Three Kingdoms: The identity of the financial master behind the scenes was exposed by Cao Cao

"How can the husband conclude that Duke Cao knows about the existence of the husband? Xia

Houjuan tried his best to suppress his emotions and tried to dispel Cao Yuan's speculation.

Cao Yuan pointed to the door:"Brothers Cao Pi and Cao Zhi know my existence and have sent people to win over me. Madam, I think our Duke Cao is still possible." Don’t you know how to be a husband?"

"Maybe...maybe those two gentlemen are just polite corporals and don't actually know the identity of their husbands."

Xia Houjuan continued to say far-fetchedly.

"No matter how courteous and virtuous the two of them were, they would not be able to send their subordinates to plot a scheme and travel thousands of miles to win over an ordinary little official."

"They must know that it was the plans I came up with for Duke Cao and heard the rumor that Duke Cao wanted to reuse me, so they came to win over me."

Xia Houjuan was speechless.

When things have developed to this point, she really has no reason to question Cao Yuan's calculation.

"Alas, my husband is also deceiving himself a bit, always thinking that he can get away with it."

"In fact, I should have expected that paper can't contain the fire. With Cao Gong's wisdom, he will dig me out sooner or later."

Cao Yuan shook his head and smiled bitterly, mocking himself.

Xia Houjuan was silent, and his thoughts changed in his mind.

After a long time, she took a deep breath and said seriously:"Husband, Juan'er has something to say, I don't know whether to say it or not?"

"You and I, husband and wife, if there is anything we can't talk about, what do you want to say."

Cao Yuan said, taking out the map and thinking about where to avoid.

Xia Houjuan then said:"My husband also said that Duke Cao is a great leader of his generation. If this is the case, why can't my husband assist Duke Cao and insist on avoiding him? ?"

This time it was Cao Yuan's turn and he couldn't answer.

Earlier, he was unwilling to assist Cao Cao because he was in a system and wanted to make a fortune in a low-key manner.

But now, with his wealth, he has already become rich enough to rival the country, and he will not be able to spend it all in a few lifetimes.

The previous The reason seems a bit untenable

"Accompanying the king is like accompanying a tiger. How can I be as free and carefree as now, after working hard and carefully as Cao Gong's counselor?"

Cao Yuan thought of a new reason.

Xiahou Juan said:"Juan married her husband. She has long discovered that although her husband likes money, he has a heart to help the people. Otherwise, when Liu Bei's army came to attack Fengcheng, my husband would Nor would he care about the lives of the people in the city and refuse to escape alone."

Cao Yuan's heart trembled, and he was touched by his wife's words.

"My husband also said that Mr. Cao is the true hero who can unify the world and let the common people enjoy peace again."

"And my husband also cares about the people, so why can't he assist Duke Cao to unify the world and bring peace to the people?"

Xia Houjuan stared into his eyes and asked solemnly.

Cao Yuan remained silent.

"Besides"

"If Duke Cao rules the world in the future, and the whole world belongs to him, husband, where can you hide? Xia

Houjuan softened his tone a bit and pointed at the map of Nuo Da.

Cao Yuan was shocked and suddenly realized.

His wife was right, everyone in the world has the surname Cao, where else can they go?

Go to the Western Regions to eat sand, go Should we drink the northwest wind on the grassland, or should we escape far away from the sea?

Where else in the world can be as prosperous as the Central Plains? If we leave here, we will have nowhere to spend money that is as rich as the country.

But if we live in seclusion in the Central Plains, even if Cao Cao has a heroic spirit, If you don't force him to assist you, will Cao Pi let you go after he succeeds to the throne?

Cao Pi is notoriously petty, and almost everyone who offends him will end badly.

"Madam, what you said makes sense. Please let your husband think about it carefully....."

Cao Yuan started planning again and was no longer in a hurry to escape.

Xia Houjuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

…

Xiaopei City.

Liu Bei was leaning weakly, still enduring the torture of his eye injury.

"Lord, we lost half of our troops in the battle at Fengcheng, and we currently have less than three thousand available troops."

"My lord, our current salary is no longer able to support three thousand soldiers and horses. I am afraid that we will have to reduce the number of one thousand soldiers to barely maintain it."

The advisers and generals reported one by one.

The bad news one after another made Liu Bei's body and mind worse, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"Report to the lord, everyone needs to report urgently!"

"Cao Cao has personally led an army of 40,000, and is rushing towards me, Xiaopei!"

The guards hurried in and gave Liu Bei another heavy blow.

Liu Bei shuddered and struggled to sit up, regardless of his eye injury.

"Victory or defeat is just a matter of military strategists. You don’t need to be discouraged. It’s not like we have never been defeated!"

"Cheer up and think about how to defend Xiaopei and drive back the Cao thieves!"

Liu Bei endured the pain and forced a somewhat calm smile on his face.

Everyone cheered up a little.

Zhang Fei shouted:"The thief Cao is coming, we will fight him to the death, the worst is to fight to the death!"

"Absolutely not!"

Zhao Yun immediately objected,"Cao Cao has tens of thousands of strong troops, and our army is only more than 2,000 remnant troops. This battle is not to kill fish and kill fish, but to attack rocks with eggs!""

Zhang Fei misfired

"What Zilong said makes sense"

"But if we don't fight to the death, will we abandon the city and flee again, becoming a bereaved dog?"

Guan Yu asked back with a gloomy red face.

Liu Bei clenched his fists slightly.

Xuzhou has fallen to Lu Bu, and Xiaopei is a foothold he has gained with great difficulty.

If he gives up again, he will have to go back to the old way of relying on others. Look, The suffocating days of looking at people.

Wouldn’t it be that the fruits of half a lifetime of hard work have been wasted in vain?

Liu Bei was unwilling to give in.

Zhao Yun sighed:"But if we don’t abandon the city and defend it, it will only be a dead end."

Liu Bei was stunned.

"I, Liu Bei, was forced to this point by that little official Cao Yuan. It’s hateful.~~"

He pounded the table with his fist and gritted his teeth.

At this time.

Sun Qian's eyes flashed, he cupped his hands and said with a smile:"Lord, before we are at the end of our rope, Qian thought that we still have two lines of reinforcements available to help us defend Xiaopei and the enemy to retreat from Cao Cao."

Liu Bei perked up and asked urgently. :"Who are the reinforcements Zizhong mentioned?"

"If Xiaopei falls, Xiapi will face the front of Cao's army. How can Lu Bu not feel fear?"

"If my lord sends someone to ask Lu Bu for help, I believe he will mobilize all the troops in Xuzhou to come to the rescue."

Sun Qian turned and pointed to the north again.

"There is also Yuan Tan, the eldest son of the Yuan family, who has now captured Qingzhou."

"It is the consensus of the world that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao go to war. The Yuan family will definitely not let Cao Cao devour Xiaopei and then take over Xuzhou."

"The lord can send another person north to Qingzhou, and he will be able to persuade Yuan Tan to lead his army south for reinforcements."

"We only need to hold on to Xiaopei until two lines of reinforcements arrive, and cooperate internally and externally, so there is no need to worry about being unable to repel Cao Cao."

When Sun Qian came out with this plan, the dark clouds in the hall immediately dispersed.

From Liu Bei to Zhang Fei, everyone was in high spirits.

"Okay, Gongyou, this is a great plan! Liu

Bei's eyes no longer hurt and he said happily:"You and Jian Yong will set off immediately from the south to the north to ask for help from Yuan Tan and Lu Bu!""

"promise!"

The two of them took the order.

Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief, and the pain in his body and mind seemed to be relieved.

"Cao Cao, what if that Cao Yuan is really your mastermind behind the scenes?"

"I, Liu Bei, will never give up Xiaopei!"

…

Four days later.

Cao Cao led 5,000 soldiers and horses, lightly armed, and joined Xiahou Yuan's 1,000 Fengcheng defenders to advance to Xiaopei City.

Later, more than 30,000 troops were still on the way, and 6,000 troops and horses were not enough to surround the city, so Cao Cao only ordered to camp in the north of the city.

Chinese military tent.

Cao Cao stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the Xuzhou map.

"According to detailed information, Liu Bei has sent Jian Yong and Sun Qian to ask for help from Yuan Tan and Lu Bu respectively."

"If our army cannot capture Xiaopei as soon as possible and wait for the two reinforcements to join forces under the city and cooperate with Liu Bei inside and outside, we will be in a passive position."

Guo Jia pointed to the surrounding situation and said.

Cao Cao nodded slightly and asked:"How long will it take for the follow-up army to arrive?"

"Now that we have entered the rainy season, the roads are muddy and it will take ten days at the earliest to arrive one after another. Li

Dian replied:

"Ten days is too long."

Cao Cao took a picture of the map and said,"There is no need to wait for the follow-up army, attack the city immediately, and don't give the big-eared thieves a chance to wait for reinforcements."

"In the battle of Fengcheng, although Liu Bei lost half of his troops, after the Mi family's funding was cut off, he lost another thousand troops."

"But he still has more than two thousand soldiers at his disposal, and there are also tiger and bear generals like Guan Zhang and Zhao."

"Our army only has six thousand, which is less than three times the enemy's army. If we attack the city by force, we may not be able to capture it in a short time."

Guo Jia reminded

"It makes sense to say"Feng Xiao", it makes sense to say it...."

Cao Cao twirled his forehead with his fingertips and frowned for a moment.

Seeing this, Xia Houyuan came closer and reminded:"Mengde, our niece-in-law is in the camp, why not ask him for advice, maybe he has a clever way to defeat Xiaopei quickly?"

"yes!"

Cao Cao's eyes lit up, and he was about to change his official uniform and go to see Cao Yuan.

But at this time, Xia Houjuan looked solemn and came to see him after entering the tent.

"Juan'er, you came just in time. Uncle, I was about to visit your husband and ask him for advice on how to defeat Xiaopei. Let's go together."

Cao Cao hasn't noticed that Xia Houjuan is worried.

Xia Houjuan sighed:"Uncle, I'm afraid you won't be able to ask your husband for advice anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Cao Cao immediately became alert.

Xia Houjuan told Sima Yi and Yang Xiu that he was visiting. Cao Yuan became alert and wanted to abandon his official post to avoid Cao Cao.

"These two little bastards, how come they only care about winning people's hearts and forming cliques? They really missed my important task! The more Cao

Cao listened, the more angry he became, and he cursed loudly. But Guo Jia advised:"Sikong, calm down, the matter is over. The most important thing now is how to retain Mr. Zi You. If he really resigns and leaves, , who will assist Sikong to pacify the world!"

Cao Cao's figure froze, and he fell into silence.

He walked in the tent, frowning, thinking for a long time.

Suddenly,

Cao Cao stopped, took a deep breath, and sighed:"At this time, I Master Wang could no longer pretend, so it seemed that it was time to confess to Ziyou."