Chapter 324: Little Yuan Tan, you are in control! Head warning, your eldest son's head is here, why don't you open the city and surrender!
Xun Chen and Chunyu Qiong gladly accepted the order.

They naturally knew that Yuan Tan wanted to seize the opportunity to restore his prestige with a great achievement.

As members of the Ruying faction, they were naturally happy to see Yuan Tan regain Yuan Shao's favor.

Ju Su frowned slightly, and after hesitating for a moment, he could not help but remind:

"My Lord, the king's order to us is to defend Xuchang."

"I think that if we rashly lead the army into battle, it would violate the king's order and be too hasty and reckless."

"I think we should think about it again and make a careful decision."

Ju Su's reminder was well-intentioned, but to Yuan Tan, it sounded like an attempt to stop him from achieving merit.

Yuan Tan looked unhappy and asked:
"You just said that father has no more troops to seize Luoyang City."

"If I don't take action, who will be able to stop Guan Yu from taking Luoyang and cutting off the Yellow River?"

"Did I know Guan Yu's plan but do nothing, and just watch him cut off my Henan land and hundreds of thousands of soldiers south of the Yellow River?"

"When the time comes and the king blames me, who will take the responsibility?"

Ju Su was speechless.

After a few dry coughs, he could only say:

"That's not what I meant. My army of more than 100,000 is in danger, so we can't just sit there and watch."

"What the professor means is that since we speculate that Xiao Fang is also here, we must not take it lightly and must be extremely careful in everything we do."

"If Xunyou has this plan, we should consider it carefully to make sure it is foolproof."

"Otherwise, if we fall into Xiao Fang's trap, I'm afraid the consequences will be disastrous."

Ju Shou was indeed frightened by Xiao Fang's beating.

From the Battle of Xiangcheng to the present, he has personally experienced all of Xiao Fang's ingenious strategies and tactics, and personally experienced the horror of the sage's wisdom.

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years. As long as Xiao Fang was around, he would naturally feel fear in his heart, always feeling that he might fall into Xiao Fang's trap at any time.

In his opinion, the only choice when facing Xiao Fang was to hold on and not venture out.

Now Yuan Tan is going to lead his army to seize Luoyang. Even though he knows that this is for the sake of the overall situation and he has to be forced to lead his army out of the city, he always feels that there must be danger in it.

Ju Su's earnest reminders finally calmed Yuan Tan down a little.

A chill ran through his heart and he couldn't help but shiver down his back.

"Ju Shou is right. Xiao Fang is so smart that he is almost a demon. If he were in Guan Yu's army, it would be worrying."

"My trip is indeed a bit risky."

"But if I don't take this risk, Luoyang will fall, and the entire Henan region will be lost."

"Not only will I lose the chance to rebuild my reputation, but I will also have to flee back to Hebei in disgrace."

"Guo Tu and his people from Ruying will become rootless trees again. How can they fight against Feng Ji and his group of Hebei people?"

"What else can I use to compete with Yuan Shang for the throne?"

"No, even if there is a risk, I have to take it!"

Yuan Tan's thoughts raced as he weighed the pros and cons.

So he took a deep breath, his face became more resolute than ever before, and he said resolutely:

"This battle concerns the lives of thousands of people in the Central Plains, and the rise and fall of our Wei Dynasty. As the eldest son of the Yuan family, how can I sit back and watch?"

"For the sake of the overall situation, no matter whether Xiao Fang has any tricks up his sleeve, we must fight this battle."

"I believe in you and Xun Youruo. You must have seen through Xiao Fang's plan this time. After all, he is a human, not a god. I don't believe he will not make a mistake even once!"

Ju Su remained silent.

As a member of the Hebei faction, he could naturally see that this eldest son was trying to compete with Yuan Shang for the throne, and he was determined to take a risk.

If he wins the bet, he will be the savior of Wei.

Prestige, status, and Yuan Shao's favor will all be taken back.

Lost the bet...Yuan Tan never thought that he would lose the bet.

In other words, even he himself could not guess what the consequences would be if Yuan Tan lost the bet.

"Alright, Lord Ju, you and General Chunyu just stay calm and guard Xuchang for me."

"Even if I lose this battle, at least Xuchang is still in my hands."

Yuan Tan said no more, held his sword in hand, and walked out of the hall with his head held high.

Ju Shou looked at Yuan Tan's back, but he always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

...

Two days later, at dusk.

Northeast of Xuchang City, in a dense forest.

Xiao Fang, Wei Yan, and Zhang Xiu were pushing aside the branches and looking towards the direction of Xuchang from afar.

This place is only a few miles away from Xuchang City, and can be said to be under the nose of the Wei army.

Xiao Fang seemed relaxed and at ease, but Wei Yan and Zhang Xiu were both sweating with fear.

"Prime Minister, even if we want to monitor the enemy's movements in Xuchang, we shouldn't hide our troops so close to the city, right?"

"With such a close distance, wouldn't it be easy for the Wei army's scouts to detect it?"

Wei Yan couldn't help but remind him in a low voice.

Zhang Xiu also nodded slightly.

"Mr. Wen, have you ever heard of this saying?"

"There's a saying that goes, the most dangerous place is often also the safest place."

Xiao Fang kept his eyes on Xu Chang, but spoke lightly.

The two were stunned and looked at each other with blank eyes.

"Whether it's Yuan Tan or Ju Su, they will naturally be wary of our army's strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain, and they will definitely send scouts dozens of miles away from Xuchang to search for our army's traces."

"The area south of Xuchang is controlled by our army. It must be the key spying area of ​​the Wei army. If we ambush south of Xuchang, we will most likely be discovered by the enemy."

"But we are lying in ambush in the north of Xuchang, very close to Xuchang, right under their noses!"

"Do you think the Wei army's scouts will come to search this place?"

Xiao Fang calmly explained the reason.

The two generals suddenly understood.

"I see. It seems that the Prime Minister has already figured out Yuan Tan's thoughts."

"The Prime Minister has made careful considerations. I will learn from your advice."

Wei Yan was impressed and bowed. The sound of horse hooves could be heard and Xu Chu rode towards them excitedly.

"Prime Minister, our spies have sent back news."

"Last night, Yuan Tan led 15,000 soldiers and horses and left Xuchang to the west. He must have intended to attack Yingyang City."

"There are only 5,000 soldiers left in the city, guarded by Chunyu Qiong and Ju Shou."

"Prime Minister, everything is just as you expected!"

Xu Chu excitedly reported the information.

Wei Yan and Zhang Xiu were greatly encouraged.

"Prime Minister, Yuan Tan has fallen into the trap. Your plan to lure the snake out of its hole has worked!"

"There are only 5,000 soldiers and horses left under the city of Xuchang. This is a godsend opportunity for us to take advantage of the situation and break through!"

Wei Yan looked back at Xiao Fang with admiration and joy.

Xiao Fang looked normal, and sighed:
"This Mr. Yuan is eager to gain merit and establish his prestige, but he still doesn't learn his lesson and decides to take a gamble."

As soon as the subject was changed, a cold light flashed across Xiao Fang's eyes, shooting towards Xuchang City:

"In that case, let's take Xuchang and make him empty-handed."

Seeing that the great achievement of capturing Xuchang was just around the corner, Wei Yan was full of energy and eager to fight.

Zhang Xiu was excited, but also worried:

"There are still 5,000 soldiers in Xuchang City. Together with Wen Chang's infantry, we only have more than 8,000 people."

"Prime Minister, if Chunyu Qiong and Ju Shou are determined to defend to the death, with our current military strength, it may be difficult to quickly capture Xuchang."

Xiao Fang looked towards Xuchang City, but a meaningful sneer flashed across his eyes.

"So, we have to use a little trick to make the enemy lose their will to defend."

"At least, make Chun Yuqiong unwilling to defend to the death!"

...

"The Wei army is coming to attack! The Wei army is coming to attack!"

At the east gate of Xuchang, the soldiers' screams suddenly became louder and the sound of gongs immediately rang out.

The Wei army soldiers who were having dinner were all shocked. Before they could even take a bite of the hot meal, they were rushed to the top of the city wall in groups of three or four by the generals.

The two main generals Chunyu Qiong and Ju Shou also rushed to the scene after hearing the news and hurriedly climbed to the top of the city wall.

The two looked up, their faces suddenly changed in shock, and they gasped at the same time.

On the plain outside the city, eight thousand Chu troops' infantry and cavalry had already formed a horizontal array, forming a siege formation.

Further away, countless clouds of dust and fog were covering the sky, indicating that more Chu troops were rushing towards them in an endless stream.

In the dust and fog, the figures of soldiers and flags appeared and disappeared, endless.

With such momentum, there must be at least 30,000 soldiers attacking!

"The enemy has more than 30,000 soldiers and horses. Is this Guan Yu's entire division?"

"Didn't Guan Yu lead his army to attack Luoyang? How come he suddenly appeared in the east of Xuchang?"

"Why didn't my scouts give any warning?"

Chunyu Qiong's face was filled with shock, his voice was trembling and hoarse, he was completely confused.

Ju Su's face was pale, and there was also surprise and confusion in his eyes.

Suddenly, his whole body shook violently and his eyes suddenly widened.

"Oh no, we might have fallen into Xiao Fang's trap!"

"Guan Yu's attack on Luoyang is just a bait, just to lure the eldest son and the main force of our army out of the city, so that they can take advantage of the lack of troops in Xuchang to attack the city!"

"I have already reminded you not to send troops rashly, but you just won't listen!"

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Ju Su revealed the truth and pounded the battlements with his fists, his face full of complaints and regrets.

He was regretting why he didn't insist a little more and failed to persuade Yuan Tan to lead his troops out of the city.

He was even blaming himself, wondering why he hadn't seen through the plan to lure the enemy out of its hole earlier, and why he had clearly figured out that Xiao Fang might be in Guan Yu's army, but still fell into the opponent's trap.

"Xiao Fang? Is that Xiao Fang really in Guan Yu's army?"

"But how did their 30,000 soldiers return to Xuchang without anyone noticing?"

"What should we do, Gong Yu, what should we do?"

Chunyu Qiong was shocked and asked Ju Shou in a trembling voice.

Ju Su took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and shouted:

"Chun Yuqiong, you are a veteran who has been through many battles. How can you be so panicked?"

"Even if we fall into Xiao Fang's trap, we still have 5,000 soldiers and horses at our disposal. It won't be a problem for us to hold out for several days!"

"You should quickly send someone to Yingyang to ask the eldest son to return to Xuchang as soon as possible. It is not too late to make up for the loss!"

Chunyu Qiong was ridiculed so much that his face turned red, but he couldn't complain, so he had to hurriedly follow Ju Shou's instructions.

The messenger rushed out of the city and pursued in the direction of Yingyang.

Five thousand Wei soldiers lined up on the top of the city wall, trembling with fear and ready for battle.

Ju Su also drew his sword, ready to fight to the death.

However, the Chu army was not in a hurry to attack the city.

In the Chu army formation, more than a hundred cavalrymen holding large shields escorted a scholar out of the battle and slowly arrived in front of Xuchang City.

"Listen, Wei garrison on the city wall."

"I am Xiao Fang, the Prime Minister of the Great Chu State!"

"Your eldest son has fallen into my trap of luring the snake out of its hole. I have set up an ambush in Yingyang and annihilated 15,000 of your soldiers. Yuan Tan was killed by our General Guan!"

"Yuan Tan's head is here. Why don't you open the city and surrender immediately? When will you do that?"

Xiao Fang's voice was like thunder, and then he waved his hand slightly.

Xu Chu rode forward, held up a bloody head, and displayed it to the Wei army on the city wall.

There was a moment of shock in the city of Xuchang.

Chunyu Qiong's legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground.

Ju Shou was also so shocked that he was stunned. His whole body seemed to have lost its soul in an instant and he froze in place.

(End of this chapter)