Hu Ke returned to Jiefangwei and called the Sima brothers to inform the Wei envoy to take over. When the two were silent, Hu Ke started to deceive again with his eloquent tongue.
"You have been in Jiangdong for several years. I have treated you well. I regret that I could not find out the truth. However, the suspicion of the Lu family can be eliminated. I will continue my previous inference. The enemies of the Sima family are in the Wei State, so this time If you return to Wei, to be honest, your future is unknown. Once there is a change, your team will be doomed."
Although Master Sima was only fifteen years old, his enemies and dependence on others made him lose his childishness in advance. After listening to Hu Ke's words, he looked up to the sky and smiled bitterly: "If that is true, it is also the fate of my Sima family. How can we compete with the sky?"
"Although Chen Shangshu played a huge role in bringing our brothers back to Wei this time, His Majesty should also be happy. Can we infer that the enemy is not the Cao family?" Sima Zhao is not as stable as Sima Shi, and his thinking is not as comprehensive. .
Master Sima shook his head and sighed: "Who can know whether it is true or false? General Yu and I have the same view. Life or death in the Kingdom of Wei is uncertain."
"In this case, it is better to stay in Jianye." Sima Zhao suggested in a low voice.
"Some things are beyond our control," Master Sima said with a bitter look on his face.
"It's not that Jiangdong can completely decide, but it's not without room for maneuver." Hu Ke's expression was solemn.
Master Sima knew that Hu Ke was very capable. Hearing this, he hurriedly asked: "General, does he really have a solution?"
Hu Ke stroked his beard and nodded, stretched out two fingers and replied: "First, let me talk about the enemies of the Sima family, and secondly, how to deal with it?"
"Yeah." Brothers Sima stood together upright, like two hesitant little quails.
"I am a general who is a businessman, and I like to start from the end when analyzing problems. The Sima family is a prominent family in Hanoi, and the ultimate beneficiary of the annihilation of the whole family is probably the ruthless person. If you think about and verify these questions, maybe you can Find the answer." Hu Ke said midway, leaving time for the two brothers to digest.
"The Sima family plays an important role among the noble families in Henan. Our family's power in the court and the property outside the court should be snatched by other families. The general means Chen Shangshu and others." Sima Zhao first followed Hu Ke's thinking and came to a conclusion, and then immediately overturned it. My own argument: "No, no, Chen Shangshu has been taking care of our brothers, there is absolutely no way he is from the Chen family."
"There is more than one Chen family in the Central Plains? Chen Qun has a deep relationship with your father, but the rest of the family may not be able to see it. You must know that it is difficult to share hardships and wealth together." Hu Ke shook his head gently.
Master Sima nodded in agreement: "General Yu is right. The political and economic heritage of our Sima family has been divided up by other noble families in the Central Plains. They are all inseparable from this conspiracy. As for the Lu family, we can completely rule it out. They hire murderers just for the sake of killing." It’s impossible to vent your anger.”
Hu Ke was startled when he heard this, and thought to himself that Master Sima could do it, he had already learned to answer quickly.
"I heard that Cao Cao was very afraid of your father, so he never dared to reuse him. It is not ruled out that he left a will before his death to eliminate potential threats to his son." Hu Ke added.
"Yes, the Cao family is also highly suspected. Returning to Wei this time is also an opportunity. Maybe we can find out the truth. If not, I will go to Wei alone. Brother Zhao will find a way to stay in Soochow. If there is really any danger, there are descendants of the Sima family." Master Sima stood up with his chest raised, and Sima Zhao was so moved that he almost cried.
Hu Ke shook his head when he saw this, pointed at Sima Zhao and said: "There is indeed a way to keep one of you, which is also the countermeasure I just mentioned. However, after many inquiries, I learned that Cao Pi must have you return to Wei, so I can only use your brother. Stay, or you may return to Wei together."
"Why is this?" Master Sima was puzzled.
Hu Ke spread his hands and said, "The news that I have come back from after careful investigation may only be known to Cao Pi."
"Then I'll go and ask the general to find a way to keep my brother. He is smarter and more stable than me. Keeping him will be beneficial to the revival of the Sima family." Sima Zhao suddenly became passionate in the face of family interests.
"This" Master Sima was at a loss.
Hu Ke nodded in appreciation, "As expected of Sima Zhongda's son, he is really brave and resourceful and can be of great use. I have just asked the Marquis of Wu to accept your brother as his adopted son, so that he does not have to follow the mission back home." Wei."
"Seriously? This is really great. Being able to be the adopted son of Marquis Wu is better than living in exile. Brother, you have to live up to your expectations." Sima Zhao looked at Master Sima and tried to hold back from crying, but unfortunately the tears in his eyes ended up Disappointing.
"Since you have agreed, I will go back to Wuhou as soon as possible. In addition, your names must be changed. Sima Shi is called Wenhou, and Sima Zhao is called Wuhou. It is my fault that the general conveyed it wrongly at that time. Since ancient times, Wen has been in front of Wu. That's right, I was corrected by the king today." Hu Ke pretended to be embarrassed.
"It doesn't matter whether Wen Hou or Wu Hou, we brothers are not used to it yet." Master Sima shook his head gently.
Sima Zhao echoed: "It's normal for the general to be misunderstood. You should go to the palace to recover. I can't wait to return to Wei to investigate."
"Brother Zhao." Master Sima couldn't bear it.
Hu Ke nodded happily, and then went out to meet Fan Wei and went straight to the palace. He thought to himself that this Sima brother had little experience after all and was frightened by his few words.
Sun Quan did not expect Hu Ke to be so efficient, so he summoned the Wei envoy to negotiate terms that day.
Under Sun Quan's intention to "make things difficult", the two sides finally reached an agreement. The Wei mission agreed to only pick up Sima Zhao and return to Luoyang to transfer 100 million yuan to compensate Soochow.
The envoy bid farewell to Sun Quan and walked out of the Wu palace. Gao Miao, the chamberlain, was already soaked to death. He was glad that Sun Quan had accepted 'Wenhou' as his adopted son. If 'Wuhou' was also forcibly adopted as his adopted son, then his trip would have been in vain.
The next day, the Wei delegation took Sima Zhao away, and Hu Ke and Sima Shi went to the dock to see him off.
Seeing Gu Fan walking away, Hu Ke patted Master Sima on the shoulder: "Let's go, follow me to the palace."
Master Sima turned around with a question mark on his face. Hu Ke explained softly: "The king is going to solemnly accept you as his adopted son. He has ordered the Marquis of Quan (Zhang Zhao) and the Prime Minister (Sun Shao) to prepare for the ceremony. You can no longer stay in Jiefangwei from now on." ."
"But I feel like I can learn something from following the general." Master Sima frowned.
Hu Ke smiled and said: "The king will teach you personally in the future. Remember to study hard. Ling Gongji (Ling Tong)'s two sons were also adopted by the king. Don't be worse than them."
"Don't worry, general, I won't disgrace the Sima family." Master Sima replied solemnly.
Three days later, Sun Quan summoned his relatives and close ministers to officially accept Sima Shi as his adopted son in the palace of King Wu.
Not long after the ceremony ended, Sun Quan called Master Sima to him alone and said with a serious expression: "Marquis Wen, you have to be mentally prepared for something."
"Father, please tell me, the child and his family are in trouble, there is nothing to fear." Master Sima looked fearless.
Sun Quan nodded happily, stroking his beard and said: "On their way back, the Wei delegation was suddenly attacked by unknown bandits at the junction of Sun and Cao's family in Huainan. I, the Governor of Soochow, heard the news and went to rescue him. Unfortunately, it was too late. Members of the group were killed or injured.”
(End of chapter)
