The last month of the sixteenth year of Jian'an.

The stretching city wall is covered with layers of snow, and the soldiers who rub their hands together to get out of the white mist stand at the head of the wall and tremble at the white wolf flag entering the city gate, extending to the streets and alleys of the city, all of which are a snow-covered scene, and the people who buy New Year's goods are intertwined and walked, and the women who sweep the snow in front of their homes shout a few words at the children rolling in the snow. The street vendors lifted their shrouds, the heat met the cold, turned into a pleasant smell of mist, and the poorer people could not help but stop for a moment as they walked in the middle, and the endless stream of people formed a warm current of the usual day in the cold winter, rushing through the city.

Wine shops and restaurants are full of literati and ink writers, and there are also businessmen who go south and north, and gentry who wear mink and velvet, gather around the brazier to drink wine and eat meat, and from time to time will talk about the situation today, for the deeds of the Western Expeditionary Army to conquer all sides of the barbarians, it has already spread to farther states and counties in the past two years, but the Central Plains, which was the first to learn the news, has long been out of conversation, and the conversation turned to the matter of next year's southern expedition to Jiangdong, and I have to mention the King of Jin who was born a horse thief. To be a thief to the king, it is somewhat unpleasant, even Cao Cao's family affairs, but also because of Cao Teng's reasons, he was ridiculed behind his back, not to mention Gongsun Zhi, and it is undeniable that the merits of this King of Jin are seen by the whole country, which can make the barbarians of the Quartet surrender, can make Yuan Shao, the lord of the four states, break his wings, and force Liu Bei to kill himself. Only that identity, and fierce style, make people faintly worried that the Han Dynasty will change its surname in the future.

Then, the streets sounded with neat footsteps and horses' hooves, and many eyes on the wine shops and restaurants looked down, and saw the white wolf under the banner of the beckoning, and the soldiers and horses of the King of Jin passed through the street, and their expressions were complicated, and there were all kinds of whispers.

"This kind of power, I'm afraid it's not as good as ...... today."

"Don't talk nonsense about this taboo, brother......"

"That brother is right, this kind of power... I'm afraid I'm going to be the emperor in the future. ”

Mockery, admiration, cautious words mixed with pieces of voices, in a sense, about the Jin King's achievements in the southern and northern wars over the years are all recognized, but it is only limited to merit, for his original identity as a horse thief, the wealthy family generally still maintains a superficial deferential and disdainful attitude, after all, the other party is the master who says kill, no one will be stupid enough to roar with the other party with a red neck, arguing about a question of identity right or wrong.

In the middle of the street, a long line passed through the crowd of evasion, on the back of the black horse under the flag, Gongsun Zhi was looking at the plain silk unfolded in his hand, when Li Ke approached on horseback with a mace, he folded the plain silk and lowered his eyes, "Don't go to the palace, go to Caofu." ”

Xu Chu, who received the order, glanced at the figure of King Jin over there, and after sighing, he still put the tiger's head broadsword on his shoulder, and went over with a group of tiger guard battalion armor soldiers with murderous aura.

……

When the sound of footsteps spread through the street, the snow was being cleared at the entrance of Caofu. Cao Ang succeeded to the Duke of Wei, and the mansion looked completely new, and the brand-new door plaque was hung high, and the number of customers in the mansion in the past did not decrease but increased, but Cao Ang actually didn't care too much about this, and was still messing around with the second brother Cao Pi, which was somewhat regarded as a kind of compensation.

No matter how the other party messed around, as long as he didn't cross the bottom line, he turned a blind eye, but later found that the Xun brothers actually appeared in the spies' notes, which made his hair a little numb, and he wrote two letters successively and sent people to Xichuan to send them to the Jin King case, that is, on the night of the ambush of Liu Feng and Meng Da, Gongsun Zhi said two sentences before and after, "Jumping beam clown." ”

The former refers to Liu Feng's desire to attack at night, and the latter refers to Cao Pi and others in Xuchang City.

found that Cao Pi's degree of nonsense had exceeded his bottom line, Cao Ang looked for him several times, and even locked him in the room for more than half a month, and still went his own way when he was released, and the two brothers quarreled many times about it, "That grandson stopped taking away my Cao family's foundation, and now he is not in Xuchang, I should take it back!" "You're messing around with all the lives of the Cao family—" "Then tell Gongsun to stop killing me!" By the way, you are his confidant and beloved general, and you are the Duke of Wei, so naturally he will not kill you! ”

Cao Ang was almost drawn several times by his hysterical madness, if it weren't for his mother Ding, wife Yunniang who pulled him down, and Bian, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhen and others pleaded with him, I am afraid that he would have been cut with a knife long ago. Since his father's death, he came back to become the eldest son and was named a duke, Cao Pi's whole personality has changed greatly, from alcoholism to the germination of wanting to get back the Cao family's inheritance, and his mind has become crazy.

In December, two days after the heavy snowfall, the Xun family brothers, who had not been out of the house for a long time, came over, and Cao Ang was not at home at this time, and went out of the city to inspect the military camp yesterday morning.

The guards in the side courtyard of Cao's Mansion strengthened their patrols, and there was a continuous sound of talking in the study, and Cao Pi, who was in the first seat, held warm wine and saluted everyone on both sides, such as Xun Yu, Xun You, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhen, and even Zhang Xiu, who lived in a simple place.

Although he is young, he also knows that his father's inheritance is not easy to come by, and there are all of you here who have done their best. The first battle of Guandu, full of dangers, almost broke the city, only now the Central Plains, finally came over, but in the end it was all given to Gongsun Zhi in the north in vain, and you only have some false names left, and there are also some ......" Cao Pi's eyes looked at Zhang Xiu in the back: "... The heirs of the knees were killed, they were implicated and couldn't recover, and the resentment in their hearts could be swallowed? ”

Zhang Xiu's hand was trembling slightly, and his eyes stared straight at the shaking wine: "... Pi Gongzi has no power or power, and now he is not even the eldest son in the family, and he is not afraid that your brother will know if he speaks wildly? ”

"Afraid! Are you afraid that you won't do it? Cao Pi put down the bronze jue, flicked his wide sleeves, pressed his palms on his knees, and said in a low voice: "Zang Ba, who is far away in Qingzhou, has sent someone to send a letter to me, and the Qingzhou soldiers are willing to respond to the outside, and there are also some civil and military forces in the court who are willing to cooperate with Pi." ”

The flames crackled and sparks, and the room was silent for a while.

"Pi Gongzi...... Is it such an adventure? Xun Yu, who was sitting on the right side, opened his eyes and looked at the first place calmly: "If the matter fails, do you know how many of my Han courtiers, wives and children in the family have their heads on the ground?" The two generals of Xiahou did not support it, and neither did Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Cao Chun, the three pillars of the Cao family. ”

"Uncle Xun doesn't approve of it either." Cao Pi waved his hand as if he had expected it, "This Yuzhou sent out, Pi will get it back sooner or later, and I hope Uncle Xun will leave it alone-"

Cao Zhang, who was a little younger, was the age of being enthusiastic and heroic, slapped the desk, clenched his fists and shouted: "That's right, what kind of big brother, Chang is the first to disagree, he hasn't seen it since he was a child, and as soon as he comes back, he took everything away and gave it away, not like the Cao family at all." The two uncles of the Xun family, you have never hoped that the Han family will prosper again, but now that Gongsun Zhi has become the king, you can't say that you have to be the emperor in the next step, and you can bear it? ”

"Alas... Think about everything in the long run, step by step. Xun You shook his head, pinched his chin and long beard, and was about to say more, when anxious footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, and a voice seemed panicked: "... King Jin has returned to the city......"

At this moment, the armor of the Tiger Guard Battalion had already driven into the side courtyard, and the Ding, Bian, and Yun Niang who came to inquire rushed over from the backyard in a panic, and saw the guards who were originally arranged over there were beaten to the ground like dead dogs, or squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands and did not dare to move, and someone walked between them with a knife, and shouted: "Who dares to move, cut off the head-" After a while, hundreds of Tiger Guard Armor Guards and White Wolf Guards strode over Gongsun Zhi with the hilt of the knife at their waists and guarded Gongsun Zhi in the middle, and when they saw the three Ding people standing under the eaves, they simply shouted: "Go back!" "It is to turn to the eaves of the porch and enter the side courtyard.

"Quickly send someone outside the city and call Ziyu back!" Ding turned his head and ordered the servant beside him.

The entire Cao Mansion was in chaos.

……

Hearing the movement outside, the faces of the figures in the room changed, and they all stood up.

"Shouldn't he go directly to Jingzhou to prepare for next year's expedition to Jiangdong?"

"Trouble...... There was no news from outside the city, and Gongsun stopped returning to the city......"

“… Most of the fast horses at the post stations outside the city have been blocked. ”

Just as they were speaking and preparing to leave the study, Zhang Xiu stretched out his hand to pull the door, the whole scalp suddenly numb, and hurriedly retreated, the door made a loud noise, and was kicked open, revealing a fat figure like a hill blocking the door, and the urn said angrily: "Pi Gongzi, Chu is offended." No one in the house dared to step forward, the uncle and nephew of the Xun family got up and did not move, Cao Zhang wanted to go up and was pulled by Cao Zhen, and said in a low voice: "Go up and find death." ”

Cao Pi was still a little flustered about Gongsun Zhi's sudden return to the city, he tried his best to stay calm, and bowed his hand to Xu Chu at the door: "General Xu, what is this going to do?" ”

The fat man outside the door did not respond, looking at the old master's child, after all, he was not so fierce, and his tone was softened: "The matter of the conspiracy between the son and you has happened." ”

Cao Pi pursed his lips and thought about it, laughed, and walked towards the door, his eyes sharp: "General Xu is laughing, I just get together to drink and chat, talk about poetry and politics, and this is Cao's mansion, and this Yuzhou is full of my Cao family's former officials..."

Gongsun Zhi's figure also came into everyone's sight.

"King Jin!" Cao Pi had a smile on his face, and he arched his hand to meet him, and on the other side, the long pendulum in his footsteps lifted up when he crossed the threshold, and his arm was raised, and the moment Gongsun Zhi saw him with indifferent eyes-

Syllable!

The heavy slap directly flew Cao Pi's fan out, the long case was dumped, and the bronze jue and dishes were sprinkled all over the ground.

"Gong Cao is not here, so I will discipline my son well for him!"