Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 918: Try to figure out your thoughts

Sima Fang walked to the backyard cabin, pushed the door open, and saw a young man lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, his hands shaking, and saliva dripping from his mouth.

Sima Fang spoke up: "There are some things I want to tell you."

The young man remained motionless, as if he hadn't heard anything. When Sima Fang saw it, he laughed and scolded: "You are pretending to be your mother!"

"Are you still pretending in front of me?"

The young man quickly got up. He rushed to the door and bolted it. Then he returned to the couch and knelt down to Sima Fang and said, "I have seen my father."

Sima Fang frowned and said, "How long have you been pretending to avoid becoming an official?"

"A few days ago, Meng De called you to serve as an official, but you pretended to be suffering from rheumatoid arthritis to avoid it. But you were able to do so for a while, and you still want to keep pretending for the rest of your life?"

This young man was none other than Sima Yi, the second son of Sima Fang. He said with an apologetic smile on his face: "Let me tell you, father, Yi doesn't want to be an official yet."

Sima Fang shook his head and said, "Why?"

"The situation is unclear at the moment. Father, have you ever thought about what to do if the bet is wrong?"

"My Sima family has lived in the east of the river for a long time. I'm afraid that the war will spread, which will be very bad."

"Mengde is now known as the Emperor, and I am the person who elected him. He wants to repay the kindness of the Sima family, so he recommends you to serve as an official. Is there anyone more suitable in the world?"

"Mengde is not a generous person. If our Sima family is on both ends of the spectrum, we will be jealous, and we will get nothing in the end!"

Sima Fang laughed angrily, "It's full of nonsense!"

Sima Yi cursed in his heart, thinking that you don’t want to do it anymore, but you drag me into the water?
Sima Fang didn't know what Sima was thinking, so he continued: "The fierce tiger started to attack Bingzhou, which means it has signs of attacking Sili."

Sima Fang's face looked a little ugly, "Anyway, the one who is most likely to get the emperor's legitimacy is Mengde, and the others are even less likely."

Sima Fang shook his head and said: "The Sima family has boarded the ship and has been unable to retreat for a long time!"

Sima Yi replied: "Everyone knows what the emperor is like. My father often reads the biographies of famous officials in Han Dynasties, but he relies on Cao Gong. Who knows how future generations will evaluate the Sima family a hundred years later?"

He recounted what was discussed in the hall today, and finally said: "Fierce Tiger always does things unexpectedly. He has risen rapidly in the past few years, and his attacks are extremely cruel and ruthless."

"Only by helping Meng De and the world can our Sima family take a further step!"

"At least Mr. Yuan's ambition is no less than that of Duke Cao."

"Isn't it better to retreat bravely?"

Sima Yi still shook his head and said: "Gong Cao may not be able to win for sure."

He didn't know where this inexplicable feeling of disgust came from. Maybe it was because he felt that Cao Cao was very similar to himself?
Sima Fang knew that his son had a very stubborn temper, so he said, "I came here to ask you something."

"If one day the Cao family starts a new dynasty, how will the history be written? Isn't it just a matter of a few strokes?"

Sima Yi sighed: "Since my father knows that Mr. Cao is not a generous man, why do he still walk on thin ice and live cautiously?"

"If you really want to save the Sima family, why not let the third and fourth brothers go to Youzhou to try?"

"My father almost lost his life during the last assassination attempt in Huaicheng. He is still frightened to this day. This has given rise to the desire to retreat bravely. That's why I hope you can become the leader of the Sima family."

"The future will be a time of great strife. Your eldest brother is far inferior to you. If you don't become an official, how will you support the Sima family?"

Sima Yi was silent after hearing this. Although he did not agree with Sima Fang's idea, he could not disobey the order. However, his psychology was that he was very unhappy with Cao Cao's actions.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

Sima Yi thought for a while and said: "We can make preparations first and move the Sima family to Jingzhou."

Sima Fang asked in confusion: "Jingzhou?"

"Isn't that in Liu Biao's hands?"

Sima Yi spoke out: "Gong Cao will definitely attack Jingzhou this year, and maybe he has already started to do so."

"And it is bound to win, even at the cost of giving up Sili."

Sima Fang was shocked, "How could that happen?"

"Sili has too many noble people here, can he give up on us?"

Sima Yi said firmly: "Compared with Jingzhou, the Hedong gentry are not worth mentioning. Jingzhou is rich and has many scholars. The population ratio is ten times that of Sili. It is self-evident how to choose."

"So my father should prepare early."

Sima Fang was about to speak when he saw Sima Yi's expression change and he quickly lay down on the couch, making the same squinty look as before. Sima Fangzheng was confused and confused, could this child really be sick?

The door was suddenly kicked open, and a masked man rushed in with a shining machete!

Not to mention Sima Fang was stunned, the assassin who rushed in was stunned for a moment when he saw two people in the room, but when he saw Sima Yi clearly on the bed, he immediately rushed forward a few steps, raising the sharp blade in his hand.

When Sima Fang saw this, he couldn't help but scream. When the assassin heard this, he subconsciously turned the direction of the blade and struck Sima Fang head-on!
Sima Fang was so frightened by the dazzling sword light that his face turned pale, his legs and feet became weak and he fell to the ground. He eagerly wanted to reach out to Sima Yi for help, but found that Sima Yi was motionless and was still looking at the roof blankly!

He had experienced an assassination in Huaicheng, and the bloody scene at that time made him have nightmares to this day. He saw the sharp knife on his head, but his hands and feet were cold from fear, so he had to close his eyes and wait for death.

The sharp blade fell, but it was a little deflected, grazing Sima Fang's cheek, cutting straight to the edge of the bed, and being deeply embedded.

The assassin pulled it out twice, but failed. Finally, he struggled hard and finally pulled out the knife. He looked at Sima Fang, who was paralyzed on the ground, and Sima Yi, who had been motionless. He hesitated for a moment, and looked outside the door. But there were exclamations.

After hearing this, the assassin immediately turned around and fled out the door, disappearing after a few ups and downs.

The servants of the Sima Mansion arrived in panic one after another. Sima Fang trembled and asked people to arrest the assassin. At the same time, he checked whether there were any casualties among his family members. After working for half an hour, the servants searched the Sima Mansion and confirmed The traces of the assassin's escape were reported to Sima Fang.

Sima Fang was still in shock, so he asked his servants to take precautions. After everyone left, he pointed at Sima Yi and yelled, "You traitor, do you want to see your father die?"

"These Taiping Dao assassins are back, but they won't be able to sleep in the future!"

Sima Yi got out of bed and closed the door, then explained: "Father, the assassin is here to test, it's not true."

Sima Fang was startled, "How can you see it?"

Sima Yi spoke out: "Although I didn't see it with my own eyes during the assassination in Huaicheng, the assassin died immediately after taking action. How can he hesitate today and accidentally chop it crookedly?"

"And I heard that the assassin fought with his life last time. How can he run away when he hears the sound now?"

Sima Fang's anger subsided slightly, "Even so, it's just your conjecture. What if it's a real assassin?"

Sima Yi said firmly: "The moment he walked in, I was already sure!"

"Let's not talk about the assassination in Huaicheng. If there is no similar incident, if there is an assassination, the most important thing is to kill Zhong Yao first. Why kill my father, a knight with a false title?"

"What's more, when he entered the door, he first looked at me on the bed, and he subconsciously wanted to kill me. If he was really a Taiping Dao assassin sent by Fierce Tiger, why did he kill me, a white man with an unknown reputation?"

"So the answer is ready to come out. Mr. Cao is suspicious. He has doubts about my previous illness, so he sent an assassin to test it!"

After hearing this, Sima Fang was silent for a moment, and gradually came to his senses. He sighed, "Meng De is not easy to get along with."

"I should also consider whether I should retreat bravely."

He stood up, walked to the door, and suddenly turned around, "If the assassin really came to kill me, what will happen to you?"

Sima Yi replied: "The child has no power to tie the chicken, so he can only resign himself to fate."

Sima Fang was startled, then shook his head, "No, if the knife hits me, you will probably take the opportunity to jump out of the window and escape, and then avenge me, right?"

Sima Yi laughed dryly, "It didn't happen. No one knows what will happen at that time."

Sima Fang shook his head, "I am indeed old. The Sima family depends on you."

"I don't want to be used as a condition of exchange like Cao Song. In the end, I got a corpse and my reputation was ruined."

What Sima Fang said was that after Yuan Tan died, all the corpses were obtained by Cao Jun. Yuan Xi had Cao Song sent back to Cao Cao in exchange for Yuan Tan's corpse. Cao Cao, out of filial piety, also held his nose and recognized it, but among the gentry, Among them, Cao Song became the butt of laughter, and was ridiculed in private as worth a corpse.

After Sima Fang left, Sima Yi sat up and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. On the one hand, he was frightened by the assassin, and on the other hand, he was frightened by thinking of Cao Cao's scheming.

Cao Cao is really difficult to serve. He deceived him once. Now that the situation is at a standstill, should he continue to deceive him until the day when his so-called wind paralysis is cured?
By that time, even if you don’t want to be an official, you won’t be able to do it.

Sima Yi thought about it. In his mind, becoming an official was not the most important thing. The key thing was that he didn't want to make the wrong bet.

At present, the world is fighting, and the situation is not yet clear. It has become a powerful force of Cao Cao and the fierce tiger Jiangdong clan. Among them, Jiangdong was eliminated first. In the following years or even more than ten years, the Central Plains war between Cao Cao and the fierce tiger continued. Struggle will determine the ownership of the world.

But Sima still hasn't seen that Cao Cao is sure of defeating the fierce tiger, so he still wants to wait and see. The key is, even if the fierce tiger gains power, can he bypass the Sima family, which is closely related to Cao Cao?
The news of Yuan Xi's attack on Yanmen in Bingzhou spread to Xudu soon. Cao Ying's counselors marveled at the ferocious tiger's rapid movements and at the same time became excited.

This means that it is difficult for Fierce Tiger to help Jingzhou. Even if Shouchun sends troops, as long as Wancheng is opened, Nanyang will get half of it!
Cao Cao had finally persuaded Zhang Xiu by promising huge profits. This was human nature, because for Zhang Xiu, there was really no possibility of development in Jingzhou. If he wanted to get closer, he had no choice but to seek refuge with Cao Cao.

So a few days later, Zhang Xiu surrendered to Cao's army in Wancheng, and the two sides joined forces and attacked Xinye again!

Zhang Fei, who was sitting in Xinye, heard the news and sneered: "As expected, Zhang Xiu will rebel sooner or later!"

He immediately sent a letter to Xiangyang asking for help, while refusing to defend the city. Soon after, Cao Jun arrived to attack the city. A few days later, Guan Yu came with his army and raided Cao Jun who was besieging Xinye. The Battle of Xinye broke out.

(End of this chapter)