Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

A great fire suddenly erupted at the residence where Sun Qian was staying, casting a corner of the night sky in a fiery red glow.

On a high platform near the residence, Li Ji stood, calmly watching the fire slowly blaze.

From within the residence, people watched from afar, either fleeing in panic like ants or rushing to extinguish the flames.

The weather was dry, and the fire was not easy to put out.

Standing on the high platform, Li Ji quietly admired the somewhat expensive bonfire.

As the fire gradually came under control, a person hurried towards the high platform and handed a secret letter to Sima Yi, who was waiting below.

Sima Yi then quickly presented it to Li Ji.

Li Ji opened the letter, which contained only one sentence: "Chen Zhong has stolen the jade belt and fled."

The fish has taken the bait.

A smile crept onto Li Ji's lips.

Li Ji was extremely clear about the relationships between the prominent families in Yu Province, knowing the personality, preferences, and abilities of each family's key figures.

Chen Zhong and Deng Jie were both traditional scions of noble families, valuing family above life and death, and would inevitably take action when they saw their family's interests severely damaged.

Thus, it was not difficult to weave a net targeting Chen Zhong and Deng Jie, causing them to act according to Li Ji's plans.

"Excellent."

Li Ji said, then continued.

"Half an hour after the fire is completely extinguished, immediately send a large number of people to control everyone still at the residence, and then, in another fifteen minutes, seal off the city gates and impose martial law."

"Tomorrow morning, imprison all members of the Deng family of Yingchuan in Qiao County..."

"The day after tomorrow, control all members of the Chen and Deng clans of Yingchuan within Yu Province."

Li Ji calmly made the subsequent arrangements, adding weight to the credibility of the jade belt's return to Sili.

The lives of the Chen and Deng clans of Yingchuan within Yu Province would be part of the bargaining chips, becoming proof for Chen Qun in Sili to claim credit from Lu Bu.

During this period, whether Deng Jie, initially identified as the arsonist, confessed or implicated Chen Zhong after being imprisoned was irrelevant.

Their figures would not be seen in the performance the world was watching; they were merely the backdrop.

However, Chen Zhong was clearly unaware of this, and after stealing the jade belt and hiding it on his person, he constantly mobilized all his connections and manpower, attempting to escape Pei, to escape Yu Province.

The blockade and search launched by Li Ji left Chen Zhong with almost no time to breathe, forcing him to constantly rack his brains, change his appearance, and hide everywhere along the way.

By the time Chen Zhong arrived at Changshe in Yingchuan Prefecture, near Sili, the various counties of Yu Province had already issued warrants, drawing his likeness and offering a reward for Chen Zhong's capture: one hundred gold and a thousand acres of fertile land.

This allowed Chen Zhong, who had been accustomed to a life of luxury, to experience the hardships once endured by Cao Cao when he fled after attempting to assassinate Dong Zhuo, a story he had occasionally joked about at banquets.

Fortunately, Chen Zhong had sent a letter in advance to contact Chen's trusted confidants in Sili to meet him in Changshe, allowing him to feel fortunate to have escaped the heavily guarded Yu Province.

On the same day that Chen Zhong left Yu Province, a carriage protected by a hundred riders sped into Changshe, stirring up dust.

Inside the carriage, two figures, one large and one small, looked at each other, yet remained speechless.

Jia Xu, Sima Yi.

Perhaps it was a case of like repelling like.

Both Jia Xu and Sima Yi instinctively disliked each other.

Even though one, the older, looked like a prosperous gentleman, and the other, the younger, was a polite and composed young man.

As the carriage arrived in Changshe, Jia Xu simply dealt with the county official who came to greet him, found a side hall in the county office to handle official business, and then dismissed the county official.

After Jia Xu brewed himself a pot of fragrant tea and savored a delicious sip, he looked at Sima Yi, who was sitting not far away and seemed to have already started handling official business, and said.

"Zi Kun unceremoniously dumped this old man in Changshe, saying that there was a change in Sili, and I would naturally know when I arrived, and that I could make decisions on my own in case of emergency."

"Now that we have arrived in Changshe, you should tell me what's going on."

Sima Yi's movements paused slightly, then he looked up at Jia Xu.

What Sima Yi was currently doing was using the Jinyi Si to "escort" Chen Zhong into Sili all the way.

"Chen Zhong, who stole the jade belt bestowed by His Majesty, has escaped from Yu Province today," Sima Yi said.

"Judging from your tone, could it be that Zi Kun intentionally let Chen Zhong escape from Yu Province..."

Jia Xu's voice suddenly stopped, and his brow furrowed unconsciously.

As Liu Bei gradually became a hegemon, the need for poisonous schemes slowly decreased, and Jia Xu's usefulness naturally diminished.

Unless Li Ji occasionally urged him, Jia Xu was openly loafing on the job and stealing his salary, thanks to his overt relationship with Li Ji.

Besides studying tea ceremony, Jia Xu had recently become increasingly addicted to the emerging opera, spending his days drinking tea and listening to music, and even his temperament seemed to have become more like a lazy wealthy old man.

However, Jia Xu was lazy and did not pay attention to things he should not pay attention to, but that did not mean Jia Xu was incompetent.

Through Sima Yi's inadvertent tone, Jia Xu casually revealed the truth and suddenly realized something.

For top strategists, even in a fog, as long as they grasped certain important clues, they could easily analyze the entire course of events.

The key, undoubtedly, was the jade belt stolen by Chen Zhong.

But even if the jade belt was bestowed by the emperor, it was not the Imperial Seal and was certainly not worth Li Ji's great effort.

"Is there something hidden in the jade belt?"

Jia Xu's question hit the nail on the head.

Sima Yi truthfully answered everything he knew, saying.

"Marquis Ye later verified and also suspected that a secret imperial edict was hidden inside, but Sun Qian was momentarily negligent, and Chen Zhong, who was colluding with foreign enemies, sent someone to set fire during the banquet, taking advantage of the chaos to steal the jade belt."

Jia Xu subconsciously leaned back slightly.

Only others would believe such nonsense; Jia Xu naturally did not believe it at all, sarcastically saying.

"Did Zi Kun do it on purpose? Or was it an accident?"

"An accident."

Sima Yi maintained his teacher's statement with a straight face.

The corners of Jia Xu's mouth twitched slightly, feeling that Li Ji was really becoming more and more shameless.

No, it should be said that Li Ji was really putting on a brave face to maintain his surface appearance.

Even if Li Ji was careless, it was definitely intentionally careless.

However, since it concerned a secret imperial edict, in order to avoid Liu Bei's blame afterward, it naturally had to be an accident no matter what.

Immediately, Jia Xu's fingers unconsciously turned the teacup, and the entire course of the event quickly became clear in Jia Xu's eyes.

Most importantly, Li Ji's unspoken orders were also known to Jia Xu.

It was nothing more than... killing with a borrowed knife.