Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1478 Concealment
Lu Xun said aloud: "Because I can't figure out Sima Yi."

"He is the person in Wei State whom I don't understand the most. Logically speaking, if he wants to be rich and powerful for the rest of his life, then he should just surrender to Jin State as soon as possible. That would be the best choice."

"If he wanted to ascend to the pinnacle of power, he should have established his own faction long ago. Why would he still protect the broken ship of Wei?"

Jiang Qin said: "Perhaps he wants to emulate He Jin and control the court?"

Lu Xun shook his head and said, "If you want to control the court, you have to use the power of the monarch to interfere in the harem and government affairs. How does he meet this requirement?"

"That's why I can't understand what he wants to do, but I always feel that he will leave Baidi City again. After all, there is no chance of winning if we fight against Prime Minister Zhuge's army from Jinniu Road."

Jiang Qin thought for a moment and said, "I heard that some time ago, Wei's Fa Zheng Huang Quan came to Hannan for refuge. They both hold high positions among Wei officials. Perhaps they know Sima Yi better. Why not ask them?"

After listening to this, Lu Xun nodded and said, "This is a good idea. It is not easy for me to contact them directly. I can only let my wife go to the palace and tell the King of Hannan a message."

That day, Liu went to the palace to pay her respects to Liu Chan. Liu Chan came out to greet her personally and said to her, "I miss my sister so much. My father passed away and I only have my sister and mother left. It would be great if I could see my sister often and spend time with her."

Mrs. Liu was also quite sad. "When my father and I were separated in Xuzhou, you were still in my mother's belly. We were separated as siblings when we were born, and we only met recently."

"Sister, I know you have your own standpoint. Father's legacy has become a heavy burden for you. No matter how far it has come, you can only rely on yourself from now on."

After hearing this, Liu Chan thought that what Prime Minister Xu taught him might be useless. Liu Chan obviously heard the hidden meaning in his hint and refused to encourage Lu Xun to defect to Hannan.

But he still didn't give up, and gritted his teeth and said, "Sister, it is difficult for me to support my father's legacy alone. If Hannan is conquered in the future, I would rather hand over my head to you, so that it won't be taken advantage of by outsiders."

Liu shook his head and said, "Don't worry, your majesty won't do such a thing. The name of Jin is Cheng Han. Can't I see that?"

"The relationship between Your Majesty and my father is extremely complicated and cannot be explained in a few words, but it is undeniable that my father received a lot of help from Your Majesty in the beginning."

"Even my sister's life was saved by Your Majesty, so as a daughter of the Liu family, I naturally have to repay the favor and do my best to ease the relationship between the two countries."

"But if I betray the State of Jin, it would be fine if I were criticized by the world. But if the world uses this to say that the Liu family is unjust, it would affect my father's reputation after his death, wouldn't it?"

Liu Chan heard this and smiled bitterly: "Sister really saw everything clearly. Was this something my brother-in-law and sister had ordered in advance?"

Liu said, "Your brother-in-law is talented and ambitious, and he became famous very early, but the key is your majesty's ability to identify people with wisdom."

"When he was young, Your Majesty allowed him to lead the troops despite great criticism, and he lived up to Your Majesty's expectations and became famous in one battle."

"My dear little brother, you have never seen His Majesty. There are few things that can be hidden from him. He sees things more clearly and has a longer-term vision than anyone else. He is also more difficult to deal with than anyone else."

"Let's not talk about my late father. What about Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Yuan Shu, and Gongsun Zan? Didn't they all lose to your Majesty?"

"I won't interfere with your ambitions, but you must do everything within your capabilities, otherwise Hannan will be doomed."

After hearing this, Liu Chan said dejectedly: "What should we do then?"

"If I just let go of my father's will, how can I face him in the afterlife?"

Liu said, "Little brother, you are young and have your own ideas. You think you can change the world. This is actually not wrong."

"That's fine. Only after trying it can you know the depth. As long as I don't do anything extreme, I don't think Your Majesty will embarrass me."

Liu Chan shook his head. "Sister, you don't need to comfort me. I have already seen clearly that even my father can't do anything about the State of Jin. How capable can I be compared to him?"

"I'm just unwilling."

"That's all, let's take it one step at a time."

After hearing this, Liu was relieved a little and told him about Lu Xun's request to see Fa Zheng and Huang Quan. Liu Chan agreed immediately and then showed a worried look on his face, "Brother-in-law, do you think that Wei might raid Hannan again?"

Liu said, "As a woman, I don't understand military and national affairs. Once my husband has made his judgment, he will explain it to Your Majesty."

"But the most important thing is Sima Yi's idea."

In Chengdu, Sima Yi said to Zhang Chunhua, who was sitting by the window mending clothes, "I'm going to the palace for a while."

Zhang Chunhua hummed but did not turn around. Sima Yi said helplessly: "Are you still angry with me?"

"You also know that the Cao family's forces blocked the mansion and controlled your entry and exit in order to force me to submit."

"If I really surrender, my family will be in danger of death."

"Only if I showed a strong refusal attitude, would the Cao family think you were useless and let you go. Didn't the facts prove that I was right in the end?"

Zhang Chunhua said angrily: "Even though I said that, I just can't swallow this!"

"But the leaders Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren are both dead, and I can't even scold them in person!"

Sima Yi said calmly: "If that's the case, why worry? It's time to look forward to everything."

"I'm going to the palace first, so I might be back very late. If you want to eat, you don't have to wait for me." Zhang Chunhua said, then stood up and sent Sima Yi to the door. She looked suspicious, "Why do you keep going to the palace recently? Is there something you can't tell anyone?"

Sima Yi smiled bitterly and said, "What do you mean by telling others or not? Now I need the help of Queen Guo, oh, now Queen Mother Guo's power is controlling the court. This is also to protect our family. Naturally, I have to discuss everything with her."

"If I hadn't controlled the court, I'm afraid the Sima family would have been exterminated by revenge. Now I can't turn back and can only move forward."

Sima Yi got on the carriage and went all the way to the palace. When the maid led him into the study, he saw Empress Dowager Guo teaching the young Emperor Cao Xun how to review memorials.

Seeing Sima Yi coming in, Empress Dowager Guo put down her pen and said, "Your Majesty has been tired for most of the day, go out and relax first."

Cao Xun was only six or seven years old at the time, and was at the peak of his playfulness. When he heard Queen Mother Guo's words, he cheered and ran out.

Sima Yi turned his head to watch Cao Xun running away, then turned back and saw that Queen Mother Guo was not looking at him, but picked up a scroll of bamboo slips and slowly wrote on it.

Sima Yi saw it, but did not say anything. He just waited quietly until a quarter of an hour later, when Empress Dowager Guo finished writing on the bamboo slips.

Queen Mother Guo put down her pen and said, "The Prime Minister is very patient."

The prime minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty was changed to Situ after the Wei Kingdom usurped the throne. Now that Cao Pi has passed away and the court and the army are in chaos, Empress Guo re-established the position of prime minister in order to quell the chaos. The only candidate can only be Sima Yi.

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Sima Yi then went a step further and took control of Cao Wei's military and internal affairs. No one else could compare with him. Some Wei officials privately discussed that Cao Wei had now become mostly controlled by the Sima family.

Seeing Empress Guo putting on airs, Sima Yi said calmly, "I dare not. I am much worse than the Empress Dowager."

"Your Majesty would never have thought that the Queen Mother had such a plan in mind. The current situation of the Cao family is probably the result of the Queen Mother's deliberate actions."

"If he knew that Cao Zhang's death was caused by you and me, I wonder what he would think."

Queen Mother Guo's face changed slightly, but then she calmed down as usual, "I have done my best for him in this matter."

"At that time, Cao Zhang wanted to escape and establish himself. If he were alive, he would definitely provoke internal strife. In this case, why not send him off early and put an end to Cao's delusions?"

"Everything I did was for Your Majesty, and I have a clear conscience."

"And the Prime Minister doesn't need to use this matter to threaten me. I just changed a few words in the imperial edict, but the idea came from the Prime Minister. If officials knew that the Prime Minister was involved in this matter, what would they think?"

Sima Yi sneered after hearing this, "The Queen Mother is indeed very powerful, but I have never understood what the Queen Mother wants to do."

"Your Majesty has passed away. The Queen Mother can only maintain her status as the Queen Mother, and her seniority will continue to rise until she grows old."

"Although I, Sima Yi, have hidden something from your Majesty, I have always stood by your side while he was alive."

"Just like the Queen Mother said, what we do is ultimately for Your Majesty, but since it's not so glorious, there's no need to bring it up, right?"

Empress Dowager Guo did not answer, but asked: "Your Majesty is now dead, what is the Prime Minister thinking about?"

Sima Yi said calmly, "What answer do you think I will give if your Majesty asks me this?"

Queen Mother Guo stood up, walked behind Sima Yi, and slowly extended her hand, "I just want to be at peace."

She slowly moved her hands towards Sima Yi's neck, but Sima Yi did not move at all.

Empress Dowager Guo's long fingertips were about to pierce Sima Yi's neck, but she changed direction and placed them on Sima Yi's shoulders, kneading them gently.

Sima Yi remained motionless, but a mocking expression appeared on his face. "Your Majesty would never have thought that the queen he trusted had once fallen into such poverty that she ended up living in a brothel."

"Cao Wei is really interesting. In front of them was Madam Bian, and in the back is you, the Queen Mother. Both are extraordinary talents."

Queen Mother Guo's expression changed slightly, then she returned to normal, "Who knows? He has many women. Although he was not doing well when I married him, I should have been able to detect some of his weakness."

"Since His Majesty has never mentioned it, it means that he doesn't care at all. If the Prime Minister really cares about His Majesty, why didn't he expose me before he died?"

"But what I didn't expect was that the Prime Minister helped to erase and conceal this past experience."

"I'm afraid the Prime Minister had other ideas a long time ago, right?"

"Did the Prime Minister really help me just because of the friendship between Guo and Sima?"

Sima Yi said calmly: "I advise the Queen Mother not to think too much."

"Your Majesty, just remember that you and I are both tied to the same rope. If the truth comes out, I might be able to escape and surrender to the State of Jin, but your Majesty will only die."

Empress Dowager Guo heard this and said through gritted teeth, "Of course I understand."

"But I want to know, what exactly does the Prime Minister want to do?"

(End of this chapter)