Three Kingdoms: I, Ma Su, just want to die

Chapter 658: Changes in Yecheng
Obviously, Cao Shuang's power consolidation was not very clever, but rather very simple.

Because the emperor was still young, he drafted the imperial edict as a minister entrusted with the care of the young emperor. He forcibly kicked out a large number of officials from prominent local families in Hebei and distributed power to the children of the royal family.

Of course, influenced by the fart story of Luoshui fabricated by Ma Su, Cao Shuang did not support only his confidants as before. Instead, he looked for capable sons and daughters from the royal families in various places to serve as officials.

At the very least, you can't be a complete playboy. It's impossible to get to the top without some ability.

After all, no matter how defensive we are within the royal family, we are still one family. At this critical moment for the survival of the royal family, they are the only ones we can trust.

While distributing power to the royal family members and consolidating power, Cao Shuang also set about seizing military power in various places.

He appointed Cao Xi as the governor of Yanzhou, the general of Zhennan, and the governor of tens of thousands of troops in the south. He also appointed Xiahou Xuan to be in charge of the defense of Taihang Mountain, controlling tens of thousands of people at once. As for the Liaodong Army and the Jizhou Army, Cao Shuang even arranged all his confidants to be in them.

It doesn't require outstanding abilities, just the ability to control the military power.

After all, Cao Shuang still had some aspirations, and he still hoped to save Cao Wei from defeat. However, his series of rescue measures were a complete joke in the eyes of some people.

Soon, Cao Shuang received a report that Sima Shi, who had been in Nanpi for more than half a year in mourning for Sima Yi, had suddenly returned. He returned from Nanpi with Sima Yi's spirit tablet, and the specific reason was unknown.

This aroused Cao Shuang's vigilance. After all, Sima Shi's ability was obvious to all.

With this in mind, Cao Shuang personally led people to visit Sima Mansion. At Sima Mansion, Cao Shuang saw Sima Shi, who was wearing mourning clothes and was mourning for Sima Yi with his younger brother Sima Zhao.

"Greetings, General!" After Cao Shuang came in, Sima Shi saluted with an expressionless face, and it seemed that he did not like Cao Shuang.

This was normal. Cao Shuang had just taken away all the military power while he was in mourning. Anyone would be angry. Cao Shuang didn't care. He chatted with Sima Shi and just pretended to glance at Sima Mansion casually.

There was no problem. The entire Sima Mansion was very plain and could not hide anything. According to Cao Shuang's estimation, Sima Shi should not be able to do anything weird.

However, just as Cao Shuang was about to leave, he ran into Sima Zhao. The moment he saw Cao Shuang, Sima Zhao's expression suddenly changed slightly.

This change made Cao Shuang suspicious immediately, but soon he heard a noisy sound.

"Mingsir, that bastard Cao Shuang you just mentioned..."

A young and somewhat unruly boy followed Sima Zhao slowly, mumbling constantly. When he saw Cao Shuang, his face changed as well, and he quickly knelt down and begged for mercy from Cao Shuang.

This change of events made Cao Shuang react. He thought that you two were criticizing me just now, no wonder you were so nervous.

After understanding all this, Cao Shuang heaved a sigh of relief. After reprimanding Sima Zhao for his bad habit of casually recruiting knights, Cao Shuang left Sima's mansion.

He had a lot of things to do and really didn't have time to keep an eye on Sima Shi every day.

After Cao Shuang left, Sima Zhao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Brother...I..."

"It's okay. You just learned about our plan and haven't been mentally prepared yet. It's normal that you can't control your expression." Sima Shi shook his head and said a few words of comfort. Then he looked meaningfully at the young man behind Sima Zhao and said calmly.

"But Cao Shuang is right. You should really screen your staff."

Sima Shi also recognized the identity of this staff member under his brother's command. He was only seventeen years old and had some resemblance to Zhong Yao. It seemed that he was Zhong Hui, the youngest son left behind by Zhong Yao.

Sima Shi did not expect that this person would become Sima Zhao's staff. You know, Zhong Hui's father was forced to death by Sima Yi himself... Because of this, Sima Shi was still very wary of Zhong Hui. But Sima Zhao did not care about this, he seemed to rely on this young man very much.

At present, it seems that Zhong Hui has indeed been working loyally for Sima Zhao. If Zhong Hui had not come to the rescue at that critical moment, Cao Shuang would have noticed it.

I hope... everything is alright.

Sima Shi shook his head, his expression quickly becoming extremely serious. He looked at Sima Zhao, as if giving his final instructions.

"Brother Zhao, tonight will be the most critical moment for me to implement my plan! If this succeeds, we still have a chance to breathe. If it fails, we won't even be able to die at the hands of Ma Su!"

"I will take action at three o'clock tonight. If I fail to succeed at five o'clock, you will immediately lead your men to escape from Yecheng and go to Liaodong to find Yang Hu."

"He and I are sworn brothers. If I fail, he will protect you!"

After saying that, Sima Shi turned and went into the inner room, where a death warrior appeared and was waiting for him.

Sima Shi, like Jiang Wei, likes to keep assassins. But he is much better than Jiang Wei. In many cases, Sima Shi can even keep assassins invisible.

In the past few years, when Sima Yi was recuperating in Nanpi, all intelligence was handed over to Sima Shi. With the support of his loyal soldiers, the Sima family was able to have an intelligence network comparable to that of the School Affairs Office.

Now, Sima Shi has ordered all the death warriors in Hebei to gather together. He plans to rely on this group of death warriors to do something big.

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Late that night, in the blind spots of the Yecheng patrol team, countless figures began to move. Nearly two thousand figures in black slowly emerged from the darkness.

This group of assassins seemed to have grown out of the ground and appeared in Yecheng overnight.

At three o'clock in the morning, Sima Shi appeared in the Sima Mansion. He put on his military uniform which was hidden somewhere unknown, and gave orders with a stern face.

"All troops, listen up! Seize the arsenal!"

At Sima Shi's command, a large number of people quickly moved towards the east of the city and headed straight for the armory in Yecheng.

In any coup, the most important thing is to seize the arsenal. After all, it is equipped with weapons and equipment for the entire capital, which is the guarantee of the troops' combat effectiveness.

Only after they captured the armory could Sima Shi's two thousand warriors truly become combat-ready.

In the Gaopingling Incident in history, Sima Yi was the first to seize the Luoyang Arsenal and then completed the subsequent actions.

But this time, the problem Sima Shi faced was a bit difficult because after Ma Su's loudspeaker propaganda, Cao Shuang also attached great importance to this matter and took certain countermeasures.

To put it simply, Cao Shuang's home was inside the Yecheng Arsenal...

(End of this chapter)