I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 414 The Marriage Alliance Between Yuan and Cao
Even though the palace had windows open on all four sides, Cao Cao still felt somewhat uncomfortable and hot because he was suddenly called out by Yuan Shao and was being watched by everyone.

“Zhongshan…”

Cao Cao seemed to instantly recall many images of Liu Miao.

From his first time climbing to a high place by the Huai River to composing a poem, to his later hasty arrival in Xuzhou to act as a peacemaker because of Liu Bei's affairs... there were actually very few serious military conflicts.

However, this did not prevent Cao Cao from judging Liu Miao's military style.

"Gongze is right."

“When Zhongshan faced Yuan Shu in Huainan with nothing but his bare hands, he proposed ‘preserving people but losing territory.’ And he clearly succeeded later.”

Faced with Yuan Shu's overwhelming momentum after the Battle of Kuangting, Liu Miao's choice was clearly unexpected by everyone.

At that time, everyone thought that Liu Miao should hold his nose and act as Yuan Shao's dog, joining forces with Yuan Shao's forces in Yangzhou to resist Yuan Shu and prevent Yuan Shu from entering Huainan!
But Liu Miao skillfully maneuvered between the two sides, and then at a crucial moment, he "slipped" to Jiangdong, abandoning his post as the governor of Jiujiang and also managing to lure Lu Kang, the governor of Lujiang, away. Like a dragon crossing the river, he swept through the land uncontrollably...

From the very beginning, Liu Miao's actions were not so easy to discern. Therefore, Cao Cao did not believe that Liu Miao would recklessly commit his troops to Guanzhong and openly fight Yuan Shao in this battle.

Liu Miao is someone who bombards everyone with attacks in the early stages, making it difficult to understand him until the very end when you finally discover what his true intentions are.

Therefore, Cao Cao clearly did not believe that Liu Miao would be so foolish as to attack Guanzhong, leaving the entire Central Plains empty, in order to carry out the "two-wing attack" tactic.

But Cao Cao was not thinking about Liu Miao, but about Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao used to visit him at the Bronze Sparrow Terrace quite often, but recently he has visited much less frequently.

Clearly, Yuan Shao also devoted a great deal of effort to this war.

Even so, Yuan Shao never asked him a single question related to the war.

This is both fear and precaution.

At this moment, Cao Cao did not know how to answer Yuan Shao.

Was he being completely honest and open with Yuan Shao? Or was he trying to trick Yuan Shao into sending his troops to Guanzhong in the wrong direction?

Cao Cao considered the risks of both options and glanced at Guo Tu a few more times. In the end, he did not rush to dig a pit for Yuan Shao now.

"Liu Miao's actions should never be judged by ordinary standards."

"and……"

Cao Cao offered his analysis.

"He has just returned from a distant expedition to Shu. Even if his body is made of iron, it is absolutely impossible for him to devote all his attention to the war in Guanzhong in such a short period of time."

When it comes to warfare, especially large-scale warfare, Cao Cao was confident that no one present could surpass him!
Even Yuan Shao is not an option!
No one knew better than Cao Cao how much a battle could cost!

Even the problems encountered during the attack on Xuzhou from Xuchang would keep Cao Cao up at night and unable to eat or sleep. How much more so when Liu Miao directly conquered and destroyed the entire Shu region?
Moreover, I've heard that Liu Miao also promoted Taoism and the imperial examination system.
Any one of these things would be enough to give an ordinary person a headache! If Cao Cao had to do so many things, his headache, which he had finally managed to recover from, would probably have flared up again!
Therefore, Cao Cao did not believe that Liu Miao's energy could keep up with a full-scale battlefield so quickly.

"I suspect that Liu Miao's actions are merely a test. His current activity in Guanzhong may be an attempt to divert our forces from the Central Plains battlefield."

Cao Cao had by this time guessed most of the truth.

"Therefore, as long as we get the King of Qin back to Guanzhong, we can easily appease Guanzhong and force Liu Miao to leave!"

As an authority on practical warfare, Cao Cao's words left Yuan Shao's advisors with no further objections.

This battle should just be an unexpected surprise that Liu Miao suddenly gave to everyone!
If the entire battle plan is disrupted because of Liu Miao, it would obviously be a case of losing more than one gains, a case of penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Yuan Shao remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, which made Cao Cao uneasy.

However, Yuan Shao soon asked Cao Cao a question unrelated to the war—

"Is Liu Miao truly a womanizer?"

"Ok!"

Cao Cao's answer was concise and powerful!
At least he felt that compared to Liu Miao, he was just as pure as those imperial students in Luoyang who studied the classics!
Sun Jian's wife.

Liu Biao's wife.

Xiahou Yuan's niece.

Lü Bu's daughter, Yuan Xi's fiancée...

Even Cao Cao couldn't count how many women of his own people he had ruthlessly ruined!
"In that case, it seems my daughter-in-law, Lady Wen, may also lose her innocence?"

"..."

Cao Cao lowered his head.

He had indeed met Yuan Tan's principal wife, Lady Wen.

Not only is she beautiful, but her temperament and figure are definitely the top choice for those who like married women!
After Cao Cao's own assessment, he believed that once Lady Wen fell into Liu Miao's hands, she would most likely meet a tragic end...

"Liu Zhongshan, ah."

Yuan Shao's words were full of sarcasm and disdain.

Including Lady Wen, Liu Miao had already defiled two of his daughters-in-law, which was quite a deep-seated grudge. No wonder Yuan Shao loathed and hated Liu Miao.

"Mengde, I've heard that your eldest daughter is still unmarried?"

Alarm bells rang in Cao Cao's mind! At the same time, a bad premonition suddenly arose!

However, Cao Cao answered with peace of mind, "Yes..."

"In that case, how about I act as a matchmaker for your daughter?"

Cao Cao's lowered eyes, however, were far from calm! A matchmaker? For whom? Naturally, for Yuan Tan, whose queen had already been taken!

But why suddenly propose marriage?

For the Guanzhong Campaign?

Why didn't Yuan Shao just send Yuan Tan?
Cao Cao's mind, which had just been rested, was not sluggish at all; on the contrary, it began to work wildly.

Wasn't it for Yuan Tan's sake? Or was it to control himself?

From then on, the Cao and Yuan families became friends, and Yuan Shao wanted him to wholeheartedly assist Yuan Tan.
……

Cao Cao was in a state of utter confusion and couldn't understand Yuan Shao's current arrangements at all.

However, Cao Cao still managed a smile: "That would be excellent!"

Cao Cao's eldest daughter and his eldest son Cao Ang both came from Lady Liu, and Cao Cao doted on her. Originally, Cao Cao intended to marry her to Ding Yi, but later Cao Ang and Cao Pi both said that although Ding Yi was talented, he was not good-looking, especially his small eyes. Therefore, they instead arranged for Cao Cao to marry her to Xiahou Mao, the son of Xiahou Dun.

Just as the matter was settled, Yuan Shao attacked, and Xiahou Dun was left in Luoyang, so the marriage naturally came to nothing.

Now that Yuan Shao has mentioned Cao Cao's eldest daughter, it is clear that he knows her background, which is why he asked this question. Cao Cao naturally cannot refuse.

After receiving Cao Cao's answer, Yuan Shao finally showed a hint of joy in his voice: "In that case, Mengde and I are truly becoming even closer through marriage!"

Cao Cao forced a smile but had no choice but to agree.

Yuan Shao handled the matter extremely quickly.

He directly ordered the Imperial Clan Court to change the registered residence of Cao's eldest daughter, removing the title of Queen from the Wen family's principal wife and changing her to Cao.

At the same time, Yuan Shao specially conferred the title of Princess of Qinghe upon Cao Cao. Such special treatment made Cao Cao even more uneasy, wondering what Yuan Shao really wanted to do.

However, no matter what, this matter cannot be disobeyed from Yuan Shao; the marriage must be arranged.

When Cao Cao returned and told his eldest daughter, Princess Qinghe, about this, Princess Qinghe immediately frowned!

"Father! Why must your daughter marry Yuan Tan?"

"This is a marriage bestowed by His Majesty!"

"I won't marry!"

"you--"

As the eldest daughter, both Cao Cao and Lady Bian doted on Princess Qinghe. However, Cao Cao never expected that his daughter would be so unable to distinguish right from wrong!

"Arranged marriages by parents and matchmakers! Where have you learned all that?"

Seeing Princess Qinghe's resistance, Cao Cao immediately sensed something was wrong: "Don't tell me you already have someone you love?"

"Yes!"

Upon hearing Princess Qinghe's resolute answer, Cao Cao flew into a rage: "Who!? Who is it!"

"Prince Yuan Shang!"

"Ugh?"

Cao Cao was, after all, a cunning and ruthless hero in a chaotic era, a man who remained calm even when Mount Tai collapsed before him!

But upon hearing his daughter's words, he tilted his head to the side and couldn't utter a word.

Princess Qinghe pouted and said, "That Yuan Tan is old and ugly, not nearly as good-looking as Yuan Shang!"

"My daughter fell in love with Yuan Shang the moment she saw him at the banquet last time! How could she possibly marry his brother?"

"..."

after all.

Cao Cao's old headache flared up again.

Cao Cao never imagined that after he had escaped Liu Xie and Yuan Shao, he would ultimately fall into the hands of his own daughter!
Covering his head and leaning against the wall, Cao Cao was pale and breathing heavily.

Princess Qinghe was also flustered when she saw this scene!
From Xuchang to Yecheng, Princess Qinghe also learned about the fickleness of human relationships.

If Cao Cao were to die here, her future would likely be even more difficult!

Princess Qinghe rushed forward, crying as she hugged Cao Cao: "Father! I'll marry you! I'll marry you, okay? Father! Don't scare me..."

The commotion attracted Lady Bian and Cao Ang, among others. Princess Qinghe and Cao Cao dared not reveal the matter, and could only attribute Cao Cao's headache to other things.

At this moment, Cao Pi scurried over to Princess Qinghe's side to comfort her: "Sister! Don't worry! Yuan Tan is actually quite good-looking! Especially his complexion, he looks like a real man who's been through thick and thin! Anyway, he's much better than Ding Yi, isn't he? Huh? Why are you glaring at me, sister?"

"..."

Despite some hiccups, the marriage was eventually completed.

To Cao Cao's surprise, he never saw Yuan Tan's presence.

It's understandable that his former wife was abducted by Liu Miao and never showed her face.

But nowadays, brides don't even show their faces when getting married. What's the reason for that?
Right after Cao Cao finished arranging this inexplicable marriage, Yuan Shao summoned Cao Cao again.

Cao Cao went to meet Yuan Shao with trepidation, but Yuan Shao's first words made Cao Cao unable to contain himself.

"Mengde, I'm afraid I'm not going to make it..."

(End of this chapter)