A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

These jackals, tigers, leopards, and bears have too many opportunities to strike from the moment they are captured until they are sent to the autumn hunting grounds.

These powerful families obtained a drug that could drive wild beasts mad, and they planted people along the routes transporting these jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards, drugging their food.

The dosage is not large enough to cause them to go berserk immediately. As the amount of drug stored in their bodies increases, they will become unable to withstand it, start to go berserk, ignore the pain on their skin, and frantically attack anyone they see.

According to the agreement among the three parties, they chose to poison the bear, but each family had its own ulterior motives.

The group behind Cao Pi also drugged the tigers, the group behind Cao Zhi drugged the leopards, and the group behind Cao Zhang drugged the wolves.

Everything was done in secret; each family was plotting against the other two, trying to sabotage them.

These aristocratic families in the Central Plains told Cao Pi that if he encountered tigers or bears during the autumn hunt, he should run away as far away as possible.

The aristocratic families in the south told Cao Zhi to run away as fast as possible if he encountered a leopard or a bear, and to stay as far away as possible.

The powerful families who supported Cao Zhang told him to go all out and fight, and to make sure he won first place.

They didn't tell Cao Zhang about this at all; they had no idea that Cao Zhang would get into trouble with these wild beasts.

Even if she was drugged, it's impossible!

Based on Cao Zhang's martial prowess alone, he could easily rank among the top 10 generals who followed Cao Cao in his campaigns.

Not to mention that Cao Zhang had members of his own family around him, so he only needed to give instructions to his own family members.

Given Cao Zhang's simple-mindedness and physical strength, if we told him the plan, he might accidentally let it slip, causing the plan to fail and even implicating the family.

Cao Cao would absolutely not recommend executing the entire clan of anyone who dared to lay a hand on Cao Ang.

Amidst great anticipation, the first autumn hunt since the founding of the People's Republic of China officially commenced.

Cao Ang was dressed in black armor, with a sword at his waist, and rode a prized Ferghana horse.

Cao Pi had almost the same configuration as Cao Ang, except that his horse was inferior.

Cao Zhi, on the other hand, rode in a sedan chair, dressed in a scholar's robe. He had never liked swords and spears, but preferred romance, poetry, and prose. Therefore, he did not attach much importance to this autumn hunt.

Cao Zhang rode a tall horse, his physique imposing, clearly a head taller than the others; his skin was bronze, his beard slightly yellow, and his face was filled with a murderous expression. He was determined to win the autumn hunt!

There were also other scattered groups, including sons of high-ranking officials and members of military families, all preparing to make a name for themselves during this autumn hunt and catch Cao Cao's eye.

Cao Cao led his men into the hunting grounds and waved his hand.

The eunuch beside him shouted, "His Majesty has decreed that the autumn hunt begin!"

Cao Zhang charged in first, and the others followed suit, each choosing a direction and rushing in.

Cao Cao watched this scene with satisfaction, then turned to look at his right-hand men, "Let's go, let's rest in that pavilion over there and wait for the results."

After saying this, Cao Cao took Wei Xue's arm with one hand and Xun Yu's arm with the other, with a little radish-headed Cao Chong following behind, and walked towards the pavilion not far away.

"Wenruo, you don't seem very happy. Is something bothering you?"

While eating fruit, Cao Cao asked casually.

The atmosphere in the pavilion became tense. Since the fall of the Han Dynasty and the struggle for power among the princes, Xun Yu had fasted for three days to pay tribute to the Han Dynasty.

He later rallied, hoping that after Cao Cao unified the country, he could return power to the Liu family and choose one of the Liu family members to become emperor.

Unfortunately, Cao Cao had gone through countless hardships to unify the world from the remote Qingzhou, so why would he give it up so easily?

Cao Cao's elite troops and generals would not allow their contributions to the rise of the new emperor to vanish into thin air.

With Xun Yu's wisdom, how could he not see through it? But those involved are often confused, while bystanders see clearly. Xun Yu was already at his wit's end, and the confusion in his heart imprisoned him, making him still foolishly cling to hope.

However, when Cao Cao declared himself emperor and established the Qian dynasty, Xun Yu finally woke up from his self-deception. The Han dynasty, which he had believed in all his life, was gone!

From the day Cao Cao ascended the throne, Xun Yu lived like a walking corpse, numbly attending court, handling government affairs, and simply existing.

All of this was observed by Cao Cao and others. Cheng Yu and other strategists had a fairly good relationship with Xun Yu, and naturally did not want Xun Yu to break with Cao Cao over such a matter.

However, even Xun You, Xun Yu's nephew, could not persuade them. They had tried, but to no avail.

Cao Cao turned a blind eye to this, after all, Xun Yu had made great contributions to the establishment of his Great Qian Empire, and many of his important ministers and strategists were recommended by Xun Yu. If Xun Yu were dealt with, it would cause others to feel sorry for him, which would be detrimental to the court's rule.

Taking this opportunity, he also wanted to have a frank talk with Xun Yu. His empire had just been established and still needed a wise advisor like Xun Yu to help build it.

Xun Yu had followed Cao Cao for so long that he could naturally understand the implied meaning in Cao Cao's words.

A bitter smile appeared on his lips. "Your Majesty, my family has received the Han dynasty's stipend for generations. From a young age, I was influenced by Confucianism and instilled with the ideas of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism."

"Now that the Han Dynasty has perished, we should follow the example of our ancestors, refuse to eat Zhou grain, and be loyal to the Han Dynasty."

"However, in the latter half of his life, Xun Yu was valued by Your Majesty, trusted and relied upon, and received an official position and salary from the Prince of Qi's mansion."

"Caught between the Han and the Qian dynasties, I am in great pain."

In other words, Xun Yu's character was too upright. His pursuit of a perfect gentleman made it impossible for him to ignore his past loyalty to the Han Dynasty.

Once a subject of the Han dynasty, always a subject of the Han dynasty.

"Wenruo, this is where you went wrong."

Wei Xue interjected, sensing Xun Yu's struggle. After so much time, Xun Yu had already made up his mind, but he still needed someone to give him a push.

"Back then, Your Majesty enfeoffed kings and established kingdoms. Legally speaking, the King of Qi was a king enfeoffed by the Han Dynasty. However, since you are well-versed in Confucian classics, you should also know the rites of Zhou."

"The description of the enfeoffment system in the Zhou Rites is that the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal."

"Legally speaking, the subjects of the Qi King's Palace all belong to the State of Qi, not to the Han Dynasty."

"Back then, when you joined the Qi King's Palace, you received a salary belonging to the Qi Kingdom. Moreover, this was permitted by the Han Dynasty and approved by the Han court. It was the last emperor of the Han Dynasty who personally issued an edict appointing you as the Qi State Historian."

"From that moment on, you no longer have a vassal relationship with the Han Dynasty; you only have a subordinate relationship with the State of Qi."

"This is also the final decree of the Han Dynasty to you. If you die for the Han Dynasty, it will be against the law and human ethics, and will instead bring shame to the Han Dynasty and cause it to lose its last dignity."

"What a great irony that after the fall of the mighty Han Dynasty, foreign subjects were required to serve it!"