Yuan Shu always kept his word. Although Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui knew that this opponent would be difficult to deal with, they had no choice but to obey his orders.
Zhang Xun hesitated for a second before finally saying, "From Yuzhou to Hedong, you will probably have to pass through Luoyang."
"I heard that the emperor is in Hanoi and will return to Luoyang at any time. What should we do if we encounter the emperor at that time?"
Yuan Shu became annoyed and said, "I am going to establish my own power, why should I care about a puppet?"
"Find an opportunity and kill him!"
Qiao Rui's heart skipped a beat. To openly kill the emperor would mean he would be cursed by the whole world!
"The emperor is now in the hands of Yang Feng and other Baibo generals. We are already at war with several princes at the same time. I'm afraid it's not a good idea to create more enemies, right?"
During this period at the end of the Han Dynasty, the princes attacked each other and often had several enemies at the same time, but they would also seek allies for help.
But there are a few anomalies who make enemies everywhere and can't get along with anyone. Yuan Shu is the most typical one among them.
At present, he has completely broken with Yuan Shao, and is fighting with Cao Cao on and off. He sent Sun Ce to attack Xuzhou, and attacked Liu Yao, the prefect of Yangzhou, and also had his eyes on Liu Biao of Jingzhou.
Now he was discussing the marriage with Lu Bu, but because the other party's attitude was unclear, Yuan Shu wanted to send troops to threaten him.
The enmity between Yuan Shu and Lu Bu was entirely Yuan Shu's fault. When Lu Bu was attacking Cao Cao in Chenliu, Yuan Shu came to Lu Bu and wanted to join forces with him, and promised to give him food.
Lu Bu agreed immediately and fought Cao Cao at all costs. When he ran out of food, he went to ask Yuan Shu for food.
As it happened, Yuzhou was also hit by a locust plague. Yuan Shu was unable to provide food for the time being, so he simply broke the agreement and drove away Lu Bu's envoy.
Actually, it was entirely possible for Yuan Shu to raise some food, but he lived an extravagant life and would rather keep the food for himself, which made Lu Bu very unhappy, so he fell out with Yuan Shu.
After this incident, although Yuan Shu came to his senses and negotiated a marriage with Lu Bu who had fled to Hanoi, Lu Bu still had some resentment in his heart and dragged his feet on the matter and never expressed his position.
But Yuan Shu could not wait any longer. Sun Ce, his most capable subordinate and adopted son, had now gathered a group of troops and was extremely powerful. There were signs that he could become too powerful to be controlled. Moreover, Yuan Shu had broken his promises to Sun Ce several times, which had caused the other party's dissatisfaction.
Therefore, Yuan Shu wanted to bring in Lu Bu to join forces, and also wanted to use Lu Bu to suppress Sun Ce and thus maintain a balance.
After hearing what Qiao Rui said, Yuan Shu realized that he had been a little too hasty, so he nodded and said, "In that case, forget about the emperor. Go and tell Lu Bu what I said. The marriage between the two families cannot be delayed any longer. He must send his daughter over directly!"
Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.
Lu Bu was indeed down and out, but was this act, which was almost like kidnapping a bride, a good thing?
Thinking of Sun Ce and Liu Yao still confronting each other in Wujun, Yuan Shu said angrily: "There are not many people I can rely on now!"
"Sun Ce really disappoints me. After fighting for several months over a mere river, we have made no progress at all!"
"I really doubt whether he has ulterior motives!"
Qiao Rui's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, Bofu has gone all out, and all his generals have come forward, and they have put Liu Yao in danger several times."
"But Guangling Taishi Ci crossed the river alone to help Liu Yao. He is a very skilled archer and a great threat in naval battles. I heard that he shot and wounded several generals, which frustrated Bofu's offensive."
After hearing this, Yuan Shu sneered and said, "What effect can a mere general have? Is Sun Ce exaggerating?"
Qiao Rui smiled bitterly and said, "Taishi Ci is very powerful. It was he who rushed into Guangling City and captured me that day. He is truly a fierce general of the time."
"Taishi Ci is a subordinate of Yuan Xi. The Yuan family is a fierce tiger with many tricks and should not be underestimated."
After hearing this, Yuan Shu snorted coldly: "How dare the lowly offspring born by Yuan Shao's lowly slave bully me!"
"Forget it. I'll marry Lu Bu and then have him help me defeat Yuan Shao!"
Seeing Sun Ce suffer a defeat, Yuan Shu actually felt relieved, because in this way, Sun Ce would not have any other thoughts for the time being.
Yuan Shu saw that there was nothing more to say, so he waved his hand to Zhang Xunqiao Rui and asked him to leave. He then hugged several beauties and started to have sex. He tore off the beauties' clothes and did whatever he wanted. He still felt unsatisfied and asked, "Where is Madam Feng?"
Several concubines looked at each other and said in unison: "Madam has been in a bad mood these days, crying every day, and she said she couldn't leave the house."
Yuan Shu was quite unhappy when he heard this, "Why is she crying again? How have I treated her badly?"
"She doesn't like me that much?"
Seeing that Yuan Shu was angry, several beautiful concubines hurriedly lowered their heads, but tried their best to hide the joy in their eyes.
Madam Feng was the daughter of Sili Feng Fang. She fled to Yuzhou that day, looking dusty and in a miserable state. Yuan Shu saw her on the city wall, so he ordered her head and face to be washed and examined carefully. He was struck by her beauty and immediately took her into the harem.
Cao Pi of later generations mentioned in "Dianlun" that the daughter of Feng Fang, the governor of Sili, was a beauty in the country.
"Jiuzhou Chunqiu" records: The daughter of Sili Feng Fang was a beauty. She fled to Yangzhou to avoid the chaos. Shu climbed the city wall and saw her and was attracted to her, so he took her in and loved her very much.
At that time, there were very few people who could be recorded as being beauties of the country, which shows that Feng was indeed outstanding in appearance.
But Feng also has a big problem.
Too simple.
Mrs. Feng was beautiful and Yuan Shu liked her very much. He stayed with her all day and doted on her. This aroused the jealousy of other women in Yuan Shu's harem, so they wanted to frame her.
One of her concubines said to her that Yuan Shu liked people with ambition and integrity the most, and she should remain sad and tearful, so that he would like her more.
Originally, this was a bad idea, intended to make Yuan Shu hate Madam Feng. However, Madam Feng believed it and started to cry and look depressed when she saw Yuan Shu.
Now this matter has become a laughing stock among Yuan Shu's concubines, and they all want to laugh at her.
Now, seeing that Yuan Shu was also annoyed by this, the concubines were even happier and hoped that Yuan Shu would kill Feng in a rage.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu's next words left the concubines stunned.
"Mrs. Feng's family has fallen on hard times, and she is homeless. Her life story is deplorable, and I feel pity for her."
"If I ascend the throne and make her the queen, she will probably be happy, right?"
A trace of murderous intent flashed in the eyes of several concubines. Feng was much more beautiful than them. If she became the queen, where would their place be in the future?
How about finding an opportunity to kill her?
After Qiao Rui returned home, he asked his servants to pack their luggage. He sat in the courtyard thinking about something, and then he saw Da Qiao coming out and said, "Father, are you leaving again for something?"
Qiao Rui hurriedly asked Da Qiao to go back to the house, saying, "You and your sister should not come out unless necessary, lest someone sees you and has bad thoughts about you."
He thought that his two daughters were still young, and when they reached marriageable age in a few days, there would definitely be trouble.
He knew very well that Yuan Shu was a lustful man who would take any beautiful woman into his harem. If his daughter's reputation got out, he was afraid that she would be in trouble.
To be fair, Qiao Rui did not want his daughter to marry Yuan Shu. He saw that Yuan Shu was unfair and incompetent in managing his subordinates. Both the generals and the harem were dissatisfied with him.
Regardless of whether Yuan Shu can become emperor in the future, the harem is a place of right and wrong. It would not be a good thing if the two Qiao sisters entered it.
After hearing what Qiao Rui said, Da Qiao understood about 70% of it. She nodded and said, "Father, I understand what you said. I hope you take care of yourself and come back safely."
Qiao Rui was relieved after hearing this, "You are thoughtful. I know what's going on. You two should just stay in the house with peace of mind."
Da Qiao looked at Qiao Rui, who looked worried, and thought that her father must have encountered some difficulties, otherwise how could he be so worried?
After Qiao Ruidi walked out of the house, Da Qiao suddenly remembered that in two years she would be old enough to get married. If her husband was like her father, busy with military affairs every day and rarely returned home a year, would she have to worry and look forward to it every day?
Da Qiao suddenly felt a little worried. It would be fine if it was really like this, but a real man is born in troubled times and this is the time for him to make achievements. Who with a little ambition would not want to throw himself into the turbulent times of the world?
Her only small wish was to have her future husband. Even if he seldom came home and had not accomplished anything, she would be satisfied as long as he could return safely, grow old with her, and not abandon her alone.
On the Yangtze River, Taishi Ci drew his bow and arrow, aimed at Zhou Tai on the bow of a boat in the distance, and shot.
The arrow was like a meteor and hit Zhou Tai right in the chest. He screamed and fell backwards, and it was unknown whether he was alive or dead.
Seeing their commander being shot down, the soldiers on the warship immediately became confused and quickly turned the ship around to flee back.
Taishi Ci was not willing to let go of this opportunity, so he shouted, "Set sail!"
"Chase them, don't let them escape!"
At this moment, a slightly childish voice sounded.
"Wait a minute, General. Beware of fraud."
The person who spoke was a teenager of about fifteen or sixteen years old. Taishi Ci stopped and asked in confusion: "It's just a warship, what's the problem?"
The young man said calmly: "General, think about it. It is not normal for the general on the opposite side to be shot in the chest."
"The thickest part of the armor is the chest. How could it be easily penetrated by an arrow?"
"Also, the number of soldiers on the other side's deck is obviously much smaller. This makes sense on other ships, but it is a bit wrong on the commander's ship. It is obviously intended to lure the commander to chase and seize the ship."
Taishi Ci was also a smart man. When he thought about it carefully, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. There were indeed some problems!
He thought of what Yuan Xi had told him before he left, that he must not advance alone into deep territory, lest he fall into the enemy's trap. He thought he had been so blinded by the killing that he had forgotten about this!
Thinking of this, he bowed to the young man and said respectfully: "Bo Yan is young and talented, he will become a great man in the future!"
Taishi Ci's mind became active. The young master really has the ability to judge people!
This young man was someone Yuan Xi specifically pointed out to pay attention to. Now that he was recruited by Liu Yao as an advisor, I had to think of some way to recruit him for the young master!
Zhou Tai rolled over and sat up from the deck, cursed, and pulled the arrow out of the leather armor on his chest. The arrow head was shining coldly, without any bloodstain.
He put iron armor over his leather armor and stuffed linen in the middle to block the arrows. This was to deceive Taishi Ci, but he didn't expect that the opponent would not be fooled!
There was the sound of footsteps, and Sun Ce, Han Dang and others came out of the cabin one after another, all with regretful looks on their faces.
If Taishi Ci dared to catch up, they could mobilize all their generals to capture Taishi Ci alive. But now it seems that their plan has failed.