The emperor sat beside the couch, holding Xun Yu's hand, and remained silent.

Under the light, Xun Yu's eyes were closed, his face was pale, and the blood stains remaining on the corners of his mouth were very dazzling. The emperor took out the towel from his sleeve, carefully wiped away the blood stains, looked at the blood on the towel, carefully folded it up, and retracted it into his sleeve.

"Your Majesty..." Xun Yu's eyelids trembled, but he still couldn't open his eyes.

"Lingjun, I'm here." The emperor patted Xun Yu's hand lightly. "Sleep well, don't worry, the sky will not fall."

Xun Yu raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and his frown slowly relaxed. After a while, the snoring sounded softly and Xun Yu fell asleep. The emperor put his hand back under the quilt, stood up, nodded at Tang Ji beside him, and walked out. Zhong Yao stood in the corridor. Seeing the emperor coming out, he hurried forward to salute. The emperor signaled Zhong Yao to follow him. The two were farther away from the side hall where Xun Yu was, and the emperor spoke, "What did Jiang Gan and Ling Jun say?"

"I am not present, I don't know what they say, I can only guess."

The emperor was surprised. "Are you there?"

"Yes. I'm twenty steps away."

The emperor raised his head, looked at the stars in the sky, and thought for a moment. "So, don't Sun Ce want to make a big deal?"

Zhong Yao remained silent.

After a while, the emperor took back his mind. "Say whatever you know, and be as detailed as possible, and don't miss any details."

"With." Zhong Yao responded, and told him the story of Jiang Gan coming to meet him and meeting Xun Yu, and it was written in the original form without any leakage. After that, he pulled out a list from his sleeve and handed it to the emperor with both hands. The emperor took it and saw it, and laughed: "What if we have half of the meeting?"

Zhong Yao was stunned for a moment, and then said, "Your Majesty, I will not keep a single penny, I will give it to Your Majesty. Sun Ce is dissatisfied with the court. This year's tribute tax may be stopped, and the court's expenses are insufficient. If these gifts can be relieved slightly, it is better than the squandering of the court." He paused and said, "It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but it is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Sun Ce is so generous that he wants to bribe me. This is bait, which smells delicious, but it is actually fatal."

The emperor couldn't help laughing and gently shook the gift list. "You are a sensible person. However, I can't go too far, half is enough. Especially these Nanyang papers are too wasteful for others to use, only your calligraphy is worthy of."

Zhong Yao quickly said a few humility. The emperor returned the gift list to Zhong Yao, took two steps forward, and said, "Then tell me what Sun Ce is dissatisfied with the affairs of the court, and he actually wants to stop the tribute."

"I think that although Sun Ce is young and crazy, he still has a minor degree of importance. Even if he is a little dissatisfied with the court, he will not stop tribute and lose his words. He does this as a result of extortion from the court. If there is no sufficient reason, he will not do this."

The emperor nodded and signaled Zhong Yao to continue.

"The reason for this is that some people are disobedient and the court did not punish them in time, which led Sun Ce to believe that Taia was in a rebellious manner. The court was no longer His Majesty's court, but someone's puppet."

"Who is someone?" The emperor looked back at Zhong Yao, his eyes cold.

Zhong Yao was shocked, raised his head, and faced the emperor's gaze. He suddenly realized that the emperor had grown a lot taller recently, and was almost as good as him. When he lowered his head, the emperor was even taller than him.

The emperor grew up and he was fourteen years old this year. The sufferings of these years have not been able to destroy him, but have tempered him.

Zhong Yao thought for a moment and said firmly: "Yuan Shao."

The emperor withdrew his gaze and returned to his faint look. "Why is Yuan Shao no longer a minister? Didn't he already admit my bloodline? He also submitted a sanction to the court and admitted his mistakes. These were the ones that the king planned from it."

"Yuan Shao did submit a letter to the court, but when he issued an order to the prefectures and counties, he still claimed to be an edict. Sun Ce was ordered to take office last year. Zhou Xin, the prefect of Danyang, and Xu Gong, the prefect of Wu County, so Guo Yi, the prefect of Kuaiji, joined forces to resist and defeated Sun Ce one after another. The documents they received also fell into Sun Ce's hands. Zhou Xin and Xu Gong were killed in battle. Sun Ce sent someone to conquer Guo Yi to the court. He didn't dare to be self-dedicated and asked the court to make a decision, but the court has not handled the case yet. It is reasonable for Sun Ce to be dissatisfied."

"Is there such a thing?" The emperor frowned and was surprised.

"Your Majesty, I have investigated this matter. Guo Yi and others are still in the Tingwei Prison and have never been interrogated."

The emperor snorted: "What else?"

"Not long ago, Sun Ce fought with Yuan Tan, and Yuan Tan was defeated and captured. Although Yuan Shao did not counterattack in time, he was mobilizing troops, horses, food and grass. If there was no accident, there would be a great battle in the autumn. According to Your Majesty's strategy, the Grand Marshal Zhu Jun stationed in Luoyang to protect Guanzhong and protect the old capital; the second was to balance Yuan Shao and Sun Ce to gain opportunities for the court to restore vitality. Now, taking advantage of the natural disaster, Zhu Jun was dismissed and Huang Wan took over. There was a suspicion of supporting Yuan Shao and attacking Sun Ce."

The emperor chuckled: "Are Sun Ce scared?"

Zhong Yao didn't speak.

The emperor thought about it and said, "If Huang Wan supports Yuan Shao, can he defeat Sun Ce?"

"cannot."

The emperor looked back at Zhong Yao again. "Why?"

"Your Majesty, Guanzhong has severe drought, Luoyang, Yanzhou and Yuzhou will be affected. Huang Wan does not have enough food and grass, so there is still a question of whether he can protect himself. How can he attack Yuzhou? Even if they have made some achievements, Sun Ce can retreat to Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and there is still a chance to make a comeback. Yuan Shao seized Yuzhou after the disaster and used the power of Jizhou to support Yanzhou and Yuzhou and the two states. He still couldn't take care of the disaster relief, so how could he have the spare energy to attack?"

The emperor sighed slightly, "It's not a good opportunity."

"Your Majesty, Sun Yuan is fighting, but the Central Plains changes hands and cannot decide the outcome. But if Sun Ce is busy preparing for the war and does not have food to support the court, the people of Guanzhong flee, the court will suffer great losses, and the vitality that has just recovered may be lost."

The emperor walked to the side hall, stroked the dilapidated white marble railing, and let out a gentle breath. "Yes, Sun Yuan fought, but the court fell first. No wonder Ling Jun was sad about this. Yuan Chang, do you think that the court has fallen to this point, and there is still hope for a revival?"

Zhong Yao suddenly laughed. The emperor was a little surprised and blinked. "Am I too naive?"

Zhong Yao coughed and bowed to the emperor. "Your Majesty, I am sorry for my rudeness. I have no other intentions. I just think that Your Majesty and Lingjun have been together for too long and are influenced by him too deeply. Your Majesty, in terms of Taoism, the Yuan family has only been a hundred years, and Yuan family is far inferior to Liu family, and Sun family is even less than ten years old. Since Sun Jian was the prefect of Changsha, it has not been ten years since Sun Jian was appointed as the prefect of Changsha. In terms of geographical advantages, Sun family originated in Yuzhou, and the four battles of the four battles are far inferior to Guanzhong. If Sun Ce can control the southeast within a few years, why worry about not being able to use stable Guanzhong, and half of the world is? Your Majesty, the three armies can seize the commander, but every man cannot seize the ambition, let alone Your Majesty is the descendant of Liu family and the lord of the world? Even if things are not good, can Your Majesty still not follow the story of Emperor Gaozu, retreat to Hanzhong, and become the king of Han?"

The emperor smiled silently, looked at the rising moon in the distance, and said softly: "Yuanchang, let the king be like the moon, although it is bright, it is cold. You are a torch that can not only light but also keep warm. If you are sick, you will take the Shangshu Ling and supervise Guo Yi's case."
Chapter completed!