Chapter 303 No choice
Until the last eunuch was stabbed to death by spears, Liu Xie still could not break out of the palace gate.

Inside the palace gate, dozens of tiger warriors held spears upside down, and the spear shafts were crossed to block Liu Xie's waist.

Liu Xie was unable to move, and the sword in his hand was knocked out by the wooden stick.

Even the tiger warriors did not dare to be stained with Liu Xie's blood, or even touch Liu Xie's skin.

At most, he only touched Liu Xie's clothes through the spear shaft.

Liu Xie was unable to break free and now all he wanted was death.

He understood the Queen's intentions more and more, but who in Cao's army dared to let him die?
Now no one can come forward to persuade Liu Xie. Anyone with a little dignity will not appear here.

The result was that more than a hundred tiger warriors took turns to control Liu Xie here.

Liu Xie stayed here for a whole night, and also tortured Cao Cao and Xun Yu all night.

The next day, the sky was still covered with dark clouds, and the bodies from all over the city were swept up and dragged outside the city for burial.

Liu Xie was bleeding too much from his wounds and had fallen into a coma and had a fever.

Cao Cao went out wearing armor, and the carriage was driving on the empty streets, which were filled with a lingering smell of burning.

When they were halfway through the journey, they heard the sound of horse hooves approaching, and an official approached: "Lord Cao, this is the official document from Lord Xun."

Xu Chu came forward and handed Xun Yu's official document to the emperor.

Cao Cao picked it up and looked at the surface and back of the letter, but found nothing unusual. So he opened it, but there was not a single word on it.

Cao Cao was stunned, and felt extremely disappointed and regretful: "Wen Ruo doesn't know that the only way to survive is to fight hard?"

He immediately shouted to the outside of the car: "Zhongkang, go and ask Wenruo to come see me!"

"Here!"

Xu Chu led a dozen knights and galloped away, arriving at Xun Yu's residence after more than thirty breaths.

The mansion of Geng Ji, the minister next door, had been burned to the ground. Some people searched the ashes to collect gold and bronze utensils.

Xu Chukuo stepped inside, and the servants of the Xun family stood quietly along the way to leave a passage.

Xu Chu went straight into the hall in the front yard and saw Xun Yu in white clothes with his hair loose. Beside him was a short-haired Buddhist Taoist who was found from somewhere, holding a sharp short knife and cutting Xun Yu's hair.

Seeing this, Xu Chu stepped forward and bowed: "Sir, Lord Cao ordered me to come here to discuss matters with you."

Xun Yu tilted his head slightly and squinted at Xu Chu: "Please ask Zhongkang to reply to Cao Gong and tell him that Xun took poison at night and no medicine can save him. At the moment of death, all he can do is repent."

After saying that, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth to endure the discomfort after taking the poison.

The Taoist monk continued to shave Xun Yu's hair carefully, and the other half of his head had already been shaved.

Upon seeing this, Xu Chu left behind a few tiger warriors and immediately went to see Cao Cao.

At this moment, Cao Cao had already entered the palace, and every place had been cleaned in the middle of the night.

With the new Tiger Guards guarding the palace gate, Cao Cao can now finally enter here with confidence.

The palaces had been burned down by female officials and eunuchs, and the injured Liu Xie was placed nearby in the Shangshu Terrace.

When Cao Cao arrived, Hua Tuo had already treated Liu Xie's wound and was taking his pulse.

Cao Cao was accompanied by only Cao Xiu at the moment, so he asked Hua Tuo, "How is the emperor's injury?"

Hua Tuo stopped feeling the pulse, wiped his hands with a cloth, and then said: "It's not optimistic. The emperor was injured in the right rib, and then fought..."

"Maybe rescue?"

Cao Cao asked the key question directly, looking at Hua Tuo: "The emperor was injured when the traitors held him hostage, there was no subsequent fight!"

"Yes, the emperor's wound was torn so wide that his lungs could almost be seen."

Hua Tuo lowered his head and said, "The evil spirit has entered the lungs, and medicine and stones are incurable."

"Please make sure to stabilize the emperor's condition. The traitors are vicious and have murdered the princes. If the emperor dies, the country will be without a master, which will be a disaster for all the people in the world."

After saying this, Cao Cao glanced at the sleeping Liu Xie, took a few steps back, turned around and walked away quietly.

After Cao Xiu left, Liu Xie opened his eyes and glanced at Hua Tuo. He didn't say anything, just stared at Hua Tuo.

Hua Tuo said nothing, but just nodded slightly.

He didn't expect that the person who ultimately killed the king would be himself.

Seeing Hua Tuo's reaction, Liu Xie relaxed a little, but then he fell into a high fever coma again.

Hua Tuo took Liu Xie's pulse again with a meticulous look.

Cao Cao stood at the door for a moment, and when he heard no unusual sounds from inside, he stepped over the stairs.

Seeing Xu Chu waiting in the corridor, he asked, "Zhongkang, how is Wen Ruo?"

"Lord Xun said that he had taken poison and asked a Buddhist Taoist to shave his head. I will leave a few guards behind and come to report to you." "Wen Ruo is confused."

Cao Cao sighed, walked a dozen steps to the stairs, put his hands behind his back, and looked down at his surroundings.

I just felt a lot of pressure. The emperor and his entourage were too cruel. They actually killed all the princes.

If Liu Xie is beyond saving, who will be his successor?
The succession to the throne is based on the clan genealogy, starting with the closest blood relative. The closest should be the line of Hefei Hou, the younger brother of Emperor Ling.

He was just involved in the case of Wang Fen, the governor of Jizhou, who deposed and enthroned the emperor. Afterwards, the Marquis of Hefei was secretly executed, his country was abolished, and the whereabouts of his descendants were unknown.

If it was a little further in the future, a young man of suitable age and seniority should be found to succeed to the throne from among Emperor Huan's two younger brothers, namely the Bohai royal family and the Pingyuan royal family.

The principle of succession is that the son shall inherit the throne after the father's death, and the younger brother shall inherit the throne after the elder brother's death.

In today's chaotic world, it is difficult for the royal family to reproduce. It is probably difficult to find a young man who is younger than Liu Xie and of the right age.

The only option was to relax the age requirement and choose a cousin of Liu Xie's generation.

But unfortunately, the King of Bohai was demoted by Emperor Ling, and his wives, concubines and seventy children were all executed; now only the Pingyuan royal family is developing normally.

They, as well as most of the royal family members, were descendants of Liu Kai, King Xiao of Hejian, which meant that the suitable heirs to the throne all lived in Hebei.

If you want to establish a new emperor, you must cooperate with Hebei.

If Liu Xie dies suddenly in the short term, Hebei will independently support the new emperor.

Cao Cao had a blank expression on his face. Despite his short stature, he felt as if there was endless anger in his body that was about to burst out.

In fact, he and the imperial family had become mortal enemies since the Yidaizhao.

In other words, the cost of deposing and replacing the emperor was too heavy, so Cao Cao chose to restrain himself.

Even if he took the initiative to launch a sneak attack and purge like now, Liu Xie still dealt him a heavy blow.

If the black bear had successfully broken into the city of Xudu that day, the heads of all the men, women and children of the Cao family would have been hung on the city walls.

There is nothing to regret. Now that things have come to this point, we can only move on.

Now I am not afraid of anything except the death of the emperor.

If things really develop to this point, Liu Fu of Huainan will certainly raise an army... It is too late to take action against Liu Fu now.

Liu Fu was from Xiang County, Pei State, and too many people did not want Liu Fu to die a violent death.

Only as long as Liu Fu was alive could they squeeze into the Huainan camp through their connections with their fellow villagers.

There is also Zang Ba. If the emperor dies this time, Zang Ba will most likely send troops to support Chang Xi, making it more difficult for Xiahou Yuan to fight.

Just as Cao Cao was thinking about the possibility of rebellion by the surrounding affiliated forces and internal civil and military officials, Yang Biao and Sima Fang, who were on a diplomatic mission to Heluo, arrived at Yingyin, far away in the western suburbs of Xudu.

Inside the guesthouse, Yang Biao and Sima Fang stayed up all night.

Shortly after dawn, Sima Fang was about to come and question Yang Biao. When he entered the quiet little courtyard, he saw Yang Biao and a close follower hanging from the beam of the house.

Both of them were wearing white clothes, their tongues were sticking out, and they were staring at the door with bulging eyes.

Sima Fang took a few steps back and couldn't stop falling down the corridor and into the vegetable garden.

After taking a few deep breaths, Sima Fang felt something was wrong when he did not see Yang Biao's other close followers and his accompanying disciples and old officials.

He really wanted to call on officials to arrest the escaped former officials and disciples of the Yang family, but he also felt that if this matter were to spread, it would be very disadvantageous to his own family.

Sima Fang climbed up with trembling hands and feet, covering his injured arm and thinking deeply. He had already determined that the direction of Yang's disciples and former officials' escape could only be Guanzhong!

It was impossible for these people to go to Xudu to rescue and support Yang Xiu. It was simply too late. Yang Xiu might have died yesterday.

So based on this judgment, Yang Biao decided to hang himself.

He may also have felt that by hanging himself voluntarily, he would be worthy of the country and would also save his son's life.

Sima Fang thought about it, and his expression became more fierce.

He returned to the next courtyard and said to the servants, students and former officials who were waiting for him: "Yang Wenxian hanged himself, and I have also failed the court and the people. How can I live in the world with dignity?"

After saying this, he looked around at the silent crowd. This was a choice between dying early with dignity or dying with the whole family without shame.

Hebei, Guanlong, Zhongyuan, Qingxu had all been destroyed, but Yizhou and Jingzhou, where royal family members were stationed, were relatively intact, with abundant resources and manpower.

If these two local royal families were to break free from their shackles and declare themselves kings, their internal cohesion and fighting enthusiasm would surely soar!
He will definitely be able to catch up with Da Sima.

Sima Fang was too tired and regretted recommending Cao Cao.

He looked at these people with a tired expression: "Guandong is no longer a good place. After I die, I can be buried with Yang Wenxian."

There is no need to leave any letters or send any verbal messages.

Dying here would be the best statement to my family and to the government and the public.

(End of this chapter)