In the spring of 194 AD, Yuan Shu held the funeral for Yuan Yao. Although Yuan Yao had requested that his funeral not be overly grand, Yuan Shu still silently buried him with the honors of the Nine Ministers. Had Yuan Yao not made such a request, Yuan Shu would undoubtedly have given him the burial rites befitting a prince.
Although the honors of the Nine Ministers still exceeded the usual norms, with the world in chaos, there was no one to enforce such rules. Moreover, Yuan Shu's act of opening the granaries to distribute food to the people, along with his promise to continue doing so annually, earned the gratitude of the people in Yuzhou, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou. They voluntarily offered incense in Yuan Yao's memory, a symbolic gesture of thanks.
Holding the funeral for Yuan Yao was not in itself a major event. However, the real issue that emerged afterward was that Yuan Shu now had no heir. Regardless of the circumstances, Yuan Shu was one of the top three warlords in the land, and he was also backed by the powerful Yuan family. With Yuan Shu's line seemingly at an end, the Yuan family needed to find a solution to this problem.
The concept of lineage extinction was something ancient people could not tolerate. Typically, in such situations, a close relative with many sons would immediately offer one of his sons to be adopted and carry on the lineage. In the eyes of the ancients, as long as the adopted son paid homage to the ancestors and acknowledged the lineage, he would be recognized as the legitimate heir. Adopted sons enjoyed the same rights as biological sons, the only difference being that they did not have inheritance rights—unless there was no direct heir. In such cases, an adopted son would inherit everything, including power, duties, and status.
This is why Yuan Shao, the son of a concubine, held the same status as Yuan Shu—because Yuan Feng had adopted him into the main branch of the Yuan family, giving him the position of a legitimate heir. From that point on, he referred to Yuan Feng as his uncle and Yuan Cheng as his father, while treating Yuan Shu as his cousin.
Similarly, Yuan Shu's proposal to adopt Sun Ce as his son meant, in essence, that Sun Ce would inherit Yuan Shu's lineage. After Yuan Shu's death, Sun Ce would ensure that the family's rituals and offerings were maintained, preventing Yuan Shu's lineage from fading into obscurity.
"Adopt my cousin's son?" Yuan Shu coldly glanced at the elders of the Yuan family. "If I'm adopting a son, why should I choose someone I find detestable? I don't need your interference in my affairs!"
"Our Yuan family is not lacking in heirs. When Wen Kai's branch thrived due to the adoption of Benchu, it was because of the support of the Zhouyang branch. Now that the Zhouyang branch is in need, it is only right for Wen Kai's branch to reciprocate by providing an heir," one of the Yuan family elders responded helplessly.
In truth, the elder was not only dissatisfied with Yuan Shu's open declaration to treat Sun Ce as his legitimate son but also harbored some personal motives. The Yuan family was currently flourishing, far more comfortably than the Yang family, which was confined to Chang'an and dared not make any rash moves.
Whether it was Yuan Shao's branch or Yuan Shu's branch, both were considered powerful enough by the Yuan family to contend for control of the realm. This shared strength allowed the factions supporting Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu within the family to sit down and discuss matters, considering anything that lesser warlords like Cao Cao might strive for as trivial.
Their focus had shifted from conquering individual cities to controlling the entire nation. They had even considered uniting their forces, but the problem was, with both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu being so strong, the issue of who would lead the unified force was insurmountable—much like the struggles of the Han, Zhao, and Wei states when they tried to reunify Jin during the Warring States period.
As a result, the first attempt at unification ended in a stalemate. However, Yuan Yao's death gave the more rational elders of the Yuan family a glimmer of hope. After Yuan Yao's passing, the two branches of the Yuan family quickly exchanged opinions. Though the idea of unification seemed impossible, Yuan Shao ultimately played his trump card—his strategists.
With the involvement of Xun Chen and Xu You, the initially hostile negotiations quickly progressed to constructive discussions. Eventually, under their mediation, the two sides reached an agreement: first, clear the playing field by eliminating other warlords, turning the internal strife of the Han dynasty into a contest between the Yuan family branches. As for who would ultimately lead, that could be decided later.
Although Yuan Shao had a strained relationship with Yuan Shu, he was not as stubborn as Yuan Shu. When he learned of Yuan Yao's death, he hesitated briefly before deciding to offer his favorite son, Yuan Shang, as an adopted son to Yuan Shu.
This proposal was actually suggested by Ju Shou, who had noticed Yuan Shao's growing favoritism toward Yuan Shang. Ju Shou feared that such favoritism could lead to unrest if it resulted in Yuan Shang being chosen over the elder Yuan Tan. Without much deliberation, Yuan Shao agreed to the plan. He genuinely loved Yuan Shang, but he was not yet willing to disrupt the established order by replacing Yuan Tan. However, Ju Shou's proposal planted a seed in his mind: the Yuan family needed the strongest member to lead.
Yuan Shao's intention was purely out of goodwill; he had no desire to take over Yuan Shu's territory through this adoption. He would rather host a grand feast to secure an alliance than resort to such tactics.
Thus, Yuan Shao instructed Yuan Shang that, after being adopted, he should focus solely on benefiting Yuan Shu's branch, even if it meant sacrificing his ties to Yuan Shao.
However, as current events showed, Yuan Shu completely disregarded Yuan Shao's offer. The increasingly paranoid Yuan Shu rejected the Yuan family's elder's suggestion outright, insisting on taking his own path.
Sometimes, when a person becomes fixated, the more you push them to do something, the more they resist. Yuan Shu was in such a state—though he no longer held hope of formally adopting Sun Ce, he was absolutely confident that Sun Ce would eventually inherit his lineage.
Just as the Yuan family elder was about to continue lecturing Yuan Shu, a messenger burst into the hall.
"Report! General, Liu Biao's forces have crossed the northern Jingzhou border and seized Nan Commandery. His troops are now advancing on Dangyang!" the messenger shouted.
"Liu Biao, you dare! As one of the Eight Stallions, do you not know that attacking during mourning is forbidden?!" Yuan Shu roared in fury.