Chapter 1307 Incident in Yecheng
Amidst the peaceful singing and dancing, Ji Han quietly completed a series of personnel replacements, and even secretly prepared for the war in the future.
The opponents on the east side of Taihang Mountain in Jihan Dynasty also competed with each other.
In Yecheng, Sima Yi was entertaining guests at Taifu's residence.
Most of these guests are from Hebei, but also from Qingxu and other places in the south.
Most of these people come from the families of the county magistrates, such as the Fanyang Lu family, the Qinghe Cui family, the Boling Cui family, etc.
The most eye-catching among them is none other than the former Tingwei Lu Yu.
Lu Yu is the youngest son of Lu Zhi. He lost his father at the age of ten, and his two older brothers also died in the war.
Lu Yu raised his widowed sister-in-law and orphaned brother and son by himself, and he was known for his learning and conduct.
Cao Pi heard about Lu Yu's name and summoned him to serve as a traitor to Cao. Later, he was promoted to the chief secretary of Jizhou by Cui Yan of the Cui family in Qinghe.
Through the three generations of Cao Cao, Cao Pi and Cao Rui, he served many times in local and Wei Dynasties. He was not only deeply loved by the local people, but also quite prestigious in the court.
Even Cao Rui often asked for his opinions and appointed him as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in selecting officials.
Unexpectedly, General Cao would assist the government and take power. He felt that Lu Yu was an eyesore and inconvenient for him to control the minister's desk, so he transferred Lu Yu to be the minister's servant, and at the same time made He Yan the minister of the Ministry of official affairs.
The "Three Dogs of Taichung" caused trouble to the imperial court, so naturally Lu Yu couldn't bear to see it and repeatedly criticized them.
General Cao became more and more annoyed with him, so he simply transferred him out of the Shangshutai and became a court lieutenant.
As the Taichung Three Dogs become more and more powerful, Lu Yu, who has offended them, will naturally not be able to escape revenge.
He Yan found an opportunity and wrote a long memorial to impeach Lu Yu. He also ordered Yousi to take away Lu Yu's seal and ribbon before submitting the memorial.
It can be seen that the power of the Three Dogs in Taichung is almost the same as killing first and then playing.
And He Yan's behavior was actually supported by Cao Shuang.
Lu Yu was dismissed from office and demoted to a commoner.
Lu Yu can be regarded as a veteran of the four dynasties of Wei State, and his reputation in the court is not low.
Being treated like this now, naturally many people sympathize with him.
Over the past few years, Lu Yu has watched General Cao start from assisting the government. Except for the first few months, he was somewhat humane, and later became more and more ridiculous.
Has long gone from being angry and indifferent to being deeply disappointed.
Being dismissed from office for no apparent reason this time, he finally no longer had any hope in Xuchang.
So he packed his luggage and left Xuchang, wanting to return to his hometown.
Who would have expected that just after crossing the river to the north, he would see Taifu Sima waiting by the river for a long time.
Over the years, from Deng Ai to Sun Li, then to Fu Gu, and even Guo Xun, Sima Taifu's reputation as a lover of talents and good scholars has long been spread throughout the government and the public.
Lu Yu almost burst into tears when she looked at Taifu Sima who treated him with courtesy, and then thought about General Cao who treated him like a pair of worn-out shoes.
“Mr. Lu,” Sima Yi raised his glass to Lu Yu, “What are your plans for returning home this time?”
Lu Yu quickly raised his glass in honor of Sima Yi. After taking a sip of wine, he shook his head and sighed:
"Thanks to the care of the Grand Master, I am already in my sixties. I am old and frail. What else can I do when I return to my hometown except to take care of myself in old age?"
Hearing this, Sima Yi pretended to be unhappy:
"Is Mr. Lu making a mockery of me? I am already sixty-five years old, and I am still several years older than Mr. Lu. Is it possible that I should resign and return to my hometown now?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yu quickly stood up and apologized:
“Is it because someone made a mistake? The Imperial Tutor is the pillar of the great Wei Dynasty. How can An Neng condescend to compare with such a wild old man?”
Sima Yi burst out laughing, stood up, and sat down with Lu Yu:
“Mr. Lu, I’m just joking! I think back then, when Man Boning (Man Chong) was nearly eighty years old, he wanted to ask for the bones, but he was refused by the late emperor, who was more honest than him.”
As if he remembered something, the smile on Sima Yi's face disappeared, replaced by a look of emotion:
"Now Mr. Lu is only sixty years old, how can he claim to be old? Moreover, the country is in crisis, and the Wei Dynasty needs upright old ministers like Mr. Lu the most!"
When Lu Yu heard the first half, he wanted to laugh with Sima Yi, but when he heard the second half, his face suddenly darkened!
“You’ve misled the country!”
Sima Yi seemed to be thinking what Lu Yu was thinking. He drank the wine in the glass, placed the glass heavily on the table, and sighed longly:
"What a villain who is harming the country! If it were not for the villain in the court, why would Mr. Lu be like this? And why would I drag this sick and disabled body to fight against the strong thieves?"
Speaking of this, Sima Yi held Lu Yu’s hand and said with some emotion:
“Gong Lu and I are not far apart in age, and we have served Emperor Wu for the same period of time. We, the old ministers, conquered the world with Emperor Wu, and founded the foundation with Emperor Wen.”
"But now, I am being deceived by those backward people. Watching them destroy the foundation of the Wei Dynasty, every time I think about this, it hurts my bones!"
"Gong Lu, the foundation of the Wei Dynasty is also the result of the hard work of our veterans! How can we have the face to go to see Emperor Wu under the yellow soil in the near future?"
Sima Yi's emotional words immediately impressed Lu Yu.
His experience in Xuchang made him full of grievances and dissatisfaction.
At this time, provoked by Sima Yi’s words, he couldn’t help but burst into tears:
“Emperor Wu, if you know anything under the yellow soil, take a look at Wei Dynasty!”
As soon as the two of them started crying, everyone present, whether it was true or false, all cried silently.
Just when Sima Yi and others were crying loudly, there was a burst of rapid footsteps at the door of the hall.
Everyone was startled by the sound of footsteps. Many people quickly stopped crying and looked up to see who it was that dared to be so presumptuous at the Taifu's banquet.
But I saw an old woman striding in, covered in dust.
The old woman looked to be in her fifties, and her clothes looked a little filthy from the long journey.
But no one here dared to look down upon him, and instead stood up one after another.
With sharp eyes, the woman saw Sima Yi sitting next to Lu Yu at a glance, and asked with a sad face:
“You know everything?”
Sima Yi was so shocked when he saw the woman that he quickly let go of Lu Yu's arms, stood up and stared at her blankly:
"What?"
It turns out that this old woman is none other than Zhang Chunhua, the first wife of Taifu Sima.
Zhang Chunhua wiped away tears:
“You are crying here, don’t you already know about Ziyuan (Sima Shi)?”
Seeing his wife who was originally in Luoyang suddenly appear here, and then hearing her mention her son Sima Shi, Sima Yi, who had always been calm, suddenly panicked.
His subconscious refused to think further about the matter, and just asked numbly:
“Zi Yuan? What happened to Zi Yuan?”
Zhang Chunhua did not answer, but fell to the ground and burst into tears.
Sima Yi's body shook, then he fell down and sat down. His eyes were dull and he was silent for a long time.
Everyone here was at a loss.
Lu Yu, who was sitting next to Sima Yi, looked at the Taifu and his wife. One was crying loudly, and the other was dumbfounded.
He seemed to have guessed something and sighed softly: "Master?"
This sound finally brought Sima Yi back to his senses. He looked at Zhang Chunhua who was crying with dull eyes, then looked at Lu Yu, and said in a solemn voice:
“Mr. Lu, am I drunk?”
Lu Yu couldn’t bear to speak.
Sima Yi received no response, and a look of despair gradually appeared in his eyes.
In his ears, a familiar voice came:
"Why are you drunk? Ziyuan, Ziyuan has died of his injuries, let's go!"
This sentence finally shattered Sima Yi's last glimmer of hope.
Sima Yi just shed tears when talking about state affairs.
But this time, he burst into tears all at once, and his beard was soon covered with shiny, sticky water.
“Son, my son…”
Sima Yi cried and beat his chest hard, and finally almost died and fainted to the ground.
This banquet broke up unhappy because of the arrival of Zhang Chunhua.
When Sima Yi woke up, he found that he was already lying on the couch.
The clothes on his body were changed into comfortable pajamas, and his face and beard must have been carefully cleaned, making him feel clean and refreshed.
Only one person can do this to make his whole body feel so comfortable the moment he wakes up.
This person is definitely not Zhang Chunhua, the main wife.
It is Mrs. Ji Concubine Bai who is the most favored by Sima Yi at the moment.
“Alang, are you awake?”
With the soft voice, Sima Yi smelled his favorite spice, which was also the scent of Mrs. Bai's body.
“How long have I slept?”
Sima Yi asked.
“I slept for nearly ten hours,” Mrs. Bai bent down, gently picked up Sima Yi’s head, and then put a soft velvet cushion under Sima Yi’s head.
“Alang, would you like to drink some hot soup to warm your stomach?”
"okay."
After drinking and sleeping for such a long time, Sima Yi felt that his body was indeed a little weak.
A few mouthfuls of hot soup not only warms the body, but also warms the heart.
This is why he dotes on Mrs. Bai.
Not only is she beautiful and gentle, but she is also considerate. She will prepare everything she wants in advance without saying anything.
Hey, when people get old, they need consideration and comfort the most, and it is also the hardest to resist such consideration and comfort.
Especially when he was bereaved, Sima Yi felt that only with Mrs. Bai could he ease his grief.
But this warmth was soon broken by a voice:
"Is Alang awake? How do you feel? Is it okay?"
Hearing this series of sounds, Sima Yi frowned.
Zhang Chunhua, who entered the room, also saw the scene in the room.
Remembering that his son was seriously injured because of this man who was sent to lead the army, and he could not be saved in the end.
And what about him?
Hide in Yecheng and enjoy the blessings!
When he arrived the day before yesterday, he was drinking and having fun with others.
Just woke up today and am enjoying the beauty again.
Zhang Chunhua was already emotionally unstable due to the pain of losing his son.
It’s just that she is not an ordinary woman, so she can still barely control herself.
But everything she saw in front of her completely shattered her psychology and made her scream uncontrollably:
“Sima Zhongda, how can you be a father?”
"An animal mourns when it loses its son, but you are worse than an animal!"
Sima Yi was shocked and angry when Zhang Chunhua scolded him like this: "What are you talking about!"
As he spoke, he was about to stand up. Unexpectedly, he felt that the world was spinning when he was halfway up.
“Alang, are you okay?”
Mrs. Bai saw that Sima Yi's expression was not right and she quickly hugged him.
Who would have expected that Mrs. Bai’s action would make Zhang Chunhua add fuel to the fire:
“What Alang, you bitch, you can call me Alang?”
Sima Yi leaned in Mrs. Bai's arms, pointed at Zhang Chunhua with a trembling finger, and shouted as if he had exhausted all his strength:
“Get out, get out! I don’t want to see you, an old thing!”
“You are not allowed to set foot here without my permission in the future!”
Zhang Chunhua didn't know whether he was frightened by Sima Yi or didn't expect him to say such words, so he was stunned for a moment.
Seeing her like this, Sima Yi felt a flash of regret in his heart, but when he saw that slack and aging face, he felt bored again:
"You old thing is really abominable. Just take care of yourself. I don't need to bother you to come over and see me."
When Zhang Chunhua heard this, he was immediately ashamed, angry and angry. He glanced at Sima Yi and Mrs. Bai with cannibalistic eyes, turned around and left bitterly.
“Alang, are you acting like this? How about I go and apologize to the queen?”
After Zhang Chunhua left, Mrs. Bai dared to speak, and asked carefully with her face pale.
“What does this matter have to do with you? Why are you apologizing?”
Sima Yi lay in Mrs. Bai's arms, closed his eyes, and said slowly, "Don't worry about that old guy."
“But, but Ziyuan...”
"I have my own plans for Ziyuan, so don't worry about it."
Sima Yi opened his eyes, but there was no focus in them:
"Luoyang is the capital of the Wei Dynasty, but it is now under the attack of the Western bandits. Yecheng is the place where the Wei Kingdom was founded. Although there are natural dangers in Taihang, who can guarantee that the Western bandits can be stopped?"
“It’s a shame that the country is in such danger, but there are still some people in the Wei Dynasty who put their own interests above all else and ignore foreign thieves when they invade the country. However, they regard me as their life and death enemy.”
“Now, my son is leading the army to fight against thieves and is seriously injured and dies. Who dares to say that I have ulterior motives?”
At this point, Sima Yi closed his eyes again and sighed longly:
"Zi Yuan has passed away. What's the point of crying my eyes out? It's better to let go of my sorrow and think about how to protect my family and the country."
Mrs. Bai lowered her head and looked at Sima Yi's tired and old face, which was still full of sorrow, and couldn't help but ask:
“Alang, isn’t there a better way?”
"What?"
“Western thief, isn’t there a better way in Han?”
Sima Yi opened his eyes sharply, his eyes sharp, but soon they were all gone, and he even closed his eyes again: "No, at least not yet."
"You saw the banquet the day before yesterday. They were all from the big families in Hebei. There are also people in the south who have high hopes for me."
Now we don’t talk about wiping out the Western bandits. Even if we just hope to stop the Western bandits and prevent them from advancing eastward, there are already so many families supporting us.
And what about yourself?
Even my son got involved.
If you just give up halfway, it will not make the world laugh.
Just those who support themselves, the more they have high hopes for themselves now, the more they will hate themselves in the future.
Even though Sima Yi was very resourceful, he couldn't help but feel a little frightened when he thought about the consequences of the backlash from the powerful clans in Guandong.
He has no way out.
From the moment we entered Yecheng, there was no way out.
Until the moment when there is no hope at all, the great clans of Guandong behind the Sima clan will never let themselves give up.
"Then, Luoyang is so dangerous, why not let me come to Yecheng? This will also put my wife at ease."
“No need.”
Sima Yi flatly refused: "I said, I have my own plan."
(End of this chapter)