Can I get to the other side?

"How could this be so, how could this be so..."

Yuan Xi knelt on the ground dejectedly, muttering to himself with his eyes vacant.

He hated Yuan Shao so much. If Yuan Shao hadn't been so wild and rebellious, how would the Yuan family have been brutally executed by the clan?

He is now ranked as the Third Duke. If the Yuan family were here, then the Yuan family would be the most prominent Third Duke of the Fifth Generation!

But now, everything has been ruined by Yuan Shao!

After a long time, Yuan Xi stood up with dull eyes, walking heavily like a zombie, walking out of Tai'an Hall and stepping into the heavy snow.

The officials who were retreating along the way all stayed away when they saw him, and no one dared to approach him, as if they were avoiding the god of plague.

Guo Jia and Jia Xu were also walking on the road.

Looking at Yuan Xi's back, Guo Jia shook his head and said: "Yuan Shao is stubborn and tries to use the power of his family to make His Majesty compromise. He is really to blame for the destruction of his family."

"What do Wen He think?"

Jia Xu glanced around and didn't answer. He just smiled and said, "It's snowing heavily today. Why don't you come to my house to pay your respects? It's been a long time since you and I got together."

Guo Jia's eyes moved slightly and he smiled.

"good!"

…

Jia Mansion, backyard.

After taking Guo Jia back to his house, Jia Xu ordered the servants to set up the stove, bring out plates of chopped mutton and warm wine, and invited Guo Jia to the table.

“Eating mutton boiled in antique soup during heavy snowfall.”

"You old man will enjoy it."

Seeing this, Guo Jia couldn't help but joke, this is an antique soup, a popular way to eat it in winter among wealthy people, and Jia Xu can be considered a gourmet.

Jia Xu smiled and said: "I don't have many hobbies in my life, and food is just one of them. This is lamb meat. Fengxiao, you are in luck today."

As he spoke, he filled Guo Jia's wine bottle with wine.

Guo Jia had been abstaining from drinking for some time. When he smelled the aroma of wine, the alcohol bug in his stomach was about to start, but he still suppressed it.

"Bring me some tea. I've given up drinking and drinking. Now I don't drink. Don't try to harm me."

For the sake of his health, he has already started to maintain his health, and he plans to slowly make up for the losses in his body to avoid dying young.

"The sun comes out from the west."

Jia Xu glanced at Guo Jia in surprise, but he didn't force himself. He asked someone to serve tea soup to Guo Jia, and then drank it by himself.

Guo Jia was so greedy that he could only forcefully divert his attention and asked: "Your Majesty's clan destroyed the Yuan family today. What does Wen He think?"

Coming here as a guest today is secondary. The main purpose is to discuss with Jia Xu the major events that happened in the court today.

"How else can we look at it?" Jia Xu smacked his lips and looked at Guo Jia, "Fengxiao should know in his heart that the Yuan family must be killed and the aristocratic family must be shocked."

"Why is Yuan Shao so confident in the court today and dares to use the power of his family to force His Majesty? It's just because of the fourth generation and the third prince of the Yuan family. It's just because the Yuan family has close contacts with other aristocratic families, and their interests and in-laws are too deeply involved. He concluded that those aristocratic families I won’t stand by and watch.”

"Those people also know in their hearts that they are also taking this opportunity to test His Majesty to see if His Majesty will compromise."

"But they underestimated His Majesty's skill and decisiveness."

"Aristocratic family, this is a whole class."

"What they like Yang Biao and Xun Chen are actually protecting is not the Yuan family, but the interests of this class."

"Your Majesty has implicated the nine Yuan clans today. If something happens to them in the future, won't they also be implicated in the nine clans?"

"This is one of the fundamental reasons why they begged for mercy."

"The second step is to test His Majesty's attitude to judge where His Majesty's bottom line is. From then on, they will know the bottom line."

Guo Jia took a deep breath and sighed with fear on his face:

"After all, one step back, one step back."

"If Your Majesty compromises today, it means he will have to compromise on more things in the future."

"This is what those aristocratic families want to see, but His Majesty's reaction exceeded their expectations."

"Fortunately, after two consecutive compromises, His Majesty did not continue to give in, but killed Xun Chen without saying a word."

"Such thunderous methods and capriciousness not only frightened the noble families in the court, but also me."

Jia Xu nodded and said: "Whether it is the execution of the ten clans or the nine clans, it will bring great turmoil to the court. It can be seen that His Majesty's purpose from the beginning is to destroy the Yuan clan."

"But if we propose clan execution from the beginning, we will not achieve our goal... His Majesty has become more and more proficient in using the art of the emperor."

The nine clans have been implicated unprecedentedly, and even the clans that have been wiped out are very few. Usually, the worst that offends the emperor is that the whole family is implicated.

When the emperor was angry, he laid down millions of corpses and their blood flowed into the river.

From today on, everyone will have an accurate understanding of the emperor's wrath.

That is the annihilation of the clan!

It’s not about killing the ten clans, nor the nine clans, but just killing all the people in your clan with the same surname. It’s not very cruel, but it can make people understand the consequences of touching the emperor’s bottom line!

"But... I'm a little worried. After His Majesty did this, those aristocratic families will inevitably have other ideas in their minds. Xun Chen is the hero after all."

"The overall situation is uncertain now. Is it too early?"

Guo Jia still expressed his worries.

The slaughter of the Yuan family at this time, if used properly, will certainly have far more advantages than disadvantages. It can greatly enhance the authority of the imperial power, shock the nobles and send a signal——

Let them put away some of their petty thoughts since Dong Zhuo's chaos and Yuan Shao's appearance of kidnapping the emperor. The emperor is still not to be provoked and is a sacred existence that needs to be looked up to by high mountains.

Of course, there are risks in doing so.

For example, if we decisively kill a representative of a noble family with meritorious service like Xun Chen, it might make those noble families feel insecure and even seek refuge elsewhere.

"This is Fengxiao, you are confused."

Jia Xu smiled slightly, picked up a piece of mutton from the copper pot with chopsticks, dipped it in some sauce and put it in his mouth, chewing it carefully, with a satisfied look on his face.

Then he opened his eyes and looked at Guo Jia, saying leisurely:

"Yuan Shao rebelled but his whole clan was not executed. Wouldn't everyone be able to learn from him in the future?"

"Besides, your majesty defeated Yuan Shao this time and returned with a great victory. He also gave in and compromised twice in succession, which has given enough face to those noble families."

"If your majesty gives up this opportunity and doesn't deter those noble families, it will be even more difficult to take action against them after the unification of the world."

"You must know that it is difficult to get rid of the powerful. The precedent of Emperor Guangwu is still vivid in our minds."

Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was undoubtedly a heroic ruler.

But even such a cavalry emperor did not take action against the noble families in the early stage, which led to the gradual expansion of the noble families after the unification and the unification of the world. It was too late to take action.

So Jia Xu felt that the emperor had grasped the timing of taking action against the Yuan family just right.

"And Fengxiao, don't forget that since the rebellion, His Majesty has relied on Lu Bu and the Zhen family. The other noble families have not been of much help to His Majesty. Most of them just surrendered at the sight of the enemy."

"As long as His Majesty firmly holds the military power in his hands, who dares to object? Who can have an opinion? Yuan Shao was killed for his rebellion, so how can they dare to rebel again?"

"Even if they are bold, how can they compare with Yuan Shao? Once the royal army arrives, they will be destroyed in an instant."

Jia Xu snorted coldly, his face full of disdain.

The emperor is not Dong Zhuo.

Those noble families can unite to resist Dong Zhuo, but they dare not unite to resist the emperor, especially an emperor who holds military power and does not rely on them.

And what if Xun Chen is killed?

The emperor compromised twice, and Xun Chen still dared to rely on his status and merits, and wanted to force the emperor to make concessions with the power of the noble family. He was already on the way to death.

Not killing will cause chaos.

The extermination of the Yuan family will certainly bring many disadvantages, but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Jia Xu is much older, and his vision is much more vicious than Guo Jia, so he has a deeper understanding of things.

In his opinion, if the emperor retreats this time, he will inevitably become a puppet of those aristocratic families in the future.

After Jia Xu's analysis, Guo Jia also put his mind at ease and said with emotion:

"Your Majesty is young, but your skills are exceptionally smart."

"I can't see through your Majesty more and more."

He thought back to the time when he first met the emperor, he was still very immature, and even didn't dare to kill him when he mistakenly thought he was someone sent by Yuan Shao.

But only three short years have passed, and his skills have made him feel palpitations.

Jia Xu smiled and said: "Fengxiao, you are obsessed. We don't have to see through your Majesty. We just need to follow your Majesty's will and think about your Majesty."

"Remember, your Majesty is our support."

"Your Majesty is good, so we can be good."

He doesn't need to say that he was born in a humble family and has nothing to do with the aristocratic family.

Although Guo Jia was from Yingchuan Guo family, he was only a branch of a branch and had long since fallen.

So they were not in the same camp as Cui Yan's group. They relied on the emperor. To put it bluntly, they were the emperor's loyal dogs.

But isn't it an honor to be the emperor's loyal dog?

How many people in the world want to be but don't have this opportunity.

Guo Jia nodded deeply. At this time, he saw that Jia Xu was about to drink up the warm wine. After all, he couldn't tolerate it in his heart and snatched the wine pot.

"Today is an exception."

Jia Xu laughed, clapped his hands, and ordered the servants to send a few more pots of wine, and said with a smile: "I have prepared it for you a long time ago!"

Guo Jia was overjoyed.

Then the two of them ate mutton and drank wine, watching the snow and chatting, until dark before they dispersed.

Before Guo Jia left, Jia Xu said meaningfully: "Fengxiao, I am several dozen years older than you, and I regard you as a friend of different ages. I have something to say to you."

Guo Jia paused and asked: "Jia is all ears."

Jia Xu said solemnly: "Don't try to see through your majesty's thoughts. Even if you can see through your majesty's mind one day, you must pretend that you can't see through it. You must know that this is the way to death."

Guo Jia was stunned when he heard this, and then he suddenly realized it and bowed to Jia Xu solemnly.

"Wenhe, don't worry, Guo Jia understands."

After watching Guo Jia leave, Jia Xu raised his hand slightly, and an inconspicuous servant bowed to him.

"Keep an eye on Cui Yan's group for me during this time." Jia Xu said in a deep voice with a deep look in his eyes.

The servant nodded respectfully, and then quietly retreated like a ghost, disappearing in the shadow of Jia's mansion.

...

Yuan Mansion.

After retiring from the court, Yuan Xi returned to his mansion.

After returning to the mansion, he did not treat the wound on his head. He just sat in the hall in a daze until it was completely dark outside.

Just as the housekeeper in the mansion was hesitating whether to go forward to inquire about the situation, Yuan Xi slowly stood up and walked towards a small courtyard deep in the Yuan Mansion.

That was where his mother, Madam Liu, lived.

Madam Liu was wearing plain clothes, sitting on the couch, reciting Laozi's five thousand characters in a low voice in front of her.

"Mother..."

Yuan Xi came to Madam Liu's couch, knelt down with a plop, and shouted hoarsely.

But Mrs. Liu acted as if she had not heard anything and continued to recite scriptures by herself without even looking at Yuan Xi.

Ever since Yuan Xi killed his brother and imprisoned his father, Mrs. Liu has stayed in the house all day long, fasting and chanting sutras every day, never stepping out of the room. She never paid attention to Yuan Xi when he came to see her.

Yuan Xi's eyes were red and he thought to himself: "My father was defeated and was caught by your majesty. Today in the hall, not only did he refuse to surrender to your majesty, but he made nonsense."

"Your Majesty decrees that all members of the Yuan clan, except me, will be killed."

"Mother, I don't understand, and I can't even figure it out. Why is my father so stubborn? Why doesn't he give in?"

"He obviously did something like kidnapping the emperor to rebel. As long as he surrenders, my Yuan family will not be implicated, and the Yuan family can still thrive in my hands."

"But he ruined it all!"

"He not only harmed the lives of our entire Yuan family, he also harmed my mother!"

"I hate him, I can't wait to kill him with my own hands!"

Yuan Xi's expression was ferocious, with tears streaming down his face.

The Yuan clan was punishing her, and as his mother, Mrs. Liu, was Yuan Shao's wife, she was certainly within the scope of being executed, and this also made him feel extremely painful.

This is the aunt who gave birth to him and raised him!

How could he watch his biological mother die!

Yuan Xi cried and said: "My mother hated me for killing my third brother and harming my eldest brother, but I don't regret what I did, because this is the helplessness of being born in a wealthy family. I have no choice."

"No matter whether my mother recognizes me as her son or not, she will always be my mother."

"I have decided that I will go to the palace to meet His Majesty later and plead for His Majesty's mother."

"If the child can come back, then everything will be fine, and our Yuan family will continue to be one and the same. If the child cannot come back, then we, mother and son, will meet each other on the execution ground."

"Goodbye, my son Yuan Xi!"

Yuan Xi kowtowed three times to Mrs. Liu, causing the wound to burst open again, leaving dazzling blood stains on the ground.

Then he raised his hand to wipe away his tears, turned around and walked out of the house, but then a faint sigh suddenly sounded behind him.

"That's enough, Xianyi."

Yuan Xi's body trembled, and he turned around to look.

Mrs. Liu stopped chanting and looked up at him, her slightly withered face full of complicated expressions.

"Mother!"

Yuan Xi knelt down again, crying.

This is the first time Mrs. Liu has spoken to him since the Yecheng Incident, and it is also the first time she has called him by his first name!

Mrs. Liu got off the bed, took out a handkerchief from her arms, and carefully wiped off the blood on Yuan Xi's face bit by bit.

"If I die, I will die. This is your father's sin, and I will bear it with him."

"But when the Yuan clan is destroyed, you will be the last bloodline of the Yuan clan. You must live well, remember?"

"Mom, I don't blame you anymore."

That gentle word made Yuan Xi burst into tears instantly, and he cried so hard that his heart broke.

Mrs. Liu stroked Yuan Xi's head.

Silent for a long time.

However, at this moment, the housekeeper rushed into the courtyard in a panic and said urgently: "Second Young Master, a large number of soldiers and horses have arrived outside the house! The leader is Wen Gong Lu Bu!"

Hearing this, Yuan Xi felt even more sad.

He knew that this was Lu Bu who came to take someone away.

Mrs. Liu looked as usual and said: "Let's go Xianyi, see my mother off for the last time, don't embarrass others."

Yuan Xi nodded with tears in his eyes.

The mother and son left the small courtyard together and came outside the Yuan Mansion. As expected, they saw a large number of soldiers and horses gathered outside the mansion, all of them fully armed.

Lu Bu was riding a red rabbit horse and standing in front of the formation holding a Fangtian painted halberd, looking down at Yuan Xi.

"I've met Mr. Wen."

With a heavy heart, Yuan Xi stepped forward and saluted Lu Bu.

But before he could ask Lu Bu for mercy for a few days, Lu Bu took something out of his arms and threw it into his arms.

Yuan Xi took a closer look and saw that it was an imperial edict.

"Your Majesty has a decree. In recognition of Yuan Xi's outstanding achievements, his mother will be exempted from the death penalty, and she will be imprisoned in the mansion to live her old life!"

After Lu Bu conveyed the order, he turned his horse's head and said coldly to the soldiers behind him: "Send my general's order to hunt down the Yuan clan throughout the city. Anyone who provides protection will be killed without mercy!"

Basically, the Yuan family in Runan moved to Yecheng after Yuan Shu's death and lived in various places in the city.

Now it's a matter of catching a turtle in a urn.

After saying that, Lu Bu left with his army in a mighty manner. Under Yuan Xi's dull eyes, he ran towards the residences of other Yuan clan members.

It's snowing heavily in Yecheng, and it's the night of the murder.