Section 9: Questions

Mrs. Huan, who looked much thinner than last year, was very happy to see Cao Chong, who had grown taller and stronger. She wiped tears while pulling her son and smiling. Cao Yu and Cao hid behind her mother, leaned out to see Cao Chong, who had been separated for only a year but had changed a lot, but did not lean forward. They felt that although the brother was still smiling like before, there was an aura of fear in his heart on his body, which made them dare not approach.

"Mother, this is Xiao Yu'er." Cao Chong couldn't bear Mrs. Huan's intimacy, and waved his hand to call Cai Ji who had been following him carefully. Cai Ji blushed and walked quickly to Mrs. Huan, bowing slowly: "I've seen my mother."

"Okay, okay, okay." Mrs. Huan quickly reached out to help Cai Ji, looked up and down for a long time, and showed a satisfied smile: "My son Cang Shu is lucky to have such a handsome wife."

Cai Ji, who had been worried about how his ugly daughter-in-law met her parents-in-law, saw that Mrs. Huan had a gentle tone and had a gentle tone. After a long time of gratitude, she finally let go. Seeing Cao Chong wink at her with a smile on his face, she understood in her heart and immediately brought out all the sweet words that had been prepared for a long time. She made Mrs. Huan smile and took out the carefully prepared gifts, especially the toys carefully made by Liu Cong, and handed them to her two brothers-in-law. She couldn't stop Cao Yu and Cao Ju's happiness. She immediately gave up the somewhat strange brother and chatted around the beautiful sister-in-law.

"Xiao Yu'er, you have a conversation with your mother for a while. I'll go see my father." Cao Chong was secretly happy when he saw that he had become an outsider and said hello and retreated. Pang Tong and Zhang Song were waiting outside, but when they saw Cao Chong coming out, they hurriedly followed him.

"Shi Yuan, what do you think?" Cao Chong asked slowly as he walked towards Cao Cao's residence. Before he went in to see his mother, he had already told Pang Tong and Zhang Song the important case that Cao Pi said. He hoped to know their thoughts before going to see Cao Cao. If Cao Cao talked about this, he would be mentally prepared to not say the wrong thing.

"General, whether the Ma brothers really rebel or want to rebel, they are afraid that the result will be one. Something will happen in Guanzhong." Pang Tong said in short.

"Inevitably?" Cao Chong stopped and turned to look at Pang Tong.

"Inevitably. It cannot be avoided." Zhang Song continued, "If this matter is true, the Ma brothers would have spread the news about two months ago. If it is fake... Then, the Ma family will not be able to rebel."

"You mean... someone is forcing the Ma family to rebel?" Cao Chong frowned and stretched out his hand to scratch the end of his hair.

"It is not ruled out that this possibility." Zhang Song glanced around and whispered: "Young Master, don't stop, go to explore the Prime Minister's words first. Song immediately arranges someone to inquire. I will repay the young master in the evening."

Cao Chong nodded. He knew that Zhang Song had a long stretch of his hand, so it was impossible not to arrange a few ears and ears in Yecheng. Now that something big has happened in Yecheng, he naturally has to go to them to find out the situation.

"Okay. Go, be careful and let Ziqian arrange two people who are familiar with Yecheng to go with you." Cao Chong said, and waved to Dianman to arrange two tiger soldiers to protect Zhang Song. Zhang Song bowed gratitude and followed the two tiger soldiers hurriedly.

"Shi Yuan, if Guanzhong is in chaos, can we draw our hands?" Cao Chong turned his head and said to Pang Tong. Pang Tong smiled: "General, don't be anxious. We can't draw our hands, and there is no need to take action now. General, please go to see the Prime Minister first, and it will not be too late to make a decision after Yongnian finds out the exact news."

Cao Chong was a little confused. It was a big deal to attack Guanzhong. Why did Pang Tong take it so seriously? But one thing he said was right. Jingzhou is impossible to withdraw troops to attack Guanzhong now. He had just begun the new policy of Jingzhou. Sun Quan and Liu Bei were staring at each other on the river. It was no longer easy to be able to save Jingzhou at this time. If you want to transfer troops from Jingzhou, you may not be worth the loss. He could not have been busy for a year, and he saw that Jingzhou would be ripe this year. However, Liu Bei or Sun Quan picked the fruit.

But the terrain of Guanzhong is important. It is also the location of Xijing in the Han Dynasty, and it has been more than a year or two for the people of Xiliang. The contribution of taking Guanzhong is no less than Jingzhou, so how could he give this opportunity to others easily? Cao Chong, while guessing Pang Tong's intention, walked into Cao Cao's courtyard.

Cao Cao was looking at a document under the window under the lamp. When he saw Cao Chong coming in, he looked away from the document and smiled: "Cang Shu, I'm back, come and sit down."

"Thank you, father." Cao Chong did not dare to be negligent and worshiped Cao Cao.

"Okay, there are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be so polite." Cao Cao smiled with satisfaction, and turned around to help Cao Chong up and looked at him carefully, nodding happily: "Well, after fighting in the past six months, people have indeed become much more calm. It seems that the same thing is true. If you don't sharpen your sword, you won't be able to practice it. How about it? Do you have any experience recently? Tell me about it to my father."

Cao Chong raised his head and didn't say anything, but looked at Cao Cao first. Seeing Cao Cao a little confused, he opened his arms and looked at himself, and laughed and said, "What, is there anything wrong with your father?"

"Haha, my father is energetic and moves freely. It seems that his injury is gone. My son can finally let go of his heart." Cao Chong looked joyful, and a kind of happiness that emerged from his heart appeared on his face.

"Hahaha, can an iron hairpin take my life? I have been fighting for my father for many years and have been injured countless times. What is this injury? I need to worry so much." Although Cao Cao said without any attention, he smiled with relief in his eyebrows. He smiled for a moment, and his laughter gradually lowered. He asked for a moment, "Is she... okay?"

"Very good, I live in Xiangyang very safely." Cao Chong also lowered his head and said softly: "This time her sister escaped from Jiangdong and fell ill in Xiangyang. She took care of her and came to Yecheng all the way, and now she lives with Mrs. Xiao Qiao."

"Oh." Cao Cao responded dispensable, but didn't say anything. It took him a long time to ask: "Where is her son, have you followed?"

"I'm still in Xiangyang, studying in Yixue with Yang Kongqu's son." Cao Chong looked at Cao Cao nervously, not knowing what he would think when he heard the news. Da Qiao left her son in Xiangyang, obviously indicating that she would return to Xiangyang and did not intend to stay in Yecheng. Of course, she didn't think about seeing him. Cao Chong stopped and explained: "I heard that she was afraid of the hardships of the journey, so she couldn't bear to let her son suffer, and she didn't want to delay Sun Shao's studies..."

A trace of disappointment flashed in Cao Cao's eyes. He didn't say anything for a long time. He picked up an iron hairpin placed on the desk and stroked it. It was the one left by Da Qiao on him. The iron hairpin was snowy and had no dust at all. It seemed as if he was being held in his hand every day.

"This hairpin... please give it back to her on my behalf. Keep some advice in Xiangyang and find a suitable place for her. Don't let her down." Cao Cao stared at the iron hairpin for a long time, sighed softly, and put the iron hairpin into Cao Chong's hand.

Cao Chong was a little stunned and held the subway hairpin with Cao Cao's body temperature remaining in a daze.

"Okay, that's what we do." Cao Cao waved his hand. He never looked at the iron hairpin again, and the slight sadness in his tone disappeared in the wave of his hand: "Zhou Gongjin, what are you going to do?"

"I want to hear what my father is going to do."

If Cao Cao looked at Cao Chong with a deep meaning, he said earnestly: "Cang Shu, it is right to attach importance to talents, but there is a choice. Zhou Gong is very serious. If he can join your command, he will naturally be like a tiger, but you should also think about it. This talent is like a sword. If it is not done properly, it will hurt himself. Zhou Yuanzhi's affairs cannot happen again, do you know?"

Cao Chong felt a stern. He heard from Cao Cao's voice that Cao Cao was dissatisfied with his way of dealing with Zhou Yu, and he nodded quickly.

"As Sun Bofu's confidant, Zhou Gongjin plays a great role in Jiangdong. I heard that before Sun Bofu's death, Zhang Zibu and Zhou Gongjin, if you catch him now, it will make Sun Zhongmou turn against him, which has a great impact on Jiangdong." Cao Cao stroked his beard and said in contemplation: "I'm afraid it's not appropriate to kill him at this time, so I'd better keep his life temporarily. It's better to give him a high position without authority to observe his heart."

Cao Chong secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was most afraid that Cao Cao would let him cut Zhou Yu with one knife, wouldn’t it be useless to waste so much effort? Now that Cao Cao’s idea was exactly the same as him. Then he felt relieved and hurriedly said: “What my father said is, just do what his father said, but the one who offered prisoners was afraid that it would not work.”

"That's Zihuan's fooling around, Ignore him." Cao Cao waved his hand with some dissatisfaction and looked at him disdain: "It's not too late to capture Sun Zhongmou and offer prisoners one day. What's the point of a general?"

Cao Chong was overjoyed and nodded quickly to say yes.

"Liu Xuande has four counties, what are you going to do with this matter?" Cao Cao thought for a while and asked again.

Cao Chong looked at Cao Cao's inquiry expression and thought for a moment, saying, "Liu Xuande has been running around for half his life. Now that he has a place, he will naturally not give up easily. With the power of Jingzhou Navy, if he wants to attack Jiangnan for a while, I am afraid that it will be difficult for a while. Besides, I am also afraid that he will force him to tighten his strength. He will cause more disasters when he enters Yizhou, so he wants to relax first, let him breathe in the four counties, and block his retreat first. But..." Cao Chong hesitated a little. If he starts in Guanzhong, if he enters Yizhou, he will be even more unable to fight for Guanzhong.

"Just what?" Cao Cao smiled: "Yizhou is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Taking advantage of Liu Zhang's incompetence, it is indeed a good time to take Yizhou first. Once Liu Xuande has a firm foothold in the four counties and move westward, it will be like Gongsun Shu, which makes people unable to sleep. It is good to take Yizhou. Your idea is right, but what do you want to take?"

Seeing that Cao Cao agreed to his acquisition of Yizhou, Cao Chong couldn't help but be puzzled. Logically, if Cao Cao was willing to cultivate himself, he should take advantage of Jingzhou's timely military service and make great contributions. Fortunately, he has enough advantages in fighting with Cao Pi in the future, so why is there no such intention at this time? Could it be that his approach made him hesitate and choose between Cao Pi? He was confused, but it was inconvenient to say more. He immediately explained the plan to acquire Yizhou. Cao Cao nodded and made some suggestions from time to time. The father and son talked for a long time, and it was not until dark that Cao Cao smiled and said, "You must be tired after rushing so far. Let's take a break earlier. Let's talk about it when you have time."

"No!" Cao Chong said tentatively: "Jingzhou has many business. If there is nothing to do, I will be going back to Jingzhou in a few days."

"So anxious?" Cao Cao looked at him in surprise, shook his head and said, "Don't worry, stay in Yecheng for a few days. With Liu Zichu in Jingzhou, there should be no problem. You haven't come back for more than a year. Your mother often burst into tears when she is worried. Since she is back, let's spend a few days with her."

Cao Chong felt more and more confused, so he had to respond and retreat. He put on his shoes, stood in the corridor and looked at the light that had just been lit. He frowned inadvertently, looked back at the lights in Cao Cao's house, and went out while thinking about Cao Cao's intention.

"I know about the rebellion case. I know it later than you." Before Cao Chong could see him, he came to see Cao Chong, Cao Zhi stared at Cao Chong, innocently looking at Cao Chong with a depressed look: "I know that the servants of the Ma family were killed, but I didn't hear any news later. I always thought it was just a street fight. Besides, the murderer was soon arrested by Yang Kongqu. After the death of the people, the Ma family didn't say anything, so I didn't take it seriously."

Cao Chong smiled bitterly. The Ma family is a hostage, and the one who died was just a servant. Who would cause trouble for a servant? It seems that Cao Zhi really doesn't know. Cao Chong pinched the tip of his nose, said nothing, and changed the topic and said: "I have brought back the cart of books in Jingzhou. It has been sent to everyone Cai. If you have time, go over and help organize it. I will pick out the books of the philosophers first. I'm in a hurry to use them."

"Okay. No problem." When Cao Zhi heard that there was a book, he was happier than anyone else: "How long will it last at home this time?"

"I don't know, my father asked me to stay in Yecheng for a few days, but he didn't say how long it took."

Cao Zhi smiled: "Since my father said that, he naturally had his ideas. You can stay with your mother for two days and spend half a year with you in Jingzhou. She is worried that she will be bad."

Cao Chong nodded. He couldn't see how he could see it. However, with Cai Ji accompanying him these days, Mrs. Huan was in a good mood and smiled a lot.

"That...If you want to inquire about that case, why not look for Lord Wei?" Cao Zhi thought about it and suggested.

"Okay." Cao Chong nodded dispensable: "Let's talk about it tomorrow."

"Well... Thank you for the gift you brought back. Your sister-in-law liked it very much." Cao Zhi's face turned a little red.

"Just sister-in-law likes it." Cao Chong smiled. "How is it? Is the Cui family's wife good?"

"Everything else is good, it's too expensive to wear beautiful clothes." Cao Zhi said a little embarrassed and worriedly. Cao Chong smiled. Of course he knew what Cao Zhi was thinking. He patted his shoulder and said, "Everyone is afraid of it. With your ability, you won't even be able to afford women's clothes. As for those people, just say whatever they like. If you don't point to their reputation, you'll live a life like Zihuan. It's interesting to watch Haodong** secretly in the house?" Cao Chong said, wrinkling his nose with some disdain.

Seeing Cao Chong's interesting words, Cao Zhi couldn't help laughing out loud. He knew that Cao Pi liked rare treasures and various parasites, but in order to show his performance in front of his father, he never dared to show it. He deliberately wore frugal clothes and his carriages and horses, for fear that his father would not like it. He usually didn't speak up when he encountered something he liked, and always went around and made it around. Last time he was fighting in Bingzhou, he took a piece of ancient jade from the Zhong family, and asked Cao Zhi to ask for it. At that time, Cao Zhi was as big as Cang Shu now, but he was not as smart as Cang Shu, so he went to ask for it stupidly. As a result, he was regarded as if he wanted the jade, which made him look at it for no reason and was criticized by his father, saying that he didn't know the importance.

"Cang Shu, don't say that. Even you, you should be careful. Although Cui Mao and the other two can't do anything to you, their father may not like it." Cao Zhi smiled for a while, and still reminded Cao Chong with kindness.

"I know it." Cao Chong was very grateful to Cao Zhi for his reminder, but at this point, he believed that Cao Cao would not have a barrier for him. His money was made openly, so why did he have to wear rags in a fake manner? "My father likes frugality, but he does not require everyone to be as frugal as him. In comparison, he prefers a real person. Look at Wang Zhongxuan in the Prime Minister's Mansion, put on his clothes. Did his father dislike him? Zijian, if a person is not true, the articles he wrote will not be passed down through the ages."

"Cang Shu, you can make any sense." Cao Zhiche couldn't help laughing. He was a free and easy person by nature. He didn't like Cao Pi's hypocrisy. Now, after hearing what Cao Chong said, he was just right.

Cao Zhi and Cao Chong chatted very late before they had a good time and parted. Cao Chong washed up and was about to rest when Zhang Song came back.

"Young Master, this case seems to be perfect, but the details are so coincidental." Zhang Song smiled mysteriously.

"Oh?" Cao Chong saw Zhang Song's appearance, and knew that he had found valuable information. He quickly asked someone to bring snacks to fill Zhang Song's stomach: "Come on, eat and talk."

"Thank you, Young Master." Zhang Song was not polite, sat down and picked up the snack to eat it, picked up the wine glass and drank it hard, and then solved the meal in a few seconds. Then he wiped his mouth and said, "Young Master, this matter seems to be natural from the fact that he found out about the ground. He killed people, searched, discovered secret letters, and chased them to the Ma family. It seemed that there was no flaw at all, but I found out that the murderer who killed the Ma family's servant was an outsider. He came suddenly and went suddenly, as if he came to Yecheng just to drink wine and then kill that person."

"Outsider?" Cao Chong was stunned for a moment, and immediately remembered the situation that Zhou Buyi had told him about his assassination.

"That's right, the man was very skilled in martial arts. He only used one knife to kill people, and he would never drag it out." Zhang Song nodded and said, "What's even more strange is that after he sat down at the restaurant and drank two glasses of wine, the Ma family's servant arrived. His position was next to the Ma family's servants often sat, blocking his way. When the Ma family's servant passed by him, his food happened to be thrown on the Ma family's servants. The two sides had a quarrel. Without saying a few words, they had a disagreement, and they killed people with one knife and left. They followed the soldiers patrolling the streets and arrived."

"Such coincidence?" Cao Chong heard the problem and couldn't help but smile: "Didn't this murderer be caught by Yang Kongqu, Yecheng Order?"

"I just heard that this is. No one knows how to catch it, and no one knows whether it is that person." Zhang Song shook his head and said, "I received a message that the team that was the first to arrive at the scene that day was closer to one of the subordinates of Mr. Zihuan."

"So, is this rebellious case very suspicious?"
Chapter completed!