Chapter 355: The Yuan family father and son killed each other, God helps me! Let that old man take the lead, and I will stay behind to develop!
"Jinglue, what you mean is..."

Liu Bei vaguely understood the hidden meaning of Xiao Fang's words.

"I said before, how could Yuan Shao pass the throne to Yuan Shang when he was already unconscious?"

"Then Yuan Shang's claim to the throne was obviously a forged imperial edict, which was tantamount to usurpation of power for Yuan Shao."

"Yuan Shang usurped the throne. It would have been fine if he could have protected the family for Yuan Shao, but he was not up to the task and rushed to attack Yuan Tan before he even had a firm grip on the throne."

"It can be said that Yuan Tan's surrender to the king was closely related to Yuan Shang's aggressive pressure."

"After Yuan Shao woke up and saw the mess Yuan Shang had made, how could he not be even more furious?"

"Yuan Shao wants to take back the throne, but he is also angry with Yuan Shang. Will Yuan Shang not be afraid and willingly hand over the throne, wait for Yuan Shao to deal with him?"

Xiao Fang slowly unfolded the thoughts and situations of Yuan's father and son in front of Lao Liu.

Liu Bei suddenly realized.

"I understand. According to what you said, Yuan Shang will most likely not obediently hand over power to Yuan Shao. The dispute between brothers in his Yuan family will now become a dispute between father and son."

"In this case, the situation of the Pseudo-Wei will be even worse, which will naturally accelerate its demise?"

Xiao Fang nodded slightly.

Liu Bei understood immediately and couldn't help but sneer:
"Jing Lue's words make sense. If the father and son of the Yuan family fight, it will really be God's help to me!"

"It will be easy for me to destroy the fake Wei and recover Hebei!"

Xiao Fang smiled, and then he stroked the feather fan gently and said:

"So what I mean is that our army should stay in Dangyin for the time being, and not rush north to take Yecheng directly."

"We must give the Yuan family father and son enough time. When they have a rift with each other and the fight between father and son begins, it won't be too late for us to clean up the mess later."

Liu Bei agreed with Xiao Fang's suggestion and ordered the 170,000 troops to rest in Dangyin. He only ordered the rear to transport food and fodder, but temporarily postponed the march north.

...

Twenty miles south of Yecheng is Wucheng.

The 90,000 Wei troops who originally wanted to return to Yecheng in the north stopped marching north after entering this city.

Because the envoy sent by Yuan Shao came and issued Yuan Shao's edict, announcing that he had ascended the throne again, demoted Yuan Shang to the position of crown prince, and ordered Yuan Shang in a stern tone to quickly bring the 90,000 troops back to Yecheng to report.

This imperial edict made Yuan Shang panic.

Before his own people returned to Yecheng, Yuan Shao could not wait to issue an edict to take back the throne, which shows how anxious Yuan Shao was.

Yuan Shang could guess how dissatisfied Yuan Shao was with him by just looking at the tip of the iceberg.

Yuan Shang couldn't imagine what his fate would be if he led the army back to Yecheng and was stripped of his throne.

In panic, Yuan Shang had to order the army to temporarily stay in Wucheng. At the same time, he sent people back to Yecheng to contact Shen Pei and his mother, Queen Liu, in order to test and clarify Yuan Shao's attitude towards him.

after one day.

Yuan Shang did not wait for the messenger's reply, but waited for Shen Pei and Liu.

Late that night, Shen Pei, along with a group of Shen's relatives, escorted Liu into Wucheng in a hurry and stood in front of Yuan Shang.

"Mother? Zhengnan?"

"You...how could you...how could you?"

Looking at the two living people standing in front of him, Yuan Shang was stunned, his face full of shock and confusion.

"Shang'er, Shang'er, you have to save your mother~~"

Liu burst into tears and fell at Yuan Shang's feet.

Yuan Shang was startled, and hurriedly supported Liu and asked in surprise:
"Mother, why do you say that? Who wants to harm you?"

Liu wiped the tears from her eyes and snorted angrily:
"Who else could it be? Of course it's your heartless, cold-blooded father!"

Yuan Shang was stunned.

"After your father woke up and found out that I killed those seductresses in his inner palace, he cursed my mother as a vicious woman and insulted her for having a heart of a snake and a scorpion!"

"But why did the Queen Mother kill those vixens? Wasn't it because she was worried about him, afraid that those vixens would ruin his body?"

"He doesn't understand the good intentions of the Queen Mother at all. He keeps saying that he will kill me sooner or later to make her vixens pay for their lives!"

"Tell me, my mother and he were married, how could he treat her like this, and how could he be so hard-hearted to me?"

Liu was full of resentment and dissatisfaction, and she complained to her son in anger.

Yuan Shang finally understood the reason, but he looked embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

He had advised Liu at the beginning not to be too drastic and to just banish Yuan Shao's concubines to the cold palace. There was no need to kill them.

Unfortunately, Liu did not listen. Not only did she kill all of Yuan Shao's concubines, she also resorted to extremely cruel means such as disfiguring their faces and bodies and dumping them in the wilderness.

Now that Yuan Shao has woken up and learned that Liu had killed all of his concubines in such a cruel way, it is understandable that he is furious.

"In fact, the reason the queen mentioned is just one of them."

"The reason why the king wants to kill the queen is because she and I, a humble minister, forged an imperial edict to pass the throne to the prince."

"That is why I speculate that once you return to the capital, the king will definitely take action against you. I am afraid that all of us who participated in supporting you to succeed the throne will not be able to escape the king's punishment."

"That's why I protected the queen and took advantage of the fact that the king had not yet completely taken control of Yecheng and escaped from the city to see you, young master."

"I came here to remind you, sir, that you must not return to Yecheng and fall into the trap!"

Shen Pei looked solemn and spoke the truth with a bitter face.

Yuan Shang let go of Liu, who he was supporting. His face gradually became gray and his eyes were as solemn as iron.

An ominous premonition had already weighed heavily on his mind, causing him to shudder violently. He seemed to have foreseen that after returning to Yecheng, he would be severely punished by Yuan Shao with great wrath.

"Even if the king really punishes the young master, he is still the crown prince of Wei. Now that the young master has surrendered to Liu Bei, can the king still kill him?"

Amidst the solemnity, Wen Chou suddenly spoke out a reminder.

Yuan Shang was suddenly reminded, a gleam of light flashed in his gray eyes, and his spirits suddenly perked up again.

"Yes, my stupid elder brother has surrendered to Liu Bei. Even if my father blames me, what can I do?"

"Besides me, who else can inherit the foundation of the Wei Dynasty?"

Yuan Shang's spirits were lifted and he couldn't help but feel confident again.

Shen Pei shook his head and said in a deep voice:
"My Lord, you are too confident. Don't forget that besides the eldest Lord, there is also the second Lord in Bingzhou."

Yuan Shang's body shook and he shuddered suddenly.

He forgot about Yuan Xi.

His second brother was originally very mediocre and was never liked by Yuan Shao.

But now, compared with him and Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi has become outstanding.

If Yuan Shao was willing, he could call Yuan Xi back and make him the crown prince!
"Zhengnan, you are right. I forgot that I have a second brother. Father can even make him the crown prince!"

"I can never go back to Yecheng, and I can never return the troops to my father!"

"I can't just sit there and wait for death, I can't!"

Yuan Shang muttered to himself, his fists gradually clenched, his face began to twist, and his eyes were filled with anger and indignation.

Wen Chou sighed and said helplessly:
"But the king has already taken control of Yecheng, and Liu Bei is lurking in the south. If we don't go back to Yecheng, where else can we go back to?"

Yuan Shang felt as if his heart was hit by a heavy hammer. He staggered a few steps and then fell to sit down.

The excitement in his eyes was gradually replaced by despair.

"Why don't you just do one thing and two things?"

Shen Pei's eyes were filled with ferocity, and he suddenly said in a deep voice:

"We will claim that Tian Feng has kidnapped the king and started a rebellion, and you can fight back to Yecheng under the banner of defending the king!"

Yuan Shang was suddenly shocked, and a cold light flashed in his desperate eyes.

Shen Pei wanted him to completely break with Yuan Shao, retake Yecheng by force, and defend his hard-earned throne!
Before he could express his opinion, Sima Yi, who had been silent all this time, shook his head and said:
"Sir, this is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Tian Feng has always been prestigious. The soldiers in the army may not believe that he is holding the king hostage to cause chaos."

"Besides, you don't have complete control over my 90,000 troops. Ju Shou and many other civil and military officials are truly loyal to the king."

"Moreover, among our 90,000 troops, many of them have families in Yecheng. If we ask them to counterattack Yecheng, will they willingly obey orders?"

"I'm afraid that before you reach Yecheng, my 90,000 troops will have already fallen apart and scattered."

Shen Pei's strategy was rebutted, and he was speechless for a moment.

The glimmer of hope that ignited in Yuan Shang's eyes was immediately extinguished by Sima Yi, and he fell into despair again.

"This doesn't work, and that doesn't work either. Do I really have no way out but to sit and wait for death?"

Yuan Shang was driven crazy and pounded the table with his fists.

Shen Pei was helpless, and Wen Chou was even more helpless.

Liu just sobbed and shed tears.

There was an atmosphere of despair.

"Don't be discouraged, my lord. We are far from having no way out."

Sima Yi's eyes showed confidence, and he raised his hand and pointed to the northeast:
"My lord, you don't have to go back to Yecheng. You can use the excuse of protecting Yecheng's rear as an excuse to lead your loyal troops eastward along the Zhang River and station in Nanpi."

"This way, Yecheng will be exposed to Liu Bei's army, and the king will have to resist Liu Bei and defend Yecheng by himself."

"At that time, Liu Bei's army was at the gates of the city. In order to defend Yecheng with all his strength, the king would not dare to punish the prince again. He could only acquiesce to the prince's stationing of troops in Nanpi."

"Then you can ask the king to lead the battle in Yecheng with Liu Bei, while you can go to Nanpi to recruit soldiers and build up your strength."

"Yecheng is the capital of our Great Wei, the city walls are high and thick, and the king is in charge personally. This battle is bound to be a protracted one."

"When Liu Bei's army is at the gates of the old city and his fighting spirit is completely gone, and the king can no longer hold on and has no choice but to ask you for help, it won't be too late for you to lead fresh troops south to rescue Yecheng."

"By then, we can not only defeat Liu Bei and lift the siege of Yecheng, but also use our great prestige to force the king to truly pass the throne to you."

"Isn't this the best of both worlds?"

Sima Yi was eloquent and had a smile on his face as if he was in control of a strategy. He planned a way out for Yuan Shang.

Yuan Shang's eyes opened wide, his spirit lifted, he stood up suddenly and rushed towards the map.

His eyes were fixed on the word "Nanpi".

Sima Yi's words echoed in his ears, as if opening up a new world for him, making his vision and perspective suddenly become clear.

"Zhongda, oh Zhongda, you are truly my Zifang!"

"Looking across the world, the only one who can compete with Xiao Fang is you, Sima Zhongda!"

"Okay, I will follow your advice and lead my loyal followers to retreat to Nanpi!"

"Let father fight the big-eared thief to the death, and both sides will suffer losses!"

"Hahaha--"

(End of this chapter)