Chapter 11 Return to Luoyang

On the way back to Beijing, Cao Cao spent a lot of time in front of his fourth uncle, serving tea and pouring water, beating his legs and rubbing his back, trying his best to calm him down.Cao Ding calmed down, and Cao Cao was also relieved, and he would not be charged with a lawsuit when he saw his father. After arriving in Luoyang City, Cao Cao felt a warm current rushing up when the car entered the Kaiyang Gate.This is the place where he played in his childhood. The bustling Kaiyangmen Street, the bustling Luoyang Gold Market, and the solemn and luxurious Yongfu Lane are getting closer to the Cao Mansion...all these carry the thoughts of the past four years, such a soul Dreaming...I'm going home...I'm going home...I don't know where my "Hussar General" has gone, I don't know if Cai Mao's childhood playmates are still there, I don't know if my younger brother has grown taller No, I don't know if the father, the old man, still hates the child...

When he arrived at the gate of Cao Mansion, all Cao Cao's dreams were almost shattered.Although it is still the street and the house, it is completely different.The narrow courtyard gate turned into a bright green lacquer gate, and Cao Song was already an official residence in Dahonghe, one of the Jiuqing.Walking into the yard, all the layouts have changed. The walls of the original yard have been replaced with green bricks, and the low jujube trees have been replaced with phoenix trees. up.Seeing their eldest and young master coming back, the servants' family came to pay their respects one after another. Several women who had hugged him even held his hand and wept.Cao Cao didn't ask everyone to report to his father, and followed Cao Ding to the study.

As Cao Cao expected, his father was reading bamboo slips in the study.Cao Song was still the same, neither fat nor thin, and no more wrinkles on his face, just like four years ago, planning his official career there.At that moment, Cao Cao had hallucinations, as if being scolded and driven away by him was yesterday. "Go in!" Cao Ding pushed him.Cao Cao swallowed, and knelt down in front of the case step by step: "Father, Bu Xiaoer is back." Cao Song's attention was always on the paperwork, and he was taken aback when he suddenly saw a young man who called him "unworthy".He squeezed the corner of his mouth hard, the left side of his face trembled slightly, and finally sighed: "Oh... get up!"

As Cao Cao stood up, Cao Song carefully looked at his son whom he had not seen for four years: he was short among his peers, but his figure was well-proportioned, with a fair face, ingot ears, thick eyebrows and big eyes showing a hint of shrewdness, and a cinnabar on his left eyebrow The mole, it has been there since childhood; it's a pity that the bridge of the nose ruined his appearance, and with the thick lips, it is really not handsome. "We should celebrate the reunion of father and son!" Cao Ding also followed with a smile. Cao Song didn't argue, but said, "Yuan Jing, I'm sorry for your trouble."

"My brother, don't talk about life and death." Cao Ding was not polite, and found a couch by the wall to rest.Cao Song ignored his son who had reunited after a long absence, and asked Cao Ding, "How is Lao Qi?" "Still the same, as stubborn as a donkey." "Everyone has his own aspirations and can't be forced." Cao Song was silent for a while, then smiled again, "Yuan Jing, you are now a thunderbolt on the ground, and you are suddenly dignified." "Thanks to your in-laws, the Song family, you are far behind your elder brother. I wanted to build a manor this time when I returned home, but..." Cao Ding seemed to glance at Cao Cao unintentionally at this point, "But let A bad boy messed up."

Cao Cao's heart was in his throat, and he was so anxious that he was sweating, but he heard his father sneer and said: "I think it's a good mess, if you build the manor, you will be in trouble." "Oh? What's the trouble?" "You're going to be in trouble, don't you know?" Cao Song fumbled out a bunch of keys out of nowhere and played with them.Cao Ding was taken aback for a moment, and then laughed: "I'm going to be unlucky before I take office? Brother, are you kidding me?" "You don't believe me?" Cao Song also laughed, stood up and pulled out two large locked black lacquered boxes from behind, and opened the locks with the bunch of keys.

In an instant, jewels burst out from the box, and both Cao Cao and Cao Ding were shocked.Jin, Yu, Zhang, Huang, Cong, Bi, Qiong, Jue, all kinds of gorgeous jade articles piled up a whole box.The other slightly larger box is even more remarkable. The emerald playing chess, the rhinoceros horn wine cup, the Hu people's pottery figurines, the gamboge stone carvings, the Daoyin Jinren, the horse stepping on the flying swallow, and the chicken tongue incense from the big tree are all valuable treasures. "Where did this... this... come from?" Although Cao Ding was good at collecting money in Wu County and got a lot of gifts on the way to Beijing, he had never seen so many treasures at one time.

"These are all things given to you by the relatives of the various departments in Beijing. Before you come, I will store them for you." "It's still a Beijing official's fat..." Cao Ding picked out a peacock from the box and threw it into the pot, playing with it and said: "It's really unexpected that I, a minister, can receive such courtesy." "You are wrong. You received this courtesy not because you were promoted, but because you are an in-law of the Song family." Cao Song smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "When the moon is full, it will lose money, and when the water is full, it will overflow. Can you Getting the filial piety of so many people is not far from bad luck."

When Cao Ding heard what he said, he threw the pitching pot away: "Please give me your advice, brother, I would like to hear more about it." "Trying the story of our dynasty, since Emperor Xiao'an, there have been many disputes among relatives and eunuchs. The current emperor relies on Wang Fu, Cao Jie, etc. to eradicate Dou Wu to get the right position, and the trend of eunuchs is deeply rooted. Think about the Fufeng Song family. As a queen, you are not solid, you have to promote and recommend cronies, so people with your qualifications can enter the province to serve. But you have received such a gift before you take office, and you want to build a farm in your hometown. This is not normal. Did it touch Wang Fu and the others?"

Cao Dingmao suddenly realized, and felt wrong: "Since this is the case, brother shouldn't accept so many things on my behalf." "You have short knowledge again. If you don't accept these things, how can those officials who flatter you feel at ease? They will bite you in turn." Cao Ding was a little confused: "Then what do you think I should do now?" Cao Song covered the two boxes, put the lock on them and locked them, then said: "In my opinion, don't move anything in these two boxes, and you might as well give them to Wang Fu and Cao Jie. Only by buying off these two eunuchs can we be safe."

Cao Ding looked distressed, he was really reluctant to part with these two boxes of rich treasures: "It's a pity..." "It's a pity? If you don't give up this windfall, you will not be safe, and if you don't do it, you will implicate me. In what year is it now, if you don't send money to Wang Fu and Cao Jie, can the officials sit still? Look at the long-term, and in the future There are still plenty of ways to get money, so don't ruin your future just because of these flowing money." Cao Ding gritted his teeth: "I listen to you." "That's right!" Cao Song took Cao Ding's hand and put the key into his hand, "From now on, I will deal with Wang Fu and Cao Jie. Take care. We are on two boats!" Cao Cao saw that they were talking speculatively, so he got up quietly and left the study.He felt that his father hadn't changed at all in the past four years, and he only cared about his family's future and official career.Now, as a Dahonghe, in the rank of Jiuqing, he still only thinks about things other than his duties.In addition, he ignored him just now, which added to the chill, so he stopped listening to them and walked slowly into the backyard. "The Miao descendants of the Emperor Gaoyang are here, and the emperor called him Boyong. He was mentioned in Meng Zouxi, but Geng Yinwu came down. The emperor saw Kuiyu for the first time..." There was a melodious reciting sound, which was Qu Yuan's " "Li Sao".Cao Cao stopped and listened, the gorgeous rhetoric and the ups and downs of the voice are really beautiful, it must be the younger brother!He followed the sound to find it, and sure enough, he came to his younger brother's room, which was the room where the two brothers lived together at that time. He reached out and raised the gauze curtain to watch.Cao De was turning his back to him, shaking his head and reading, and seemed to hear some movement, put the book down, and complained without turning his head: "Why have you forgotten the old rules? No one is allowed to come in and interfere when I am studying! I will talk about things later." Cao Cao smiled and thought, "It's still such a strange temper, you must be treating me as a servant." He didn't speak, but walked in, and followed his younger brother's words and chanted: "Huanglan Kuiyu came here for the first time, and Zhaoxi Yu was well-known: the name Yu is Zhengzhenxi, and the character Yu is Lingjun. Fenwu has this content It’s beautiful, and the most important thing is to cultivate energy.” Cao De turned around in surprise.Cao Cao found that he had grown up, and in four years, this little fat man had become a good-looking talent, and his appearance was actually much more handsome than himself.Seeing that he didn't recognize him, he said again: "De'er, I haven't seen you in four years. You are like Qu Yuan, you can be called inner beauty and cultivation!" The book in Cao De's hand fell to the ground with a thud, tears flashed in his eyes, and he was overjoyed and said, "Are you...A Man?" "Ok." Cao De threw himself into his arms: "Brother...you're back...De'er misses you in his dreams. Daddy is so cruel...you're finally back..." After finishing speaking, he broke down in sobs. Cao Cao patted his younger brother on the back and also shed tears.At this moment, he was finally sure: he's home, he's really home...