The news that the emperor temporarily moved to Huaicheng and issued an edict to the world had spread throughout the country. This was not good news for the two Yuans who were fighting each other, and they were put in an extremely embarrassing situation.
Needless to say, when Yuan Shao was in a stalemate with the Black Mountain Army, news came that the emperor wanted to mediate between the two sides, which made the Jizhou side quite embarrassed.
What is even more controversial is that Yuan Xi, a descendant of the Yuan family, actually accepted the emperor's enthronement alone, even earlier than Yuan Shao!
This was a bit taboo. Not to mention that Liu Xie also conferred the title of Grand Marshal on Yuan Shao, but this position was below that of Lu Bu. When Yuan Shao learned the news, he was very unhappy and was reluctant to express his willingness to accept the title.
The counselors within Jizhou also argued endlessly about this matter. After all, on the one hand, the Yuan family was still a minister of the Han court, but on the other hand, if they bowed to the Han court, it would not be conducive to gathering the hearts of the people. After all, Yuan Shao's subordinates all gathered together because they saw the prospect of rebelling to replace the Han Dynasty!
When Yuan Shang in Black Mountain heard the news, he became furious. Taking advantage of the fact that the Han envoys had not arrived yet, he launched several extremely fierce attacks, beating Zhang Yan so hard that he cried out in pain.
As luck would have it, Yang Feng fell ill and was unable to go into battle. This made Zhang Yan suspicious. Was Yang Feng really ill, or was he blackmailing him?
When Yuan Shao was wavering, Yuan Shu felt greatly humiliated.
After Yuan Yao was defeated by Yuan Xi, he did not give up at first. He took Zhang Xun to wait outside the city, looking for an opportunity to rebel. As a result, with the return of the emperor, the strength and military force of Huaicheng increased greatly, and many strategists gathered together, which overwhelmed Yuan Yao's army in an instant.
Among them, Huaicheng showed signs of intending to attack Yuan Yao's army. Seeing that the situation was not good, Yuan Yao quickly retreated towards Yuzhou, which meant that this expedition was a complete failure.
The only good news was that Han Xian of the Baibo Army surrendered to Yuan Yao after being defeated by Cao Cao and escaping, which helped Yuan Yao save some face.
After Yuan Shu learned about this, he sent several generals including Chang Nu to replace Yuan Yao and Zhang Xun in garrisoning the border of Yuzhou. After all, according to his plan, he would be crowned emperor in half a year, and Yuan Yao, as the prince, would have to appear at that time.
In Shouchun, Jiujiang, Yuan Shu sat on the throne, playing with the jade seal in his hand. This was the so-called imperial seal that Sun Jian had presented to him.
The emperors of the Qin and Han dynasties had seven seals. The "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Emperor Guangwu Chronicle" quoted Cai Yong's "Duduan" in the note of the third year of Jianwu: "The emperor had six seals, all of which were made of jade with dragon and tiger knobs, with the inscriptions "Emperor's Seal", "Emperor's Seal", "Emperor's Seal", "Son of Heaven's Seal", "Son of Heaven's Seal", and "Son of Heaven's Seal", all of which were sealed with Wudu purple clay."
These six seals each have their own uses. Now in Liu Xie's hands, together with the most important imperial seal in Yuan Shu's hands, they are collectively called the Seven Seals of the Emperor.
It was precisely because he obtained this jade seal that Yuan Shu believed that he was destined to be king. He placed great faith in prophecies, and his witches and wizards had been persuading him to establish himself. Now Yuan Shu felt that the situation had become a foregone conclusion, and he finally made up his mind.
In the current world, my power is the strongest, even Yuan Shao is inferior to me. As long as I proclaim myself emperor, the nobles and heroes of the world will come to me and help me to increase my prestige and seize the world in one fell swoop!
The only drawback was that Yuan Yao suffered a defeat before he became emperor, which really disappointed him.
What's more, Zhang Xunqiao Rui is even more hateful. As a general, he is so incompetent that he can't even take down a city with only a few thousand people!
Not to mention Qiao Rui's capture, if it weren't for the fact that he was about to become emperor and needed to win the hearts of the people, he would have been severely punished!
Several subordinate officials suspected that there must be some hidden secrets in Qiao Rui's two captures and demanded a thorough investigation to serve as a warning to others, but some believed that the matter should not be dealt with too harshly so as not to affect Yuan Shu's reputation.
Yuan Shu was thinking about how to deal with Qiao Rui when he heard footsteps. He turned around and saw that it was Feng who came.
Feng was the daughter of Feng Fang, the governor of Sili. When she was fleeing, she was noticed by Yuan Shu and taken as his concubine. Because of her beauty, she was greatly loved by Yuan Shu.
She was about twenty years old, with an attractive figure, delicate and slender facial features, lustrous white jade-like skin, bright and juicy lips, and pupils of eyes like black jade. These three features were so distinct that all the other concubines in Yuan Shu's harem were made to pale in comparison.
Because of this, Feng was extremely envied by the other concubines, who all tried to find ways to trick her, including tricking her into pretending to be sad and teaching her some words that would anger Yuan Shu. Feng did all of this, but instead she became even more favored by Yuan Shu!
The other concubines were confused at first, but after seeing how Yuan Shu treated Feng, they realized that if you are beautiful, everything you do is right, and you can do whatever you want!
When Yuan Shu saw Feng coming, he felt much better and waved to her, "Come here, my beauty."
After hearing this, Feng lowered her head and walked to Yuan Shu and knelt down. Yuan Shu saw that she looked worried and her eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist. He asked, "My beauty, are you missing your hometown again?"
"Or has someone in the harem upset the beauty?"
Feng replied quickly: "I am living a very good life, nothing else happened."
Yuan Shu thought that Feng Shi was really impeccable, and could not help but say: "My beauty, please be at ease. When I become emperor, I will make you my queen, and then no one will dare to neglect you."
"I want to make Yuan Yao the crown prince. Although he is not your son, if you become the queen, he will have to recognize you as his mother. Then you will be second only to the emperor and above all others."
Feng was shocked when she heard this and quickly bowed and said, "How dare I be the mother of a country? Please let someone else be the heir!"
When Yuan Shu saw her, he felt that Feng was humble and polite, and laughed, saying, "How can the rest of us women compare to such a beautiful woman with both talent and virtue?"
"Just wait till the time comes!"
Seeing that Yuan Shu insisted, Feng became even more uneasy. Ever since she was taken in by Yuan Shu, she had always wanted to keep a low profile, but her appearance did not allow her to do so.
She saw that she was becoming more and more favored, which was contrary to her original intention. Now she was going to be crowned as queen, which made her even more afraid.
The reason for this was that she was born into a family of officials in Sili and had seen many disputes surrounding the Han emperor and the fate of the queen who was dragged into it.
From Empress Dowager Dong to Empress He, they were all killed because the emperors who ascended the throne were not their biological sons.
Now that she has been made queen, Yuan Yao is Yuan Shu's eldest son, not her biological son. If Yuan Shu dies in the future, how will Yuan Yao treat her?
Thinking of the several times they met, when Yuan Yao looked at her with a beast-like gaze when Yuan Shu wasn't paying attention, Feng shuddered.
Moreover, the Han court still had an emperor, but Yuan Shu dared to proclaim himself emperor. Feng was actually not optimistic about this, but she would never speak out against Yuan Shu, lest she be killed.
Feng felt Yuan Shu's hand reaching out to her. She remained silent, but her eyes were looking towards the sky outside the courtyard.
Liyang, which is several hundred miles away from Shouchun, was temporarily garrisoned by Sun Ben and Wu Jing, generals under Yuan Shu. Because they were relatives of Sun Ce, they were suspected by others, so they were sent out to prepare food and fodder for Sun Ce who was stationed in Moling and attacking Qu'a.
The demand for these food and fodders is quite large, which has caused the local people's livelihood to be much worse than before. The soldiers often do not have enough food, let alone the common people. However, there is laughter and joy in the city now, because news has come that Qu'a has been breached!
The capture of Qu'a, the capital of Wu County, heralded the end of the two-year war, which ended in Liu Yao's complete defeat.
Liu Yao was seriously ill and was taken by his son Liu Ji to flee to Yuzhang. Some people speculated that he was going to seek refuge with Liu Biao in Jingzhou.
But no matter what, this great victory, especially for the officials and generals who were attached to Sun Ce, meant that Sun Ce finally conquered his own territory. From then on, his strength increased greatly and he had a foundation to establish himself!
As for Yuan Shu, he had long been unable to control Sun Ce. If Yuan Shu sent people to appoint officials in Yangzhou, not only would Sun Ce not agree, but Sun Ce's subordinates would not agree either!
Sun Ce's generals, such as Sun Ben, Wu Jing and others, were all excited at the thought that they could finally hold their heads high and build a career with Sun Ce.
In their opinion, following Sun Ce has a much better future than following Yuan Shu!
Although Yuan Shu was powerful, he had too many talented people under his command, and he did his utmost to suppress Sun Ce's faction, which had long since chilled their hearts.
While Liyang was celebrating throughout the whole process, Qiao Rui's mansion in the city was filled with gloom and sorrow.
With tears in her eyes, Xiao Qiao held Da Qiao's hand and said, "Sister, father has been arrested again, what should we do?"
Da Qiao was also slightly annoyed, but she still suppressed her temper and said, "What can I do?"
"Just wait."
Her voice was cold and clear, as if she was not worldly. Xiao Qiao wiped her tears and said, "Aren't you afraid, sister?"
"There are rumors that my father surrendered to the enemy. I heard that the governor is furious and wants to punish his family."
"Sister, shall we run?"
Da Qiao had naturally heard these rumors, and said calmly, "If they really want to punish us, we won't be able to escape if they search the whole city."
Xiao Qiao said pitifully, "Are we just going to wait for death?"
Da Qiao sighed softly, "It's not that there is no solution."
"My father is good friends with Sun Bofu. If I go to him to ask for help, maybe he will help us out of my father's favor."
Xiao Qiao was immediately more alert after hearing this, "Will Sun Bofu really offend the envoy because of us?"
Da Qiao felt helpless after hearing this, "At worst, I can become your concubine in exchange for your safety."
After hearing this, Xiao Qiao shook her head like a rattle, "How can I bear to do this, sister?"
Her eyes suddenly lit up, "Why don't I go ask Zhou Gongjin to be his concubine? Maybe he can save us, and then I won't have to do anything!"
Da Qiao was helpless and knocked Xiao Qiao on the head, "You are still young, what are you thinking about all day long!"
After hearing this, Xiao Qiao looked down at her chest and whispered, "It's not small anymore, at least it's much bigger than her sister's."
After hearing this, Da Qiao's cold look almost broke.
Xiao Qiao is two years younger than Da Qiao. Although she is much shorter than Da Qiao, the food she eats all gathers in one place, leaving Da Qiao speechless.
Da Qiao pressed Xiao Qiao onto her legs, and ignoring the other party's pleas for mercy, she rubbed the other party's head with her fist, venting her anger, but still had a lot on her mind.
Sun Bofu and Zhou Gongjin may not fall out with Yuan Shu because of their father. In fact, it is better to rely on themselves than on others. By then, their sisters may really have to find a way to escape on their own.
There is a river ferry a few dozen miles east of Liyang. Otherwise, how can we bribe the servants and prepare a boat in advance?
But where can you escape to?
For the first time, Da Qiao hated her body as a woman. If she were a man, she would have gone out to do these things long ago!
But now she had to find a way out. She asked Xiao Qiao to go back and rest, while she began to manage the family's financial resources.
How much does it cost to buy a boat?
Da Qiao is overwhelmed.