Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Bang!"

Tao Qian slammed the 'Exhortation to Punish the Rebels and Avenge' onto the table, roaring at the assembled civil and military officials below.

"Who was it?! Who exactly killed Cao Jugu?!"

Tao Qian was met with a silent exchange of glances.

"Why is it that Cao Cao has already sent troops to invade our territory, and only now do I learn of Cao Jugu's death…"

As he said this, Tao Qian even laughed in anger, his cloudy eyes fixed on Chen Gui and his son, Chen Deng, who were seated to one side.

Cao Song being killed in Langya State and the magistrate of Dongwan County abandoning his post and fleeing would have been one thing.

But the incident had occurred nearly half a month ago, and Cao Cao's army was already invading the territory, yet Tao Qian only learned of these events when Cao Cao's proclamation was thrown in his face.

Even if the magistrate of Dongwan County had deliberately suppressed the news to buy time for his escape, it should not have been concealed from the surrounding aristocratic families, yet no one had leaked a word to Tao Qian.

This made Tao Qian both furious and extremely amused.

He understood that the aristocratic clans of Xuzhou were retaliating against his previous suppression by deliberately concealing all news related to Cao Song's death.

Just as Tao Qian was erupting in anger, Liu Bei's letter also arrived at the Xuzhou Prefecture, similarly questioning Tao Qian as to why he had ambushed and killed Cao Song.

After reading the letter, Tao Qian, already in a fit of rage, nearly blacked out, repeatedly slamming his hand on the table.

"It wasn't me!"

However, after venting his anger, Tao Qian realized that no one would believe him no matter what he said.

After Tao Qian wearily sat down again, he looked at the silent civil and military officials below with a murderous gaze and said.

"Investigate! Investigate for me and find out whose subordinate ambushed and killed Cao Jugu in Langya State!!"

As he said the last words, Tao Qian's gaze was almost entirely fixed on Chen Gui, whose beard and hair were all white.

The Chen family, as a prominent clan in Xuzhou, was also representative of the Xuzhou aristocratic families.

Since Tao Qian was clear that he was innocent, the most likely suspects within Xuzhou were only two.

One was generals like Cao Bao, Zang Ba, and Xiao Jian, who had a large number of private troops, and the other was the deeply rooted aristocratic families in Xuzhou, led by Chen Gui.

Among them, Tao Qian suspected the Xuzhou aristocratic families the most, intending to retaliate against Tao Qian and provoke a war between Xuzhou and Qingzhou.

Feeling Tao Qian's gaze, Chen Gui then stood up tremblingly and said.

"Lord, in this old man's opinion, the person who ambushed and killed Grand Commandant Cao is neither a Xuzhou general nor a Xuzhou aristocratic family."

"Why?" Tao Qian asked.

Chen Gui analyzed, "Whoever ambushed and killed Grand Commandant Cao will inevitably be unwelcome in both Xuzhou and Qingzhou. Moreover, the Yuan family is on good terms with Cao Cao, and you, Lord, are close friends with Liu Xuande. In that case, where in the Han Dynasty would there be a place to stand?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the civil and military officials present almost all nodded, also proving their innocence.

Who would be foolish enough to simultaneously make enemies of two lords for no reason?

Moreover, Cao Cao and Tao Qian both had allies behind them, which meant offending almost half of the lords of the Han Dynasty at once.

The Xuzhou aristocratic families would not do such a self-destructive thing, and the generals would not risk their lives for a little bit of profit.

"Then what does Hanyu think? Who did it?" Tao Qian pressed.

Chen Gui coughed lightly, pretending to be frail and elderly, then cupped his hands and replied.

"This old man is incompetent and does not know who did it."

At this moment, Chen Gui was like Diting in the story of the real and fake Monkey King.

Regardless of whether he had a guessed answer in his heart, the conclusion he spoke was that he didn't know, but it certainly wasn't me.

Since the culprit would not be a Xuzhou general or aristocratic family, then the answer was obviously the relevant lords.

However, Tao Qian himself did not admit it, and the deceased was Cao Cao's father, so Chen Gui dared not shift suspicion to Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, or Liu Bei.

Therefore, not knowing was not knowing.

Tao Qian was not a fool and could clearly see that Chen Gui was pretending to be confused.

However, even though Tao Qian intentionally suppressed the Xuzhou aristocratic families, he had to rely on the Chen family to stabilize the internal affairs of Xuzhou.

Even if Tao Qian wished he could hold a knife to the old thing's neck at this moment, he could only squeeze out a smile and say.

"Right now, Cao Cao is leading a large army to invade our territory. Only by quickly finding the real culprit and handing them over to Cao Cao can we quell Cao Cao's anger and restore peace to Xuzhou."

"And who is the real culprit? We still need someone as virtuous and respected as Hanyu to investigate and handle the matter, so that the world can be convinced."

Most of the generals present did not understand the deep meaning of these words.

However, Chen Gui and Chen Deng understood that what Tao Qian urgently needed now was not the real culprit, but to use Chen Gui's reputation to identify a real culprit to hand over to Cao Cao to quell his anger.

But how could Chen Gui be willing to risk dragging the Chen family into this vortex as well?

"Lord, forgive this old man for speaking frankly, but Cao Cao is leading a large army south in the name of revenge. Avenging his father is false, and taking the opportunity to seize Xuzhou is the real intention…"

After a pause, Chen Gui raised his old but somewhat bright eyes and looked at Tao Qian, saying.

"Furthermore, Cao Cao believes that you, Lord, are the murderer. Even if this old man finds the real culprit, I fear he will not acknowledge it, but instead weaken our morale."

Now that things had come to this, Tao Qian understood that simply finding a scapegoat would not make Cao Cao retreat, but Tao Qian, who had lost his courage, could not help but harbor illusions.

Seeing that the old fox Chen Gui was unwilling to help, Tao Qian could only look at Cao Bao, whose eyes were filled with both clarity and confusion, and said.

"General Cao."

"Present!" Cao Bao stood up and replied.

Tao Qian said sternly.

"You are to immediately send someone to investigate who exactly ambushed and killed Cao Jugu. No matter who it is, no matter what their status, no matter which adult is involved, you must investigate it to the end for me."

"Yes, Lord."

Cao Bao's tiger-like body shook, deeply feeling Tao Qian's importance, and his voice was even three points louder in response.

This scene fell into Chen Deng's eyes, and he could not help but flash a trace of contempt.

In Chen Deng's eyes, Cao Bao was truly worthy of his name, a straw bag.

Tao Qian was also a cowardly old rat.

However, considering the safety of the people of Xuzhou, Chen Deng hesitated for a moment and still took the initiative to step forward to remind him.

"Lord, the real culprit naturally needs to be investigated, as this involves the innocence of you and Xuzhou, but Cao Cao is leading a large army, and I fear they have already entered Langya State."

"At present, while quickly deploying troops and generals to defend, we should also send someone to contact Duke Xuande and ask Duke Xuande to send reinforcements to help. This is the best policy."

After hearing this, Tao Qian frowned and refused.

"For such a small matter, why is it necessary to ask Xuande to send troops to save us?"

Immediately, Tao Qian's gaze swept over the generals below and ordered.

"Order Cao Bao to immediately lead 60,000 troops north to Kaiyang and Jichiu, and be sure to block Cao Cao in Langya State."

"Cao Bao accepts the order!" Cao Bao quickly responded.

"As for the troops Yuan Shu stationed in the Pei State area…"

Tao Qian hesitated for a moment and ordered. "Issue an order to Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Wu Dun, and other generals originally stationed in Kaiyang to move their 20,000 troops to Pengcheng for defense."

(End of this chapter)