After nightfall, a sound came from the door of Zhao Rui and Cao Hong's bedroom. Zhao Rui, who was extremely alert, immediately realized that someone was standing at the door, so she immediately lifted the quilt and sat up, took out the dagger placed beside the pillow and looked at the door.

Cao Hong was also awakened by the movement at the door and asked loudly:

"Who?"

The door was pushed open with a creaking sound. Zhao Rui found that the figure of the person standing at the door was very familiar. After he spoke, she immediately confirmed the identity of the person:

"I really didn't expect that the dignified General of the Cavalry, Duyang Hou, would end up in a state of being under someone else's roof..."

After hearing the sarcastic words from the visitors, Cao Hong was suddenly angry and embarrassed. He wanted to get up to clean up the man standing at the door, but Zhao Rui held him down with one hand. The opposite to Cao Hong was that Zhao Rui seemed extremely calm:

"Yes, I really don't know why a big man like you should live under someone else's house like us?"

After saying that, Zhao Rui got out of the bed and walked to the candlestick to light the candle on it. The room was illuminated by the candlelight in an instant. Everything broke free from the blinding of the darkness, of course, including Huan Fan, who was standing at the door facing Zhao Rui's eyes:

"You said, am I right? 'Your Highness'..."

Huan Fan leaned against the door frame and sneered with his hands in his chest:

"I underestimate you. The reason why you took the initiative to take care of Cao Shuang before was to make Cao Zhen owe you a favor and deal with this critical time, right?"

Zhao Rui smiled and said, "This time my husband and I can escape and die. I'm afraid you will play a certain role behind the scenes, right? Why? Doesn't it fit your plan if I bring a big man like Cao Zhen to our side?"

Huan Fan closed his eyes and shook his head:

"No, it should be said that on the contrary, Sima Yi has now secretly formed a marriage alliance with Xiahou Shang, and secretly contacted the Grand Marshal Zhong Yao and Sikong Wang Lang. I think it will be when Cao Rui ascends the throne and he gradually surfaces."

"So the only person who can suppress him is General Cao Zhen, but..."

The strong hatred light revealed in Zhao Rui's eyes clearly stated that she did not want to see Sima Yi rise:

"I will never let him look up the day..."

As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Huan Fan's face that no one could guess at what she was thinking:

"I don't think you want to..."

Three days later, Cao Pi received a hidden report about the engagement relationship between Xiahou Shang and Sima Yi. He had been thinking about Cao Hong for a while, so he forgot Sima Yi.

When he saw the contents of the secret report, his suspicion and precautions for Sima Yi were burning again.

One day, while Cao Zhen and Xiahou Shang accompanied Cao Pi to hunt in the suburbs of Luoyang, Cao Pi pretended to accidentally mention Xiahou Hui's marriage to Xiahou Shang: "Boren, let Xiahou Hui be about to be in trouble, right?"

Xiahou still didn't know why Cao Pi suddenly asked this. He thought it was just a gossip, so he answered according to fact:

"Your Majesty, my daughter is in her year of dancing and she is not yet ready to go."

Cao Pi, who held the iron bow in his hand, nodded after hearing this. He pulled out a feather arrow from the quiver next to his horse and put it on the iron bow. He looked at the running elk but was not in a hurry to pull the string and shoot it out, but suddenly said to Xiahou Shang:

"In two years, I will be over and over again. I wonder if Boren has found her favorite husband?"

This question made it difficult for Xiahou Shang to answer for a while. He knew very well that Cao Cao and Cao Pi and his son were both suspicious by nature. He and Sima Yi had already decided to engage in children with their children, with the purpose of consolidating their future status. If Cao Pi knew about this, he might suspect that he had formed a clique for personal gain.

Just as he was hesitating and wondering how to deal with it, Cao Pi let go of the bowstring, and with a "whoosh", the feather arrow shot at the elk quickly and accurately shot through its neck.

The frightened Xiahou Shang quickly cheered:

"Your Majesty's magic arrow!"

But Cao Pi was not distracted by Xiahou Shang's intentional change of topic. He turned his head and asked Xiahou Shang with a smile:

"You haven't answered me yet. Have you ever found a husband you like for Linghan?"

On the surface, Cao Pi seemed to be caring about the family affairs of the ministers, but for some reason, Xiahou Shang felt a bone-broken chill from Cao Pi's eyes. Paper cannot contain the fire, and it is not more normal for the children of ministers to marry. It is considered to be a concealment by himself. Once Cao Pi has suspicion, he will send someone to investigate. At that time, it will aggravate Cao Pi's suspicion.

Thinking of this, Xiahou Shang had to answer:

"Report to Your Majesty, I have betrothed my little daughter to the eldest son of Xiangxianghou."

"Waiting for the countryside..."

Cao Pi smacked his lips twice and recalled:

"Oh...it's Sima Yi. I heard that his eldest son Sima Shi is talented and can be literary and martial at a young age. He will definitely do something in the future. He is indeed a good candidate for husband, but..."

When Cao Pi said this, he changed his tone and the smile on his face instantly disappeared:

"Aren't you afraid, Boren?"

"Your Majesty...My..."

Seeing that Cao Pi was already displeased, Xiahou Shang hurriedly got off the horse and bowed to apologize, but before he could get off the horse, Cao Pi laughed again:

"A man like Sima Shi who is both talented and beautiful, will not be allowed to break through the threshold of the village guard's palace to propose marriage in the future. If you act so quickly, aren't you afraid that those people will resent you?"

It turned out that Cao Pi was really teasing himself about this, which made Xiahou Shang burst into a cold sweat, but Cao Pi laughed uncontrollably. Seeing this, Xiahou Shang had to smile awkwardly. On the surface, the matter passed calmly.

However, Xiahou Shang did not expect that Cao Pi had already felt strong dissatisfaction in his heart because of his in-laws with Sima Yi, and his suspicion of Sima Yi increased to the point where he was quicker after killing.

After returning to the palace, Cao Pi secretly sent an envoy to meet Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou in Ancheng, and asked him to start secretly assassinating Sima Yi immediately, because Cao Pi believed that Jia Kui was the only one who was absolutely loyal to him from beginning to end.

But what Cao Pi did not expect was that at this time, the followers around him had already been secretly taken to him by Cao Rui for his own use during the two southern expeditions of Sun Quan, so he naturally could not hide the fact that he sent an envoy.

After learning the content of the letter, Cao Rui felt deeply that Sima Yi was in danger at this time. In order to avoid being suspicious of Cao Pi, he asked the messenger who had been bribed to Ancheng as Cao Pi told him. However, he secretly sent an envoy to Xuchang overnight to inform Sima Yi and asked him to act as a precaution.

From Luoyang to Ancheng, you have to pass through Xuchang, so Cao Pi's envoy naturally could not keep up with the speed of Cao Rui's envoy.

Sima Yi, who received the letter from the envoy, also realized that the danger was approaching. Niu Jin looked very panicked after reading Cao Rui's handwritten letter: "Now Cao Pi has aspired to kill you, and your path will probably be difficult to walk next. What are your plans?"

However, the danger that Sima Yi expected did not come from Cao Pi:

"Since he became emperor, Cao Pi never wanted to get rid of me, but the time has not come yet. Now Zhuge Liang from Shu Han and Lu Xun from Eastern Wu have both taken charge of military and political power. Cao Pi has no other candidate to check and balance them now. Even if he lost patience due to the Xiahou Shang incident, he would probably soon realize this and change his mind."

Sure enough, shortly after Cao Pi sent an envoy, he immediately thought of himself as a ruthless character like Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun, who was one of the "Five Abundances" in his arms. At present, he could not find a candidate who could replace Sima Yi, so he immediately sent a quick horse to recover the envoy to Ancheng and decided not to move Sima Yi for the time being.

Cao Rui quickly sent someone to inform Sima Yi. Niu Jin admired his keen eyes that saw through Cao Pi's nature:

"I really didn't expect that Cao Zihuan, as the king of a country, was proficient in strategy, was still played with you in the end. I think Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun never dreamed that their existence became your life-saving talisman."

"Playing between applause?"

Sima Yi sneered:

"Don't underestimate Cao Pi. He gives up killing me for the time being. It doesn't mean he will watch me gradually grow bigger. Moreover, through this time, I finally confirmed one thing: the matter between me and Xiahou Shang is very secretive. Xiahou Shang is not a stupid person. He will definitely not take the initiative to make the marriage public. It seems... that person should be in Luoyang now..."

"That person?"

Niu Jin quickly remembered that the person Sima Yi mentioned was "Liu Ji". Sima Yi turned his head and looked at his face and said:

"You have followed him for so many years, have you ever seen his face?"

After carefully recalling the past, Niu Jin shook his head and said:

"If I say anything, I'm afraid I'll be only when I was young. Later, he only left the Guo Huai brothers by his side. I, Xun Chen, Li Meng, Dong Bai and others were all sent to various places. All contacts with him were indirect, and basically the Guo Huai brothers and Sima Fu conveyed his orders."

After hearing Niu Jin's words, Sima Yi nodded:

"It seems that at least you will not be in danger at the moment."

But Niu Jin always cared about why Sima Yi was worried about "Liu Ji", and Sima Yi explained:

"Although I'm not in Luoyang now, I have a strong premonition: he is in Luoyang... He is hiding in a corner, even lurking behind a certain character. This time, Cao Hong and Zhao Rui were able to escape so easily, and the matter between Xiahou Shang and me was exposed so quickly, I don't think it has anything to do with him..."

The development of facts once again confirmed Sima Yi's expectations. Although Cao Pi did not touch Sima Yi's idea afterwards, he focused his target on another person, that is, Xiahou Shang, who was married to him.

In addition to her official family, Xiahou Shang also had a very favored concubine. Xiahou Shang sometimes even loved her more than Cao, but Cao never complained about it.

However, after Cao Pi found out about this, he suddenly ordered the concubine of Xiahou Shang to be strangled on this ground, and at the same time he also scolded Xiahou Shang very harshly and said:

"We Cao clan members cannot be bullied at will!"

On the surface, Cao Pi's words were arguing for the Cao family, but as a king of a country, he would interfere in the family affairs of ministers and even kill him. His real intentions were memorable.

This incident hit Xiahou Shang a big blow, and he began to feel fear of Cao Pi. Excessive tension and panic made him seriously ill, and even after he recovered, he became in a state of mental confusion for a long time.

After Sima Yi, who was far away in Xuchang, learned about this, he knew very well that Cao Pi was undoubtedly shaking the mountain and shocking the tiger. The words he said to Xiahou Shang were actually warning himself:
Chapter completed!