111. Guo Jia Employs Another Stratagem

Guo Jia imitated Cao Cao’s handwriting to write a letter to Xu You. The letter began by reminiscing about their old friendship from youth, followed by words of comfort regarding Yuan Shao’s intent to execute Xu You. It concluded by suggesting that Xu You would be far better off defecting to Cao Cao, promising him high office and fine steeds if he were to join his ranks. Further on, the letter claimed that Yuan Shao lacked the vision to employ talent and would undoubtedly be defeated in the Battle of Guandu, at which point his head would surely be severed.

Guo Jia penned several thousand characters in this sprawling letter, writing everything that should be written, and even some things that should not. Once finished, he took up his brush again and smeared out several passages of the text. Before these sections were obscured, the letter functioned as a standard offer of defection. However, once the text was blotted out, the meaning changed entirely: it now appeared as though Xu You and Cao Cao were conspiring together to harm Yuan Shao.

Su Ming watched Guo Jia complete the letter, and upon witnessing this maneuver, he could not help but give the strategist a thumb’s up. *Strategist,* he thought, *you truly are something else!*

In the Yuan camp, at dinner time, a spy planted by Cao Cao among Yuan’s forces slipped quietly into the mess hall. For Guo Jia’s scheme to work, the letter had to be delivered to Xu You without anyone noticing; if the process were to alert anyone, the strategy would fail. Guo Jia’s intelligence bordered on the supernatural, and having conceived this plan, he naturally had a way to execute it. He instructed the spy to slide the letter secretly beneath the dinner tray destined for Xu You.

As a high-ranking official, Xu You had his tent surrounded by layers of guards, making it difficult to approach, but the mess hall was far more accessible. By hiding the letter under his meal, it was delivered to him without a hitch.

Inside his tent, Xu You was drinking to drown his sorrows. He was furious, having been stripped of all his official positions and salary by Yuan Shao earlier that day. What he hated most was not Yuan Shao, but Ju Yi. He considered Ju Yi a mortal enemy, thinking to himself, "Wait until I make my comeback, Ju Yi; I will not spare you."

Xu You remained confident in his eventual return to power. Having grown up with Yuan Shao, he knew his temper all too well. Yuan Shao was capricious; once the current storm passed, a bit of flattery and fawning would surely restore him to favor. *When that time comes,* Xu You thought, *we shall see who dies, Ju Yi!*

With this thought, he grabbed a lamb leg from his platter and took a savage bite. The intensity with which he tore at the meat suggested he was imagining himself biting into Ju Yi’s flesh.

"Clang!"

After a few bites, he dropped the leg back onto the platter with such force that the plate slid to one side. Xu You peered down and noticed a letter pressed beneath it. Driven by curiosity, he picked it up and began to read, word by word. As he read, his heart skipped a beat—the handwriting was clearly that of Cao Cao.

After finishing the letter, Xu You grew suspicious. *Does Cao Cao truly wish to recruit me?* But he quickly sensed something was amiss. If Cao Cao genuinely wanted to win him over, why would he smear the letter so messily? Xu You, a strategist falling just short of the top tier, carefully pondered the letter’s implications until realization dawned on him.

"This is bad!" he muttered. "Is Cao Cao trying to kill me, or is he using this letter to force me to surrender?" He hesitated. On second thought, killing him seemed unlikely; the strategy of attrition was Tian Feng’s idea, so why would Cao Cao bother with him? Furthermore, even if he did, there were still Feng Ji, Shen Pei, and Ju Shou; one man’s death would not turn the tide of the war.

Unable to decipher whether Cao Cao sought to recruit him or eliminate him, Xu You decided it did not matter. His family, his businesses, and his land were all in Ye City. To defect to Cao Cao would mean starting from scratch. Besides, Cao Cao’s camp was already overflowing with talent; there was no guarantee of advancement. Unless absolutely necessary, he would not defect. Clearly, that time had not yet come. *Forget it,* he thought, *whatever it means, I shall burn it and pretend I never saw it.*

He moved to cast the letter into the oil lamp.

Meanwhile, the moment the letter reached Xu You’s tent, the spy set his next phase in motion. He went straight to Ju Yi. Knowing the deep-seated hatred between Ju Yi and Xu You, the spy knew exactly who to target. At that moment, Ju Yi, Gao Lan, and Zhang He were drinking together, frustrated by the war—risking their lives on the front lines while corrupt officials grew fat in the rear.

The spy rushed in, whispering into Ju Yi’s ear, "General, I just passed Xu You’s tent and saw him whispering with a stranger. I suspect it was a Cao spy. I saw from a distance that the man handed him a secret letter."

Before the spy could finish, Ju Yi slammed his hand on the table and rose, grabbing his sword to confront Xu You. Zhang He, a more cautious man, pulled him back, saying, "We must take this to the Lord first. Otherwise, he will simply deny it, and we will be powerless to act."

Ju Yi agreed and led Zhang He and Gao Lan to Yuan Shao.

Back in the tent, as Xu You held the letter to the lamp, the corner had just caught fire when a cold wind blew through the entrance. The flaps were thrown open, and Ju Yi rushed in, catching Xu You in the act. He grabbed the burning letter, heedless of the heat, and extinguished the flames. Fortunately, they had arrived in time; only a third of the letter was destroyed, and the majority remained intact.

Ju Yi snatched it and presented it to Yuan Shao, saying, "My Lord, look at this!"

Xu You stood frozen, his mind reeling. He knew he was trapped. Having been caught by Yuan Shao in the act of burning the letter, he was now irrevocably implicated—even if he was innocent, the stain of suspicion was impossible to wash away.