I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 118 Fateful Night
Seeing that Yuan Wei was moved and Yuan Feng still had concerns, Yuan Shu continued to persuade them.

"Father, right now Luoyang is in turmoil. The scholars are being instigated by the eunuchs to harm the Yuan family. They are at a disadvantage and are suppressed by my son. They are in a state of panic. If we take this as our goal, be tolerant of the scholars, reconcile with them, and show the benevolence of the Yuan family to the outside world, it will definitely further enhance the popularity of the Yuan family.

A little intolerance can ruin a big plan. Considering the long-term interests of the Yuan family and the Han Dynasty, a personal grudge is of no value. I can completely endure such humiliation and targeting in exchange for enough people's support to increase the chances of success of the Yuan family's plan to depose and establish the emperor!"

Yuan Shu straightened his clothes, bowed respectfully, and knelt down to Yuan Feng.

When Yuan Wei saw this, he also bowed down.

"Brother, although Shu is still a young man, he can endure personal grudges and cause great things. As the head of the family and one of the nine ministers in the court, you have a high position and power. What do you have to worry about? The eunuchs are determined to destroy our Yuan family. If one plan fails, there is another plan. Should the Yuan family always endure and avoid it?

I can no longer bear it. The eunuchs' despicable intentions have long been exposed. If I still don't fight back severely, I'm afraid the eunuchs will become more bold and excessive. By then, everyone in the Yuan family will be in danger and the family will be in turmoil. Is this what my brother wants to see?"

His son and younger brother bowed to him together, which made Yuan Feng very passive, but also slightly moved.

Passivity and excitement intertwined together, Yuan Feng just felt confused.

He knew that the suggestions of Yuan Shu and Yuan Wei were very meaningful and might very well directly change the political structure of the Han Empire and realize the Yuan family's political ideals.

But Yuan Feng obviously couldn't think it through so quickly.

He couldn't accept it.

From childhood to adulthood, he was taught to do things within a general framework and not to go beyond this framework, but to try his best to maintain this framework, because this framework has more advantages than disadvantages for the Yuan family.

This framework may not be so conducive to physical and mental health, but it is generally in the interests of the Yuan family.

Now, his son and brother told him to go beyond this framework, break this framework, and reshape a framework that is more in line with Yuan’s interests.

His long-standing fixed mindset made it difficult for him to make up his mind.

This is ultimately an act of going against the emperor. Even though he is only a thirteen-year-old emperor, he is still the emperor and the most legitimate holder of the Han imperial power.

Therefore, Yuan Feng did not make up his mind about this matter in the end. Instead, he forced himself to give up and asked Yuan Shu and Yuan Wei not to tell anyone, saying that he needed some time to consider it.

Yuan Shu also knew that haste makes waste, and that his father would need some time to figure things out, so he was not in a hurry.

Over the next two days, Yuan Shu went out to give speeches and debates during the day, continuing to put pressure on the official school and leading the public opinion trend in Luoyang. At night, he returned to Yuan's house to continue persuading Yuan Feng, hoping that he could stand up and accept his advice.

On the other hand, Situ Xuxu also kept sending people to discuss with Yuan Shu how to accept the peace proposal. It seemed that he was a little impatient. Moreover, the number of doctors who decided to sue for peace and propose this doomed war increased from two to five.

This shows that the pressure Yuan Shu put on them was too great, and most of them could not bear it anymore. They were eager to end this inexplicable dispute in order to safeguard most of their existing interests, even if it meant giving up part of them to Yuan.

Just consider it their bad luck.

Under the dual pressure from both inside and outside, Yuan Feng knew that he had to make a decision. He called Yuan Shu and Yuan Wei to his room at night for a secret discussion.

He looked at Yuan Shu very seriously.

"Shu, let me ask you one last time, are you really determined to depose the emperor and kill the eunuchs? Even if you have to lose your life for it?"

Yuan Shu nodded.

"Father, I have made up my mind and will not change my goal."

Yuan Feng nodded and looked at Yuan Wei again.

"Ci Yang, this road is extremely dangerous. If you are not careful, you will lose everything. You may even lose your life. Aren't you worried?"

Yuan Wei shook his head.

"Brother, if we continue with our previous strategy and keep peace with the eunuchs, can we save our lives? Won't the eunuchs find other ways to attack the Yuan family?"

Yuan Feng remained silent.

Yuan Wei bowed again.

"The situation is unknown. Why don't you try your best instead of just sitting back and watching the disaster happen without doing anything? In my opinion, this is not the right approach. If you insist on doing this, I will really worry about the future of the Yuan family."

Yuan Feng took a deep breath, his eyes moving back and forth between his good son and his good brother. After a long sigh, Yuan Feng's expression became solemn.

"If that's the case, then our Yuan family must be prepared to embark on an uncertain future. Regardless of whether this thing succeeds or not, in the future, someone will label the Yuan family as traitors. I wonder how our ancestors would feel if they knew about this..."

Yuan Feng finally gave in. Under pressure from both inside and outside, he realized that only Yuan Shu's strategy could bring the greatest benefits to the Yuan family in this predicament.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to find a balance between the Yuan family, official academic forces and the eunuch group.

And it was difficult for him to convince himself to accept the option of appeasement.

Only by making it his goal to completely end the eunuch regime could he convince himself to accept the option of appeasing the power of official education and endure the fact that his ancestors and son were being humiliated.

Otherwise, he would make those people pay with blood sooner or later.

However, this does not mean that what happened before is over. Yuan Feng just concealed the anger in his heart slightly, but did not extinguish it.

As long as the time is right, he will let this anger burn.

On the night of June 2, the fourth year of Jianning, the fate of the Runan Yuan family and the fate of the Eastern Han Empire, under the instigation of Yuan Shu, this little butterfly, headed towards another ending that no one could have predicted.

Including the little butterfly itself.

The starting point of this road is to discuss in detail how to implement this matter.

How to appease the power of official education, how to counter the power of eunuchs, and carry out the specific operations of deposing and enthroning the emperor under the noses of both.

As the main proposer of the strategy, Yuan Shu began his own planning.

"For people like Xu Situ and Yang Ci, the opinions put forward before are completely applicable. They should hold Han Zong responsible and completely eliminate him. Then they should stop there and not expand the scope of those being investigated. This will achieve the purpose of deterring the scoundrels.

It's not that we can't kill people, but we take the overall situation into consideration and are willing to endure anger for the sake of the overall situation. We only kill the person who is destined to be lonely and his school of thought, and do not further pursue the responsibility of others. This is Yuan's tolerance and benevolence.

But we can't just let them go like this, we must punish them a little, so that they don't develop the bad habit of fearing power but not morality. I think we should hand over some powerful positions to Yuan from their respective forces, not too many, but even just one. "

Yuan Shu's opinion was recognized by Yuan Wei. After hesitating for a moment, Yuan Feng also nodded in agreement.

"This is indeed a way to take the overall situation into consideration, but it will make my son Qilin suffer."

"For the sake of the greater good, I won't take this little grudge to heart."

Yuan Feng was very satisfied with Yuan Shu's frankness.

His son was indeed destined to achieve great things. Those who achieve great things do not care about trivial matters and are willing to give up some trivial details for the greater good. This is an excellent quality of those in a high position.

As a result, this strategy was officially adopted.

Next came the treatment of the eunuchs.

“When we reconcile, put an end to the quarrel, and make peace again, the eunuchs will certainly be surprised, and they might do something to me, such as summoning me to the palace again. At that time, I will simply claim to be ill and will not go, and ask my father and third uncle to deal with it on my behalf.

The eunuchs failed to achieve their goal and could not continue to attack the son, so they would inevitably panic and blame each other. At this time, as long as Yuan showed a little bit of revenge, it would inevitably lead to an internal fight among them.

By then, there would be no need for Yuan to take the initiative, as it would be enough to get rid of some unlucky eunuchs directly. Although it was not Yuan's direct revenge, if it was true as Er said, then Yuan could be considered to have successfully taken revenge, so it would not be considered as having gained nothing.

Apart from this, my father may need to hold back his wrath for the time being. Now is not the time to confront the eunuchs. When Yuan She returns, ask my uncle to continue to pretend to be friendly with him and retaliate against the eunuchs in a way that the eunuchs can accept. Such restrained revenge will surely make the eunuchs relax their vigilance temporarily.

Taking this opportunity, we can send someone to Bohai State to observe the situation of King Bohai. We don't need to contact King Bohai immediately to avoid leaking the news, but we must ensure the safety of King Bohai. Without King Bohai, we will lose our righteousness."

After hearing this, Yuan Feng was very satisfied. He stroked his beard and nodded slowly.

After hearing this, Yuan Wei's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but look at Yuan Feng.

"Brother Zhong, do you really want Shu to leave the Yuan Clan of Runan and establish a new sect? If you want to depose the eldest and establish the youngest, I will definitely support you. As long as my two brothers support this, there will be no problem."

(End of this chapter)