With Cao Cao by my side, what do I have to fear from the world?

Chapter 169, Cao Ang's Helplessness
Liu Xie continued, "The killing of Dong Zhuo and the saving of the Han Dynasty were all thanks to Wang Yun and Lü Bu. However, Li Jue and others launched a counterattack, leading to the fall of Chang'an. People only cursed Li Jue and others for their cruelty and ruthlessness. People only care about who did what. Throughout history, heroes have always been judged by success or failure."

"Wang Yun and Lü Bu killed Dong Zhuo, so they are heroes; Li Jue and Guo Si counterattacked Chang'an, so they are traitors. And what about me? I did nothing in the process, so in everyone's eyes, I am incompetent."

Zhao Yun's mood grew heavier and heavier. He clenched his fists tightly. It was a painful truth that everyone was ignoring the emperor, including Wang Yun.

Regardless of what others did, they intentionally or unintentionally excluded the emperor.

It seems to mean: the emperor is too young, telling him is useless, so everyone should do what they should do and do what they want to do.

Everyone treated Liu Xie like he was invisible, like he was just a decoration!

Zhao Yun's eyes welled up with tears, and he felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart.

Liu Xie forced a smile, his mood quickly returning to calm. "Zilong, do you know? Only when I have something to do do I feel like an emperor. I want to personally lead the effort to restore the Han Dynasty. I want to be not only a participant but also a commander, not just a spectator!"

"If someone else helps me pacify the world, Zilong, do you think the world will still belong to the Liu family? Will it still be my Han dynasty?"

"This?" Zhao Yun was taken aback by the question. He opened his mouth, but something seemed to be stuck in his throat, and he didn't know what to say.

After a while, footsteps sounded behind him. Zhao Yun turned around abruptly, his right hand quickly reaching for the hilt of his sword at his waist. Only after recognizing that it was Prince Chen did Zhao Yun relax his guard slightly.

Although Chen Wang is over fifty years old, he is still energetic and in good health, looking much younger than his peers.

"Your Majesty, I have come to inquire where you will be sleeping tonight."

Liu Xie smiled and pointed to the nearby tents, "Prince Chen, your camp is here. I will also stay here tonight. Please make some arrangements. Don't go to too much trouble. Yan Liang will probably be back early tomorrow morning."

King Chen nodded, but did not immediately turn and leave, as if he had something to say.

Sure enough, after a while, Prince Chen spoke up: "Your Majesty, I have never been able to understand how the Han Dynasty has become like this. A few years ago, everyone obeyed the orders of the late Emperor. However, after the late Emperor passed away, I understand it even less. It seems that everyone has changed."

Chen Wang had been holding these words in for a long time, and suddenly, like a floodgate being opened, his emotions surged forth, and he became extremely agitated.

There was a log rolling on the ground nearby, used for setting up tents. Liu Xie pulled him down to sit with him.

"King Chen, the situation shouldn't have been this bad. Back then, Liu Yan was the first to propose establishing governorships in various regions. Even if Liu Yan had his own selfish motives, when the late emperor enfeoffed the princes, the ones who benefited the most were the members of the Han imperial family: Liu Yan of Yizhou, Liu Yu of Youzhou, Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Liu Dai of Yanzhou, and Liu Yao of Yangzhou. At that time, even King Chen's strength couldn't compare with these people. Half of the country was in the hands of the imperial family. Logically speaking, as long as everyone worked together, the Han dynasty would never fall."

Prince Chen nodded and sighed, "Indeed, the late emperor allocated half of the country to the imperial clan, but look at the present, His Majesty only has a few thousand men like me by his side. Yuan Shao controls four provinces, Cao Cao is no less powerful, and the Sun family of Jiangdong also holds sway south of the Yangtze River. The imperial clan and warlords are dwindling in number. The only ones with any real strength are Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Liu Zhang of Yizhou."

Liu Xie let out a cold laugh, "Although the late emperor took care of the imperial clan and divided most of the country among them, most of them were selfish and self-serving people, and they were wiped out one by one by others. Anyway, I can't command any of them. Clearly, if these relatives had united, the Han dynasty would have been stable. But instead, they raised their own armies and turned the Han territory into their own. It's really laughable."

"Before I set out on this campaign, I wrote a letter to Liu Biao and Liu Zhang respectively, asking them to each send 10,000 troops to assist in the battle. But what was the result? There was not a single reply."

Prince Chen asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, when you first arrived in Luoyang, didn't Liu Biao send someone to deliver some grain and help repair the palace? He shouldn't have neglected Your Majesty and disregarded Your Majesty's orders."

“You’re right. Liu Biao did do some things, but they were probably just for show. Jingzhou is now Liu Biao’s, not mine, and Yizhou is Liu Zhang’s, so it has nothing to do with me. This world has changed a long time ago. Everyone is full of loyalty and righteousness, enjoying all the benefits that the Han Dynasty has brought them, but they completely ignore me.”

After saying all that, Liu Xie wasn't too agitated. One has to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. Things have already come to this point, so getting anxious or angry is pointless.

Instead of taking things one step at a time, we should work hard to get back what we've lost!

King Chen, however, was quite agitated. “Liu Biao and his ilk owe their current status to the grace of the Han Dynasty. It’s one thing for others to disobey His Majesty’s orders, but as members of the Han imperial family, they only care about their own interests and watch the Han Dynasty collapse and decline without doing anything.”

Liu Xie shook his head. "King Chen, you are wrong. They did something, just like everyone else. They were busy seizing territory and expanding their power. They were also accomplices in the decline of the Han Dynasty. It is because everyone was selfish that the Han Dynasty has become what it is today."

"Alright, Prince Chen, there's no need to get so agitated. If you can't be relied upon, I won't bother with you. I have you by my side now, and the situation has improved a lot."

As he spoke, Liu Xie gripped Prince Chen's hand tightly, and Prince Chen nodded vigorously, "Your Majesty, even if it costs me my old life, I will fight for Your Majesty and restore the glory of the Han Dynasty!"

After Cao Cao returned, he was still thinking about Liu Xie's words. Guo Jia wanted to go back to rest, but Cao Cao stopped him.

"Fengxiao, perhaps we made a mistake in leading His Majesty on this expedition."

Guo Jia guessed what he was going to say and smiled, "Does Your Excellency mean that His Majesty is trying his best to perform, and this expedition might just fulfill His Majesty's wishes?"

"Yes," Cao Cao sighed deeply. "As you just saw, in such a short time, His Majesty has increased the Prince of Chen's forces again. We originally wanted to weaken them, but if this continues, I'm afraid it will backfire."

Guo Jia shook his head. "My lord, now is not the time for you to consider these issues."

"Hmm?" Cao Cao was taken aback. "Why?"

Guo Jia said, "The reason is simple. Yuan Shao has more than 200,000 troops, and Hebei is well-supplied with money and grain. Yuan Shao's troops are several times larger than ours. Under these circumstances, what His Majesty did was precisely to help you, my lord. Moreover, Yuan Shao issued a proclamation to attack you, but this time His Majesty personally came to the front line and fought alongside you. From a moral standpoint, this is a severe blow to Yuan Shao, rendering his proclamation meaningless."

Cao Cao nodded. "Fengxiao, I understand what you're saying. I'm worried that if things continue like this, His Majesty's prestige will continue to rise, and his power will continue to grow, eventually leading to a loss of control."

Guo Jia said, "His Majesty is using an open strategy. He is launching an expedition openly and legitimately to attack Yuan Shao. Whether he is recruiting surrendered soldiers or boosting morale, even if he personally commands the battle, it is all perfectly justified. He doesn't mind us seeing it at all, because His Majesty knows that we can only express our support for what he is doing, and we will never oppose it."

"Since we can't stop it, let's not try. With the emperor and his ministers united, we can fight against the enemy together. Once we defeat Yuan Shao and the situation becomes clear, you can then restrict His Majesty. He is, after all, the emperor. It's easy to take back his command. What emperor ever personally takes command?"

Cao Cao smiled with satisfaction, "Fengxiao's words are exactly what I wanted. You are right. Since His Majesty has made his intentions clear, we will also openly take back His Majesty's military power in the future. For now, let him continue to make his intentions clear."

Using open strategies to counter open strategies—that was Guo Jia's strategy.

An emperor is not a general; he can't command battles all the time, can he?

However, Guo Jia wouldn't stop him now, because the enemy was too strong. The better Liu Xie performed, the more Yuan Shao would be weakened. After Guo Jia's persuasion, Cao Cao's worries turned to joy, and he waved his hand with a smile, "Alright, it's getting late, you should go back and rest."

Yan Liang suffered a bewildering defeat in his first encounter with Cao Cao. After re-establishing his camp, Yan Liang unceremoniously confronted Chunyu Qiong and gave him a thorough dressing-down.

Chunyu Qiong was clumsy with words and his military rank was not as high as Yan Liang's, so he could only let Yan Liang take his anger out on him.

However, Guo Tu was quick-witted and, with a flick of his eye, shifted Yan Liang's attention to Liu Xie.

Guo Tu rolled his eyes and said, "Who would have thought that Cao Cao would bring the emperor along as well, using him as bait? Not to mention us, even you, General, would probably have fallen for it. Cao Cao must have sent the elite troops around the emperor, which is why Chunyu Qiong and I lost."

Guo Tu is intelligent and adept at sophistry; with just a few words, he completely absolved himself of responsibility.

"We must inform our lord of this matter immediately. Unexpectedly, the emperor has also come to Baima."

When Guo Tu reminded him, Yan Liang was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled excitedly and said, "So, His Majesty has now entered Baima City. If I can advance my troops tomorrow and challenge Cao Cao again, and capture the city and the emperor alive, wouldn't that be a great achievement?"

Guo Tu nodded. "That's true. But if we can break through the city and see His Majesty, we must not be negligent, and we must not harm him."

Guo Tu immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Yuan Shao in Liyang.

Before dawn, Cao Ang got up early and first surveyed the surrounding area.

In many ways, he learned from his father how to manage an army and how to get along with his soldiers.

For example, before going to bed at night and after waking up the next day, he would first patrol the military camp. He didn't just wander around randomly; Cao Ang was very meticulous in his work and didn't overlook any detail.

Suddenly, Cao Ang saw Cao Pi and Cao Anmin sneaking out of a small alley. He frowned and shouted, "You two, stop right there!"

Cao Ang strode over. It was already daylight, unlike last night when Cao Cao hadn't noticed Cao Pi because of the blurry vision.

Cao Ang approached the two men, looking at them with a serious expression, and asked, "What have you been doing? Why are you running out of the residential area so early in the morning?"

"It's nothing, we just got up a little early and were just wandering around." Cao Anmin chuckled, lying coming out of his mouth without hesitation.

"Zixiu, you're patrolling the city? Then we won't disturb you any longer." Cao Anmin winked at Cao Pi and walked away.

Cao Pi forced a smile and quickly made his escape.

Seeing that they were uneasy and acting so suspiciously so early in the morning, Cao Ang found it suspicious.

Curious, Cao Ang turned into the alley and walked deeper into it.

At this time, every household had their doors closed. After walking two hundred meters, Cao Ang noticed that the door of one house was ajar, so he stopped.

I peeked inside, but the courtyard was empty and I didn't see anyone. Just as I was about to leave, I heard sobbing coming from inside. It was a woman's voice.

Cao Ang's handsome eyebrows furrowed instantly. He was kind-hearted, but not stupid.

"It must have been the work of those two."

Cao Ang pushed open the door and went inside. It was an ordinary family home with only three thatched houses and a simple courtyard. The crying sound was coming from the room on the east side.

Cao Ang called out, "Is anyone home?"

After all, men and women are different, so we can't just barge in.

The woman kept crying and didn't respond to Cao Ang, so Cao Ang walked straight over. When he got closer, he saw a woman hugging her knees and crying. Her clothes were torn to shreds, she was wrapped in a quilt, and her hair was all disheveled.

The bed was a mess, as if a fight had taken place.

Without asking, Cao Ang understood everything in an instant.

It must have been Cao Pi and Cao Anmin who did this. Cao Ang was angry, but he was also in a dilemma. How should he deal with this?
We can't exactly make them marry this woman, can we?
Cao Pi is still young, only fourteen years old this year. Unless he is willing himself, or his father gives the order, but that is obviously impossible.

If it were Cao Anmin, that would be even more impossible; that guy is too playful and spends his days indulging in pleasure.

Cao Ang felt that Cao Pi was more likely to be the culprit. If Cao Anmin had done it, he wouldn't have needed to keep Cao Pi by his side at all.

Cao Ang asked, "Madam, what exactly happened? Can you tell me?"

The woman looked up at him and saw that he was dressed in armor, like a general, and cried even harder.

Cao Ang was very patient and asked questions for a long time. Based on the woman's description of her figure and appearance, he finally confirmed that it was indeed Cao Pi who had done it.

After learning what had happened, the woman cried even more bitterly. Cao Ang was both angry and annoyed, and wanted to take out some money to compensate the woman, but he was wearing armor and did not have any money on him.

After searching for a long time, Cao Ang took out a jade pendant. The jade was crystal clear and quite valuable. Cao Ang hesitated for a moment, after all, this jade was a gift from his mother.

Cao Ang didn't know how to comfort her, so he kindly placed the jade pendant on the bedside table, sighed, and left.

(End of this chapter)