The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 770 Soft-hearted
"Your Majesty has asked me to come out this time to go on a diplomatic mission to the Yuezhi."

"I will go there as the mastermind. If this can be accomplished, the clan can be saved."

Zhuge Xu spoke with great concern about what happened to him after he came out this time.

He was brought out by Zhong Hui, and Zhong Hui's words were very direct. If he wanted to save his clan, he should lead the envoys to the Yuezhi people and reopen the trade route.

Of course Zhuge Xu did not dare to refuse and could only say yes.

This time he came to Zhuge Dan in order to gain his forgiveness before leaving, so that his family would not suffer retaliation after he left.
But until the end, Zhuge Dan did not clearly say whether he forgave him. He just asked Zhuge Liang to send this guy away on the grounds of poor health.

Zhuge Dan's heart was still extremely complicated.

There is both fear of losing reputation and confusion about what will happen in the future.

And now, he couldn't even find anyone to blame.

If I have to blame someone, it seems I can only blame myself for writing those things in the letter so easily.

Zhuge Liang stood in the courtyard, his heart feeling even more complicated.

"Young Master"

Suddenly a servant found him, "There is someone outside the door asking for help."

"I told you my father doesn't see visitors!"

"That person is here to see you."

Zhuge Liang was stunned. "Who is it?"

Ever since the incident with his father, his former good friends suddenly disappeared and never showed up again.

Zhuge Liang had always been serving his father and had never gone out. Who would come to visit him?
He prepared to go and greet him in person.

As soon as I saw the door, I saw a man standing not far away, smiling and looking around.

"Anshi?"

"Zhongsi!"

The person who came to see him was Sima Yan.

At this moment, Sima Yan's face was full of smiles, and he stood at the door with a silly smile. Zhuge Liang shook his head helplessly, stepped forward and took his hand, "An Shi, why are you still standing here? Come in with me!"

He pulled Sima Yan towards the inner room and couldn't help but sigh, "Who else but An Shi would come to visit me at this time?"

Sima Yan quickly grabbed him and said, "There's more, there's more!"

Zhuge Liang was stunned, and then he saw another person walking in from outside with a smile.

When Zhuge Liang saw this person, he was shocked and hurriedly bowed to greet him.

Cao Mao walked in with a smile and helped Zhuge Liang up. "Why does Zhongsi seem a little scared when he sees me?"

Zhuge Liang quickly replied, "How dare I? I just didn't know Your Majesty was coming and couldn't open the door to welcome you. I was so frightened."

Sima Yan smiled and said, "Don't worry. His Majesty is leaving the palace incognito today. He keeps asking me about your situation, so I just brought him here!"

Sima Yan said this very proudly, as if this was a good thing.

Zhuge Liang just glanced at him and said, "Thank you so much!"

I am so lucky to have a good friend like you.

But he certainly didn't dare to say so openly, and only said humbly: "Your Majesty, it is truly an honor for me to come here, and I am deeply grateful."

"Okay, that's not necessary. I'm just here with a friend to visit his friend today. Don't be so restrained."

Zhuge Liang had no choice but to lead them to the guest room and sent someone to inform his father.

Although Cao Mao said he came with a good friend, he still sat in the upper seat, with the other two sitting on his left and right respectively.

Visiting friends is one thing, but you have to sit in the upper seat yourself.

The atmosphere was somewhat silent. Sima Yan noticed his friend's restraint and quickly said, "Zhongsi, His Majesty told you not to be restrained, so don't be restrained."

"His Majesty has always valued you very much. He even asked me why you failed the assessment."

"You didn't participate in the assessment this time. His Majesty was very surprised and asked me if you were unwilling to serve as his minister."

"I've already told your majesty that you're a cautious person, and your majesty has killed many people over the years."

With every word Sima Yan spoke, Zhuge Liang's face became paler.

Before Sima Yan could finish, Zhuge Liang nearly collapsed. He looked at Cao Mao and explained tremblingly, "Your Majesty, that's not the case. It's not the case. My father was seriously ill, so he couldn't participate in the assessment. How dare I be dissatisfied with Your Majesty? I, I..."

Seeing that he had become Deng Ai's good friend in an instant, Sima Yan realized that he had made a mistake, so he decided to make amends.

He quickly looked at Cao Mao and earnestly explained to his friend, "Your Majesty, Zhongsi has never had any intention of opposing you. He is loyal to you. When someone spoke out against you, he would have dissuaded that person from causing trouble!"

Zhuge Liang almost cried.

Big brother! Please!
do not talk!
At this moment, Cao Mao threw his head back and laughed.

"Zhongsi, you see, Anshi knows me best. All of you think I'm cruel and don't dare to tell the truth in front of me. Only Anshi knows my kindness and righteousness, and tells the truth. That's why I love Anshi."

When Sima Yan heard this, his face suddenly became a little proud again.

Cao Mao suddenly looked at Zhuge Liang. At this moment, the smile on his face disappeared instantly, and he felt extremely oppressive.

"Zhongsi, why didn't you participate in this year's assessment?!" Zhuge Liang felt that even breathing had become difficult. He shuddered, looked at the confident face in the distance, and then replied, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid of bringing trouble to the clan."

"Oh? Implicate the clan?"

"I have little talent, and I'm afraid I'll do something wrong and end up bringing trouble to the entire clan."

As soon as these words were spoken, the living room became silent again.

Cao Mao nodded slowly.

"That's right, although it's not entirely true, but it's close. You're afraid I'll take action against your clan, and you don't want to use it as an excuse. You just want to inherit the title and stay home to study and write."

Cao Mao said: "Even if this is the case, I will still take action."

"what?"

Zhuge Liang's eyes widened. Cao Mao said sternly, "The great families of Shu and Wu have been dealt with. Next, we may have to deal with all of you one by one."

"Don't think I'm heartless or cruel."

"Indeed, without any due process, we have forced you to leave your homes and go to a strange place, and even taken away your farmland and houses. This is very unfair to you. However, this is better for the world."

Cao Mao looked at him and asked calmly, "What do you think?"

Zhuge Liang naturally had a lot to say in his heart, but in front of Cao Mao, he just nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Even someone like the Grand Marshal would be concerned about his own clan and would collude with his own people to deceive me. I have always respected the Grand Marshal, but even now I cannot believe that he would really do this. Tell me, who can I trust among these powerful clans now?"

"Even the Grand Marshal is like this, let alone the rest of the people."

"Therefore, I must constantly weaken and suppress them, lest the Wei Dynasty perish at the hands of these people."

Cao Mao was talking to Zhuge Liang, but his eyes kept glancing outside.

"His Majesty!!!"

Suddenly, a wailing sound was heard from outside the door.

"The guilty minister Zhuge Dan requests an audience with Your Majesty!!!"

Zhuge Liang hurriedly stood up, and Sima Yan was no exception.

Cao Mao sighed deeply, as if he had just noticed Zhuge Dan outside. "Why don't you invite the Grand Commandant in?"

Zhuge Liang hurried to bring his father in.

Zhuge Dan walked tremblingly to Cao Mao and bowed.

In just a short period of time, Zhuge Dan aged rapidly, his hair turned gray, and his face lost its luster.

The famous scholar who used to be able to control the country and did not take Guanqiu Jian seriously was now extremely weak and decadent.

His old eyes were filled with tears, and he felt a little pitiful and aggrieved at this moment.

It couldn't be said that Cao Mao didn't feel the slightest bit.

Cao Mao was extremely demanding of himself. Even now, he still had a very detailed schedule, and what he did every day was clear and explicit.

He insists on reading and practicing sword every day to improve his abilities in all aspects.

In terms of classics, he was already able to annotate Wang Su's annotations, and in swordsmanship, he could even fight against ten masters at the same time.

If it were just about swordsmanship, he might be able to fight with Wen Yang. Of course, whether he could win was another question.

Even in the field of literature, Cao Mao recently wrote an essay praising Zhong Hui. The literary attainments of this essay were so high that many people talked about it and thought that Cao Mao's talent was truly terrifying.

When dealing with the affairs of the world, Cao Mao was very calm, even harsh.

He could even be ruthless in dealing with those ministers who had made great contributions.

For example, after the death of General Hu Zun, his youngest son was punished by Cao Mao for taking medicine and drinking alcohol many times during the mourning period.

However, Cao Mao was different from Sima Shi after all. He could not be absolutely ruthless when doing things.

He could spare Sima Yan because of personal friendship, and he could also forgive Sima You because of Wang Su's merits.

Facing this general who had made many contributions in the past, although he had sufficient reasons to force him to death and even forcibly relocate his clan, he felt a little soft-hearted when he saw the other party's sad appearance.

"Captain, please get up."

"I have already verified what you have done. In reality, you were merely trying to persuade him to treat me truthfully in your letter. Zhuge Xu misunderstood your intentions."

Zhuge Dan raised his head, his face flushed red.

He really didn't have the face to look at His Majesty again.

"Your Majesty, I plead guilty!"

"The Grand Marshal is already at this age. These bad reputations should be cleared up if possible. I allow the Grand Marshal to resign. However, Jingnan has been in turmoil due to war. If the Grand Marshal can bring his entire family to govern and educate the local people, promote the local literary style, and cultivate more talents, I will be very happy."

Zhuge Dan suddenly came to his senses. He hurriedly saluted Cao Mao again with an extremely determined expression.

"I will certainly not disappoint Your Majesty's high hopes again. This time, I will lead my clansmen to Jingnan to educate the locals and cultivate more talented people for Your Majesty!"

"Well, there's no need to bring all the tribesmen with you. Bring some outstanding people with you. They're really short of talented people there."

"only!!!"

(End of this chapter)