Everyone under the eaves stood quietly outside the door, the golden early sun rose, the shade of the trees swayed gently, in the sound of cicadas, among the open windows, someone walked through the light spots on the ground and picked up the medicine jar.

The smell of medicine was pervasive, Cao Cao was lying on the bed, his face was yellow, his gray hair was scattered and fluffy, he slowly opened his eyes tiredly, and in his cloudy vision, he saw a familiar figure walking over with a medicine bowl, trying to struggle to sit upright, Gongsun Zhi's hand was pressed on his thin shoulder, "Lie down." Then, he sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly stirred the potion until it cooled down.

The room was quiet, the heat of the decoction was faint, accompanied by a slight stench of feces and urine, and the chirping of cicadas outside the open window came into the room one after another.

"...... I thought you weren't coming."

"Yes, I didn't plan to come over, but Yecheng is about to be defeated." There was a smile under the thick beard, and the wooden spoon scooped it in the decoction again, and said: "That Xu Huang is a good general, and he can still hold on for half a month under such an offensive, which is difficult for ordinary people to reach." ”

Hearing these words, Cao Cao finally had a little spirit on his face, and looked at Gongsun Zhi, who was stirring the decoction, and his white beard opened with a smile: "Cao Youliang will not only Xu Huang alone, this is what I have gained for most of my life...... Now ....... it's all up to you. ”

"The prime minister doesn't regret it?"

The stirring hand stopped, and Gongsun Zhi raised his face to look over, as if he had some anticipation of Xu Du coming over.

"Regret what?" Cao Cao shook his head gently, braced his arms and tried his best to sit up, fine beads of sweat on his forehead, the whole person was weak, but he still smiled: "I never regret doing things, but I regret two things...... Wancheng folded his most optimistic son, and ...... Qinghe, I'm not a good father, if I had known her early and had spoken a few more words to her, things might not have been like this. ”

Gongsun Zhi wanted to speak, but the old man opposite waved him not to speak, and he continued: "It's not your fault, the matter of in-laws, it's just wishful thinking, it's human nature for you to refuse, how can I be angry with you, I still understand this." ”

The room then fell silent again.

After a while, Gongsun Zhi fed the decoction to the old man and drank it, and in silence, he still opened his mouth: "Prime Minister ......, in fact, your eldest son, Cao Ang, is not dead. ”

Cao Cao, who swallowed the soup, froze there, he looked at Gongsun Zhi, who also looked straight over, looked at each other for a moment, and the old man shook his head: "He's dead, he died in Wancheng, and this son is gone...... Gongsun Xiu wanted to laugh at it. But at this time, his eyes were already slightly red, and he waved his hand to push away the soup spoon that was stretched out, "Come, help me stay, and take you to a place." ”

"How do you move?" The medicine bowl was put down, and Gongsun Zhi reached out to help him.

"If you can't walk, you have to go." The voice was slow, the feet that landed on the ground were weakly propped up on the ground, Cao Cao grabbed Gongsun Zhi's arm and stood up with difficulty, the maids waiting for the left and right hurriedly came over to help put on the robes, the old man stood in front of the window lattice, looking at the appearance of the bronze mirror on the desk, a strand of white hair became neat under the wooden comb, and his body stood up straight: "As long as my Cao Cao is still alive, I can't die between the beds." ”

The light came in, and the wide sleeves shook, shaking off from side to side—

Outside.

Cao Pi was holding the seven-star knife in an embarrassing pestle, and when he heard the faint sound of talking and footsteps in the house, he was stopped by Xu Chu several times when he wanted to go in, "Second son, forgive Chu for being rude, the lord has ordered that no one is allowed to go in and disturb except for the governor." ”

"Then there is General Rausch .........."

As he spoke, the door made a creaky sound, and everyone waiting outside subconsciously looked over, and a figure in a black robe stepped over the threshold and stepped into the bright sunshine, and his eyes swept over them with the majesty of the past: "Go to the imperial city, prepare the carriage and horses, and the grandson will go with me." ”

"Father—"

Cao Pi chased up two steps, but finally saw no response from the other party, and the knife in his hand was then taken away by Gongsun Zhi, the wolf king turned his face sideways: "Stay at home with peace of mind, things between adults, children don't interfere, is it clear?!" After speaking, he patted the young man on the shoulder twice, turned around and walked away.

The mighty ironclad man opened the way, Cao Chun, Cao Hong, Xun Yu, and Xun You followed the team out of the backyard, Cao Pi stood under the eaves of no one, feeling uncomfortable for his father to suddenly get up, and hurriedly recruited his henchmen: "Go quickly to inform Xiahou Nan, let him go out of the city immediately to find his father, and say that Gongsun Zhi wants to take away the foundation of my Cao family, go quickly——"

……..

The carriage moved slowly, and the old man who sat in the carriage no longer had the majesty of crying before, and almost all the people leaned against the wall of the carriage, and their eyes returned to the cloudiness, looking at the curtain rolled up in the wind, and the street scene that flickered behind the curtain, and sat there thinking about something.

"Gongsun, you say, why do so many people in this world like to make things bad behind their backs?"

"When you are alone, you dare to be hysterical for a bite to eat." Gongsun Zhi followed his gaze and also looked at the pedestrians, cars and horses passing outside the car, "If you become a big clan and have friends, there will be more things to fight for, fame and interests must be taken and pinched in your own hands, so that their hearts will be steady, how not to mess up." The prime minister has been all the way in this life, and he has spent most of his time dealing with and appeasing the family, and in the end, once he is seriously ill, they can't help it, have they ever regretted it? ”

The old man did not answer.

He has been betrayed too much in his life, his best friend Zhang Miao, Chen Gong, who treats him as a confidant..... and even the son of heaven 'Liu Xie', who he personally helped up, have also made trouble behind his back again and again, he has seen enough, and after a moment of silence, Cao Cao suddenly spoke: "Zixuan..... is he okay all these years?" ”

"Marrying a wife and having children, now he is a general."

"That's good...... That's good....." Cao Cao pursed his lips and whispered, "If he comes back, I won't have the face to see him again..... it's okay if I don't see him..... right?" The words paused, and as the body shook, the old man turned his head: "Gongsun...... What will happen to the Cao family in the future? ”

He asked softly.

"The position of the prince is hereditary for three generations."

"Okay."

After that, the carriage entered the imperial city, stopped between the corridors of the palace, Gongsun Zhi helped the old man down, towards the Chengguang Palace, he raised his head, the towering palace walls on both sides could only see the blue of the sky straight down, occasionally, there were birds chirping, flying from the line of sight.

*************

Cao Fu.

Ding took several henchmen and servants and guards across the covered bridge, and at the corner at the end of the eaves in front of him, Bian took five maids to meet him, and the corridor was not as spacious as the road. ”

"Get out of the way—"

Ding Shi only glanced at her, he knew what the other party wanted to do, his face changed suddenly, and he raised his hand and slapped the other party's face, "Mrs. Ben is still a day, just this eldest lady of the Cao family, how can such a concubine be stopped?" With a stern gaze, he swept over the rest of the stout maids: "Do you want to die?" Don't get out of the way yet! ”

In the voice, the nursing home behind her rushed over, and the stout maids were clubbed in the middle of the road like wood, kowtowing again, and making amends, but they didn't get out of the way. Bian, who was covering his face, was also accused: "If my sister offends in something, I hope my sister will punish ....." In the middle of the words, Ding took out a seal ribbon in the cuff pocket and threw it to a servant: "Take it, immediately rush to the south of the city, and let Xiahou Yuan lead the troops directly to the imperial city!" ”

It was the Prime Minister's seal.

Bian watched the servant jump out of the eaves of the porch and run out from other directions, and when he turned around, the housewife of the Cao family on the opposite side laughed: "Do you think that the husband is seriously ill and doesn't know what is going on outside?" He had already handed over the Prime Minister's Seal to me for safekeeping. ”

Chengguang Palace, it was the time of the last dynasty, Liu Xiewei sat behind the dragon case, listening to the civil and military reports of the war in the north below, after that, he also replied a few words, and the words seemed full of energy, and soon, the drum suddenly sounded outside, the jade beads swayed, he stood up, and when everyone in the hall also turned around, a eunuch hurriedly ran in from outside the hall.

"What's going on in the palace to beat the drums?" He asked with a frown.

The eunuch bowed down, arched his hand, and said in a somewhat anxious tone: "Back to Your Majesty, is it...... It was Prime Minister Cao Cheng..... and Sun Zhi, the governor of the Northland...... They ..... them into the palace. ”

On the top of the golden steps, the Son of Heaven was unstable and almost tripped over the case.

"Coming here?"

"No..... no, they don't seem to be here."

"Immediately call the palace guards ......"

"Yes!"

Liu Xie stood there, and between the civil and military below, he also fell silent.

Outside the imperial city, on top of the high building, Cao Ang pressed his knife to look at the carriage entering the imperial city, then closed his eyes and stood for a long time, waiting for Yu Ban, Zhu Gongdao and others next to him to come over to inform him that the time was almost up, before he opened his eyes again, exhaled lightly, walked downstairs, and walked towards the outline of the imperial city in the distance.

……

In the city of Xudu, in the alleys, there were many figures, and the faintly headed figure pulled out the blade, tied the handle of the knife with a strip of cloth and the palm of his hand, and he turned his head and looked at the brothers who followed.

"Cao Cao died of illness, and he must not let Gongsun stop benefiting from the fisherman, this time he entered the city with no more than 1,000 guards, and there are still guards in the palace, Chen Wei, who have been attacked one after another, and he will definitely die!"

The daylight spreads through the streets and alleys of the city, occasionally shining on these people, dressed plainly, armed with knives and sticks, all of whom are servants and guards of the family.

Outside the city, the sturdy and fierce-looking general opened his eyes angrily, threw Su Silk on the ground, opened the curtain and strode out, and mounted his horse with a gun: "Sons, follow me into the city and capture Gongsun Zhi-"

At the same time, in the military camp in the wilderness south of the city, Xiahou Yuan, who was carrying a big bow, also drove out at this moment, raised his long knife and shouted: "There are people in the city who sow discord, and when my lord is seriously ill, they want to hold Your Majesty hostage, plot to rebel, follow me into the city, and exterminate them!" ”

The sun poured over the city, the earth, and the iron hooves spread away.