Chapter 313 The Gathering of Ten Warlords – Part Three (2/2)

Seeing that nothing was interesting, he turned around to his mother. When Liu Xie saw the face of Tong, who was looking back at him with a smile, Liu Xie cried out in joy.

”Papa!”

Everybody in the tent flinched. The officials were not stupid enough to catch what their relationship was.

'Yup, it's a check-mate,' Cao Cao snickered in his mind.

'Well played, Zhang Tong. In this world, it's your win,' Pu Jing also ran out of ideas to make Cao Cao an emperor. It was impossible for them now with Tong's relationship with the royalties.

Cheng Yu did not speak or think. He simply smiled and bowed his head as if nothing had happened.

Liu Bei, however, had menacing eyes, glaring at Liu Xie and Tong.

'How dare you! You opportunist bastard! How dare you seduce her majesty! You are just a silver pant son of a rebel. How dare you take her majesty!?'

His hatred intensified as Liu Bei thought that Tong had already consummated with He Xing.

Unbeknownst to the motive of all retainers, He Xing grinned. However, her eyes fixated at the seat where Yuan Shao was sitting.

”Long traveling is tiring for my son. May we have a seat, Yuan Benchu?”

Yuan Shao jolted in fear. He crept back and withdrew from his seat since he had no choice. Tian Feng and Wen Chou also retreated back to the side of the tent, allowing their lord to escape from the predicament.

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth in anger, ”The seat is yours, your majesty.”

At first, Yuan Shao wanted to shame Tong in front of everyone to pay back and satisfy his ego. Yet, in the end, he had to attend the meeting without a proper seat.

Though soldiers from the outside brought him another set of short table, carpet, and a cushion, he was frustrated that he lost his position of the leading coalition because of the girl he had planned to enslave.

”Very well. Tong, my dear. Come sit with me.”

The word ”My dear” from He Xing had many meanings to all lords. It concluded that who had the highest status among them all.

Also, it solidified Tong's stance in the Han Court. No one could deny his command now.

Meanwhile, Tong nodded and held his hand with Liu Xie. They walked together like a family and sat on the main seat in the middle end of the tent.

Xun Yu and Jia Xu stood behind Tong without uttering a word. It was unnecessary for them to talk now anyway since they had completed their plan.

Tong was now the supreme commander of the alliance by default. Should anyone defy his order, they would be equally challenging the empress herself and be flagged as rebels of the Han Dynasty. Then, all their nine generations would be executed by the officials.

Upon sitting, He Xing declared, ”First, I need all of you to know that Zhang Tong is my current prince consort. He will take charge of the Han Court while Liu Xie has not matured enough to succeed the throne. Do you best to support him!”

”We understand, your majesty!”

No one dared to object He Xing's declaration.

”I'll leave the command of the armies to you, my dear.”

Tong nodded while he was holding Liu Xie on his laps, hugging him. Meanwhile, Liu Xie laughed and played with the command seal on the table without caring about the eyes of others.

Ignoring his fatherly image, Tong cleared his throat.

”All lords are now presented. I'll begin the briefing. We'll start with the distribution of the troops and placement of our ally armies.”

…

Tong did not hide anything about his legions placement. He revealed that another 100,000 soldiers were standing by on the northern shore of the Yellow River, getting ready to pincer attack Luo Yang City at any moment.

The mixed southern armies of Sun Jian, Liu Biao, and Yuan Shu, who did not participate in this meeting, also gathered 110,000 men. They would attack the southern pass of Hongnong to flank the Xiongnu Army.

As for the main assault troops, it would be them. The total of 260,000 mixed forces was in charge of crossing Hulao Gate and confronting the main army of Xiongnu.

…

The placement and the scale of this battle gave the minor lords a cold sweat.

Cao Cao, Gongsun Zan, and Yuan Shao had a deep frown on their face. They had concerns.

Tian Feng stepped forward first to comment on this arrangement.

”I disagree with this policy and your entire plan. It's clear that your main forces located on the north bank of the Yellow River while the armies here will draw the attention from the Xiongnu. When the fight breaks out, the coalition armies at our location will suffer the most casualty. But in the meantime, your troops will only face a small detached force of Xiongnu, and you will reap the rewards from plundering their cities before we can even cross the Hulao Gate. I don't know what the others think, but to me, you're using us as baits.”

Tian Feng attempted to pry open a crack of this coalition right away.