Chapter 63 9. Sima Fu's sad life

That day, Sima Fu, accompanied by his second brother Sima Yi, went outside the gate of Pingyuanhou's Mansion.He got out of the carriage by himself and went straight to the mansion.Sitting in the carriage, Sima Yi watched the third younger brother's back gradually disappear into the Pingyuanhou Mansion with a deep courtyard and many doors. In the Furen Hall where Pingyuan Hou Cao Zhi usually received Confucian friends, Sima Fu walked up to Cao Zhi with tears in his eyes, and said straight to the point: "I have no virtue or incompetence to assist you. I am here to resign today. I beg you Hou Enzhun."

Cao Zhi was shocked, and said: "Brother Sima, why is this so?" Sima Fu knelt down deeply, bowed his head and said, "I owe you the kindness of knowing each other. I really don't have the face to stay in the mansion of Junhou. I beg you Hou Yingying." Ding Yi stood aside, but calmly said: "Mr. Sima, don't blame yourself. Ding has convinced your second brother. His methods are so clever, even his own brother can be like a pawn If you use it, what can't you do? If you resign today, I'm afraid he taught you too?" Sima Fu's face turned red immediately, and he buried his head deeply, not daring to face Ding Yi squarely.Cao Zhi persuaded: "Brother Ding's words are too harsh..."

"Hmph! The real harsh words are yet to come! Well, if we say goodbye today, we will never have a chance to sit together and talk freely. I will ask you to bring a few words to your second brother." .As a foreign minister, he secretly made a personal maidservant to the wife of the prime minister's mansion, and later murdered him to silence him. What is the intention of all this? Does he think Ding really doesn't know?" Ding Yi said coldly, "He This is using Mrs. Wang to influence Prime Minister Cao’s attitude on the matter of establishing an heir, just like Qin Prime Minister Lu Buwei used Mrs. Huayang to influence Qin Xiaowen Wang’s heir! Your second brother’s ambition is really not small! He actually wanted to Be the second Lu Buwei! If conditions permit, he may even dare to imitate Wang Mang and Dong Zhuo. Unfortunately, his tricks cannot fool me. As long as Ding is around, he will never succeed in his scheme!"

Ding Yi's words were as sharp as a knife or a sword, forcing Sima Fu to kneel on the ground, sweating profusely, not daring to look up.When Ding Yi spoke up to this point, he paused for a moment, sighed deeply, and said, "You brothers of the Sima family are of one heart and one mind, and have joined forces to push General Zhonglang with five senses to the position of son, but now the Cao family is torn apart. , brother to brother. Confucius said: 'Do unto others what you do not want unto yourself' - Hey, but you are 'Do unto others what you do not want unto yourself'!"

Sima Fu just kowtowed repeatedly, speechless. At this moment, Cao Zhi stopped drinking, persuaded Ding Yi, and said: "How can I blame Brother Sima for the matter of my brothers in the Cao family? Brother Ding, you don't need to say any more." Then, he walked forward, stretched out his hand and gently lifted him up. Sima Fu wiped away the tears from his face and asked him to sit down. Cao Zhi also sat beside Sima Fu, and smiled lightly and innocently, like an innocent baby.He said leisurely to Sima Fu: "Don't blame yourself so much, as if this Marquis' failure to become the son of the world should be your big crime. Now the matter of establishing an heir has been settled. I finally feel at ease, and I am finally relieved." I no longer have to toss and turn every night because of the position of the son of the prince, which makes me very relaxed and happy-am I as stupid as Song Xianggong in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period? At the beginning, I was tempted like all ordinary people. Brother Ding..." He turned his head to look at Ding Yi, paused, and then said leisurely, "Brother Ding devoted all his energy to this battle without telling me. During the war, do you think I really don’t know? I know all about your secret chamber plots in Ding’s mansion. I didn’t stop it because I didn’t want to stop it.”

When Cao Zhi said these words, Sima Fu and Ding Yi were both stunned.Cao Zhi, who has always been indifferent to fame and wealth, has such a strong desire deep in his heart?This really corresponds to the motto of Western philosophers more than a thousand years later: "Because I am a human being, I should have everything that a human being has." Yes, most people will understand this from a positive and positive perspective. Segment words.Because I am a human being, I should possess all the truth, goodness and beauty that humans possess.However, they may have overlooked that because you are a human being, you will also have all the false, evil and ugliness that human beings have.It's just that gentlemen of benevolence have suppressed these hypocrisy, evil and ugliness in the bud, but they can't eradicate these desires like weeds that grow in the bottom of their hearts when they reflect on themselves and ask themselves. Come out.Although Cao Zhi has both benevolence and virtue, he is no exception.However, when he said these words from the bottom of his heart, he felt that he seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden, and his whole body and mind became extremely relaxed.

Cao Zhi continued to say frankly: "In fact, like my elder brother, I am eager to ascend to the position of the prince and realize my ambition of 'pacifying the world and helping the world and the people'. However, I also know that I should not compete with my elder brother for this position." , because it should have belonged to my elder brother. I hesitated, and never dared to look at my elder brother's eyes every time. There were so many complex emotions in those eyes, anxiety, longing, pain, pleading, jealousy... I know, sometimes I just need to muster up the courage, be frank, and openly say to my brother: "Brother, I will never fight with you." Then, maybe none of this will happen. But, After all, I failed to say this sentence. Maybe... maybe... In the future, I will pay the price for not being able to say this sentence. I am also a mortal after all!"

Sima Fu was sobbing so hard, he choked up and said, "Pingyuan Hou's heart is as clear as water, and he can learn from the sun and the moon. Sima Fu is ashamed that he can't do it!" Cao Zhi seemed a little tired after talking so much at once, and said slowly: "Brother Sima, from the perspective of being a fellow brother, this Marquis understands everything you have done for your second brother. This Marquis will never blame you Yes. I only hope that after you bid farewell to the Marquis’s Mansion today, you will continue to exchange poems and essays with Ben Hou… Ben Hou really doesn’t want to lose such a loyal and faithful friend like you…”

Sima Fu got up slowly, with his hands drooping, his head buried, his tears covered, silent, and he walked out of Furen Hall backwards, out of this beautiful place where he and Cao Zhi sang poems and essays, full of fun.Going out from this day, it was not until more than fifty years later, when Sima Fu was over ninety years old and was named the most honorable Anping Xianwang of the Jin Dynasty, that he returned to this place with the support of his children and grandchildren.However, Cao Zhi had passed away for many years at that time.On that day, the elderly Sima Fu pushed back all the others and stayed alone in Furen Hall without returning.When he returned to the mansion the next day, he left a suicide note that was very embarrassing for the emperor and ministers of the Jin family to read, and then passed away suddenly.The suicide note reads:

Now there is Sima Fu, a loyal minister of Wei State, Hanoi County, who can't establish a country like Yi Yin, can't help Mingjun like Zhou Gong, can't eat Zhou Su like Boyi, and can't do Liu Xiahui like Liu Xiahui Retire cleanly.Those who have no merit to the country, no virtue to friends, and no kindness to the people should abandon themselves in the wild loess and be buried like a commoner Confucian scholar. It is not only a summary of my life, but also the most sincere explanation from the bottom of my heart to Cao Zhi and Ding Yi who are under the nine springs. Sima Yi, who was waiting outside the gate of the mansion, finally saw his third brother come out with his head buried in tears, and his heart felt at ease.But seeing the third brother sitting in the carriage as soon as he got into the carriage, he sat silently, crying like a fountain, sobbing silently.The more he suppressed his grief, the more he sobbed.He seems to be using his life's tears to commemorate the sincere friendship between himself and Yuanhou Cao Zhi.

The carriage galloped forward for about a cup of tea, and finally, Sima Fu asked Sima Yi, sobbing with tears in his eyes: "Second...Second brother, since you have such talent, and the third son is such a virtuous man, Why don't you help him become the son? In fact, the third son can also become me... Our choice!" Sima Yi just looked at him quietly without answering.Assisting Cao Pi and suppressing Cao Zhi is a key part of our Sima family's "emergence of a sudden force and turning the world around".We can only implement it gradually and irrevocably according to such a plan, where is there any other choice?If it is really necessary to assist Cao Zhi as the heir, then the painstaking efforts of several generations of my Sima family over the past few decades will become a big joke. Seeing Sima Yi's indifferent expression, Sima Fu seemed to understand something, covered his cheeks again, and began to cry "uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu". Sima Yi, who has always been good at eloquence, did not persuade him, but just raised his eyes and looked at the passing scenery outside the car window, feeling lost.We are all on the road, but we don’t know how much true love we lost on the way we came; we are all struggling, but we don’t know how much innocence is abandoned under our armor... Just now I watched Sima Fu say goodbye to Cao Zhi with tears As for the sad situation, Sima Yi's eyes were already secretly wet.But at this moment, Sima Yi, who slowly recovered his rock-like stern expression, was already asking himself in his heart: Why was I so fragile just now, and even almost shed cheap tears?Perhaps it was because he watched the third younger brother kill his friendship with his own hands, or maybe it was a kind of guilt for hurting the recognized unparalleled virtuous Marquis Pingyuan, or maybe it was because he should have cried for this heir-making struggle?However, such vain tears are of no benefit to me.I never needed to cry.Tears are a sign of mediocrity, tears are a sign of weakness, and tears are a gesture of incompetence.Remember, a truly strong person has a big mind to accommodate all emotions; a strong will to control all emotions; a clear mind, but will never be disturbed by any emotion.And the third brother's tears today, isn't it a compulsory course for him to get rid of the past and mature?Thinking of this, Sima Yi slowly closed his eyes to regain his composure, and let Sima Fu's low sobs be blown away in the wind.