Seeing that Cui Ju's condition was getting worse and worse, first Shen De escorted Cui Keyuan back to Xiangyang, then Cui Kewen also came back, and then Cui Kean and the other three also rushed back.

The five brothers of the Cui family all knew that the time for Cui Ju to choose an heir was approaching, and they all contacted the military generals of Wenchen to prepare for a battle for succession.

Cui Ju himself asked the imperial doctor, he could live for half a year at most, and he asked the scholar and ugly slave to bury all the artifacts that he was going to call the emperor.

Shen De asked Cui Ju alone why he didn't want to be the emperor, and Cui Ju replied, "For the Son of Heaven for a hundred days, it is impossible to destroy the family for four hundred years!" If I don't call the emperor, the family can still be preserved, but if I am called the emperor, I am afraid it will be a disaster of extermination. None of my nephews can take on this heavy responsibility, only you, General Shen, can keep the little foundation we have left, and if you can't do it, you can go to Bashu to divide one side, and it will be Liu Bei. ”

Shen De shook his head, "Your sons Shen don't judge, it's just that the situation hasn't reached this point yet, it seems that we are suffering from the enemy on our backs, but the Wei State in the north still has to guard against Tuyuhun and Yu State, and the real threat to us is the Southern Navy." I didn't expect that General Chen would leave a hand in the South China Sea, and there would be such elite soldiers. ”

"Shen De, I can see it, Chen Hongyi and Li Xiaofei are actually not terrible, Liu Jian and Liu Mingge are not worth mentioning, the real one who is powerful in soldiers is the little-known Zhou Dapeng!"

Shen De thought for a while, "This week, Dapeng is just a little beggar taken in by General Chen more than ten years ago, and he is a personal guard for General Chen, even I am blindsided, this person doesn't talk much, he looks honest and honest, I can't imagine that the use of soldiers is so powerful!" ”

"People can't be disgraced, this world is all in chaos, it is no longer the world of the family, the son of heaven in troubled times, and the strong and strong are for it! The old man thought that he could regain the former prosperity of the family in his own hands, but now it seems to be just a joke! Can't go back! ”

"Hasn't Gong Cui already restored and rebuilt the family of the ten surnames? We still have the capital to negotiate peace with Liu Jian, we have the support of the family, more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the land of Jingxiang, and the Son of Heaven in our hands! ”

"People's hearts are not ancient, the descendants of these families have long lost the demeanor of the family, they don't know books, they don't know etiquette, they don't have the bearing, they only know how to collect money and fight for power! It's not as good as a marketman! The era of the old man's heart when the family gathered and the rule was brilliant is long gone. If it weren't for the support of you and a general, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to hold on to it now! Since the old man became ill, he has been bored with food and drink, and he has looked down on the world. From today on, you will be in charge of this overall situation, remember not to allow anyone to have delusions again, whether it is my relatives or old friends, now is the time to consider a way out, and you can't move blindly anymore! ”

Shen De was suspicious of deceit, and tried every means to excuse himself, Cui Ju spit out a mouthful of blood, "Shen De, the old man is sincere, and he didn't mean to test you, not to mention that even if you have a knife and axe, how can you be your opponent, I allow you to bring a knife into the Prime Minister's Mansion, but I am not wary of you!" ”

Shen De took the Prime Minister's Great Seal and the Jin King's Golden Seal from the ugly slave's hands and went out, and when he left, Cui Ju shouted, "Return this golden seal to the palace, and you can use the Prime Minister's Seal first!" ”

Shen De nodded and went straight to the palace.

When Shen De returned the golden seal, Liu Fuan cried more than once, "You return me to Shun Ah Weng, and return my little nobleman!" Give me back the balls! You're the bad guy! Villain! I'll kill you! ”

Huang Chunzhi hurriedly went to cover Liu Fu'an's mouth, but he couldn't cover it, Shen De put the golden seal on the ground and turned around.

Shen De walked on the road and thought about it, the Cui family and the family had a way out, but he Shen De had no way out.

Most of the people in the palace were killed by him, and the academy was also destroyed by him, he was a blood-stained knife in Cui Ju's hand.

A person can lose the knife and mend his ways, but the knife is always a stolen object.

The Cui family still has a way out, and he Shen De has no way out.

Shen De decided that after Cui Ju died, he would give it a go.

Before Shen De returned home, the five sons of the Cui family came to greet him in person.

Rejecting them would be tantamount to creating five more enemies, but if Cui Ju's meaning was conveyed to them, it would immediately change.

For today's plan, there is only vanity and wrongdoing.

The five sons all proposed to see Shen De alone, and Shen De waved his hand, "I'm just a pawn next to King Jin, you sons are too polite, I'm a rough person, Ming people don't say secret words, the five sons will go to my house as guests, you can ask anything you want to know, Shen knows everything and says everything!" ”

Cui Keyuan's eyes rolled, "General Shen, I have been fighting side by side with you for a long time, and I rely on the general's protection, can't the friendship between you and me be deeper?" ”

"It is the duty of the son to protect the son, the son is not thin to stay in the bottom, and he is not an ungrateful person in the bottom, but the king of Jin has an order, so that I must not make friends with the sons in private! Shen is an honest man and does not dare to disobey the will of King Jin. ”

The five of them thought that this Shen De was too slippery, and they actually brought out Cui Ju to suppress them, but they didn't dare to say anything about it.

Although they are all Cui Ju's nephews, the nephew is just a nephew after all, and no one dares to bet that Cui Ju will treat him differently.

Especially at this moment, it is difficult to guarantee that Cui Ju will not send someone to secretly spy on them and Shen De.

Cui Kewen reacted the fastest, "General Shen is worthy of being a loyal minister, okay, General Shen can obey the orders of King Jin, are we not as good as General Shen as juniors?" When we meet today, I propose not to talk about military affairs, but to drink and talk happily. ”

Shen De got off the donkey, "The sons are all smart and elegant people, Shen can invite all the sons to the house as guests, and the three lives are fortunate, not to talk about state affairs, nor to talk about military affairs!" ”

The five of them got into the carriage and followed Shen De to Shen De's General's Mansion.

Shen De entered the door with five sons, and even if he withdrew the guards, he also ordered the servants not to close the door, and no guests were allowed to block them.

These five sons all laughed at Shen De for being too cautious, Shen De sighed, "It's not okay if you're not careful, now the situation is unclear, there can be no more suspicion and suspicion between King Jin and us, our loyalty must be seen by King Jin at all times!" ”

"Yes, yes, yes, the filial piety of our few should also be seen by my uncle! General Shen reminded him very much! ”

"General Shen seems to be showing me the way!"

Shen De smiled slightly, "Shen Mou prepared a little thin wine and asked the sons not to dislike it, I am used to marching and fighting, and there are often boiled meat rice porridge in the house hidden in the clay pot, today Shen Mou has the courage to use the venison, beef, pheasant, mutton, fragrant meat corn porridge, wild vegetable rice porridge, and wheat rice in this clay pot to entertain your sons!" ”

The five of them were accustomed to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas, and when they heard the meat and porridge preserved in the clay pot by Shen De today, they were interested and applauded.

After a while, there was a hot meal and hot dishes served, and the first thing that was served on the table was a pot of stewed venison, which was full of aroma, Shen De stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation, "This venison, people with good appetites can eat more, this deer is still shot by me in the wild in Luoyang, I don't know which son is blessed to enjoy more"

The chopsticks in the hands of the five people immediately stopped, and Cui Keyuan immediately waved his hand, "Take the knife, this venison must be cut with a knife, eat it in large pieces!" ”

Cui Kewen was not to be outdone, "It's better to tear it off by yourself!" ”

Cui Ke'an smiled, stretched out his hand to bring the basin over, "I have a good appetite for this venison, so naturally I ate it!" Brothers and brothers, let's eat beef and mutton! ”

Cui Keding and Cui Keshuang immediately stopped Cui Ke'an, "We will eat this venison for five of us, and no one will eat much!" ”

Cui Keyuan looked at Shen De, "General Shen is the owner, and I asked General Shen to divide the meat for my five brothers!" ”

"Shen is not talented, but I heard that the family can only prosper if there is harmony between brothers, if you just want to eat alone, I'm afraid that you will immediately fight, haha, you are all generous and elegant, you should go hand in hand!"

Cui Kewen nodded, "We brothers understand the truth that General Shen said, but the snake can't be without a head, there must be a leader among the five!" ”

Shen De clapped his hands: "Take the snake!" ”

When a servant brought up a stirring black snake, Shen De pinched the snake's head with two fingers, and then inserted the chicken head in the other basin with chopsticks and replaced it, and threw the snake with the chicken head on the ground, and the black snake rolled a few times and crawled into the distance.

The servant served the water, Shen De washed his hand and pointed to the snake that was still crawling, "This snake's head is just a void, it depends on the scales on the snake's body to move, if there are a few more heads, this snake will not be able to move!" ”

The five of them heard clearly, this was saying that they were competing for the throne, but they were not reconciled.

Cui Ke'an smiled, "Hehe, hehe, General Shen is really bothered!" Whether it's a snake head or a chicken head, but there must be a head after all, this family of five brothers, my father is gone, and there must be a big brother as a family! ”

"In terms of being older, we still have a few brothers, I'm afraid it won't be our turn," Cui Keding said directly

"Then in terms of meritocracy, it has to come out of the five of us!"

"Meritocracy? How is it determined? They all say that they are virtuous, and I think our brothers are similar, and they all suffered defeats! The other four people who said Cui Keyuan were speechless

At this time, the porridge and rice had been served, and the deer blood wine was also taken, Shen De clapped his hands, "Sons, what you are talking about is your thoughts, but you have not thought about what you think about being a father?" ”

The five of them immediately put down their chopsticks and listened to Shen De's words: "General Shen might as well speak clearly!" ”

"Daddy is still there, if that son is bent on dividing the family property and becoming the head of the family, I'm afraid that this father will not let such a son inherit the family business!"

The five of them lowered their heads and were silently ashamed of themselves, Shen De looked at them separately and continued: "If there is a son who handles the affairs of the family in an orderly manner and goes to the bed every night to do his filial piety, will the old man not like this son?" I'm afraid the old man will rest assured if he hands over the family business to such a son! ”

The five of them suddenly realized, and they all raised the wine glasses in front of them, "Listen to the general's words, and only then do you know how shallow and ignorant we are!" We all get it! Thank you, General Shen! ”

After this meal, Cui Keyuan and the other five people, in order to perform, respectively did the errands of strengthening the city defense, urging grain and grass, collecting taxes, and breaking cases for disaster relief, and also went to Cui Ju's bed every few days to cry and serve medicine and soup.

Cui Ju knew very well in his heart that this was Shen De's design, and he was full of praise for each nephew without saying a bad word, and the five of them were all happy, thinking that they were expected to inherit Cui Ju's position.

But there is no impermeable wall in the world, this Cui Keding is good with Yu'e, the maid in Cui Ju's mansion, and this ugly slave is fond of Yu'e, and he actually told Cui Ju's thoughts to Yu'e.

After learning the news that Cui Ju was unwilling to be the emperor, Cui Keding was furious, "This old thing and Shen De actually played us all!" If the emperor is not right, I will be it! ”

Cui Keding gathered Huang Chongdao, Yu Yaoshan, and Li Yuan to discuss countermeasures, and the three of them all asked Cui Keding to gamble, first let Yu'e poison Cui Ju, take advantage of the chaos in Cui Ju's mansion, and rush into the palace under the banner of revenge for Cui to control the little emperor and hundreds of officials, it is best to send someone to attack and kill Shen De, without Shen De, the other four sons are simply unable to compete with Cui Keding.