Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 973 Unexpected
Xiao Qiao was lying on the couch next to the window, and there were a lot of small sounds coming from outside. It seemed like someone was talking, and it seemed like Da Qiao was playing the piano, but they were too far away, so after passing through the gap in the window, the sound could not be heard. If not, Xiao Qiao couldn't hear clearly at all.

Xiao Qiao bit her lip and tossed and turned with her pillow. Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore and put her ear to the wall, but she couldn't hear anything. Only then did she realize that her house and Da Qiao were not next to each other, but in the middle. There is also a courtyard wall, what can you hear?
She was so angry that she sat up, lay down on her back again, buried her head under the quilt, and turned her body sideways. The curled up and twisted posture of her body was like her current tangled psychology, which made her body curves more exquisite.

As time passed, Xiao Qiao felt more and more stuffy inside the quilt. However, the quilt could not completely isolate the sounds coming from outside. The summer temperature made her feel hotter and hotter. Finally, Xiao Qiao couldn't bear it anymore and threw it away. Quilt, jump up.

She sat sullenly on the edge of the bed and looked down. The clothes on her chest were held up so high that she couldn't even see her toes.

What a troublesome thing, Xiao Qiao thought gloomily.

She bit her lip and looked at the roof boredly, feeling that the light through the window screen was dimming little by little, and then she realized that a long time had passed and it was already getting dark.

There were no more disturbing sounds in his ears, and Xiao Qiao felt even more disappointed. This heartless person really just left like that!
She was so angry that her chest kept rising and falling, and her heart was filled with regret. Should she take the initiative to welcome him out so that she could see him?
But it seems like my sister didn’t go out either. Why did the heartless guy go to his sister’s house first?

The more Xiao Qiao thought about it, the angrier he became. He grabbed the pillow with both hands, as if he wanted to tear it in half, and his eye circles turned red unconsciously.

Just when she slowly pouted and was about to cry, the door was finally knocked gently, and a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from outside the door.

"Is the girl here?"

"Are you still okay?"

When Xiao Qiao heard the sound, she suddenly stood up, put on her embroidered shoes, and rushed to the door in three steps and two steps at a time. Then she put her hand on the door latch and twitched for half a foot, waiting for her reaction. Coming over, he suddenly had a sudden idea, stopped his hand quickly, and leaned his back against the door.

These rapid movements made her gasp nervously and her chest kept rising and falling. The door was knocked several more times, and the vibrations spread through the door to Xiao Qiao's back.

Xiao Qiao felt as if a knocking finger hit her heart directly, making her even more out of breath. She stretched out her hand to hold her chest, trying to calm down her mood. After a moment, she finally opened her mouth and said: "Concubine." exist."

"Mr. Master, are you okay?"

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "I got sick once, and I'm already cured."

Xiao Qiao's heart twitched, thinking of the previous rumors that Yuan Xi was seriously ill, she could no longer remain reserved, turned around, unlatched the door, and opened the door.

The light outside the door suddenly flooded into her eyes, causing her beautiful eyes to narrow. It took her a while to get used to it.

She slowly recognized the appearance of the man standing in front of the door. Yes, he was the bad guy who left two years ago. His figure was still as straight as before, his nose was still as straight, his face was thinner, and his cheeks were a little thicker. Jagged stubble.

Yuan Xi felt Xiao Qiao's eyes lingering on his face, and explained with a smile: "It is inconvenient to grow a beard in battle, but the sides grow very quickly, making it look a bit slovenly, but it makes the girl laugh."

He saw Xiao Qiao pouting and looking at him blankly, and asked curiously: "Why, you don't recognize me anymore?"

The next moment, Xiao Qiao threw herself into Yuan Xi's arms and started sobbing. Yuan Xi quickly held her in his arms, feeling the body trembling in his arms. Yuan Xi reached out and stroked Xiao Qiao's hair and sighed: "I've kept you waiting for so long. "

Xiao Qiao cried even louder after hearing this. The sound passed through the next door and floated into the ears of Da Qiao who was sitting in front of the window. Da Qiao pressed the strings and couldn't help but shook his head, thinking that his sister was still What a duplicity.

The news that Yuan Xi led troops into Shouchun soon spread to Xudu. One of the relevant military information was very urgent, which greatly exceeded the expectations of Cao Ying's counselors.

When Xun You got this urgent message, he couldn't believe his eyes, because after Yuan Jun arrived in Shouchun, the first target he sent troops to was Yuzhou. This was very different from the previous speculation of Cao Ying's counselors!
Xun You quickly took this urgent military intelligence report to discuss with Chen Qun, Xin Pi and others. Everyone was shocked. Xin Pi lost his voice and said: "What on earth is Xiu Hu thinking? He actually doesn't care about Jiangdong?"

"The Lujiang River he occupies is adjacent to Jiangxia. If it is acquired by Jiangdong, he will no longer be able to touch Jingzhou. Is he such a person who gives up easily?"

Chen Qun was also distraught. He had previously predicted that Yuan Xi might go south. Although many advisers in Cao Ying believed that Yuan Xi would not be able to fight again for a long time after the battle he had just gone through. However, Chen Qun insisted that Yuan Xi would definitely go south. There was no way he would miss an opportunity, and he would definitely compete with Jiangdong for Jingzhou. Facts have proved that Chen Qun guessed correctly, and Yuan Xi immediately sent troops to Shouchun, but Chen Qun guessed wrong next.

He believed that Yuan Xi would increase his troops in Jiangxia as quickly as possible and join forces with Huang Zu. The reason why Chen Qun thought so was because Chen Qun felt that Zhuge Liang, who was favored by Yuan Xi, was related to the Huang family and was both public and private. This was all due to Yuan Xi's seizure of Jiangxia. the best time.

He and Xun You discussed several countermeasures. One of them was to let Cao Honglejin and others lead troops to station on the north bank of the Huai River in advance. As long as Yuan Xi dared to divide his troops to support Jiangxia, the two would wait for an opportunity to cross the Huai River and attack Huai River. The towns on the south bank of the water put pressure on Shouchun.

At the same time, Jiangdong will take the opportunity to cooperate with Cao Jun's offensive along the Yangtze River, leaving Yuan Xi at a loss. As long as he finds an opportunity, the two families will attack from above and below, and the Jianghuai River will be divided equally!
This was something that Cao Ying and Jiang Dong had discussed a long time ago, especially since Jiang Dong's warship passed through Wankou with great swagger, leaving its flank to Yuan Xi. It stands to reason that Yuan Xi would not miss this great opportunity.

But Yuan Xi did not do this. Instead, he used a large number of warships to transport his elite cavalry and landed on the north bank of the Huai River. Under the leadership of Zhang He, he made a rapid surprise attack on Cao's army in the towns along the coast!

This attack left Cao Hong Lejin in a panic and he was forced to retreat fifty miles. If Le Jin hadn't tried his best to stop him, the hinterland of Yuzhou might have been penetrated!

Yuan Xi's troops were not many, but they were almost all cavalry, and they were all elite Youzhou soldiers. Moreover, the highly mobile transitional raid made it difficult for Cao Honglejin to parry, and he focused on one thing and lost the other.

Now Cao Le and Cao Le can only rely on city defense and also send cavalry to fight. However, both in terms of quality and quantity, it is difficult to compare with Yuan Xi's cavalry. Therefore, in their letter, they had no choice but to propose that Yuzhou needs more troops. Especially increasing the number of cavalry.

Xun You presented the urgent report to Cao Cao at the same time for decision, because dispatching cavalry nowadays is very sensitive. Xu Du did have tiger and leopard cavalry. It would actually be quick to transfer them to Yuzhou, but if they were transferred at this time, they would not be able to attack Fancheng. Liu Beijun exerted enough pressure.

At the same time, Cao Cao's camp also had a very sensitive embarrassment. Because he captured Zhang Lu's Hanzhong in advance, the princes of Xiliang were alerted. Many people believed that Cao Cao would destroy them next, and internal strife arose because of this. Ma Teng Han Sui started fighting over this, and Liangzhou was now in chaos, so the Liangzhou cavalry could not be counted on for the time being.

Zhong Yao of Sili has been trying his best to mediate the disputes between the two parties. Zhong Yao even went to the Sanfu area in person to mediate the conflicts between the two parties.

But at this critical moment, there were bad rumors about Xu Du, and this time the source turned out to be Xu You. The rumors claimed that Xu You made a drunken slip once and proudly claimed that he knew who he was at that time. There were many key figures in Cao Ying's liaison with Yuan Shao.

Although he did not name him at the time, when he described it, everyone present could clearly tell that one of the people Xu You was talking about looked very much like Zhong Yao!
The atmosphere inside Cao's camp became subtle at this time. After all, the number two figure under Cao Cao has not been completely determined yet.

Xiahou Dun was qualified based on his close relationship and merit, but he had a problem. He was not good at fighting, so his prestige in this regard was not enough.

As the representative of the Yingchuan scholars, Xun Yu's attitude was obviously in favor of the Han Dynasty, which led to a rift between him and Cao Cao, and the competition gradually began. Although Xun You came to fill in, no matter in terms of seniority or seniority, Xun You was Somewhat worse.

So among the remaining people in Cao's camp, the one with the highest prestige, the most merit, and the most convincing ability was Zhong Yao.

Over the years, Zhong Yao has been the most conspicuous among Cao Cao's camps. He sat in charge of Sili, integrated the Hedong gentry, persuaded Ma Teng and Han Sui to join Cao Cao, and blocked several attacks by Yuan Xi. With these achievements alone, Others are far behind.

Therefore, many people say that after Cao Cao becomes a prince in the future, Zhong Yao will take another step forward and monopolize the military and political power of Sili and even more areas. If Cao Cao seizes the world, Zhong Yao's status may be far higher than that of others!
In the current context, it is not normal to expose rumors that Zhong Yao is collaborating with the enemy. Cheng Yu also launched spies to investigate, but in the end nothing was found.

Now Xun You, Chen Qun and others are sitting together, all upset. Because of Zhong Yao's rumors, as direct beneficiaries, they cannot ignore the relationship. What's more, the Yingchuan faction is not monolithic now, and their attitude towards the emperor Liu Xie The differences caused the Xun family to split into two factions.

Among them, Chen Qun is even more embarrassed. He actually betrayed his father-in-law Xun Yu and got together with Xun You. Now he can no longer look back and has only one way to go.

Everyone has concerns, but what they have to face now is the military situation in Yuzhou.

Xin Pi said at this time: "The cavalry of the Fierce Tiger Army should not be underestimated. Although I believe that the two generals Cao Le are capable of doing the job, Qiao County is not far from the battle line, and there are Cao Gong's family members there."

Xun You knew that Xin Pi was referring to Mrs. Ding and Cao Cao's eldest daughter Cao Qing, and sighed: "I don't know what Duke Ming thinks. I will give you some advice."

(End of this chapter)