I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 9 Nothing But a Lewd Man

Zhou Ang entered the governor's mansion and was about to pay his respects when he suddenly heard the voice of Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou—

"idiot!"

Looking up, he saw Chen Wen angrily reprimanding a clerk beside him, but he had no idea what had happened.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Ang's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

Although Chen Wen wasn't directly criticizing him, he was, after all, a guest, and Chen Wen's words were somewhat of a veiled attack.
When Chen Wen met Zhou Ang, he was equally unceremonious. Although he still treated Zhou Ang with courtesy, his words were full of disdain, which made Zhou Ang's anger brew.

"Governor, just say what you have to say to me directly. Why are you being so sarcastic?"

Chen Wen had gray hair, wore a lacquered gauze cap, and a black silk robe with cloud patterns along the black trim. A five-foot-long blue sash hung between the right-fastening collar, displaying the demeanor of a prefectural governor.

Such a noble person, who usually kept his emotions hidden, now had his hair standing on end, and was extremely indignant—

"Zhou Ang, do you intend to assassinate Liu Miao?"

The harsh rebuke turned Zhou Ang's face pale instantly.

However, remembering that Chen Wen was ultimately one of Yuan Shao's men, he immediately calmed himself down and cautiously inquired, "May I ask how the governor knew about this matter?"

Hearing that Zhou Ang did not deny it, Chen Wen clenched his fists: "Today, a letter from Lu Kang, the Prefect of Lujiang, arrived here, asking me why I should follow Lord Yuan's wishes and welcome you into Shouchun City to be the Prefect of Jiujiang!"

"Afterwards, a folk song spread throughout Huainan, saying something like, 'Yuan family grass grows on the corner of the palace'... You and Yuan Yi, are you really not going to wait any longer?'"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ang was greatly alarmed and exclaimed, "That's absolutely not true!"

"Just now, Yuan Yi was in my residence discussing whether or not to eliminate Liu Miao. Our plan was nothing more than this, so how could there be any rumors or gossip circulating?"

Zhou Ang tore open his clothes, revealing his chest: "Heaven and earth bear witness! I have nothing else to hide from the Prefect!"

Seeing Zhou Ang's strong reaction, Chen Wen's indignation turned into suspicion.

"It's really not you?"

"No, that's really not true!"

Zhou Ang's repeated rejections caused Chen Wen to slowly close his eyes.

"Since it wasn't Yuan Gong who ordered it, then there must be only one person!"

Zhou Ang closed his clothes, seemingly lost in thought.

"The governor is referring to... Yuan Shu?"

"Ah."

Chen Wen did not deny it.

"News has just come from the north."

"Yuan Shu stationed his army at Fengqiu, and with the help of the remnants of the Black Mountain bandits and the Xiongnu Yu Fuluo, he fought a decisive battle with Cao Mengde at Kuangting."

This information was top secret, and Zhou Ang was unaware of it.

So when I first heard about this, I was naturally shocked!
"How is the war going? Could it be that Cao Mengde has been defeated?"

Before Chen Wen could answer, Zhou Ang sighed.

"Now, Yuan Shu is besieged by Gongsun Zan of Youzhou in the north and the Black Mountain bandits of Jinyang in the east. If it weren't for Cao Mengde of Yanzhou resisting him, Yuan Shu and Tao Qian of Xuzhou would probably have formed a pincer movement from the south!"

"Did the governor summon me here today to order me to lead troops north to support Lord Yuan?"

After thinking it over, Zhou Ang realized that this was the only possibility that could anger Chen Wen!
Although Yuan Gong was extremely powerful, he also had many enemies.

Let's leave aside the Western Liang Army in Guanzhong for now.

Although Gongsun Zan of Youzhou was defeated at Jieqiao, he eventually occupied Youzhou and, with 100,000 armored soldiers, remained a formidable enemy.

Yuan Shu and Tao Qian were also plotting together to seize Guanzhong from the Central Plains.

If Cao Cao, who occupies Yan Province, were to suffer a defeat, even Yuan Shao would likely be outnumbered.

Chen Wen glanced at Zhou Ang indifferently—

"Prefect, do not worry." "There is reliable news from the north: Cao Cao has defeated Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shu has now fled to Fengqiu!"

Won?

Zhou Ang was initially incredulous, but then stood up with joy: "Alas! Heaven blesses Lord Yuan!"

Now that even Yuan Shu has been defeated, who in the world can be a match for Lord Yuan?

"This is a joyous occasion! Why is the governor so sorrowful?"

Hearing that Zhou Ang still hadn't reacted, Chen Wen finally couldn't help but sigh.

"Has the prefect not realized this?"

"The reason why Yuan Shu had to go to Yanzhou to fight Mengde was because his supply lines had been cut off by Liu Biao, and he could not return to Nanyang."

"Xuzhou in the east has been managed by Tao Qian for many years, and his prestige is quite profound. In addition, Tao Qian is a famous scholar, so Yuan Shu will not go to Xuzhou easily."

"In that case, you might want to think carefully about where else Yuan Shu could go."

Zhou Ang was suddenly startled!
If he still doesn't understand what Chen Wen has said, then he's truly a fool!

"Does the governor mean... that Yuan Shu is coming to Huainan?!"

Zhou Ang's scalp tingled instantly!

Even though he looked down on Yuan Shu in his daily life, he knew that Yuan Shu was by no means a kind person to be trifled with!

If he comes to Huainan, it's hard to say what will happen to the others, but what good will come of us former officials of Yuan Shao?

"good."

Chen Wen also had a worried look on his face.

"Yuan Shu, having been defeated in the Central Plains, will inevitably head towards Huainan!"

“We all know that although Lord Yuan is powerful, his troops are currently all in Hebei and cannot go south to provide support.”

"In this battle, we may have to rely on ourselves."

Chen Wen said to Zhou Ang, "Please settle down here."

"In terms of military strength, we are no match for Yuan Shu."

"In terms of military strategy, we cannot compare with the civil officials and strategists under Yuan Shu."

"The only course of action now is to win people over with righteousness, and then seek help from Cao Cao in Yanzhou and Liu Biao in Jingzhou!"

Chen Wen revealed the true purpose of summoning Zhou Ang at this time—

"Therefore, we absolutely cannot allow a single member of the Han imperial family to die in Huainan! This will give Yuan Shu a legitimate reason to do so!"

Zhou Ang realized this at this moment!
The forces in Huainan are already weaker than those in Yuan Shu's territory, so we absolutely cannot allow Yuan Shu to have a moral high ground and gain the upper hand over Huainan.

The thought of not being able to kill Liu Miao quickly made Zhou Ang feel uneasy.

The thought of Lu's widow having to please Liu Miao these days only fueled his resentment!
Seeing Zhou Ang's reaction, Chen Wen knew that he probably still "couldn't forget" Liu Miao.

"Liu Miao is nothing but a lecherous man with no other skills. Even if he marries a woman from the Lu family, Lu Kang and the Lu family of Wu County are unlikely to offer him any strong support."

"As long as we can resist Yuan Shu and wait for Yuan Gong's reinforcements, Liu Miao can be dealt with at will, can't he?"

Zhou Ang sighed, but then seemed to have thought of something: "Since the governor is worried about Yuan Shu, why not put Chen Yu and other scholars who are close to Yuan Shu under house arrest to prevent them from causing trouble!"

Chen Wen immediately found this reasonable, so he instructed his servants to send visiting cards to Chen Yu and his group, intending to invite them over and capture them all at once!
But a moment later, a waiter rushed in and shouted to the two of them—

"Governor! Chen Yu has just left the city gate and headed west!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Note 1:

He led his army into Chenliu, stationed at Fengqiu, assisted by remnants of the Black Mountain bandits and Yufuluo. Yuan Shu sent General Liu Xiang to garrison Kuangting. Cao Cao attacked Liu Xiang, but Yuan Shu came to his aid, engaging him in battle and inflicting a great defeat. Yuan Shu retreated to Fengqiu, where he was besieged, but the siege did not end there. Yuan Shu fled to Xiangyi, pursued to Taishou, where he breached the canal to flood the city. He fled to Ningling, pursued again, and fled to Jiujiang. — *Records of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Emperor Wu*

(End of this chapter)