When Chen Xi received the news of Yuan Yao's death, it came alongside several other significant updates: Liu Zhang's campaign into Hanzhong, Liu Biao's invasion of Jingzhou, unrest in Xiliang, Yuan Shu's plan to adopt Sun Ce as his heir, Gan Ning's successful return to Taishan after completing his mission, and various reports from internal spies about the Yuan family's and the Guanzhong Yang family's conspiracies.
In addition to these major events, there were other developments, such as Zang Hong's plan to join Chen Gong in attacking the Hu people in Bingzhou, Hu Zhao sending Chen Gong a detailed map of the Hetao region, Wei Yan and Guan Ping's mixed results in a conflict in the southern part of Bohai, which culminated in a major battle between Wei Yan and Gao Lan at the Le Ling front, where both broke through to the Inner Qi stage.
Speaking of Wei Yan, it's worth noting that his progress had been somewhat slow, akin to Sun Ce's early days. Although Wei Yan had reached the Inner Qi stage, he still couldn't match Gao Lan, who had been at the peak of the Qi Refinement stage for a long time. Initially, the two were of similar strength, but after the breakthrough, Gao Lan was nearly on par with Zhang He, while Wei Yan was just entering the Inner Qi stage.
Eventually, Zang Ba led his well-prepared legion from Qingzhou, joining forces with Wei Yan and Guan Ping to engage in a fierce battle against Gao Lan, Jiang Yiqu, and Han Meng. They managed to confine the conflict to the Qingzhou-Jizhou border, narrowly averting what could have escalated into a full-scale war between the major powers.
Adding to the pile was a secret letter from Jia Xu, reports from Taishan's covert agents in Qingzhou, news of the Xu province's aristocracy planning a rebellion, and updates on Yanzhou's construction projects. With all these issues suddenly landing on Chen Xi's desk within a matter of days, he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. It was as if the Han dynasty was on the brink of explosion.
"How did this happen? It feels like the sky is falling! How did all these issues pile up on my desk? I was sure I had everything sorted before I left!" Chen Xi exclaimed in frustration, staring at the alarming reports before him. The sheer volume of crises made his head spin.
"It's not that bad," Guo Jia remarked as he sorted through the documents. "Take the issue of Yanzhou's occupation, for instance. We planned for this a long time ago. We just need to adjust our original plan slightly. As for the new city in Yanzhou, we already prepared for the renovation of central cities across the plains. It's just a matter of mobilizing materials now, and Gongyou, that will be your responsibility." Guo Jia turned to Sun Qian with a sigh.
"All these tasks were part of the original plans that Zijing and Zichuan had already set up. We just need to unseal the reserve supplies when the time comes. I've already completed the road plans for the northern regions; all that's left is manpower," Sun Qian replied, waving off the concern. He had grown used to the workload.
Sun Qian was currently overseeing the construction of the new city at Linyi. With Lü Bu and Yuan Shao no longer in the way, the construction pace had significantly increased, although completion was still a long way off.
"What's not bad about this? When I'm not in Taishan, Wenhe and Wenruo seem to go wild. They're using this opportunity to purge our internal factions, but they're being way too violent. How many people will have to die because of this?" Chen Xi said, exasperated. He realized that whenever he wasn't around, Jia Xu and Li You would start playing their dangerous games.
Their method involved deliberately leaving Xuzhou exposed, allowing the enemy to think they could rise up during Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu's ascension—essentially, a bait-and-trap tactic.
"Swift action to cut through the chaos—it's a good strategy. Now's the perfect time to purge our internal factions. As long as our core members remain untainted, we can absorb the remnants of other forces later without risking corruption," Guo Jia said lazily, lying on the table. He wasn't bothered by Jia Xu and Li You's ruthless methods. To him, Chen Xi was often too soft-hearted. When mercy doesn't work, a firmer approach is necessary. Thunder and rain are both tools in the same arsenal—why stick to just one?
"I just think it's a waste for those people to die. As long as they're still people, they have the potential to contribute. Losing them like this is such a pity," Chen Xi sighed. Guo Jia's eyebrow twitched at this, thinking, Zichuan, you really enjoy reforming people through labor, don't you?
"Let's not get sidetracked with pointless discussions. The matter of the Yuan family's southern and northern factions merging is irrelevant—Yuan Shu's stubborn nature means it will never work. But what's going on with Sun Bofu?" Guo Jia pointed to another report.
Since leaving his post as intelligence chief to serve as a military strategist for Guan Yu, Guo Jia had lost touch with much of the southern intelligence, and his knowledge of Sun Ce was now outdated. In his mind, Sun Ce was still an immature boy.
But now, after reviewing Sun Ce's latest intelligence, Guo Jia was shocked. Although Sun Ce's behavior was still somewhat immature, there were already signs of greatness in him—enough to establish his own domain. Guo Jia wondered how that had happened.
"I don't know either. I even deliberately suppressed Sun Bofu and Zhou Gongjin to give Yuan Shu a chance to grow peacefully and strengthen his power, hoping that Yuan Shu's integrity would ultimately block Sun Bofu's path!" Chen Xi was equally frustrated. He couldn't understand it either!
To be honest, Chen Xi had put in a lot of effort behind the scenes to help Yuan Shu become as strong as he was. Jia Xu and others had also lent a hand, all to fatten Yuan Shu up so that only Liu Bei could consume him, making Liu Bei's expansion less conspicuous.
Unlike Jia Xu and the others, who were mainly concerned with creating a strong rear base for Liu Bei, Chen Xi had an additional objective—to use Yuan Shu to restrain Sun Ce.
Frankly, this strategy might seem absurd to those who understood the vast difference in capability between Yuan Shu and Sun Ce, but Chen Xi chose this unlikely approach because he knew it was the only one that could fool Zhou Yu.
Every plot has a shelf life. Once Zhou Yu realized something was off and began to analyze it, he would unravel the scheme within a year or two. So Chen Xi didn't bother with more obvious tactics.
Sun Ce was most known for his loyalty and sense of justice, so Chen Xi decided to target that. In the previous timeline, Yuan Shu had lacked the strength to bind Sun Ce, leading to the deterioration of their relationship and eventual fallout.
Chen Xi had seen Yuan Shu's sense of honor firsthand, so he carefully built up Yuan Shu's power, giving him the ability to uphold his own sense of justice. The nature of human relationships is such that favors are never fully repaid, especially in Yuan Shu's situation. The more Sun Ce respected him, the better Yuan Shu treated the Sun family. Likewise, the more Yuan Shu treated him well, the more grateful Sun Ce felt. In Sun Ce's mind, he couldn't leave Yuan Shu until all debts were repaid—that was his loyalty.
This strategy theoretically should have resulted in the collapse of one of the tripods propping up the balance of power. But things weren't following the script at all. Somehow, Sun Ce had risen to prominence instead!