Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1279 Choice
Liu Xie stood up, walked to the window and looked at the sky. The sky was pitch black in the night, but the sweeping clouds were so overwhelming that it was hard to breathe. Liu Xie felt more depressed and choked with sobs.

He closed his eyes unwillingly, "Brother, is the Han really hopeless?"

"I am unwilling to accept this."

Liu He said, "Who among the Liu family members would be willing to do this?"

"This is not your Majesty's responsibility. This disaster was planted many years ago."

"Your Majesty, just do what you want to do. Whether it means saving the day or destroying everything, I will follow your Majesty."

Liu Xie opened his eyes and said, "No, if you need a criminal, I am enough."

"If the Han Dynasty is destroyed, Cao Wei will be the main culprit. I will not let them get their wish easily."

"Now that the world is in turmoil, the throne of the Son of Heaven is no longer an honor, but a curse. If someone who is not capable takes it, he will suffer the consequences."

"I once considered issuing a secret decree to pass the throne to Uncle Liu."

Liu He was a little surprised when he heard this, and said, "Your Majesty, this idea is quite original."

"King Hannan is now at war with the State of Wu, and he has come to rescue Xudu. He can be said to be the first person to support the Han Dynasty."

"But the problem is that the King of Hannan is not strong enough to conquer the State of Wu on his own, and he is located between the territories of Wei and Wu. If he were to become the Son of Heaven, he would probably be jointly wiped out by the two countries."

Liu Xie turned around and said, "The King of Jin is an ally of the King of Hannan, how could he stand by and watch someone die without helping him?"

Liu He said in a deep voice: "Forgive me for being frank, but the King of Jin is not a simple man."

"He has worked with the King of Jin for several years. He has great ambitions and is definitely coveting the throne of the emperor. He will definitely not stand on the side of the Han Dynasty."

"I have always had mixed feelings about the King of Jin. He is indeed capable of ending the troubled times, but he is definitely not the kind of person who would return the world he conquered to Your Majesty."

"The King of Jin clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment, and also clearly distinguishes the overall interests. He has his own system and ideas of governance. He seems to be humble, but in fact he is extremely confident. Such a person will never tolerate the throne of the Son of Heaven falling into the hands of others."

"If he sees that the throne has fallen into the hands of the King of Hannan, he only needs to sit back and watch as Wei and Wu attack Hannan and wait for the King of Hannan to be defeated. Then he can legitimately send troops to Wei and Wu, defeat them, and easily seize the throne."

"In the final analysis, strength is everything in the world, and Jin is the strongest right now, so naturally it has the most choices."

"The throne of the emperor is a crime. Your Majesty's move is likely to harm the King of Hannan. You should think twice before acting."

After hearing this, Liu Xie smiled bitterly and said, "Indeed, someone has hinted at this possibility to me."

"It's really helpless."

"Liu's family has tens of millions of descendants, but they are unable to save the country from collapse. The Mandate of Heaven has been lost. It seems that the day has come when the successor to the Han Dynasty will be Tu Gao."

"In this case, I will let it go in a glorious way, so as to live up to our ancestors."

Liu He leaned forward and advised: "Your Majesty, please do not act rashly. We will protect your Majesty until our death."

Liu Xie sighed, helped Liu He up, and said, "Brothers, I am sorry for you."

"I know what's going on, so you can go back without any worries."

When Liu He bid farewell to Liu Xie and returned to his own house, he was still worried and frowned, but Yuan came to greet him and whispered, "Your wife is here."

After she exchanged a few words with him, Liu He entered the hall and bowed to Wu, saying, "Sister-in-law, please come here. Do you have any instructions?"

Wu stood up and returned the greeting, saying, "Greetings, Minister. I am truly ashamed to disturb you so late at night."

"But I have run into some difficulties right now, and I really can't handle it myself, so I have the audacity to come here."

She told him the letter Liu Zhang had written to her. After listening to it, Liu He guessed Liu Zhang's intention and his face turned cold. "Selling out your brother and sister-in-law for glory and saving your life is really despicable and shameless."

"At first I thought he was implementing benevolent policies in Yizhou and was the hope of the Han Dynasty. I didn't expect that not only could he not stop Cao's army from surrendering, but now he is actually doing such a thing for his own selfish reasons!"

"As expected, like father, like son. Liu Yan slandered the late emperor and established governors, causing the empire to fall apart. He is truly the instigator of the downfall of the Han Dynasty!"

"Not only did he seize control of Yizhou and dominate a certain area, he also privately made the emperor's carriage cover and attacked Chang'an, which is tantamount to treason. How could such a person come out of the Liu clan!" He was furious for a moment and cursed bitterly, but found that Wu looked embarrassed, and then he realized that her late husband Liu Mao was also Liu Yan's son, so he quickly shut up.

Wu bit her lip, stood up and said, "It is retribution for me to end up like this. I will take my leave now."

Liu He asked Yuan to stop Wu and said, "I was wrong. It was all because of the unfilial sons of the Liu family. How can you let your wife, a woman of honor, bear such a crime?"

"Don't worry, Sister-in-law. I will do my best to mediate this matter. It would be a shame for our clan if Sister-in-law were sent to the palace."

"Your wife, please go back first. I will come and inform you when I find a solution."

Wu hurriedly thanked him after hearing this. Seeing that it was getting late, she stood up and said goodbye. Yuan sent Wu out, then came back and said, "Your wife is a widow, and it's quite pitiful to see her. Your husband should be able to help, right?"

Liu He sighed and said, "In fact, I am not sure either. The relationship in Yizhou is complicated, and there are many unclear internal situations. Just like the death of Liu Mao, there are many doubts."

Yuan was also a smart woman. She had followed Liu He for many years, so she asked in confusion, "My husband, are you saying that Liu Zhang was involved in this matter?"

Liu He said: "Although there is no hard evidence, the possibility is not small."

"That's why I think Liu Zhang has gone too far. He wants to kill my brother's family. Why would he go to such lengths?"

"The Han Dynasty has become what it is today because there are too many people like this and too few people like Liu Huangshu. We can only say that the trouble started within the walls of the court, and we cannot blame others."

In the following days, there was a heated debate in the Wei court, and finally a completely different plan was chosen. Cao Ren was appointed as the commander-in-chief, Yu Jin as the vanguard general, Fei Guan as the deputy general, and Xiahou Heng as the military supervisor. They led the troops to Xiangyang to fight a decisive battle with Guan Yu to compete for the ownership of Jingzhou.

Everyone thought this combination was amazing and that there were problems with each of the individuals.

Yu Jin was the culprit whose defense line let the Jin army slip through during the Battle of Yecheng. His crime was so serious that he deserved death. If Cao Cao had not regarded Yu Jin's merits, he might have killed Yu Jin long ago.

Not to mention Fei Guan, who escaped as a deputy general after Xiahou Yuan's defeat, so he was also one of those who could be killed.

Xiahou Heng knew nothing about military affairs, but was sent to fight in a war, saying it was a chance for him to avenge his father. But the person he was facing was Guan Yu, so how could revenge be so easy?

Xiahou Yuan originally supported Cao Zhi. Some people speculated that Cao Pi was taking this opportunity to retaliate against Xiahou Yuan's faction!
Sima Yi in the hall grumbled in his heart. When Cao Cao was selecting the crown prince, Cao Pi was not favored by everyone. Many people, including the Cao and Xiahou families, preferred Cao Zhi. This must have made Cao Pi very unhappy.

Cao Pi was a man who held grudges extremely deeply and had very little regard for family affection. This could be seen from the fact that he dared to take Cao Cao's concubines. Once such a person gained power, he would certainly find ways to retaliate.

If Cao Pi wants to take revenge on the Cao clan, he must rely on outsiders. His current route is to promote officials from the Yingchuan faction who were suppressed by Cao Cao and use them as his own knives. For example, Chen Qun has gained power again because of this, and he goes in and out of Cao Pi's mansion much more frequently than Sima Yi.

Thinking of this, Sima Yi smiled bitterly in his heart. He, the regent appointed by Cao Cao, was instead treated rather coldly. It seemed that the young King of Wei already had an idea in his mind. It would be better for him to keep a low profile and not get into trouble for the time being.

After hearing the appointment, all the officials thought that today's court meeting would be over, but someone stood up and made a report, which turned out to be to impeach a certain minister.

When the man said the name, Sima Yi's ears turned red and he quickly lowered his head, because the person being impeached was Yang Jun, with whom he had a special relationship.

Yang Jun was a native of Henei, but not of the Hongnong Yang family. His teacher was Bian Rang. He was selected as a talented person and was recruited by Cao Cao. He rose from a county magistrate to the prefect of Nanyang, and later transferred to the lieutenant of the Wei State.

Because he acted uprightly, the killing of Bian Rang had no impact on him. However, after Cao Pi ascended the throne, he was immediately moved to Nanyang to be the prefect.

Now that Nanyang has decided on the attack and defense of Xiangyang, and someone is impeaching Yang Jun at this time, there must be a cause and effect. Sima Yi listened carefully to a few words and immediately realized that the reason for this matter is still Cao Zhi.

When Cao Cao was alive, he once privately asked all officials for their evaluation of the two men. Yang Jun, who practiced benevolent governance, naturally favored Cao Zhi and said many words of praise. This reached the ears of Cao Pi, who hated Yang Jun deeply.

The reason for this impeachment naturally could not implicate Cao Zhi, so Yang Jun's crime was misjudging people and having evil intentions.

As a lieutenant, Yang Jun and the prime minister had the responsibility to recommend officials. Wei Feng, who committed suicide during a rebellion in Jizhou, was naturally recommended by Yang Jun. Zhong Yao, who recommended you, has already resigned, so naturally someone has set his sights on Yang Jun.

Cold sweat ran down Sima Yi's face. He smelled something bad, because he was recommended by Zhong Yao and Yang Jun, and he had a close relationship with Yang Jun.

It is impossible for the officials in the court to be unaware of this relationship. Sima Yi still does not know whether Zhong Yao's downfall was premeditated or an accident. But the matter did not end there. Yang Jun was implicated again. It is very likely that he will be the next target of attack!

Who is targeting his faction? Could it be that the King of Wei is instructing them to suppress the power of the Yingchuan faction?
Or did someone see through the King of Wei's intentions and take advantage of his hatred towards Cao Zhi to seek benefits for their own faction?
After hearing the impeachment, Cao Pi did not comment, but turned to Cao Zhi who was kneeling below and said, "Marquis Pingyuan, I heard that you have a close relationship with Yang Jun. What do you think about this?"

After hearing this, Cao Zhi lowered his head and replied: "Yang Jun is an upright person, this matter must be a misunderstanding."

Cao Pi sneered after hearing this and said, "Oh, so the person who impeached him is not upright?"

Cao Zhi shuddered and realized that he had been tricked, because the person who had just impeached Yang Jun was Cao Pi's confidant Wu Zhi!
(End of this chapter)