Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 229 This Lie Is Enough to Be Blind!

When news of Yuan Shu's flooding of Xiangyang and his awe-inspiring power spread throughout China, it was reported.

At this moment, Cao Cao's men finally understood what those people in Lujiang City were cheering about.

Did Liu Biao lose?

Given Yuan Jun's previous record, this is not surprising, but the question is how he could have been defeated so quickly?
"Liu Jingsheng!"

Surprisingly, the person Cao Cao hated most at this time was not Yuan Shu, but Liu Biao.

He truly hates it!
He didn't hate Yuan Shu for being too powerful, but he hated Liu Biao for being too stupid!

When they sent Mi Heng to ask for help, they boasted that they had prepared an army of 100,000 and were not afraid of Yuan Shu. They even sent a disgusting person like Mi Heng to ask for help.

But the result?

With 100,000 troops wiped out overnight, Yuan's army's momentum in taking over Jingzhou and Xiangyang was unstoppable, forcing him to adopt a quick victory strategy, passing through Nanyang and advancing towards Huainan.

That alone would be fine, since if the plan to seize Shouchun succeeded, it would be enough to severely damage Yuan Shu, a major threat.

But now?

He was still racking his brains here, trying to fight the endless Yellow Turban army in Lujiang City.

Although Xun You had already stated that Lujiang was difficult to conquer, he still did not give up and continued to try to find a solution.

But he didn't give up. Liu Biao, who begged him to come to his aid, actually surrendered first.

That's his mother!

If I had known you, Liu Biao, were this weak, why would I have waited for Yuan Shu? I shouldn't have bothered attacking Xuzhou before; I should have come directly to Jingzhou, and all nine counties of Jingzhou would have fallen to me, Cao Mengde.

At this moment, Cao Cao felt deeply weary, realizing how difficult his journey had been.

Back then, he helped He Jin eliminate the eunuchs along with Yuan Shao, but He Jin died, which attracted Dong Zhuo. He had no choice but to abandon his promising future, assassinate Dong Zhuo, and then flee Luoyang.

He issued a forged imperial edict to convene an alliance of eighteen warlords to attack Dong Zhuo, full of high spirits. However, the alliance disintegrated midway, and he was left to pursue Dong Zhuo alone, only to suffer the annihilation of his entire army.

I recently attacked Xuzhou, but it was a waste of time and effort, and I gained nothing. My own territory was almost taken by Lü Bu. In the end, Liu Bei got the benefit without losing a single soldier and gained six counties of Xuzhou.

And what about Yuan Shu? During Dong Zhuo's rebellion, he had already obtained the position of General of the Rear and went to Nanyang to claim territory.

After the warlords launched their campaign against Dong Zhuo, he became the head of the Yuan family and swallowed up all of Sun Quan's troops.

Some time ago, he suffered repeated defeats in Yingchuan and Liang.

This time, I thought Liu Biao could finally have a fierce battle with him. Even if he didn't win, Liu Biao could at least wear him down.

But who could have imagined that Liu Jingsheng, the so-called "Eight Steeds" who was supposed to be awe-inspiring throughout the land, was nothing more than a showy but hollow man, like a silver-plated spearhead.

Just two days after Yuan Shu's attack, Liu Biao's Xiangyang was captured and he surrendered.

To be honest, when Cao Cao first heard this news, he even suspected that Liu Biao might have accepted a bribe from Yuan Shu and was deliberately trying to frame him.

You said you were attacked by Yuan Shu and needed my help.

Okay, now I've traveled thousands of miles and taken great risks to come and save you, and you're just going to surrender like this?

What else is there to fight?
Are you perhaps here specifically to feed kills to the enemy team to boost their stats, and to provide them with money, supplies, and troops?

Why did I struggle so hard all the way, but Yuan Shu made everything go smoothly and acquired the nine counties of Jingzhou as easily as taking candy from a baby?
Wait!
In that instant, it was as if a thought exploded in Cao Cao's mind, and his headache disappeared. His mind became incredibly clear in an instant, and because of this fleeting inspiration, he seemed to have grasped something.

From He Jin to the campaign against Dong Zhuo and even the current chaos of warlord conflicts, Yuan Shu's shadow seems to have accompanied him throughout his life.

But he clearly never took this arrogant and dissolute young man seriously, thinking he was just a skeleton in a tomb that he would surely capture.

But why?
Why is it that I am suffering defeat after defeat, while the skeleton in the tomb that I have never paid attention to seems like an insurmountable mountain standing in front of me?
In other words, was Liu Biao really that weak?

If that were true, he wouldn't have been able to survive until now amidst the chaos of the times, and Jingzhou would have long since fallen into the hands of others.

With the loss of all nine commanderies of Jingzhou and Xiangyang, it became even more impossible for Liu Biao to collude with Yuan Shu in a staged act.

After eliminating all the impossibilities, the most unlikely answer can only be the truth.

Is it possible that Yuan Shu was actually very strong?

It wasn't his army or family background, but Yuan Shu himself—he was terrifyingly powerful.
As he recounted the past, an idea that he found unbelievable yet had to accept surfaced in his mind.

Cao Cao's face turned deathly pale in an instant!
Just as his face turned ashen and he opened his mouth several times but could not utter a word, the Cao camp was in an uproar, everyone was horrified by the news.

"what?
Yuan Shu diverted the Han River to flood Xiangyang, Sun Quan was defeated and surrendered, his 100,000-strong army was annihilated, most of Jingzhou had fallen, Xiangyang was lost, and Liu Biao accepted the surrender?

"That's impossible! How could Yuan Gonglu have such power? Even the cunning strategist Guo Fengxiao couldn't do that."

Previously in Yingchuan, it could be said that Guo Fengxiao had set up a trap in advance, deliberately luring people into the trap, so that he could anticipate the enemy's moves in everything.

But a battle for Jingzhou is absolutely impossible.

"Yes, the Battle of Jingzhou happened in real time and changed with the times. How could ordinary people with their mortal eyes possibly calculate it all?"

The reason why Guo Fengxiao was able to anticipate the enemy's moves in the Battle of Yingchuan was because he had made preparations over the years, calculating all possible changes in advance and waiting for people to fall into his trap.

This move is roughly similar to setting up a dead end on the chessboard in advance, then telling Yuan Shu the calculated moves, and waiting for an unlucky person to fall into the trap.

But no matter how much preparation and planning he had made, the Battle of Yingchuan had already exhausted it all.

He is currently being plotted against by us and is blocked in Youzhou, with Cheng Zhongde keeping an eye on him.

"Across a thousand miles, with difficult communication, yet through mere correspondence, he managed to calculate everything for Yuan Shu, and in a short time, he destroyed Liu Biao. Could this person truly possess supernatural abilities?"

As these comments suggest, they could understand the Battle of Yingchuan back then.

There's no need for correspondence; the world's top strategists have planned everything in advance, leaving their lord three secret plans. Opening them on time will defeat the enemy—a level they may not reach, but they yearn for.

But the Battle of Jingzhou was terrifying; it was something beyond their wildest imagination.

After using every means to assist Yuan Shu in the Battle of Yingchuan to achieve a great victory over the coalition of warlords.

The person was still far away in Youzhou, and had no time or opportunity to set up a second scheme.

Could someone really command Yuan Shu to win the Battle of Jingzhou and utterly defeat Liu Biao based solely on delayed correspondence?
Is this something a human can do?

Forget about the mysterious and enigmatic Guo Fengxiao, just join forces with the Yellow Turban Army outside and shout: "Guo Fengxiao, the master of immortal magic!"

"enough!"

Amidst the uproar and commotion, Cao Cao's face had turned ashen. His tone was a mixture of shock and anger, as if he were venting the madness in his mind, as he loudly rebuked.

"Utterly foolish!"
Hopeless!

Still don't understand?
The claims that he was a strategist named Fengxiao, or that he was bound to Youzhou by Gongsun Zan and could not return, are all lies.

Even if Taigong were to be resurrected or Zhang Liang were to be reborn, it would be impossible for them to strategize and control the world from a distance of thousands of miles.

"We've all been deceived by our past prejudices and preconceived notions. Yuan Shu is different now!" Cao Cao muttered to himself as he scolded everyone, seemingly having come to a realization about many things, as scenes from the past flashed before his eyes.

"No wonder Zhi Cai said in his dying words that Yuan's camp had gained an unparalleled strategist, but they could not find this extra person anywhere."

Because there were no extra people at all!
People cannot appear out of thin air, but identities can overlap.

If there is one person who is both a wise ruler and a master strategist, then everything before makes sense.

"Yes, if Guo Fengxiao were truly that important, how could anyone not keep him by their side? And even ignore him when he was trapped in Youzhou?"

Cao Cao's eyes were filled with lingering fear, his voice was clearly incredulous, yet his tone was unwavering.

"As Cao Cao recalls half of his life, he feels a chill run down his spine!"
This is clearly a colossal lie that has been planned for decades; Yuan Gonglu has deceived everyone in the world.

He clearly possessed the wisdom of a peerless strategist, yet he concealed it from a young age, even using chivalry and swordsmanship to disguise himself.

From a young age, he displayed arrogance, dissoluteness, and a lack of common sense, leading all discerning people to believe that this eldest son of the Yuan family, the most noble of the time, was not a wise ruler.

But isn't this just another way of showing weakness to the enemy, deliberately making everyone not take him seriously?

Thinking hard!
This is clearly a case of feigning weakness to prey on others, pretending to be a fat sheep while secretly plotting to devour people, using the status of a legitimate son of a high-ranking official from a family with four generations of noble lineage!
Ladies and gentlemen! Just think about it: what a terrifying thing it is that a top sage of our time, from beginning to end, feigned a life of luxury, hiding in the shadows for decades, lurking by our side!

Based on Cao Cao's brief description, and considering Yuan Shu's remarkable achievements over this period, and imagining that he had been a childhood friend and playmate of their lord and Yuan Shao since they were young, everyone was impressed.

But from childhood to adulthood, he always pretended to be an arrogant, ignorant, and spoiled brat, and no one ever noticed.

I felt a chill run down my spine, and goosebumps rose all over my body.

To possess extraordinary talent and endure decades of unwavering patience is truly astonishing and shocking!

What's even more terrifying is that the more Cao Cao recalled, the more reasonable it seemed, and he recounted one chilling event after another.

"Thinking about it this way, the fact that the Han Dynasty is in such a state of decline and the nine provinces is because of Yuan Gonglu's shadow in every major event. He is clearly the one manipulating things behind the scenes!"
Back then, when General He Jin plotted to eliminate the eunuchs, it seemed to be my doing to assist Yuan Shao. But at that time, Yuan Shao and I were merely the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden, in charge of some troops near the capital.

But what about Yuan Shu at that time?
He was already the Tiger-General of the Central Army, in charge of commanding the Tiger-General Imperial Guards and in charge of the palace guards. He was the leader of the personal guards around the late emperor and was responsible for protecting the palace and the safety of the late emperor.

He also followed He Jin throughout the entire process, and it could even be said that without the Tiger Guards under his control...

No matter what He Jin's plan to eliminate the eunuchs was, or what we wanted to do after He Jin's death to infiltrate the palace, it was simply impossible to achieve!
But what happened afterward? He Jin died, Dong Zhuo entered the capital, and Yuan Shao and I were still in Luoyang facing Dong Zhuo's overwhelming ferocity, not even understanding the situation.

Yuan Shu had already been promoted to General of the Rear and fled Luoyang, seizing the fertile land of Nanyang.

hiss~
When everyone heard Cao Cao's words, how could they not feel a chill run down their spines?

Yes! There were eight colonels in total in the Western Garden. As for He Jin's matter back then, even without Cao Cao, there was Yuan Shao. Without Yuan Shao, even someone like Chunyu Qiong could be useful.

Yuan Shu, who was then serving as the Tiger General and in charge of the imperial guards, was the most indispensable figure in the whole affair.

Afterwards, besides Dong Zhuo, he was the biggest beneficiary of the situation.

Even before everyone could react, while Yuan Shao, the one who was ostensibly in charge of He Jin's death and Dong Zhuo's entry into the capital, was still in Luoyang comparing whose sword was sharper with Dong Zhuo's, Yuan Shu had already rushed to Nanyang to seize territory.

I ask all the feudal lords in the world, whose reaction is as fast as his?

Unfortunately, everyone, due to their preconceived notions about Yuan Shu, naturally overlooked him, the key figure in the whole affair.

This feeling of anticipating the enemy's moves, seizing the greatest advantage, calculating everything, yet still using a scapegoat to pretend it wasn't him who did it.

No doubt about it, this is so Yuan Shu!

Looking back at the past and present, wasn't Yuan Shao of that time similar to Guo Jia before him? Both silently shouldered all the blame for Yuan Shu and bore the brunt of the infamy.

This incident alone had already terrified everyone, but what Cao Cao said next made them even more trembling.

"Looking back at the time when the eighteen warlords formed an alliance to attack Dong Zhuo, it feels familiar again."

All our attention is focused on the alliance leader Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shu, the deputy alliance leader in charge of the lords' provisions, is the key figure indispensable in the campaign against Dong Zhuo.

As the saying goes, "An army marches on its stomach." With the princes' supplies in their hands, the million-strong army of the eighteen princes can decide when to attack and when not to attack, all within their control.

Think about it, what event caused the alliance of eighteen warlords against Dong Zhuo to show signs of disintegration?

Everyone swallowed hard; the answer was self-evident!

Yuan Shu cut off Sun Jian's supplies!

"Think about it again. What was the result after the Eighteen-Route Army's campaign against Dong Zhuo?"

The feudal lords suffered heavy losses and returned empty-handed!

Sun Jian obtained the Imperial Seal of the State and died.

Sun's army fell entirely into Yuan Shu's hands, and the Imperial Seal of the State also became his possession.

The entire Yuan family of Luoyang was wiped out, and Yuan Shu became the head of the family, enjoying the benefits of four generations of high-ranking officials.

The assembled officials: "."

At this moment, silence spoke louder than words; the assembled officials were speechless, as if their throats had been blocked.

Horror!
Yuan Gong is truly terrifying!

The key point is that no one has ever discovered or even noticed these things.

why?
Because of his forbearance from childhood, he has maintained an arrogant and disdainful attitude for decades.

This is a colossal lie!

For decades, this unparalleled sage appeared in the major events of the Han Dynasty's decline as a playboy, never getting involved.

Despite orchestrating everything and reaping the greatest benefits, he remained hidden behind the scenes, unknown to anyone.

In recent times, he has gradually revealed his unparalleled wisdom and strategy, and people dare not believe that it was him. They are once again deceived by his preconceived notions, leading to one crushing defeat after another.

Show weakness to the enemy, and play dumb to catch the tiger.

Despite being terrifyingly strong, he insists on appearing in various events as a spoiled and foolish playboy.

Are you even human?

Was Yuan Gong's heart black?

How can people's hearts be so wicked?
If Zhao Yun, single-handedly charging through enemy lines seven times, demonstrated a level of martial prowess that made the world feel the inhumanity of his abilities.

At this moment, after Cao Cao's incisive artistic processing, the world directly experienced the inhuman terror of cunning for the first time.

Amazing wisdom!

Yuan Gong's wisdom is terrifying; how could human strength possibly match it?

(End of this chapter)