I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 257 It just so happens to be Liu Miao

Inside the capital of Langya, Yuan Xi, the second son of Yuan Shao, with a noble appearance and an uneasy expression, saw Zhang He and Gao Lan arrive and quickly stepped forward to ask, "Has Liu Miao retreated his troops?"

Unlike his elder brother Yuan Tan, who personally built his own empire, or his younger brother Yuan Shang, who was ambitious, Yuan Xi was somewhat reluctant to come to Langya in place of Yuan Shao, and naturally hoped that Liu Miao would back down.

Zhang He and Gao Lan shook their heads.

This scene made Yuan Xi's face turn pale instantly.

"Generals, do you really intend to fight Liu Miao here?"

When Zhang He and Gao Lan saw that their nominal commander-in-chief, Yuan Xi, who represented the glory of the Yuan family, was so afraid of battle, and when they thought of Liu Miao's surging fighting spirit on the other side, they also sighed.

In fact, Yuan Shao's intentions were already evident from the fact that he did not come in person, nor even send his third son Yuan Shang, who was well-liked by the people of Hebei.

Liu Miao repeatedly challenged Yuan Shao's prestige, which naturally displeased Yuan Shao.

But Yuan Shao was never the kind of person who let emotions cloud his judgment.

The fact that Yuan Shao mobilized soldiers from Bohai and Qinghe to confront Liu Miao clearly shows that Yuan Shao was truly enraged!

But reason told Yuan Shao that the battle of Langya was not to be fought!
Once the battle for Langya begins, Cao Cao, a renowned military strategist, will certainly not let the opportunity to exploit the vulnerability of eastern Hebei slip by.

Once Cao Cao crosses the river, it will inevitably lead to the Yuan army, which was besieging Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, moving south to relieve the siege.

At that time, Yuan Shao will have to abandon half of his main force and face Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan, who are now completely free from their constraints, in Hebei!
Therefore, Yuan Shao was unwilling to fight, but dared not fight!

It was thought that a single banner bearing the character "Yuan" would be enough to resolve the crisis in Langya, but Liu Miao's unreasonable "advance a hundred paces" turned this tiger skin into a joke, only adding to the ridicule.

This time, Liu Miao not only slapped Yuan Shao across the face, but also pulled off Yuan Shao's belt and trousers.

If Yuan Shao wants to fight, he must let go of his hands covering his face and fight Liu Miao to the death.

Even if they win... Yuan Shao will only be winning with his backside exposed.

Liu Miao was betting that Yuan Shao wouldn't dare to fight him naked.

And there is no doubt about it...

Even Yuan Shao, a noble young master from a prominent family, dared not fight Liu Miao naked.

Battles between nobles, regardless of victory or defeat, should be conducted with dignity.

Now that Liu Miao has gone to the battlefield, he wants everyone to be naked and humiliated with him. How can this battle be fought?
It's not worth going naked for Liu Miao.

Therefore, Yuan Shao would rather take a solid slap from Liu Miao than not have his hands free, and buy himself time to pull up his pants and loosen his belt!
"Second Young Master, let's negotiate."

Zhang He and Gao Lan helplessly pointed out to Yuan Xi the way Yuan Shao wanted to say but was too embarrassed to say it.

"There's no need to ruin Lord Yuan's grand plan for the sake of a mere Langya or a mere Liu Miao!"

Yuan Shao will accept Liu Miao's slap for now.

"But once our lord has wiped out Gongsun Zan and completely pacified Hebei, that will be Liu Miao's death day!"

Once Yuan Shao pulls up his pants, he will surely regain his former glory and beat Liu Miao so badly he won't know where he is!
Zhang He and Gao Lan were absolutely convinced of this!
At this moment, Yuan Xi understood why Yuan Shao hadn't sent Yuan Tan or Yuan Shang this time.

So Yuan Shao was just throwing him away as a pawn?
After all, this should be the first time Yuan Shao has backed down in a foreign war.

And someone has to take the blame for this.

Yuan Shao, of course, could not possibly carry it.

Zhang He and Gao Lan were both from aristocratic families in Hebei, and in any case, they had just made contributions in recovering Qingzhou, so they shouldn't be blamed for this.

Of the remaining people, only Yuan Shao's sons were qualified.

But everyone knows that once someone takes Yuan Shao's place and admits defeat, they are basically guaranteed to lose their right to succession. In this chaotic world, people can accept a ruthless and cruel ruler, like Dong Zhuo, a ruler who is indifferent to worldly affairs, like Liu Biao, or even an incompetent ruler, like Liu Zhang.

But no one can accept a cowardly ruler!

The previous weak warlord was Han Fu, the governor of Ji Province.

Not only did he hand over his own empire, but he also implicated all his trusted confidants, who were all executed by Yuan Shao. Who would dare to serve such a lord? Who would dare to accept him?

Even though everyone could see that this peace talk was not Yuan Xi's cowardice, but Yuan Shao's temporary avoidance of the limelight, who would admit it afterward?
Absolutely no one would risk exposing Yuan Shao's wounds to protect the dignity of Yuan Xi, an insignificant second son!

Having realized this, Yuan Xi looked utterly dejected: "Father, how cruel you are!"

To cover up his mistakes, he didn't hesitate to ruin Yuan Xi's future, leaving Yuan Xi with the reputation of being "cowardly" for the rest of his life... At this moment, Yuan Xi felt no warmth from "father and son", only the chill from the relationship between "ruler and subject".

"The second young master is just... unlucky."

Gao Lan's words stunned Yuan Xi for a moment, before he revealed a bitter smile.

"Yes, bad luck."

Yuan Xi's arrival in Langya in place of Yuan Shao was both a risk and an opportunity.

If Liu Miao had truly retreated upon seeing the banner bearing the character "Yuan," then without a doubt, the Battle of Langya would not have become a stain on Yuan Xi's record; on the contrary, it would have propelled him a significant step closer to becoming his successor!

When Xi marched out of Langya, even General Miao, who commanded 200,000 troops, dared not confront him and fled in disarray.

Such an achievement is enough to garner Yuan Xi a lot of support, allowing him to challenge for that position.

But a pity.

There are countless things in this world, but there are no "what ifs".

Liu Miao did not back down; instead, he charged straight at them, baring his teeth and brandishing his claws.

That's why Gao Lan said that Yuan Xi was unlucky.

Apart from Liu Miao, no one dared to confront Yuan Shao like this now.

Apart from Liu Miao, no one else would mobilize all available troops from Jing and Yang provinces to fight Yuan Shao for a piece of land in Langya that they did not actually control.

Apart from Liu Miao, no one else would use their troops to hold back Yuan Shao's main force, creating an opportunity for outsiders like Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan, while they themselves would get nothing in return!
For anyone else, Yuan Shao's prestige and power would have been enough to make them temporarily retreat from the limelight.

But Liu Miao was the only one who was not intimidated. Instead, he stubbornly walked towards the raging storm and then slapped Yuan Shao across the face in an unreasonable manner.

However, what has happened has already occurred.

Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan were like hungry wolves lurking on both sides of Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao did not want to be hurt by these two wolves, so he had no choice but to make peace with Liu Miao, obediently sticking out his ears and face to accept this slap!

Yuan Xi sighed again as he stood up: "I never imagined that there really are fathers in the world who don't love their own sons."

Yuan Shao could have sent Guo Tu, Pang Ji, or even Shen Pei.

In order to avoid making any mistakes and to maintain his sacred reputation, Yuan Shao ultimately chose to have Yuan Xi, his second son, take the lead.

"Let's go."

With each step Yuan Xi took, he felt as if his legs weighed a ton.

"Let me go and see what kind of person Liu Miao is, who has driven my father to such a point!"

　Three chapters! Have you forgotten the promise you made to your pen name? Three full chapters tomorrow! You bastard!!!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)