I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 302 The Youngest Son is Ill (Second Update)
Yecheng.

Yuan Shao received the news the day after Yuan Tan's defeat.

Liu Miao has appeared in Guanzhong!
Along with Liu Miao appeared his heavily armored cavalry!
For Yuan Tan, this was a major defeat.

But for Yuan Shao, this was a major strategic victory!

Pang Ji exclaimed with delight, "With Liu Miao appearing in Guanzhong, it's impossible for him to send reinforcements to the Central Plains or Qingzhou!"

"Now is the perfect time for Lord Yuan to seize the Central Plains in one fell swoop!"

The rest of the officials, except for Guo Tu who was somewhat subtly disappointed, were all excited and wished that Yuan Shao would lead his troops to attack Cao Cao's camp right now!
Yuan Shao remained as elegant and dignified as ever.

Upon hearing the ministers' request, Yuan Shao immediately agreed.

"Therefore, we began mobilizing troops, ready to march south at any time!"

With Liu Miao transferred away, Yuan Shao finally decided to attack the south!

All the officials were overjoyed!

They had waited far too long for this day!
Seeing that everyone seemed to have forgotten something, Guo Tu had no choice but to wait until the meeting ended before daring to seek out Yuan Shao alone.

Yuan Shao's house was extremely simple, in stark contrast to Yuan Shu's.

Even many of the furnishings inside were items added during the last inventory of Xu You's property. Judging from his personal morality alone, Yuan Shao did not have the strange hobbies of Cao Cao or Liu Miao; he was practically a perfect man!

When Yuan Shao saw Guo Tu coming to see him privately, he immediately guessed his intention: "You've come here to ask me to send reinforcements to Hedong?"

"My shallow thoughts, indeed, cannot be hidden from my lord!"

Guo Tu openly admitted to the matter.

Just as Yuan Shao was about to laugh and talk, he suddenly frowned, as if he were enduring great pain.

But this pain came and went quickly, and since Guo Tu had just bowed his head, he didn't see Yuan Shao's expression.

"Gongze is truly thoughtful... He really puts his mind to it."

If it were anyone else, they would have already tried their best to distance themselves from Yuan Tan for having an affair with his advisor and son. However, Guo Tu still frankly said, "I watched the eldest son grow up, and we get along well. He's practically a confidant. If someone doesn't even know how to take care of their own friends, would our lord dare to give such a person an important position?"

"Moreover, I have come here ostensibly for the eldest son, but in reality for my lord! For the Yuan family!"

The candlelight on Yuan Shao's desk flickered, and the light in Yuan Shao's eyes was also dim and unclear.

"What exactly is Yuan Tu trying to say?"

"As you know, my lord, I once accompanied the eldest son to Jiangdong to visit relatives."

"While I was in Jiangdong, I gathered a lot of information about Jiangdong and personally witnessed what Jiangdong had become under Liu Miao's rule."

Guo Tu's expression was serious.

"In my opinion, Liu Miao is by no means an insignificant opponent. Nor is he like Gongsun Shu, a local lord who is content to occupy a territory and then give up."

"It's just that there are too many absurd things that happened to Liu Miao, so much so that nowadays, when Liu Miao is mentioned, his colleagues only think of him as a playboy who lusts after beautiful women."

“But when I went to Jiangdong, I thoroughly investigated Liu Miao’s strengths and weaknesses and his past experiences.”

"Upon arriving in Jiangdong, although he made outrageous remarks at the banquet and pursued the widow of the Lu family, he also gained Lu Kang's support, which allowed him to settle down safely."

"Afterwards, he flattered Yuan Shu, married a woman from the Yuan family as his principal wife, and also used the prestige of the Yuan family of Runan to help him pacify Jiangdong and establish his own power base."

"Later, he married Yan Baihu's daughter and won over a large number of Yue tribes in the Wu and Yue regions without losing a single soldier, which bought him time to consolidate his power."

"..."

"Even the incident involving Cai Yan earned Liu Miao a good reputation among scholars. Even some Confucian scholars in Hebei began to praise Liu Miao, which gradually improved his public image."

Guo Tu was far more wary of Liu Miao than he was of Cao Cao!

After all, anyone who witnesses the current development of Jing and Yang provinces and the prosperity of Jinling will ask themselves—

"If Liu Miao is an incompetent fool, then what are the others?"

Therefore, Guo Tu never treated Liu Miao's appearance in Guanzhong as a normal occurrence from the beginning.

"Doesn't my lord find it strange that Liu Miao would travel so far to Guanzhong?"

As Guo Tu spoke, Yuan Shao's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Why didn't Gongze mention these things to me before?

"After all, I was once Liu Miao's prisoner, and Liu Miao had previously led his troops into Langya... If I had said these things at that time, wouldn't I have boosted Liu Miao's morale and diminished my own prestige?"

"We didn't say anything at the time because we didn't want our lord to be restrained by Liu Miao."

"I am explaining this now so that our lord will not underestimate Liu Miao!"

Yuan Shao pondered for a moment, then returned to the question Guo Tu had asked him earlier: "What do you think Liu Miao's sudden appearance in Guanzhong is for?"

As a close advisor to Yuan Shao, Guo Tu had followed Yuan Shao through thick and thin for many years. He had no secrets from Yuan Shao and directly told him about his and Yuan Tan's plans.

"Turning illusion into reality! While everyone thinks the eldest son's forces are just a detachment, suddenly break through Nanyang and march on Xuchang!"

However, Guo Tu immediately smiled bitterly: "But Liu Miao's appearance in Guanzhong has already made this plan a laughing stock."

"But it's always good to open a gap from the flank."

"What if Liu Miao thinks the same way? What if Liu Miao now wants to use Hedong as a springboard to send troops to harass Bingzhou and Hebei?"

"By that time, will Lord Yuan either intervene or not?"

"With that done, Liu Miao's plan has succeeded, diverting the pressure on Cao Cao in the Central Plains."

"Regardless, Liu Miao is a man of few tricks when it comes to fighting! If he shows up directly in Ye City, then the outcome of this battle will be decided!" Guo Tu dared not underestimate Liu Miao.

"If my lord truly believes that a member of the Liu clan who arrived in Huainan empty-handed and then swept through Jiangdong, counterattacked Yuan Shu, and annexed Jingzhou in just a few years is nothing more than a good-for-nothing who only knows how to seek pleasure and devotes all his energy to beautiful women, then I have nothing more to say!"

Yuan Shao closed his eyes again.

To Guo Tu's surprise, Yuan Shao asked himself the question instead of Liu Miao.

"Gongze advised Xiansi to march his troops to Xuchang and seize the position of heir apparent... Did he think I was about to die?"

Yuan Shao spoke in a calm tone, but Guo Tu felt as if a thunderbolt had struck him directly!
He glanced furtively at Yuan Shao, and seeing that Yuan Shao's face was pale, he quickly shook his head: "What are you thinking, my lord?"

"The establishment of a crown prince is to stabilize people's hearts."

"By now, my lord should be able to realize that the Third Young Master has already gathered many scholars from Hebei around him. If my lord does not make a decision soon, he will be harming them!"

"and……"

Guo Tu's expression was resolute.

"Even if Your Majesty does not appoint the eldest son as heir, but chooses the second or third son instead, I will still give my full support!"

"Your subject will forever be loyal to the Yuan family!"

Yuan Shao looked at Guo Tu, his eyes revealing neither joy nor anger.

half an hour.

Yuan Shao then said leisurely, "You are too kind, I was just overthinking it."

"Gongze is right. We do need to be careful and guard against things in Hedong."

Yuan Shao pondered for a moment: "Let Jiang Yiqu go. He is from Guanzhong and is familiar with the terrain. With him there, even if he can't defeat Liu Miao, he can at least prevent Liu Miao from crossing the river and seizing Hedong."

"Thank you, Lord Yuan!"

Guo Tu quickly thanked him, and Yuan Shao waved to signal the other party to leave.

As soon as Guo Tu left, Yuan Shao's face turned uncontrollably pale, and he visibly shrank.

Yuan Shao was in so much pain that the veins on his face were throbbing!
With great effort, he crawled forward and took off his upturned shoes, only to find that Yuan Shao's right foot was swollen to the size of a radish!
Press it down, and a dent will appear immediately.

When you release your finger, the dent does not spring back immediately, but takes several breaths to return to its original state.

These symptoms have been present for a long time.

Each time, Yuan Shao would only apply a small amount of crushed ice to his feet, supplemented with herbal medicine.

However, Yuan Shao never dared to bring a physician with him when he went on campaigns, so he could not take medicine.

Now, Yuan Shao was holding his swollen, red foot, his expression gradually becoming ferocious.

"They must be subdued before the troops are deployed!"

"The current situation allows no time for delay!"

……

……

However, Yuan Shao's wish was clearly not fulfilled.

Just as the soldiers in Hebei were busy for a month and were about to march south to attack Cao Cao, Yuan Shao suddenly released a message—

"My youngest son is seriously ill; we must halt our march!"

Should we halt our pursuit of power simply because our youngest son is ill?

absurd!

ridiculous!

Everyone was baffled. How could Yuan Shao, who was always so wise and powerful, do such a stupid thing?

Tian Feng, the Prefect of Ji Province, angrily went to find Yuan Shao—

"Liu Miao is currently in Guanzhong, which is a golden opportunity for Lord Yuan! Why should you let your sick child cause you to miss such a crucial chance?"

Yuan Shao before Tian Feng remained as composed and calm as ever, showing no difference from his usual demeanor.

After hearing Tian Feng's advice, he merely glanced at Tian Feng and said, "Does Yuan Hao think the lives of my Yuan family are such insignificant matters?"

Tian Feng, speechless after being rebuked by Yuan Shao, could only pound the ground with his cane, lamenting, "Alas, it's all over! To have missed such a rare opportunity, only to have it lost due to the illness of an infant, what a pity! What a pity!"

The originally ambitious southward campaign came to an abrupt end because Yuan Shao claimed that his young son was ill.

Fortunately, the troops that promised to support Yuan Tan had already set off, otherwise Guo Tu would have really thought that Yuan Shao had given up on his great cause!
Guo Tu was still puzzled. When he mentioned this to Pang Ji in a casual conversation, Pang Ji could only say, "I actually have some guesses... Never mind, let's not talk about it! You just need to trust the lord and not go to the lord's face like Tian Feng did to upset him."

How could I do such a thing?

Although Tian Feng held a high position, he only came to join Yuan Shao after Yuan Shao had occupied Ji Province! In terms of closeness, how could he compare to people like Guo Tu and Pang Ji?

Guo Tu was utterly baffled: "My lord's actions are truly strange!"

"Yuan Tu said he had some guesses, but what were they?"

Pang Ji shook his head slightly: "It's nothing."

"Wait a little longer! Once our lord makes the decision to attack, no one in the world will be able to stop the Yuan family's military might!"

(End of this chapter)