Ma Hong personally led the army out of Xuchang to attack Wei, Yu Guandu and Xiahou Yuan's main force clashed, fought for July, broke Xiahou Yuan and Guandu, Xiahou Yuan was killed, Ma Hong led the main force a total of 500,000 north into Yecheng. Zhuge Liang and Cao Zhen fought with Qingzhou, and after Xiahou Yuan's main force lost power, they returned to defend Yecheng.

Wei officials saw that the general trend had gone, most of the officials privately befriended the Chu State, and many civil officials under the leadership of Situ Wang Lang advised Cao Rui to surrender, Cao Rui was furious, and ordered to kill Wang Lang, the government and the opposition were turbulent, Cao Zhen held Yecheng for half a year, and finally Yecheng was broken, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi advised Cao Rui to retreat to Beiping, rectify the army, and contend with Chu again, Cao Rui refused, vomited blood and said that I would not take another step back, and committed suicide by drawing a sword in the Wei palace in Yecheng.

After Cao Rui committed suicide, because he had no heirs, Cao Zhen, Sima Yi and others supported Cao Zhang as emperor, retreated to Nanpi, and continued to fight against Chu.

After Ma Hong occupied Yecheng, he did not personally rush north, and the villain sent two armies to attack Nanpi, one led by the crown prince Ma Yi, followed by Jiang Wei and Wang Ping, totaling 100,000. The other was led by the eldest son Ma Shuang, followed by Deng Ai, and the two armies attacked the remnants of Wei.

Yecheng, Wei Palace, in the huge palace, Ma Hong and Zhuge Liang sat on the ground, and in front of them was a pair of Go.

"Senior brother, if my guess is correct, you are not sure of the successor in your heart now, right?"

Ma Hong smiled and said, "Why do you say that? ”

"If it weren't for that, you wouldn't have sent the two of them north together, am I right?"

"Right, or not, maybe I just want to see something?"

"What do you see? Brother, do you know that this is really dangerous? “

"Will the Lord be at odds, and fear trouble?"

"Exactly." Zhuge Liang said.

Ma Hong smiled, pinched the first white piece and put it in the center of the chessboard, Zhuge Liang glanced at Ma Hong, and said in his heart: "This game of Go is all black sons first, but senior brother takes white sons first, does he want to say that all the rules in this world are set by the king?" Even on this chessboard? And chess players generally don't say that the first chess piece is placed in the center, which seems to be a random move, does he want to see who can be his heir, Ma Yi or Ma Shuang? “

"Kong Ming, if a sword is not sharp, how can you judge?"

"Back to Senior Brother, Liang thinks that you should give it a try."

"By the way, the blade is not sharp, you should give it a try, whether you have the strength to be the emperor, I also have to try them."

Zhuge Liang didn't speak again, but picked up a black chess piece and put it on the right side of the white chess, and then no matter how Ma Hong considered his two sons, Zhuge Liang would not ask again, because he couldn't see what Ma Hong wanted to see through this military operation, and what he wanted to see, Zhuge Liang didn't want to guess, because it was difficult to guess.

The two sons fight, the father is the judge, the first son is sentenced to heaven, and the other son is sentenced to hell, no matter what, this is the matter of the emperor's family, even as the prime minister, he should not care.

Ten days later, Yecheng, Zhuge Liang's mansion.

Zhuge Liang received a letter from Jiang Wei, in which Jiang Wei said: "Ma Shuang personally led the elite cavalry to attack the rear of Nanpi day and night, wanting to cut off the supply of grain and grass to Nanpi. Jiang Wei asked in the letter: Is it to stay still or to assist Ma Yi to destroy Wei in front of Ma Shuang. ”

Zhuge Liang just replied with two words on the letter: "Look,"

After Zhuge Liang received the letter, he presented it to Ma Hong and informed Ma Hong of his answer.

Twenty days later, Yecheng, Zhuge Liang's mansion.

Zhuge Liang received a letter from Jiang Wei, Jiang Wei said in the letter: "Ma Shuang's lone army went deep, and was blocked by Sima Yi's army twenty miles north of Nanpi, Deng Ai's reinforcements were blocked, Ma Shuang did not send troops to Ma Yi for help, Jiang Wei asked if he wanted to send troops to assist." ”

Zhuge Liang still replied with two words, "Look", and presented the letter to Ma Hong.

Under the city of Nanpi, Ma Yi's military tent.

Ma Yi sits, Jiang Wei and Wang Ping retreated from the guards and talked with Ma Yi.

"Let's talk about it! To save or not to save? “

Jiang Wei pondered for a while and said, "Your Highness, the minister feels that this is a trap for Ma Shuang. ”

"Tell me?" Ma Yi asked.

"The minister thinks that Ma Shuang's lone army is deep behind enemy lines, and he must also have thoughts in his heart, if he easily cuts off the supply of Wei, then he must have made a great contribution, if he is surrounded, His Royal Highness will definitely save him, if he does not save him when he sees death, he will definitely be punished by His Majesty, maybe the crown prince will be gone."

"That's why Brother Wang didn't hesitate to gamble with his life and tens of thousands of soldiers?"

"Yes, this move is very dangerous, it is a risky move, it puts both sides in danger, and if you are not careful, you will lose."

Ma Yi sighed and said, "So I have to save it?" If you don't save it, you will definitely be punished by your father. “

"No!" Jiang Wei said: "If you save it, if it succeeds, it will be useless to your Highness, if it fails, what you see in Your Majesty's eyes is that Your Highness has no ability to co-ordinate, your leadership is insufficient, you will not judge the situation, and you will know that you may encounter an ambush to save it, that is incompetence, in the eyes of the minister, Your Majesty will not hand over the country to incompetent people." ”

Ma Yi pondered for a while and said: "At this moment, I seem to understand my father's intentions better, the state of Chu is now much stronger than the state of Wei, and he doesn't care about the 200,000 soldiers and horses, he wants our brother to prove to him who is stronger and who is more suitable to be the emperor." “

"The truth is this truth, now Ma Shuang made a move first, waiting for Your Highness to return the move?"

"So in your opinion, is it easy to rescue Brother Wang?"

"It's hard! Cao Zhen and Sima Yi are not ordinary people, Sima Yi can play against the right prime minister, that is, the master of the minister, and Cao Zhen has also led the army to block the master many times, in exchange for us to be the Wei army, we must have arranged our pockets and waited for the Chu army to drill. “

"Now the question is to drill or not to drill? If I don't drill, it means that I have given up on Brother Wang, and if I don't save him, if I drill, I may also fail. Ma Yi said with a sigh.

"And now Ma Shuang has not sent anyone to ask us for help, if we take the initiative to rescue, this will show me to the courtiers of Chu State that Your Royal Highness is kind-hearted, which will make you add points in the hearts of the courtiers, but everything has pros and cons, His Royal Highness and Ma Shuang compete for the throne, you are the enemy, even if you pretend to be close on the surface, you are always an enemy, and being merciful to the enemy is cruel to yourself. If Your Highness saves you, maybe you will have to subtract points in Your Majesty's heart. “

"It is a difficult choice to subtract points in the hearts of the father and the emperor and add points in the hearts of the courtiers."

"It's a tough choice, but you can only choose one."

"Then I choose to save it."

"To help? Why did Your Highness choose this? “

"I think what you said is right, but there are also wrongs, if I don't save me when I see death, then my father will definitely think that I am a ruthless person, and in the end, even if I ascend the throne, I will not let go of my former enemies, and my brothers will fall into danger, just imagine, even if my father is the king of a country, but he is still a father, how can a father not love his son, even if he loves Chu more than his son, he does not want his children to fall into danger."

Jiang Wei pondered for a while and said, "I think what His Highness said is right, but there are also wrong!" “

"What's wrong?"

"If Your Majesty is really as His Highness said, then he will not come up with such an idea and let your brothers play such a game."

"If the young eagle wants to fly in the sky, it must first jump out of the cliff, and the father has his own father's truth."