Chapter 314 Xun Yu’s Choice
Cars rattled and horses rustled.
Cao Cao personally led an army of 100,000 to attack the Huainan area where Yuan Shu was located.
During the march, Cao Cao sat alone in the carriage, with his head down and eyes closed, silent. He seemed to be thinking about something, or waiting for something.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The sound of hurried horse hooves suddenly came from far away.
Cao Cao opened his eyes slightly, revealing a cold gaze like a tiger hunting.
"Urgent report! Urgent report!"
"The emperor was assassinated! The emperor was assassinated!"
Cao Cao suddenly rushed out of the carriage, his eyes wide open, looking at the rider in disbelief.
"What did you say?"
The rider fell to the ground with his horse, not caring about his injuries at all. He quickly turned over and knelt in front of Cao Cao: "My lord, the emperor has been assassinated, I'm afraid..."
Cao Cao was shocked when he heard this. He was stunned for a moment, then he shouted, "You are filial! You are a great talent!"
Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan on the side hurried over.
"Lord!"
"Zixiao, you lead the team and move forward slowly."
"Miaocai, take your 5,000 light cavalry and follow me back to Xu County as soon as possible! The emperor must not be allowed to fail!"
At this moment, Cao Cao was extremely anxious.
"promise!"
Then Cao Cao immediately grabbed his Jueying BMW, got on it, and rode straight to Xu County without stopping.
Upon seeing this, Xiahou Yuan hurriedly rode his cavalry and used his talent to catch up.
If you want to deceive others, you must first deceive yourself.
Only three people knew what Xi Zhicai was planning; even Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan and others were unaware of it.
Therefore, Xiahou Yuan just thought that Cao Cao was too anxious and did not give it any second thought.
This light cavalry marched almost without stopping and returned to Xu County in just a day and a half.
However, Cao Cao was ultimately unable to see Liu Yu for the last time.
When Liu Yu was out investigating the people's conditions, the assassin launched a sneak attack with a poisoned crossbow, hitting Liu Yu right in the chest.
Although Liu Yu was helped by his personal guards and did not die on the spot, he could not hold on for long and died half a day later.
Due to the severe poison, Liu Yu remained in a coma and did not utter a word until his death.
Cao Cao was also not there, and the court was in chaos, but fortunately, with Xun Yu in charge, the chaos was quickly quelled.
However, by this time the emperor's death could no longer be concealed.
Moreover, Liu Yu had only one son, who had been detained by Yuan Shu earlier. The court was leaderless, and the throne of the emperor now became a big problem.
Those loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty, who were numerous, immediately felt that something was wrong and expressed their opinions one after another, wanting to push forward another member of the Liu clan as soon as possible.
Although they did not think that Cao Cao did it, once the throne was vacant, Cao Cao would most likely take the opportunity to seize power.
However, these people were ultimately a group of scattered individuals, each with their own factions and too many concerns, and after talking over and over again they were unable to come to any conclusion.
Xun Yu, who acted as the backbone, never said a word. He just minded his own business and was surprisingly silent.
When Cao Cao returned, everything was still undecided.
When the civil and military officials in the court saw that Cao Cao had arrived, they had to temporarily put aside the idea of urgently appointing an emperor and listen to Cao Cao's advice.
"Wenruo, what's going on? Why would the emperor stab you in the back?" Cao Cao looked at Xun Yu in disbelief.
Xun Yu looked at his lord deeply, his heart was like a knife cutting, and after struggling for a long time, he finally sighed. "My lord, I just received a report from a spy that Liu Yan of Yizhou was also assassinated, just like the emperor. Putting it together, this incident was most likely done by Tian Ze, who intended to assassinate the emperor to force my lord to withdraw his troops, so as to rescue Yuan Shu and seek self-protection."
Cao Cao kept staring at Xun Yu nervously, with hope and pleading in his eyes that were difficult for ordinary people to detect.
After hearing Xun Yu say what he wanted to hear, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. While he was moved, he also felt a little guilty, but it quickly disappeared.
"Tan Ze thief!"
Cao Cao frantically drew the sword from his waist and fiercely split the documents beside him into two halves.
"Not only did he usurp the throne, he even dared to assassinate the emperor. His crimes are so numerous that even the water of the Yellow River cannot wash them away. One day, I will kill him!"
Seeing Cao Cao so excited, all the civil and military officials could not help but feel the same way and started to curse him.
I silently gave myself a thumbs up for my acting skills.
"Gentlemen, the emperor has passed away and the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Who do you think is the most suitable to inherit the throne?"
Upon hearing this, all the ministers began to discuss the issue, but they could not come to a conclusion.
Generally speaking, if the emperor died without an heir, another virtuous member of the royal family could be chosen to succeed him.
But unfortunately, the several clan members under Cao Cao's command all had bad character, and the objects supported by each minister were somewhat evenly matched in strength.
"All right!"
Cao Cao seemed to be enraged. He stopped such meaningless argument and turned to look at Xun Yu.
"Wen Ruo, who do you think is the most suitable person to succeed the throne?"
Upon hearing this, all the ministers turned their eyes to Xun Yu.
You know, Xun Yu was indeed a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, and his ability and status were irreplaceable under Cao Cao.
After Liu Yu succeeded to the throne, he had a very close relationship with Xun Yu.
Liu Yu was not a simple person. He was good at attacking people's hearts. It was not known whether this move was intentional or unintentional. The relationship between him and Xun Yu as monarch and subject was quite deep.
And Xun Yu did not disappoint. He worked hard in assisting Liu Yu in handling the affairs of the court and actually won the recognition of this group of loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty.
They regarded Cao Cao as their greatest enemy, but never questioned Xun Yu.
At this moment, Cao Cao let Xun Yu speak, which undoubtedly convinced them.
Xun Yu frowned slightly when he heard this.
He had always been someone who remained calm even when faced with a catastrophe, but now his heart was completely in turmoil.
He knew what his next words meant.
Facing so many eager eyes, I took stock of the current situation in the world.
His loyalty to Cao Cao began a fierce struggle with the idea of loyalty to the Han Dynasty that he had been instilled with since childhood.
After a long while, Xun Yu glanced at everyone and let out a breath.
"The throne of the emperor cannot be held by anyone other than a virtuous person. This matter is of great importance and cannot be dealt with hastily. It is better to discuss it later."
"The key now is to destroy the fake things."
"Tian Chengshou is a culprit for assassinating the emperor. His intention is to force General Cao to withdraw his troops so as to rescue Wei Cheng. We must not follow his will."
"The affairs of the imperial court are handled by the three dukes and nine ministers. We should avoid any chaos and consider the overall situation first."
Upon hearing this, all the ministers were unwilling to do so and began to discuss the matter again.
Finally, Cao Cao couldn't bear it anymore and shouted again: "Shut up!"
"How can you be so presumptuous in the court?"
"Now that we are facing a powerful enemy and the situation is urgent, why must my lord argue about this fruitless issue at this time? Just follow what Lord Xun said and put this matter aside for now. When I return from defeating the fake Cheng, we can discuss it again!"
(End of this chapter)
