Wei Ni

The crescent moon is like a hook, and the stars are bright.

In the small pavilion in the courtyard of Wuyang Hou's residence, Sima Master, who was newly married, was pouring and drinking under the moonlight.

He is nearly 30 years old, his beard is still light, his face is as cheerful as ever, but his eyes are condensed, and even the leisurely calmness of holding a cup and drinking slowly cannot hide his burning determination.

"Brother, I have so much free time~"

Sima Zhao, who came over at some point, saw him and couldn't help but praise him.

Just when he sat down on the side, he couldn't help pouring out his bitterness, "Brother, I don't want to socialize and have banquets with that He Yingkao. He is too interested in fame and gain, and he is too lenient on the outside and taboo on the inside. I don't like him. Also. Cao Changsi seems to be a well-mannered person, but he always has a bossy attitude and behaves like a playboy. He is definitely not a good friend. "

"Haha~"

With a chuckle, Master Sima's eyes softened as his younger brother arrived, and he said in a comforting tone, "If you don't like me, then just let it go."

"what?"

Sima Zhao also made a low sound of surprise, and then his expression became tangled.

Because he just came here to complain.

It would be better if the elder brother could tell him the reason why he was sent to make contact with Cao Zhao when he showed goodwill to him.

Yes, he originally didn't want to have any interaction with Cao Zhao and others.

Keeping a low profile and not associating with powerful people is the consistent style of the Sima family. It has been formed since the beginning of grandfather Sima Fang and when uncle Sima Lang took charge of the family.

"Then, will it affect my brother's arrangements?"

After struggling for a moment, Sima Zhao saw that his brother showed no sign of speaking again, and finally couldn't help but ask.

"Affects me?"

Unexpectedly, Sima Shi smiled even more when he heard this, and showed an interested expression, "Tell me, Master, what arrangements do I have?"

I do not know!
But it was you who put me in contact with Cao Zhao and He Zeng~
Opening his mouth, Sima Zhao muttered for a moment, then lowered his head in frustration and said, "My brother is stupid."

In front of his brother, who was highly praised by his father for his decisiveness and scheming, Sima Zhao had always been obedient, let alone arguing with him.

Therefore, even when he lowered his head, he didn't see a flash of disappointment in Master Sima's eyes.

But he hid it very well, and his tone was still earnest, "Sir, please don't worry. I just saw that you are getting older and will soon enter an official career, so I asked you to have more contact with your peers in the court first." , I have gained experience in dealing with people, such as Cao Changsi, He Yingkao and others. I generally know the nature of them. I just want you to associate with them. I just want you to know that in the official career, even if your temperament is not compatible, you should treat them kindly and not make others resentful. And become enemies."

"I see."

Suddenly, Sima Zhao suddenly raised his head and said happily, "Brother, I know what to do. Considering that my father is in a high position now, I must not be too close to others or have any interests with them."

"Well. It's night, let's go and have a rest."

"only."

After a while, Master Sima was left sitting alone in the pavilion.

The difference is that now, as he drinks slowly, he looks a little more lonely.

The temperament of his middle brother is not similar to that of his father, but more like that of his late uncle Sima Lang.

To put it bluntly, they are not sensitive enough to power.

Therefore, there are some things that he can only think about and control by himself.

Just like letting Sima Zhao accept the goodwill between He Zeng and Cao Zhao, he would be invited to go out and have banquets from time to time, giving others the illusion that they were friendly to each other.

But no one knew that the purpose of Master Sima's arrangement was just to muddy the water and add fuel to the fire.

In order to prevent his father Sima Yi from being criticized in the future, and also to preserve the Sima family.

The so-called is to be prepared for danger in times of peace.

His father has become extremely humane.

The family of the previous dynasty had two thousand stones, a veteran of the third generation of Cao Wei, and a minister of the late emperor Gu Ming. After the current emperor came to the throne, he became a general and a prime minister!
When the sun is at midpoint, it will be waning, and when the moon is waxing, it will be eclipsing. After reaching the pinnacle of human affairs, you have to start thinking about how to deal with the "downhill road".

In particular, after the prime minister of the Shu Kingdom who suffocated the Wei monarchs and ministers died of illness, Emperor Cao Rui changed his father's official position from general to Taiwei.

The fear is self-evident.

Of course, Master Sima didn't think that Cao Rui was going to attack his father now.

But there are some things that always need to be prepared in advance.

After all, it is an indisputable fact that the generals of the Wei clan are declining and the governor Qiao Pei is in decline. Moreover, Sikong Chenqun, who was also the late emperor's minister of Gu Ming, has also begun to fall ill from time to time in recent years.
Inevitably, his father is the well-deserved hope of the imperial court!

The previous servant Wu Zhi had foreseen this, so he took the initiative to slander Sikong Chenqun and praise his father in the temple.

Kings from ancient times have been mean and ungrateful.

Not to mention that today's emperor is too smart, and he has the sagacity of Emperor Wu and the ruthlessness of Emperor Wen.

Therefore, Master Sima, who was the eldest son and was given the power to head the family, had no choice but to consider this issue after returning to the capital Luoyang years ago. The best way is, of course, to imitate the self-stigmatization of the former Han Dynasty Xiao He.

However, the Hanoi Sima family's family background and his father's humble behavior for many years cannot be imitated, otherwise there would be no three hundred taels of silver here.

If the inside is immutable, focus on the outside.

It just so happened that the emperor Cao Rui suddenly divided the power of the Luoyang Central Army and made Xia Houhui the protective general and was not controlled by the central leader Xia Houxian. This allowed Sima Division to see an opportunity.

He had long known about the peace talks between Cao Shuang, Qin Lang and Xia Houxian.

The reason was that his father had a really good personal relationship with Jiang Ji.

After Jiang Ji was awarded the title of Protector General of Xia Houhui, he wrote a letter to his father, talking about the Beimang Mountain Manor, lamenting that the Wei clan and Qiao Pei's descendants did not want to live in harmony and help each other, but did such a thing. There was a struggle for power and profit; and the emperor Cao Rui did not mediate, and actually divided the power of the Chinese army.

But what Jiang Ji never expected was that his worries about the Wei clan's actions would actually become an opportunity for Sima Shi to see the light of day - he would make the struggle for power between the Wei clan and Qiao Pei's descendants more intense. !
Longer lasting!
Because the internal fighting among these people was fierce, it would make Emperor Cao Rui exhausted mentally and physically, and naturally he would not have the energy to turn his attention to his father and the Sima family. Furthermore, the Qiao Pei descendants of the Wei clan did not work together to defend the Wei Dynasty, and there was no one who could take charge of their own affairs. How could Cao Rui focus on his father?
Therefore, with this kind of thinking in mind, Master Sima did two things in recent days.

One is to bring his younger brother Sima Zhao into contact with Cao Zhao.

The purpose was to make Cao Zhaoye think he was powerful and participate in the internal fighting among the Qiao Pei disciples of the clan as soon as possible.

Don't look at it. Cao Zhao seems to have little power within the Chinese army and cannot compete with Xia Houhui or Xia Houxian, but he also has great potential.

Not to mention that his younger brother Cao Zuan is serving in Huainan. The mere fact that he is not involved in internal fighting is enough for the emperor Cao Rui to look high on him and not hesitate to grant him power in the future.

Second, he "unintentionally" leaked some information to Wu Ying.

Master Sima, who deposed his sister for immorality, could not see that Wu Ying had resentment in his heart!

Pretending not to know, he still laughed and had banquets with him, but he was just treating him as a chess piece.

Thinking about it, he should have gone to contact Xiahou Zhiquan a long time ago, right?

I just don’t know if he has reached a consensus with Zhi Quan, has Zh Quan become wary, and is he more and more eager to control power?

That should be it.

After drinking the clear wine in the cup, Master Sima turned his gaze to the crescent moon.

While giving the answer in my heart, I suddenly felt that I was like the moon, standing on the outside, overlooking the world, watching with cold eyes the internal fighting of the Qiao Pei disciples of the clan.

Whoever is in power will cause more trouble; whoever is in decline, give him some help.

Anyway, they cannot be given a chance to stop before their own crisis is resolved.

Even when necessary, he didn't mind getting involved.

From the person watching the chessboard and controlling the chess pieces, he transformed into a chess piece charging into the battle.

Because he is very optimistic about Xia Houhui.

I feel that chess pieces such as Xia Houxian, Qin Lang, Cao Shuang, and Cao Zhao may not be Xia Houhui's opponents.

Or perhaps, because of the exchange of letters in the early years, he had a vague feeling that Xia Houhui, who seemed to be struggling on the chessboard, was also a player sitting on the side of the chessboard.

Moreover, he also knew that he and Xia Houhui would inevitably have conflicts in the future, and there would eventually be a game between them.

Emperor Cao Rui promoted Xiahou Hui, and his father was the hope of the court. The conflict between monarchy and ministerial power, didn't it foretell that he and Xiahou Hui would confront each other~
This kind of confrontation has nothing to do with grudges or right and wrong.

Therefore, he was looking forward to it.

Life is lonely, and it is always good to have a rival.

After all, opponents are essentially "friends" in another sense.

No?
This awareness is also the reason why Master Sima is a little disappointed in his younger brother Sima Zhao.

When Xia Houhui was in the Ming Dynasty, he had the emperor Cao Rui to rely on him for his support; but after he was deposed, he had his family and his father's support in the secret world. It seemed that they were almost the same, but Xia Houhui had already begun to gather his confidants and find people who share the same path.

Such as introducing Ding Mi as a staff member, becoming friendly with Chen Tai, etc.

And what about him in recent years?

He only recommended Shi Bao to his father, Sima Yi.

He understood that his father's disciples, former officials, and henchmen were not necessarily willing to become his die-hard loyalists.

The only people he can control now are his brothers and in-laws.

However, his younger brother Sima Zhao did not have the foresight to see the wind coming from Qingping's end.

Maybe I should go further?
For example, if he entered the game earlier, when Xia Houxian, Qin Lang, Cao Zhao and many other chess pieces were defeated by Xia Houhui, they suddenly "discovered" that they could continue to fight against Xia Houhui with the help of the Sima family?
Um.
It's better to do it later.

Let’s wait and see what happens and wait until the situation becomes clearer.

Throwing the unfinished wine on the stone table, Master Sima got up and went back to his house to rest.

In the Bochang Tinghou Mansion, Xia Houhui, who had been discussing with Ding Mi for a long time but could not find out the reason, was not depressed at all, but was inexplicably happy. Because he is going to be a father! (End of chapter)