The Three Great Han Dynasties: Awaken Liu Bei with a scolding; you weave mats and sell sandals.

Yuan Shu gave him a look, and Ji Ling naturally walked silently to the other side. There was another person named Zhang Xun, who was also a good general under Yuan Shu. He was as brave and fierce as Xing Daorong.

Dong Zhuo grunted, and his subordinates Hua Xiong and Niu Fu were not to be outdone. Each of them led their personal guards and guarded the key points.

It's clear that these people are not pushovers either.

Although they couldn't compare to Liu Hong's numerous powerful generals, the strength of each faction and group was by no means weak. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here today, being so courted by He Jin.

"Now, let's discuss this. Do we really intend to die alongside the He family?"

With a gloomy face, Dong Zhuo spoke first, his tone full of resentment, "If it weren't for their status as relatives of the empress, and the fact that His Majesty is now giving them some support, the He family would probably have been wiped out by the wrath of the General and the entire court."

But now, the He family's influence still surpasses ours. It wouldn't be appropriate to refuse them, otherwise, I would never have come today.

Moreover, among the crowd.

His strength is arguably the lowest.

The strongest are naturally the two from the Yuan family.

Moreover, the Yuan family had produced three high-ranking officials for four generations, making them a top-tier aristocratic family, and no one could easily become their enemy.

However, the remaining members of the Cao family, although their father Cao Song was the adopted son of the eunuch Cao Teng, still had connections in the court and a deep-rooted foundation.

Moreover, at least on the surface, Cao Cao was a childhood friend of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, and he possessed unique abilities that were unmatched by ordinary people. Only Dong Zhuo, a Qiang person, held an awkward position among them.

Therefore, many things naturally become difficult to handle.

"That's for sure. The He family is nothing but withered bones in a tomb."

Yuan Shu stroked his beard, his eyes full of shrewd calculation. "Who would be foolish enough to accompany them and go against the renowned general?"

The General is only just over thirty, in the prime of his life, with limitless potential. For the sake of the He family, to oppose the General and the Liu clan—there is probably no one in the world so foolish as to do so.

He paused, then added, "However, the closer someone is to death, the less you should offend them, otherwise you'll just cause unnecessary trouble, which is really unnecessary."

Yuan Shao agreed wholeheartedly and didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said.

"Alright, everyone, let's think about how to handle this today. In particular, we must handle this matter cleanly and efficiently, so that this power of the maternal relatives can no longer threaten us. Only then can we feel at ease."

Cao Cao spoke, his voice steady and calm, instantly silencing the whispers of the crowd.

It is clear that everyone still shares common interests.

Afterwards, the group continued to discuss countermeasures in hushed tones.

Meanwhile, inside the He family mansion, He Miao looked at her elder brother He Jin with immense joy.

He patted his chest, making a loud thud: "Brother, this matter will surely be a great success. With so many people helping us, we'll kill not just Liu Hong, but merely a mere Sun Jian. Why didn't you say so earlier, brother? You made me worry for nothing. It's just killing Sun Jian, isn't it?"

I have confidence, little brother.

He paused, a hint of frustration on his face: "I just wanted to see if I could try to assassinate Liu Hong, but it seems that's not going to work, so I had to settle for killing Sun Jian instead."

In this way, at least the He family can be saved, and at least we won't be wiped out this time.

He Jin spoke slowly, his tone tinged with resentment.

He Miao, however, did not take it to heart.

If He Jin still harbored even a sliver of desire to oppose Liu Hong, then He Miao would have long since dared not.

Having suffered defeat after defeat, and now even losing his title as a great general, all he wants now is to live a peaceful and wealthy life.

A person like him is a complete scoundrel. Once he gains power, he becomes a petty person. Now that he has been suppressed to the extreme, he is naturally very obedient. He is as cowardly as can be.

"Hurry up and get to work. Otherwise, if this doesn't work out, your brother won't be able to sleep well tonight."

He Jin waved his hand, urging them on.

"Understood."

He Miao immediately agreed and hurriedly left.

He Jin watched him leave, and at that moment, he felt completely at ease.

So, when the night was deep and quiet, a series of dark figures quietly appeared outside the walls of the General's Mansion.

They crept into the mansion silently in the dark, heading straight for the side courtyard where the Sun family members were imprisoned.

But as soon as they arrived, the leading figures suddenly froze, motionless.

He Miao looked at them and impatiently hissed, "Hurry up and do it. If we keep dragging this out and get caught, none of us will be happy."

He kept urging him on, but Cao Cao chuckled softly, his voice tinged with helplessness: "It has already been discovered. Could it be that Brother He Miao has not yet noticed?"

"It can only be said that this General's Mansion truly lives up to its name; our whereabouts are nowhere to be concealed."

Yuan Shao sighed, his tone complicated: "I thought the three layers of patrols around the General's Mansion were already foolproof, but I never expected that the guards would be even tighter inside."

It can only be said that it was a matter of timing and fate; it can only be said that few in the world could match the general's men.

At this moment, even the slow-witted Yuan Shu finally realized what was happening.

His face was extremely grim, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Everything has gone far too smoothly. So smoothly that this place doesn't feel like the general's private residence at all, but rather like a trap to lure you in."

"Brother He Miao, don't you think things are going too smoothly?"

This is the general's residence.

As the voices fell, even though He Miao had initially held onto a sliver of hope, upon hearing these words, a deep sense of dread welled up within her.

"This...this can't be...."

He staggered back a step, his face ashen, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

Pop, pop, pop.

A crisp round of applause suddenly rang out in the thick darkness, sounding so abrupt and jarring.

"You gentlemen have quite the refined taste, having the leisure to visit my General's mansion in the dead of night."

The person who spoke was Cui Yan of the Cui family of Qinghe.

His reputation as a great Confucian scholar is now renowned throughout the world. In addition, he assisted Liu Hong in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and his outstanding achievements have made him even more prestigious than the famous scholars of the past. He can be considered a rare national hero in this era.

Before Cui Yan could finish speaking, the door to the side courtyard opened.

Behind him, on the left was Dian Wei, on the right was Xu Chu, Zhao Yun and Gan Ning were clad in armor and holding weapons, and Bo Cai and a group of elite soldiers and generals stood solemnly under the corridor, exuding a murderous aura.

And it's not just that...