Chapter 117: The Wrath of a Honest Man

Guo Yuan would hate Yuan Shao, and Mo Xiaobai was not surprised at all.

If anyone had treated his own relatives this way, Mo Xiaobai would have turned on them too.

But since Guo Yuan spoke so confidently, as if he could stop the messenger from taking Zheng Xuan away, Mo Xiaobai raised his eyebrows. “Brother Zini, you are alone here. Are you really sure you can handle Yuan Shao’s soldiers?”

“Ah~ Baron, do you know who is the general guarding Yuancheng right now?”

Now that his teacher had woken up, Guo Yuan’s whole state of mind had changed. The confusion in his eyes had completely vanished, replaced by streaks of fierce and deadly aura.

This was very abnormal for a Confucian disciple who had been taught by Zheng Xuan since childhood.

Mo Xiaobai heard the question, rubbed his chin, and thought for a long time before finally shaking his head to say he did not know. He was not an all-knowing person, so how could he know so many details of these side stories?

“These soldiers from You Province are the troops of General Xianyu Fu.”

Xianyu Fu?

At first hearing that name, Mo Xiaobai did not have much impression. But when the other name suddenly popped up with it, Mo Xiaobai remembered it clearly.

You Province had two Tians: Tian Yu and Tian Chou.

Before Tian Yu of You Province joined Cao Cao, he had served under Xianyu Fu.

That guy was a huge fan of Cao Cao!

Ever since Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian, he had very high hopes for Cao Cao’s success.

“So, Brother Zini, are you well acquainted with Tian Guorang of You Province?” Mo Xiaobai muttered, realizing suddenly that there was one truth that never changed through the ages.

Never bully a honest man. Once a honest man gets angry, he will bring you unexpected and fierce revenge.

Guo Yuan’s words were already very clear. Since Yuan Shao dared to treat his teacher this way, he had to suffer the overwhelming wrath of this honest man.

Guo Yuan had stayed in You Province, and his status among the local elites was not low. It was only natural that he knew Tian Yu.

Not to mention that Tian Yu was a fan of Cao Cao. Although he nominally belonged to Yuan Shao’s camp, he did not like the Yuan Family at all. Even his current lord, Xianyu Fu, disliked Yuan Shao very much. Because Yuan Shao nominally appointed Xianyu Fu to oversee the six commanderies of You Province, but actually sent his second son, Yuan Xi, to secretly restrain him.

Life in You Province had been very frustrating. Xianyu Fu might have wanted to rebel against Yuan for a long time. If Guo Yuan had the heart to plot a fierce move against Yuan Shao, he would surely persuade Xianyu Fu to rebel.

“This is another plotline that didn’t happen in my previous life!”

Mo Xiaobai took a deep breath. He found that the Guandu Instance, under his changes, had become unrecognizable.

In his previous life, Cao Cao’s Faction had not lacked a chance to win, and the probability was not low. However, due to several missions failing or failing to start, they directly handed a great opportunity to the Yuan Shao Camp players.

In his previous life, Zheng Xuan died in Yuancheng. Guo Yuan was probably so frustrated and upset that he had no time to even handle his teacher’s funeral matters, let alone encourage the troops of You Province to defect during the Battle of Guandu.

Things were different now. Zheng Xuan had woken up.

His teacher’s disciple, Guo Zini, finally had the chance to vent his bottled-up anger.

“Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao, you played such a good chess game into this mess.”

“This time, you will never win the Battle of Guandu!”

Since Guo Yuan wanted to take revenge on Yuan Shao, Mo Xiaobai was very happy about it. He followed him to the kitchen to bring food for Zheng Xuan. When the two of them returned to the room, they saw someone kneeling beside Zheng Xuan’s bed again.

The person kneeling was obviously not a disciple of Zheng Xuan. But given his title, Duke Kangcheng, no one under the age of 60 among the scholars of the End of Han would be wrong to kneel before him.

With outsiders present, Mo Xiaobai stayed quietly in the back.

Listening to Guo Yuan talking quietly with the scholar, Mo Xiaobai finally learned that he was Tian Yu.

Great!

To persuade Xianyu Fu to betray Yuan, the most important thing was to persuade Tian Yu.

Mo Xiaobai did not plan to interfere in this matter, since Tian Yu was not like Guo Yuan and almost impossible to bring to another Plane.

However, he had no interest in interfering, while Guo Yuan placed great importance on the savior of his teacher. After feeding the thin porridge to Zheng Xuan, when he pulled Tian Yu out to “discuss in detail,” he did not forget to call Mo Xiaobai along.

The three of them walked out of the room one after another and entered the small room next door.

As soon as they took their seats, Guo Yuan could not help but speak first: “Brother Guorang, your General’s recent days have not been very pleasant, have they?”

“Where do you get such words from, Brother Zini?” Tian Yu smiled gently. As a talented person skilled in both civil and military affairs, he was a Great General when he mounted his horse, and could be as gentle as a scholar when he dismounted.

“Yuan Benchu nominally ordered you to come to Guandu for service, but in the end, he made you station around Ye City. He simply did not trust General Xianyu, which is why he did this act of surveillance.”

Guo Yuan understood things very clearly. This was also the reason why he dared to take revenge on Yuan Shao. “We have known each other for many years, so let’s skip those fake tests in this discussion. Now that Yuan Shao is not doing well in the war, and the crisis in Xu Province is solved, the situation in Yu Province and the Sanfu area has become clear. At this moment, Yuan Shao is like a trapped beast. I will only ask you one question: Dare you rebel against the four-generation and three-dynasty Yuan Benchu?”

Guo Yuan spoke very straight this time, almost asking Tian Yu if he dared to chop off Yuan Shao’s head.

But saying it this way just matched the straightforward nature of the people from You Province.

Hearing this, Tian Yu laughed heartily and pointed at Guo Yuan, saying, “You, you must have been very angry at Yuan Shao this time, haven’t you?”

Tian Yu could laugh, but Guo Yuan gnashed his teeth in hatred: “I even have the heart to kill him!”

“Just based on you? Forget it. I don’t even have that confidence,” Tian Yu shook his head and said, then looked at Mo Xiaobai. “May I ask who this young brother is? Could he also be a top disciple of Duke Kangcheng?”

“I am a Junior Officer under the Ministry of Works. It is not worth mentioning.”

Mo Xiaobai did not directly reveal his identity, but Guo Yuan exposed him immediately: “Brother Guorang, you said I could not kill Yuan Shao, but do you know who died in his hands during this Battle of Guandu?”

“Who?”

“Sun Ce of Jiangdong!”

As soon as the name “Sun Ce” left his mouth, a flash of surprise appeared in Tian Yu’s eyes: “I heard a few days ago that Sun Ce of Jiangdong died in Guangling. I did not expect it to be the work of such a young Colonel?”

Seeing that Guo Yuan had exposed the secret, Mo Xiaobai could only be humble: “It was an ambush kill. Just a stroke of luck.”

“Even setting an ambush to kill Sun Ce must not have been easy. With such ability, it is enough to make people admire you.” Tian Yu nodded and sighed, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

In his opinion, Mo Xiaobai was simply too young.

As the three continued this “meeting,” they soon reached a preliminary consensus on the matter of defection. However, on the issues of when to defect and how to assist the Minister of Works, neither Tian Yu nor Guo Yuan had very good ideas.

After all, it was a sudden matter, and the two probably did not expect to sit down and talk about it today.

Watching Guo Yuan and Tian Yu continue to discuss various possibilities, Mo Xiaobai’s eyes also started turning, and he quickly had an idea.

But before bringing up this idea, he still had to confirm another matter: “I am new to Wei Commandery. There is something I would like to verify with Brother Guorang. Has any unexpected change happened in Wei Commandery recently? For example, someone being caught for bribery?”

Caught for bribery?

Hearing Mo Xiaobai ask this, Guo Yuan had not yet understood, but Tian Yu’s expression became very strange: “I also only heard yesterday that Shen Pei detained Xu You’s older brother under the cover of night. This matter is indeed strange and odd. It is said that Shen Zhengnan caught Xu’s family selling military grain on the spot, with solid evidence and the criminals caught red-handed, as if someone had tipped them off in advance.”