Yuan Shang sent a confidant who was inquiring about the news and rushed back to Nanpi that night.

When Yuan Shang saw his confidant come back, he immediately asked: "What's the situation? Is there a Jizhou army coming towards Nanpi?"

"Reply to the young master," the confidant replied quickly, "There is indeed a Jizhou army coming along the official road to Nanpi. With their itinerary, they can reach this place in at most two days."

"How many people do they have?" Shen Pei finished speaking, and then asked, "Who is the general who led the troops?"

"It is the two brothers Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang, and they have about 3,000 troops."

After hearing that the general who led the troops was Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang, Shen Pei couldn't help but sneer, and then said, "It turned out to be these two rebel generals of the Yuan family." He turned his head and said to Yuan Shang, "Young master, don't worry, the level of these two brothers is limited. Not to mention just three thousand people, even if they command 30,000 people, it will not be easy to defeat Nanpi."

After Shen Pei finished speaking, seeing that his confidant was still standing there without moving, he couldn't help but ask curiously: "What else do you have to say?"

"Young Master Qi Bing." The confidant looked at Shen Pei with his eyes, but he said to Yuan Shang: "The young man saw the figures of the eldest and second masters in the army."

"What, brother and second brother?" Yuan Shang heard this and rushed to his confidant, grabbed his clothes and asked nervously: "Didn't they have died long ago in the hands of the Jizhou Army, how could they appear here? Could it be that you read it wrong?"

"No, young master." The confidant replied in a panic: "I thought I had read it wrong at first, but I followed the army for a distance and observed it carefully for a long time. It was really two young masters."

After Yuan Shang drove away his confidant, Shen Pei spoke, "Young Master, it seems that the guesses of his subordinates are correct. The two young men are indeed among this army. The reason why the Han family ordered Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang to lead the troops was probably not only to send the two young men to Nanpi, but also to ask them to help the eldest son and the second son to seize Bohai County from your hands."

After the hearing, Yuan Shang couldn't help but panic: "What should we do?"

After pondering for a long time, Shen Pei spoke, "Guotu, Xin Ping, and Xin Pi are all part of the eldest son. If he knew that the eldest son was coming to Nanpi, he would definitely help him take the eldest son and replace him."

"What should we do?" Yuan Shang knew that his subordinates were close to Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi was not a small number of officials. If these civil and military officials were standing on the side of his two brothers, then Bohai County would soon change its ownership. However, beside him, the only one who could trust was Shen Pei, so he had to ask the other party for help: "Do you demote or kill all the officials close to the eldest brother and the second brother?"

Shen Pei immediately expressed his objection to Yuan Shang's bad idea: "No, no, young master. Because the young master is young, the civil and military officials in the city are not convinced by you. If the officials are removed at will, it will inevitably cause panic in the city. It will lead to some officials who were originally undecided, and in order to protect themselves, they can only defect to the eldest son and the others."

Yuan Shang said with a sad face: "As the saying goes, elder brother is like a father, and now his father is missing. If the elder brother comes to Nanpi, my status will be difficult to protect."

"Young Master, don't panic." As Yuan Shang's confidant, Shen Pei would never watch his backer fall out. Therefore, after thinking for a long time, he continued: "If the young master wants to continue to control Bohai County, there is no way."

"Zhengnan, do you have a good idea?" Yuan Shang's hearing man said this, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw and asked urgently: "Tell me quickly, I will listen carefully."

Shen Pei did not answer Yuan Shang’s question immediately, but asked back: “Young Master, how is the relationship between the eldest and second masters on weekdays?”

When Yuan Shang heard the strange question of Shen Pei, he was stunned for a moment, but he still answered truthfully: "The second brother is more capable than the eldest brother, but he is not the eldest son in the family. Even if his father is a hundred years later, he is not the one who inherits the family business. Maybe because of this, since I have been sensible, I have seen that the two of them have been fighting openly and secretly."

In response to Yuan Shang's answer, Shen Pei showed a gratified smile on his face. He then said: "Since there is a conflict between the eldest son and the second son, then we have an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Yuan Shang asked strangely: "What's the opportunity to take advantage of?"

"The two were detained in Jizhou for several months. Even if there were conflicts, they had to temporarily put aside their grudges in order to work together." Shen Pei analyzed to Yuan Shang: "But once they escaped, the conflicts covered by danger will break up again. As long as we make good use of the conflicts between them, it is not impossible for the young master to protect Bohai County."

The smile on Yuan Shang's face flashed, and he asked again: "But, Zhengnan, how should we take advantage of the conflict between them?"

"The young master also said that the second young master is better than the eldest son, but because he is not the eldest son, he is destined to be unable to inherit the family business." Shen Pei said lightly: "We can use this to make a fuss and pull the second young master over."

"Will he agree to help us?" Yuan Shang asked a little uneasy.

"We can send someone to see the second young master and say we are willing to support him as the lord of Bohai." Seeing Yuan Shang humbly asking for help from him, Shen Pei expressed his plans: "As long as the eldest young master is eliminated, the young master will hand over the military power of Bohai County to him."

Shen Pei's proposal made Yuan Shang's face look confused: "Zhengnan, if we join forces with our second brother and get rid of our eldest brother, he really wants to replace me. How should I deal with it?"

Seeing Yuan Shang shouting and killing, Shen Pei couldn't help but laugh, and then said, "Young Master, don't worry. Although the second master is a little capable, he has no foundation, and he can't find a subordinate in Nanpi City. Not to mention that the young master is unwilling to give up the power of military service, even if he is willing to give up, the civil and military officials of Bohai County will not agree at that time. Tell me, after eradicating the eldest master, it would not be difficult for me to get rid of a second master without any foundation?"

"Zhengnan said very much." After listening to Shen Pei's plan, Yuan Shang couldn't help but nodded repeatedly. He knew that with his current strength, it was impossible to eradicate his eldest and second brothers at the same time. When facing death, no matter what conflicts there were between his two brothers, the two would join forces to deal with him. But once as Shen Pei said, pull one of them over and help him get rid of the other. When they were both defeated, they would take action again, and everything would be much easier. Therefore, he asked excitedly: "How should we start now?"

"Since the two young masters are going to Nanpi in two days, you might as well be more generous and go out of the city to greet them."

"What, let me go out of the city to greet them?" Yuan Shang had a very common relationship with his two brothers, and was naturally a little reluctant to Shen Pei's suggestion: "Isn't that losing my identity as a young master?"

"Young Master is such a bad word. Everyone is the son of the Marquis of the Bingxiang." Hearing Yuan Shang's words of such a strange reason, Shen Pei felt amused and cried, but he was patient and advised him kindly: "How can you say that you have the best position when you go out of the city to welcome your brother?"

Yuan Shang heard the trial man say this, but did not say anything, but walked back and forth between the house with his hands behind his back, thinking in his heart whether he should put down his figure and go out of the city to greet his two brothers.

Seeing Yuan Shang's reluctance, Shen Pei could only grit his teeth and continue to persuade: "No matter what, the two young masters, Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi, are both the young master's brothers. If they arrive in Nanpi and we don't go out to greet each other, it will probably attract gossip and will have an impact on the young master's reputation at that time."

Shen Pei's words made Yuan Shang start to ponder: Although he and his two brothers were not born to the same mother, and they had a bad relationship with each other. However, no matter what, the other party was his own brother. Once he kept his door open to them, he would definitely be gossiped about it. Once he had a bad impact on his reputation, if he wanted to recruit more talents in the future, someone would definitely make this happen. Therefore, after repeated considerations, Yuan Shang finally nodded and said, "Okay, Zhengnan. When the two of them and the soldiers of Jizhou arrived, I will personally lead people out of the city to greet him."

The next afternoon, Yuan Shang sent a horse to report that the troops escorting Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi's Jizhou were only 80 miles away from Nanpi and would arrive at the city of Nanpi at the latest tomorrow evening. After learning the news, Yuan Shang hurriedly ordered people to summon civil and military officials in Nanpi City to discuss matters.

The civil and military officials who received the notice hurried to the conference hall of the prefect's office. When they saw some of their familiar colleagues who had already stood in the conference hall, they cast inquiring eyes at them, hoping to understand Yuan Shang's purpose from them. Then the officials who arrived first were also confused. Facing the inquiring eyes of their colleagues, they could only spread their hands and signal that they didn't know anything.

Seeing that the people were almost here, Shen Pei walked to the middle of the meeting hall and said to the civil and military officials: "My sirs, today the young master summoned everyone here, and there is an important thing to announce. Please be quiet."

After Shen Pei finished speaking, Yuan Shang stood up and walked around the table in front of him, came to Shen Pei's side, and said to everyone: "My sir, according to their return, my two brothers, Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi, are coming towards Nanpi under the escort of a Jizhou army, and will arrive outside the city at the latest in the afternoon. I have summoned you here to tell you that I will leave the city ten miles to greet you. I wonder what you think?"

As soon as Yuan Shang said something, the first thing he was Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Xin Pi and others from Yuan Tan's faction. Before receiving the notice of the matter, the three of them were gathering in Guo Tu's mansion to discuss how to welcome Yuan Tan into the city. At this moment, they heard Yuan Shang say that he was going to leave the city in person. When they welcome Yuan Tan into the city, they thought they had heard it wrong.

Yuan Shang seemed to see through the thoughts of the three of them and continued: "My two brothers were defeated and captured and were imprisoned in the prison in Jizhou for several months. Although I didn't know why Jizhou wanted to return the two, since they came to Bohai, I couldn't ignore them, so I needed to go out of the city to greet them."

Guo Tu and others heard what Yuan Shang said clearly this time, and hurriedly walked out of the queue, bowed to Yuan Shang and said, "If the young master wants to go out of the city to welcome the eldest son, the second son, his subordinates are willing to go with him."

Seeing several officials from Yuan Tan’s party, they all expressed their intention to go out of the city to greet Yuan Tan with the young master. The rest of the officials did not dare to show weakness, and then said, “I am willing to follow the young master out of the city to welcome the eldest master and the second master into the city.”

When Yuan Shang saw so many officials volunteering and willing to go out of the city to welcome Yuan Tan, a murderous aura flashed across his face. But he still pretended to be surprised and said, "Since you all are willing to go out of the city with me, I am asking for it. Everyone, it's getting late, so everyone should go back early to rest. When we are noon tomorrow, we will go out of the city to welcome the arrival of my brother."

After the civil and military officials in the conference hall left one after another, Yuan Shang said to Shen Pei with murderous intent: "Zhengnan, I really didn't expect that there were so many Yuan Tan's accomplices in Nanpi City. It seems that I must start a massacre of them, otherwise you and I will have no place to gain a foothold in Nanpi."

"Young Master, you misunderstood." Seeing that Yuan Shang was tempted by killing Nanpi's civil and military affairs, Shen Pei quickly persuaded him: "Don't see that so many officials are going out of the city to greet the two young masters, it doesn't mean that they are both Yuan Tan's party. Many of them should have seen the young master go out of the city to greet him in person, but they just wanted to please you, so they said they wanted to go out of the city together."

After listening to Shen Pei's explanation, Yuan Shang's murderous aura turned into confusion. He looked at Shen Pei and asked, "Zhengnan, is it true?"

"That's right," Shen Pei nodded and said with certainty: "Yuan Tan's accomplices in Nanpi City are nothing more than Guo Tu, Xinpi, Xinping and others. The rest of the officials are all good-for-all. When they see that they are strong, they will naturally turn to the other side. Therefore, we must find a way to pull all these officials over so that we can be invincible."

The words of Shen Pei made Yuan Shang relieved. He nodded and said, "Zhengnan, I am concerned about you. It seems that you are right. The civil and military officials in Nanpi City are just a group of fence-skinned grass. They will go to the other side. Now there is still something to use for them, so let them go. When you have the right candidate in the future, it will not be too late to replace them."

"Young Master," Shen Pei, after Yuan Shang finished speaking, added: "I wonder if you have told your wife about this?"

"Tell me the mother of my son?" Yuan Shang's face showed a surprised expression: "Zhengnan, why is this?"

"If you want to win over the second young master, it is far from enough to rely on the young master to do his job." Shen Pei said with a smile: "If the wife comes forward, it will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort."

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Chapter completed!