Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 710 Another Evil Plan
"System prompt: Jia Xu once again uses his special skill 'Poisonous Scheme', increasing his intelligence by 5 points and Cao Cao's intelligence by 2 points. Currently, Jia Xu's comprehensive intelligence is 102 points, and Cao Cao's comprehensive intelligence is 94 points."

Liu He, who was reviewing memorials, suddenly received such a prompt and was completely stunned.

"Why is Jia Xu plotting again? Who is he going to target this time?"

Liu He couldn't figure this out at all, and it made him feel a little uneasy.

Cui Jun and the other two were wondering, "Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell? Do you need to summon the imperial physician?"

Liu He said in a deep voice: "I just suddenly have a bad feeling. I always feel that something is going to happen in Yanzhou."

After hearing this, the three of them became even more confused and looked at each other, not knowing what this meant.

Cui Jun said: "Although Cao Cao is ambitious and flexible, he has the demeanor of a hero, but since his plan to destroy Guo and annex Xuzhou failed, he has been keeping to himself and has not made any new moves."

"I know this, too. The Flying Eagle Guards send back news from Yanzhou and Yuzhou every ten days. Although Cao Cao has been secretly recruiting and training his army, he has not taken any action. But whether it is him or his subordinates Cheng Yu, Jia Xu, Xi Zhong, Guo Jia and others, they are all good at making plans. I am inexplicably panicked. I am afraid that they are planning something again."

After hearing this, the three of them fell silent.

After a moment, Xun You said, "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven. Since you have received the call from heaven, you must have made some predictions, and it is definitely not groundless. Among the many princes outside the court, in terms of strength and cunning, I am afraid no one can match Cao Mengde. Now that the court has recovered Liangzhou, its strength is even greater. Cao Cao must not be willing to lag behind and wants to expand."

Liu He also thought it made sense: "Gongda is right. But who will he attack?"

Xun You replied, "Since the battle in Luoyang, he has always been submissive to the court. He knows that the power of Yanzhou and Yuzhou is no match for the court. Therefore, if he has a plan this time, it is not against Your Majesty. After thinking about it, there are only four states: Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou. But who exactly is it against? I have no idea at the moment."

Liu He glanced at Xun Yu and Cui Jun and saw that they both had worried looks on their faces.

"It seems that we can only order the Flying Eagle Guard to investigate secretly."

Two days later, Tao Qian, the governor of Zeng County, Langya Commandery in Xuzhou, appeared outside the city of such a small county for the first time.

At this moment, he was talking and laughing with an old man in fancy clothes, and they were greeting each other.

The old man in fancy clothes said, "I have borrowed your precious land to avoid disaster for many years. It is all thanks to the governor's care. I am very grateful."

Tao Qian was also very humble and polite: "Old Master Cao, you are too polite. Meng De and I are officials in the same dynasty, so we should support each other. Moreover, when the Taishan bandits were causing trouble in Xuzhou, Meng De helped with all his might, and I am deeply grateful. By the way, here are some small gifts to show my gratitude. I hope Old Master Cao will not refuse."

Three men came over, each carrying a wooden tray, and on each tray were a dozen horseshoe golds.

The old man in fancy clothes retreated again and again: "How can this be done? I am traveling with you and have a lot of money. Besides, it is less than 200 miles from here to Fei County in Taishan County. My son will come to pick you up then, so there is no need for so much money."

"Please don't refuse, old man. This is a gift from me. Please accept it."

Seeing that Tao Qian was so determined, the other party finally accepted the gold.

Tao Qian was relieved, and then he said to a man dressed as a general beside him, "Zhang Kai, I will give you 200 riders. You must escort the old man to Fei County without any mistakes. If the Taishan bandits or other thieves harm the old man, you will be beheaded."

The general immediately accepted the order.

"In that case, thank you Mr. Tao for your concern. I will take my leave now."

After bidding farewell to Tao Qian, the old man in gorgeous clothes took his servants and escorted the carts all the way under the escort of Zhang Kai.

Tao Qian watched their backs from afar for a long time before turning around and returning to the city.

However, just after this team left the territory of Xuzhou and entered the territory of Taishan County of Yanzhou, they saw Cao Cao himself, his younger brother Cao De, and a group of civil and military officials coming to greet them in the wilderness.

Cao Song was very happy, and hurriedly got off the carriage and went forward to talk. "My son has made great progress. Now he is a local lord. This really brings honor to his father. Good, good."

Cao Cao supported Cao Song and said, "It is just that I am unfilial and I have to apologize to my father first."

Cao Song was immediately puzzled: "Why did Meng De say that?"

Cao Cao glanced at the servants accompanying him, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, and he winked at Zhang Kai, who nodded to him.

"Pullingleng..."

A carrier pigeon appeared in the sky above the Luoyang Imperial Palace, flew all the way, and finally landed at the door of a palace somewhere.

Cui Jun walked out quickly, took the letter from the pigeon's leg, and then walked back into the palace.

"Huh? A letter sent by carrier pigeon from Xuzhou?" Liu He suddenly became alert and quickly opened the letter.

After reading it, Liu He was shocked: "Why is it him again?"

Cui Jun and the other two were very puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, who is it?"

Liu He said with some hatred: "Two days ago, Cao Cao ordered his men to bring his father Cao Song, who had fled to Langya County a few years ago, back to Yanzhou to serve. Tao Qian ordered his subordinate Zhang Kai to lead troops to escort him, but Zhang Kai was tempted by the money and killed Cao Song and his party outside Fei County in Taishan County, seizing the accompanying property. He has now joined the Taishan bandits. Cao Cao was furious and announced yesterday that Tao Qian had ordered his men to kill his father, so he launched an attack and vowed to capture Xuzhou and slaughter Tao Qian's entire family."

The three were also greatly surprised when they heard this. Cui Jun exclaimed: "How could Tao Qian be so bold?"

Xun You said: "It is impossible for Tao Qian to kill Cao Song and make enemies with Cao Cao. I think Zhang Kai was so bold that he dared not return to Xuzhou after killing people and looting goods, so he went to join the Taishan bandits."

After hearing this, Cui Jun also thought it made sense and nodded repeatedly.

At this time, Xun Yu suddenly said: "I think not."

Liu He looked at Xun Yu and said, "It seems that Wen Ruo thinks the same as I do."

Cui Jun was somewhat surprised: "I wonder what your Majesty and Wen Ruo think is so strange about this matter?"

Xun Yu said, "Your Majesty mentioned before that he had a feeling that Cao Cao would take action. At that time, we could not guess who Cao Cao would attack. Now the answer is very clear. I am afraid that Zhang Kai was bribed by Cao Cao and deliberately cooperated with Cao Cao to set up this situation in order to provide Cao Cao with a legitimate reason to march into Xuzhou."

Cui Jun was even more surprised: "How is this possible? Is Cao Cao crazy? In order to seize Xuzhou, he actually gave up his own father?"

Liu He said, "It is impossible that Cao Song was really killed. He must be hidden somewhere by Cao Cao and is well served. He announced to the outside world that Cao Song is dead. In this way, he can lead his army to invade Xuzhou. The hatred of killing his father is irreconcilable. It is natural to avenge his father. Even I cannot stop it, otherwise I will lose my righteousness."

Xun You thought for a while, as if calculating something, and then said: "I roughly calculated that Tao Qian has about 120,000 soldiers and horses. In addition, your majesty appointed Liu Bei's second brother Jiang Huan as the governor of Chengyang, and his third brother Zhang Fei as the governor of Donghai. However, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei are still stationed in Donglai, and Donghai County is guarded by a fellow villager named Jian Yong, who leads 15,000 soldiers, and Tao Qian sends troops to assist. Cao Cao's current open military strength is about 170,000 to 180,000, and most of them are fierce soldiers, unlike the weak troops in Xuzhou. Once Cao Cao leads his troops to attack, Xuzhou will definitely not be able to defend."

"The three brothers Liu Bei are very capable and good at commanding troops. Why not issue an imperial edict to order them to lead the troops of Donglai and Chengyang to form a horn with Tao Qian. Even if they cannot keep Xuzhou, they will be able to resist for a while."

Cui Jun made a suggestion, but Xun You shook his head to deny it.

"Cao Cao was able to lay out such a plan, which can be said to be very deliberate. Now that he has put it into practice, how could he not take Liu Bei into consideration? If the court does not intervene, Xuzhou will sooner or later be in Cao Cao's pocket. However, if the court sends troops to attack Cao Cao, it would be equivalent to Your Majesty putting your subjects in an unfilial position and protecting Tao Qian, a cruel person, which would be very detrimental to Your Majesty's reputation."

Xun Yu sighed, "Xuzhou is a rich place, second only to the Sili region, as well as Ji and Yu provinces. If Cao Cao gets it, his power will be on par with the imperial court. It is really a great threat."

Liu He crumpled the letter into a ball, his face and eyes showing no sign of concealing his anger.

(End of this chapter)