Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1205 Choice
Cao Cao asked a question and Cao Ren answered it. At the beginning, Cao Cao could finish a sentence, but later on, he had to stop to take a breath after every few words, and he had to pause several times before he could finish a sentence.

In the end, every time Cao Cao uttered a word, it seemed as if he had to squeeze out all his strength, and the sound coming out of his throat gradually became hoarse and weak.

Seeing Cao Cao like this, Cao Ren tried to hold back his grief and answered, but he could no longer bear it, and with tears in his eyes, he said, "Mingsir, do you want to rest for a while?"

Cao Cao wanted to refuse, but found that he could no longer make a sound, so he reached out and touched the tea bowl on the table beside him.

When Cao Ren saw this, he hurriedly took two steps forward and carefully handed the tea bowl to Cao Cao. Cao Cao tilted his head slightly and drank the whole bowl of tea, but most of it flowed out from the corners of his mouth and wet his clothes.

Cao Ren wanted to reach out and wipe it, but Cao Cao waved his hand to stop him. He took a few deep breaths and then said, "Zixiao, tell me."

"Who do you think is more capable of the task, Ziheng or Zijian?"

Cao Ren was unable to answer for a moment. This question was not something that anyone could answer immediately. Seeing this, Cao Cao sighed and said, "Zixiao, let me put it another way."

"In the battle of Jizhou, do you think there is a possibility that Cao will fail?"

"Don't hesitate, answer immediately."

Cao Ren said, "Yes."

Cao Cao asked, "How much?"

Cao Ren hesitated for a moment, "Fifty percent."

As a general of Cao's camp, Cao Ren's words showed his extreme distrust of the situation.

Not only him, but also Zhong Yao, Sima Yi and others were the same. They were not afraid of fighting. On the contrary, it was because they had fought with the Jin army before and had a deep understanding of the Jin army's strength that they made such a judgment. Otherwise, Sima Yi would not have come up with the strategy of burning the city, which would destroy both himself and the enemy.

Cao Cao was silent for a moment. "You said Yuan Chang came to you to ask you to cooperate with him, use Yecheng as bait, and fight a decisive battle with the Jin army?"

Cao Ren nodded and said, "Zhong Yao is really too bold. He made this decision without informing you first. I'm afraid he has ulterior motives!"

Cao Cao heard this and shook his head, saying, "No, Yuan Chang did this because he has an open mind."

"Otherwise, if he takes the lead in doing such a taboo, it will be totally counterproductive."

Cao Ren angrily said: "But he was in charge of the search for Zijian's clique!"

"It's really too much to be so obviously involved in the fight for the crown prince!"

Cao Cao seemed to be tired. He leaned against the wall and asked, "Zixiao, do you think Yuan Chang has gone too far?"

Cao Ren nodded heavily, "Brothers are at odds with each other. Now the Cao family is in a critical moment. What he did is simply to plunge the Cao family into civil strife ahead of time!"

However, Cao Cao's words made Cao Ren open his eyes wide in shock.

"Why not?"

"It's a real talent that Ziheng can get Yuanchang's support."

"This position is meant to be fought for. If he doesn't show enough strength, I won't feel comfortable handing it over to him."

"If the throne of the King of Wei is not protected by enough fangs and claws, will I pass it on to a weak person, and then let a fierce tiger snatch it away in the blink of an eye?"

"Now it seems that Zijian has disappointed me. He has acted too weak. Even if I pass the throne to him, let alone Xionghu, can he keep it under the covetousness of others?"

Cao Ren opened his mouth wide, unable to speak for a moment. After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice: "If Zhong Yao did this when the world was at peace, it would be fine, but now the fierce tiger is aggressive and has surrounded Yecheng!"

"If the city falls into civil strife, wouldn't that make..."

Cao Cao said calmly: "Where is the internal strife?"

"How many people in the city still support Zijian now?"

Cao Ren finally came to his senses and slowly lowered his head, saying, "Ren will do his utmost to help Ziheng ascend the throne."

Cao Cao nodded in satisfaction and said, "Zixiao is so good. I like Zijian even more than Ziheng."

"But the more kind Zijian is, the less suitable he is to inherit the Cao family."

"If you want to be the King of Wei, you must do everything you can to fight against the fierce tiger and give the Cao family a chance of survival."

"Only Ziheng, and definitely Ziheng, can win that little hope of a comeback for our Cao family."

"The next few years will be the most difficult years. We may lose Jizhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and even Sili."

"If I am not here, the Cao family's chances of a comeback are slim, but as long as we have Ziheng, at least there is some hope."

"Ziheng has a bad temper and is stubborn, just like me when I was young, so I hope Zixiao can help him and help him fulfill my unfulfilled wish one day."

Cao Ren couldn't help but shed tears, "Mingsong is just a little unwell, why do you say that?"

"Ren believes that Ming Gong will get better!"

Cao Cao sighed, "Maybe, but I must be prepared for the worst."

"When you go back, find an opportunity to have a good talk with Yuan Chang."

"You are all loyal members of the Cao family. You must not engage in internal strife." Cao Ren heard this and bowed heavily. "I will follow your orders!"

Seeing Cao Cao's tired face, he was about to say goodbye, but after hesitating for a while, he finally said, "The fourth young master is kind-hearted, and the third young master is close to him..."

Cao Cao said in a deep voice: "I have my own arrangements."

Cao Ren said, "Rumors about the eldest son..."

Cao Cao said coldly: "Zixiao, you must remember that the Cao family is the Wei State, and the Wei State is the Cao family!"

"do you understand?"

Cao Ren had nothing to say at this point, so he kowtowed and said, "Ren understands."

Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "You can go back first."

When Cao Ren pushed the door and left, it seemed as if all the strength Cao Cao had forced himself to hold on had disappeared. His body swayed a few times, and finally he fell sideways on the couch.

He struggled to turn over and looked towards the roof, but all he saw was still darkness and he could not see anything. There was only a faint flash of light in the corner of his eyes, as if the sunlight from outside the window was shining through.

Cao Cao was filled with resentment. He had wanted to hand over a stable Wei Kingdom to future generations after pacifying the world. At that time, Cao Zhi, whom he loved more, would naturally be more suitable than Cao Pi, but now he had no other choice.

There were too many people standing behind Cao Pi, and the main force was the Yingchuan faction. If Cao Cao established Cao Zhi, these people might not be convinced. Once Cao Cao died, something bad would inevitably happen to the Cao family.

With Yuan Xi watching covetously, the Cao family could no longer withstand the turmoil, so Cao Cao was forced to make a choice.

Compared with Cao Zhi alone, the entire Cao and Xiahou families were more important, so although this decision was unfair to Cao Zhi, Cao Pi, with the support of Zhong Yao and others, was far beyond the reach of Cao Zhi's four friends.

Cao Cao could see that Cao Ren actually favored Cao Zhi, otherwise he would not have come to him and said such things. Otherwise, he would have directly cooperated with Zhong Yao.

That's why Cao Cao used his strong support for Cao Pi to make Cao Ren give up the idea. Now even if Cao Zhi had Cao Ren's help, he couldn't turn the situation around. In this case, there was no need to engage in meaningless internal fighting.

In fact, in Cao Cao's view, Cao Zhi's faction had already completely failed on the night of Zhong Yao's action. Although the four friends may have escaped now, they are no longer able to turn the tables. In this case, even if the four friends regrouped their forces, it would be of no avail. Instead, the internal strife would seriously damage the vitality of the Cao family.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao was somewhat disappointed with Zhong Yao. It was not because of his rebellious act of taking action on his own, but because he did not do his job cleanly and let the four friends escape, leaving hidden dangers.

Cao Cao had already learned about the situation that night through other channels. In the face of the overall situation, the lives of the four friends were insignificant. Now that they were alive, they would become an extremely unstable factor in Yecheng. It would be better for them to be dead!
If there had been no threat from the ferocious tiger, Cao Cao would actually have hoped that Cao Pi and Cao Zhi would compete with each other to see who was more capable. However, the current situation in Yecheng no longer gave Cao Zhi any chance to perform.

In order to ensure that Yecheng could resist the Jin army, Cao Cao had to make a decision. He spoke and asked Madam Bian, who was waiting outside, to call Xu Chu in.

Mrs. Bian was outside the door just now, and actually heard most of the conversation between Cao Cao and Cao Ren. She thought that Cao Cao would kick Cao Pi out completely after knowing what Cao Pi had done, but Cao Cao's decision was completely opposite to what Mrs. Bian expected!

It was not until this moment that Mrs. Bian truly saw Cao Cao's heart. From the beginning to the end, he had been waiting for the result indifferently, even for his own children. His choice was not based on personal likes and dislikes, but on extremely ruthless and cruel considerations!

Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are both Lady Bian's children, and they are all hers. Since Cao Cao has made his choice, what else can she do?
With extremely complicated feelings, she called Xu Chu, who was waiting outside the door, in. Xu Chu threw away his crutches and crawled in on his knees. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he kowtowed heavily and said, "Chu greets you, sir!"

Mrs. Bian closed the door from behind, but Cao Cao did not say anything. He just stared at the ceiling with empty eyes.

Xu Chu was terrified and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Chu, you deserve death!"

Cao Cao asked, "What crime have you committed?"

Xu Chu gritted his teeth and said, "Chu secretly assassinated the Fourth Master's subordinates, which is a capital crime!"

Cao Cao sneered, "Privately?"

"Can you afford it?"

Xu Chu was speechless and just kowtowed desperately.

Cao Cao snorted coldly: "Your crime is indeed unforgivable!"

"Your fault lies in your incompetence. You allowed someone to escape under such circumstances. I am so disappointed!"

This was beyond Xu Chu's expectation. He opened his mouth in surprise and stammered, "Then, then what does Mingshou mean..."

Cao Cao snorted coldly: "Since we have done it, we must do it thoroughly!"

"You are the one who will solve the trouble you have caused!"

"Remember, you must find and kill these four people in the shortest possible time!"

"Get out!"

Xu Chu was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, my lord!"

He kowtowed dozens of times before crawling out on his knees.

Cao Cao waited for him to leave without saying a word.

Outside the wall beside him, Cao Qing was lying in the grass holding his breath, with disbelief in his eyes as well.

My father is so heartless!

(End of this chapter)