Wei Ni

The affairs of the world are like running water washing away sand; the next wave arises before the previous one dies down.

Xiahou Hui, who had just used a delaying tactic to stall Xun Yi, is now faced with yet another turmoil.

The aftermath of the previous incident came from Wu Ying’s gratitude.

However, when Ding Mi found Wu Ying as Xiahou Hui instructed, claiming that the two families had forgotten all their past grudges and that he would help change his father's posthumous title when the time was right, Wu Ying almost burst into tears of gratitude.

Unable to express himself in words, he also took the opportunity to tell what he thought was his bargaining chip.

It is like "the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole is behind, and the slingshot is below", which clearly means that Xiahou Hui was like a mantis at that time, and there was a man holding a slingshot below trying to snipe it. At that time, Xiahou Hui felt that the conditions he proposed were too harsh, and that the most stumbling block in his life was the Sima family, so he ignored him.

"Zhi Quan, Wu Wenshu said the one holding the slingshot was Cao Changsi."

In the Central Guards' Office, Ding Mi, after letting all the clerks leave, relayed the information in a low voice.

This made Xiahou Hui silent for a moment.

He was not surprised that Cao Zhao had the intention to plot against him, but was shocked: I didn't expect that Cao Zhao had such ability? !
"In my opinion, Xiahou Yunjin should be involved in this."

Ding Mi consciously played the role of an advisor, and without waiting to be asked, he analyzed directly, "At that time, Cao Changsi was not isolated, and Wu Wenshu clearly said that Cao Zhaobo was a slingshot. Based on this calculation, Xiahou Yunjin, who has always been close to Cao Changsi, would definitely not stay out of it. However, this is a different time. Today, Cao Changsi is alone and cannot act as a slingshot."

Cao Zhao still wants to plot against me?

Even if he was not isolated, he would still be powerless!
After secretly mocking him, Xiahou Hui nodded, still speaking with caution, "It is indeed as Yan Jing said, it is a different time now. However, bees and scorpions are poisonous! We should still be on guard. Thank you Yan Jing for your concern."

"Bee wasps are poisonous."

Unexpectedly, Ding Mi disagreed and clapped his hands and laughed, "However, if the bee stings and scorpion teeth have been lost, why should we be afraid of them?"

Has Cao Zhao made any mistakes recently and been reprimanded for doing so?
I do not know how!
Xiahou Hui raised her eyebrows, her eyes full of curiosity, "What does Yan Jing mean by that?"

"The former governor of Hongnong died of illness."

Ding Mi smiled and explained the reason in detail.

It turned out that during these days, he overheard some scholars gossiping among his social circle, saying that He Zeng had been depressed for some time for some unknown reason and had even declined invitations to dinner from his close friends.

The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.

Ding Mi, who knew that He Zeng had already hooked up with Cao Zhao, also kept this matter in mind.

After much indirect inquiry and asking friends to investigate carefully, it was discovered that the former prefect of Hongnong who "died of illness" was actually a former official of He Zeng's father, and he had a close personal relationship with He Zeng.

It can be said that most of the scholars gathered around Cao Zhao today were recruited by He Zeng, and He Zeng was able to gather so many people because of his connections as the former prefect of Hongnong.

After all, he is the governor of a large county in Kinki, and he will have the opportunity to become a court noble in the future.

Therefore, the passive death of the former prefect of Hongnong was equivalent to He Zeng having an arm removed, and Cao Zhao having his claws pulled out.

"Your Majesty must have noticed the connection here, which is why you sent the imperial physician to look after the former governor of Hongnong."

Ding Mi smiled happily and said teasingly, "You can also say that Cao Changsi, who was threatened by your majesty, is now in a state of panic all day long. Why should Zhiquan care whether he is poisonous or not?"

The death of the former Hongnong governor also has this reason~
I thought the emperor was so angry and humiliated that he killed the man to vent his anger!

"I see."

Xiahou Hui smiled as she realized something. She asked, "Yan Jing should have asked Wu Wenshu to investigate, right? It seems that Wu Wenshu is quite capable."

"Childishness is wrong."

Ding Mi was slightly startled when he heard this, and then he complained with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Who is Wu Wenshu? How can there be anyone else at this banquet where we can sit and talk as friends?"

Yes~
Although Ding Mi was always proud of himself, Wu Ying's family background and his father's notoriety made him not qualified to sit at the same table with Ding Mi.

And Wu Ying doesn't have any connections.

Just as Xun Yi said the day before, if he had not leaked the news on purpose, Wu Ying would never have known in his life that it was him who instructed Shi Jian.

"Haha~"

After nodding and laughing a few times to show his approval, Xiahou Hui decided to let the matter go.

But when he took out the document and spread it on the table, before he had time to take a closer look, he suddenly raised his head. At this moment, Ding Mi seemed to have remembered something, and suddenly stopped smiling, looking at him with a look of surprise.

The two looked at each other for a moment before they lowered their heads in thought.

They all discovered an oversight -

Wu Ying's connections in Luoyang were few and far between. Ding Mi was unwilling to use him, and Xun Yi deliberately leaked the matter of Shi Jian, so the strange thing came out: how did he know that the person holding the slingshot was Cao Zhao?
The answer is self-evident.

There was a long period of dead silence in the office.

Finally, Ding Mi, who couldn't help himself, broke the silence first and asked solemnly, "Is there really no grudge between Zhiquan and Sima Ziyuan?"

He had asked this question once before. At that time, Xiahou Hui also swore that he had not done so. But this time, he just kept his head down and stroked his beard without saying a word.

Because at this moment, he had no answer in his heart.

Whether there had ever been any grudge or disagreement between him and Sima Shi was not important at all.

Just like he had never met Sima Yi, but called him "like a saint" in front of Emperor Cao Rui, the stance is the root of the problem.

It turns out that Master Sima had already taken action against me so early on!

Xiahou Hui couldn't help but feel this way in his heart.

Ding Mi, who had been waiting for the answer, saw that he remained silent and thoughtful, so he roughly guessed something. After a brief pause, he said, "Four Congs, Eight Das, and Three Yus, there were fifteen famous people in the past. Sima Ziyuan was one of them. Zhiquan should know this. But we, the famous ones, have other opinions about Ziyuan, which are not known to the world. Would Zhiquan like to hear it?"

Internal evaluation?

Xiahou Hui suddenly became interested and urged, "Yan Jing, speak frankly."

"Comment: His learning is all mediocre, nothing special."

What did you say?
The mediocre Sima Shi? !

Did you all take Hanshi Powder before making your comments on Sima Shi?
Xiahou Hui was speechless. He wanted to argue a little, but he really didn't know where to start.

This evaluation was far from what he had imagined.

"Zhi Quan, please don't misunderstand. Our evaluation of Zi Yuan is not out of contempt."

Fortunately, Ding Mi quickly explained, "Because whenever we sit down to have a banquet and talk with him, no matter who it is or what we are discussing, such as metaphysics, classics, general affairs, official administration, and even agriculture and military affairs, Ziyuan can always talk eloquently, and his views are unique and no one can challenge him. Therefore, we call him 'nothing special' because he is good at everything but has no special features."

Uh, I see.

I have long known that he is a versatile person.

Xiahou Hui nodded slightly.

"Alas, this is why I asked Zhiquan whether he had any grudge against Ziyuan."

Ding Mi sighed, then said with a look of melancholy, "This man's mind is not comparable to Cao Changsi, Cao Zhaobo or Xiahou Yunjin. If Zhiquan is his enemy, he must be extremely careful in everything he does, to prevent a single mistake from ruining the whole game. Moreover, his career is restricted, and he lives in the wilds of the rivers and lakes as a commoner, but he can rely on his father to live in seclusion in the court, and Zhiquan holds an important position in the Ming Dynasty, so he is really hard to guard against!"

It is too early to say anything about him now.

If I can't be the best among the princes of Qiaopei, I won't even be qualified to guard against Sima and his son~
"The invincible lies with oneself, but the victorious lies with the enemy."

Xiahou Hui pondered for a long time before speaking, "As Yan Jing said, we can never be on guard, so we should stay the same in the face of change. Since he uses Wu Wenshu as a pawn, he will definitely use him again in the future. It is inconvenient for me to come forward, so I will let Yan Jing suffer a little. In the future, we can occasionally chat and laugh with Wu Wenshu, and let him participate in unimportant matters."

Create the illusion that you intend to accept Wu Ying, so that Sima Shi will feel that this chess piece can still be used?

However, his father, the Grand Marshal, had been granted the power to establish a government for more than ten years, and he had countless students and former officials. Given Sima Shi's wisdom, even if he used Wu Ying again to cause trouble, it would only happen once or twice at most.

Compared with the one or two incidents of trouble, wouldn't the harm of accepting someone with a bad reputation like Wu Ying be greater?
After all, the Grand Marshal was the highest-ranking official in the country and his honors and favors were beyond measure.

In order for his father to get away with it safely, Sima Shi would not make things too serious no matter what the reason for his hostility towards Xiahou Hui was!
Or does Xiahou Hui have other ideas?
With such doubts, Ding Mi hesitated for a moment whether to persuade him, but finally chose to agree.

He didn't want to give Xiahou Hui the impression that he was being timid when dealing with things.

No matter what, the mere favor of asking for a share of the fief and a title of nobility was enough for him to repay his kindness.

July of the first year of Jingchu perfectly illustrates what a turbulent time means.

Just as the common people in the capital city of Luoyang were feeling grief-stricken as the fields that had been devastated by seven or eight days of torrential rain were about to suffer a poor harvest, the imperial court, which had just recovered from the death of Prime Minister Chen Jiao, was once again shrouded in gloom.

First, the provincial governors of Ji, Yan, Xu and Yu provinces successively submitted memorials.

They all said that the rains were very heavy at the turn of summer and autumn, and the counties were flooded. The water was several feet deep on the flat ground, and all the houses and fields were submerged, and the people were killed and injured. So they asked the court to allow the county governments to open their warehouses to provide relief, and to exempt the field tax this autumn.

Emperor Cao Rui and all the officials in the court agreed to this.

In addition, many school officials were sent out to assist the governors of prefectures and counties in supervising the relief process to prevent bad people from gathering together to cause rebellion.

The other was the military intelligence reported by the Governor Xiahou Ru and the Governor Hu Zhi in Jingxiang.

The thief Wu Xing's troops are coming to attack.

Zhu Ran led his own troops and the troops from Wuchang to besiege Jiangxia, with a force of about 20,000, and it was not known whether they had any reinforcements.

However, they did not ask the court to send the Luoyang Central Army to provide assistance.

Instead, it was a warning - after the rebel Wu moved its capital to Jianye, it always adopted the strategy of using Jingxiang as the false and Huainan as the real when raising troops, so that the emperor and the court could give timely warnings in Huainan.

When the fighting started, Xiahou Hui, who was temporarily in charge of the Central Army as the Central Guard, was naturally summoned to discuss the matter. (End of this chapter)