Xudu.
It had been some time since Cao Ang's funeral, and Cao Cao had gradually recovered from his grief.
However, what made Cao Cao annoyed was that his wife, Madam Ding, had fallen out with him. No matter how he lowered his head and apologized, he refused to forgive her.
Although Madam Ding was Cao Cao's wife and had been married to Cao Cao for many years, she might have been sick and could not give birth.
Cao Ang was not the eldest son of Cao Cao. He was born to one of Cao Cao's concubines, but after giving birth, he died of illness. Therefore, Cao Ang was raised by Lady Ding since he was young, and was no different from his own son.
For a woman who could not bear children, her only son was dead, and it was because her husband was fooling around outside that his son ended up like this. How could Madam Ding not hate Cao Cao?
"Old Master, Furen is crying again today. How can this continue?”
Cao Pi's mother, Lady Bian, came to report to Cao Cao.
"So annoying! Send someone to send her back to her maiden home! In the future, you'll be in charge of the family affairs. You can leave!”
Cao Cao was upset and sent Lady Bian away.
Not long after he sat down, another person came in to report.
"My lord, Shouchun has sent a letter from Yuan Shu.”
"Yuan Shu? Withered bones in a coffin! Why are you writing to me?"
Cao Cao read the letter in confusion.
After reading a few lines, he knew that this was Yuan Shu's funeral oration for Cao Ang.
"Yuan Gonglu is quite considerate. Could it be that he was annoyed by Lu Bu and Sun Ce's harassment? You want to beg me for mercy?"
Cao Cao continued to watch with interest.
After reading the first part of the funeral oration, he realized that there was more content at the end, so he continued reading.
I would rather let the world down, and my sons and nephews die.
...
...
After Cao Cao finished reading the poem, he was so angry that his hands began to tremble. His chest heaved up and down violently, and his knuckles turned white. He clenched the letter tightly, and his temples bulged.
"Where's the messenger?"
Cao Cao exhaled and asked.
"He left in a hurry after leaving the letter.”
The servant said truthfully.
"Ah! That damned Yuan Shu! I will definitely exterminate your Yuan family's three clans! Cramp and skin! Crushing bones and scattering ashes! Die a horrible death!"
"Bang!"
Cao Cao cursed in rage, then his head started to shake and he fell onto the table.
"My lord! My lord! Someone come quickly!"
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Yuan Yao, who was far away in Shouchun, naturally did not know that his crooked poem had really angered Cao Cao to the point of having a headache.
However, even if he knew, he would just laugh it off. He no longer had the mood to care about Cao Cao.
Xuzhou, General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion.
Yan Xiang once again went on a diplomatic mission to Lu Bu. He had made great contributions and was appointed by Yuan Yao as the Dahonglu, responsible for foreign affairs.
Yuan Shu had some complaints about this matter, but his protests were ineffective.
"Is the envoy here for the matter of Guangling?”
Lu Bu spoke first.
"That's right. His Highness the Crown Prince sent me here to discuss this matter.”
Yan Xiang went straight to the point and admitted.
"Oh? The emissary we sent earlier was ruthlessly humiliated by your Highness!
Your attitude is not considered friendly, and it may hurt the harmony between the two families.”
Chen Gong interjected, planning to sing with Lu Bu separately.
"Should we fight?"
Yan Xiang asked in return. He was a tough nut to crack and would not fall for this at all.
"You!"
Chen Gong choked.
"Aiya! Let's talk things out. Our two families are allies. Why do we have to make things like this?”
Lu Bu quickly tried to smooth things over, wanting to hear what the other party meant.
If they were to start a war now, although Yuan Shu's side would be cautious, Lu Bu's side wouldn't have a good time either. After all, he and Cao Cao were mortal enemies.
Yuan Shu was attacked from the north and south by him and Sun Ce, and Xu was also attacked from the north and south by Cao Cao and Yuan Shu. Both sides did not dare to attack easily.
"His Highness has said that the two families are allies. Guangling was originally under the rule of Xu Prefecture, so it's not impossible to talk about returning it.”
"Is that true?"
Lu Bu was greatly surprised. He hadn't thought that the other party would really agree to this.
"What are you talking about? The Crown Prince's words were absolutely true!”
Yan Xiang said unhappily.
"It was my slip of the tongue.”
Lu Bu hurriedly apologized.
"What conditions do you have? Tell me all of them. I don't believe that you will give away Guangling prefecture for nothing.”
Chen Gong spoke again.
"Mister, you are wise. My crown prince does have conditions, but it is not difficult for you.”
"I'm all ears!"
"Although our two families are allies, the relationship between us is very weak. You didn't fulfill your promise last time.
The Crown Prince is worried that once Guangling is returned to you, we will be helpless if you turn against us.”
Yan Xiang voiced his worries.
"Don't worry, Emissary. I, Lu Bu, am a man of seven feet tall. How can I betray you?!”
Lu Bu patted his chest and promised.
Ding Yuan: How did I die?
Dong Zhuo: How did I die?
"Hehe, General Che Ji is too naive. The world is in chaos, etiquette is broken, and music is broken.
There was no point in saying such self-deceiving words.”
Yan Xiang mocked.
Lu Bu didn't say anything else. Even he didn't believe his own words.
"What are your conditions?"
"Marriage! Only a marriage alliance between the two parties was the safest way.”
Yan Xiang said.
"I heard that General Cheji has a daughter who is already in the prime of her youth and is just in time to marry my family's crown prince.”
Yan Xiang stated his conditions.
"Why should we marry our daughter off? Why don't you guys marry your daughter?"
Chen Gong pestered.
"Hehe, His Majesty only has the Crown Prince and no daughter, so I'm very sorry. Or is Mister Gongtai planning to let my Crown Prince marry into Xu Prefecture?”
(In the official history, Yuan Shu also had a daughter, but the author did not want to write about her moral character, so please ignore it.)）
Chen Gong was speechless. As for letting Yuan Yao marry into Xu Prefecture, Yuan Shu would probably turn hostile on the spot.
"A daughter in exchange for a county, the betrothal gift must be heavy!”
Yan Xiang continued.
"Uh... The sky is already dark, please rest for a while. This matter concerns my daughter's marriage, I have to discuss it with my wife.”
Lu Bu saw Chen Gong giving him a look and said shyly.
"Good! Then I shall wait for your good news."
Yan Xiang also knew that the other party could not make up his mind now, so he left very straightforwardly, leaving the two of them room to discuss.
"Sir, how should we deal with this matter?”
After Yan Xiang left, Lu Bu asked impatiently. The temptation of a prefecture was too great, and he couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Sigh, the other party has already made it clear. Now we only have two choices. Either we agree and exchange our daughter for Guangling, or we refuse and the alliance between the two families will break.”
Chen Gong sighed.
"What if we agree?"
Lu Bu thought that it was not a loss for his daughter to be Yuan Shu's Crown Prince's concubine.
"If we agree, Yuan Shu will definitely announce it to the world. We will be completely tied to the other party. It is equivalent to cutting ourselves off from the Han Dynasty.”
Hearing Lu Bu's words, Chen Gong knew that he was leaning towards that side.
"Whether you agree or not, it's all up to Fengxian to decide. This is your family matter, so I won't get involved.”
After saying that, Chen Gong left the General Manor.
He knew that Lu Bu was inclined towards marriage. A daughter could be exchanged for a prefecture, and Lu Bu would definitely not be able to resist this temptation.
Moreover, if they did not agree to this matter, they would obviously not be able to obtain any benefits. Could they really start a war and then both sides would perish together?
If there was no marriage, Yuan Shu would have rejected the proposal. Perhaps Lu Bu would have the courage to send an army south to force Yuan Shu to submit.
But now that he had a better choice, Lu Bu naturally didn't have the courage to go all out. This wasn't something Chen Gong could persuade him with a few words.
"Yuan Shu has a capable subordinate! It easily disintegrated Feng Xian's fighting spirit. It was not easy to deal with!”
Chen Gong clasped his hands behind his back and muttered softly before returning to his residence under the moonlight.
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