Wei Ni

No matter how unhappy he was, Xia Houhui still ate something casually and then hurriedly rode towards Luoyang City.

Wang Yuanji was also very considerate and asked Sun Lou, the steward, and Zhang Li, the retinue, to go together.

Because it was almost noon at this time, deducting the time for rushing and communicating with each other, the fastest time for Xia Houhui to meet the emperor Cao Rui would be Shenshi.

In this way, it was impossible for him to return before the gates of Luoyang City were locked at dusk.

Therefore, Sun Lou and Zhang Li were sent together to tell Xia Houhui what had happened in Jiawubao and in the court and outside the country in the past few months when they stayed at the small house in Luoyang, so as not to offend him unintentionally when he was in trouble or met with others. Got people.

The imperial city of the capital is located, at the feet of the emperor~
There is no shortage of powerful people, and there is no shortage of people who are always calculating and opportunistic in order to get ahead.

Forbidden in the palace, Chonghua apse.

The Emperor Cao Rui, who had returned from attending court today, had already changed his clothes and was leaning on the side couch with his eyes closed. He also held a leather bag of grape wine in his hand and took a sip from time to time.

There were no eunuchs in the huge hall, no ministers who accompanied him on a daily basis, and even the favored Cao Zhao was not around.

Only a strong general was sitting in front of him on his knees, bowing his head slightly and saying something respectfully.

He spoke very slowly and in a low voice, and kept talking to himself, as if the emperor would continue talking endlessly if he remained silent.

Emperor Cao Rui seemed to be asleep.

Not only did his breathing slow down, but even the hand holding the wine bag stopped shaking.

But if someone is around, you will find that his drooped eyelids and eyebrows occasionally twitch slightly.

And if Xia Houhui is also in this hall, he will find that the strong and chattering general is General Li Pi, who is affiliated with Qin Lang's Hussar Battalion and who followed him to attack Macheng earlier. It was also the general who was captured by Qin Lang. Send, lead 300 cavalry to escort Cao Shuang, who is the first to return with Kirby Neng's head.

In fact, General Li Pi was summoned privately by Emperor Cao Rui a few days ago.

But just this morning, Qin Lang went to the temple to record his merits for the soldiers of the Northern Expedition to Xianbei. Emperor Cao Rui summoned him again after he came down from the court.

This time, he was not asked to recount the planning of the war and the course of the fierce battle.

Instead, let him explain in detail what happened after Xia Houhui was dissatisfied with Qin Lang's dispatch and angrily told the Youzhou Jingqi, the Eastern Xianbei Rangers who were attached to the Wei State, and the Baima Yi Cong after they were expelled.

"Before the attack, Leopard Cavalry General led Le Sima to make a bet with the backbone general. After the war, the backbone general took his hundred-refined sword."

"After the sneak attack was successful, Le Sima wanted to pursue it, but the backbone general ordered him not to drive for a long time on the grounds that he did not want too many casualties among the soldiers. He also said that 'if he recovered dozens of arrows, he would be able to escape'."

"The general Xiaoqi wanted to lure Xie Guini and others north to attack Pingcheng, so he ordered the backbone general to go east to block the bandit chief's return. The backbone general's expression did not change when he received the order, but he stopped alone by the Sanggan River and remained silent for a long time."

"Going north to the Dongyang River Pass Road in Macheng, the backbone general used Le Sima to supervise the generals. He led the Baima Yi to attack the Karasuma tribe from the west, and returned with cattle, sheep, horses and property. The backbone general took two good horses and oxen All the sheep and wealth are given to Gongsun Baima."

"Although the backbone general drove Gongsun Baima away, he did not remember to blame them. When returning from Ma City, our soldiers returned with hundreds of cattle and horses. When they arrived at the Xialuo County camp, the backbone general took horses, twenty, and three cattle. The command of the ten entrusted camp guards was transferred to Gongsun Baima."

"After the thief chief Kirby Neng was crowned, the backbone general led us back to the camp to pay the order and return the troops. There was no argument with the knight general, and they were not happy to congratulate each other. They were just calm with each other."

"Before the last general returned, the ruthless Tian Taishou took the time to meet with the key general, but no one knew what he said."

"Your Majesty, I have told you everything I know."

At this point, Li Pi will bow and prostrate himself on the ground, waiting for Emperor Cao Rui to ask questions about some unclear details.

But Cao Rui had no intention of asking.

Without even opening her eyes, she just said "hmm" and waved him away.

He was not surprised by this.

As a school official who lives in the dark, you only need to tell your superior everything you know, and you don't have to speculate on your superiors' intentions and don't reveal your opinions rashly. This is the way to protect yourself.

In fact, he did the right thing.

Because no one can figure out what Emperor Cao Rui is thinking at this moment——

The reason why General Li Pi was called back to report was not because Cao Rui felt that Qin Lang's merits were unfair, nor did he want to learn more about the conflict or right and wrong between Xia Houhui and Qin Lang.

Yes, Cao Rui had no intention of complaining about Xia Hou Hui.

Even though Qin Lang's merit list did downplay Xia Houhui's achievements slightly and he did suppress Xia Houhui during the war, Cao Rui felt that it was due to Qin Lang's own character.

When the army set off to the north, he privately told Qin Lang to be optimistic about Xia Houhui and not to let him do anything to take credit for his own safety.

Qin Lang is the most prudent person.

Everything is done by following the rules and following orders.

In this way, it is understandable that Xia Houhui was suppressed too much.

At least in Cao Rui's view, it has not yet reached the point where he, the emperor, can intervene and reconcile.

When he recruited Li Pi again, he actually wanted to infer whether Xia Houhui's temperament had changed through some trivial things.

The motive for this incident was that the Imperial Servant's Office had already come to report it.

He never imagined that Xia Houhui, who used to be upright and dared to angrily criticize his servant Wu Zhi in the temple, would actually do such a thing as offering a horse!

Is it flattery and favor?

Or maybe he was dissatisfied with being suppressed by Qin Lang, so he wanted to use the horse sacrifice to please him and ask him to seek justice, and he no longer cared about the overall situation of the generals of the clan dying?
Neither of these results was what Cao Rui wanted to see.

Because the generals of the Wei clan were unable to continue, and the Grand Sima Cao Zhen claimed before his death that only Qin Lang and Xia Houhui might be the mainstay of the country's Qiancheng and Sheji.

Qin Lang won’t mention it. Through the fact that he did not go to congratulate Xia Houhui on his marriage last time, and that he did not make bold arrangements during the Northern Expedition to Xianbei, Emperor Cao Rui had already concluded in his heart that due to his temperament, he could no longer make progress.

But Xia Houhui is different.

First, because he is still young, he still has the possibility of polishing.

Another is that he is passionate about serving the country.

Not only did Tao outdo others, but what was even more rare and valuable was that he had the courage to speak out about the current ills and rectify the accumulated ills of the society, instead of just drifting with the tide like others, and doing everything to protect himself.

Therefore, Emperor Cao Rui had great expectations for Xia Houhui.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui's act of sacrificing the horse also made him greatly disappointed and felt disappointed: Xiahou Hui's pheasant power actually became as eager as the lucky minister, and he had the intention of flattering his superiors?
After being the founder of Qiao Pei, is it necessary to flatter someone if you want to advance your official career?

As long as he has the ambition to serve the country and demonstrates his extraordinary talents, how can he, the emperor, be stingy about his official position and power?

With such an angry thought, Emperor Cao Rui felt unhappy since the Imperial Servant came to report yesterday.

Half disappointed, half annoyed.

He felt that his full expectations and generous respect for Xia Houhui were all wrong.

Maybe time can dilute the emotion.

Or perhaps he was unwilling to admit that he had misjudged the person. After one night, Emperor Cao Rui felt that it was unfair to dismiss Xia Houhui just by offering a horse.

At least he must be summoned to the palace, and it is not too late to test him face to face before making a final decision.

Maybe Xiahou Zhiquan, who had a strong temperament, acted like this out of anger when he suddenly encountered injustice?
How can we improve things so much if we know our mistakes?
Ugh.
hope so.

There are internal shortcomings and external disobedience, but it is true that the clan can be chosen by the governor and the descendants of Qiao Pei can develop talents.

Shaking the leather wine bag in his hand slightly, Emperor Cao Rui took a sip of the grape wine. Feeling the sweet, sour and astringent taste in his mouth, he couldn't help but sigh quietly in his heart.

After a while, he abandoned it to one side, stood up and went to the desk to read through the piles of papers.

There has been a lot of business going on in various states and counties recently.

For example, the number of autumn harvests in various counties and counties, the winter clothing reports of the frontier fortresses and frontline guards of Shu and Wu, and the performance reports of state and county bureaucracies that have not yet reached the end of the year, etc. In addition, after the victory of the Northern Expedition to Xianbei, the aftermath of the rewards for meritorious soldiers and the post-war recruitment and resettlement of the Hulu tribe outside the Great Wall are extremely trivial and complicated.

Just the administration in the east hall in the morning was endless.

In particular, after Cao Rui listened to the advice that the court should not have "full-time" power, he weakened the power of Zhongshu Sheng and Shangshutai, and also made himself busier in disguise.

The most direct manifestation is that it has been half a month since he took his close ministers to have banquets and have fun as before.

I do not know how long it has been.

Cao Rui, who had been busy for a while without any distractions, got up and walked around to relieve the boredom of sitting for a long time.

When he reached the gate of the palace, he couldn't help but raise his head to look at the sky, and waved to the emissary who was waiting not far away, "I'm going to Sima Menzhao to be a soldier on duty. Lead to this palace.”

"only."

The attendant bowed to accept the order, slowly stepped back for a few steps, then turned around and trotted away in a hurry.

But he didn't expect that he had just left the Chonghua back hall when another attendant came from the other side and loudly announced at the entrance of the hall, "Your Majesty, the backbone general is knocking on the door."

Emperor Cao Rui, who also asked Fang to go back and sit down in front of the case, was slightly stunned when he heard this.

"Call."

In response, he had no intention of signing the government anymore, so he picked up the leather wine bag and leaned on the side couch.

After taking a few sips, he seemed to remember something again. He got up and went to the document to search for a while, and pulled out the table on which Qin Lang recorded the merits of his soldiers.

When I was young, Xiahou Hui arrived.

After the eunuch reported the matter, he took off his shoes and entered the palace, bowed his head and said, "I, General Zhongjian Hui, pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"No need, take a seat."

The emperor Cao Rui waved his hand, smiled and scolded, "The pheasant power has returned to the capital, but he is returning home instead of coming to have an audience. This is the way to serve the emperor!"

"Hui is terrified."

Xia Houhui, who had just sat down, couldn't help but get up again and apologize.

His posture was adequate, but there was no sign of apology on his face.

And Cao Rui was just joking, not really offended.

Seeing this, he smiled and cursed "Shu Zi", and then pointed to the statement that had been placed in front of his seat, "This is the performance of the Qin, Yuan and Ming Dynasties in recording the achievements of the soldiers. The princes in the temple have not yet made a conclusion. It just so happens that the pheasant has the right to record the merits of the soldiers today." When I return to Luoyang, I will take a look at it together. If you have any objections or feel inappropriate, please tell me for my reference. "

"only."

Xia Houhui responded respectfully, picked up the statement and read ten lines, then put it down immediately and said calmly, "Your Majesty, Hui has no objections, and I secretly believe that there is nothing to criticize in this statement."

Uh?
Hearing this, Cao Rui, who was leaning on the couch and paying attention to the changes in his expression from the corner of his eyes, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly. When he sat up straight, there was already a hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth, "What is said here should not be spread beyond the four ears. I ask again, does what Pheasant Quan say come from the bottom of his heart?”

"Reply to Your Majesty, Hui is not lying."

Without thinking, Xia Houhui answered loudly again. (End of chapter)