Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 233 Empress Fu's Change
Liu Xie walked up to Empress Fu, looked down at this stubborn and chaste woman, and displayed his best acting skills.

There were three parts of pain, three parts of regret, three parts of anger and one part of pity in his eyes.

"Not long after Zi Tong entered the palace, he was abducted by Dong Zhuo and taken to Chang'an with me. In the following years, you didn't have a single day of peace. It was really hard for you. But even so, you shouldn't have failed to recognize me!"

When Empress Fu heard the word "Zi Tong", her body trembled and her pupils suddenly shrank.

Zi Tong was the emperor's name for the empress, but she had only heard these two words from the emperor when she was made empress five years ago.

After that, he wandered all the way, fled Chang'an, returned to Luoyang in the east, and was abducted by Cao Cao to Xu County.

During this period, the emperor never called her Zi Tong.

He even favored Concubine Dong.

Empress Fu: "You..."

However, Liu Xie did not give her a chance to speak. He turned sideways to face Empress Fu, put his hands behind his back, raised his head at a 45-degree angle and looked out the window with a look of nostalgia and emotion.

"When I was young, Dong Zhuo entered the capital and caused chaos in the government. I saw with my own eyes my brother sitting on the dragon throne in tears, but he did not dare to resist Dong Zhuo."

"I will never forget that scene."

"At that moment, I was thinking, if I ascend the throne as emperor, I will never allow anyone to hold me hostage, and I will never become a puppet of any treacherous ministers."

"As long as there is an opportunity, I will seize it with all my might! I will follow the example of our ancestor Emperor Guangwu and sweep across the world and wipe out all the disloyalty."

"Later, my brother was deposed, and the thief Dong made me the emperor. I am not the brother, I will not be a puppet, and I will not succumb to the monstrous power of the thief Dong!"

"Gradually, under my planning, things finally turned around."

Having said this, Liu Xie deliberately paused.

If Empress Fu wanted to continue listening, then he would continue to make up stories and use her to play another game.

If she had no intention of listening further, then this would be the last time Liu Xie would step into the Pepper Room. From then on, the Pepper Room would be completely sealed off, and not only Empress Fu, but also the palace maids inside would not be allowed to go out.

Empress Fu looked at Liu Xie's profile and his resolute eyes, and couldn't help but think:

"When the emperor was young, he dared to rebuke Dong Zhuo. But when he grew up, he dared not rebuke Guo Si, Li Jue, Cao Cao and others. He became their puppet and cried in the palace every day. In just a few years, he became a completely different person."

Seeing Liu Xie pause, she couldn't help but ask, "What kind of turning point has come?"

Liu Xie suppressed the corner of his mouth that was about to rise, turned around and looked at Empress Fu, and asked: "Queen, do you know who raised me?"

Empress Fu frowned and said, "The emperor lost his mother at a young age and was raised by the Empress Dowager."

If I answer directly, it would feel like I am implicitly acknowledging Liu Xie's identity.

So she only mentioned the emperor and not Liu Xie.

Liu Xie didn't care about Empress Fu's little thoughts, nodded, and said:

"I lost my mother when I was young and grew up under the care of the Grand Empress Dowager, who was later poisoned to death by He Jin. The only people left by my side were the eunuchs that the Grand Empress Dowager left behind to serve me."

"After I ascended the throne, I did not have any military power. Without military power, I would become a puppet of Dong Zhuo and his ilk."

"Later, with God's mercy, I finally found a person who looked exactly like me among the people. So I came up with a plan to steal the day, and I was able to escape from the hostages and come to Yecheng."

"Yuan Shao is the descendant of Dong Zhuo and the most powerful lord in the world. But he has many factions within his clan and they attack each other. As long as I take every step carefully, I may be able to take over Yuan Shao's foundation."

"Three years later, I succeeded. I drove Yuan Shao out of Yecheng and recovered Weijun, Yangpingjun, Guangpingjun, and Xuzhou from Lu Bu. I have 40,000 soldiers and great power. Once I conquer Qingzhou, I will be able to recover the entire Jizhou."

"When the time comes, Xuzhou, Qingzhou, and Jizhou will be united, and the unification of the north will be just around the corner. In this way, we will have the foundation of Guangwu. Why worry about the unrest in the world?"

Empress Fu looked at Liu Xie, who was becoming more and more high-spirited, listened to how he planned to drive away Yuan Shao step by step, and listened to his grand ambition to unify the world, and she felt admiration in her heart.

She had to admit that if the positions were reversed and it was the person from Xu County, he would definitely not be where he is today.

After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "You have no relationship with the one in Xu County? Are you not a twin brother?"

Liu Xie shook his head, slowly walked to Empress Fu's side and sat down on her soft couch.

Empress Fu's body tensed up, but she still did not pull away and escape.

Liu Xie smiled slightly in his heart. He had no thoughts about Empress Fu.

This was just a small test, which revealed that Empress Fu's heart had changed after all and was no longer as calm as she appeared on the surface.

"What twin brothers?"

"I have said that he is a shadow and a substitute found among the people."

"The Queen still doesn't believe in the story of the emperor being replaced by someone else. I will talk to you about it."

Hearing this, Empress Fu's eyes lit up.

Why did Yang Biao and her father Fu Wan both firmly believe that the emperor had been replaced?
Even Dong Cheng, the emperor's most trusted person, regarded the emperor of Xu County as a false emperor.

This doubt has been buried in her heart for a long time.

Liu Xie said: "Since the Queen knows that I was raised by the Grand Empress Dowager, she must also know the relationship between Dong Cheng and me."

Dong Cheng!

Liu Xie did not mention Yang Biao and Fu Wan, as Empress Fu had expected, but only mentioned Dong Cheng, which immediately shocked her.

She subconsciously thought of everything about Dong Cheng.

Dong Cheng was born into the Dong family in Hejian, Jizhou, and was the nephew of the Empress Dowager.

When the emperor fled from Chang'an all the way to Luoyang, Dong Cheng always followed him. He was born in the Dong family of Hejian and did have a way to secretly send the emperor to Jizhou.

When the emperor returned to Luoyang, Han Xian disrupted the government. It was Dong Cheng who transferred Cao Cao to the capital, which led to Cao Cao welcoming the emperor and moving the capital to Xu County.

At these two points in time, Dong Cheng had the opportunity to replace the emperor.

The reason why Cao Cao was allowed to enter the capital to welcome the emperor was, could it be to protect the real emperor who entered Yecheng alone to seize Yuan Shao's foundation?
Otherwise, how can we explain that when Dong Cheng was in Xu County, he suddenly decided that the emperor was a fake?

You have to know that at that time, the emperor trusted him the most and favored his daughter, Concubine Dong.

Empress Fu didn't want to think about it this way, and she didn't want to question the identity of the Emperor of Xu County.

But this series of clues put together made her start to think wildly.

Liu Xie continued, "After the false emperor escaped from Xu County, he was escorted by the Tiger Guards. Instead of going to Liu Biao, he went all the way to Shou County to look for Lü Bu. Does the Queen know why?"

Empress Fu opened her mouth, not knowing how to answer.

If the emperor of Xu County was truly the orthodox Han Dynasty, his first choice would certainly be Jingzhou, and definitely not where Lu Bu was.

The only explanation is that he was afraid that his identity would be discovered by Liu Biao and he would be killed.

For a moment, she was in a state of confusion.

If the man in Xu County was not the emperor, how would she deal with it?
Seeing that Empress Fu was completely confused, Liu Xie said:

"Now, Lu Bu has ordered people to escort the fake emperor to Yecheng."

"As my substitute, I am willing to give him a decent death, but he is so bold as to want to turn the fake into the real!"

While observing Empress Fu's expression, Liu Xie said, "The false emperor has turned traitor and must be killed. The reason why I did not let Lu Bu and Dong Cheng kill the false emperor right away is because he still has value to be used..."

He revealed his plan on how to use the fake emperor to seize Qingzhou, and portrayed Dong Cheng as a loyal minister who replaced the emperor.

In any case, Dong Cheng would not be able to survive in Cao Xing's escort team.

They put all the credit for replacing the emperor on his head and made him the last one to be convicted.

When Empress Fu heard this, she looked somewhat distraught.

I don't know whether it was because Emperor Xian of Han had become a pawn in the plot to seize Qingzhou and was doomed to die, or because she had mistakenly recognized the emperor.

Seeing this, Liu Xie was very satisfied and stood up and said, "Zi Tong, take good care of yourself. I will come to see you in a few days with my reward for you."

After saying that, he left the Pepper Room.

He was thinking in his mind how to use Empress Fu to play a big game and gain more benefits if she really believed his lies.

Empress Fu looked at Liu Xie's back and murmured to herself, "But why didn't you answer me some secrets that only the emperor and I know? Or was it already replaced before that?"

……

Youzhou.

Yuan Shao's army has been besieging Ji County for many days.

But no results were achieved.

One reason is that Ji County is a strong city with many defenders.

Even if Yuan Shao mobilized tens of thousands of troops to attack day and night, he could not easily conquer it.

Dozens of attacks ended in failure.

Apart from the casualties among large numbers of soldiers, there was no gain.

Chinese army camp.

Yuan Shao was furious at Lu Xiang. He slammed the table and cursed: "I asked you to bring some food here, but it was either snatched away by Zhang Yan or burned!"

"It's been ten days. It's been a whole ten days!"

"Is it so difficult to transport a batch of food and fodder?"

"What on earth do you do for a living?"

The other generals in the tent were all silent.

Lu Xiang said bitterly, "General, the Black Mountain Army is elusive. They ambush us on the road we must take to transport grain. Every time, tens of thousands of people go out together. The troops we transport grain and grass are not enough to resist their attack."

"And they were like crazy, fearless and reckless, attacking without caring about casualties, just to take away all our food and fodder. If they couldn't take it away, they would burn it."

"We really have no choice."

Facing the Black Mountain Army, Lu Xiang was really helpless. This group of people were hiding in the Taihang Mountains and were nothing more than a group of bandits.

He could definitely defeat the enemy, but the enemy was not afraid of death at all, and every time he retreated back to the Taihang Mountains, he could not catch up even if he wanted to continue chasing him.

The most important thing is that you can never predict when they will attack, which makes it extremely difficult to deal with.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao's face became extremely gloomy.

Zhang Yan, Black Mountain Army!

It's these guys again!

"Lord."

Tian Feng, who was standing by, stepped forward and advised Yuan Shao: "The Black Mountain Army has obviously joined forces with Gongsun Xu in order to prevent us from capturing Ji County."

"Right now, this group of bandits are hiding in the Taihang Mountains, attacking our logistics supply. If they continue like this, big problems will arise sooner or later."

"Gongsun Xu is just a group of trapped beasts. Even if we give him a chance to breathe in the winter, what can we do?" "In my opinion, we should attack other cities in Yuyang County. After we take over the entire Yuyang County, we can reorganize the army and take over Ji County in one fell swoop in the spring of next year."

He still hoped that Yuan Shao would withdraw his troops.

Stop focusing on Ji County.

But Yuan Shao was not willing to listen to Tian Feng's words and said coldly: "If I give him a chance to catch his breath, it will take him a long time to return to Yecheng!"

"Pass on my military order to recruit 50,000 soldiers from Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Bingzhou!"

Tian Feng's expression suddenly changed when he heard this. Just as he was about to speak out his objection, a soldier hurried into the tent.

"General! The eldest son sent an urgent report from Qingzhou! He said that Zhang Liao sent people to secretly escort the emperor to leave Jizhou and pass through Qingzhou to Xuzhou!"

"At present, Lu Bu has abandoned Yangzhou and deployed his troops on the border of Xuzhou, preparing to kidnap the emperor and lead the army in person, and jointly attack Qingzhou with Zhang Liao with an army of 40,000!"

"The eldest son has launched a search for the team escorting the emperor in Qingzhou, but the situation is critical. I request the general to send troops to help as soon as possible!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the account changed color!

The emperor actually left Yecheng? !

Tian Feng was the first to come to his senses. He said anxiously, "General! We must not let Lu Bu capture the emperor! If he kidnaps the emperor and leads the army in person, Qingzhou will be destroyed!"

"Once Qingzhou is destroyed, Jizhou will be lost. By then, Jizhou, Qingzhou and Xuzhou will be connected. Even if you take Youzhou, you will lose the overall situation!"

The reason why we did not take Lu Bu seriously and allowed Zhang Liao to occupy Yecheng before was because there was Qingzhou between Xuzhou and Jizhou.

We only need to deploy heavy troops in Qingzhou, and then no matter what Zhang Liao does in Jizhou, he will be just a rootless duckweed and can be dealt with when we have time.

But once Qingzhou is captured by Lu Bu, the situation will change drastically, because at that time Lu Bu can directly threaten the security of Jizhou and even Youzhou and Bingzhou!

“Lu Bu!!”

Yuan Shao was also furious.

He was naturally aware of the importance of Qingzhou, otherwise he would not have allowed Yuan Tan to lead 25,000 troops to garrison there when he was eager to attack Ji County.

But if Zhang Liao and Lu Bu each led an army of 20,000 to attack Qingzhou, Yuan Tan would definitely not be able to resist, because even he dared not underestimate Lu Bu's bravery.

What's more, Lu Bu has the emperor in his hands.

If he took the emperor hostage and led the army in person, he would be invincible.

"Send a message back immediately, telling Yuan Tan to defend Qingzhou at all costs and capture the emperor at all costs!"

"Pass on my military order, reorganize the army, and evacuate Ji County tomorrow!"

Yuan Shao gave the order without hesitation.

Although he really wanted to capture Ji County, compared with Ji County, the safety of Qingzhou was the most important. He knew which was more important.

"Report——!"

But just as he spoke the order, another soldier rushed into the camp and reported: "General! A report came from Jizhou that Zhang Liao led 20,000 troops out of Weijun and marched to Qingzhou!"

"what?!"

Yuan Shao was horrified, stood up suddenly, and shouted: "Order the whole army! Abandon all baggage and rush to Qingzhou immediately!"

Zhang Liao's army is coming out in full force, which indicates that Lu Bu's army will also be dispatched. Qingzhou is now in extreme danger!
If we don’t rush to provide assistance, Qingzhou will be destroyed!
"promise!"

All the generals responded in unison, hurriedly left the central military camp, and went to convey the military orders.

……

On a mountain in Taihang Mountains.

Sun Qing, who was responsible for observing the movements of Yuan's army, had a full view of what was happening in the military camp. He ordered his men to continue watching and then returned to the stronghold alone.

"Boss! Yuan Shao's army has started to move. It looks like they are planning to retreat from Ji County!"

"it is good!"

Zhang Yan's eyes sparkled when he heard this, and his face showed a burning desire and excitement. He laughed loudly, looked up at the many Black Mountain Army leaders in the village, and shouted:

"Brothers! It's time for us to make achievements and serve the court!"

"High positions, generous salaries, wealth and glory are right before your eyes!"

"Come with me to defeat the traitor Yuan's army, and I will be made a marquis and a general!"

Zhang Yan never thought about Tinghou at all.

What he wants is a township marquis, or even a county marquis!
If he could be granted the title of Marquis of Zhending County, he would be willing to pay any price!
"kill--!!"

Inside the mountain stronghold, Zhang Yan's response was the howling of numerous Black Mountain bandits and their blood-boiling roars.

For the sake of wealth and glory, they are willing to sacrifice their lives, because this is their only chance to be recruited by the court and gain a clean record!

Even if they are facing Yuan Shao, they will rush up and take a hard bite!
Under Zhang Yan's command, all the Black Mountain Army was mobilized, traveling through the Taihang Mountains, and ambushing on the route that Yuan Shao's army must take to retreat.

This road of retreat will surely be bloody.

……

Qingzhou, Linzi.

Yuan Tan looked at the piles of battle reports sent back from the front lines on the table, his face filled with anxiety. He paced back and forth in the study like an ant on a hot pan.

Zhang Liao sent troops from Weijun to attack Qingzhou.

Lu Bu also sent troops from Langya and headed straight for Dongguan County.

Both sides are coming on strong.

Although he had more than 20,000 troops stationed in Qingzhou, he still found it extremely difficult to face two simultaneous battle fronts, and unfavorable news was frequently sent back from the front line.

"Son of Heaven, where on earth is the Son of Heaven hiding?"

“Why can’t I find it?”

Yuan Tan kicked the table over, and all the information on it scattered all over the floor, but this still could not calm his anger.

The only chance to hold out until Yuan Shao comes to help is to find the emperor.

But he had already mobilized 10,000 troops to search various cities and mountains in Dongguan County, but still found no trace of the emperor. This made him begin to doubt whether the emperor was really in Dongguan County.

Thinking of this, Yuan Tan immediately asked someone to bring Yuan Xi over. In a rage, he tore off his previous disguise as a kind brother and stepped forward to grab Yuan Xi's neck.

"Did Zhang Liao send someone to secretly escort the emperor through Qingzhou? Are you lying to me?"

"Yuan Xi! Tell me the truth!"

Yuan Tan looked ferocious and roared harshly.

Yuan Xi's eyes rolled back as Yuan Tan pinched him. He felt difficulty breathing and his vision started to go dark. He struggled hard and kept slapping Yuan Tan's hands.

"Still refusing to tell me?!"

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Yuan Tan's eyes became more ferocious and the strength in his hands gradually increased.

He knew that this guy was being stubborn!

Seeing that Yuan Xi was about to be strangled to death, the guard standing by finally couldn't stand it anymore and whispered, "Master, you are strangling the Second Master, he can't speak..."

Yuan Tan was stunned for a moment before he reacted.

Then he let go of Yuan Xi.

“Cough cough… cough cough cough——”

Yuan Xi fell directly to the ground, coughing and gasping continuously, with snot, tears and saliva all over the floor, looking extremely miserable.

After a long time, he looked up at Yuan Tan with a pale face and tearful eyes, and said in a hoarse voice: "Why don't you just kill me..."

It's really fucking torturous.

It doesn't matter if this is an inappropriate internal response.

Yuan Tan had a gloomy expression and snorted coldly: "You want to die so easily! Answer my question quickly, where is the emperor now, have you lied to me before!"

"If you refuse to tell the truth, don't blame me for torturing you regardless of our brotherhood!"

Yuan Tan didn't want to make things so ugly.

But the situation is too critical right now.

If he couldn't find the emperor, the armies of Lu Bu and Zhang Liao would be able to crush him, so he had to pry more information out of Yuan Xi.

"What can i say!"

Yuan Xi was furious, and he got up from the ground and cursed: "I have said everything I should say! I only know that the emperor is now in Dongguan County, how do I know where exactly?"

"If you want to kill me, don't make so many excuses, just do it! Anyway, I'm just a scum of the Yuan family who killed my brother and imprisoned my father. What brotherly relationship do I have with you?"

Yuan Xi has really given it his all.

Directly criticize Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan's eyes were uncertain. His left hand was placed on the long sword at his waist. He looked at Yuan Xi in front of him, with murderous intent rising and falling in his heart.

But Yuan Xi showed no fear and looked straight into his eyes.

The atmosphere in the study was solemn, but it was soon broken by Wang Xiu who hurried into the study.

"My Lord, General Lu Kuang sent a message saying that a woodcutter saw a caravan of several hundred people in a mountain in Dongguan County, and they have been living in the mountain for a long time!"

"General Lu Kuang has already led the army to search!"

Yuan Tan was shocked, and then his face showed ecstasy!

Normally, caravans would travel through major cities and rarely stay in the wild for so long, but this caravan actually lived in the mountains for a long time. There was obviously something wrong!
Most likely it is the team escorting the emperor!

Yuan Tan smiled, stepped forward and patted Yuan Xi on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Xianyi, I was just joking with you just now, don't take it seriously."

"As your brother, I am connected to you by heart. How could I doubt you?"

"You should have a good rest. I will go out for a while."

After saying this, Yuan Tan hurriedly left the study. He planned to go to Dongguan County in person and lead troops to search for the emperor!

"This guy……"

Looking at Yuan Tan's departing back, Yuan Xi's expression looked a little ugly, and at the same time he felt a little worried.

The team escorting the fake emperor finally revealed their tracks.

I hope they can be caught later, delay time as much as possible, and gain more results for your majesty's army.

(End of this chapter)