Shangshu Zhao Zi respectfully took the memorial from the emperor. After reading it carefully, he said:
"Your Majesty, General Zhengdong's strategy is really brilliant, and I quite agree with it!"
Hearing this, Cao Rui nodded, thought for a moment, and then started writing a letter in reply to Man Chong:
Qing follows the trend, as long as he defeats the Wu army. Encourage it!
After writing the letter, Cao Rui called a doctor outside the palace and asked him to personally deliver it to Yangzhou.
Cao Rui thought to himself, hoping that Man Chong could bring him good news.
While the emperor was thinking this, he continued to open He Yan's "Jingfu Dianfu" and began to read.
————
Changyi Marquis Manchong, who had received the emperor's approval, was in a good mood. After he was promoted to generals, he began to make arrangements for everyone:
"Generals, now the Lord of Wu, Sun Quan, is personally attacking. We and our elite generals are hiding in the west of the city. When Sun Quan sees the empty city of Hefei, all his generals will definitely speak loudly to please Sun Quan. Once the Wu army becomes a proud soldier, they will not dare to invade rashly. , we must go ashore to show off our power. By then, when the Wu army lands, it will be the day when we defeat Sun Quan!"
After listening to the strategy of the general Man Chong, all the generals were full of morale. Man Chong stroked his white beard, pulled out the sword from his waist, and shouted:
"Go to war!"
After receiving the order, all the generals under his command gave a loud shout and went to make arrangements.
Man Chong sent six thousand infantry and cavalry to lurk in a hidden place in the west of Hefei City to wait for the Wu army. Sun Quan saw that Hefei was only defended by the old, weak, sick and disabled, so he went ashore to show off his troops, and the soldiers in ambush attacked him. The Wei army beat drums to the sky and shouted into the clouds, sweeping thousands of Wu troops ashore like a black tide. In one battle, Man Chong led his troops to behead hundreds of people. In addition, thousands of Wu troops were forced to fall into the water and died.
Yangzhou and Hefei New City, which Sun Quan had longed for, were finally firmly in the hands of Wei.
————
Luoyang embroidery workshop, in a remote embroidery room in Jinyun Pavilion.
Under the dim candlelight, Granny Mo in the embroidery room was patiently distinguishing embroidery needles of different lengths and sizes, as well as silk threads of different colors.
"Tum, tom, tom."
At this time, a slight knock on the door broke the silence in the house.
"Who is it?"
Grandma Mo heard the knock on the door, temporarily stopped what she was doing, got up and opened the door. She saw a young man with a good face and a cool demeanor standing outside the door. Judging from his clothes, he looked like a gentleman. Officer, this is none other than Cao Zhao.
"Excuse me, are you Granny Mo from the embroidery room?"
Cao Zhao saw that the other party was already old, so he did not dare to neglect him.
"Yes, yes, I am Mo's family, that's right."
As Grandma Mo spoke, she tremblingly returned to the couch and continued to sort out her needlework.
"I came here to ask you something."
Cao Zhao paused and continued:
"I heard that you were the last person to see the palace maid Qixiu before she accompanied Prince An Pingai to Tianyuan Pond, right?"
"That's right, that's right, I went to see her, I saw her..."
Grandma Mo continued to work without changing her expression.
"Then, what did you say to her?"
"Lao Shen and Qixiu, the child, lived in Donghai County in their early years, which is now a small county in Donghai Kingdom, the feudal kingdom of His Highness the King of Donghai."
Granny Mo said as she methodically sorted out the messy threads of various colors under the dim light:
"Later Qixiu and her father moved their family to the outskirts of the capital, but the old house couldn't be lost casually, so Qixiu's father entrusted the house to Lao Shen to keep it for them temporarily.
Later, a few days ago, Qixiu suddenly found her and said that she planned to leave the capital with her father and her brother and return to her hometown in Donghai Kingdom. So I returned the land deed to Qixiu. "
"Besides these, do you know anything else?"
"I don't know, I don't know..." Grandma Mo shook her head: "Old lady, I'm old and can't remember anything clearly."
"I have one more thing I want to ask you." Cao Zhao looked into Grandma Mo's eyes and asked word for word: "You just said that your hometown is also in Donghai Kingdom. I wonder if you and His Highness Donghai Wang Lin , have you known each other before?"
When Granny Mo heard this, her work paused for a moment, but after a moment, she returned to normal: "Old lady, I am just an ordinary commoner, how can I know the royal relatives, haha Haha, this brother is joking."
"Oh..." Cao Zhao nodded, bowed and said, "I've been bothering you for a while, and it's time to go. Grandma Mo, take your leave."
"Hey, okay, let's go slowly." Granny Mo glanced at Cao Zhao's back as he disappeared from the door, smiled slightly, and started to continue the work in her hands.
Not long after Cao Zhao left, there was another knock on the door.
"Boom-boom-boom! Boom-boom-boom!"
"Who is it?" As soon as Grandma Mo heard the knock on the door, she knew that the other person was a difficult person to deal with.
She opened the door and took a look. Standing outside the door was a young man in his mid-twenties, wearing a black leather armor of the Forbidden Army, with strong and majestic features.
"Are you the Embroidery House Mo family?" That young man was Cao Shuang. He asked directly before he entered the door.
"It's me, that's right." Granny Mo laughed and said, "Oh, this looks like a general from the Wuwei camp. Come in quickly and take a seat."
"I am General Wuwei and the Marquis of Shaoling, Cao Shuang. I am here to inquire about some matters."
Cao Shuang was not polite at all. He strode into the room and sat down.
"The general is going to ask you a few questions later, and you must answer them truthfully!"
"Hey, that's for sure." Granny Mo smiled and continued her work: "Just ask."
"I heard that in the second year of Taihe, you delivered a baby for His Highness Fanyang King Mu, right?"
"Yes, yes, I remember it. I remember that when His Highness was born, the cry was so loud. Many people said that His Highness cried so loudly that he will definitely be very promising in the future. . It's a pity that later... alas..."
"In the summer of the second year of Taihe, on Guimao Day in June, do you know the reason why His Highness King Fanyang passed away?"
"Returning to the Marquis, I remember that His Highness Prince Fanyang has never had any serious illness since he was born. I, old lady, was transferred to this embroidery room not long after I delivered the baby for His Highness. As for when His Highness got the disease, I have no idea what the disease is."
"Then, among the servants who served His Royal Highness King Fanyang back then, are there any people you know who are still alive today?"
"Oh, not long after I delivered the baby to His Highness, I transferred to the embroidery room. I have two people I know who have served Your Highness, but they have all passed away..."
When Cao Shuang asked about this, he already believed that Granny Mo had nothing to do with what happened back then.
"Understood, farewell." Cao Shuang said and opened the door and left without saying anything more.
————
East China Sea country. Donghai Palace.
In the main hall, next to an agarwood table, a maid was carefully grinding a fine piece of ink stone.
Since the owner of the house is famous for his irritable temperament, he will punch and kick his servants if anything goes against his liking. Therefore, all the servants in the house are always trembling and walking on thin ice.
In front of the slightly luxurious desk, a noble young man in his twenties with rich clothes and a slight mustache sat. At this moment, he was copying a painting attentively.
After tracing a few strokes, he stood up and admired himself for a while, then nodded, his expression full of pride.
He is the owner of this palace, Cao Lin, King of East China Sea.
"Your Highness." At this moment, a soldier walked into the hall slowly and said cautiously: "Just now, a letter came from the carrier pigeon from the capital."
After hearing this, Cao Lin stopped in his hand. He had enough time to hang the sandalwood wolf-hair pen on a mutton-fat jade dragon pen holder. Then he raised his head and took the two pens held by the soldier. A letter, this is a letter that draws on the Yin Talisman method used in ancient warfare.
The so-called Yin Fu method is a method used in ancient wars to prevent the enemy from intercepting one's military information by dividing a complete letter into several parts and sending them out one after another.
The two letters in front of me are like this.
Cao Lin slowly opened the two letters.
"People in the capital are already suspicious."
Cao Lin couldn't help frowning when he saw the first letter, and he hurriedly opened the second letter.
"I have taken care of all the chores, so don't worry, Master."
After reading this sentence, Cao Lin suddenly felt better again.
He looked up and looked out the window in the direction of the western capital, showing a smile.
Since he cannot get this throne, he will strive to let his descendants sit on this throne and become the Ninth Five Supreme Beings!
If all of Cao Rui's heirs died in infancy, he would definitely adopt the prince from the clan as his heir.
Therefore, Cao Lin has always been very strict with his children. That is because he wants his children to become the best in the next generation of the clan. Only in this way can his children have greater chances. Only by being adopted as his heir by Cao Rui will he have a greater chance of becoming the Supreme!
The sun gradually grew stronger and poured into the hall. The sun made Cao Lin feel warm all over his body and heart.
————
Luoyang, Wuyang Hou Sima Mansion, Hou Shizi Sima Shi secretly hid a secret letter from Qingqingyuan and Granny Mo managed to send it in a green bamboo tube, and sent someone to deliver it to the palace of General Jingzhou guarded by his father. , Wancheng.
In the general's residence in Wancheng. Wuyang Hou Sima Yi was still reading quietly in the study as usual.
At this moment, he was looking at a short letter in his hand. That was the information that the eldest son, Sima Shi, came from Luoyang and collected by Granny Mo, the embroidery room in the palace.
Although he was not directly involved in what happened in the palace recently, he was aware of everything.
Sometimes he would think that the plan he had with Cao Lin, King of the East China Sea, was simply too risky and terrible.
But on second thought, this plan also has great temptation.
What the King of East China Sea wants is nothing more than to have his heir ascend the Nine-Fiveth Throne. But what if the so-called Ninth Five Supreme Being in the future is just a chess piece in his hand?
The mantis stalks the cicada, while the oriole stalks behind. Since it is a profitable business, why not do it?
Sima Yi looked at the letter that had been burned to ashes in the candle flame, with a sneer on his lips.
————
Since there was little progress in the investigations of Cao Zhao and Cao Shuang, Cao Rui also knew that it was not that simple to find out the truth and there was no rush, so he put the matter aside for the time being.
From time to time, Cao Rui would also secretly ask Xia Houxuan, the Marquis of Changling, whom he treated coldly on the surface but actually relied on him all the time. When he learned that his beloved son Cao Fang was safe in Rencheng Kingdom, his riddled heart still felt a little relieved. .
Cao Rui, who had been staying in Xuchang Palace for half a year, finally decided to return to Luoyang Imperial City with Yongshou Palace, Jiaofang Palace and the Second Palace, as well as civil and military officials.
————
In a blink of an eye, it’s early summer and June.
Near the Imperial City, in the Xuanwu Field in the northern suburbs, in a small camp, more than 500 soldiers wearing high-end military uniforms were making loud noises and laughing. Some even held wine bottles in their hands and drank. No, their loose discipline at the moment seems very incompatible with the high-end armor and fighting equipment they are equipped with.
Not long after, a young man wearing a plain Hufu with narrow sleeves and light chain mail sleeves walked up to the commanding platform in the camp. He was the newly appointed chief of the more than 500 Royal Yulin, the Yulin Supervisor. Xia Houxuan.
Although the commander had arrived at the military camp, the soldiers did not seem to calm down.
"Quiet!" Xia Houxuan pressed his hand on the scabbard and cursed loudly, but it didn't seem to be of any use.
Xia Houxuan also understood why.
Since the founding of the Wei Dynasty, the security and defense inside and outside the palace has been solely responsible for the five battalions of the Forbidden Army: Wuwei, Zhongjian, Zhongba, Xiaoqi, and Guerrilla. The five hundred royal feather forest in front of him, and the nearby Compared with the more than 20,000 Imperial Guards, they are certainly insignificant. Of course, I, the Yulin Supervisor, cannot compare with the General Wuwei, the Central Leader, and the Central Protector.
But so what!
Xia Houxuan's face gradually darkened as he looked at the messy and disobedient tribesmen in front of him.
"Come here!" Xia Houxuan shouted to his trusted entourage Xuan Jiawei:
"Tie up the person who is the leader in making noise and causing trouble in the camp and deal with him according to military regulations!"
"No!" After listening to the order, the four Xuanjia Guard soldiers of Xiahou Xuan shouted loudly and walked off the stage. They rushed into the crowd and rushed towards the two centurions who took the lead in heckles and cursed while drinking!
