In the four years after the Great War of Chibi, the war between the Central Plains and Jingzhou, Jiangdong and other places in the south was not as resting and recuperating as everyone imagined, and in the following years, Wancheng and Xuzhou became the places with the most fierce battles, as many as dozens of large and small battles, which have been continuing.

Over the years, Guo Jia, a strategist who had advised the Cao family, dragged his sick body and still traveled around with Cao Cao, or ran around the north and south with the strategy of distant friendship and close attack, and went to the north to talk about things for the third time, and met with Li Ru, Wang Lie and others, and a young man named Gongsun Zheng next to him. Looking at the other party's appearance, at this time, he could vaguely remember the scene of meeting that person for the first time in Xuchang Prison, what a rebellious man, secretly sent someone to kill the current emperor, and took in a person who had killed the emperor, what else did he dare not do?

At this time, the wolf king should still be in the west, the news has been broken for a long time, Guo Jia occasionally thinks of that person, there is no reason to believe that the other party will die in the wilderness, maybe he has no time to see him again.

The last time he returned from the Northland, Guo Jia fell ill.

In September, the weather is pleasant, and the outside of Xuchang is already golden.

The breeze blew, the sweaty peasant bared his thin chest and let the wind blow on it, looking at the golden harvest, the dark face smiled, not far away, the wife straightened up and scolded him, the man nodded and bowed and continued to harvest, and two pigtailed children ran over to the ridge of the field, pinching the little man on a pile of soft soil, and soon after, the rolling sound of the wheels sounded between the roads, and one of the boys looked over.

Several sturdy knights with swords and bows on their backs escorted a simple carriage from afar, opened the curtain in a corner, their deep eyes mixed with a hint of drowsiness, looked at the picture of busy farming outside, and sighed with satisfaction: "Let's go." Then the curtain was lowered.

Between the uneven roads, the carriage undulated, and the figure of re-sitting upright was Cao Cao, who had fifty three this year, in the first three years of the Western Expedition, there was almost no war, and most of the energy was placed between the court and government affairs, and the body became bloated, but he still tried his best to ensure the smooth progress of the Western Expedition, but the war broke out in the south, he had to hold the lance again, and the southern and northern wars were fought for four years, and the head wind in the early years became more and more frequent, and the pain almost cost him half his life, and now he is also old.

"How good it would be if there was no war, I can help the world with peace of mind, so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment, this is more comfortable than the military exploits full of bones, and the people of the world still remember you, and your name can be engraved on the immortal throne, which will last for a hundred years. Even if there is a little assassin, I can't bear to do it to you, right, Fengxiao? ”

Cao Cao laughed, his gray beard shook in laughter, and on the soft collapse opposite him, Guo Jia was dressed in a cyan robe, covered with a light blue dark coat and leaning on it, his face was extremely pale, a layer of fine cold sweat secreted on his forehead, and his dry and molting lips slowly moved, making a weak voice: "People are selfish, and the world is finally in chaos....... who doesn't want to create a foundation in troubled times......"

"yes." The old man's gaze looked at the extremely weak strategist on the opposite side, and his deflected gaze had a hint of pain, and he turned to the gap in the curtain that was blown by the wind, looking at the golden sunshine, "..... Liu Bei, I missaw Sun Quan'er, who inherited the shadow of his father and brother, I also saw wrong, but these are not important, except for Gongsun, I have never seen through it...... What he wants, what he will do next, is hard to guess. ”

"Reckless, thoughtful, grinning lone wolf has become the king of wolves.....cough cough ....."

The frail figure struggled to get up, and his face flushed sickly, "Such a person is not only dangerous, but also can truly achieve hegemony..... lord, if he hadn't met you before, without this grace of knowledge, Jia might have thrown himself into the Northland." ”

The gray-haired old man sat on his knees, looking at the mottled light shining in through the undulating curtains, and was silent for a while.

"Did you ever regret it?" His voice was slightly hoarse and low, his eyes turned calmly, Guo Jia looked at him calmly, then shook his head, struggled to get himself up, and arched his hands.

“…... The grace of knowing the encounter cannot be repaid......"

The old man gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

There was a lot of noise outside, and I don't know whose voice was shouting. The carriage had already entered the city gate, and stopped in front of the gate of Guo's mansion, Guo Jia trembled and was helped down, standing on the stone steps, looking at the car that was about to leave, and staggered half a step.

The carriage stopped, Cao Cao scooped up the curtain, looked at the familiar face, and couldn't help but be moved, "Feng Xiao is a good student to recuperate......

"Lord ......"

Looking at the carriage, Guo Jia broke free from the servant, raised his hands tremblingly, and his eyes turned red: "From now on, it will be rare for the lord and Jia to see each other again...... I can't go all the way with my lord. ”

"Feng Xiao goes back to recuperate!"

The curtain was lowered abruptly, and Cao Cao closed his eyes and suppressed his voice: "Go back." The coachman whipped his whip and drove towards Cao's house, no longer looking at the figure of the arched hand under the eaves behind him, and after a long time, his clenched teeth gradually loosened, and he listened to the voice of the coachman outside: "Prime Minister, I've arrived at the house." ”

Cao Cao pursed his lips tightly, walked out of the car expressionlessly, and when he arrived in the backyard, Ding and Bian greeted them, ignored them, waved them away, and walked straight into the study.

The room is quiet and the lights are flickering.

The old man sitting behind the case, closed his eyes and was silent in the dim firelight, there were slight wet marks under the closed eyelids, for a long time, he opened his eyes, his vision was blurred, this feeling since the death of the person who used to be called Xi Zhicai, climbed up to the heart again, but as the current identity, nothing can be moved at will, at least not outside....... Cao Cao took a deep breath and began to deal with official business, at least that grief will be a little better, the long case is quietly placed on a plain silk, Shang Shu Ling Hua Xin submitted it in the morning, Because he has been accompanying Guo Jia, he has not checked, and in the seven years since the start of the Western Expedition, he has never stopped monitoring the imperial court.

originally thought that everyone and even the Son of Heaven in the court would let down their vigilance against themselves about the Western Expedition, but the news of today's arrival finally made Cao Cao feel cold. Just watched for a while, but then there was no action, moved to the candle and lit it, and threw it on the ground, watching the flame erode a little bit, there was a sudden commotion outside the house, and then the door knocked, Xu Chu said angrily in the urn outside the door: "Lord!" Guo Xijiu ..... died, just now. ”

"Uhhh

The bean-sized flame was blown out, the lamppost fell to the ground and rolled, and the anger that had been suppressed for a long time finally broke out at this moment, Cao Cao turned around and took the Yitian on the shelf, opened the door suddenly, and startled Xu Chu, who heard the movement and probed his brain, and then hurriedly followed, and heard a deep voice saying: "Order the soldiers and horses, and follow me to the palace." ”

"Yes!"

In the city of Xuchang in the middle of the night, in the speckled lights, a few dogs can occasionally bark in the deep secluded place, and the streets with lanterns gradually have the sound of people's footsteps, and then the horses' hooves and people's footsteps spread densely, and a soldier in armor and holding a soldier formed a long dragon and rushed to the imperial city.

For a while, no one dared to stop, and the movement caused by the march also made the Xun Mansion located near the imperial city light up, Xun Yu knew the news and hurriedly got up, and simply put on his robe, "Hurry up, hurry-" In the anxious voice, he beckoned the coachman to drive the carriage to speed over there, and the whole quiet huge city, the storm was also brewing.

At the same time, outside the city, fast horses from the northwest rushed into the west gate of the city wearing stars and moons, and the sound of chanting reached the city in the dark night.

"Northwest Emergency, quickly inform the Prime Minister-"