Mythical Three Kingdoms

As for Liu Bei, during this period of time while talking with Cao Cao, he has gotten quite a grasp on Cao Cao’s bottom line, and he knows Cao Cao’s thoughts. He even feels tempted by Cao Cao’s proposal; they have seen the combined combat power of the three families, which is truly powerful.

None of the three people yield to each other, although Liu Bei’s strength is the greatest, fighting a war to unify the Central Plains would inevitably cost some of the Central Plains’ essence. But now the Emperor has shown the demeanor that a monarch should possess, Liu Bei is considering merging the three families under the Emperor’s name.

This way, Liu Bei’s vow is fulfilled, revitalizing the Han Dynasty without coveting the position of Emperor. More importantly, the vital energy of the Han Dynasty’s world is preserved, and as for military and political issues after the merger of the three families, in Liu Bei’s view, this is completely not a problem.

The three families have already worked together in an external battle once, and in future external battles, they will follow this example. As for internal factions, economy, enriching the nation and strengthening the people, Liu Bei does not see these as problems at all. Anyway, he has never seen Chen Xi unable to handle internal affairs.

Such being the case, the military can be unified for external purposes, while domestically Chen Xi can stabilize the economy and politics, thus achieving actual complete unification, as for the internal factional issues within the army—is this a problem?

Liu Bei, whose brain isn’t too bright, suddenly realized that as long as the Emperor is supportive, after returning home to the Grand Ancestral Temple for worship this year, they could achieve unification.

As for Sun Ce, Liu Bei has figured him out; that guy’s thought process is actually very simple, and his mind is filled with fighting, fighting, fighting. Maybe when the time comes to tell him about going to fight an even stronger nation, Zhou Yu might not have agreed yet, and Sun Ce would have already consented.

Of course, even if Sun Ce didn’t agree, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Zhou Yu isn’t an idiot; with Liu Bei and Cao Cao united around the Emperor of Han Dynasty, if he doesn’t bow his head, then he would certainly be a rebel faction.

After these three families merge, any remaining people like Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang, Shixie, it would be odd if they didn’t quickly come to hold on tight.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei suddenly felt enlightened; this is the highest realm, okay? There is no need to lift a finger, and all his ideals are realized, the Han Dynasty is revitalized, leading Liu Bei to enthusiastically start handling relevant matters.

However, before Liu Bei could seek out Chen Xi for help, such a blow came, and at that moment Liu Bei truly had the urge to slap Liu Xie to death and then take the throne himself to revitalize the Han Dynasty. He was on the verge of exploding with anger; Liu Xie was really disappointing.

One might say, being disappointing was tolerable too, as long as Liu Xie didn’t ask for trouble himself. At this moment, Liu Bei was absolutely confident of helping him settle on the throne, yet things don’t always go as planned!

The infuriated Liu Bei and Cao Cao, who harbored anger and had to soothe Xun Yu, were pretty much kindred spirits, thus sharing the same sentiments.

”It’s alright now, Lord.” Xun Yu, whose mouth was bleeding from Cao Cao’s shaking, raised his right hand, forced a smile, and said.

”You definitely don’t look alright.” Cao Cao said with some panic, ”I hope you won’t decide to take your own life as soon as I turn my back.”

To Cao Cao now, Xun Yu is not only his most relied upon civil official, his right-hand man, but also his only confidant who understands his complex psychology. The two are both lord and vassal as well as friends, and indeed, Xun Yu is currently Cao Cao’s only friend.

At the level of Cao Cao and Liu Bei, having a friend is already very difficult, so to Cao Cao, Xun Yu is extremely important.

”If you don’t let go, I might be shaken to death by you before I have the chance to commit suicide.” Xun Yu said with a bloodied smile. Cao Cao was startled and quickly let go.

As soon as Cao Cao released, Xun Yu fell backward, but he quickly steadied himself with his hands. Then he slowly took out a silk cloth from his sleeve pocket and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, appearing almost like a normal person except for his pale demeanor.

However, both Cao Cao and Chen Xi clearly noticed the difference in Xun Yu. If one were to describe Xun Yu as a gentleman like jade, the previous Xun Yu was a piece of warm jade, while the current Xun Yu resembles a piece of chillingly cold jade.

”Wen Ruo, are you okay?” Cao Cao asked Xun Yu. Although Xun Yu now looked as if he was fine, Cao Cao clearly felt something had changed.

”I’m fine. One can’t refrain from being mistaken in a lifetime. Lord, just make sure I don’t mistake a second time.” Xun Yu said with great sincerity, looking at Cao Cao.

”...” Cao Cao, upon hearing this, felt the pressure on his shoulders increase, but looking into Xun Yu’s incomparably sincere yet vacant eyes, he instantly understood everything, ”Wen Ruo shall not be let down!”

Xun Yu smiled with a kind of desolation, said nothing, and instead turned his gaze toward Chen Xi.

”Is the Southern Huns a problem?” Chen Xi said with a curl of his lips. Sending ten generals at random, with three to five strategists, and their respective armies, would be enough to utterly destroy them several times over.

”What I want to ask is, did you tamper with it?” In Xun Yu’s voice transmission, there was a hint of bitterness and frailty, clearly indicating something more complex than Xun Yu had conveyed.

”No.” Chen Xi said candidly, ”Although he guessed these things from the secret letter given by Li Youu, it indeed has nothing to do with him; at most, it counts as inaction.”

Xun Yu glanced at Chen Xi for a moment, confirming that Chen Xi was indeed not speaking falsely, then turned to Liu Bei, saying, ”Please, Grand Commandant, order General Zhao to proceed to Bingzhou for aid.”

”Alright!” Liu Bei nodded and then beckoned to Zhao Yun in the distance. Zhao Yun acknowledged with a fist salute, whistled, and after the Night Illuminating Jade Lion flew over, Zhao Yun mounted the horse and swiftly reached his camp, while commanding men to prepare rations and assemble the army.

”Let General Xiahou hurry ahead to the border between Bingzhou and Youzhou, and whatever trump cards Lord Cao has, bring them out. I don’t believe after doing such a big thing, you don’t have any contingency plans left.” Chen Xi said looking at Cao Cao.

”The trump card we laid out stabilizes Yongzhou with no issues, but addressing Bingzhou is somewhat beyond its reach.” Xun Yu spoke with a kind of weakness in his voice.

”If Yongzhou is fine, let me think about it, who didn’t come with you, Zhong Yuanchang, Mao Xiaoxian, Yang Dezhu, and Sima Zhongda. So it must be Mao Xiaoxian, right?” Chen Xi said, frowning. Among the other three, Sima Yi can certainly fight in the future, but currently can’t convince the crowd; Only Mao Jie is truly both a civil and military genius.

As someone in the Three Kingdoms Era who set the strategy for Cao Cao ”Serve the Son of Heaven to command the disobedient, cultivate the land, and store military resources,” the character has a great overall view, and strong command of troops.

During the same period, Ju Shou also proposed a nearly identical strategy for Yuan Shao ”Take the Son of Heaven hostage to command the feudal lords, rear soldiers and horses to suppress the disobedient,” both possessing a good overall view and strong practical skills, but having a stubborn nature, often confronting others, which was partly the cause of their demise.

In the current situation, Chen Xi calculated the individuals brought by Cao Cao’s side to the north and almost guessed who the lethal move in Chang’an was.

Among those who didn’t come with Cao Cao, only four named individuals were left, Zhong Yao, very capable, but often absent-minded, not showing up for work isn’t unheard of, so safeguarding the Capital City naturally can’t be left to him.

Yang Xiu, also talented, especially in governance, but his military capabilities are average, at best just a pure strategist, not good at commanding troops. More importantly, Chen Xi doesn’t believe Cao Cao can treat the next head of the Yang Family as one of his own, looking at Liu Ye who struggled for a lifetime in history proves it.

Sima Yi, even more formidable, excellent in both politics and military, but the issue is he is only eighteen years old. Although his abilities are very strong, whether he can hold the position steadily is still questionable.

After thinking through, only Mao Jie remains. Though up to now, Chen Xi doesn’t know what Mao Jie’s Spiritual Talent is, the depth of knowledge among Cao Cao’s Civil Officials is substantial. Throwing Guo Jia into the mix, you might not even fathom the depth, so Chen Xi first disbelieves if Mao Jie doesn’t possess one.

”Yes, indeed it is Xiaoxian.” Xun Yu showed slight surprise, but didn’t find an issue.

”Then that’s settled. Cao Zixiu must have taken Sima Zhongda with him. Though that guy’s nature is somewhat gloomy, his abilities are indeed very strong.” Chen Xi said with a curl of his lips regarding Cao Cao’s subordinates with complete familiarity, leaving Cao Cao’s eyelids twitching.