"Impossible. Zixiao is both civil and military, how could he be captured?"
In the palace of Prime Minister Xuchang, Cao Cao was furious and his eyes seemed to be spitting out fire.
He had previously sent an envoy to persuade Guan Yu to surrender, but the envoy was scolded by Liu Qi. Cao Cao was furious and ordered Cao Ren to send troops to conquer Xinye and capture Liu Qi.
Then there were battle reports from Nanyang for two consecutive days. First, Cao Ren was defeated, and then Benwan City fell, and Nanyang fell. It was unbelievable.
Niu Jin knelt on the ground, sweating like rain: "Prime Minister, I can see it clearly. General Cao is indeed being carried. He is unconscious. I don't know..."
He did not dare to say the next words for fear of offending Cao Cao, who would behead him immediately.
"Liu Qi, how dare you bully me?" Cao Cao stood up, his slender eyes flashed with cold light, and said in a deep voice: "Pass this order to my general, and send troops in three days to wash out Nanyang with blood!"
"Prime Minister, no!" Xun Yu was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly admonished: "Hebei is at the beginning of peace, the soldiers are tired, and it is the beginning of spring, and there is insufficient food and grass, so it is not suitable to send troops."
Cao Cao's eyes were red and he looked sideways at Xun Yu: "Does Wen Ruo want to stop me from taking revenge?"
Xun Yu shivered, clasped his fists and said, "General Cao has been captured. The first priority is to save people. If he suddenly sends troops and angers Liu Qi, Zi Xiao will be in danger!"
"Well -" when Cao Ren was mentioned, Cao Cao sat down slowly and asked: "If I send an envoy, I will be reprimanded by Liu Qi, what should I do?"
Xun Yu thought for a while and replied: "Guan Yu's refusal to accept the post of General Zuo is detrimental to the prestige of the court. He can be transferred to Liu Qi to reassure him. The envoy can negotiate with Wancheng."
Cao Cao nodded and said, "Leave this matter to Wen Ruo!"
After Xun Yu retreated, Cao Cao became much calmer and said: "Although Liu Qi had the help of Guan Zhang, he never led an army, but he was able to defeat Cao Ren and take Nanyang. For such a strategy, there must be an expert to advise him."
Cheng Yu nodded and said: "What the Prime Minister said is absolutely true. Although Liu Biao has no intention of seeking hegemony, Jingzhou is crouching tiger, hidden dragon. Rumor has it that Liu Qi has been hiding his power for several years and now he is making a big splash. There must be secret help from his secret servants."
Cao Cao snorted slightly and ordered Niu Jin: "Send someone immediately to find out who has made plans for Liu Qi."
"Yes!" Niu Jin let out a long breath and quickly exited, his body soaked with sweat.
"Since I raised my army, except for Chen Gong, no one has ever schemed like this before!" Cao Cao became more and more angry as he thought about it. He clenched his fist and said, "If I don't kill Liu Qi, it will be difficult to understand the hatred in my heart."
Cheng Yu said: "The prime minister originally wanted to march south, but he was worried that his army would be unknown. Liu Qi did not know that the sky was high and the heights were high, which angered the tiger. This was a God-given opportunity! We can prepare troops, horses, food and fodder in time. When General Cao is rescued, he will arrive with a large army and take advantage of the situation to capture Jingzhou and go down. Jiangdong, sweep across Jiangnan in one fell swoop.”
"Hahaha, what Zhongde said is absolutely true!" Cao Cao laughed and said, "A blessing in disguise?"
Immediately, he sent an order to Xiahou Dun to mobilize all the troops, gather 200,000 elite troops in Xuchang, and gather food and grass to prepare for the southern expedition.
Xun You offered advice: "The Prime Minister wants to take Jingzhou, so why go to war? I have a plan, Jingzhou can be easily obtained!"
Cao Cao hurriedly asked: "What's the plan?"
Xun You said: "Liu Qi killed Cai Mao and led Jingzhou, and the people in the territory must be unstable. Earlier, Han Song came to Xuchang to meet the Holy Spirit and said that there were many people in Jingzhou who wanted to submit, so he could send people to secretly instigate them. In addition, Zhao Fan of Guiyang had a close relationship with Cai Mao, so Liu Qi punished him When the Cai family establishes its power, Zhao Fan will definitely be in panic, so he can spread rumors and promise to be given an official title. With him responding in the south, chaos will break out in the north and south of Jingzhou. Even if Liu Qi has the help of experts, it will be difficult to take care of him!"
"This is a great plan!" Cao Cao nodded happily, stroking his long beard and squinting his eyes, and said slowly: "Zhao Fan alone is not enough to threaten Jingzhou, we need the help of Bi Yan'er."
Cheng Yu nodded and said: "Sun Quan previously sent his son to the court but failed to come. We can send an envoy to rebuke him and order him to send troops to attack Jiangxia. Sun is eager to avenge his father, so he will gladly accept the order and save the face of the court."
Cao Cao followed his plan and sent the famous scholar Wang Lang as his envoy to Wancheng to negotiate. At the same time, he sent people to various places in Jiangdong and Jingnan to seek Jingzhou.
Wang Lang led his troops to Nanyang, where he saw people and horses mobilizing and the soldiers and civilians rejoicing. Although nervous, they were filled with joy, and secretly lamented that people were thinking about Han.
Although Liu Bei died, Liu Qi suddenly emerged and took over his mantle to revitalize the Han Dynasty. He may become a powerful enemy of the Cao family.
When he arrived in Wancheng, the imperial edict was read out, and Liu Qi received the seal of General Zuo, he felt a little more confident.
After some pleasantries, seeing that Liu Qi did not mention the prisoners at all, Wang Lang had no choice but to take the initiative and said: "General Cao Ren did not know the importance of the matter. He took advantage of the emperor's uncle's death to send troops, which was against the will of heaven and led to the defeat. I wonder where he is now?"
Liu Qi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, please relax, General Cao is eating and drinking well here. He is just shutting himself up to think about his faults because he offended the emperor!"
Wang Lang clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty ordered us to take him back to Xuchang for trial. What do you think, General?"
Liu Qi smiled softly and raised his eyebrows: "Is this really what His Majesty meant?"
Wang Lang coughed lightly, nodded and said: "Your Majesty was already in grief when he heard the bad news about the emperor's uncle. When he heard that Cao Ren was sending troops, Long Yan was furious and wanted to personally judge him!"
"Hahaha, Wang Lang, Wang Lang!" Liu Qi suddenly laughed up to the sky, pointed at Wang Lang and cursed: "You are a lackey who seeks glory behind the Lord!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. Liu Qi insulted the angel, which was insulting the emperor.
Wang Lang became angry, stood up and said: "I am here as the emperor, and the general dares to speak nonsense. This is a crime of great disrespect. General, please respect yourself."
"You are an angel, but you are willing to be a hawk for Cao Ren!" Liu Qi looked at Wang Lang coldly and sneered: "If you are just here to declare an order to worship the general, you should accept it. But Cao Ren is a prisoner under the rank, but you are red-mouthed White Ya wants to take people away with just one sentence. This must be the order of the thief Cao, but you dare to pretend to be the emperor's edict. May I ask what crime you should be guilty of if you falsely convey the imperial edict?"
"This..." Wang Lang's face changed slightly and he took two steps back, not daring to look at Liu Qi again.
Guan Yu and others nodded frequently and glared at Wang Lang. When they first arrived, everyone respected him as a messenger and a famous person in the country, but now their eyes became extremely contemptuous.
Liu Qi turned his back and said calmly: "My father led Jingzhou as a pastoralist, but Cao Cao repeatedly entered Nanyang and violated the people. Cao Ren deserves it, how can he just walk away?"
Wang Lang was in a state of extreme embarrassment. Hearing this, he hurriedly asked: "General, what are your conditions? Please make it clear."
Liu Qi then turned around, changed his smile, and asked, "I wonder what the relationship is between Cao Ren and Cao Cao?"
"The two of you are the king..." Wang Lang almost let it slip and quickly changed his words: "The two of you serve the king. They are ministers of the same palace and the same clan."
Liu Qi nodded and said, "So, Cao Ren is Cao Cao's younger brother?"
"Exactly! Cao Ren is the son of Cao Chi, Marquis of Chen Mu, and the younger brother of Prime Minister Cao." Wang Lang was confused. Everyone knew about this, so why bother asking?
Liu Qi said again: "A certain person is a clan member of the Han Dynasty and shares the same clan as the Emperor. Do you agree?"
Wang Lang became more and more impatient, thinking, can I still refute? But he had to nod again.
Liu Qi smiled slightly and said slowly: "Then replacing the clan brother with the clan brother, is this reasonable?"
"Hehe...ho ho..."
Wang Lang was about to nod when his face suddenly changed. He looked at Liu Qi in horror and made a strange sound in his throat.
