After this fierce battle in the court ended with General Cao Shuang's victory, Ding Mi, Deng Yang and others instantly felt that the time was ripe to take charge of the Taige.
At noon that day, the young emperor competed with Sima Jun, a regular servant of the Sanqi who was about the same age as himself, for a while, and then a servant handed him a memorial.
"Your Majesty, the general has written this."
Hearing this, Cao Fang suppressed her desire to continue playing, took off the rolled-up sleeves of her Hufu, and strode towards Jiafu Hall:
"The general's affairs are important, and I need to return to the palace to deal with them quickly."
The waiter behind him hurriedly took the hot towel that had been prepared earlier and carefully wiped the sweat on Cao Fang's forehead. Sima Jun, who didn't feel too tired when he saw Cao Fang leaving, didn't say anything special to him, so he left on his own under the guidance of the escort.
After all, Sima Jun is only a seven-year-old child and doesn't know how to contribute to the family. And Sima Yi's purpose of sending this son to the emperor was probably just to let him establish a deep friendship with the little emperor as much as possible, nothing more.
After Cao Fang returned to the palace, he drank a bowl of hot soup and felt refreshed. In a good mood, he ordered his chamberlain to bring Cao Shuang's memorial and read it in detail word by word.
After reading Cao Shuang's memorial, Cao Fang thought for a while, finally nodded, and ordered Fu Jielang to get the emperor's seal.
In this way, under the recommendation of the general Cao Shuang, He Yan was appointed as the official Cao Shangshu of Shangshutai, replacing Lu Yu and Lu Zijia. Lu Yu was transferred to Guang Luxun; Deng Yang was appointed as Zuo Min Shangshu. ; Ding Mi was appointed as the Minister of Duzhi.
These three people were Cao Shuang's new confidants. They all served as ministers at this time. They suddenly occupied the three crucial positions of Li Cao, Zuo Min and Du Zhi among the five ministers in Taige, and controlled the election. Sima Fu's power over household registration, taxation, and treasury expenses was basically directly eliminated by Shangshu Ling.
The balance of power in the Wei court suddenly tilted towards General Cao Shuang.
——————
To the west of the arsenal is the Taifu's mansion.
The old man was not angry, but as calm as ever.
He sipped from the celadon tea cup, squinting his eyes and thinking quietly.
"Everything is just the beginning, that's all..."
In Luoyang City, the autumn wind is getting colder.
The swan geese sighed and flew to the warm south, only to wait for spring to fly back to the north again to build their nests.
Autumn is deep.
Winter mornings in Luoyang City are particularly cold.
The sun is rising and the snow is still falling.
The ground was already covered with a thin layer of snow, but the snowflakes that melted and danced gradually fell from the sky, landing on the green tiles of palaces, mansions, pavilions, towers, and houses in the streets.
Far away from the outskirts of the city, there was a faint barking of dogs and a few crowing of cocks coming from someone's house.
Many people are still sleeping soundly, and the city of Luoyang is quiet and beautiful at this moment.
In a few days, it will be New Year's Eve.
Not long after, things inside and outside the city became lively again.
On the streets and in the city, the shouts that appeared on time every day appeared again.
Vendors also want to set up stalls for a few more days before New Year's Eve to earn more money so that they can buy more new clothes for their children or some rouge for their wives at home.
Luoyang City has become as lively and prosperous as ever.
——————
In a blink of an eye, it’s New Year’s Eve again.
The winter wind blew away the thin clouds and blew out the blurred moonlight.
There are thousands of lights in the city, and every house is happy at the moment.
The Changling Marquis Mansion was also extremely lively today. Except for the Xuanjia Guards who looked like pig-iron pagodas regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter, everyone in the mansion was on holiday today.
Except for Mrs. Cao Jue, who was sitting at the head of the table with her grandson Mingyue in her arms, the head of the family simply asked the masters and servants of the mansion to gather together and sit at the same table.
Gu Ting, the middle-aged housekeeper who was strong, smart and capable back then, has now turned into an old man with graying temples and a slightly hunched back.
Although time can easily change people's faces, it is not easy to change the simplest feelings.
"Here comes the Jiao Er soup!" The cook in the mansion led the servants in the kitchen, carrying bowls of Jiao Er soup, and distributed it to everyone one by one.
At this moment, it seems that this place is no longer the Changling Marquis Mansion, but just an ordinary civilian house, simple and happy.
The head of the family, Xia Houxuan, was rarely drunk. He was lying on several cases at the moment, mumbling something.
No one heard clearly what he was talking about.
Naturally, the big dog "Amo" didn't understand. He was just wagging his tail and nestling gently under his master's knees.
"Junhou, you are drunk. I will ask my wife to help you back to your room."
"Uncle Gu, I'm not drunk... Let's continue drinking... We won't go home until we're drunk..."
The old man looked at the owner, who was only thirty years old, with kindness written all over his face. He suddenly felt that time passed so fast that he suddenly realized that the lively and cute boy back then had grown into the owner of this home. .
Gu Ting remembered that since the young master began to take on important responsibilities in the government at the age of seventeen, he had never been as drunk as he was today.
This child has too many things on his mind, too heavy.
It's just that there are some things that he always has to bear, whether he can afford them or not. Neither he nor others could help him.
——————
The third grade of junior high school. It was snowing heavily.
In the back garden of the General's Mansion, there is the Wagtail Pavilion.
Brothers Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi sat opposite each other and cooked wine under the pavilion, enjoying the snow and drinking hot wine. Although they were in a pavilion surrounded by drafts, they didn't seem to feel cold.
"What a good wine!" Xia Houxuan picked up a cup of hot wine and drank it down in one gulp. He couldn't help but admired: "Uncle Zhao, the wine in the general's house is just different. It's better than the wine in my house. One and a half stars.”
"Hahaha..." Cao Xi filled up the wine bottle for Xia Houxuan and said with a smile: "This wine was given to my eldest brother by His Majesty himself. If you hadn't come today, I would have been reluctant to open it!"
Cao Xi also drank a bottle of wine. He felt his heart heat up and his whole body felt warm. He seemed to suddenly remember something: "By the way, Taichu, don't just drink. I have one more thing I need your help with."
"You are the one who will spoil the New Year!" Xia Houxuan drank another bottle and said with a smile: "If you want my help, you have to give me a few jars of this kind of wine."
"No problem. I'll go back to my elder brother and ask for two more jars. Next time you come, please take care of it!" Cao Xi patted his cousin on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"Tell me, why do you want my help?"
"Actually, it's nothing. I just led a patrol in the palace that day and saw Sima Division training troops. I suddenly felt that I lacked two deputies I could rely on. But I don't know how to select generals and troops, so I asked Taichu to help A favor."
"So that's it." Xia Houxuan nodded thoughtfully: "This matter is not difficult, don't worry, just take care of it on me."
————
Xuanwu Field in the northern suburbs.
In the field, dozens of officers from each battalion of the Forbidden Army stood in formation, standing in front of a row of arrow stacks, listening to what the central guard Xia Houxuan was saying.
"You are all the best in each battalion. I called you here today to conduct an assessment on you." Xia Houxuan looked at the officers in front of him and said: "And those who pass the assessment will be promoted. "
"Next, I will tell you the rules of the competition. It is very simple. There are three competitions. You will use the archery target here as the starting point and quickly run a hundred steps away. This is the first one, testing your running skills. "
"After arriving a hundred steps away, you will see a pair of heavy armor, a bow, and three arrows. At this time, you need to shoot at the target here a hundred steps away. Those who hit more than two arrows will pass. This is the second game to test your shooting skills."
"Finally, you need to put on that heavy armor and run back here as quickly as possible. This is the third game, and it will test your endurance and physical strength."
"The first five people who complete these three games can be promoted to Sima of the Forbidden Army. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" More than thirty officers, big and small, on the field were all gearing up and eager to try.
"Okay! Everyone listens to the order!" Xia Houxuan waved the flag in his hand and shouted loudly: "Start!"
As soon as the command was given, thirty junior officers lined up in a row immediately rushed towards the target, with a cloud of smoke and dust rising at their feet.
One step, two steps.
At this time, Su Mu was not so much running as jumping. His footwork was peculiar, and with each leap he would be a lot ahead of others. Soon, he was the first to arrive a hundred steps away. Xia Houxuan stood in the distance, looking at Su Mu who was the first to reach the finish line, and nodded approvingly.
I saw Su Mu quickly picking up the bow and arrow, stringing the long feather, and opened the bow with his backhand. Hearing a whooshing sound, an arrow flew out and was firmly nailed on the bullseye.
At this time, Wang Cheng and two other officers had also arrived at the finish line.
Whoosh!
Su Mu's second arrow and Wang Cheng's first arrow flew out almost at the same time and hit the target at the same time.
"Okay, boy!" Wang Cheng turned around and smiled, but without stopping in his hand, he immediately started to pick up the arrow and draw the bow.
While talking, the two of them hit the target at the same time.
All three of Su Mu's arrows hit the target, while Wang Cheng only hit two.
"Brother Wang, I'll take the first step!" Su Mu smiled and put on the heavy armor with difficulty.
Wang Cheng couldn't help but panic when he saw Su Mu wearing armor, and the third arrow accidentally missed the target. He quickly threw his bow and arrow, put on the weighted iron armor weighing a hundred kilograms with a "clatter", and chased forward steadily.
Although Su Mu is as light as a swallow and has nimble steps, he lacks physical strength. Wearing weighted armor, he is almost struggling to move at this moment.
Wang Cheng easily surpassed Su Mu.
"Brother Su, take the first step!" After a while, another officer caught up with Su Mu, who was leading.
Su Mu gritted his teeth, shouted, and rushed towards the target.
Finally, the panting people arrived at the finish line one after another.
Xia Houxuan nodded as he looked at the four people who finally returned to the starting point and completed the task on time.
"The following people: Wang Cheng, Niu Sheng, Su Mu, and Han Qianwei will be promoted to Sima of the Forbidden Army!"
"Thank you, Marquis Changling!"
The four of them felt extremely excited at this moment.
When everyone dispersed, Xia Houxuan stopped Su Mu alone.
"General." Su Mu looked with awe at the benefactor who had changed his future and destiny.
"Su Mu." Xia Houxuan patted the young army Sima's shoulder, looked at him trustingly and said, "I plan to arrange for you to serve under Sima Jun's Tunqi camp alone. Can you help me pay more attention to Sima's movements? ?”
It has been almost a year since Su Mu came to the Forbidden Army, and he has a general understanding of the current situation in the court. He nodded solemnly towards Xia Houxuan.
