Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1217 Wei Traitor
Cao Zhi's lips trembled, "Ah, sister, father treated you well, why did you betray father, why did you lie to me?"

After hearing this, Cao Qing couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile on her face, "Fourth brother, you are still so naive until now."

She raised her voice a few notches, "Fourth brother, have you ever thought about this? Even in the most ideal situation, if you defeat Second Brother and become the King of Wei as you wish, what will you do in the future?"

"Are you going to fight the fierce tiger to the death, or are you going to surrender the whole country?"

Cao Zhi's face turned pale. "What do you mean, sister? Can't the two sides coexist?"

"Coexist?" Cao Qing laughed. "Fourth brother, you shouldn't be so naive. You clearly understand everything, but you have only been deceiving yourself."

"What coexistence? How is it possible?"

"If there really was such a way, how could Wei and Jin have fought like this?"

"Hundreds of thousands of people have died in Jizhou this year. Have you ever been outside the city to take a look?"

"You probably don't know that there are corpses all over the mountains and plains of Wei County, and even the river water has become dirty and stinky, right?"

"Maybe the water we drink has already been soaked with corpses!"

Cao Zhi felt his stomach churning. He covered his mouth and said, "Sister, I don't want to hear this. In the beginning, I just wanted to avenge Miss Cui and let Xu Chu get his retribution!"

"I just want to save Yang Xiu and the others' lives. I don't want to deal with my second brother, and I don't care about the position of King of Wei!"

Cao Qing sneered, "Childish."

"If my fourth brother can tolerate him, can he tolerate you, my fourth brother?"

"Do you really think that apart from father's consent, my second brother would know nothing about what Xu Chu did?"

"Why did he let the Four Friends and Cui go?"

"As long as the four friends are dead, I will no longer be able to stop him. If he becomes the King of Wei, do you really think you can still survive?"

Cao Zhi shook his head and said, "No, no, my second brother still remembers the brotherhood, so don't scare me, sister!"

Cao Qing shouted, "If you don't do it, he will!"

"Now that there is chaos in the city, this is the best opportunity!"

Cao Zhi couldn't help but growl, "I don't want to kill anyone, sister, don't force me!"

"On the contrary, sister, why would you help outsiders deal with Cao?"

Cao Qing couldn't help but burst out laughing, "It turns out that Fourth Brother didn't understand me from the beginning to the end."

"Fourth brother, do you think that the Cao family is now at odds with the whole world? How much hope do they have left?"

"Only two!"

"Either my father destroys all the enemies in the world and ascends to that position, so that he can protect himself. This is one of the options."

"But do you know how long Father can hold out? If he dies, you and your second brother will not be able to defeat the fierce tiger. If you resist to the end, the Cao family will only fall into the abyss!"

"Especially you, my fourth brother, are still thinking about getting along with the emperor and returning power to him. Do you know that if the emperor takes back power, the first one he will destroy is the Cao family?"

"I support my fourth brother only because he is not as stubborn as my second brother. My second brother will only fight the fierce tiger to the death, but my fourth brother can bow his head. This is the only way to save the Cao family!"

Cao Zhi's eyes were full of disbelief. "So, sister took advantage of the opportunity to help Cui Shi's revenge and used me?"

"You gave the four friends an order in my name, asking them to wreak as much havoc as possible in the city, right?"

Cao Qing said calmly: "Fourth brother is very smart. If you were born twenty years earlier, you might be able to fight against the fierce tiger."

"But now if the big tree of father falls, you and your second brother together can't support Cao family."

"In this case, it is better to surrender as soon as possible and keep the world at peace."

Cao Zhi fell to the ground, trembling, and said, "So this is what my sister thinks!"

"Why did Sister become like this?"

He suddenly realized, "I understand now. It was when my sister was imprisoned in Shouchun that she was deceived by Xionghu's words!"

Cao Qing was startled, then shook her head, "No, I only met Xiong Hu a few times during those days in Shouchun, and we talked less than a few dozen words in total." "What I think about is what I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears, and it has nothing to do with Xiong Hu."

In fact, Cao Qing didn’t know that what she said was both right and wrong.

Yuan Xi's attitude towards Cao Qing was definitely not as indifferent as he showed. He did not try to influence Cao Qing through words, but used a more covert method.

He did it through Feng and Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao.

Of course, Yuan Xi did not deliberately instruct the three women to do anything. He just asked the three women to spend more time with Cao Qing when they were free and talk about the people's livelihood and military affairs in Yuan Xi's territory. So the three women, under the protection of the soldiers, went to various places in Shouchun City for fun many times.

This approach will allow Cao Qing to let down her guard to the greatest extent. What she sees and hears is more convincing than Yuan Xi's words, because facts are the best teacher.

Under Yuan Xi's rule, Shouchun's people's livelihood has surpassed Xudu and Yecheng by a large margin in terms of urban construction, water conservancy, and technology. When Xudu was still covered in dust, Shouchun had already replaced its roads and drainage facilities. The prosperity of commerce also made Shouchun surpass Xudu in all aspects.

Under such circumstances, Cao Qing's cognition was subtly influenced, and she became a capitulator without even realizing it.

Yuan Xi called this an invisible sugar-coated bullet. Facts were the most convincing. Moreover, his experience and achievements over the years were enough to add a heavy bargaining chip to convince Cao Qing, not to mention the trust and admiration that the three women showed for Yuan Xi between the lines.

Feng was the one who understood Yuan Xi's intention best, followed by Da Qiao, who could also vaguely sense it. Although the most innocent Xiao Qiao might not be able to understand it, this state would make Cao Qing less suspicious.

Cao Qing was unknowingly being more and more deeply influenced, and became more and more accustomed to the life in Shouchun. Although the things in Cao Cao's mansion were more expensive than those used by Yuan Xi in terms of luxury, this was different from the comfort and convenience of life.

Compared with the gorgeous clothes, jade ornaments, and delicacies from land and sea in Cao's mansion, the daily necessities in Yuan Xi's mansion are definitely not rare and luxurious. But sometimes expensive things do not mean they are easy to use and delicious. Just like delicacies from land and sea are rare, but without spices and cooking methods, many people, including Cao Qing, cannot get used to eating them.

But the things in Yuan Xi's mansion were carefully prepared. For example, although domestic chickens were not as valuable as pheasants, the meat quality was better after hybridization. With a variety of seasonings and spices, cheap chicken could taste better than rare ingredients.

This is just a simple example. Other things in daily life, such as water pipes that can be brought into the room, flush toilets, and improved and more comfortable clothing, all made Cao Qing compare them in his mind all the time, making him fall in love with the life in Shouchun unconsciously. After he came back, he could no longer get used to the relatively backward Yecheng.

One day, after Cao Qing was vomited by the smell of the toilet in the room, she finally became Wei's traitor without even realizing it, and began to plan how to return to her previous life.

The final decisive factor was the news that Cao Ang was still alive and serving as an official in Yuan Xi's territory, which made Cao Qing completely change sides.

Cao Qing and Cao Ang were both raised by Madam Ding. The relationship between the two was even stronger than that between Cao Zhi. Cao Qing's hatred for Yuan Xi almost entirely came from the death of Cao Ang.

But now this hatred has disappeared as it has been confirmed through multiple channels. No matter from what angle Cao Qing stands now, she has enough reasons to betray the Cao family. After all, Madam Bian and Cao Ang, whom she cares about most, are now in Yuan Xi's hands.

As for Cao, she forgot about her. She herself was a relatively ruthless person. The fact that she later colluded with her brother-in-law to falsely accuse her husband also shows her tendency.

Therefore, during the competition between Cao Zhi and Cao Pi for the position of Crown Prince, Cao Qing began to take the initiative to contact the spies planted by Yuan Xi in advance. With the guidance of a counselor who secretly entered Yecheng, he acted as a go-between for Cao Zhi's faction and played an important role in the factional struggle between the two sides.

The reason why Cao Qing chose Cao Zhi was very simple. Both of them were from Cao Ang's faction and had a bad relationship with Cao Pi. In addition, Cao Zhi had a gentle personality and did not have a strong desire for power, so he was more likely to follow Cao Qing's ideas.

The incident with the girl from the Cui family was a complete accident. Although Cao Qing regretted her death, since Cao Zhi came to her at this time, there was no reason for her not to take advantage of him.

For various reasons, Cao Qing, a character ignored by Cao Wei's advisers, finally caused a huge storm.

Yuan Xi actually had no idea what Cao Qing could do and to what extent. Relying on his later experience, he laid a lot of hidden tricks, but in the end, only two or three out of ten of these tricks could work. After all, the world line had changed and many directions had become completely different.

But this was enough. After all, everyone else was acting in the dark. Relying on these two or three tenths, Yuan Xi gained an advantage over Cao Cao.

As for Cao Qing, he had the attitude of giving it a try. Even though he knew that Cao Qing and Cao Pi had a bad relationship, he did not expect Cao Qing to cause much trouble at first. However, as it stands now, what Cao Qing has done has far exceeded Yuan Xi's expectations.

Cao Qing opened his hands and said, "Fourth brother, in my opinion, you are not qualified to be a king. At most, you can only be an idle marquis."

"The fight for the throne is extremely cruel. If you are not careful, you could end up dead. It is totally unsuitable for someone as sentimental as you."

"My brother is far away in Youzhou now. If Jin is destroyed, he may not survive, but if Wei is destroyed, he and we can live out the rest of our lives in peace."

"Besides, there is no other way. If Yecheng falls, we can surrender and save the Cao family. Then the world will be at peace. Isn't that good?"

Cao Zhi's expression changed several times. "It's too late for me to understand what my sister is thinking. I'm just too naive!"

"But sister, have you ever thought that my biological mother is Madam Bian? When the fierce tiger army enters the city, how many of the Cao family's women can escape?"

After hearing this, Cao Qing said, "Don't worry, fourth brother. I will guarantee it with my own life."

"The choice is yours now. Will you report me to your father, or will you join me in encouraging the nobles who are loyal to you to open the gates and welcome the Jin army?"

Cao Zhi listened, and a look of hesitation appeared on his face. He opened his mouth and was about to speak, but a loud shout came from behind him, "What a good thing you have done!"

(End of this chapter)