In 233 AD (the first year of Qinglong of Wei), Gongsun Yuan, the prefect of Liaodong who was intended to seize Liaodong and proclaim himself king, sent an envoy to cross the sea to Jianye under the urging of great ambitions, expressing his willingness to bow to the Wu Kingdom, and at the same time, he asked Sun Quan to support himself from the outside when he raised his army, and then he attacked Cao Wei from the southeast and northeast respectively.

Considering that Gongsun Yuan was paying attention to restraining Cao Wei in Liaodong, which was beneficial to his strategic interests, Sun Quan agreed to his request. In order to show his preference and encouragement, Sun Quan planned to appoint Gongsun Yuan as King of Yan, and at the same time sent Zhang Mi, Xu Yan and others to Liaodong to meet Gongsun Yuan with a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry.

At this time, some people in the court with keen eyes, such as the new prime minister Gu Yong, the assistant general Zhang Zhao, and others believed that Gongsun Yuan was a capricious person and would definitely fail in the future. What's more, Liaodong is too far from Wu. If it really starts to fight, it will be difficult to support each other. Instead, it will arouse the hostility and vigilance of Wei. Therefore, they tried their best to prevent Sun Quan from surrendering Gongsun Yuan.

But their good advice ultimately failed to change his mind. He did not order the general Lu Xun, who was in charge of the military power of the Wu Kingdom, to immediately plan the northern expedition. When Gongsun Yuan raised his troops, he immediately rushed north to Jiangxia and Hefei again.

Gu Yong, Zhang Zhao and others originally believed that with Lu Xun's wisdom, he would definitely see that Sun Quan's move was a big mistake and would follow them to stop him. But what they never expected was that Lu Xun did not express any objection, and he also readily accepted Sun Quan's order to prepare for war.

After retreating from the court, Zhang Zhao, who was upright, was very dissatisfied with Lu Xun. He and Gu Yong stopped Lu Xun who was about to leave outside the palace gate:

"I thought the Supreme General was a wise minister who dared to speak out and speak out for the emperor. Now it seems that his status is getting higher and higher, and people are becoming more and more afraid of things. Even though I know it is wrong, as long as it is the intention of His Majesty, I will do it without hesitation. Now the general leader in military power in the whole country is such a person. I am really worried about the future of Wu."

Faced with Zhang Zhao's deliberate sarcasm, Lu Xun did not defend his behavior, but took two steps back and saluted Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong respectfully, and left on his own.

Later, Gu Yong thought about it and thought that Lu Xun was not a villain who was good at flattering, but he didn't understand why he agreed to Sun Quan accept Gongsun Yuan. Unable to understand, he had to visit the General's Mansion in person to ask him for advice.

Lu Xun seemed to have known that Gu Yong would come for a long time, so he actually asked to prepare tea in advance, which surprised Gu Yong.

After taking the seat, Gu Yong smiled and said:

"Since the general has guessed that the original meeting has come in advance, he should also guess the purpose of the original appearance, right?"

Lu Xun, who was walking on the pudding, was not in a hurry to answer Gu Yong. He lowered his head and saw that the tea was cooked, so he poured tea for Gu Yong and brought it to him, and introduced with great interest:

"This is the Mengshan nectar sent by Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu Kingdom, some time ago. I heard that it was the royal family from Yizhou in the first year of the Western Han Dynasty (53 BC). The tea tastes mellow and fresh. Please give it a brief appreciation."

At this time, Gu Yong was worried and did not feel like he was still in the mood to taste tea. He directly told Lu Xun what he wanted:

"It's time for my senior general, are you really planning to deploy troops in Jingzhou and Ruxu, ready to start a war against Cao Wei?"

Lu Xun picked up the teacup and sniffed it under his nose, then smiled indifferently:

"When Your Majesty read the edict, aren't you here too? Why ask me?"

Seeing that he was so tepid, Gu Yong couldn't sit still:

"Although Gongsun Yuan had been in power in Liaodong for many years, Liaodong was a peninsula, with small land, limited supplies, and scarce military sources. If Cao Wei launched an army to suppress the rebellion, Gongsun Yuan would definitely be defeated. We have been attacking Jingzhou and Hefei for many years, and we cannot be taken overnight. At that time, after Cao Wei quelled the Liaodong Rebellion, he would turn his blade and attack us with all his strength!"

"Gu Xiang's analysis is very comprehensive..."

After listening to Gu Yong's analysis, Lu Xun couldn't help laughing. Gu Yong saw that he was teasing him, so he wanted to leave in anger, but Lu Xun stood up and stopped him:

"Gu Xiang is a little restless, just a joke. Of course, I know very well that Gongsun Yuan is just a ants who cannot become a climate. In fact, his Majesty sent Zhou He to visit Liaodong as an envoy, but was attacked by Tian Yu and Cao Wei had already been secretly wary of him. Gongsun Yuan has always been greedy and greedy. While trying to win over us, he was also afraid of Cao Wei's revenge. I am afraid that the envoys who went to enthrone him this time would be executed by him. Then he took the head of the envoy we sent to express his loyalty to Cao Rui. In this way, he not only obtained a large amount of supplies and treasures, but he could also rest assured Cao Rui, but he had a good plan..."

Lu Xun's words were all about the point, but this was also what Gu Yong was most confused about:

"Since you see through everything, why not speak out in front of His Majesty?"

Facing Gu Yong's question, Lu Xun walked to the door with his hands behind his back and replied meaningfully:

"Since his majesty became emperor, his previous lords have been no longer our previous lords, and what we thought about is not something that we ministers can interfere at will. Since he made a decision, no one can change it. If you insist on giving advice and stopping it, it would be like stretching your neck and hitting it on the butcher knife..."

In addition, Lu Xun also had his own thoughts on the secret arrangement of troops in Jiangxia and Hefei:

"What's more, I did not deploy the military formation in accordance with His Majesty's orders, but another person..."

Sun Quan sent a large number of fleets north to Liaodong and was soon discovered by the Wei army along the coast. This incident quickly reached Cao Rui, who was located in the Luoyang Royal Palace. In order to prevent Gongsun Yuan from rising up and causing trouble at any time, Cao Rui urgently ordered the governor of Youzhou to mobilize troops in western Liaoning to be ready to deal with the possible military operations of Gongsun Yuan at any time.

Faced with the large-scale actions of the Wei army in western Liaoning, Gongsun Yuan, who was not fully prepared for rebellion, felt very panicked, but at this time the envoy of the Eastern Wu had arrived in Xiangping and carried a large amount of food, grass, materials, gold, silver and jewelry. Gongsun Yuan was very envious of this, but he did not want to break up with the Cao Wei court in a hurry. After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to temporarily abandon Sun Quan and move back to Cao Wei, and chopped off all the heads of Zhang Mi and Xu Yan, and sent them back to Luoyang to express his loyalty to Cao Rui.

After seeing Zhang Mi and Xu Yan's heads and Gongsun Yuan's letter, Cao Rui put the issue in the court to discuss it publicly.

At this time, the court divided the question of how to deal with Gongsun Yuan into three factions, two of which were attacking and admonishing, and the other faction was silent and waiting for changes, including Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Huan Fan and others.

What Cao Rui wanted to hear the most was their opinions. Seeing that they did not take the initiative to speak, Cao Rui took the initiative to ask Sima Yi and said:

"What is the general's opinion on this?"

Seeing that Cao Rui called out and asked for his opinion, Sima Yi stood up and bowed and replied:

"Report to Your Majesty, Gongsun Yuan's intention to rebel has been revealed, and it is inevitable to attack. However, the relationship between Liaodong and the Xianbei, Wuhuan, Goguryeo, Ma Chen and other forces is complicated. The court is not clear about his details at the moment. If we send troops to attack rashly, it is not good for us. Therefore, the empress suggests that we should focus on appeasement on the surface, give Gongsun Yuan a well-known official position to paralyze him, and then secretly send a detailed scout to go deep into Liaodong to investigate the detailed information, and then point to Liaodong when the time is ripe. In this way, Gongsun Yuan can be captured in one battle..."

This suggestion was supported by many people in the court, and Cao Shuang also seized the opportunity and secretly said to Cao Rui:

"If you want to send a seizure to Liaodong, then this person must have outstanding talents. I believe that Sima Zhao, the son of the general, can bear this important task. Besides, Sima Zhao's treason has not yet reached a conclusion. Since Sima Yi proposed to send a seizure to Liaodong to spy on the enemy's situation, I believe that this is the best opportunity for Sima Zhao to prove himself..."

Cao Shuang did not know about Huan Fan in advance. For him, he didn't believe that Sima Zhao would really help them, and he even disagreed with Huan Fan's strategy to use Sima Zhao to deal with Sima Yi. Therefore, he wanted to use this opportunity to send Sima Zhaoyuan to Liaodong to spy on the enemy situation. If he died in Liaodong, it would have nothing to do with Cao Shuang...

Shortly after Cao Shuang left, Wang Su, who came to see the report, actually suggested that Sima Zhao take on this important task. Cao Rui thought it was very interesting, so he agreed to the suggestion and immediately issued a secret edict ordering Sima Zhao to go to Liaodong soon.

Huan Fan quickly found out about this matter. He was disgusted by Cao Shuang's frequent disobedience to listen to him. Cao Shuang's intention to suggest Sima Zhao's infiltration into Liaodong to spy on intelligence could not be hidden from him:

"Cao Shuang wants to kill someone with a knife. This person is too selfish and narrow-minded, and cannot be compared with his father..."

After hearing this, Linghu Yu asked Huan Fan:

"Then do we need to send people to protect Sima Zhao along the way?"

Although Sima Zhao's role in Huan Fan is still unknown, from Huan Fan's standpoint, he does not want Sima Zhao to have an accident, but he did not think about sending people to protect him secretly:

"We don't need to waste our thoughts. Sima and his team will naturally consider this issue. If we send someone to protect them secretly, it will arouse Sima Yi's suspicion..."

At the same time, Huan Fan also expressed great interest in Wang Su's movements:

"It seems that Lan Linghou has become irreconcilable with the Sima family, and he actually wants to kill Sima Zhao..."

When Wang Su took the carriage back to the door, he found that Cao Shuang's carriage had already parked there.

Out of curiosity and etiquette, Wang Su walked off the carriage and came to Cao Shuang to salute him:

"The lower official has met the general, but I wonder if there is anything important to the general when he comes to the humble house?"

Since learning that Wang Su and the Sima family had broken down, Cao Shuang has intentionally won him over. The two hit it off. This time, the suggestions they offered to Cao Rui were planned in advance, and Cao Shuang was deeply satisfied with this:

"It's nothing, it's just that I came here to express some feelings for Lanling Hou's help today."

After saying that, he waved his hand, and the servant who was holding the wooden box opened the lid. As a result, what appeared in front of Wang Su was all shining with various gold, silver and jewelry. At the same time, Cao Shuang also stepped forward and said to Wang Su:

"I hope that Lanling Hou will continue to work together with this Hou in the future and fight against the deadly enemies."

But Wang Su was not moved at all when facing these gold, silver and treasures:

"The reason I will assist you this time is because Sima Yi and his son bullyed my daughter, not for your wishes. I will not participate in any of the matters of the Sima family in the future. Please forgive me..."

The reason why Cao Shuang approached Wang Su and grabbed him was really because she wanted to use him to deal with the Sima family:

"Of course, after Sima Zhao was buried in Liaodong, we can start to deal with Sima Yi and Sima Shi directly..."

At this moment, Wang Yuanji, who went to visit her mother's grave, also walked to the door of her house. When she saw Wang Su and Cao Shuang having a good chat, she couldn't help but feel strange, so she leaned forward and hid in secret and eavesdropped. As a result, she actually heard the conspiracy of Wang Su and Cao Shuang to conspire to kill Sima Zhao.

When she thought that Sima Zhao would be in danger, Wang Yuanji immediately threw away the bamboo basket and hoe used to eradicate the weeds on the grave. She turned around and hurriedly ran to Wuyang Hou Mansion, wanting to tell Sima Zhao about the urgent news. However, before Wang Yuanji could run far, two people holding wooden sticks suddenly blocked behind her and quickly subdued her...

After the sack on her head was taken off, Wang Yuanji suddenly realized that the surrounding environment was so familiar. It was not until she saw her father Wang Su sitting on the collapse and looking at her calmly that Wang Yuanji realized that this was her boudoir...

"Father, what do you mean?"

Soon Wang Yuanji guessed that the two people holding wooden sticks should be servants of Lanling Marquis' Mansion. At the same time, she had been noticed by Wang Su for eavesdropping on the dialogue between Cao Shuang and Wang Su.

Facing his daughter's stern tone, Wang Su seemed extremely calm: "I still want to ask you, where did you want to go just now? Do you want to tell Sima Zhao what you eavesdropped?"

Seeing that Wang Su had already spoken out, Wang Yuanji also asked bluntly:

"Didn't you usually hate Cao Shuang the most? Why are you now colluding with him to frame Sima Zhao?"

"shut up!"

When Wang Su heard that his biological daughter actually used the derogatory term "collusion" to describe him, he was immediately furious. He stood up and shouted Wang Yuanji and said:

"If Sima Yi had not done this for you, he would have done it for you. If Sima Yi had not used a trick to deceive me into betrothing you to his son, and later, seeing that his status was stable, he would have asked his son to regret the marriage. If Sima Zhao had not been killed, it would be difficult to vent my hatred. Otherwise, how could a father take the risk of joining someone like Cao Shuang?"

But what Wang Yuanji thought about at this time was not her reputation and reputation, but Sima Zhao's life safety. She knelt on the ground and cried and begged Wang Su to stop the horse:

"Father, the marriage regret has nothing to do with Sima Zhao, it is all decided by my daughter. My daughter begs you to let him go..."

Looking down at Wang Yuanji, who had always been strong in character, actually begged him for a man who abandoned him. Wang Su could see that she had a real relationship with Sima Zhao and was deeply trapped in it. Although this made him feel very unbearable, he did not shake his original thoughts at all, so he refused Wang Yuanji's bitter plea in a tough tone:

"All this was caused by Sima Zhao. I can't turn back even if my father has reached this point. If you want to hate him, hate him!"

After saying that, Wang Su got up and walked directly by Wang Yuanji who was kneeling on the ground. When he left the door, he ordered his servants to say:

"From now on, you must take good care of the lady. You can't let her leave the room half a step, otherwise you will only ask!"

Since it was very confidential to go to Liaodong to spy on the enemy situation, Cao Rui did not publish the edict openly, but asked the eunuch to take the edict written by him to read it to Wuyang Hou Mansion.

When everyone heard Cao Rui's order to set off for the secret mission in Liaodong, everyone felt very sudden. Only Sima Zhao's expression was as plain as water, and even raised his lips and smiled.

Because of this an edict issued by Emperor Cao Rui of Wei, Sima Yi had to accept it respectfully:

"I thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"

As soon as the eunuch left, Zhang Chunhua, who was helped up by Sima Shi, immediately expressed concern about letting Sima Zhao go to the bitter and cold land in Liaodong:

"I heard that Gongsun Yuan was secretly preparing military pay for the rebellion. Isn't it that if Zhao'er goes to die? Besides, he was seriously injured and has not fully recovered. This journey is long and full of difficulties. Does Your Majesty have no other suitable candidate?"

Sima Yi, who held the imperial edict in his hand, felt suddenly and helpless about this:

"If Your Majesty feels that there is room for maneuver in this matter, he will not issue an edict directly without discussing it with me..."

"But..."

Although Zhang Chunhua, who had once lived in Bailang Mountain with Sima Yi, had never been to Liaodong directly, she knew how dangerous and complicated the dangerous situation and geographical environment there were. She knew very well. Sima Zhao had just been rescued from Yizhou for not long, and wanted him to go to Liaodong thousands of miles away. She looked at Sima Zhao, who had no expression on his face, and she felt extremely uncomfortable when she thought about it:

"How can you stand it..."
To be continued...