With Cao Cao by my side, what do I have to fear from the world?

Chapter 74, The Marriage of Cao Cao's Daughter
After Princess Qinghe left, Lady Bian pretended to be concerned and said, "I heard that the princess and His Majesty have been spending a lot of time together lately. Husband, aren't you worried? The princess is not young anymore, and it's about time she started thinking about marriage. Why don't we help her arrange a marriage?"

Cao Cao smiled and said, "It's alright that Ying'er is close to His Majesty. Even if she marries His Majesty, it will only benefit our Cao family, not harm it."

If it weren't for Cao Ang, Lady Bian wouldn't have bothered with Princess Qinghe's marriage at all.

But Cao Ang alone is already too important. If his sister marries the emperor, Cao Ang's position will become even more irreplaceable.

Lady Bian thought for a moment, “Your Majesty is good, but Your Majesty is still young. The Cao family has plenty of girls. If my husband is willing in the future, he can send whomever he wants to the palace. Isn’t it just a matter of your word? I think Ding Chong’s eldest son, Ding Yi, is quite good. He is very capable, and Ding Chong is also very loyal to my husband.”

Unexpectedly, Cao Pi interjected, "Ding Yi has one big eye and one small eye, that won't do. How can the eldest daughter of the Cao family marry someone with such a flawed appearance?"

"Oh? Is that so?" Cao Cao was too busy to notice these details.

Cao Cao said, "Then I'll meet with him another day. If it doesn't work out, then forget it."

In his heart, Cao Cao actually favored Cao Ying and the emperor getting together.

However, he also felt somewhat conflicted.

That night, Cao Cao summoned Guo Jia and brought up the issue, saying, "Ying'er and His Majesty are about the same age, and I've noticed that they've been getting very close these past few days."

Guo Jia nodded hastily, "I met them yesterday at Liuhe Bridge. My lord, to be honest, I'm afraid the princess already has feelings for His Majesty."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Guo Jia laughed and said, "In just these few days, the princess and His Majesty have met almost every day. I'm not surprised at all. It's up to you, my lord, to decide."

Cao Cao sighed, "In principle, I shouldn't object, but Fengxiao, I get along well with His Majesty now, but His Majesty already has Empress Fu and Consort Dong by his side. If my daughter enters the palace, she naturally cannot be mistreated."

Guo Jia understood that Cao Cao had a deeper meaning: his daughters either wouldn't enter the palace, or if they did, they had to become empresses.

Guo Jia advised, "Your Excellency is thoughtful and does not wish to cause conflict with His Majesty. In that case, let's wait and see. If the princess and His Majesty are truly in love, I think it would be better to grant them their wish. As for whether she can become the empress, there is plenty of time in the future. Why be in such a hurry?"

Cao Cao nodded, "It just so happens that Lady Bian recommended Ding Chong's eldest son, Ding Yi, to me. I plan to take a look at him."

Guo Jia smiled and said, "His Majesty's character and demeanor are far superior to Ding Yi's. Besides, given the preconceived notions, the princess has already developed feelings for His Majesty, so how could she easily transfer her affections to someone else?"

Sure enough, Cao Cao was somewhat disappointed after seeing Ding Yi in person.

Even though Lady Bian recommended Xiahou Dun's son, Xiahou Mao, Cao Cao wasn't very interested.

Preconceived notions can affect not only women but also men. In fact, Cao Cao had the idea of ​​marrying his daughter into the palace from the very beginning.

At Cao Cao's urging, Cao Pi would come to the palace every afternoon to learn swordsmanship from Wang Yue.

At first, Cao Pi still had some illusions, thinking that since he was Cao Cao's son, they wouldn't make things difficult for him. Little did he know, he was completely wrong!

Wang Yue received prior instructions from Liu Xie and was extremely strict.

The palace had a dedicated training ground, and under Liu Xie's arrangement, it was equipped with all kinds of training equipment. The weapon racks were also fully stocked with swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks, so anyone could practice whatever they wanted.

The first thing they did was train their arm strength; there were more than a dozen stone locks of various sizes on the ground next to them.

Stone weights are specifically designed for lifting and slinging in the hand to strengthen arm muscles.

The weights range from 10 jin, 15 jin, to 20 jin, with the weight increasing gradually from small to large.

"Young Master Pi, start with 200 repetitions of the 10-jin one, then we'll practice other things."

"What? Two hundred?" Cao Pi raised his arms a few times, grimacing in displeasure. "Yes, two hundred. You raise your arms yourself and count them yourself. Not one less."

"I came here to learn swordsmanship, not to lift this piece of junk." Cao Pi angrily threw the stone lock on the ground and glared at Wang Yue defiantly.

Wang Yue coldly laughed: "Didn't Young Master Pi say himself that he wanted to learn swordsmanship from me? Since he wants to learn from me, he has to do as I say. If Young Master Pi doesn't want to learn, that's fine too. He can go home now."

Cao Pi dared not go home. If he went home right after arriving, he would not only be laughed at, but he might also get a severe beating from his father.

Liu Xie walked over, lifting a 20-pound weight. He had been practicing for two months, and his movements were very standard.

Cao Pi raised it a few more times, but found it really boring.

Just as he dropped the stone lock on the ground, Wang Yue walked over. Without hitting him, he reached out and lifted him up. There was a tall shelf nearby. Wang Yue leaped up and used the wall next to him for leverage, landing steadily on the platform above.

Then he simply threw Cao Pi onto it and floated down to the ground.

The platform, which was more than ten meters high and made of wood, was somewhat swaying. Cao Pi had only stood there for a short while when he was so frightened that he squatted down, his eyes filled with tears, looking aggrieved and wanting to cry.

Wang Yue ignored him, found a place, and closed his eyes to rest.

Liu Xie ignored Cao Pi. A gust of wind blew, and the wooden platform shook even more violently. Cao Pi was so frightened that he dared not move, and tears streamed down his face.

Liu Xie lifted the stone weight again and again, and could clearly feel that his strength had increased a lot. It seemed that he could lift 30 jin next.

Weightlifting must be done gradually; you don't have to lift an extremely heavy weight all at once to be considered good.

For example, if someone can lift 50 pounds but can't lift it more than ten times, that won't work.

Each time, you need to lift it hundreds of times to thoroughly warm up your body and allow the muscles in your limbs to expand and be exercised.

The guards nearby saw Cao Pi placed on a wooden platform; they felt sympathy but were powerless to help.

After lifting the weights three hundred times, Liu Xie ran a few laps around the training ground, and then, as usual, sparred with Wang Yue.

Wang Yue is now very focused and his attacks are very fast. Liu Xie can barely withstand five moves.

Zhao Yun, who was also knowledgeable about swords, watched with great interest. He had to admit that, in terms of swordsmanship alone, Wang Yue was indeed superior to him.

After each defeat, Liu Xie would ponder for a while before making another move.

He was quick-witted and had a high level of comprehension. With Wang Yue's sincere instruction, he made rapid progress.

After a while, Liu Xie's clothes had several more cuts from the sword, but Liu Xie didn't care. He continued until he was panting heavily, then waved his hand to stop.

After finishing the practice, Zhang Yu brought over a pot of wine.

The wine was specially for Wang Yue, and Liu Xie's kindness to Wang Yue made many palace guards envious.

Aside from practicing swordsmanship and sparring during the day, he could leave the palace at any time, go wherever he wanted, and do whatever he wanted.

In order to completely win over Wang Yue, Liu Xie spared no expense!
Loyalty is useless to someone like Wang Yue. Liu Xie's solution is to treat him like a patient: as long as Wang Yue is willing to do his best for him, Liu Xie can give him money, beauty, and fame!
From the very beginning, when Wang Yue came seeking an official position, Liu Xie saw through his character!
One word: greed!

Craving empty fame and indulging in pleasure!
Such a person will do anything for whoever treats him well!

The better you treat him, the more he will work hard for you!

(End of this chapter)