NOVPUBTao Qian did not hold out for much longer, seeing Liu Bei successfully take over the entirety of Xuzhou. A few days later, he passed away in his sleep without waking. Liu Bei personally announced the death and during Tao Qian’s funeral, he warned the Xuzhou aristocratic family that should any harm come to Tao Qian’s two sons, they would surely pay the price.
As for this matter, the Xuzhou aristocratic family also tacitly acknowledged it, seeking peace rather than opposition to the upper echelons.
Afterward, Chen Xi and the others did not overly provoke the Xuzhou aristocratic family; they only publicly elaborated on the need to deal with the problem of the Xuzhou soldiers. In this regard, the Xuzhou aristocratic family had no power to refuse, nor was it suitable for them to do so.
Liu Bei had already made concessions in the previous matters, and if the military power was to be diminished as well, then Liu Bei would certainly turn hostile without any mercy.
To the Xuzhou aristocratic family, this seemed to be simply the rules of the game. In a game concerning their own fate, having rules was good enough, and clearly, the rules now laid out by Liu Bei may not have been lenient, but they were far better than Tao Qian’s unrestrained slaughter.
Because of this, the Xuzhou aristocratic family were all quite pleased, especially since Liu Bei had made clear that he was returning to Mount Tai and leaving the matters of Xuzhou in Li Youu’s hands to handle in his stead during this period. Leaving Zhao Yun and Chen Dao to temporarily station in Guangling and Xiapi, to recruit and train the Danyang Troops, and to defend against Yuan Shu from Yuzhou, delighted the entire Xuzhou aristocratic family, Chen Deng included...
"Father, has Liu Xuande just left like that?" Chen Deng stood atop the city gate tower, watching Liu Bei and his entourage depart in the distance, then turned his head, looking at Chen Gui with confusion.
"Just left like that..." Chen Gui’s beard trembled as he spoke. He too could not understand what Liu Bei was playing at. Although a renowned Zhao Zilong was left behind, along with Chen Shuzhi, and also Li Youu who was acting as the Regional Inspector of Xuzhou, this situation was entirely different from what Chen Gui had anticipated.
"Just left like that." Chen Deng and Chen Gui exchanged glances, confusion written all over their faces, "That shouldn’t be right!"
On the other hand, as Liu Bei rode his horse, he was also puzzled. Wasn’t the agreement to leave only after the Xuzhou aristocratic family had been exhausted? Why was he returning to Mount Tai so soon, and even more unexpectedly, actually leaving Li Youu in Xuzhou? He had lost his Advising Minister.
"Lord Xuande, now is the time for us to first secure the military authority firmly, then proceed with the rest. With Wen Ru there, you need not worry; there will certainly be no problems," Chen Xi reassured him.
Jia Xu silently looked up at the sky. If Li Youu was left unsupervised and if Xuzhou didn’t suffer any unexpected bloodshed, Jia Xu thought he might as well change his surname to Zhen. Wasn’t Chen Xi’s leaving this "harmless" Advising Minister in Xuzhou precisely to fuel the flames among the Xuzhou aristocratic family?
"Lord, you must trust in Wen Ru. He will surely govern Xuzhou very well," Jia Xu said with an irrepressible smirk, which was practically a mockery of the entire Xuzhou aristocratic family.
"It’s not that I don’t trust Wen Ru, but leaving now when things aren’t settled, when Zichuan’s swapping of roles hasn’t even started yet, would Zichuan be so easy to speak with?" Liu Bei sighed and said.
"We don’t need to be overly hasty. Let’s take it step by step. Wen Ru will find the right moment to take care of these matters. What we want is Xuzhou, not for the aristocratic families to share governance of Xuzhou with us. Wen Ru will resolve this matter very successfully," Chen Xi said, yawning. This was Li Youu, after all, who on the surface had no military achievements, merely existing as a close official to Liu Bei, yet his behind-the-scenes achievements were already piling as high as a mountain.
"Alas, I’m somewhat unused to being without Wen Ru." Liu Bei sighed, confessing that many things used to be taken care of casually by Li Youu, and now, in his absence, Liu Bei found himself feeling somewhat out of his element.
"Oh, later on, I can find another one for Lord Xuande," Chen Xi sighed in response. Becoming dependent on a habit is inevitable, especially with someone of a top-secretary caliber—an individual who could handle basic governance, military, and political issues that you could think of, and even offer guidance on those you couldn’t.
"Forget it, let’s leave Wen Ru’s position vacant for now; we’ll wait for his return. Since you said Wen Ru won’t take too long, let’s just leave it be," Liu Bei said with a wave of his hand, genuinely not wishing for anyone to take Li Youu’s place.
[Li Youu, I have faith in you, I believe you can definitely play Chen Deng to death, making them unable to birth the thought of challenging the rules.] Chen Xi looked back at Xuzhou City with a hint of a smile on his face.
Li Youu had insisted on staying behind. Originally, Chen Xi planned to entrust the task to the relatively obscure Lub Su, to perform a three-step rise from Prefect of Mount Tai to taking charge of Xiapi, governing the entire Xuzhou.
But when Li Youu spoke up to take on the task, Chen Xi didn’t think twice and, along with Jia Xu and Li Youu, advised Liu Bei. Compared to Lub Su, Li Youu was even more inconspicuous. His capabilities were not lacking, and his experience was even richer, which made it absolutely no problem for him to play to death those from the Xuzhou Aristocratic Family who wished to render Li Youu powerless.
[Still, I always feel like we’re intentionally tempting the Xuzhou Aristocratic Family to make mistakes. Sigh, perhaps my sense of justice is a little too strong. If the Xuzhou Aristocratic Family were upright and harbored no ulterior motives, how could they fall into such an obvious trap?]
Chen Xi wore an expression full of pity for the world, which looked so utterly ridiculous to Jia Xu that he had to stroke his beard, "Zichuan, I always feel that Wen Ru’s thoughts aren’t just about dealing with the Xuzhou Aristocratic Family."
"Probably to give Ju Gongyu of Jizhou an illusion," Chen Xi shook his head. "I remember him mentioning a scheme against Ju Gongyu."
"Oh, without your mention, I would have forgotten about that. With Wen Ru being summoned away from our Lord’s side, naturally, Ju Shou will think that it’s our influence at play. Coupled with the current situation in Xuzhou, if Jizhou has accurate intelligence, they’ll probably conclude that we want to prevent Wen Ru’s return to Mount Tai," Jia Xu nodded in agreement.
"Exactly, both Chen Yuanlong and his son Chen Hanyu are well-known virtuous officials of the world. With a local aristocratic family beside them and the generous terms we offer to the Chen Family, it’s natural for Jizhou to guess that we are using the Chen Family to sideline Wen Ru, preventing him from advancing any further," Chen Xi nodded.
Only by playing the full set, with multiple strategies in play, and taking advantage of Ju Shou’s prejudices, could Liu Bei’s image be solidified in the eyes of Jizhou. And later, as long as Li Youu signals that he still has pieces to play at Liu Bei’s side, the game can continue.
"This situation isn’t easy to manage. Are you certain Wen Ru can deceive Jizhou into providing us with the strategy we want for governing Xuzhou?" Jia Xu sighed; the most critical aspect was Li Youu’s performance.
"It should be possible. After all, Jizhou itself is currently consolidating internally and does not wish to start a major conflict. Hence, they won’t easily overlook an opportunity to weaken us. What’s more important is that if they can truly dispose of Lord Xuande and dismantle us from the inside, I think Yuan Benchu wouldn’t mind giving it a shot," Chen Xi pondered aloud.
"Then, during this time, let’s try to get our Lord to do something extraordinary," Jia Xu suggested with a furrowed brow. "Only then can we highlight Wen Ru’s importance to Jizhou. Let’s think, what would be the best thing to do?" (To be continued. If you like this work, we invite you to cast your votes and monthly passes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)
