The news of the destruction of the city of Xuchang and the death of Xun Yu reached Cao Pi's ears almost at the same time. When he saw these two pieces of news, he was stunned like a thunderbolt.
He stared blankly at the secret message on the desk.
For a moment, even I didn't know what was going on in my mind.
In his opinion, with Xun Yu and Xiahou Dun guarding Xuchang City, even if the Jing army had 100,000 troops, they would not be able to defeat it in a short period of time. They would be able to hold on for at least two or three months. He did not expect that Xun Yu would be able to defend Xuchang City at this critical moment. He died of illness at that time, which led Jingjun to seize the opportunity to kill general Xiahou Dun and break through Xuchang City.
After the defeat in the battle with Soochow, Cao Pi's army retreated and defended in Qiao County, the seat of Yuzhou, to resist the attack of Soochow's army. After Soochow's army retreated, the Fourth Army of the Jingguo Army headed north under the leadership of Wei Yan and continued to confront Cao Pi.
But Wei Yan was ordered to stand up and defend and not to fight with the Wei army.
Zhang Xiu's purpose is very clear. Xuchang is the rear area of the Wei army and the source of food and grass. Xuchang City was already surrounded before it was captured, and could not provide the Wei army with enough food and grass to support the army. Now Xuchang City has been conquered. This Wei army led by Cao Pi personally will become the last strength of the Wei state.
The cost of this battle for Jingguo was not small, and they were unwilling to pay a higher price. All they had to do was surround the Wei army, and they would win without a fight when their internal supplies were exhausted.
Wei Yan was eager to make a contribution, but he did not dare to disobey the imperial edict. He could only wait patiently, but he hoped that Cao Pi would cheer up and lead the army to break through. In this way, he would have a reason to send troops.
The first, second, third, and fifth teams fought fiercely on various fronts and made great achievements. Only the fourth team led by him stayed on the Huaihe River line and had not really fought a battle so far. A decent fight.
If when this battle comes to an end and everyone is rewarded for their merits, and only he, General Jingguo, does not get any rewards, how can he lose face?
Just as he was looking forward to it, Cao Pi was about to collapse.
Since he inherited the throne, he has been humiliated by Jingguo. When Cao Cao was alive, Wei and Jingguo fought frequently. Although they lost more and won less, they did not suffer any real losses. He thought that Zhang Xiu of Jingguo was nothing more than this. That’s all.
After he took over, he realized how difficult it was to deal with Jingguo on the other side.
Jingguo monopolizes war horses, monopolizes paper, and even uses trade to monopolize Wei's grain and grass. As a result, Wei's development is restricted by Jingguo, and it is also humiliated by Jingguo. For example, Wei must guarantee the sales of Zhenjing wine. This wine was sold normally in Wei State. Otherwise, Jing State would take forceful measures. In order to ensure the stable development of the country, Cao Pi had to agree.
In similar incidents, Jingguo pushed further and tested Wei's bottom line step by step.
It turns out.
A weak country is not qualified to lose its temper or have a bottom line. Under Jingguo's powerful power, Cao Pi had to agree to Jingguo's unreasonable demands.
But what he got was the end of the country being destroyed by Jingguo.
Cao Pi felt that he, as the emperor, should be a loser and a failure. He asked himself that he was not incompetent or ordinary. But when he took over, the Wei Dynasty had lost the foundation to fight against Jingguo. He wanted to endure the humiliation and survive. Following Gou Jian's example, as long as he could keep Wei, he would choose no limit.
It's a pity that Zhang Xiu is not Fu Cha.
He would not be given any chance to revitalize Wei. When Zhang Xiu got the chance, he would not let go and weaken Wei, dismantling Wei's economy from all aspects, making Wei's development always slow and abnormal.
He drew out his sword and saw the cold light shining on the blade, and his heart became cold.
"Boom! Boom!"
A thunderous sound followed by a long tail sound, like a plate of empty grinding, trembled in the distance and passed into the palace. Cao Pi was shocked for a moment, and then there was another sound. The sound was not very high, but the tail sound was longer, like the sky. Extremely tired, he let out a heart-shaking muffled sigh.
"It's... going to rain!"
Cao Pi looked out of the open hall with a dreamy gaze, and saw dark clouds rising like ink, faint thunder and lightning, and golden threads flashing against the clouds like fire snakes, and the trees outside made a rustling sound. , the cool breeze blew in through the palace gardens.
Cao Pi trembled all over and murmured.
Then there was a sudden and earth-shattering thunder, which shook the earth. Raindrops as big as copper coins began to crackle on the ground, and the Dragon Tower and Phoenix Pavilion were instantly submerged in the rain.
"emperor!"
Empress Guo stood not far away and saw the emperor standing with a sword in his hand, looking dreamily at the gloomy sky outside the palace. Her face was as pale as a white marble statue, with no trace of blood at all. After a long while, she trembled and walked towards Cao Pi bowed down and said with trembling lips:
"The emperor does not want to be the king who subjugates the country, and I do not want to be humiliated by Zhang Xiu after the country is subjugated. In ancient times, Yu Ji danced the sword for King Xiang, and today I also dance the sword to say goodbye to the emperor."
When she said this, she bowed her head, took the sword from Cao Pi's hand, sang "Luo Juanhan" and danced.
At this time, Cao Pi was as numb and ignorant as if his whole body was electrified. He didn't know what he was or where he was. He felt no pain and itching all over his body. He watched in a daze as Queen Guo, dressed in red and holding a sword, fluttered and danced, captivating the country and the city.
Empress Guo sang sadly: "I once recalled that the spring beauty looked like a mirror, and my brows reflected the man's eyes. But now I am crying and tearing away my clothes. How can I bear the cold dew and coldness. Daozhen tells the man, don't let your heart break because of missing my concubine." When I miss my concubine, I cry several lines to the rock and grass..."
After the music fell and the dance was over, Queen Guo's face was filled with tears. She glanced at Cao Pi reluctantly and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, I have resigned!" After saying this, she turned around and cut Cao Pi's neck without hesitation.
In an instant, Nuoda's palace became quiet and empty.
Amidst the heavy rain, Cao Pi stared blankly at Queen Guo's body for half an hour. Suddenly, his eyes trembled, and he rushed over like crazy, picked up Queen Guo, and wanted to call the imperial doctor in a panic. , but his throat seemed to be blocked by something and he couldn't scream.
A whining howl came from his mouth, and his whole body trembled and twitched.
He picked her up with difficulty and walked towards the outside of the palace. As soon as he stepped out of the threshold of the palace, he slipped and fell to his knees in the heavy rain. His whole body was soaked by the cold rain, and he howled like a wolf and a ghost. Hoarse cry:
"Zhang Xiu—Zhang Xiu! I am the Emperor of the Wei Dynasty. I would rather commit suicide than surrender to thieves like you. Let the country of Dajing be built on my tomb!"
"boom--!"
A bolt of lightning flashed down from high in the sky, lighting up the entire world.
Chen Qun came galloping from the heavy rain. When he saw Cao Pi at the entrance of the palace, his heart suddenly felt as if someone had stabbed him with a knife. The cold penetrated to his bones. He was paralyzed and exhausted and knelt down in the heavy rain, weeping blood and tears. He wailed sadly: "Your Majesty——!"
The rain was coming down harder and harder.
