As Gongsun Zan stood there, his face full of indignation, Shen Pei found himself at a loss for words.

"It's that simple. I don't trust him," Gongsun Zan said, laying everything bare. It was as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders, and his expression returned to its usual calm as he looked at Shen Pei.

"Are you sure you won't reconsider?" Shen Pei sighed. He had considered many possibilities before coming here, but he had never anticipated that he would fail at the last moment like this.

"I don't trust Yuan Benchu. It's that simple. His valor and grandeur only show when his opponent is stronger than he is. Whether it was against Dong Zhuo, against me in the past, or against Xuande now, his courage is merely a response to facing stronger adversaries," Gongsun Zan sneered.

Shen Pei glanced at Gongsun Zan with dissatisfaction, feeling displeased at how Gongsun Zan was belittling his lord. However, considering what had been said earlier, Shen Pei held back from offering further explanations.

"Hmph, don't think I can't see what you're thinking. You don't like my assessment of your lord," Gongsun Zan said, casting a glance at Shen Pei with an expression that suggested he had seen through everything.

"Hmph, what do you know? My lord Yuan Benchu's valor is beyond your understanding," Shen Pei retorted, irritated.

"Yuan Benchu is indeed valorous. I haven't been idle all this time; I've learned a lot about him. Yuan Benchu is full of courage and determination in the face of adversity, his valor is commendable, and his grandeur is unmatched," Gongsun Zan said, shaking his head slightly. Shen Pei smiled, having braced himself for criticism but instead hearing praise from an enemy like Gongsun Zan.

If there's one type of praise that's most genuine, it's the kind that comes from the mouth of an enemy. Although Gongsun Zan's assessment didn't entirely match Shen Pei's ideal, it was valuable for its honesty—there was no flattery, no pandering, only a straightforward evaluation.

But before Shen Pei could fully enjoy this moment, Gongsun Zan continued with his critique. "Yuan Benchu possesses all the qualities needed to turn the tide in difficult situations. In adversity, he makes it clear to all his subjects what it means to be a leader. At such times, he shoulders all the responsibilities and mistakes, trusting every one of his subjects and making them feel his grand ambitions!"

Shen Pei nodded in agreement, thinking that Gongsun Zan had hit the nail on the head. Yuan Shao was indeed exceptional, a model for the entire realm.

But Gongsun Zan paid no attention to Shen Pei's nodding, his expression turning cold as he spoke again. "But that’s only one side of Yuan Benchu. I won't deny that he has the ability to become the strongest warlord in the realm, but the moment he becomes the strongest is also the moment he's closest to death."

"His valor, his grandeur, his trust in others—these are as fleeting as a reflection in a mirror or the moon in water. He can share adversity, but not prosperity. His suspicion is too deep. His bravery in adversity is only because his ambitions and determination suppress his doubts," Gongsun Zan coldly narrated.

"Once he reaches the pinnacle, all his flaws will be exposed!" Gongsun Zan continued with the certainty of a prophet. "Yuan Benchu will inevitably fall because of his own suspicions!"

"Hmph, anyone can say that, but my lord has never shown such flaws," Shen Pei responded dismissively, choosing to ignore Gongsun Zan's latter comments.

Gongsun Zan smirked. This assessment wasn't his own; it had been given by Xu Zijiang, who had summed it up in one sentence: "A model for the world in adversity, but utterly ruinous in prosperity." It meant that Yuan Shao would perform impressively only when facing challenges, but once he succeeded, everything he did would lead to failure.

This evaluation hadn't been published but had come from Taishan. Initially, Gongsun Zan hadn't been entirely sure about it, but over time and through his own reflections, he had come to realize that Xu Zijiang's assessment was accurate.

Of course, Shen Pei was unaware of this. If he had known, he might have quietly taken note of today's evaluation and returned to warn Yuan Shao.

After all, Xu Shao's assessments were famously accurate, so much so that they were considered as good as gold. Back in the day, when Xu Shao had been giving out reviews, everyone who sought his judgment had felt a mix of love and hate—love for his accuracy, but hate for how his negative assessments were even more spot-on!

When Yuan Shao was in Luoyang, he had known about Xu Shao's reviews. Given his status, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to request an assessment, but because he had grand ambitions at the time and feared that Xu Shao might jinx him and scare off the heroes he had gathered, he ultimately decided against it.

In Yuan Shao's view, Xu Shao hailed from Yuzhou, and if Yuan Shu had put a little pressure on him, Xu Shao might have given a poor assessment on purpose. If that had happened, Yuan Shao's prospects would have been ruined.

As for Cao Cao, he had no such concerns. He had gone directly to Xu Shao with a sword, which, surprisingly, was in line with Xu Shao's rules. In the end, Cao Cao got his assessment, and Xu Shao quickly packed up and left, deciding that Luoyang was no longer a safe place for him.

When Yuan Shao realized that Xu Shao wasn't influenced by external factors in his assessments, he had tried to seek him out personally. But by then, Xu Shao had sworn off giving evaluations, and Yuan Shao, concerned about his own reputation, had hesitated for a long time before giving up on the idea of using force to obtain a review. As a result, he never got that final assessment.

All in all, Yuan Shao had always seemed strange to Xu Shao. When he had nothing, he was a hero—dashing and magnanimous, never giving up in the face of adversity. But when he was in high spirits, he seemed like a completely different person.

To be honest, when Yuan Shao had come to Xu Shao for a review, Xu Shao had been waiting for Yuan Shao to apply some pressure so he could go along with it and give him an assessment.

But the Yuan Shao he met didn't live up to his reputation; he was all bluster and no bite, far from the heroic figure Xu Shao had seen confronting the eunuch chief Zhang Rang in Luoyang.

Looking back, Xu Shao was relieved that he hadn't tied his reputation to an assessment of Yuan Shao. Otherwise, his name would have been tarnished.

This experience only deepened Xu Shao's interest in Yuan Shao. With his sharp eye, it was almost impossible for him to misjudge someone, and Yuan Shao had indeed been a hero when he first saw him. So how had he turned into a coward in just a few days?

Driven by this curiosity, Xu Shao continued to observe Yuan Shao intermittently and eventually concluded that Yuan Shao was indeed a peculiar case. He could be divided into two distinct states.

One was a god-like state in adversity, such as when he angrily rebuked the eunuchs in Luoyang, pointed his sword at Dong Zhuo in the palace, and fought desperately at Jieqiao against Gongsun Zan. The other was a pig-like state in prosperity, such as when he had just established his power and turned against his own father, bungled the campaign at Hulao Pass with the coalition of eighteen lords, and performed poorly against Gongsun Zan after first gaining control of Jizhou.

Yuan Benchu's pattern was to be slapped by someone, wake up and slap them back to death, then feel invincible and start making mistakes again, only to be slapped once more—repeating this cycle until someone slapped him so hard that it killed him.

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