Not to mention that Chen Xi didn’t even understand what had happened, how had Sunx Ce suddenly soared to such heights? Hadn’t he nearly been torn apart by Zhuge Liang through rumors? How had things taken such an unexpected turn?
As for Yuan Shu, nobody among Liu Bei’s civil and military officials took him seriously, even though he had great potential for warfare. But Yuan Shu couldn’t even bring out his own combat capabilities. If Liu Bei faced Yuan Shu one-on-one, without even using his backup plan, Yuan Shu would have been no different from meat on a chopping board.
The situation now was that Yuan Shu’s son, Yuan Yao, had died, and Yuan Shu wanted to adopt his power base to Sunx Ce, intending to raise Sunx Ce as his own son. Wasn’t there something off about this entire scenario?
Without a second thought, Chen Xi tossed Yuan Shu over the wall, and directly regarded Yuan Shu’s power base as Sunx Ce’s. As for the interference from the elders of the Yuan Clan, even if Yuan Shu himself didn’t plaster the faces of the elders with bricks, the Yuan Family alone couldn’t topple Sunx Ce.
The Yuan Family’s elders, if they wanted to arm wrestle between Yuan Shu’s influence and Sunx Ce, not to mention what kind of combat power the elders could display, Yuan Shu himself was still suppressing any backlashes from the elders. This made Chen Xi entirely dismissive of the elders’ prospects.
A secret letter from Yuzhou had revealed that these elders attempted everything possible in their eyes to be useful, such as holding back, invoking clan rites, suppressing Sunx Ce, and sowing discord, whether it could be done openly or not. The problem was their opponents were the luxurious lineup of Zhou Yu, Pang Tong, Liaoo Li, and Gu Yong.
Now, Yuan Shu had completely lifted the restrictions on Sunx Ce and Zhou Yu, allowing them to grow rapidly by drawing sustenance from him, and it seemed he even intended to lend a hand to ensure Sunx Ce’s path was more stable.
Given the current situation, if those nameless individuals from the Yuan Family could defeat Sunx Ce, the world would have belonged to the Yuan Family long ago. The latest intelligence delivered in the secret messages made Chen Xi feel one thing: the elders of the Yuan Clan were making foolish moves in rapid succession, showing bottomless stupidity, and were endlessly boosting the reputation of Zhou Yu and Sunx Ce.
Chen Xi was unaware of the effect of Zhou Yu’s Spiritual Talent. Once Zhou Yu confirmed that Yuan Shu truly intended to groom Sunx Ce as his legitimate son, he operated his "stupidity halo" around the clock, drastically depleting the intelligence of the Yuan Clan’s elders.
"Sunx Bofu is a problem, and Zhou Yu is quite peculiar. Plus, the power that erupts when these two are together is truly astonishing," Guo Jia said with furrowed brows as he put down the intelligence sent by Jia Wenhe regarding Sunx Ce and Zhou Yu.
"It’s not just astonishing; either of them could be considered a genius on their own. But when they join hands, it’s tough for anyone to stop them," Chen Xi said with a wry smile. "With Zhou Yu by Sunx Bofu’s side, Sunx Bofu’s valor surely won’t be weaker than Yuan Benchu’s at present."
"Can it really be that exaggerated?" Guo Jia raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
"They’re the same age as me. You can just assume their abilities are about the same as mine," Chen Xi sighed, indeed being the same age as Zhou Yu.
"Do we need to activate the backup plan we have in Yuzhou now?" Guo Jia wrinkled his brow. "If it’s as you say, once they take control of their forces, I’m afraid they might break our backup plan."
Chen Xi hesitated, as the plan left in Yuzhou was merely taking advantage of an opportunity. Considering Zhou Yu’s displayed capabilities, if he truly took control of the Three Prefectures of Jing, Yu, and Yang, breaking Chen Xi’s backup plan wouldn’t be difficult.
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"Let it go, Zichuan. We are stationed in the north, so let’s leave the matters of the south to Wen Ru and the others to handle. We need to trust them," said Guo Jia calmly.
"Indeed, that should be the case," nodded Chen Xi in agreement. Li Youu and Jia Xu would surely deal with things related to Sunx Ce on their own. Their main task was still to handle Northern Yuan Shao. Explore hidden tales at freewebnovel
Time rewound to the day when Yuan Shu received news of Liu Biao’s troops advancing into Jingbei. Already grieved by the loss of his son and further educated by an Elder of the Yuan Family, Yuan Shu was on the verge of an explosion. Upon learning that Liu Biao had attacked Jingbei, Yuan Shu became furious and immediately ordered his civil and military officials to prepare to kill Liu Biao.
Sunx Ce had always been eager to take the vanguard against Liu Biao, and this time his resentment was set ablaze anew. Sunx Ce immediately expressed his willingness to lead troops to attack Liu Biao.
As for Zhou Yu, who had always concealed his strength to prevent Sunx Ce from having the chance to kill Liu Biao, playing the game of fostering an enemy for one’s own benefit—this time, he did not stop Sunx Ce. He had confirmed that Yuan Shu truly intended to nurture Sunx Ce as his own son, so he no longer had to worry about those shadowy matters.
[Huh, Yuan Gong seems to have really made up his mind. The path ahead will be much smoother], thought Zhou Yu, as he watched Sunx Ce stand up passionately. Internally Zhou Yu felt at peace, eventually, he would no longer need to hide his capabilities and could go all out to establish a foundation for his sworn brother.
[The populations of Yuzhou, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou number in the tens of millions. With vast lands and sparse populations, what comes next is to prepare military forces and to prosper our dominions. Yuan Gong’s methods are too crude, and his civil and military officials are mostly idle and ineffectual], Zhou Yu silently analyzed and reflected. The Three Prefectures of Jing, Yu, and Yang would become their ultimate home base.
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[Alas, we’re still short of hands. It wouldn’t do to let the noble families control things, yet it seems impractical to cultivate them myself. How on earth did Liu Bei manage to nurture so many scholars?], Zhou Yu couldn’t help but think of Liu Bei, who was currently the most successful in cultivating scholars.
[Hmm, it seems that recruiting wise and virtuous advisors should come first. We urgently need talent for governance, but such individuals are the foundation of a power and are not easy to find. The weak ones are hardly worth mentioning, and the strong have mostly been snapped up by others. Truly troublesome], thought Zhou Yu helplessly.
The talent necessary to sit at the central government, reconcile factions, stabilize power, and promote development was scarce to begin with, and even fewer met Zhou Yu’s high standards. With no other choice, Zhou Yu decided to keep multiple roles himself and appointed Pang Tong to replace him as Sunx Ce’s Army strategist to deal with Liu Biao.
As for Sunx Ce’s request, Yuan Shu readily agreed without much thought, appointing Sunx Ce as Chief General, leading an army of twenty thousand to assist Jingzhou. However, all of Yuan Shu’s generals in Jingzhou were to be under Sunx Ce’s command, and neglected civil and military officials like Gu Yong, Liaoo Li, Zhou Tai, and Jiangh Qin were reinstated and promoted.
"Bofu," Zhou Yu called out to Sunx Ce as they left the main hall.
"Gongjin, what is it?" Sunx Ce stopped to ask.
"It’s not only Liu Biao in Jingzhou but also Liu Zhang’s forces. This time, pay more attention to Shiyuan’s strategies, and carefully assess the combat power of Liu Zhang’s subordinates," Zhou Yu said with a helpless expression. It seemed that all of Yuan Shu’s command had overlooked that not only Liu Biao’s forces had moved out of Jingzhou, but Liu Zhang’s as well.
"Liu Zhang?" Sunx Ce looked puzzled at Zhou Yu but, trusting him, nodded and said, "I’ll be careful, no matter if it’s Liu Biao or Liu Zhang, I will win!" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian (www.qidian.com) to vote for it, use the monthly ticket, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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