At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 340: Divorce Scheme——Ma Chao Chapter

When Xiahou Dun and Cheng Yu found Cao Cao, the sky was already getting brighter.

Cao Cao hugged Xiahou Dun and cried bitterly, saying: "A wonderful talent has been captured, and I don't know whether he will live or die. It's my fault!"

Although Xiahou Dun was also worried about Xiahou Yuan's safety, he still comforted Cao Cao and said: "Wonderful talents and good people have their own destiny, don't worry, Ming Gong!"

Immediately afterwards, Cao Cao walked up to Cheng Yu and said with regret on his face: "I regret that I didn't listen to Zhong De's words, so we could have such a big defeat!"

Cheng Yu smiled bitterly and said: "The enemy is too cunning, no wonder Ming Gong, even I didn't see through this is a trick to lure the enemy."

Cao Cao sighed: "If we had been more careful, we wouldn't have been defeated like this!"

The three of them were talking about their experiences last night. When Xiahou Dun heard that it was Xu Chu who almost killed Cao Cao, he couldn't help but sigh: "I am from the same town with him. I pride myself on making friends with heroes from all over the world, but I didn't know that there are such warriors in Qiao County. It is my fault that it is used by others.”

Cao Cao was also sad and said: "Time? Fate?"

Cheng Yu said at this time: "I accidentally fell into the enemy's trick in this battle. I'm afraid it won't be easy to win again. Ming Gong might as well withdraw his troops now. It won't be too late to look for opportunities to attack Yizhou in the future!"

Cao Cao was silent for a long time, and finally he could only say helplessly: "Collect the defeated troops first, then hold on to the camp, and then evacuate at night tomorrow!"

Xiahou Dun hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "In any case, we have some friendship with Zhou Ziyi after all. I wonder if my brother can write a letter and send it to Xiangyang, asking Zhou Ziyi to release the talented person?"

Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan are cousins. In this era, this relationship is considered very close among large families.

The two of them were the face of the Xiahou family, and Xiahou Dun naturally did not want Xiahou Yuan to suffer losses in Yizhou.

Cao Cao was silent for a long time, and finally wrote a letter, and then directly sent it to Zhou Yu.

However, it is said that after Cao Cao retreated, Zhou Yu sent troops to pursue him, but he was ambushed and returned with hundreds of casualties.

When Zhou Yu was regretting that he was a little inflated, he received a letter from Cao Cao.

The letter did not contain the incompetent rage that Zhou Yu imagined. Instead, he expressed great admiration for the person who planned this drama, and even made no secret of his appreciation for Zhou Yu.

At the end, Cao Cao mentioned the past years of acquaintance with Qiao County and Zhou Qi in Xiang County, and specifically asked Zhou Yu to say hello to Zhou Qi, his old friend, on his behalf and to Xiahou Dun.

If someone who didn't know that the two sides had just experienced a life-and-death battle would read this letter from Cao Cao, they might naively think that it was a reminiscence between old friends.

Even Xu Chu, after reading the letter, couldn't help but said with some confusion: "What does Cao Mengde mean by this?"

When Zhou Yu heard this, he smiled and said: "Cao Mengde is reminding me that he has friendship with Xiahou brothers and the lord. The purpose is self-evident, that is, he hopes that I can save Xiahou Yuan's life."

Xu Chu looked at Zhou Yu nervously and asked, "What does Gong Jin plan to do with Xiahou Miaocai?"

Zhou Yu said: "Since Cao Mengde has such a friendship with the lord, I can't kill him. Why don't I imprison him temporarily and wait until I ask the lord above to make a decision?"

When Xu Chu heard this, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

To be honest, although he captured Xia Houyuan alive on the battlefield, he still cared about the friendship between the two sides.

In troubled times, anyone who can meet capable people in the same county will be regarded as a confidant, let alone Xia Houyuan from the same county.

Xu Chu would not harm Xia Houyuan's life unless he had no choice.

However, he also knew what was right and understood that Zhou Yu was the commander-in-chief of the three armies. Whether Xia Houyuan lived or died depended on how Zhou Yu dealt with it.

Fortunately, Zhou Yu doesn't seem to be planning to kill Xia Houyuan.

As if he knew what Xu Chu was thinking, Zhou Yu said: "General, don't worry about Xia Houyuan. Now that Cao Mengde has withdrawn his troops, the crisis in Yizhou has been resolved. Only Ma Chao and Yu Jin are left to defend Baishui Pass."

"It is said that Ma Chao is unstoppable. If you want to capture him, you will probably have to trouble the general."

Facing Xu Chu, Zhou Yu did not dare to call him by his first name, so he could only address him as "general".

Xu Chu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Commander, I will surely capture Ma Chao!"

Zhou Yu shook his head and said: "Of course Ma Chao wants to win, but the time has not come yet."

Having said this, Zhou Yu looked towards the north with eyes full of expectation.

But he said that after Cao Cao led his troops back to Guanzhong, he just arrived in Chang'an when he saw Cao Ren hurried over and said, "Brother, has Ma Teng and his family escaped?"

Cao Cao couldn't help being shocked and asked: "Why did you escape?"

Cao Ren took out a torn and spliced ​​letter from his arms, handed it to Cao Cao, and said, "This is the letter found in Ma Teng's mansion."

Cao Cao hurriedly took the letter. After reading the contents, he couldn't help but became furious and cursed: "You, Ma Chao, dare to betray me!"

It turned out that the letter was written by Ma Chao, but the content was to persuade Ma Teng to take advantage of Cao Cao's southern expedition to find an opportunity to lead his family to escape.

Just because Ma Chao told Ma Teng that after he was besieged Baishui Pass, because Guo Jia died because of him, he was worried that Cao Cao would not tolerate the incident after the incident, and since he was indeed desperate, he simply killed Yu Jin and surrendered to Yizhou.

Ma Chao then listened to Zhou Jizhi's words and deliberately wrote a letter to trick Cao Cao into sending troops. In order to strengthen Cao Cao's determination to send troops, he even obtained Yu Jin's handwriting and asked him to imitate it.

Ma Chao was worried that the fire could not be contained, and his family would be liquidated by the angry Cao Cao after the incident, so he persuaded Ma Teng and others to take the opportunity to escape.

It's just that I don't know whether it was because of the war that the letter was not delivered in time, or because Ma Teng never found a chance to escape, so it was delayed until now.

After reading the letter, Cao Cao was so angry that he gritted his teeth and said: "I was still a little confused before, how could my filial piety and talent be lost in the hands of the Qiang people? I never thought that I was actually implicated by Ma Chao."

"This man is really hateful. Not only did he kill a great talent like Feng Xiao, he also killed the loyal Yu Wenze, and even tricked him into sending troops to Yangping Pass to fall into a trap!"

"If you don't kill this person, you will be lonely and heartbroken!"

"Give me the order to pursue Ma Teng and his family at all costs, life or death!"

Cao Ren took the order and left, and the whole Guanzhong began to be turbulent.

Although Ma Teng escaped by chance, Cao Cao's informants were almost everywhere in the pass. Without any clearance documents, they only escaped for three days before being found by Cao Ren and his troops.

Ma Teng knew that if he was caught by Cao's army, he would definitely die, which aroused the ferocity in his bones. After killing more than a dozen Cao's soldiers, he was finally hacked to death with random knives, and his entire family was robbed.

Cao Cao looked at the corpses of Ma Teng's family, but he couldn't help but frown, feeling that something was not right.

He suddenly seemed to remember something, and hurriedly went back and took out two letters from Ma Chao and read them carefully. After a long time, he finally saw some differences between them.

Although this difference is almost invisible to ordinary people, it has reached the point where it can be confused with the real thing.

But once Cao Cao became suspicious, he finally found a very subtle difference.

Although the letter persuading Cao Cao to send troops to Yangping Pass was written by Ma Chao, it did not mean that the other party had surrendered. It is very likely that even Ma Chao was deceived by Zhang Song.

Yu Jin's letters are evidence.

Yu Jin has followed Cao Cao for a long time, and his loyalty is absolutely unquestionable, and his handwriting has been authenticated after identification.

If Ma Chao was really around, Yu Jin would never have written a letter to deceive Cao Cao.

The reason why Cao Cao didn't think of this at first was because he was stunned by the successive blows. So after seeing the forged letter, he immediately found an outlet. In addition, Ma Teng had already escaped, so he ordered to kill Wu Wu. The order of amnesty.

After seeing the bodies of Ma Teng and others, Cao Cao couldn't help but calm down. He immediately shouted and cried bitterly: "I fell into the treacherous plot of the thieves, and I regret killing Zhongliang!"

After saying this, Cao Cao urgently ordered Cao Renhou to bury Ma Teng's family.

White water off.

The Yizhou Army had completely surrounded Baishui Pass, but they only surrounded it but did not attack.

Due to the cutoff in transportation, Ma Chao and Yu Jin didn't know much about the outside world.

Zhang Song had provided intelligence before, but how true was the information Zhang Song provided?

After Zhou Yu and Xu Chu led the army to surround Baishui Pass, even Zhang Song's false information could not reach Baishui Pass.

Inside Baishui Pass, Ma Chao was anxious.

He looked at Zhang Song in front of him and asked sternly: "Didn't Duke Cao already raise troops to attack Yangping Pass? Why did Zhou Yu have time to lead troops to besiege Baishui Pass? Could it be that Duke Cao had already been defeated?"

Zhang Song also looked a little unhappy and said: "Logically speaking, the plan should be foolproof. Even if Duke Cao cannot conquer Yangping Pass, he will not be defeated or retreat."

"If the above two situations occur, there may be only one reason left."

Ma Chao asked hurriedly: "What's the reason?"

Zhang Song took a deep breath, and finally said hesitantly: "Unless, unless the Hanzhong Yang family who contacted me is pretending to surrender."

Ma Chao stood stunned on the spot after hearing this, and then asked: "Isn't it said that there is a big feud between the Hanzhong Yang family and Zhou Yu? Why did the other party choose to help Zhou Yu?"

Zhang Song frowned and said: "Logically speaking, it is indeed difficult for both parties to trust each other. However, many aristocratic families put family interests first. If the conditions given by Zhou Yu are tempting enough, the Hanzhong Yang family may not help Zhou Yu again."

Ma Chao looked gloomy and said: "If this is true, then won't we be trapped and die in the city?"

Zhang Song sighed dejectedly, then bowed to Ma Chao and said: "If that day comes, please ask the general to behead Zhang Song first, and then disfigure me beyond recognition so that others cannot recognize me."

Ma Chao asked with some confusion: "Why?"

Zhang Song smiled bitterly and said: "I secretly took refuge with the general. If the Yizhou Army finds out, I'm afraid my family will be implicated."

"Beheading and disfiguring, even if there are rumors in the army, if he can't get conclusive evidence, at least he won't take action against Zhang."

After listening to Zhang Song's words, Ma Chao, who was still doubtful at first, comforted him: "Zi Qiao doesn't need to be so pessimistic. Things may still turn around."

Facing the siege of the Yizhou Army, although the other side did not launch an attack, the atmosphere in the city was still very solemn. Ma Chao and Yu Jin did not dare to be careless, and they took turns defending the city.

On this day, Zhang Song suddenly found Ma Chao in a hurry, and then said with a face full of grief and anger: "General, it's bad, I just got the news that your father and his whole family were killed by Cao Cao!"

Ma Chao suddenly heard this and felt his head buzzing. He picked up Zhang Song with red eyes and shouted sternly: "Say it again!"

Zhang Song also had a face full of sorrow and said: "I finally received a secret message from the family, and then I learned of such sad news. I would like to ask the general to express my condolences."

Ma Chao's eyes widened and he asked, "Why did Cao Cao kill my whole family?"

Zhang Song said: "General, please put me down first!"

Ma Chao then forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and then let Zhang Song go.

Zhang Song took a deep breath and said: "According to the message from my brother, the reason why Cao Cao was defeated was that the Yang family of Hanzhong secretly colluded with Zhou Yu, and then designed to defeat the Guanzhong army, and even captured Xiahou Miaocai alive."

"After Cao Gong was defeated, he was furious, thinking that the general and Zhou Yu were plotting against him. In addition, Yu Wenze mentioned in a letter to Cao Gong that Guo Fengxiao died because of the general's reckless behavior. Cao Gong thought that the general secretly surrendered out of fear of crime. After arriving at Yizhou, the anger of the defeat was poured out on your father and the general’s family.”

"boom!"

When Ma Chao heard this, he was furious. He suddenly drew his sword and cut off the case, and then gnashed his teeth and cursed: "Cao thief, traitor, evil thief, dog thief!"

"I will eat your flesh alive!"

It wasn't until Ma Chao finished venting that Zhang Song said worriedly: "Now there is a siege by Yizhou troops outside the city, and the general cannot be trusted by Cao Cao, but what should we do?"

Ma Chao hated Cao Cao so much that he immediately looked at Zhang Song and said, "I want to surrender to Chu. What does Zi Qiao think?"

Zhang Song was secretly happy in his heart, but on the surface he said with some hesitation: "Generals can seek refuge with Chu, but if they know what I have done, how can they survive?"

Ma Chao comforted him and said, "Ziqiao, please don't worry. What happened to you in the city is very secret. As long as those who know about it are kept secret, and you sneak into the army and surrender with me, I don't think the Yizhou Army will find out."

Zhang Song pondered for a long time, then let out a long sigh and said: "The general and I are in love with each other, and we are willing to die together!"

"It's just that if the general wants to defect to Yizhou, I'm afraid Yu Wenze won't agree."

When Ma Chao heard this, he thought of Yu Jin's secret complaint to Cao Cao. A cold light flashed in his eyes and he said: "That man is Cao Cao's confidant. I will just kill him and use Yu Jin's head as a pledge of surrender!"

After saying this, Ma Chao didn't waste any time, immediately ordered all his guards, and actually broke into the forbidden room.

Yu Jin couldn't help but feel his heart sinking when he saw Ma Chao coming with all his troops, and he hurriedly asked, "What's the reason for Meng Qi coming here?"

Ma Chao shouted sharply: "I want to take your head!"

After speaking, Ma Chao directly pointed his gun towards Yu Jin to kill him.

Yu Jin was horrified, quickly drew his sword to block, and shouted loudly: "Why is Meng Qi like this?"

However, Ma Chao refused to continue talking nonsense. He took action with anger and became more and more aggressive. In addition, the sword in Yu Jin's hand was not a commonly used weapon, making him no match for Ma Chao.

The two fought for twenty rounds, but Ma Chao stabbed Yu Jin in the wrist with a spear. Taking advantage of the opponent's weapon falling to the ground, the spear pierced Yu Jin's throat.

Ma Chao beheaded Yu Jin, led his troops to kill Yu Jin's personal guards, and then sent people out of the city to ask Zhou Yu to surrender.

(End of this chapter)