Chapter 25 3. Plan for Revenge

In the inner hall of the Taishi Department of the Shu Han Dynasty, the wind blowing through the hall made the flags, banners and symbols hanging on the four walls rattle. Tai Shi ordered Qiao Zhou to sit on the bamboo couch, holding a scroll in his right hand, resting his chin in his left hand, staring at the spinning hydraulic armillary sphere in the hall, fascinated.The slowly rotating and irreversible copper ball thrown up and down in the water waves seems to be not only the time of the years, but also devouring one dynasty after another.Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Former Han, Xin Dynasty, Later Han and other dynasties all disappeared without a trace in the rotation of the armillary sphere. Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, Lu Su Waiting for so many heroes and heroes are scattered between the gears of the machine under the ball.

However, there was a figure of a person piercing through the waves, and gradually protruding from the shiny armillary sphere.The passage of time could not conceal his increasingly clear and profound features.He is indeed Sima Yi, the chief assistant and elder of the Wei State, the Grand Tutor!Almost all the top heroes and wise men of the Three Kingdoms have passed away in the impact of the years, only he is still standing on the stage of history like a surviving fruit and continues to play his mysterious and extremely important role! Qiao Zhou slowly tore up the secret letter written by his nephew Guan Ren from Wei Guo piece by piece, put it in his mouth and swallowed it piece by piece.After swallowing all the letters and papers, he stood up slowly with the support of the bed frame, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, and looked at the vast sky in the north.There, the sky was covered with thick and dense clouds, like boiling waves, constantly rolling, rolling, and thrashing.The storm is coming soon, isn't it?However, what impact will this storm originating from the sky over Wei State have in the end?What impact will it have on us Shu Han?What impact will Soochow have on them?

"Teacher..." A low voice called from behind him.Qiao Zhou heard that the person who came was none other than his closed disciple—Shangshutai author Lang Chenshou. "Chen Jun, are you here?" Qiao Zhou slowly sat back on the couch, motioned him to sit on the side of his bed, looked at him and asked, "What state affairs are the court discussing today?" "Today's court meeting has not been held for long." Chen Shou said cautiously, "General Jiang Wei came back from the front line to meet the Holy Spirit in person, and begged His Majesty to allow him to launch another northern expedition to attack Liangzhou from the Qishan camp, and capture Xiahou in one fell swoop. Da Sima, Fei Yi, also strongly agrees with this proposal, and believes that the current puppet Wei territory is governed by the arrogant and pompous Cao Shuang, the chaos in the country's order and discipline, and the ups and downs are in turmoil. He has always been indecisive and refused to agree. Later, General Jiang cried blood and wept in front of the imperial court, and His Majesty walked away in anger. Therefore, this court meeting broke up unhappy. But until now, General Jiang Wei still Kneeling outside the gate of the Taiji Hall, waiting to be summoned to make a statement! No matter how much Fei Da Sima persuaded him, he couldn't be persuaded to leave..."

Qiao Zhou couldn't help sighing secretly when he heard this.This Jiang Wei is not as talented as his master Zhuge Liang, but his stubborn temper is no worse than Zhuge Liang!Zhuge Liang was able to find such a living treasure as him to inherit his legacy of the Northern Expedition.But in the face of this almost irreversible general trend of heaven, what can their small struggles change? After Chen Shou finished talking, Qiao Zhou slowly opened his mouth: "This...Your Majesty, it is indeed the right move to seek the country with prudence, not to go out, and wait for changes. Chen Jun! Don't look at Wei Guo's recent actions. There have been some civil strife and disputes, and they are all small and fleeting twists and turns...Fei Da Sima, Jiang Dajiang and the others rashly attack at this moment, they will definitely suffer big losses in the future!"

"Sima Fei and General Jiang said that the most worrying person in the Puppet Wei Dynasty is Sima Yi. Now he is sick, Cao Shuang is arrogant and incompetent, and the Puppet Wei Dynasty is in turmoil. This opportunity must not be missed!" Chen Shou Still somewhat unwilling to fully believe Qiao Zhou's assertion. "Shou'er, although Sima Yi has been saying that he is ill, he is still alive after all! As long as he is alive, I, a big man, will never be able to regain the Central Plains! Moreover, even if he is ill now, he cultivated it all by himself back then. Generals Guo Huai, Hu Zun, and Wei Pingping are still guarding the Guanzhong area... Their military strategy is hardly inferior to General Jiang's!"

"This... this is true." Chen Shou muttered. Qiao Zhou raised his eyes, looked at the copper ball of the water-moving armillary sphere slowly and silently spinning round and round, and said leisurely: "Back then on the mysterious stone of the spirit turtle, there was a change of destiny, and Cao Yan was greatly criticized, and the golden horse was born. , Fen hoof Lingyun, great auspicious prosperity, Dianwu will change' Is the twenty-four character map prophecy outdated now? According to the teacher, I'm afraid it may not be. As the saying goes, an eagle stands like a sleep, and a tiger looks sick. Who can Can you guess what the world will look like in a year or two?"

Chen Shou remembered one thing, and reported to Qiao Zhou: "By the way, Master—Master Huang Hao asked Xiaosheng to bring you a letter. Teacher, you must express your insights on today's court meeting, and write it into a memorial for progress. Zhongshu omitted...he also said that you know how the content of this memorial should be written." "Well, I understand it for the teacher." Qiao Zhou lowered his eyes slowly, "Shou'er, you should go out for a while. For the teacher, I need someone to calm down and think about how to write this melody..." When Sima Yi lay on a chariot and was carried into the Palace of the Empress General in Dongfang, Luoyang, the huge mansion had already been submerged in the cries of grief.The weeping maids and servants inside put their filial piety clothes and hoods on their heads, and at the same time went to tie the paper flowers of spirit banners between the pillars.Seeing this scene, Sima Yi's heart went cold, his eyes were dazzled, his hands trembled, and his whole body seemed to be lying in the cotton pile in a trance, with two lines of muddy tears silently running down his cheeks.

"Father...Father! You must mourn!" Sima Zhao wiped his eyes and squeezed Sima Yi's hand hard to comfort him while riding in the chariot.And Sima Shi was sobbing behind the chariot with his head bowed like a child who has done something wrong. Niu Jin's bedroom was crowded with people inside and out. It was the generals, officers and servants under Niu Jin's command who were mixed together: some cried, some shouted, some brought hot water, some held shrouds, until Seeing Master Tai Tuo coming, they knelt down one by one, their bowed heads were like tufts of grass emerging from the ground, weeping miserably under the beating of the strong wind and rain.

Sima Yi with a look of joy propped up his upper body on the chariot, stretched out his hand and waved it in mid-air. Sima Zhao understood, and immediately announced in a loud voice: "All idlers and others should retreat outside the courtyard dam and wait without permission. The Grand Tutor wants to send his condolences to General Niu and bid farewell." A burst of heterogeneous footsteps gradually retreated.There were only three outsiders left in the bedroom, including Sima Yi and his son.And Niu Jin's only elder brother, Niu Heng, and his wife, Wang Shi, knelt in front of the couch and silently scrubbed Niu Jin's body.

The chariot was slowly carried to Niu Jin's bed by his brother Sima. Sima Yi leaned forward and called out in a trembling voice, "Brother Niu Jin...Second Brother Zhongda saw you coming..." There was no response, not even eye contact. Niu Jin seemed to be asleep, blushing appeared on his pale and thin cheeks, his eyes were slightly closed, as if the last light was slowly fading.He seemed to know that his "Second Brother Zhongda" was coming, a shallow smile bloomed on bloodless lips, and the sandalwood smoke in the room passed over his gray forehead, as if his heroic spirit was hovering between the curtains. drift.

Sima Yi slowly stretched out his right hand, subconsciously wanting to hold him back, but finally put it down slumpedly——his eyes narrowed, and tears burst out again like a bank bursting. Niu Heng knelt at the head of the bed, turned sideways to greet Sima Yi, twisted the wet handkerchief in his hand, and continued to wipe Niu Jin's face patiently, with careful and gentle movements, as if he was afraid of waking him up. younger brother. "Why did Brother Niu Jin die suddenly?" Sima Yi asked slowly, swallowing tears. "Last night, the generals in Beijing held a banquet at the mansion of General Yingyang Wenqin to send him off as governor of Xuzhou... General Niu really couldn't resist their invitation, so he went. As a result, he came back at the second watch and not long after resting, he went Crying for stomach cramps, and finally..." Wang lay on the ground and complained sadly, "General Niu was also very surprised when he died. He and Wen Qin drank wine poured from the same pot last night, I don’t know where these ghostly people poisoned..." She buried her face, and the great sadness seized her, and she still couldn't help crying stand up. Sima Yi sullenly asked softly, "Did Brother Niu Jin leave anything?" Suppressing her grief, Wang tried her best to calm her voice, and repeated word by word: "General Niu said that the humble officer died suddenly, and he left the middle way. From now on, he can no longer follow the Tai Tuo to create great achievements. I am deeply grateful. Master Wanwang is kind and cherishes himself, reached the pinnacle, turned the troubled times back to peace, and brought happiness to all the people, and even the humble officials buried in the ground can rest in peace with a smile on their faces..." She couldn't bear it any longer, she buried her head and was sobbing. Sima Yi's palms tightly squeezed the armrests on both sides of the chariot, and tears continued to flow silently, but scenes of the turbulent years that he and Niu Jin had passed side by side from childhood to adulthood emerged in front of his eyes. scenario to: Forty years ago, they went to the "Linglong Valley" of Luhun Mountain together to study under Mr. Guan Ning's ups and downs; Thirty years ago, when they went to Chibi, Jingzhou to conspire for a great cause, they were born and died together; Twenty years ago, when they fought together from Wancheng in Jingzhou to Chang'an in Guanzhong, they fought bloody battles and resisted the Shu army; Ten years ago, they went on an expedition to Liaodong, conquered Xiangping, and razed Gongsun Yuan. Just as he was weeping, Niu Heng had already wiped Niu Jin's face with a wet towel, turned around and waved his hand, causing Wang to back away quietly.Then, Niu Heng kowtowed to Sima Yi: "My lord Tai Tuo expresses his condolences." Sima Yi looked at the gray-haired brother and choked up for a moment: "Brother Niu Heng—I assure you, I will definitely make the person who killed Brother Niu Jin pay for it with blood! No matter who the murderer is, I will not Will let him go!" The icy shell-like sternness on Niu Heng's face concealed his incomparably hot anger. Years of training as a soldier had made him as calm as a rock.He said softly: "Master Taifu, there is a person who wants to see you because of Niu Jin's encounter with poison." "He knows the inside story?" Sima Yi was startled for a moment, and when he saw Niu Heng nodded, he replied in a low voice, "Let him come and see you!" Niu Heng raised his palm to volley in the air and took several consecutive shots.The small door in the side room of this dormitory opened immediately, and a young man dressed as a servant crawled out on his knees.He lowered his head so that no one could see his face. "Raise your head!" Sima Zhao shouted. The man tilted his head - it turned out that he was Yu Song who had defected to Cao Shuang's command before! "Yu Song?!" Master Sima showed an angry look on his face, "You ungrateful guy! You still have the face to see us?!" Sima Yi raised his right hand, stopping Master Sima's scolding.But seeing Yu Song's face full of embarrassment, he knelt down and said with tears in his eyes, "Master... Master Taifu! I know I'm wrong..." "There's nothing wrong with it." Sima Yi stared at him with burning eyes and said slowly, "About your two-sided work, in fact, this seat has already noticed it. After all, you still have a little conscience. , you have not done anything outrageous to my Sima family since you betrayed me. As for your public participation in General Cao's mansion six years after the beginning of Zhengshi, it was also out of the reason that "a good bird chooses a tree to live in, and a wise man chooses a master." But the heart of the matter. At that time, I returned to Wen County and was ill. It was really difficult for you, a lively young man, to follow the Taifu for nothing! So, you chose Cao Shuang and left this seat. Virgos don't care too much. "Actually, this seat has always admired your literary talent and strategy, and you know it yourself. This seat also wanted to recommend you to be the chief writer of the Ministry of Education, but I was worried about Cao Shuang's rudeness of 'every time a Sima will turn against'." It’s quite a style, so I don’t want to support you clearly. If you don’t believe me, you can go to the sixth drawer of the book cabinet in the hall of the Secretary’s Office of the Taifu’s Mansion to have a look. There is still a draft of the adverbial statement written by me. It was written for you four or five years ago by this seat, and the adverbial is 16 words: be disciplined, considerate, proficient in documents, and a tool of wisdom!" "Master Tai Tuo's love of talents and his great kindness in selection are really unforgettable." Yu Song kowtowed heavily on the floor and replied, "In fact, I volunteer from the bottom of my heart to be under the command of Master Tai Tu. All my life!" "Well... since you have already voted in Cao Shuang's mansion, you should be loyal to his master. Why bother to return to this seat at this time?" Sima Yi waved his hand lightly, "Mr. Yu, this seat is now The sun is setting, and if you turn around again, isn’t that a fool’s errand? Also, aren’t you afraid that General Cao will get angry and ask you to blame?” Yu Song leaned on the floor and said heavily: "My lord, to tell the truth, I just came to my senses and left after seeing the reckless and perverse deeds of General Cao and others! They are simply He was so vicious that he didn't even spare General Niu Jin, who asked for sickness and retreated to stay at home..." "Wait—Yu Song, you intend to return to my Sima family again at this moment," Sima Zhao asked solemnly at this moment, "Why should we trust your loyalty?" His question was like a sharp arrow shot out, hitting Yu Song's heart.Yu Song shook his body slightly, as if he had finally overcome the violent shock in his heart, and then slowly replied: "Master Taifu, Yu's mother, who has been dependent on each other since childhood, lives in Dongying Village, Wudeli, Chenliu County, Yuzhou. She changed the surname of 'Bian' to 'Chen'..." "Well... Yu Jun, thank you for telling us the address of your mother, Mrs. Bian." Sima Zhao's tone was still so cold and sharp, "However, as far as Zhao knows, Deng Yang and Cao Shuang are actually very aware of your mother's address. Address...you can use your mother's life as a pledge of your loyalty to our Sima family, but you can also use your mother's life as your pledge of loyalty to their Cao family!" When Sima Zhao said this, Yu Song couldn't help but his complexion changed slightly, and a dense amount of sweat suddenly appeared on his forehead.He gritted his teeth and thought for a long time, finally clenched his fists, made up his mind, and said solemnly: "To my lord, Yu has an only younger brother, Yu Zhu. Because of the involvement of the ruler of Jiujiang Mansion, Bianrang, he gave me and my younger brother Yu Zhu to others for adoption when they were infancy. This secret is the most important secret of my Yu family, and neither Deng Yang nor Cao Shuang knew about it. My younger brother is He has been living incognito in Shegouli, Yuliu Township, Guangwu County, Yanmen County, Bingzhou, and his disguised name is..." "It's called Gao Bin, right?" Sima Zhao suddenly interjected, "He's twenty-five years old, and he's a private school teacher in Shegou..." When Yu Song heard this, he couldn't help being struck by lightning, and his whole body was shocked immediately: "Second...Second Young Master! It turns out that you have...found even the secrets of my Yu family..." Sima Zhao smiled and didn't answer, but turned around and bowed deeply to Sima Yi and said, "Father, it seems that Yu Jun really dedicated the lives of his whole family and his own loyalty to you unreservedly." .He should be trustworthy." After hearing this, Sima Yi's face was as still as still water, and he just nodded silently. Sima Zhao immediately stepped aside again. Niu Heng was afraid that Sima Yi's mouth would dry out if he talked too much, so he served him a bowl of tea to moisten his throat.Sima Yi took a sip of the tea, and said politely: "I heard that you, Mr. Yu, know very well about how General Niu Jin was poisoned, so please come here and let me know." Hearing his words, Yu Song immediately understood that he had fully accepted his loyalty, and couldn't help but feel relieved, calmed down his emotions, and raised his head gently: "Master Tai Tuo is knowledgeable and well-informed. Guang, you should have heard the story of Wang Mang poisoning Emperor Ping of Han with a Yin-Yang Hunyuan Pot in order to usurp the throne at the end of the Han Dynasty?" "Yin-Yang Hunyuan Pot?" Sima Yi was stunned and lost his voice in surprise, "So Cao Shuang got such a poisonous weapon?" "Yes. Early this morning, when I went to Cao's mansion to do business, I saw Cao Xun and Wen Qin holding the Yin-Yang Hunyuan Pot and showing off... Then, I heard that General Niu Jin participated in last night's article. The sad news that he died suddenly after the government banquet..." Yu Song kowtowed and said, "During the Battle of Xiangping, I had a comrade-in-arms friendship with General Niu. Conquering the Northern War, he made great achievements, but he was plotted and poisoned by these rats. He couldn't help being filled with righteous indignation, so he came to the Niu Mansion to expose the matter to Uncle Niu and Tai Tu! At the same time, I also decided to abandon the dark and turn to the bright..." Before he finished speaking, when he raised his eyes, he clearly saw Sima Yi sitting up straight from the chariot, holding the tea bowl in his hand, already bursting with anger.He relentlessly grasped the tea bowl tightly, as if he let all the depression in his heart pass through his fingers, and the hard and cold ceramic bowl seemed to become Cao Shuang, Cao Xun, Cao Xun, etc. in his imagination. The necks of Wen Qin and the others, he wanted to cut off and crush them one by one with all his might! The whole bedroom is like a leaf falling in a dry well, and there is a suffocating silence in the silence.No one spoke, and even the slightest bit of breathing was nervously withdrawn into the nose. "Heaven commits evil, but you can still violate it; self-inflicted evil, you can't live! If you want to be strong, you will burn your body; if you are evil, you will destroy your family!" Sima Yi's voice resounded in a low voice, this weak and deep moan was like the pot of dense sand flowing from the depths of his heart, slowly overflowing his face as cold as a desert. Yu Song was startled when he heard it, the sudden sigh of the Grand Tutor was like an extremely cold wind, even if he could sniff out the direction of the wind, he couldn't hold it in his hand!Then Sima Yi said in a hoarse voice: "It's time for them to be full of evil! It's time for me to let them go wild!" There was a bloody murderous look in the cold words, like a sharp edge submerged in sand flow waiting to be unsheathed.Even though Yu Song knew that these words had nothing to do with him, he couldn't help shivering. Niu Heng, Sima Shi, and Sima Zhao all knelt down in response, and said respectfully: "Since the Grand Tutor's order has been issued, we will fight with all our strength for it!" Sima Yi didn't look at the three of them, but waved to Yu Song, and said slowly: "Yu Song, you came here because you had a fellowship with General Niu Jin in the Battle of Xiangping. Revealing the truth about his being poisoned and murdered to me this time, it can be considered that there is still a sliver of conscience that has not been wiped out... After all, I have not misunderstood you! Alright! This seat will accept you again into the Tai Tuo's mansion, and let the past go. Start from scratch!" "Thank you, Master Tai Tuo, for your magnanimity and deep kindness regardless of past suspicions!" Yu Song couldn't help crying with joy when he heard this, and kowtowed his head on the floor. At this time, Sima Yi turned to Master Sima and asked suddenly: "I don't know how well Shi Baojun has trained the dead soldiers of our Sima family in the filial piety? In a few days, you will ask him to bring a team over to inspect for the father. ..." "Yes!" Master Sima responded quickly. Sima Yi half-lyed on the chariot and thought for a while, then called Yu Song to come forward and said: "I know that Deng Yang, He Yan, and Li Sheng are busy with persuading Cao Shuang to become the prime minister and the Duke of Jin. The heavenly auspiciousness echoes it, but there is no way to do it. Go down and discuss it with Guan Ren, and then make up a miracle of heavenly auspiciousness for them to confuse them. There will be an excellent opportunity in the near future—the sixth day of the first month of next year It is the best time for the late emperor's ten-year sacrifice. According to the rules and regulations, both Your Majesty and Cao Shuang should go to Gaoping Mausoleum to pay homage to the late Emperor. Yujun, you and Guan Ren will create a "six sesames with the same root, and abundant springs spring up" at the tomb of Gaoping Mausoleum. ', and then announced to the outside world that the miracle of 'six sesames with the same root' shows that the six brothers Cao Shuang, Cao Xi, Cao Xun, Cao Yan, Cao Ze, and Cao Ai are extraordinary weapons, and Yifu Wei Shi It is an auspicious omen, encouraging the six brothers to go out of the city to pay homage to Gaoping Mausoleum to confirm this auspicious omen! "Cao Shuang and his six brothers are greedy for power and power, secretly harboring evil intentions, and Deng Yang, He Yan, Li Sheng, etc. are pushing the flames from the sidelines, asking for credit and rewards, and clamoring day and night. They will all forget what they are doing and go together. As long as they are six After the brothers are all out of the city and away from the Forbidden Army, we can jump up and show off our powers!" "Okay! I will do my best to cooperate with Doctor Guan to do this well." After hearing this, Yu Song was pleasantly surprised and grateful at the same time.Surprisingly, Sima Yi and his son really "hidden the weapon in their bodies and released it when the time came", and secretly controlled Cao Shuang's faction; thankfully, Sima Yi entrusted him with such a confidential task as soon as he came up. This trust is truly invaluable!He nodded heavily at the moment: "I will definitely encourage Deng Yang and He Yan to try their best to persuade Cao Shuang and the six brothers to leave Beijing and go out of the city to pay homage to Gaoping Mausoleum, so as to prove the auspicious miracle of 'Liuzhi with the same root'!"