The fire in Yamen not only alarmed the Hou Mansion, but also made all kinds of people in the city panic. At this moment, in the courtyard of the Marquis of Tongba, the Marquis of Tongba, Zhen Yao, Wang Han, and Sima Xin were sitting around the study and listening to the movements outside. The drunkenness on everyone's faces brought back from the night banquet in the Hou Mansion had long since vanished, and was replaced by a look of deep worry. After all, a fire in an engagement is not a good sign. Seeing that the atmosphere at the scene was a little depressing, the Marquis of Tong, as the master, glanced at the somewhat dark red sky, and reassured everyone: "The fire in the sky is fading, presumably the fire has been controlled." ”

"But if you go to the water, God will let out a fart." Wang Han half-jokingly agreed.

It's a pity that Wang Han's rude joke didn't attract laughter, and Zhen Yao and Sima Xin on the side still looked very solemn. Zhen Yao's identity is sensitive, and when he encounters such a change, he will inevitably worry about being implicated. But Sima Xin is just a businessman like Wang Han, why is he so nervous about the fire in the city? Zhen Yao, who felt that something was wrong, couldn't help but ask Sima Xin tentatively, "Sima Langjun, what do you think of this fire?" ”

Sima Xinben sat on the side and bowed his head in contemplation, and was asked coldly by Zhen Yao, and subconsciously muttered, "I'm afraid this matter is not simple." ”

"What do you mean by that?" Zhen Yao hurriedly asked.

Sima Xin, who came back to his senses, looked up and found that Zhen Yao, Tongyu Hou, and Wang Han all set their eyes on him. Embarrassment, he hurriedly coughed lightly and explained, "I think that today is an auspicious day for the engagement of the Marquis of Qi, and the whole of Longkou City will be ready for it." How can you make the mistake of walking in the water? So this fire is really strange. ”

Sima Xin's words hit Zhen Yao's heart. If this fire is really caused by people, then Zhen Yao, who is related to Yuan Shao, will inevitably be suspected. Although Zhen Yao has nothing to do with this matter, it is not a good thing to be questioned by others after all. What's more, this matter is also likely to undermine Cai Ji's trust in him.

The Marquis of Tong Yan on the side saw that Zhen Yao's face became more and more gloomy after hearing what Sima Xin said, so he stepped forward and said to the mud. "We don't know what the situation is at the moment. I'd better wait for someone to bring back the news. ”

As soon as the words of the Marquis of Tong Yu fell, the subordinate who was sent out to inquire about the news ran in in a panic, "Master, it's not good!" Not good either! Qi Hou was assassinated. General Taishi has blocked the four gates, so that the people in the city are not allowed to go out, saying that he wants to arrest Yuan Shao's assassins. ”

The assassination of Qi Hou and the assassination of Yuan Shao deeply stimulated the nerves of the four people present. Before the Bronze Marquis could speak. Sima Xin was the first to ask the next person, "Can Qi Hou and Cao Ergongzi be damaged?" ”

"Qi Hou and Sikong Zi are safe." The servant swallowed and replied.

When everyone heard that Cai Ji and Cao Pi were fine, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But in this way, what Zhen Yao was most worried about also happened. Seeing him smile bitterly, he shook his head and said. "I'm afraid it's hard for Yao to get out this time."

But this time, Sima Xin waved his hand and smiled. "Zhen Langjun doesn't need to worry too much."

Zhen Yaoqi said: "Why did Sima Langjun say this? ”

"Whether it is arson in the yamen or assassination in the Hou Mansion, you need internal response to act. Zhen Langjun did not bring a single soldier into the city except for his relatives. Not to mention the installation of internal response in the Hou Mansion. How could Qi Hou embarrass Zhen Langjun? Sima Xin said eloquently, "It's that the Qihou Mansion is afraid that someone will be interrogated." ”

After Sima Xin's analysis, everyone's hearts suddenly brightened. That's right, such an earth-shattering change happened in the Yamen and the Qihou Mansion, and Cai Ji should first find out the spies in the mansion, rather than suspecting them as guests who came from afar. After figuring this out, Zhen Yao and the others finally let go of the burden in their hearts. In fact, it's not just Zhen Yao. The Marquis of Tongyu and Wang Han also had some connection with Yuan Shao. If you really want to dig deeper into the two of them, no, it should be said that most of the guests in the city are inseparable. As in history. The pile of letters that Cao Cao found after his victory. It can be said that there is no one in the world who does not understand "Yuan".

"Sima Langjun is talented and quick-witted, he really doesn't look like a businessman. It's like a strategist. The Marquis of Tong Yan stroked his palms and laughed.

Sima Xin faced the praise of the Bronze Marquis, and humbly said, "The Bronze Marquis has won the award." ”

When the fire of the Longkou Yamen shone in the sky, the Guandu Cao camp under the same night sky was filled with a solemn atmosphere. In the winter of last year, Cai Ji sent 50,000 pieces of grain and grass to Sikong Mansion in the name of bride price, temporarily relieving Cao Cao's food shortage. Cao Jun relied on Cai Ji's bride price to spend the cold winter of Jian'an for four years. During this period, Yuan Shao did not attack Guandu again, but sent Gao Ran all the way west to conquer the remnants of Montenegro in order to expand his own control area. Therefore, the two armies of Cao and Yuan have been truces for more than two months. However, the temporary calm of Guandu is about to be broken. Ten days ago, Cai Ji sent another 50,000 grains and grass to Caoying in Guandu. This batch of grain and grass was enough for Cao Cao to launch an active attack.

As the saying goes, the soldiers and horses go first before the grain and grass are moved, and every grain of grain and grass is very important to Cao Jun. Therefore, Sima Lang, who is a subordinate of Sikong Peng, had to fight overnight in the piles of account books. Sima Lang, whose name is Boda, is 28 years old and is the eldest son of Sima Fang, a famous scholar in Hanoi. In the first year of the first peace, Sima Fang, who was then the ruler of the imperial history, was coerced by Dong Zhuo to move west. Sima Lang, who was only nineteen years old at the time, was ordered to deceive Dong Zhuo all the way, avoid the melee between the Kwantung princes and Dong Zhuo, and finally escorted the family back to his hometown Wen County after thousands of hardships. It was also in that year that a famine broke out in Hanoi, and the people cannibalized each other, and Sima Lang took the initiative to take responsibility and take in the people of the clan to teach his younger brothers instead of his father. In the end, under Sima Lang's management, the Sima family in Hanoi did not decline due to war, but became more and more prosperous.

After Cao Cao learned of Sima Lang's deeds, he personally hired him as Sikong Peng's subordinate. Sima Lang also lived up to Cao Cao's expectations, not only proposing to Cao Cao to set up standing soldiers in the border counties to resist foreign invasion, but also managing the supply of Cao's army in an orderly manner.

"Sima Peng's subordinate, summoned by Sikong."

The herald's voice interrupted Sima Lang's work. Although Sima Lang didn't know why Cao Cao was looking for him so late. But knowing that Cao Cao didn't like to wait for others, he still quickly put away the official documents at hand, got up and walked out of the camp with the herald. In the early spring, there was still a biting chill at night in Guandu, and in addition to the patrolling soldiers, the vast majority of the Cao soldiers had already fallen asleep. Sima Lang passed through several checkpoints that were not very tight, and walked all the way to Cao Cao's tent.

Guarding the account for Cao Cao tonight is Du Wei Xu Zhu. This person is more than eight feet long, with a waist of ten girths, and a majestic appearance, and is a warrior in the army who is as famous as Dian Wei. However, Sima Lang is not inferior to Xu Zhu in size. Notice. When Sima Lang was twelve years old, he passed the guò scripture exam and became a boy boy, but the invigilator at that time was because he was tall and strong. And it is suspected that he hid his age. This shows how tall Sima Lang stood out in the late Han Dynasty.

"Offended." Xu Zhu stepped forward and made a posture to search his body. Sima Lang, who had long been accustomed to this rule, raised his hand cooperatively. After Xu Zhu searched it up and down and found nothing suspicious, he lifted the curtain and signaled that it had entered the account.

As soon as Sima Lang stepped into the big tent, he felt that the atmosphere in the tent was not quite right. Cao Cao's large tent of the Chinese army was separated by a screen, which was divided into two areas: the meeting and the bed. At this time, there were three people standing in the council area: Xiahou Yuan, Xu Huang, and Dian Wei. I think of Xu Zhu standing outside the tent. Sima Lang immediately realized that something was wrong. Because whenever Dian Wei and Xu Zhu appear at the same time. It often means that something is threatening Sikong's life.

"Boda is here?" Cao Cao's voice came from behind the screen.

Sima Lang immediately replied, "Yes." ”

"Come in." Another short command.

"Whoa." After Sima Lang answered, he walked around the back of the screen. As he passed by Dian Wei, the corner of Sima Lang's eyes swept the pool of dried blood on the hem of his clothes. However, the things behind the screen are far more shocking than the blood stains on Dian Wei's body.

I saw three male corpses lying side by side in front of Cao Cao's couch, all wearing the uniforms of the tiger guards, two of them had their throats cut, and one had their chests gouged out. And the murder weapons should be the two halberds that Dian Wei used well. In other words, all three of them should be assassins. Cao Cao wore a single robe and a robe. Standing in front of the three corpses, beside him stood the military advisor Xun You.

Seeing this, Sima Lang stepped forward quickly. Xiang Cao arched his hand and asked, "Sikong, this is"

"The trio intended to assassinate Sikong. has been sentenced by the guards. Xun Yu replied on behalf of Cao Cao.

Is this to investigate the case? Sima Lang thought to himself that investigating the case requires careful scrutiny, which is not what he is good at. However, the second brother Sima Yi is quick thinking and should be able to do this. It's a pity that his second brother has been pushing back Sikong's recruitment. However, a letter from home said that Sima Yi also rejected Yuan Shao's solicitation with the trick of pretending to be sick. This made Sima Lang breathe a sigh of relief. Although the Sima family is in Yuan Shao's jurisdiction, it is better not to have a relationship with Yuan Shao until it is absolutely necessary. It's just that Sima Lang later heard that Sima Yi left Wen County on the grounds of medical treatment, and he is currently missing. Although Sima Lang was not worried that Sima Yi would have an accident, he couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart: Zhong Da is messing around again!

However, to Sima Lang's surprise, Cao Cao asked a question that seemed to have nothing to do with the assassination: "Boda, can you send a letter to the camp in the near future?" ”

Sima Lang was in charge of Cao Jun's logistics, and sending and receiving letters was naturally within his jurisdiction. In the face of Cao Cao's inquiry, Sima Lang shook his head in an affirmative tone and said, "Back to Sikong, I haven't received any letter from home in the camp recently. ”

"Are there outsiders in the camp?" Xun You asked urgently.

"This ......" Sima Lang hesitated, after all, the entire Cao camp was so big, and it was impossible for him to know the situation of all the personnel as a subordinate of Sikong Peng.

Xun You also realized that there was something wrong with his question, so he asked in a different way, "How many days will the food team enter the camp?" ”

"Since Cai Jun sent grain and grass ten days ago, no food team has entered the camp." Sima Lang replied truthfully.

Cao Cao couldn't help frowning when he heard this, and said to himself, "It won't be Cai Anzhen." ”

Hearing Cao Cao say this, Sima Lang understood that Cao Cao was trying to investigate who had the opportunity to bring orders into the camp and instruct the assassins to carry out assassinations these days. Therefore, they will inquire about the correspondence in the camp and the entry and exit of personnel. However, due to the imminent counteroffensive of the Cao army, in order to prevent the leakage of military information, the Cao camp has strictly forbidden idle people to enter and leave these days. According to this line of thought, it is really Cai Jun's grain team that is the most suspicious. However, Cai Jigang was engaged to Cao Cao's second son Cao Pi, and sent a total of 100,000 grains and grass to Cao Jun twice in a row. Why did she harm Cao Cao? In other words, if Cai Ji really wanted Cao Cao to die, he only needed to switch to Yuan Shao, and he would be able to immediately go to the Cao family and even the Han court to die. There is no need to use such despicable means.

Therefore, Xun You and Sima Lang at this time agreed with Cao Cao's inference. But in this way, the case fell into a stalemate again, but he heard Xun You mutter, "Is it just a vendetta?" ”

Sima Lang looked up at Xun Yu in confusion. The latter then pointed to one of the Assassins and said, "This man's name is Xu Ta, and he is from Xuzhou. ”

When Sima Lang heard that the assassin was from Xuzhou, he immediately showed a clear expression. Indeed, Cao Cao killed Xuzhou corpses all over the field back then, and it is not surprising that there will be Xuzhou people looking for him for revenge. However, Cao Cao himself scoffed at Xun You's revenge theory, "Even if Xu is from Xuzhou, the other two are also from Xuzhou?" ”

Xun You, who realized that he had poked the lord's sore spot, quickly changed his words and said, "These two people are not from Xuzhou, it seems that the assassin has other plans." ”

So the three people at the scene fell into deep thought again. After a while, Sima Lang suddenly slapped his head and said, "Sikong, there is also a team of grain troops who have come to the camp. ”

"Who is it?" Cao Cao asked.

"Three days ago, General Xiahou Yuan robbed a small team of Yuan Jun's baggage." Sima Lang replied.

"Could it be that Yuan Shao deliberately let the baggage be captured by General Xiahou in order to pass on the news to Xu He and the others?" Xun You exclaimed.

This answer is obviously much more reliable than Cai Ji's stabbing Cao. Yuan Shao is very much in line with the conditions of the murderer in terms of motive and means. But Cao Cao squatted down without saying a word, looked at the corpse carefully, and then asked Sima Lang, "Boda, are you from Hanoi?" ”

Sima Lang didn't know why Cao Cao asked knowingly, but he still replied truthfully, "Yes." ”

"Hanoi is now under the control of the Yuan family, and Yuan Shaoke used the Sima family to threaten Boda?" Cao Cao turned his head and stared at Sima Lang and asked word by word.

Faced with such a heart-wrenching question, Sima Lang, who had seen the big formation, was also frightened into a cold sweat. You must know that collaborating with the enemy before the battle is a big crime to kill the head, and Cao Cao is not a fool like Dong Zhuo. But seeing that he hurriedly stepped forward to show loyalty to Cao Cao and said, "Heaven and earth can be learned, and the Sima family has never had two hearts for the Han and Sikong." ”

Cao Cao waved his hand, signaling Sima Lang not to be afraid, "Boda doesn't need to be nervous. Lone just asked you, did Yuan Shao use the Sima family to blackmail you? ”

Seeing that Cao Cao was not questioning himself, Sima Lang quickly wiped his cold sweat and replied, "Yuan Shao has never threatened the lower officials. ”

"That's right! Many of the civil and military clansmen under the command of Gu were controlled by the Yuan family, but Yuan Shao did not use this to blackmail the monarchs. Let's ask how with the original arrogance, how could he send such a young person to assassinate Lone. Cao Cao laughed and stood up, and then he looked like a sneer, "Hmph, one day Lone will find out the hidden head and tail who wants to die alone!" ”

The small theater is also ~~~

Scenario replay:

Cao Cao laughed: Let's ask how could he send such a young person to assassinate Gu with the original arrogance.

CC Rift Wall: Click! Click! Click! It's arrogance, not arrogance!

Xun You: It's tsundere.

Sima Lang: It's really tsundere. (To be continued)