liu Zhongshan, what a fine Liu Zhongshan!"

Liu Miao didn't tell Cao Cao who was right and who was wrong, but he did give Cao Cao the answer that satisfied him most.

"Whoever wins is right!"

Losers have no right to discuss right or wrong!
In chaotic times, the most important thing is to survive and win!
Cao Cao shook his head helplessly as he watched Liu Miao run away at breakneck speed.

"What's so great about young girls? Zhongshan really doesn't discriminate between meat and vegetables!"

"However, considering what we've done today... let's help with Cai Yan's matter if we can!"

(End of this chapter)