Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 484 The chilly spring weather freezes the young man to death!

Xudu, as the capital of the current imperial court, has a strong New Year atmosphere as the New Year approaches. Like Qingzhou, there is also heavy snow, and even more so. Some tender branches have broken to the ground because they could not withstand the pressure of the thick snow.

The imperial palace, which should have been the place with the most festive atmosphere, had not changed at all and was no different from usual. Only in Cao Cao's Prime Minister's Mansion in a corner of the palace was the joy of the New Year filled from top to bottom.

Big fiery red lanterns were hung all over the Prime Minister's Mansion early in the morning, and the lights were kept on all night. Just like Prince Lie's Mansion, wooden plaques with the names of Shentu and Yulei were hung. Not only that, Cao Cao also sent people to find calligraphy masters to write dozens of Spring Festival couplets and posted them all over the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Cao Cao got up early in the morning and then took Dian Wei, who had arrived at the Prime Minister's Mansion early, to the depths of the palace.

At this moment, deep in the imperial palace, the bedroom of the current emperor Liu Xie was desolate and dilapidated. Not to mention the lights and decorations, there was not even any charcoal fire for heating. If it weren't for the heavy snow that reduced the cold, Liu Xie's small body would have had a hard time surviving this winter cold.

Liu Xie was sitting on his dragon bed, hugging his quilt and shivering with cold. He was wrapped in the fox coat he wore before it fell into disrepair. As he got older, the fox coat now seemed a little too small, but it was better than nothing.

Next to Liu Xie, an old eunuch was kneeling on the ground, begging bitterly.

"Your Majesty, please let me go and get some charcoal. Your dragon body cannot be frozen like this. If it is frozen, even if you cut me into pieces, it will not make up for it. I beg your Majesty."

Liu Xie's lips turned white due to the cold, but the old eunuch was already shivering all over from the cold. Even so, he still knelt stubbornly on the cold ground, kowtowed and begged uncontrollably.

"Eunuch Xing, there's no need to say more. The charcoal fire over there belongs to the Queen and the others. It has nothing to do with me. Why should I use their charcoal fire?!"

Liu Xie said with trembling lips, he knew that as long as he asked the Queen for charcoal, or if any eunuch went to ask for charcoal, the news would definitely reach Cao Cao. Liu Xie was unwilling to surrender to Cao Cao, so he was cut off from the charcoal, otherwise how could he have fallen to such a state.

"Your Majesty, I beg you, your dragon body is the most important. I would rather die than let you freeze."

After the eunuch said this, he seemed to have made up his mind.

"Your Majesty, if you insist on not letting me go, then I will have no choice but to disobey your order. When I come back with the charcoal and you are warm, you can kill me or chop me up, whatever you wish."

After saying this, the eunuch forced himself to stand up with his shaking body, bowed to Liu Xie, and walked backwards outside.

"Xing Diao Si, you dare to disobey my order. Who do you think you are? You are just a dog slave! What qualifications do you have to make decisions for me? If you dare to take another step, I will dismiss you and you will no longer have to serve me!"

Liu Xie suddenly slammed the table and stood up, cursing angrily. The old eunuch really didn't dare to move forward. He could only kneel down helplessly on the ground again, hoping that Liu Xie would change his mind.

In stark contrast to the emperor's cold and deserted bedroom is the empress's bedroom. It can be said that the empress's bedroom is the most magnificent place in the entire palace, even inferior to Cao Cao's prime minister's residence. Cao Cao naturally did not care and let his daughter do whatever she wanted.

Cao Cao brought Dian Wei to his daughter first. Before they entered the door, a palace maid went inside to report, and a eunuch shouted loudly.

"Prime Minister Cao has arrived!"

All the eunuchs and palace maids knelt down to greet them. A gorgeously dressed woman ran out of the house happily and ran all the way out the door to the yard.

"See Father."

The woman playfully bowed to Cao Cao.

"Father hasn't come to see his daughter for some time."

Cao Jie said with dissatisfaction while pouting, and Cao Cao laughed out loud.

"Hahaha, I've been busy these days, so I neglected you. I came to see you now."

"Tsk, if it wasn't New Year's Day today, you wouldn't have come today, Dad."

Cao Jie pretended to be angry and turned his back to Cao Cao.

"How could that be? Come on, go inside. It's snowing. Be careful not to catch a cold. You're just letting your father's old bones get wet in the yard."

When Cao Jie heard what Cao Cao said, he hurriedly pulled Cao Cao into the house. Dian Wei, who was holding an oil-paper umbrella behind Cao Cao, put away the umbrella and followed Cao Cao's steps into the house, but did not enter the room. Instead, he stood under the eaves and watched Cao Cao walk into the room quietly.

"Why doesn't Uncle Dian come in? It's warm inside."

Cao Jie poked his head out and asked Dian Wei outside. Dian Wei rarely smiled.

"Come in quickly, uncle is not cold, uncle wants to see the snow."

Cao Jie wanted to say something else, but then Cao Cao's voice came from inside the house.

"Your uncle Dian is in good health, don't worry about him. If he wants to come in, he can come in. If he wants to stay out, he can stay out. Just let him do whatever he wants."

After hearing what Cao Cao said, Cao Jie stuck out his tongue and ran into the house. Only Dian Wei, with a smile on his face, was left sitting under the eaves, looking at the heavy snow. The smile on his lips lingered for a long time.

Inside the house, Cao Cao sat beside the fire to keep warm. His body, which had been a little stiff from the cold outside, gradually recovered under the high temperature of the fire. Cao Jie was like a lark beside Cao Cao, excitedly telling Cao Cao about some things in the palace and the bedroom.

They were nothing more than some trivial matters, such as which guard and which palace maid fell in love with each other, the two had been meeting secretly, and today's meal was better than yesterday's. Cao Cao didn't feel annoyed. He nodded while listening to Cao Ji and would ask questions from time to time.

The two chatted for a full quarter of an hour. Cao Cao's body had been soaked by the warmth of the stove and he felt extremely comfortable. Cao Cao himself, and Cao Jie also stood up. Cao Cao suddenly asked.

"Has His Majesty come to your place during this period?"

"No, what is he doing here?"

Cao Jie was a little confused, and Cao Cao just smiled.

"Nothing, I still have some things to take care of, so I won't be here with you. Remember to come and have a reunion dinner with me in the evening, and then ask your uncle Dian to pick you up."

"Okay." Cao Jie nodded in agreement like a chick pecking at rice.

When Cao Cao walked into the yard, Cao Jie who was in the house suddenly ran out, handed Cao Cao a hand warmer, and stuffed one to Dian Wei. Then he smiled and waved to the two of them, and ran back into the house.

Looking at the warm stove in his hand, Cao Cao couldn't help but smile gently. Dian Wei felt the warmth in his hand and smiled even more. Cao Cao turned around, looked at Dian Wei, smiled and patted his shoulder.

"That's right, you have to smile more. If you keep being stiff, it's no wonder you haven't even found a wife yet."

The smile that Dian Wei had just had on his face was driven away by Cao Cao's words. Seeing this, Cao Cao raised his head and laughed, and the two of them walked towards the emperor's bedroom again.

After leaving the Queen's bedroom, the lively atmosphere just now disappeared completely, leaving only a slight chill that penetrated into the bones. Cao Cao put his hands into his sleeves, in which was the hand warmer that Cao Jie had just brought. Holding it in his hands, waves of warmth flowed from his hands into his body, so that Cao Cao, who did not have the physique of a military commander, would not be too cold in this heavy snow.

The door of Liu Xie's bedroom was wide open, creaking in the biting cold wind. Stepping over the high threshold of the door, Cao Cao couldn't help but look back at the threshold that was almost knee-high. He grinned as if he remembered something.

The palace gate was wide open, but the door of the room was tightly closed. Thick layers of paper were pasted on the door and windows, as if to keep out the cold. Cao Cao walked towards the door under the oil-paper umbrella held by Dian Wei. Without knocking, he kicked the door open.

The room, which had just accumulated a little warmth, was instantly filled with violent cold wind, and the last bit of warmth was strangled by the cold wind. Liu Xie was still sitting on the dragon bed, but he had several more layers of quilts on his body to wrap himself up for warmth. The old official who kowtowed stood up tremblingly and pointed at Cao Cao.

"Cao Cao! As the current Prime Minister, you are so disrespectful to His Majesty! What crime should you be punished for?!"

The old official dragged his body, which was only breathing its last breath, and walked in front of Cao Cao.

"In the previous imperial court, your behavior would result in the execution of all nine generations of your clan."

The old official wanted to say something else, but was kicked to the ground by Dian Wei behind Cao Cao. He was already at the end of his strength and could not withstand Dian Wei's kick. Even a strong man could not block it.

After one kick, the old official lay on the ground, breathless.

A rare look of anger appeared on Liu Xie's face.

"Prime Minister! You killed my people without my permission. You really don't respect me. Are you going to replace someone from the Liu family with this position? Or do you want to sit on the throne yourself?"

"Hahaha, Your Majesty, you are joking. I am not interested in the throne under your buttocks, and I don't plan to replace you. After all, it is too difficult to find a wise ruler like Your Majesty."

Cao Cao's face was filled with smiles, and he kept calling "Your Majesty" but his eyes were full of disdain.

Liu Xie stared at Cao Cao viciously, as if he wanted to eat him alive, but Cao Cao pretended not to see it.

"It's just a dog slave. Your Majesty, why do you have to do this? If Your Majesty is short of dog slaves, I will send you another one. Or, I can use a few pounds of charcoal to exchange for the life of this dog slave. Even if an old eunuch is skinned, tendons, bones and meat sold, he can't be exchanged for a few pounds of charcoal."

As Cao Cao spoke, he walked closer to Liu Xie. Dian Wei picked up a chair from behind and placed it where Cao Cao was standing. Cao Cao then sat opposite Liu Xie, only two steps away from him.

"Liu Xie, Liu Xie, this is not the Han Dynasty anymore. You are just a puppet of the emperor. Why do you still care so much about your reputation? Just do whatever I say. This way, we can live in harmony. I will not cut off the charcoal and food in your palace, and I can send more people to serve you. If you want palace maids, that's fine. Don't you think so? Why should we have to be like this between the emperor and his subjects?"

"Heh~"

Liu Xie smiled softly.

"Prime Minister Cao, are you still going to send me a maid? Didn't you already send your daughter to me to be my queen? According to seniority, you are still my father-in-law. Do you want me to call you Prime Minister?"

Cao Cao didn't say anything, but just threw the hand warmer in his sleeve to Liu Xie. The hand warmer fell in front of Liu Xie, but Liu Xie stubbornly didn't pick it up. Cao Cao was not surprised by Liu Xie's performance. This young emperor had already shown his differences from others very early on, and he was happy to get along with people like Liu Xie.

How boring it would be if he was just a puppet emperor who did whatever he said.

Dian Wei handed his hand warmer to Cao Cao, who took it and put it back into his sleeve without hesitation. Perhaps it was because Dian Wei had a hot temper, his hand warmer was a little hot to the touch.

"Your Majesty, this hand warmer won't last long in this freezing cold room. If Your Majesty doesn't cherish it, it will probably go out soon."

Cao Cao said with a smile, then he put his hands together in his sleeves, just sat there, no longer speaking, staring straight at Liu Xie, wanting to see if Liu Xie would compromise. Liu Xie stared at the hand warmer that was very close to him, so close that he could already feel the temperature of the hand warmer. He only needed to stretch out his hand to reach the hand warmer into his arms.

The two men were in a stalemate for more than a hundred breaths. Liu Xie finally couldn't bear it anymore. He reached out and picked up the hand warmer and put it in his quilt.

"Hahahaha, is that right, Your Majesty? Now let's talk about what happened last time."

"Prime Minister, there is no need to talk about what happened last time. I will not agree to it. How can the change of Jingzhou Mu be treated so lightly?"

After Liu Xie got the hand warmer, he felt his whole body became warm.

Cao Cao was not angry when he was rejected, but continued speaking patiently.

"Your Majesty, I know what you are planning. You just think Jingzhou is Liu Bei's territory. If you issue an edict to appoint Cheng Yu as the governor of Jingzhou, it will offend Liu Bei and make him think that you are no longer on the same page with him. Am I right, Your Majesty?"

"What territory? All under heaven belongs to the king! Jingzhou is mine, and Yuzhou is also mine!"

A nameless anger burned in Liu Xie's heart. Cao Cao's words hit the nail on the head and touched his heart. He couldn't help feeling a little flustered. As for Liu Xie's words about "All under heaven belongs to the king", Cao Cao just smiled contemptuously.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, if you don't have charcoal, you probably won't even make it through the winter, let alone the royal land? If you want to wait for Liu Bei to enter Yuzhou and welcome you back to the capital, you have to live to that time. If you can't live to that time, what's the point?"

Cao Cao's words made Liu Xie, who was originally determined, waver. He had only thought that if he held on and did not let Cao Cao succeed, he would be able to wait for Liu Bei sooner or later. Cao Cao's words reminded him that if he continued like this, how would he live until then? He was afraid that he would not even survive this winter.

Even if he survived this winter, there would still be a late spring cold snap. What should he do?

The chilly spring weather freezes the young man to death!

(End of this chapter)