After being named the crown prince, Cao Pi was able to get what he wanted after years of hard work, so he was inevitably a little proud.

After returning home, his uncontrollable excitement finally burst out. He ignored his identity and hugged Xin Pi's neck in front of Wu Zhi and Jia Kui and said in tears:

"My dear, do you know how happy I am now?"

Wu Zhi, who had the same concerns as Sima Yi, persuaded Cao Pi that the more he had to restrain himself:

"Although Your Highness has been made the crown prince, this does not mean that you can sit firmly. I think if you have any major mistakes in the future, the King of Wei can still destroy you at any time."

Although Wu Zhi's words were unpleasant, they were telling the truth after all. Xinpi and Jia Kui also advised Cao Pi to restrain themselves.

After returning home, Xin Pi found that his daughter Xin Xianying, who had already married Mount Tai, had returned to his home, but he was not surprised for too long, because he soon remembered that his husband Yang Dan was recently ordered to be transferred back to Yecheng by Cao Cao and promoted from Mount Tai to Taichang, so Xin Xianying would return home with her husband to visit her.

Seeing that his father had a brilliant face and had different opinions from ordinary people since he was a child, Xin Xianying was very curious and asked:

"Has something good happened to my father?"

Xin Pi then told Xin Xianying about Cao Pi's performance after he became the crown prince. Xin Xianying sighed and said, "After becoming the crown prince, what he thought was that he would bear the heavy responsibility of the entire Cao Wei country in the future. After becoming a king, he should maintain a worry and a cautious attitude. It is too late to be sad for this. How can he show such joy? In this way, how can the future of Wei last for a long time?"

While sighing that Xin Xianying had such insight, Xin Bi immediately looked at the uninhabited courtyard, and then whispered to her: "You must not say such words in the future, otherwise it may cause unnecessary trouble."

But Xin Xianying didn't care about this at all: "Don't worry, my father, the prince is busy secretly glading, so how can I pay attention to what I, an unknown woman, are talking about."

"You... have become someone else's wife, and they are still like a willful girl."

Xinpi stretched out his finger and gently tapped Xinpi's forehead and smiled:

"By the way, did you bring Jin'er back this time?"

"Well, Jin'er is now accompanying her mother."

Speaking of Yang Dan, Xinpi asked by the way:

"Have you not returned from the Prime Minister's Mansion yet?"

Xin Xianying nodded:

"This time we came back from Mount Tai with our brother and sister-in-law. I was about to talk to my father about this. My brother also received a transfer order to serve as the prefect of Shangdang, but they had no place to stay in Yecheng. It would be inconvenient if they lived in the inn, so I hope my father would take them to our house to stay for a while. After all, Jin'er, Fa'er, Huiyu and Cheng'er are no longer separated."

"Are you referring to sheep?"

As soon as he heard the name Xinpi felt it was familiar, and soon he reacted:

"I heard that this person is outstanding in talent. At the time, Taishan was trying to refer him as a filial and honest official, but he insisted on not following him. Instead, he asked with the famous doctor Hua Tuo, why did he suddenly decide to become an official?"

Xin Xianying doesn't know much about this:

"I don't know much. After hearing that Brother Yang Wei reunited, he suddenly decided to enter the officialdom."

However, Xinpi vaguely felt that this was unusual. He knew very well how popular the Yang clan had in Yanzhou. Now Yang Dan entered Yecheng to hold an important position, and Yang Hui was going to officially join the government and participate in politics. Perhaps, all this was not as simple as a coincidence.

Just when Cao Pi set up a small banquet at home to invite the counselors who had always been giving advice to him to celebrate, Sima Yi, one of the heroes who assisted Cao Pi successfully ascended the position of crown prince, declined Cao Pi's invitation on the grounds of physical discomfort. He did not appear at the celebration banquet held by Cao Pi in private, but chose to stay at home to drink with Zhong Yu and Sima Fu.

For Sima Yi, his plan had already completed the second step, and there was still a long way to go. After putting down the wine bottle in his hand, he said to Zhong Yu and Sima Fu: "Now the foundation of Cao Wei has been solid. I think in the near future, the Cao Wei clan will completely overthrow the Han Dynasty and replace it."

Zhong Yu asked Sima Yi: "What do you mean is, will Cao Cao proclaim himself emperor?"

Sima Yi shook his head gently: "Cao Cao knows very well that he is the only one in this world who has the ability to protect the ineffective Han Dynasty, and of course he has enough ability to destroy it. If he usurped the Han Dynasty and became independent, he would not do such a thing even if he died. The person who ended the Han Dynasty in the future must be Cao Pi..."

After hearing Sima Yi say this, Zhong Yu laughed unconsciously:

"Isn't that right? Isn't it you who really should protect the Han Dynasty but are gradually destroying the Han Dynasty?"

He did not respond to Zhong Yu's "sarcastic" words, but picked up the wine bottle and raised his head to drink it all.

At this time, Sima Fu was worried about another thing, because he had been secretly protecting Zhang Chunhua, and he had actually noticed Zhang Chunhua's emotional strangeness recently, especially the Wuqi Temple where the old beggar she often took care of, there were traces of Guo Pei appearing there, so he couldn't help but wonder if there was any conspiracy in it.

Later, Sima Fu told Sima Yi about his doubts and the details of Zhang Chunhua's private contact with Guo Pei and others. After hearing this, Sima Yi was silent for a long time before he said three words to Sima Fu:

"knew..."

But Sima Fu believes that the old beggar is somewhat similar to Zhang Wang back then. He has to be more careful at this time, otherwise it is likely to cause an irreversible situation:

"Second brother, if that old beggar is really Zhang Wang of that year, then the truth of that year will inevitably be exposed. It's better to take advantage of the fact that the truth has not been completely revealed..."

“It’s too late…”

Sima Yi reached out to interrupt Sima Fu's words, and stood by the window and sighed:

"If the situation is really as you said, I think Chunhua should have known it now."

This situation was what Sima Lang and Sima Yi were most afraid of for so many years, especially after he married Zhang Chunhua, he was always worried that the dark and dirty page would be revealed at any time. In that case, not only would Zhang Chunhua not be able to accept it, but it would also cause a devastating blow to their family. It was precisely because of this that Liu She thought of this that he appointed Li Jin and Xun Yun to secretly investigate Zhang Kai's whereabouts, but unfortunately, it failed in the end.

In the end, the result that Sima Yi was most afraid of came, and he, Sima Lang and Zhang Chunhua had to face it again.

It has been more than half a year since she arrived at Juchao. During this period, Sima Lang has always taken good care of Zhang Chunhua, while Zhang Chunhua has always lived in pain and torture. On the one hand, she is troubled by the deep hatred of blood and hates Sima Lang, and on the other hand, whenever she thinks of Sima Yi and his son, she has to start hesitating.

One night, Zhang Chunhua came out to walk because she couldn't sleep. When she passed Sima Lang's tent, she accidentally found that the candlelight in the tent was still on. She wanted to go in, but when she reached the door, she began to hesitate. She stood at the door of the tent for a long time without the courage to take this step. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, Sima Lang in the tent had already noticed the figure outside the tent:

"Is it Chunhua?"

Seeing that he had been discovered, Zhang Chunhua had to turn around and lift the curtain and lean on and walk in:

"Brother, haven't you been sleeping yet so late?"

Sima Lang rolled up the bamboo slips in his hand and put them back in place. He looked up at Zhang Chunhua and smiled:

"Although the war with Eastern Wu has come to an end now, after all, tens of thousands of people are stationed here, and the dispatch of food and supplies must be carried out as usual. Naturally, my work will not be relaxed because the war has subsided."

After saying that, Sima Lang coughed twice, and then Zhang Chunhua noticed that after a long march, Sima Lang, who was already in poor health, seemed even more tired. Zhang Chunhua forgot about hatred for a moment and cared about his body as usual:

"As the governor of Yizhou and the dispatcher of the King of Wei, you don't have to deal with all the big and small matters by yourself. After all, your health is not good, so you should pay more attention to rest..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Chunhua recalled what Sima Lang had done to the Zhang family again, so his tone immediately became hesitant. Fortunately, Sima Lang seemed not to notice this, and he took off the sheet on his shoulder and smiled:

"It's really worthy of being my Sima Lang's sister, or you care about your elder brother's body..."

After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Chunhua finally decided to ask him:

"Brother...have you ever done something that makes you regret in your life..."

Sima Lang was asked by Zhang Chunhua's sudden question, and the incident of Zhang Wang's family extermination immediately appeared in his mind. Zhang Chunhua, who was sitting opposite him, was the biggest victim of the bloody incident. This made his face begin to become solemn. Wenhe's kind gaze that had been watching Zhang Chunhua couldn't help but move to the side.

After a while of silence, Sima Lang replied in a low voice:

"Yes... I did make a wrong decision back then. This decision killed many innocent people. Although it was not the result I hoped, it had nothing to do with me, and made me regret it for life..."

In the eyes of most people, Sima Lang is kind and generous, so when he was in Tangyang, Prime Minister's Mansion and Yanzhou, he had a good reputation among the local people. No matter what position he was, he was praised and had a very harmonious relationship with his colleagues. He was even more unscrupulous and loyal elder when dealing with his family. Because Sima Fang was not at home all year round and was very strict with his sons, Sima Yi and other brothers usually rely and trusted him very much on this brother.

This is the same in Zhang Chunhua's opinion. However, it is precisely because of her understanding of Sima Lang's character that he could make a lifelong mistake that he regretted for life. The only thing that happened to the Zhang family was destroyed back then...

Soon, Cao Cao's guards stationed in Juchao suffered large-scale injuries due to the sudden sweeping plague. The chief general Xiahou Dun mobilized all the military doctors from the entire army to diagnose and treat the disease. Sima Lang, as a military supervisor, personally selected doctors and delivered medicine to the soldiers regardless of his identity. He often came to the soldiers infected with the plague to encourage them, which moved many people very much.

The fatigue of a few days almost dragged down Sima Lang's body. After finishing his work, he dragged back to the tent with heavy fatigue, sat down and read a few volumes of official documents, and then fell asleep on the table.

Zhang Chunhua, who was holding the soup, saw Sima Lang who was already asleep. She thought of her innocent mother and family who died in vain, and her father Zhang Wang had suffered for many years. Her hands holding the case started to shake due to excessive force...

After gently putting down the soup, Zhang Chunhua took out a dagger from his sleeve and pulled it out of his sheath and sat opposite Sima Lang who had no resistance. Looking at Sima Lang who was lying on the table and was asleep due to fatigue, she knew very well that as long as she stabbed the dagger into his body, she could avenge her family.

Thinking of this, she slowly raised her right hand holding the dagger...

It is natural to kill people and it is also something that children must do. However, for some reason, Zhang Chunhua's hand was stalemate in the air for a long time, and he could not stab the poisonous dagger that Zhang Wang personally gave to her...

After a long time, Zhang Chunhua chose to slowly withdraw the dagger. She covered her mouth and quickly left the tent. After she ran out of the tent for a long time, Zhang Chunhua inserted the dagger heavily into the trunk and burst into tears:

"Why? Why do you treat me like this? If I had known this, it would have been better to let me die together!"

At this time, Zhang Chunhua didn't know what she had just done. Sima Lang was lying on the table clearly...

At midnight, Zhang Chunhua came to Sima Lang's tent again, and saw the candlelight still illuminating the entire tent.

This time she did not hesitate but chose to go directly into the tent:

"Brother, I'm in..."

Sima Lang, who was coughing continuously, was not busy with various official documents as usual. There were no documents on his desk, as if he was just to deliberately wait for Zhang Chunhua to arrive.

Zhang Chunhua also vaguely felt that the atmosphere seemed a little unusual, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous about this.

Seeing that Zhang Chunhua looked a little nervous, Sima Lang smiled kindly as usual, and reached out to signal her to sit down:

"Sit down, we haven't had any chance to chat well since we arrived at Juchao."

After taking the seat, Zhang Chunhua and Sima Lang remained silent for a long time. At first, the two looked at each other purely, but this atmosphere made Zhang Chunhua feel very uncomfortable and felt uncomfortable.

After a long time, the smile on Sima Lang's face slowly calmed down, and he took the initiative to speak and broke the silence:

"You probably already know?"

This question made Zhang Chunhua feel a little at a loss. She vaguely felt that what Sima Lang mentioned should be what she was thinking, not to mention that if this question was raised by Sima Lang.

Seeing Zhang Chunhua's shocked expression, Sima Lang looked weak and raised the corner of his mouth slightly with difficulty:

"Yes, what I meant was the Zhang family's destruction back then."

Zhang Chunhua has always been wondering how she should mention this matter to Sima Lang, but what she never dreamed of was that the person who took the initiative to mention this matter was Sima Lang herself...

"Your father is right. I was the one who instructed Zhang Kai to assassinate him."

Every word of Sima Lang's words seemed to hit Zhang Chunhua's head with a heavy hammer, making her feel that it was getting more and more difficult to breathe. She lowered her head and asked Sima Lang in an extremely low tone:

"Why do you have to admit it? Do you know that your current behavior will make me kill you because of hatred?"

"I know..."
To be continued...