Chapter 7066 Lie Down and Let the Hammer Fall

Chapter 7066 Lie Down and Let the Hammer Fall
In contrast, the Yuan family and the Jiangdong side were doing everything they could to produce a so-called petition urging Liu Bei to ascend the throne, hoping to please him and prevent his iron fist from falling on their own heads.

The situation on the Cao side was much calmer. It wasn't that the people sent by the Cao side hadn't received the notification, but rather that, more realistically, Liu Xian, the Cao side's envoy, was very nonchalant about the matter, acting as if he was just going to give up. He figured he'd kneel down as required, and since the Cao side hadn't prepared a memorial urging him to ascend the throne, he figured the Cao side didn't have one either. He couldn't make one up on the spot, and his connections weren't strong enough, so he figured he'd just have to wait for the iron fist to come.

"What?!" Xiahou Yuan, who had come with them, was almost jumping up and down, especially after receiving the news that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had already gone there, the Yuan family was following, and Huangfu Song had brought his grandson-in-law into the car. He was so restless that he could hardly sit still.

"Don't panic, panicking won't help," Liu Xian said calmly. "Things have come to this, let's just have some tea. Anyway, we definitely don't have the petition to persuade him to take the throne. Cao Sikong didn't prepare one when he was in power, and we certainly don't now. It's impossible to get one on the spot, so just wait for the result. Overthinking won't solve anything."

Liu Xian was very calm, because he had almost jumped ship back after the incident with Liu Ba. Although he continued to handle Cao Cao's affairs, it would be a lie to say that he was as dedicated as he had been back then. After that incident, Liu Xian simply did his job.

After Cao Ang took power, Liu Xian's situation improved slightly, but to say that he would risk his life like he did back then would be nonsense. This time, he came to Chang'an as an envoy, partly because this was his job, and partly because he wanted to see his nephew. He had heard that his nephew Zhou Buyi and Liu Shan got along quite well, which was also a way out, right?

“But now that they’ve all gone, what will the Prince of Jin think of us if we don’t go?” Xiahou Yuan looked at Liu Xian with a serious expression, his annoyance impossible to hide.

"What do you think?" Liu Xian looked up at the roof beam. "Actually, there's not much to see. If Wu Gong and Shu Hou of Jiangdong are considered superior, second only to the Jin Wang lineage, then the Kunwu lineage is located in a strategic location. They came later, seized the opportunity, and rose to power. They have status, background, achievements, and sacrifices. The Yuan family has also contributed to some extent. As for us..."

Liu Xian smacked his lips twice, saw Xiahou Yuan's terrible expression, clicked his tongue twice, and said, "We've lost too many points over the years, and there's another point. This time, the people from other forces are all real big shots. Even if the head of the Yuan family can't come, the ones who come are the chief strategist and the most senior generals. And what about us? What kind of trash am I?"

"To put it bluntly, I don't even have the right to participate in this situation," Liu Xian said calmly. "Even kneeling requires qualifications. Someone of my rank is not qualified to appear in the eyes of Grand Commandant Liu and Minister Chen."

That's a bit of an exaggeration. In Liu Bei and Chen Xi's eyes, Liu Xian was at least a decent person, after all, he had indeed presided over many important events. However, at this moment, Liu Xian was not qualified to interfere in the matter of urging the emperor to ascend the throne. Even if we don't compare him to Jiangdong and Kunwu, and compare him to the Yuan family, Cao Cao would have to send Xun Yu and Cao Ren to be qualified to kneel down and submit a petition urging the emperor to ascend the throne.

In fact, Cao Ren isn't even qualified.

Chunyu Qiong may not look like a decent person, but his seniority is on par with that of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. So when it comes to seniority, Chunyu Qiong is indeed very senior.

But now, is Xun Yu here? Xun Yu isn't here! Is Cao Ren here? Cao Ren isn't here either. Okay, even if Cao Ren isn't here, Xiahou Yuan is barely qualified, after all, he's Zhang Fei's father-in-law. If he comes over and kneels at this time, he can at least get some support and it won't be considered beneath him. But what rank is Liu Xian?
Therefore, from the very beginning, after learning that Jiangdong was setting off with a petition urging him to take the throne, Liu Xian calmly awaited the outcome. Ever since he almost died twice because of Liu Ba, Liu Xian had become indifferent to all things in the world. At worst, he would be hit by an iron fist; what was there to be afraid of?

Besides, even if he were to take a punch, Liu Xian would be fine. At his level, he's not qualified to take one!

"So what do we do now?" Xiahou Yuan asked with a look of utter despair. Now that the other three families had gone, and they had nothing left, even if Xiahou Yuan wasn't the smartest, he knew something terrible was about to happen!
"We'll just have to wait. We have neither supplies nor manpower, so this is all we can do," Liu Xian said frankly. "We've already copied down what happened here, and we'll just wait for General Cao to handle it. What else can we do now? We can't really write it down ourselves, can we? I certainly don't have that ability. Why don't you let the two young masters give it a try, General Xiahou?"

Xiahou Yuan felt a lump in his throat. Even he knew that a petition urging someone to ascend the throne wasn't something you could just write on a whim. It wasn't poetry or prose; it required combining celestial phenomena and the four seasons to explain the great principles of the world. It was about politics, about appeasing the heavens and the people.

Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were both literary masters, but even literary masters need a long time to revise and refine their works. This kind of writing doesn't require talent, but rather a steady and reliable style.

It's obvious that Cao Pi and Cao Zhi couldn't do such a thing. Even if they could, it's not something they could do now. Unless Xiahou Yuan wanted to test the waters with the three clans of Cao, he wouldn't dare let Cao Pi and Cao Zhi try.

"See? Since there's no other way, let's leave it at that. Instead of sitting here anxiously, General Xiahou, why don't you go and see Lady Xiahou?" Liu Xian felt that it wouldn't be good to let Xiahou Yuan get so worked up, and if something happened, it wouldn't be good either, so he pointed out a way for him.

After all, Xiahou Juan's identity is very special. If the Xiahou family supported Xiahou Juan in the past, then now Xiahou Juan is almost capable of helping the Xiahou family. At the very least, ensuring that the Xiahou family line does not die out is not a problem.

Even if it's a sin committed by three or nine generations of her family, as long as Xiahou Juan is alive, the Xiahou family can at least have some young people. So why bother jumping around here? It's better to do something meaningful.

Xiahou Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Liu Xian.

“General, sometimes this is indeed a backup plan.” Liu Xian looked at Xiahou Yuan very seriously. “The major clans all believe in betting separately, so that even if they lose, they can still survive. But the Xiahou family has bet everything on the Marquis of Wei. Now that things have come to this, why not try other possibilities?”

These words seemed to be both helping Xiahou Yuan and deliberately creating a rift.

“After all, we are all Han officials, so there’s no need to distinguish between you and me. Now that Marquis Wei has disappeared along with Gongtai, what we value more than continuing the past is who can lead us to victory.” Liu Xian glanced at Xiahou Yuan and said, “And it’s not just us.”

Xiahou Yuan sensed something else in Liu Xian's words, and his expression became inexplicably serious. After a while, he took a deep breath, suppressed his other thoughts, and turned to leave. Just as Liu Xian said, he couldn't do anything here anyway, so he might as well go see his niece and see how she had been all these years.
"Tsk." Liu Xian shook his head as he watched Xiahou Yuan's departing figure, without saying much. To him, that last sentence was a test. If Xiahou Yuan really had this idea, he might have a chance by taking advantage of this opportunity and the mistakes Cao's family had made in the past.

After all, the Cao family had made too many mistakes. Now that it was time to submit a petition urging them to ascend the throne, they discovered that no such petition had been written. Liu Xian felt that this dilapidated ship was truly about to sink.

The other three families had both good judgment and merit, while Cao Cao's side had neither. After this, even if Liu Bei gave Cao Cao's side a hard punch, no one else could say anything. This was a major event involving persuading Cao Cao to take the throne. The other three families were prepared, but Cao Cao's side was not. Under these circumstances, only giving Cao Cao a couple of punches and not questioning the thickness of his family tree was already a sign of leniency.

Therefore, Liu Bei deliberately gave Xiahou Yuan a hint. After all, Cao Cao was gone, and things had developed to the point where they were about to be hit by the iron fist. Since that was the case, why not let Xiahou Yuan take a gamble and see if he could get support from Liu Bei and completely submit to him?

Of course, this is also a test. If Xiahou Yuan really has this idea after Liu Xian's prompting, then Liu Xian will not return to Kandahar and will stay in Chang'an instead, because it will be pointless. If even the Xiahou family can have other ideas after a few hints from him, then the Cao family is indeed doomed.

As for what changes would occur after the Cao family's demise and the Xiahou family replaced them, Liu Xian didn't care at all. What mattered was whether Liu Bei was willing to support the Xiahou family. If he was, the generals and officers under the Cao family, who had no other choice, wouldn't perform any worse than they were now with Liu Bei's support. If Liu Bei wasn't willing to support them, then they could just wait for Zhuge Liang to clean up the mess.

Conversely, given such an opportunity, and such a clear impending defeat, the fact that the Xiahou clan, represented by Xiahou Yuan, was still willing to follow Cao Ang suggests that Cao Ang's power at least still had a future. After all, the Cao family's foundation had not collapsed. With the assets left by Liu Ba, the support of the Zhen and Wei families, and a complete military and political team, as long as they could work together, victory was only a matter of time.

Liu Xian has not rebelled for so many years because he realized that among all the Han dynasty's officials, apart from Liu Bei's team, which was extremely abnormal because of Chen Xi, Liu Bei's team did not have much advantage over Cao Cao's existing team after removing Chen Xi.

In other words, the Cao family was theoretically the most likely to succeed. Therefore, it was reasonable for Liu Xian to choose the Cao family when he could not follow Liu Bei. However, Liu Xian did not expect so many troubles to follow, which led the Cao family to make one mistake after another, ultimately resulting in this situation.

"Now it's time to see the results. I hope General Xiahou will make the right choice." Liu Xian leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the roof beam. His memory was still that of when Liu Ba was still alive, when the Cao family had absorbed the elite of the Northern Nobles and was thriving. But in the blink of an eye, everything had changed.

"Uncle..." Just as Liu Xian looked up at the roof beam, his younger sister's son, Zhou Buyi, appeared outside the door and greeted him.

"No doubt about it." Liu Xian glanced at him, and the depression on his face dissipated a lot. He liked his nephew the most because he was really smart, too smart.

“I heard outside that the Prince of Jin has stepped onto the jade steps, so I came to see my uncle.” Zhou Buyi looked at Liu Xian with some doubt.

"That's really something, even you know. But thinking about it, it's normal." Liu Xian was taken aback at first, but then he thought that in the current situation, the news must be flying around among the major families, and it was normal for Zhou Buyi to know with his connections.

"Isn't Uncle worried?" Zhou Buyi frowned.

"This is none of my business to rush." ​​Liu Xian looked at Zhou Buyi, who was already seventeen years old, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. "How is it like studying at the Imperial Academy?"

"My classmates are all very talented." Zhou Buyi said very seriously. Back in Jingxiang, he was already considered one of the most outstanding child prodigies in the world when he was not even ten years old. But after coming to the Imperial Academy in Chang'an, Zhou Buyi met many more outrageous classmates, such as Cao Chong, Deng Ai, Xun Shao, Odenathus, and, oh right, Princess Sun Shangxiang of Xian'an and the chess master Guo Kai.

Especially the last two things, made Zhou Buyi realize what it meant to be overwhelmingly strong, or even to be so strong that he had no friends.

Deng Ai and Odenathus were already outrageous enough, but Sun Shangxiang completely dominated them. Now, without relying on any external force, Sun Shangxiang has advanced to the Inner Qi Separation stage on her own. Moreover, through some special means, she has condensed her Inner Qi into threads to strengthen her meridians and muscles, allowing her to exert combat power close to the Great Perfection of Inner Qi Separation with a much smaller amount of Inner Qi than a normal person.

You have to understand that having the combat power of the Great Perfection of Internal Qi Separation upon breakthrough is an ability that only the people from Hulao Pass possess. As a result, Sun Shangxiang quickly reached that level after her breakthrough through her own means. If she is not a genius, then what is?
As for Guo Kai, generally speaking, the brothers of Taixue don't regard Guo Kai as a human being. This guy's strength is really indescribable. Although Chen Xi considers mental talent to be a threshold, and only those who pass the threshold have the capital to see him, how many people in the whole world can awaken mental talent!
Even if Zhou Buyi believed that he would definitely awaken in the future, not to mention whether the spiritual talent he could awaken would be as useful as Guo Kai's, the difference in time alone was enough.

“It seems that sending you to the Imperial Academy was indeed the right thing to do,” Liu Xian said, stroking his beard. “In Jingxiang, you can only meet so many outstanding peers. Only when you come to Chang’an, to this place where talents from the Central Plains gather, can you meet more elites.”

“The strength of some people makes me feel like an ordinary person,” Zhou Buyi said with a smile. “The more books I read and the more people I meet, the more I notice my ordinariness.”

Liu Xian smiled upon hearing this, "That's a good thing. It means you still have companions and friends. Standing too high and moving too far ahead, when you look around and find yourself all alone, it's not a good thing. You're feeling that way now, which is actually quite good. The most important thing for a person is to make peace with themselves. Constantly chasing after things isn't what we should be doing."

Zhou Buyi seemed to be deep in thought upon hearing this.

"There are always stronger people out there, just focus on doing your best," Liu said with a smile.

"Seeing my uncle so calm, I feel relieved." Zhou Buyi looked at Liu Xian's expression and was relieved to see that Liu Xian was not giving up on himself. He had come over because he had heard about what had happened in Jiangdong and the Yuan family, so he was worried about his uncle.

“I’ve been through a lot, including more serious things than this. For me, this is just a matter of being laid off and returning home, and I’ll be back in service soon. But what happened back then was much more exciting than this,” Liu Xian said, patting Zhou Buyi on the shoulder.

Liu Xian's iron fists could not fall on his head, and he was not qualified to deal with this matter, so anxiety was useless. Back when he risked his life to advise Cao Cao, Liu Xian had already made peace with himself.

Faced with life and death, some people will completely break down and go crazy, while others will have a profound realization. Liu Xian belongs to the latter; he is truly indifferent now.

"Is that so?" Zhou Buyi nodded. "I was worried that you were going through a very anxious time and I was planning to come and offer you some advice. I never expected you to be so open-minded."

"After all, death is the only hardest thing in the world. I've already died once. What's there to be afraid of when facing something that's not even a matter of life and death?" Liu Xian waved his hand and said, "On the contrary, I'm now somewhat curious to see how Jiangdong and the Yuan family will react to this matter."

“You…” Zhou Buyi looked at Liu Xian with a somewhat strange expression.

"It's a pity there's no special way for me to see it," Liu Xian said with some regret. "After all, Zhaoyang Palace is a closed place, and the people who can get in wouldn't be able to tell me. The Grand Commandant will definitely issue a gag order. It's a pity, truly a pity."

While Liu Xian lamented that he couldn't see the grand spectacle, Liu Tong was at Weiyang Palace, enjoying hot pot while watching the Mirror of the Moon technique that Si Niang had created, remotely observing everything that was happening in Zhaoyang Palace. To be honest, eating hot pot with this was really enjoyable, especially since the hot pot meat this time was really fresh and delicious!
"Wow, this one's still alive!" Bai Qi exclaimed excitedly as he picked up a piece of the golden squid with his chopsticks. Even though it had been cut into strips, its tentacles were still wrapping around his chopsticks. "It's so good! So fresh, so incredibly fresh, it's delicious!"

"It's still alive like this, its vitality is too tenacious. It's probably not suitable for you to eat. Let me eat it." Si Niang unceremoniously picked up her chopsticks and put the sliced ​​golden squid into the pot. It was almost like she was just blanching it in the seafood hot pot, and then she just threw it into her mouth. The texture was incredibly crisp and tender.