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

Liu Xie said sincerely, "Over the years, although we have had some friction, the Prime Minister has never turned against me. You have done this, saving the world and the Han Dynasty from a catastrophe. I am grateful to you."

Cao Cao has always maintained restraint. If he had been more ruthless and directly led his troops to fight against Liu Xie, how many people would have died and how many innocent people would have been harmed?
Liu Xie always held a grateful heart. He didn't care about suffering some grievances himself. What was most important was that he was able to persuade Cao Cao to let go of his obsession through peaceful means and truly achieve harmony between the ruler and his minister.

If the two were to engage in a fierce battle on the battlefield, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Although Liu Xie is now confident that he can defeat Cao Cao, and that Zhao Yun, Lü Bu, and others will not disappoint him, he will avoid this battle if possible. Cao Cao clearly understands this as well.

"Your Majesty, regarding the matter in Jingzhou..."

Cao Cao was deeply moved and wanted to confess about the Jingzhou affair, but Liu Xie stopped him, saying, "Let's not talk about it anymore, let's just let it all pass."

As Liu Xie spoke, he grasped Cao Cao's hand once more.

"Zilong, Wenruo, and Gongda are all witnesses. I will not pursue the matter further. If anyone disobeys..."

Having just finished hunting, there was a quiver nearby. Liu Xie got up and walked over, took out a feathered arrow from the quiver, held it horizontally in his hand, and snapped it in two with a click.

Liu Xie looked at the crowd and said with a cold expression, "You can all be my witnesses. If I break my promise in the future, it will be like this arrow."

Cao Cao was deeply moved. He hurriedly got up, knelt on the ground, and said, "Your Majesty, I will follow you with my life, even unto death. If I have any disloyal intentions, may I be punished by Heaven and Man!"

Both men made an oath, but the atmosphere was not tense at all. Xun Yu and the others were very happy to see this scene. The two men and their ruler were in harmony. Xun Yu turned his head to look in the direction of Jiangdong. Let alone one Sun Quan, even if there were ten Sun Quans, what was there to fear?

When the emperor and Cao Cao put aside their past grievances and joined forces, Sun Quan was no match for them.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, the meat in the pot is almost cooked," Xun Yu said with a smile, stepping forward to remind them.

"Alright, come, come, Prime Minister, you've come from a long way, you must be tired. I just hunted some game, just in time to welcome you. Today we must drink to our hearts' content, and not leave until we're drunk."

Liu Xie smiled and helped Cao Cao up. He had brought some good wine with him when he left the city, so he came prepared. Xun Yu hurriedly ordered that the wine and meat be laid out.

Liu Xie waved his hand, and Xun Yu, Zhao Yun, Xun You, and Dian Wei took their seats one after another. The group chatted and laughed, creating a lively atmosphere.

"What exactly are Fengxiao's plans?" Liu Xie asked curiously after finishing his cup of wine and raising it to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao replied, "Before I left, Fengxiao had already told me that he wanted to feign weakness to lure the enemy out."

Liu Xie was amused. "Luring the snake out of its hole? Haha, it seems that snake is Zhou Yu."

Cao Cao casually placed a few chopsticks on the table and began to explain, "Your Majesty, to be honest, the Jiangdong navy is still not to be underestimated. Not long ago, my navy was repeatedly harassed by Zhou Yu, and suffered extremely heavy losses."

Now that they have reconciled, and given that Cao Cao did not go all out in the Battle of Red Cliffs, Liu Xie will not bring up the old matter again.

“If we continue to send troops to Jingnan, Fengxiao and I have calculated that we will inevitably be caught in a bitter battle. It would be better to use me as bait, show weakness to Zhou Yu, and lure them to Nanjun.”

"Use you as bait?" Liu Xie was a little confused for a moment.

Xun Yu guessed it immediately. He said, "Your Majesty, you just had Zhong Yao and others express their true feelings. Zhou Yu is still unaware of this. Fengxiao wants to use this matter to create the illusion that the conflict between Your Majesty and the Prime Minister has intensified."

"If the news of Zhong Yao and others surrendering to His Majesty is properly publicized and spread to Zhou Yu and Sun Quan, and the Prime Minister voluntarily withdraws his troops and abandons the struggle for Jingnan, it will seem reasonable to Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu will think that the Prime Minister's relationship with His Majesty is tense and on the verge of war, and that the Prime Minister's most important task now is to protect himself and figure out how to deal with His Majesty, rather than endlessly continuing to fight with Jiangdong. Therefore, under these circumstances, the Prime Minister's voluntary withdrawal of troops is a wise move, and Zhou Yu will seize the opportunity to continue to expand his gains. It is very likely that he will cross Jingnan and advance towards Nanjun."

Cao Cao nodded, "That's right, that's exactly what Fengxiao thinks."

Liu Xie looked at Cao Cao with concern and said, "Doing this will probably be detrimental to the Prime Minister's reputation and will cause you to suffer more injustice."

Cao Cao laughed, "Your Majesty, you are overthinking this. It's nothing. I am already satisfied with Your Majesty's sincerity."

In fact, Cao Cao's approach was quite simple: he continued to play the villain, pretending to have a tense relationship with the emperor. It was all just an act to mislead Zhou Yu.

Cao Cao continued, "Next, I will divide my forces into three. Cao Ren will lead 30,000 back to Nanyang, Xiahou Dun will lead 30,000 back to Yanzhou, and I will leave the remaining forces in Xiangyang. I will only deploy a small force in Jiangling to lure Zhou Yu into a trap. If Zhou Yu falls for the trap, we will wipe him out in one fell swoop." Cao Cao spoke eloquently, but Zhao Yun noticed that the emperor had just paused, seemingly somewhat intoxicated, with a hint of gratified smile on his lips.

After so many years, Cao Cao finally addressed him with the formal "you" for the first time. It was no easy feat; he had waited for this day for nearly nine years!

However, Liu Xie quickly returned to normal.

Xun Yu commented, "This will indeed confuse Zhou Yu, because Zhong Yao and others have already submitted to the court. In Zhou Yu's view, the Prime Minister must be eager to protect the existing territory. Cao Ren is the Prefect of Nanyang and Xiahou Dun is the Governor of Yanzhou. Letting them lead their troops back to their respective posts, they and the Prime Minister will support each other. This sends a signal that the Prime Minister wants to protect these places and is intentionally showing off to His Majesty."

Cao Cao wanted to make his stance clear: he was in charge of his territory, and even if he didn't fight Zhou Yu, he would still defend it. Cao Cao wanted to create the illusion of having an army to establish his own independent regime and being in opposition to the emperor.

"If necessary, I might even feign an attack on Xudu. Your Majesty, please don't mind."

Xun Yu was a little nervous. "Is this really necessary?" Even if it was just acting, Xun Yu felt that this was going a bit too far.

Liu Xie shook his head dismissively, "It's alright, Prime Minister, just go ahead and do it."

Cao Cao cupped his hands in thanks. “Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. Fengxiao understands Your Majesty better. He said that even if the army were to approach Xuchang, Your Majesty would not mind.”

Liu Xie smiled faintly, "There is one more thing that I think I should tell you."

"what?"

Liu Xie said, "In fact, Liu Bei did not really join forces with Sun Quan; he is still on my side!"

Cao Cao's eyes widened immediately. "This? Your Majesty, Liu Bei was indeed forced by me to surrender to Sun Quan back then. How could he still be loyal to Your Majesty? Your Majesty must not be deceived by him. Liu Bei is the most unpredictable and untrustworthy person. Your Majesty must be careful."

Cao Cao was quite frank; he took the initiative to admit that he was the one who forced Liu Bei to leave. However, it seems that Cao Cao was inherently hostile towards Liu Bei.

Liu Xie said with a wry smile, "You and Fengxiao did go a bit too far before, actually framing and smearing the Imperial Uncle of the Han Dynasty as someone who poisoned two members of the Han imperial family. Liu Bei is not a bad person at heart, and I am willing to give him a chance."

Cao Cao lowered his head awkwardly, "Your Majesty is right to reprimand me; I went too far."

Liu Xie waved his hand and personally poured Cao Cao a cup of wine. "This is what I'm thinking. Since Liu Bei is on our side, we might as well go all out in this game. Without Liu Bei's involvement, I believe you could have lured Zhou Yu into a trap. Now that Liu Bei is involved, and with Zhang Song by his side, Zhou Yu might be tempted by Xichuan."

Liu Xie was not good at planning, but he was better at providing inspiration. Sure enough, after his suggestion, Cao Cao, Xun You and others felt that there was much to be done.

Xun You suddenly said, "Although Zhou Yu is skilled in both literature and martial arts and has outstanding strategic abilities, he has a fatal flaw."

"Oh? Gongda, tell me about it," Liu Xie said with a smile.

Zhou Yu was such an outstanding and almost perfect person, what fatal flaw could he have? Was he really as narrow-minded as the novel portrays him to be?

Xun You said, "Zhou Yu is capable and ambitious. His biggest flaw is that he is eager to make achievements and wants to continuously expand the territory for Sun Quan. He helped Sun Ce pacify the six counties of Jiangdong before. Now, he is naturally not satisfied with the status quo and wants to wholeheartedly help Sun Quan achieve hegemony."

Liu Xie laughed and said, "Isn't this a good thing? Aren't all those with ability and ambition just like Zhou Yu?"

I thought he would say that Zhou Yu was narrow-minded and petty, but I didn't expect Xun You to say that. It seems that the real Zhou Yu was not so petty and petty. He wouldn't be so easily provoked or angered to the point of vomiting blood.

"Your Majesty, Zhou Yu is eager to make achievements and help Sun Quan establish a hegemony. This is his greatest weakness, because what Jiangdong needs most now is not to expand its territory, but to consolidate its foundation!"

Xun You truly lived up to his reputation as a top strategist; his reasoning was clear and logical, and he pinpointed Guo Jia's strategy incisively.

Liu Xie and Cao Cao exchanged a glance, then nodded and smiled. Cao Cao stroked his beard, a hint of disdain in his eyes. "Your Majesty," he said, "Zhou Yu is highly regarded by Sun Quan in Jiangdong, and his prestige in the army is unmatched. Although Sun Quan is good at using people, he also gives Zhou Yu too much power. Many times, Sun Quan has to listen to Zhou Yu, which fuels Zhou Yu's ambition to achieve merit. And Zhou Yu feels that I am at odds with Your Majesty and have no intention of fighting, so Zhou Yu will inevitably become even more demanding."

"As expected of Guo Jia, he understands people's hearts and plans strategically. I originally wanted to keep the Prime Minister in Xuchang for a long time, to drink and talk, and to let the world know that we, the ruler and his minister, are of one mind and one heart. But Guo Jia found an opportunity to use a scheme to deceive Zhou Yu. Well, we should prioritize the greater good of the country and let the Prime Minister suffer for now."

Cao Cao hurriedly shook his head, "If we're talking about grievances, it's true that Your Majesty has suffered quite a bit over the years." (End of Chapter)