Mythical Three Kingdoms

During the following period, although Chen Xi was unwilling and very reluctant to work, he was caught every day. Helpless, he could only obediently pass his days in the Political Office.

"Ha, what is this?" Chen Xi looked at the news sent from various places in the North and was stunned. How is this possible?

"Wen He, Wen He, come quickly and take a look. Is there something wrong with my eyes?" Chen Xi, somewhat flustered, called out in the direction of Jia Xu.

"What happened to you again? Are you thinking of running away again?" Jia Xu frowned as he looked towards Chen Xi, with a look of obvious suspicion, as Chen Xi had been running away quite a lot recently.

"No, really something major has happened this time. Didn’t we eliminate the Hu People in the North? And we even plowed twice. How can such a document be sent from the North?" Chen Xi frowned, appearing with a hint of seriousness.

Jia Xu also knew that Chen Xi was someone who didn’t work hard, but could still distinguish between major and minor matters, priorities and urgencies. Seeing the seriousness on Chen Xi’s face, he immediately reached out to take the document sent from the North.

Jia Xu, after reading it, was also stunned. But then he understood what was going on and explained along Chen Xi’s lines, "Perhaps it’s like what’s stated in the document—after we routed the Hu People, the fleeing routed army of the Hu People."

"How is that possible? If I can’t trust myself, can’t I trust your capabilities?" Chen Xi shouted at Jia Xu, "Besides, we should have captured and annihilated the Northern Huns and Hu People at that time. What you said is completely impossible!"

"So, are you suggesting that the document is fake?" Jia Xu scoffed, now having guessed nine-tenths of the substantial content but was unwilling to speak out.

"What are you talking about? Let me see." Fa Zheng, who walked in from outside, asked while shaking his head. Jia Xu casually handed the document to Fa Zheng.

"The Miscellaneous Hun Routed Army is harassing the counties in the North, and now there are villages that have been completely massacred." Fa Zheng took the document with a smile, but as he read on, his expression became much more serious.

"How is this possible? When we made the plan, Cheng Zhongde and I created an external guerrilla plan together, making it impossible for any Miscellaneous Hu to escape." Fa Zheng slammed the document on the table, causing a loud noise that caught Lub Su’s attention, but he quickly went back to his work.

"Regardless of whether it’s possible or not, reality has already happened!" Chen Xi said with a dark expression.

"Absolutely impossible. I have absolute confidence in what I do. It’s absolutely impossible for any Miscellaneous Hun to escape from my designed encirclement!" Fa Zheng spoke almost arrogantly, yet there was an undeniable confidence in his tone.

"The question is, didn’t you see? Didn’t you see what the document says?" Chen Xi pointed to the document that Fa Zheng had pinned to the table.

"The document must be wrong. It cannot possibly be the Miscellaneous Hun Routed Army. I know exactly what I’ve done. Moreover, the blood from last year’s plains hasn’t even faded yet. How big-hearted must the Miscellaneous Hun be to dare move south!" Fa Zheng looked at Chen Xi sternly and said, "This is definitely not the Miscellaneous Hun Routed Army. I’ll stake my head on it!"

Alright, with Fa Zheng saying this, Chen Xi had no answer.

"Alright then, what do you think is going on?" Chen Xi took a deep breath to calm himself and asked Fa Zheng.

"How would I know? I haven’t been there in person, so how could I possibly know?" Fa Zheng rolled his eyes helplessly and said, "But I can assure you it’s definitely not the Miscellaneous Hun Routed Army. Uh, you should ask Master Jia, he definitely knows. I saw a strange look in his eyes."

Seeing Fa Zheng pass the topic to Jia Xu, Chen Xi turned his head to glance at Jia Xu but couldn’t discern any desired expression. He then turned to look at Fa Zheng, who appeared to be in deep thought.

"I think you shouldn’t concern yourself with this matter," Fa Zheng said after a while, leaning his head on crossed arms.

"Uh?" Chen Xi looked at Fa Zheng, puzzled.

"I roughly know who’s behind this and why they did it, although I initially thought you would be the one doing it," Fa Zheng spoke with a cold gleam in his half-closed eyes, "sometimes you need to kill a group of people to let them feel your will."

Chen Xi was taken aback, immediately turning to look at Li Youu, who was working hard. As if sensing Chen Xi’s gaze, Li Youu looked up expressionlessly, sat up, and looked at Chen Xi.

"Did you do it?" Chen Xi directly asked Li Youu.

"Kill the disobedient ones whose reach is too long; by the way, in a few days, you’ll also receive news about a certain North-bound aristocratic family being robbed and annihilated by bandits on the road." Li Youu said without any expression.

Chen Xi immediately sat down, beginning to connect the cause and effect relationships. After a long pause, Chen Xi slowly spoke, "Some aristocratic families have migrated north, but they use other methods to control local powerful landlords from afar, remotely commanding them, and then once again control the power they had previously vacated?"

"Yes." Li Youu nodded and said.

"Is the situation serious in Qingzhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou?" Chen Xi was silent for a while before asking. If even these three places were severely affected, then Chen Xi would truly feel that he had been too gentle in the past.

"These three places are not affected, though I have many channels to ensure they are watching the situation. At least for now, there isn’t any problem." Li Youu said with a hint of satisfaction, and Chen Xi obviously breathed a sigh of relief. If these three places were all like that, then even a purge would not be excessive.

"Where is the main issue?" Chen Xi felt a weight lifted, then opened his mouth to ask.

"Jizhou and Yuzhou." Li Youu slowly replied, "Especially Yuzhou is very serious. Of course, the main problem is that Yuan Gonglu has not yet reacted."

Chen Xi’s mouth twitched, Yuan Shu certainly hadn’t reacted. Nobody has told him, he’s surely unaware. This kind of small trick, Yuan Shu definitely wouldn’t do, and even if others did it more covertly, if Yuan Shu discovered it, he’d be overthinking.

Playing openly, Yuan Shu is fearless, but when it comes to intelligence, Yuan Shu lacks far behind. There’s no help; he’s simply not someone who thinks things through.

"Notify Yuan Gonglu, provide a list of aristocratic families not adhering to the original agreement directly to Yuan Shu, let him take action, and send it directly in my name." Chen Xi’s face was dark, then he opened his mouth with some helplessness, "What do you say that group is thinking?"

"Interest." Li Youu said flatly, "That’s why you need to take action when it’s time to kill. If you keep backing down, they really will think you’re easily bullied. Your abilities are strong, they are willing to follow you because the benefits of following you are great, but your personality is not strong enough."

"Most aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty have a tendency to be sly, but some families can be saved while others should not. The impression you give them is more like a fox, capable, beneficial, but not lethal. Many among them are overdue for a reckoning!" Li Youu coldly said.

Chen Xi scratched his head, his self-control was very strong, rarely indulging in violence. Although some issues indeed can be resolved by killing, he habitually avoids this point because there’s always another way.

"Give your authority to me, let me handle it, no matter what happens in between, whoever comes to ask you, don’t speak, don’t stop me, and I’ll give you an outcome." Li Youu said to Chen Xi, who appeared hesitantly as if wanting to argue.

"You won’t bathe the fields in blood, will you?" Chen Xi asked with some hesitation, if given to Li Youu, there will be deaths, especially if he’s doing it under my name.

"No, considering it’s under your name, I’ll spare some face." Li Youu shook his head and said.

"Then about how many will die." Chen Xi always felt Li Youu was very reliable, except he was a bit too heavy-handed, but overall his work was trustworthy, so he was rather tempted.

"Not too many will die." Jia Xu chimed in for Li Youu and answered, "Just as Wen Ru needs to revise the registry, this time maybe we can wrap it up."

"I see, alright then." Chen Xi was still a bit hesitant, but since Jia Xu had guaranteed it, Chen Xi had nothing more to say.

Fa Zheng silently left, saying there won’t be too many deaths. Zichuan, your notion of ’not too many’ and those two’s notion of ’not too many’ are completely different concepts.

After Li Youu got what he wanted from Chen Xi, he quietly began to work hard again. Meanwhile, Chen Xi personally wrote a letter, ordering it to be delivered to Yuan Shu without concealment during the delivery process. It served as a warning to the major aristocratic families, heed my words and restrain yourselves!

However, due to Chen Xi’s gentle temperament over the years and his unwillingness to raise the butcher’s knife, all aristocratic families who had interacted with him knew this. Hence, the families who adhered to agreements remained expressionless onlookers, considering whether they should also fish in troubled waters with others later. On the other hand, the families that did not adhere to agreements continued doing as they pleased, convinced that he couldn’t possibly cut down all of them, could he!

In the eyes of these families, even if caught by Chen Xi, the most that would happen is handing back what they had taken. And the compensation they received from moving out of the Central Plains had already been gained, snagging some more in the Central Plains was a win from any perspective.

After all, with no danger at all, any gain is welcomed. Why not earn while the opportunity arises? Some families even pulled their acquaintances in, and notable numbers of them started quietly engaging in opportunistic actions because seeing others profit encouraged them to do the same.

"Zhang Clan of Nanyang, four times already. Let’s start with them this time. Each time Zichuan has let it slide, but I’ve documented it in detail every time. This behavior warrants family extermination, let’s inform other families with their sins as a declaration. Let’s see, it appears the major families really think I wouldn’t settle the accounts!" Li Youu pulled out a half-inch thick book, flipping through it while muttering to himself after Chen Xi cleared out.

The major families hadn’t anticipated that following Chen Xi’s warning would be a blood-red curtain falling swiftly; some had been holding back for years, just awaiting the moment of reckoning to arrive.