Can I get to the other side?

Yingchuan, Xu County.

In the dark and damp dungeon, Fu Wan was lying on a worn straw mat and sleeping. He looked very bad and had no energy.

It was not that anyone abused him, but there was no sunlight in the dungeon, and it was a torture for people to stay here.

In addition, he was imprisoned alone, and there was no one to talk to for so many days.

Fortunately, Fu Wan had a strong willpower. If it were someone else, he would probably have committed suicide. How could he have endured for so long?

But even so, after more than a month, he was almost unable to bear it. Even his reaction became slow. He was either awake or asleep all day.

"Father, father..."

In a trance, Fu Wan heard a familiar voice in his ear.

With the faint light of the candlestick in the dungeon, he saw his daughter, Empress Fu, appear in his cell at some point, squatting beside him, looking at him with a worried look.

"Empress?!"

Seeing Empress Fu, Fu Wan's spirit suddenly lifted, and he sat up from the ground, and said in surprise: "Why is the Empress here? Did Cao Ze also put you in prison?"

If Empress Fu was not really in front of him.

He really thought he was hallucinating.

Empress Fu wore a veil and plain clothes, but even so, it could not hide her plump and graceful figure, and she looked mature and charming.

Hearing Fu Wan's words, Empress Fu shook her head and said: "Cao Ze did not put me in prison, I came here to visit my father."

As she said, she put down the food box she brought, took out the food in it one by one, and placed it in front of Fu Wan.

"I have already pleaded with His Majesty, and His Majesty promised me that he would discuss with Cao the thief and let my father be placed under house arrest like Yang Gong, and no longer be imprisoned in prison."

Although Fu Wan rebelled against the emperor, he was still her father after all, so Empress Fu could not bear to see him suffer in the cell, and asked Emperor Xian of Han to place him under house arrest in the Fu Mansion.

When Fu Wan heard this, his face fell immediately, and he said dissatisfiedly: "I won't go back! I will die in this prison! How can you beg the false emperor for mercy?"

When Empress Fu heard this, a trace of fatigue appeared on her graceful and delicate face, and she sighed slightly: "Why is father so stubborn? I have made it very clear that your majesty is the real emperor, not a false emperor."

"I really don't know what father and Yang Gong were bewitched by, so they are so sure that the emperor in Yecheng is the orthodox."

"Doesn't father even believe me?"

Fu Wan looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he lowered his voice and said: "Queen, your father already knows that you and Yang Biao have replaced the emperor together, why do you have to hide it from me?"

"This time you intend to let the false emperor depose the queen, isn't it just to wash away the stigma of succumbing to the false emperor? It's really beautiful!"

Empress Fu suddenly widened her beautiful eyes, her head was full of doubts and confusion.

Replacing the emperor?

Wash away the stigma?

When has she ever done such a thing!

"Father, you are really possessed. I'm leaving first."

Empress Fu put away the last thought of persuading Fu Wan, stood up and walked out of the prison in disappointment, but she couldn't help but feel a strong impulse in her heart.

She wanted to see the fake emperor in Yecheng with her own eyes, and wanted to know why he could deceive so many people.

Walking out of the dark dungeon, Empress Fu looked up at the blue sky, and the bright sunshine reflected on her fair cheeks, making her look more beautiful.

She murmured: "Yecheng, fake emperor..."

...

Sikong Mansion.

The news that Gongsun Zan was defeated and killed and Yicheng fell had reached Xu County.

Cao Cao, who was playing chess with Xu You, was immediately panicked when he learned about this.

"Gongsun Zan is so unbearable!"

Cao Cao slapped the secret report brought by the scout on the chessboard, his face very ugly.

He thought that even if Gongsun Zan couldn't defeat Yuan Shao, he could still contain him. At the very least, Yuan Shao's strength would be greatly damaged, right?

Who knew that only half a year had passed, and Gongsun Zan actually lost, and Yuan Shao won easily!

What a bullshit White Horse General!

Is that the level?

Xu You, who was sitting opposite Cao Cao, didn't look very good. The moment he heard the news, his heart sank.

"Without Gongsun Zan, the balance between your majesty and Yuan Shao was broken. Yuan Shao could gather troops to attack Yecheng without restraint. Your majesty is in danger this time."

"I have to find a way to help your majesty out."

Xu You's thoughts turned rapidly, and he began to think about how to use Cao Cao to help Liu Xie out, but he felt that no matter how he thought about it, it was inappropriate.

Cao Cao supported the false emperor, and was a natural opposite to Liu Xie. In this case, it would be a blessing not to send troops to attack Yecheng. How could he provide help?

However, although he knew it well, he still decided to give it a try.

"Aman, this matter cannot be ignored."

"If Yuan Shao annexed Youzhou and took Yecheng again to hold the emperor hostage, the next target must be Yanzhou."

"Occupying four states, Yuan Shao's military power is unstoppable, how can Aman compete with him?"

"I think we must not sit idly by and watch Yuan Shao conquer Yecheng!"

"As long as Yecheng is in the hands of the emperor, Yuan Shao will never be able to integrate Jizhou, let alone withdraw to Yanzhou."

Cao Cao knew the current situation well without Xu You saying it.

He sighed and said: "I don't know what Ziyuan said, but what can I do? I can't openly send troops to help Yecheng. In this case, wouldn't I become a rebel pretending to be the emperor?"

When Xu You heard this, he fell silent. For a moment, he couldn't think of a reason to persuade Cao Cao.

From Cao Cao's point of view, he supported the establishment of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, so he should send troops to kill the emperor of Yecheng.

It would be fine if he did not send troops, but if he went to help, it would be equivalent to King Qin acknowledging his identity as the emperor of Yecheng in disguise.

Otherwise, if you can sit back and watch the false emperor's destruction, why wouldn't you want to?

After a long time, he slowly raised his head and said calmly: "Why doesn't Ah Man consider directly serving the Emperor of Yecheng? Just follow what we discussed before and pass the blame for pretending to be the emperor on Dong Cheng."

"For this reason, coupled with the merits of leading the army to serve the king, the emperor will definitely not criticize you harshly. Instead, you will be rewarded vigorously for buying horse bones for a thousand gold coins."

After thinking about it, Xu You began to persuade Cao Cao to switch sides and surrender.

Apart from that, he really didn't know how to help the emperor.

"Right now, if I surrender to the Emperor, what's the difference between that and seeking death? The Emperor himself is in danger. If I surrender, will he be able to defeat Yuan Shao?"

How could Cao Cao listen to Xu You's nonsense?

The reason why he kept his retreat was because he had seen the Emperor of Yecheng drive away Yuan Shao before, and the situation was very good.

But now that Yuan Shao has destroyed Gongsun Zan, as long as he annexes Youzhou, Ye City will be in danger.

In this case, how could he surrender?

"I don't think so."

Xu You did not agree with Cao Cao's view and asked him to analyze it carefully: "Ah, think about it, Lu Bu still has tens of thousands of troops in Xuzhou. If you surrender to the emperor and join forces with Lu Bu to fight against Yuan Shao, you may not have no chance of victory."

"Besides, as long as you, the man who welcomes the Emperor and moves the capital to Xu County, recognize the identity of the Emperor of Yecheng, who in the world can refute it? At that time, when the Emperor issues an imperial edict to all the princes, they will have no reason not to obey, and they will definitely unite King Qin, fight against Yuan Shao together."

Xu You followed the temptation and tried hard to persuade Cao Cao.

But Cao Cao also has ambitions in his heart. It is absolutely impossible for him to give up his ambitions before things get to the worst.

He rejected Xu You's proposal without hesitation and said: "What Ziyuan said is just a hypothesis. You once served under Yuan Shao and you should know his strength better than I do. Once Youzhou falls into his hands, even if With Lu Bu and me helping each other, it will be difficult for the emperor to win, but I will lose my troops."

"The best choice right now is to take advantage of Yuan Shao's attack on Yecheng. Yuan Tan is not in Qingzhou. We take the opportunity to join forces with Zhou Yu to defeat Lu Bu and capture Yangzhou!"

To serve the emperor, you have to fight for the emperor and Yuan Shao.

The soldiers and horses in his hands will be damaged no matter how much they are lost.

And Yuan Shao was powerful, which had both advantages and disadvantages for him.

At least he could take advantage of the fight between Yuan Shao and the Emperor to develop his power southward.

If Yangzhou can be captured, even if Yuan Shao's army presses the border in the future, they can still confront him by relying on the danger of the Yangtze River.

"But……"

When Xu You wanted to continue admonishing, Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and said with some suspicion: "Why does Ziyuan always advise me to surrender to the emperor of Yecheng?"

Xu You's heart suddenly thumped.

Only then did he realize that he had used too much force in his repeated admonitions. Cao Cao was already suspicious and could not continue.

So he swallowed the words that were on his lips and said very naturally: "The so-called icing on the cake is not as good as providing help when the time is right. I just think that it is better to help the emperor when he is in danger than to surrender as a last resort in the future."

Cao Cao did not agree with Xu You's words. Just when he was about to refute, Xu Chu hurried into the back garden and reported to him: "Lord, an angel has sent an imperial edict."

Cao Cao frowned and said displeasedly: "In the past, you accepted it directly for me. Why did you come here to inform me today?"

Xu Chu hesitated for a while and said: "But that angel said that the Lord must go out to receive the order in person... By the way, this angel came from Yecheng."

Cao Cao's expression suddenly froze.

Xu You on the side also raised his head in surprise.

Is this angel from Yecheng?

At first, both of them thought that this imperial edict came from the palace, but no one expected that it was actually an edict from the Emperor of Yecheng!

Everyone in the world doesn't know that Cao Cao supports the emperor of Xu County and regards the emperor of Yecheng as a false emperor, so how can they respect his will.

Now that the imperial edict came out, people could immediately see that there was something weird in it.

Cao Cao still asked with some doubts: "Did you hear clearly, is it the imperial edict from Yecheng? And you want me to accept the edict?"

"right."

Xu Chu nodded heavily.

After repeatedly confirming that Xu Chu's message was correct, Cao Cao's expression kept changing, and various speculations and conspiracies against him from Yecheng emerged in his mind.

"Go and have a look first."

In the end, he decided to take a look at what the edict said before talking about it.

At the entrance of Sikong Mansion.

The angel from Yecheng had been waiting for a long time with the imperial decree in hand. When he saw Cao Cao coming out of the palace, he immediately shouted: "The emperor's decree, the traitor Cao Cao accepts the decree -!"

This voice immediately attracted the attention of the people around him.

"Presumptuous!!" Cao Cao was furious and interrupted the angel before he could finish what he said, "Come on! Get this pretender!"

After the words fell, several soldiers came forward and pushed Yecheng Angel to the ground.

The angel in Yecheng struggled and angrily scolded Cao Cao: "You are so bold, Cao thief! I came here to convey the will of the emperor, how dare you be rude to me!"

The Han envoy must be a strong man.

As an envoy of the emperor, he is not afraid of death at all.

"The emperor?"

Cao Cao sneered and said: "The one in Yecheng is just a fake emperor! The emperor is in Xu County, in the palace!"

"If it weren't for my birthday today and I don't want to see blood, I would definitely behead you, the fake envoy, to set an example!"

"Kick him out of the city!"

After saying that, he turned around and went back to the mansion.

Xu You took a deep look at the angel who was cursing and being driven away. He recognized this person, who was Cui Yan's younger brother Cui Lin!

After returning to the mansion, Xu Chu asked in confusion: "My Lord, I remember your birthday is not today?"

Cao Cao's mouth twitched, and he cursed: "You are the one who talks too much! Go and get the imperial edict back for me!"

"Hey."

Looking at Xu Chu's running back, Cao Cao rubbed his eyebrows with a headache, feeling that he would be pissed off by this fool sooner or later.

If he didn't use the birthday as an excuse, how could he let this "fake emperor" angel go?

Killing an angel is a matter of tearing your face apart, and doing so is equivalent to cutting off your own retreat.

If you fail in the future, you won't be able to surrender to the emperor.

After a while, Xu Chu came back with the imperial edict snatched from Cui Lin's arms.

Cao Cao took the imperial edict, opened it and read it carefully.

But soon his face changed drastically, and he was frightened by the imperial edict.

Seeing this, Xu You hurried over and asked, "Aman, what is written in the imperial edict?"

Cao Cao seemed not to hear it. After a long time, he came to his senses and threw the imperial edict to Xu You, gritting his teeth and saying, "The emperor asked me to send Fu Wan, Yang Biao and the queen to Yecheng!"

"What a good conspiracy!"

The news that Yang Biao, Fu Wan and others were loyal to the emperor of Yecheng had long been suppressed by him. Ordinary people were still unaware of it, and only the officials in the court knew about it.

But once this imperial edict came out, he could no longer cover up the news. Everyone in the world would know about it, because Yang Xiu and Fu De were already serving under the emperor of Yecheng!

At that time, there were only two choices before him.

Either follow the will of the emperor of Yecheng and send people over;

But once he respected the will of the emperor of Yecheng, it meant that he would be charged with the crime of falsely establishing the emperor.

Even if he puts everything on Dong Cheng and claims that he was deceived, he still has to be loyal to the emperor of Yecheng.

If he refuses to send people, it means that he still firmly believes that the emperor of Xu County is the orthodox of the Han Dynasty.

Yang Biao, Fu De and even Empress Fu who disobey the emperor of Xu County must be beheaded.

In this way, everyone will know that Yang Biao, Fu Wan, the two close ministers of the emperor, and Empress Fu all recognize the emperor of Yecheng.

After reading the imperial edict, Xu You was overjoyed.

Cao Cao has been forced into a dead end!

Or in other words, no matter how he chooses, His Majesty will further confirm his status as the orthodox of the Han Dynasty.

Seeing Xu You put down the imperial edict, Cao Cao said with a sullen face: "Fortunately, I didn't let the angel read the imperial edict just now, but this imperial edict can be concealed for a while but not for a lifetime."

"Ziyuan, what should I do?"

Now he is not sure what to do.

Both are dead ends, there is no solution!

Xu You suppressed his inner ecstasy and sighed, "Aman, we have no choice, let's vote."