Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 335 Emperor Xian of Han: Meng De, I miss you very much in Jingzhou
"The Cao thief had previously supported a false emperor, and now the false emperor is in Jingzhou. This time the Cao army is probably going there to form an alliance with Liu Cong to fight against the court together."

Zhuge Liang replied after a moment's thought.

Sun Quan's defeat was so quick this time that not only Cao Cao but even they had not expected such a situation.

Without Sun Quan buying time and resisting the imperial troops in the front, Cao Cao would not be able to integrate the power in his hands in time, so he had to find new allies.

Supporting Liu Cong as the false emperor was undoubtedly the best choice.

Both sides were enemies of the imperial court and stood on a united front.

"But I personally think that Cao may not just want to form an alliance. He previously formed an alliance with Sun Quan to fight against the imperial court, but secretly sent troops to seize Jiangdong."

"So the troops sent to Jingzhou this time may be for the sake of alliance on the surface, but secretly they have the intention of seizing Jingzhou."

"Cao is a treacherous and cunning villain, and he is truly a formidable enemy."

Zhuge Liang still attached great importance to Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao was not as powerful as Yuan Shao, he was much better than Yuan Shao in terms of character and means.

From the fact that he gave up Yanzhou and Yuzhou and seized Jiangdong, we can see Cao Cao's courage and treachery.

There is no doubt that this is a formidable opponent.

He is worthy of the title of “villain”!
After hearing this, Sima Yi could not help but frown and said, "Jingzhou is a strategic location that must be fought for by military strategists. If we let Cao Cao seize Jingzhou, it will be even more difficult to attack him in the future."

"Why not ask His Majesty for permission to send troops to Jingzhou?"

Jingzhou's geographical location is unique, far superior to Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Yangzhou, so it must be taken.

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said, "We have just entered Yuzhou and have not yet completely taken control of these two states. It would be too hasty to send troops now."

"Although Liu Biao is dead, his power cannot be underestimated. If we are not fully prepared, sending troops to attack him will not bring us any benefits."

"I'd better wait until we return to Yecheng before asking Your Majesty to make a decision on this matter."

Sending troops to Jingzhou is a very serious matter. We have to at least wait until Yanzhou and Yuzhou are under control and the people are pacified.

It is not easy to deal with the mess left by Cao Cao.

Sima Yi hesitated for a moment and finally nodded.

……

Jingzhou, Xiangyang City.

In the prefect's mansion.

After Liu Cong carefully read the letter from Yangzhou in his hand, a look of hesitation appeared on his face, and then he turned his gaze to Cai Mao, Kuai Liang and others in the study.

"Cao Cao wants to form an alliance with me. Do you think I should agree or not?"

This letter was sent by Cao Cao.

The content of the letter roughly said that the false emperor was arrogant and the Han Dynasty was in danger, so he hoped to join forces with him to fight against the false emperor in Yecheng and restore the glory of the Han Dynasty.

However, the alliance was a serious matter and he was unsure, so he had to listen to the opinions of Cai Mao and others before making a decision.

"Of course I can't agree to that!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Pang Ji stepped forward and said with a serious expression, "My lord, have you not seen the end of Sun Zhongmou?"

"Not long ago, Cao Cao and Sun Quan formed an alliance and agreed to fight against the imperial court together. As a result, Cao Cao took advantage of the battle between Sun Zhongmou and the imperial court's troops to secretly seize Jiangdong."

"How can we form an alliance with such a capricious and treacherous villain?"

Cao Cao's treacherous behavior is extremely bad. If you form an alliance with him, he might stab you in the back.

Who can bear this?
Liu Xian also nodded and said, "That's right. I think Cao Mengde's alliance with us is fake, and he really wants to use this as an excuse to seize Jingzhou."

"Some time ago, Cao Cao's troops entered Nanyang County from Yuzhou and settled in Wancheng. It is clear that he must have set his sights on Jingzhou."

After Cao Ren's troops withdrew from Guandu, they entered Nanyang County and then occupied Wancheng.

Wancheng had been captured by Cao Cao as early as when he was attacking Zhang Xiu. Liu Biao never sent troops to retake it, and now it has become a shelter for Cao's army.

Nanyang County is the largest county in Jingzhou. Cao's army entered Nanyang County and took root there, which made everyone feel uneasy.

Seven thousand soldiers and horses, not a lot but definitely not a small number.

Liu Cong said uncertainly: "If that's the case, then should I just write a letter to reject his request for an alliance?"

“No need to refuse.”

Cai Mao suddenly spoke up, attracting everyone's attention, "No matter what Cao Cao's plan is, we can't get too upset with him right now."

"Why not agree to his request first and keep him stable? After we finish the war in Yizhou, we can find a way to take back Wancheng and Nanyang County."

When the war in Yizhou was mentioned, everyone's faces stiffened slightly.

Because the war situation in Yizhou was not optimistic, they thought that they could easily eliminate Liu Bei by joining forces with Liu Zhang, but Liu Bei's strength was beyond their expectations.

Not only were the troops under his command extremely well-equipped, but even his two sworn brothers were extraordinarily brave in battle.

After such a long time, not only did they fail to gain any benefits, but they also suffered heavy casualties.

"I think it would be better to withdraw the troops from Yizhou?"

Kuai Liang sighed slightly and suggested: "At first we wanted to use this opportunity to enter Yizhou, but now it seems that this is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

"Even if we can finally eliminate Liu Bei's forces and take over Ba County, we will also suffer heavy losses."

"You must know that the false emperor's troops have already recovered Yanzhou and Yuzhou. The next step may be to attack Cao Cao or send troops to Jingzhou. We have to be on guard."

"Not to mention the threat from Cao Cao?"

The situation changed too quickly, and two major threats suddenly emerged. They had to change their original ideas and plans.

Liu Cong didn't dare to make a decision and looked at Cai Mao.

Cai Mao frowned and pondered for a long time before he slowly said, "I will think about this matter carefully when I get back...but you can agree to Cao Cao's alliance first."

"We just need to be more careful about him."

Sun Quan had Jiangdong stolen by Cao Cao when he was completely unprepared. They would definitely not make such a mistake and would definitely be on high alert against Cao Cao.

Upon hearing this, Liu Cong nodded and agreed.

The crowd soon dispersed, and after leaving the governor's mansion, Cai Mao did not go home, but went all the way to the mansion where Emperor Xian of Han lived.

After learning from people in the palace that Emperor Xian of Han was having fun in the garden, he went to look for him. Before he even entered the garden, he heard a burst of laughter coming from inside.

"I am here, Your Majesty, please come quickly~"

"Here, here! Your Majesty hasn't caught it again, hahahaha..."

"Your Majesty, come here quickly~"

……

In the garden, Emperor Xian of Han was blindfolded and chasing and playing with five or six beauties. His clumsy movements made the beauties laugh continuously.

"Got you!"

Emperor Xian of Han suddenly felt that he had bumped into something, so he hugged her and said with a smile: "Beauty, I wonder where you can run now..."

As he spoke, he took off the veil covering his eyes and looked at the beauty in his arms with great interest.

But what caught his eyes was not the beautiful face of the beauty, but the extremely gloomy face of Cai Mao. Emperor Xian of Han was shocked and quickly let go of Cai Mao, stammering: "My dear, when did you come?"

Cai Mao remained silent and glanced at the people around him.

Emperor Xian of Han immediately understood his meaning and said to the many beauties around him: "You can leave first. I have something to discuss with you."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

All the beauties followed the order and left, leaving only Cai Mao and Emperor Xian of Han in the huge garden.

Cai Mao said coldly: "You seem to be living comfortably in this mansion. Do you want me to arrange a few more beauties for you?"

Emperor Xian of Han smiled awkwardly upon hearing this and did not dare to answer.

He was very afraid of Cai Mao in his heart. After all, he had witnessed Liu Biao and his son being poisoned to death last time, so he behaved very honestly in front of Cai Mao.

Now he no longer cares about the dignity of the emperor. It is a blessing to be able to live well.

Cai Mao did not continue to mock him, and said calmly: "I will ask you a question, and you answer me truthfully."

When Emperor Xian of Han heard that Cai Mao had only come to ask him something, he immediately felt relieved and said, "What is it? My dear, please feel free to ask. I will tell you everything I know."

Cai Mao asked directly: "Does Cao Cao know your true identity as the fake emperor? Have you ever exposed yourself in front of him?"

Emperor Xian of Han had originally escaped from Xu County and had been in Cao Cao's hands before that. What he wanted to ask was how much Cao Cao knew about the identity of Emperor Xian of Han.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xian of Han's expression stiffened.

I didn't know how to answer for a moment.

What does it mean to expose the identity of a fake emperor in front of Cao Cao?
He is the real Son of Heaven!

However, Emperor Xian of Han also knew that Cai Mao and others thought he was an imposter. If he replied that he was the real emperor, the other party would certainly not believe it.

So after hesitating for a moment, he said solemnly: "Lord Cao has always believed that I am the true dragon emperor, and has always treated me with great respect."

"In fact, it was Dong Cheng who kidnapped me and fled Xu County. He saw that the fake emperor in Yecheng was powerful, so he had evil intentions and wanted to kidnap me and seek credit from the fake emperor."

"And Lord Cao is a true loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. He has been fighting against the false emperor of Yecheng and working hard to restore the Han Dynasty."

Emperor Xian of Han still did not say that he was a fake emperor.

He just answered tactfully, saying that Cao Cao always believed that he was the true dragon emperor. It seemed like he had answered, but in fact he had not answered.

And this was his last act of stubbornness.

As for the latter part of his words, they really came from his heart, because before the false emperor appeared, Cao Cao was indeed very respectful to him, and at most he was just a powerful minister.

Even when the false emperor appeared, Cao Cao always believed that he was the real one, but he was deceived after a series of events happened later.

But Emperor Xian of Han could understand Cao Cao.

After all, even Dong Cheng, Fu Wan, Yang Biao and other close ministers who accompanied him every day believed in the false emperor, let alone Cao Cao?

"Cao Mengde? A loyal minister of the Han Dynasty?"

Cai Mao was stunned when he heard this. It was obvious that he was caught off guard by Emperor Xian of Han's answer, and a strange look flashed across his face.

These two words sound so abrupt.

Emperor Xian of Han nodded vigorously and said, "That's right! Lord Cao has trusted me from the beginning to the end. His loyalty is no less than that of my uncle!"

When mentioning Liu Biao, Emperor Xian of Han felt a little sad.

Liu Biao was one of the few people who treated him well in this chaotic world, but unfortunately both father and son were poisoned to death by Cai Mao.

Cai Mao frowned deeply upon hearing this, and said to himself, "Cao Mengde didn't know that this was a fake emperor... Could it be that what he said in the letter about supporting the emperor to fight against the fake emperor of Yecheng was true?"

"Is Cao Mengde really loyal to the Han Dynasty?"

The reason why he came to ask Emperor Xian of Han about this matter this time was to verify whether Cao Cao's words about supporting the emperor to fight against the false emperor in Yecheng were true or false.

If he said he wanted to fight against the fake emperor of Yecheng when he knew full well that the emperor of Xiangyang City was a fake, then he was purely using this incident as an excuse and actually had other intentions.

But unexpectedly, Cao Cao did not know that this was a fake emperor.

"Did Lord Cao write to you?"

When Emperor Xian of Han heard what Cai Mao said, his eyes suddenly lit up and he asked excitedly, "Are you planning to come and take me back, Lord Cao?"

This news made Emperor Xian of Han very happy.

He was worried day and night in Xiangyang City, and dreamed of returning to Cao Cao and never leaving.

Seeing how excited Emperor Xian of Han was, Cai Mao believed what he had just said a little more, and then said calmly: "The emperor of Yecheng led his troops south to fight against the enemy, Cao Mengde lost Yanzhou and Yuzhou, and now he is hiding in the Jiangdong area, defending the Yangtze River."

"He wrote a letter not long ago, saying that he wanted to join forces with us to fight against the emperor... Humph, your acting skills are really good. You actually deceived him until now."

"If he knew you were the fake emperor, he would have surrendered to the real emperor long ago. How could he have resisted until now?"

Cao Cao has always been in opposition to the imperial court.

He could never figure out the reason.

They supported the fake emperor just because they needed this title. After all, Liu Biao and Liu Cong were both of orthodox Han bloodline, and they could ascend the throne and become emperor as long as they had the title of "Emperor abdication".

But Cao Cao had no reason to support a fake emperor.

If he wanted to become emperor, even Yuan Shu, a direct descendant of the Yuan family, failed, so it would be even more impossible for Cao Cao, who was the descendant of a eunuch, to do so.

If someone is afraid of being convicted for supporting a false emperor, as long as he claims that he cannot distinguish between the true and the false, I believe the emperor will not pursue the matter too much.

Fortunately, he finally got the answer today.

Cao Cao was actually a loyal minister to the Han Dynasty. He did all this because he believed that this fake emperor was the real Son of Heaven!

"It's ridiculous, it's pitiful."

Cai Mao couldn't help but feel a hint of sarcasm in his heart.

Cao Cao was treacherous by nature, but he never expected that he would be deceived by a false emperor and go against the real emperor. It can only be said that fate played a trick on him.

Emperor Xian of Han was extremely excited and said in an excited tone: "Meng De is indeed a loyal minister! My dear minister, you can completely trust him and join forces with him to fight against the false emperor of Yecheng!"

Cai Mao glanced at him coldly and said, "Do I need you to tell me what to do? You can fool Cao Mengde, but you can't fool me!"

"Don't forget that you are the real false emperor!"

After saying this, Cai Mao turned around and strode away, not even bothering to look at Emperor Xian of Han again.

Emperor Xian of Han looked a little unhappy. He finally sighed and looked up to the sky.

"Sikong, when can I meet you again?"

"I miss you."

……

At the same time, Wei County, Jizhou.

Zhang Liao escorted Sun Quan and many captives and finally arrived at Yecheng.

(End of this chapter)