Chapter 289 Born as a Servant of the Yuan Family

At Yuan Shao’s residence in Xindu, the clerks in various offices were all busy with their work and had no time to spare. One chief clerk was buried in copying documents.

Some clerks were panting and sweating, walking hurriedly with bamboo slips in their hands. When they met their colleagues face to face, they didn’t even have time to say hello.

Although the decrees of the Governor of Jizhou could not leave Anping County, the clerks were still unusually busy. Even if they did not know what they were busy with, they at least wanted to let Yuan Gong’s sons see that they were working hard.

When passing by the hall, the officials could not help but tiptoe and hold their breath, for fear of disturbing the noisy clamor inside and bringing trouble upon themselves.

Ever since Lord Yuan was defeated and died, his relatives have been holding their breath, fearing that if anyone did the slightest thing wrong, they would suffer an unexpected disaster.

The abilities of the officials Yuan Shao employed are another matter, but they were even better at observing their master’s facial expressions and trying to figure out his intentions.

Know when to do something and when not to do it.

In such a critical moment, it is much better to keep yourself busy so as to avoid offering suggestions and then taking the blame in the end.

A clerk happened to pass by the front hall and heard a dull noise inside. It seemed that a desk had been overturned to the ground, and the utensils on the desk were scattered on the ground with a crackling sound.

The clerk was immediately frightened and quickly ran away to avoid it.

If you walk a little slower, you might get thrown at someone from the other side of the green tiles and white walls.

Recently, there have been many cases of tools being thrown to the ground in anger, which has frightened people and made them stay away from the place.

As the officials outside had expected, Huang Tang in the mansion saw that the two sides argued endlessly over Yuan Shao’s last words and almost came to a fight.

“Xun Youruo, what did Lord Yuan say to you before he died? Tell me the truth.”

Ju Su opened his eyes wide, pointed at Xun Chen and asked angrily.

Three or four officials who had escaped saw it. At that time, only Xun Chen was closest to Yuan Gong and he leaned forward to listen.

But at that time the cavalry of Qingzhou had already surrounded him. If he had not been afraid of death and defected to the enemy, how could he have been released by Liu Bei?

In the reply letter, they said that Lord Yuan had left a last will: order all counties in Hebei to surrender to Liu Xuande and not to resist any more.

If it weren’t for Lord Ju who rushed back in time, Lord Yuan’s sons and his wife Liu would have been almost persuaded by Xun Chen.

What a bold and shameless dog thief, how dare he sell out Hebei like this.

Whenever he thought of this, Ju Su could not help but look at Xun Chen with gnashing teeth. It was true that many of the Yingchuan gentry had committed immoral and humiliating acts. As soon as they arrived in Jizhou, they competed with the Hebei gentry for profit everywhere.

Seeing that Hebei was in ruins like a mountain and rivers were declining, and the Yuan family was on the verge of collapse and exhausted, they wanted to change their allegiance and surrender to Liu Bei in Qingzhou.

Facing Ju Su who was so angry that he overturned the table, Xun Chen also glared at him, and said with an unhappy look, “I have said it many times. When Lord Yuan’s life was hanging by a thread, he pulled my sleeve with his hand, signaled that he would listen, and said he would surrender many times. This is absolutely true. I swear to heaven. If I lie, I, Xun Chen, will be exterminated and my family will be extinct.”

Xun Chen could no longer bear being questioned by Ju Shou again and again, so he simply raised his finger to the sky and swore to prove his innocence.

Betraying your master and joining the enemy is acceptable once or twice, but not three times.

After all, Xun Chen is the descendant of Xunzi, and he has to value his reputation. How could he be so shameless as to talk nonsense about Yuan Gong’s last words and do something shameless?

When Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang heard that Xun Chen was forced into a corner and even dared to swear to the sky, they all looked at each other in surprise.

Yuan Tan thought to himself, “Mr. Xun… maybe what he said is true.”

Perhaps Aong saw that the situation was hopeless, and that he could not defeat the enemy with more than 100,000 men, let alone the remaining defeated soldiers. How could he stabilize Hebei? Moreover, none of us had the prestige to support the Yuan family, and it would be difficult for us to gather troops and fight Liu Xuande again.

In order to preserve the descendants of the Yuan family, he had to surrender to Liu Bei.

Yuan Tan thought he understood Aweng’s worries to some extent. At this moment, let alone the officials of Jizhou, even he, facing Liu Xuande’s army that was so powerful that it could defeat ten enemies with one strike, was thinking of escaping from Xindu and leading his followers to Bingzhou to avoid the attack.

The morale of the armies can be taken away, and the hearts of the generals can be taken away. Liu Bei defeated Hebei in the battle of Gaoxiang, Du County, and even the morale of Hebei was broken.

He first defeated an army of 40,000 and captured Gao Gan, and then defeated an army of 100,000 and severely defeated Yuan Shao. This dampened the morale of Jizhou and made many people lose confidence in winning in the face of such a strong enemy. Not to mention the soldiers, even the main generals in various places began to waver.

Such a fierce Han relative in military operations had appeared two hundred years ago. He not only swept across Hebei, but also established his rule over the world, revived the Han Dynasty, and restored the prestige of the Han Dynasty.

How could the Yuan family not be afraid?

Seeing Xun Chen’s words so confidently, Yuan Tan could not help but turn his gaze to Ju Su and asked, “Lord Ju, the people in the counties are scattered at the moment and I am afraid it will be difficult to resist Liu Xuande. What should we do now, respect the old man’s last wish and surrender to Liu Qingzhou?”

To be honest, he didn’t want to resist anymore. Even if he moved to Chaoxian County, it would at least preserve a glimmer of hope for the Yuan family.

If my descendants make contributions to the border counties in the future, the imperial court may show leniency.

“Hebei, you must not surrender!!”

Ju Su was about to say something, but was interrupted by a loud voice. Shen Pei, with a disheveled beard, stepped into the room, bowed to everyone, and said, “Hebei cannot surrender. We, the officials, have been appointed by Lord Yuan with great kindness. At this critical moment, how can we surrender to the enemy?”

“A man’s integrity cannot be taken away. He should be a subject of the Yuan family while alive and a ghost of the Yuan family after death. How can he surrender so easily?”

Shen Pei shouted harshly, his voice colder than ever before.

He stared at Xun Chen and asked bluntly, “Youruo, how could Lord Yuan be defeated so quickly? Where were you at that time? Who was giving you advice and suggestions?”

Xun Chen was almost fed up with being held accountable by so many people when he returned. It would be better for him to stay in prison with Guo Gongze and Tian Yuanhao. At least the three of them would be together, and if there was an argument, all three of them would be held responsible.

It was better than being interrogated by Lady Liu, Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang, Ju Shou, Xin Ping and others, and then questioned by Shen Pei.

While he was furious, he also felt grief and indignation. He took a half step forward, stared at him and said, “The reason for Lord Yuan’s defeat is that Tian Feng and Guo Tu’s strategies were contradictory and each insisted on his own opinion.”

“Mr. Shen seems to be loyal, but in fact he only acts for his own integrity. He just wants to leave his name in history and never worries about the Yuan family.”

“Now Liu Xuande has brought his upright flag and magnificent battle formation to defeat our army with a small force. Now he is even more powerful than before, sweeping across the sky and sweeping across the land, taking advantage of the victory to chase us northward.”

“Wherever the Qingzhou army went, they were victorious in battle and captured everything. They won battle after battle, and their soldiers, horses, and flags were very impressive. Zhang He and Gao Lan were defeated one after another, and Dong Zhao retreated to Bohai to wait for help. The governors of all the counties were terrified when they heard about this, and the people were worried. May I ask what good strategy do you have to repel the enemy?”

“Jun Yi can die, but can the Yuan family survive?!”

Xun Chen was so angry that his eyebrows were drooping and his neck turned red as he pointed at Shen Pei and asked.

Damn it, only you, Shen Pei, are loyal ministers, and I, Xun Youruo, am a treacherous minister?
If you resist to the end, not only will your own clan suffer, but the Yuan clan will also die with you.

You really can’t tell what’s going on, or is there something blocking your eyes, making you look as blind as a blind man?

At this time, it was not the princes fighting for the world, but the Han clan members fighting against rebellion and punishing tyrants.

You still have the mark of Han officials on you, and you are stubborn and self-willed, regardless of life and death. At that time, it was not only the Shen family that suffered the extermination of three clans.

(End of this chapter)