Liu Xie put down his brush and rubbed his eyes. Fu Shou, who was standing beside him, came up quickly and massaged Liu Xie's shoulders. She looked at the pile of bamboo slips on the table and thought that there were a lot of things to do during this period. Liu Xie had to read at least a hundred memorials a day, from the time he woke up in the early morning until the lights came on in the evening, with almost no rest.
Now there is almost no one to restrain Liu Xie. It is rare for Liu Xie to experience the feeling of holding absolute power in these few years. This sudden power is like a good medicine. At first, it makes him energetic and enjoy it.
But over the past month, Liu Xie's initial excitement gradually turned into a bit of dissatisfaction. Looking at the seemingly endless memorials in front of him, he wished he could slap them all to the ground.
He has to personally review every detail, which is not an easy task at all. He is almost exhausted after these days!
Even when Liu Xie was sleeping, his head was filled with the sound of flipping bamboo slips, endless memorials, endless petitions to be approved, and endless seals to be stamped.
For the first time, he felt that doing everything personally might not be a good thing!
He deeply understood why the previous emperors had allowed eunuchs to monopolize power. The ministers in the court could not be fully trusted, nor could they handle everything personally, so they had to let the eunuchs do it for them.
However, after experiencing the lessons of the Eunuch Rebellion and the Party Persecution, Liu Xie obviously did not want to repeat the same mistakes. But this was not a solution either, and he had to cultivate trusted confidants.
Thinking of this, he began to complain in his heart again, thinking that Lu Bu was too indifferent!
I gave him the power to set up a government, intending to let Lu Bu recruit a group of people I could trust to share my worries. As a result, up to now, Lu Bu still has only a few big cats and small cats under his command. Not to mention exceeding his authority, he doesn't even take on the tasks within his job scope.
In contrast, although Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun both had their own problems, they at least managed to sort out things in the Han court, and only major matters that required Liu Xie's personal approval would be submitted.
Although Liu Xie felt that he was being controlled at the time, looking back now, he realized that he had gradually understood the operation of the court in the process.
In comparison, Lu Bu's ability in domestic affairs is a bit too poor.
Liu Xie really wanted to ask how Lu Bu had been doing during all these years on the run. And even though he had become a general, why was he still acting like a bandit leader?
However, Liu Xie also understood that Lu Bu had betrayed his master twice and was suspicious of his subordinates, which caused those who wanted to join him to be hesitant. It could be said that he was the most isolated general in the past few decades.
But it is precisely because of this that Cao Cao and others agreed to let Lu Bu sit in this position, right?
Liu Xie just couldn't see through Cao Cao.
Although he appears to be loyal, he is actually very scheming in private. Yang Biao and Kong Rong have hinted to him many times that he must be on guard against him.
Especially Kong Rong, after returning from Chenliu with Zhang Miao and his brothers, he severely reported Cao Cao, accusing him of killing the people of Chenliu indiscriminately and disrespecting the emperor's will.
Liu Xie could only turn a blind eye to this. The people had been killed, so what else could he do?
Moreover, Zhong Yao, who had recently attached himself to Cao Cao, also made great contributions. He persuaded Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army to surrender with tens of thousands of soldiers.
With these people, Liu Xie can incorporate them into his own garrison and possess his own unique strength. In this way, any princes and ministers who want to use soldiers to threaten him in the future will have to think twice.
Moreover, after Cao Cao's purpose of inviting him to Xu County failed, he did not insist any further and returned to Yanzhou.
Does this mean that he did not have too many ambitions towards me, but was afraid that Cao Cao was still loyal to the Han Dynasty?
It was really strange to talk about the parties who were trying to please him. Anyi was originally Lu Bu's old nest, so it was reasonable for Lu Bu to stay by his side.
But the other two parties surprised Liu Xie a little.
Not to mention Cao Cao, the ferocious tiger from the Yuan family also seemed to be keeping his distance from him.
He accepted the reward from him, but seemed to have no intention of taking the opportunity to place spies around him or cultivate his own cronies. He also left Anyi immediately, fearing that he would become suspicious.
Liu Xie was confused. From Dong Zhuo to Wang Yun, from Li Jue and Guo Si to the Baibo Army, they all kept him under control. So why did Cao Cao and Xiong Hu not play according to the rules?
Playing hard to get?
Especially since it didn't make sense that this ferocious tiger kept his distance from me because he was afraid of Yuan Shao's suspicion, why would he come to please me?
Liu Xie shook his head and stretched, deeply realizing that he still had a lot to learn. This fierce tiger was not much older than himself, but he was already far ahead in many things. If he wanted to subdue such a person, he would have to have more of the temperament and strength of an emperor, and he still had a long way to go.
At this moment in the Black Mountains, Yuan Xi also felt that his way back was very long.
He pursued Yang Feng that day, holding his breath and leading his men in hot pursuit in Heishan. Although Yang Feng was familiar with the terrain of Heishan, Yuan Xi also had soldiers who had defected from Heishan. Both sides were similarly familiar with the shortcuts and paths, so Yang Feng was unable to shake off Yuan Xi in the end.
Instead, Yuan Xi listened to Ju Shou's suggestion and asked Yan Rou to make a big detour through the Black Mountains and go straight into Bingzhou in advance, blocking the direction in which Yang Feng might escape, and as expected, cutting off Yang Feng's retreat.
Now that Yang Feng and the remaining Black Mountain troops have been captured, everyone is returning along the same route they came. This time they don't have to march in a hurry, and they have just realized how difficult the Black Mountain road is.
Because they were carrying wounded soldiers and prisoners, they had walked for five or six days. The camp they had come from was still a hundred miles away from them by a mountain road. If they were unlucky, they might have to walk for several more days.
Yuan Xi tilted his head and looked at Yang Feng, who was tied to a horse and unconscious, wearing heavy iron handcuffs and shackles. He did not feel happy at all.
Regardless of whether Yang Feng was the mastermind behind Qu Yi's death, it was impossible for Qu Yi to come back to life. Lu Lingqi still did not kill Yang Feng. Yuan Xi finally decided to bring Yang Feng back to Qu Yi's tomb in Beixincheng first and then pay tribute to him with his life.
Dark clouds slowly rolled up in the sky, and with a thunderclap, raindrops as big as soybeans fell.
Yuan Xi cursed inwardly. The weather in Montenegro really changes quickly. How come it is raining so heavily in autumn?
He asked the soldiers to take out rainproof clothes and find a place to shelter from the rain, but this was the Black Mountain Road, and where could they find a suitable place in a hurry?
In a short while, everyone was soaked like drowned rats. Sun Li quickly took out a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat from his bag and handed them to Yuan Xi.
Yuan Xi handed the straw raincoat to Lu Lingqi and motioned her to put it on her head. Lu Lingqi took it, but turned around to look at it and then put it on the unconscious Yang Feng.
Yuan Xi was quite surprised and whispered: "This might be the murderer who killed your master. Why are you still taking care of her?"
Lu Lingqi said softly: "I don't know either."
"But when I think about how my fate on the battlefield might be worse than hers, maybe I feel some sympathy that I shouldn't have?"
Yuan Xi sighed and put his bamboo hat on Lu Lingqi's head. "No, since Lord Wen has entrusted you to me, I will not let this happen."
"Speaking of which, Yang Feng has come to this point because she was abandoned by the Black Mountain Army. It seems that she was too credulous and brought this upon herself."
After hearing this, Lu Lingqi snorted coldly, "I think the Black Mountain Army is to blame for this matter."
"How can you treat the person who is left behind as an abandoned person?"
"Let her cover your retreat, and then sell her out?"
"I think Zhang Yan is nothing!"
Yuan Xi agreed in his heart that this despicable act was indeed not very fair, but the result was brought about by Cao Cao and himself, so it was indeed a bit unfair.
Just as he was thinking, Lu Lingqi came over and lifted the bamboo hat over their heads. The two of them walked side by side on the muddy and slippery mountain road, silently leaning on wooden sticks.
The autumn rain continued, and rain and fog rose in the mountains. The autumn chill swept over everyone's body, but everyone followed Yuan Xi, and their steps were always firm and moving in one direction.
The bigger the storm, the more we need to work together. Even if the way forward is unknown, even if we have temporarily taken the wrong path, as long as we keep going, we will get out of this sooner or later.
Yuan Xi looked behind him and saw a crowd of people following him silently, and he couldn't help feeling moved.
At this moment, he was finally no longer alone.
The rain with a fishy smell flowed through the hair on the back of Yang Feng's neck, along her cheeks, and into her mouth. The heat on her hot cheeks and forehead was diluted by the cold rain.
He slowly opened his eyes, spat out the rain water and blood foam in his mouth, then slowly sat up from the horse, the shackles on his hands and feet clinking.
Zhao Yun and Tian Yu looked over when they heard the voice, then looked away. Under the current circumstances, it would be impossible for Yang Feng to escape under their noses.
Yang Feng looked up at the sky, opened her mouth, and the rain fell into her mouth. She drank several mouthfuls before she became a little more sober.
She has had a fever for several days, but she has been able to hold on until now. Even Yang Feng herself is a little puzzled. Could it be that she doesn't want to die?
Well, who wants to die?
She was being lashed by the rain. The autumn rain was so cold that even the horse under her was sneezing and her feet were slipping from time to time. Only then did Yang Feng realize the straw raincoat she was wearing.
She looked around, seeing that no one was obstructing her view, and seemed to be thinking about something.
Then she slowly shifted her gaze and looked at the two figures in front of her who were sharing a hat.
Yang Feng naturally recognized these two figures.
One was a fierce tiger from the Yuan family, who killed his sworn brother, defeated the Black Mountain Army several times, and finally flattened the Black Mountain, even falling into the hands of the enemy.
The other one was the extremely talented daughter of Marquis Wen. Both her physical fitness and comprehension were much better than what she had been doing back then. She even intervened when she was about to assassinate the fierce tiger, causing her to fail.
The two of them leaned their shoulders close together and their heads were leaning against each other, which made Yang Feng feel a little strange.
Since my father passed away, I have been alone until now. No one can understand me, and no one is willing to understand me. I also don't want others to see through me.
Even among the Yellow Turban Army, how many people can truly inherit Huang Tian's ambition and save the people from disaster?
Will any of these people really succeed in the end?
At this moment, Yuan Xi's voice came from the front, and he was reciting a very strange poem.
Different from the four-character and five-character verses used in poetry, the number of characters in it varies, giving it a unique rhythm.
"Don't listen to the sound of swords and horses, it's hard to walk on the muddy road with light shoes, I'm looking for my destination under the stars and moon, on the ground, half of the iron armor is washing away the autumn wind."
"The chilly rain hits my body, it's a little cold, the steel swords and iron spears are ringing in the starry night, the wind and frost are passing by in search of peace, the world is no longer hungry and cold, and the sun is shining."