Although Liu Qi did not directly agree with Yuan Tan's surrender, his intention was already quite obvious.

If you listen carefully to his tone, you will find that Liu Qi's tone has relaxed somewhat.

No matter what, this is a good sign for Yuan Tan.

He struck while the iron was hot and kept pleading to Liu Qi, begging Liu Qi to help him, and he would repay the favor by making a knot of grass and a ring in the future.

Finally, Liu Qi's tone relaxed. He agreed to Yuan Tan's request and said that he was willing to help him seize the position of Yuan's family father. He just asked Yuan Tan not to forget today's promise.

Yuan Tan was overjoyed when he heard this and thanked Liu Qi profusely.

But he didn't feel any gratitude to Liu Qi in his heart, because he knew that Liu Qi was just using him to divide the Yuan family, but why wasn't he using Liu Qi?

"After you return home, you must refuse to see guests and stay ill. I will naturally send someone to Yecheng to communicate with Yuan Shao."

Yuan Tan didn't understand it for a while.

He cupped his hands towards Liu Qi in confusion and said, "May I ask Your Majesty, why do you want me to pretend to be sick?"

Liu Qi smiled faintly and said: "I can't possibly send you back to Yecheng for no reason, right? I always need a reason to use you to exchange my second brother back... But it's fine, why do I need to exchange the hostage again at this time?

?Do you think Yuan Benchu ​​will not be suspicious? Unless you are very seriously ill and are no longer suitable to continue to be a hostage in Luoyang... I don't understand this point?"

Yuan Tan suddenly realized what he said.

He hurriedly kowtowed to Liu Qi again, then said goodbye and left.

…

After spring, Liu Qi sent Qin Mi, a young Shu sergeant, as an envoy to go to Yecheng on his behalf to discuss the exchange of hostages with Yuan Shao.

Qin Mi arrived in Yecheng and introduced Yuan Tan's current situation to Yuan Shao. He said that Yuan Tan had been coughing non-stop since the winter last year and the wind and cold would not heal. Although Luoyang sent many famous doctors to diagnose and treat him, he still couldn't.

With little success, Yuan Tan finally survived the winter. Now Yuan Tan's condition has finally improved slightly, but considering that his body is weak, he is no longer suitable to be a hostage in Luoyang... and Yecheng and Luoyang are currently at odds with each other.

If nothing happens on the border, it would be better to exchange the two hostages as soon as possible so that the two father and son pairs, Liu Biao and Liu Cong, and Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan, can get together as soon as possible to enjoy their family relationship.

After Yuan Shao learned the news, he was speechless.

He slowly fiddled with the slips in his hands, opening and closing them for a while, seeming a little distracted.

Later, they saw Yuan Shao ordering people to take Qin Mi to the post house to rest, while he himself was making plans.

After Qin Mi came to Yecheng, although he only met Yuan Shao, the news that he exchanged hostages on behalf of Liu Qi spread like wildfire in Yecheng.

A huge wave suddenly set off in Yecheng.

The famous families in Jizhou, including Shenpei, Juhu and others, came to visit Yuan Shao one after another and asked him not to let Yuan Tan return to Yecheng at this juncture. After all, Yuan Shang had just been established as the successor master of the Yuan family. If he allowed Yuan Tan to come back at this moment, he might be afraid.

Lots of trouble.

Even Ru Ying and his family, who had been moved into the court by Yuan Shao, did not agree with letting Yuan Tan come back at this time.

Although in terms of relationship, Yuan Tan should be closer to them than Yuan Shang, but now Yuan Shao has decided on his successor, so everyone must do their best to ensure the tranquility of the Yecheng court and not allow Yuan Tan to come back and disturb the newly stable situation.

situation.

And Yuan Shao's second wife, Mrs. Liu, also started to play tricks with Yuan Shao, crying, making trouble, and hanging herself... She was very likely to hang herself from the beam once Yuan Tan really came back.

Facing pressure from all sides, Yuan Shao really had a headache and he didn't know what to do.

So, he found two people, one was Cao Cao and the other was Xun Yu.

Xun Yu has now been transferred to the center of Yecheng by Yuan Shao and appointed as Shangshu Pushe.

After listening to Yuan Shao's explanation, Xun Yu immediately expressed his attitude.

"Prime Minister, the current situation has been decided. It is not appropriate for Yecheng to cause more trouble. Moreover, the third young master has just been recommended to the court. It is the time to accumulate reputation. At this moment, letting the eldest young master return to Beijing will only increase hidden dangers. It is better to postpone this matter for now.

."

Yuan Shao's expression seemed a little depressed, and he was speechless for a long time.

On the contrary, it was Cao Cao who spoke: "I thought I was sorry for showing my thoughts, right?"

Yuan Shao laughed when he heard this: "He who knows me is Meng De."

"To be honest, at first... you let Sanlang inherit the family business. It was against the rules. There was no distinction between elders and younger ones. Besides, Xiansi had no major faults in his daily life and had great achievements. Why did you treat him like this? Could it be because of Sanlang?

Kind father?"

Yuan Shao took a deep breath and said: "Mengde, if you think about my identity, you will understand."

Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this.

After a while, Cao Cao figured it out.

Yuan Shao was actually unwilling to do so.

He is the son of a concubine and a concubine. Although he is older than Yuan Shu, he is incomparable to Yuan Ji and Yuan Shu in terms of inheritance rights. In order to make way for his two brothers, or even to make room for them, he, the little one,

The concubine's son was adopted by his father Yuan Feng and given to his father Yuan Cheng.

Although Yuan Shaohun is doing well now, the big reason for this is that under the political background of the time, the Yuan family needed to sacrifice an heir to gain a great future, and both Yuan Ji and Yuan Shu were direct descendants.

, was unable to do this act of ascending to the throne, so he could only let his concubine Yuan Shao do it to find another way out for the family.

This is an extremely difficult and dangerous road. If you fail, you will die without a place to die.

But Yuan Shao succeeded.

But there is a lot of luck involved in his success.

Yuan Shao himself also understood that his current status was hard-earned. At the same time, the many years of open and covert fighting with Yuan Shu made him harbor a secret resentment in his heart.

That is the resentment against the system of inheritance.

But as Yuan Shao was a role model for the world and an example for the nobles, he naturally could not express his resentment directly.

Perhaps, to a certain extent, forcibly naming his third son as his heir was also Yuan Shao's protest and provocation against the inheritance system left by his ancestors.

Yuan Shao's words were ambiguous, and Cao Cao probably guessed his true thoughts.

But I can't say it directly.

It’s good for everyone to know some things well, but don’t say them on the table to avoid giving others a thumbs up.

"No matter what, Cao thinks it's wrong for you to treat Xiansi like this. You owe your son after all."

Yuan Shao turned to look at him: "What do Meng De think Yuan should do?"

"Bring him back and arrange a good home for him. This can also be regarded as an explanation to his dead mother..."

Yuan Shao heard this and remained silent.

Xun Yu looked at Cao Cao in surprise.

"Benchu, please think carefully. If you don't take him back today, your soul and mine will return to Jiuquan the next day. If he returns to Yecheng, he will die without a burial place! Are you not even willing to give him a way to survive?

?”

After saying this, Yuan Shao's face suddenly turned pale.

He bit his lip, feeling a huge wave in his heart.
Chapter completed!