Chapter 17: Borrowing power

"Yes, take advantage of the power." Wei Feng nodded vigorously. He moved towards Zhong Yao. His knee almost touched Zhong Yao's knee. He supported his hands on his thighs and leaned forward. He said softly: "Sir, the emperor wants to take the opportunity to let Lord Zhou go to Jiaozhou, Lord Zhou go to Guanzhong, and Prime Minister Cao wants to send his daughter to the palace to be the queen. They all want something, why can't they gain each other and be in the same state? If the adults do this from this, the prime minister can justify the power, and he will definitely be grateful to the adults. In addition, he is not satisfied with Cao Zihuan, so he may not hope that he will stand in Guanzhong.

The merits simply increase the difficulty of abolishing the eldest son and establishing the youngest in the future. At this time, sending the adults to Guanzhong to replace Cao Zihuan is a matter of killing two birds with one stone. Cao Zhennan is grateful to the adults for his work and helped him make a contribution. In the future, it may also help the adults with some food and grass. Ma Chao and Han Sui and the other two are already exhausted and cannot bear to fight again. The adults will go here with the help of Jing Yi to conquer their hearts. Guanzhong and Xiliang can be decided immediately. In this way, Cao Zihuan will be incompetent and lose the capital to compete with Cao Zhennan. Prime Minister and Cao Zhennan will definitely be grateful to the adults, and the adults can also take charge of Guanzhong alone."

Wei Feng became more and more excited as he spoke, and he was a little dry. He picked up the cold tea and drank it all in one mouthful, wiped his mouth with his hand, and then said: "The emperor gave the Cao family face, and the Cao family naturally had to give in. Lord Zhou was in Jiaozhou, so he had the opportunity to persuade Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Even if they did not surrender, with Lord Zhou's ability, he took the elite troops of Jingzhou and seized Jiaozhou by force. In Jiaozhou, Jiangdong was lonely. How could he still support him? The emperor held Guanzhong and Jiaozhou, and he supported Lord Zhou. Even if Prime Minister Cao had thoughts, he had to consider something. How could he not do anything? Moreover, he had constant internal struggles in the Cao family, and he might not be able to go outward. The emperor had the opportunity to defeat each one and regain power. At that time, Lord Zhou and Lord Zhou would be well-deserved famous officials of Zhongxing."

Zhong Yao was meditating and silent. He looked at Wei Feng's excited face, lowered his head to look at the teacup on the table. The tea in the teacup was trembling gently, rippling in circles. Zhong Yao looked along the teacup and found that it was Wei Feng trembling gently, which led to the table shaking together. He laughed secretly. This young man was indeed full of blood. The plan was a good plan. Although it was not small, it might not be impossible. It was just...

After thinking about it, he still didn't make a decision. Instead, he frowned and said hesitantly: "If the daughter of the Cao family wants to become the queen when entering the palace, what should I do if the Empress Fu? After entering the palace, I have no virtue. I have a love affair with Your Majesty and have the feelings of being in trouble in Xijing. It is really unreasonable to depose the Empress at this time."

Wei Feng looked at Zhong Yao nervously and couldn't help but hold his breath. Seeing Zhong Yao telling this problem, he breathed a sigh of relief. The sweat beads on his forehead came out. He raised his hand to wipe the ends of his hair, took the opportunity to wipe off the sweat beads, and smiled relaxedly: "What's wrong with the great man's country, sacrifice her alone and the Fu family. When things are done in the future, please ask Your Majesty to post the title again."

Zhong Yao laughed: "After that being said, if you want to depose the queen, you always have to find a suitable reason. Could it be that the Fu family itself asks to depose the queen?" He said, and found the joke more interesting and laughed out loud.

"What's wrong?" Wei Feng didn't find it funny. He said seriously: "The family family has received the favor of the emperor. The old marquis is the eldest princess of Emperor Xiaohuan. They are connected with the royal bones and blood. For the sake of the imperial power, it is also necessary to sacrifice at this time, and it is not impossible to ask for the deposed queen. If the lord is willing, I am willing to go to Fu Mansion to convince the young master of Fu."

"In this case, it will be a blessing for Zijing." Zhong Yao sighed and reached out to pat Wei Feng's shoulder: "In the era of the recession of the Han Dynasty, it is a blessing that I can have a minister like Zijing. Zijing wants to take care of himself."

Wei Feng was so excited that he choked up a little. He lowered his head and bowed deeply: "Mr. Xie values ​​it. Wei Feng reads the books of sages very often. He should understand all the wise men and is willing to break into pieces for the court and go through fire and water, and he will never refuse."

After he said that, he leaned in front of Zhong Yao and kowtowed twice on the ground, and stood up and left without hesitation. Zhong Yao sat there, looking at Wei Feng's back as he strides, and was a little dazed for a moment. Zhong Yu stood behind the side door, bowed his hand towards Wei Feng's distant direction, with a solemn expression.

"Uncle Zhi, do you think it's a bit sinister for your father?" Although Zhong Yao did not look back, he seemed to know that his son had been standing there for a long time, his voice was light and hollow.

"My father was far-sighted and was just sitting in the middle of command. Wei Zijing was full of energy and was just charging into battle. Everyone got their place. It was in line with the way of using troops." Zhong Yu put down his hand and lowered his head and replied, his voice calmly without any feelings. But Zhong Yao heard his anger from his son's calm voice. He turned around and waved to Zhong Yu: "Come, sit here."

Zhong Yu was stunned for a moment, then slowly stepped forward, lifted up his clothes and sat respectfully in front of Zhong Yao.

"The four major families of Yingchuan, Zhong Chen and Xun Han, the Han family has no successor since Han Taipu (Han Rong) died in the early years of Jian'an. After this chaos, Xun Zhongyu was left to support him. But they held Cao Cangshu. As long as Cao Cangshu succeeded in fighting the throne, they would be meritorious officials. But they had a problem. If Cao Cangshu wanted to rebel, with Xun Wenruo's temper, they would inevitably turn against Cao Cangshu, so their result is unknown. The Chen family is now dependent on Cao Zihuan, which was originally good, but

With Cao Cangshu's power, they were also in danger. Chen Changwen was unwilling to marry the Xun family because he disliked the reputation of the Tang family. He not only offended the Xun family, but also offended Cao Zihuan. Cao Zihuan was generous on the outside and was afraid of the inside. In the future, no matter whether he was in power or not, he would not let him go. And our Zhong family has no clear attitude yet. How do I deal with myself?" Zhong Yao said that the family bent a finger, and finally pointed to his thumb and little finger and said, "Do you want our Zhong family to be this, or this?"

Zhong Yu looked at Zhong Yao's fingers and kept silent.

Zhong Yao narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhong Yu intently: "Uncle Zhi, I know you despise your choice of being a father, but you have no other choice for the sake of the continuation of the family. I have to do this. And you are the only descendant of my Zhong family now, and you have to do this." Seeing that Zhong Yu's face showed a hint of pain, he felt a little uncomfortable. He let go and sighed and said, "If you want to blame, you can only blame your two brothers for dying too early, otherwise, I can also vote for one, why is it so difficult? Uncle Zhi, you are not young anymore. The emperor will recruit you into the palace and become a man this time, and you must understand the intention. The emperor wants to use my Zhong family as a helper, but he is the leader of Zhongxing.

Is it? At least I didn't see that the methods he thought depend on people's expressions and whether Cao Cangshu had a great man's country. I heard from Xun Zhongyu that Cao Cangshu once said that he had no intention of usurping the enemy so far, but this man was scheming and was definitely not as innocent as he looked at on the outside. Who knew whether what he said was true or not? And today, he did not have awe of the emperor, at least he was not a pure minister, and there was a great possibility of establishing himself. At this time, we would not be bet on him, and who would be bet on? Should we have to wait until the Prime Minister clearly expresses his opinion and then express our attitude? What's the use of that time?"

"What if Cao Cangshu is defeated?" Zhong Yu's face was a little pale and he explained weakly: "What if he usurps the rebellion?"

"He will not be defeated." Zhong Yao raised his head, narrowed his eyes into a line, staring at the swaying candlelight, and said confidently: "From the first time he arrived in Guanzhong, I have believed that he would soar into the sky. The observations over the past few years have confirmed my view. In the past four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, no one has achieved this achievement at such a young age, especially when he took Yizhou. How much manpower and material resources did Emperor Guangwu take to take Yizhou? Even the Nangong Cen Peng and Zhonglang were defeated, but he took Yizhou, and the only thing he could say was the battle of Chenggu, which was only a day and a night before and could not be heard of."

Zhong Yao sighed for a long time and continued, "Why did he stop the war in Jingzhou and in turn support Cao Zihuan in attacking Guanzhong and Cao Ziwen in attacking Dai County?"

"He supports Guanzhong?" Zhong Yu was a little confused.

"Hmph!" Zhong Yao snorted disdainfully, "How could the Prime Minister's Mansion be able to allocate so much food? This can only be from Jingzhou. The reason why the Prime Minister was secretly not revealed was nothing more than Cao Zihuan's reaction. Cao Zihuan was still in the dark, but he didn't see that Cao Cangshu was trying his best to please his younger brothers, but instead kept complaining. What was the Prime Minister's most worried about? Not only power, but also his flesh and blood. Would he choose a mean and ruthless person who only knows power but not family affection as his heir? Sima Zhongda and Wu Jizhong, who only know how to fight for war and fight for military achievements, but he knows the importance of these things. They are still young."

Zhong Yu opened his eyes wide in disbelief, with a hint of fear in his voice: "What my father meant is... General Zhennan was deliberately for the Prime Minister to see?"

"It may not be." Zhong Yao shook his head: "He is a very strong person. A strong person has confidence, but he will not worry about others and will not commit murder. Whether at home or in court, he will have enough confidence to give others room to play, and will not be prepared for fear of others surpassing him. This is also one of the reasons why I chose him. Even if he comes... my Zhong family will not end up being a cunning rabbit and a lackey."

Seeing that his father had decided, Zhong Yu had to sigh and did not want to persuade him again. His father asked him to join Cao Chong's disciple five years ago. He did not agree at the time. Now he has left him with enough room for him. As the only descendant of the Zhong family, he had no other choice and could only put the interests of the family first. Although he did not like the people of the Cao family, he could not make any refutation of his father's analysis. As for whether the emperor could turn defeat into victory, it depends on how long the Han's fire virtue could last in the storm, which was not what his Zhong family could decide.

Seeing that Zhong Yao's face returned to normal from paleness, he knew that he had made up his mind and the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground. He smiled and said, "You don't have to be discouraged. You have to be a husband when you enter the palace. You still have enough time to help the emperor, but you must not be too radical. Like Wei Zijing, you will sooner or later bring disaster to death. You should stay away from him in normal times and don't get too close to you."

"Here." Zhong Yu responded softly, paused for a moment, and said again: "My father knows that this person is dangerous, it is better to stay away from him."

Zhong Yao was stunned, and then smiled with relief. He raised his hand, stroked the thick beard on his chin, and wiped it down, and said proudly: "Don't worry, he can't affect me."

Seeing that he was very confident, Zhong Yu stopped talking, and said a few more words and gently retreated. Zhong Yao stared at his back for a while until he disappeared outside the door and still did not move. He could see that although Zhong Yu accepted his opinion, he did not really accept it from the bottom of his heart. He also had a tenacious repulsion, which made Zhong Yao very worried. He lowered his head a little discouraged, picked up the teacup but couldn't drink water. Instead, he had a strange idea. This son was still unprotected. Should he have the energy to marry another concubine?

Not to mention the fact that Zhong Yao wanted to marry a concubine, Wei Feng cheered up his spirits and ran to Fu De's mansion several times in the following days, trying his best to persuade Fu De to enter the palace to persuade Queen Fu to voluntarily resign as the queen, and to protect the family. However, Fu De ignored his behavior at all. Instead, he said that because he was in the same county as the Cao family, he was accomplice for the tiger and helped the evil, and wanted to persuade him to make such a great contribution from the Fu family. He let Wei Feng say hesitate, and Fu De did not give him a good face.

Wei Feng felt a sense of powerlessness. He had no choice but to write a letter to the emperor, asking Zhong Yao to bring it into the palace. When the emperor heard that Zhong Yao was the young handsome Wei Feng who was very popular in Xu County recently, he was quite interested. After looking closely, his face became gloomy. But he did not be as furious as Fu De, but put Wei Feng's letter aside, read it and then sighed for a while, picked it up and put it down, put it down and then picked it up, and sat restless. He was not unclear about the situation Wei Feng talked about, but he really didn't want to destroy Fu Hou like this. On the one hand, he felt sorry for Fu Hou, and on the other hand, he felt that this was too embarrassing and was forced to depose the queen. How could he face the Cao family in the future?

But the emperor was very interested in Wei Feng's analysis, especially Wei Feng's idea of ​​leveraging the force. He was not unable to think about this, but he did not think so carefully or systematically at the beginning. After Wei Feng said this, his thinking became clearer and he felt that he had a greater grasp of success. Although he did not immediately agree with Wei Feng's suggestion, he asked Zhong Yao to bring Wei Feng into the palace and meet him.

Wei Feng was very excited and asked Zhong Yao about the etiquette of seeing the emperor in advance. He demonstrated it several times at his residence. He felt that there was no problem, so he felt relieved. Unexpectedly, when he saw the emperor, he still made a joke because of his nervousness. When the emperor asked him to come forward to reply, he excitedly agreed loudly, and the word "小" spoke. Then he remembered to answer that the emperor could not use "小" but should respond to "小", which made him blush. Fortunately, the emperor now knows his situation, so he didn't care about him too much. Instead, he felt that this handsome young man was quite cute. He left Wei Feng in the palace to talk for an hour, and he admired Wei Feng's eloquence and adaptability. He immediately gave him a position of Langguan. Wei Feng officially became a close minister of the emperor.

Wei Feng was knowledgeable and beautiful. He became familiar with the officials in the palace for a few days. Most of the officials were Cao Cao's confidants. To put it nicely, they came to protect the emperor, and to put it badly, they came to monitor the emperor. Seeing that Wei Feng was so charming and the same county as the prime minister, they all thought that Wei Feng was the prime minister's confidant, and soon became good friends with Wei Feng.

Wei Feng lived a very comfortable life, but Cao Chong was unhappy. He stayed in the mansion for a few days and had not received any hope, so he couldn't help but get angry. On this day, he called Pang Tong and Zhang Song to discuss matters. Pang Tong and Zhang Song knew what he was going to say, but the emperor did not issue an edict, and they had no choice. Zhong Yao had also urged him several times, and he had said that he had been persuading the emperor, but the emperor was still hesitating, which seemed quite difficult. The Fu family did not get any happy news. On the contrary, Fu De reported among the officials in Xu County that the Cao family forced the emperor to depose the queen in order to monopolize the power, which made Cao Chong a little passive, and even Xun Yue frowned.

"What do you do?" Cao Chong was like a trapped beast, turning around the room with some annoyance, and glanced at Pang Tong and Zhang Song, who were sitting on pins and needles. Pang Tong shook his head. He felt that this matter was indeed a bit difficult. If the Cao family wanted to be a relative of the foreigners, why should they rush to let the emperor depose the emperor before Cao Jie entered the palace, and set a zodiac auspicious day for the emperor to decide. Isn't this forcing the emperor? The emperor is also a person with good face. Even if he can see the situation, it will be difficult to swallow this. The attitude of the officials is quite interesting. Who would like to look at an aggressive Cao family?

Seeing Pang Tong shook his head, Cao Chong knew that this matter was a bit difficult, but it was difficult to handle it. Old Cao was waiting in Yecheng with great fanfare. Cao Pi was waiting beside him with ill-hearted thoughts and was ready to divide the 1,000 war horses at any time. This situation was not waiting for anyone.

"Or, let Master Deng do it." Seeing that they had no tricks, Cao Chong had to pick up the bad idea again and prepare to let Deng Zhan enter the palace to assassinate Fuhou. Don't worry, destroy her from the **. What other tricks can the emperor have? Just do it in a hidden way. I think there is no problem with Deng Zhan's skills to enter the low palace city.

"General, this matter..." Pang Tong smacked his lips: "The risk is too great, so it's better to be more cautious."

Cao Chong laughed in anger: "Then what do you think there is any way? The Prime Minister is waiting for our news in Yecheng. He has not given us much time. If things cannot be done, you know the consequences, so I don't need to say more."

"This... we naturally know." Pang Tong had a bitter face. That ugly face was so ugly. He did not agree with Cao Chong's idea, but there seemed to be no other idea besides this idea, but he had to remind Cao Chong that the situation might occur. "General, it is easy to assassinate the queen, but once the queen was killed in the palace by an assassin, in the history of my great Han Dynasty for more than 400 years, the first thing that the word "Tian" would cause. Furthermore, the security in the palace was originally led by Zhou Gongjin, the Weiwei Zhou Gongjin and Xun Changqian (Xun Yun), the general of the Hu Ben, but now Zhou Gongjin is not here. If something happens in the palace, Xun Changqian will bear the main responsibility. Even if the Cao family is backing, he can only save his life at most. General..."

Cao Chong waved his hand and said nothing. He knew that if Deng Zhan was really allowed to assassinate Empress Fu, Xun Yun would be completely finished. Old Cao was annoyed by the Xun family affairs and might have taken the opportunity to scapegoat Xun Yun. As for what Cao Qiu did, it probably wasn't under Lao Cao's consideration. But if he didn't kill Fuhou, how could he handle this matter within a limited number of days?

He thought about it and thought of Wei Feng who had entered the palace. He asked Zhang Song a little unhappy: "How is that Wei Zijing now?"

Zhang Song, who was thinking hard, was stunned and said quickly: "Wei Zijing entered the palace. It is said that he was trusted by the emperor. Although the emperor did not accept his advice, he made him a Langguan. I heard that he was very popular among Langguans and had the ability to attract people." Zhang Song said with some envy. He shook his head while saying, "The emperor didn't know what stubbornness he had made. This time he couldn't let go. Even Zhong Yuanchang revealed to him the conditions that the young master was willing to exchange, and he could not make up his mind immediately. He was very indecisive. It seemed that he was not a person to do big things."

Cao Chong sighed. He actually hoped that the emperor was a person who valued friendship. No matter what, the emperor was about to become another brother-in-law. Although there was no emotion in it, Cao Jie could not have any feelings for the emperor after entering the palace. Maybe he would become a victim in the future, but no matter what, he still hoped that the emperor was a bit human. The problem is that the emperor is human now, but for him, it was a trouble.

"Yongnian, can you send someone to the palace and poison it?" Cao Chong had a sudden idea. Since he could not assassinate, then poison it. He poisoned the queen and then reported his sudden death. At that time, as long as the poisoned person was slaughtered, no one could investigate it, and Xun Yun would not be involved.

"Things are feasible, but I'm afraid that time will not be too late." Zhang Song nodded and shook his head in embarrassment: "I've asked someone to inquire about the things in the palace. The emperor is very careful. Every time I eat, I have someone to taste it first, and he and the queen will eat it. In this situation, maybe the precautions will be stricter. Besides, even if someone poisons it, it will be difficult to execute the poisoned person in time. Once captured, I'm afraid that things will make a bigger deal."

Cao Chong frowned and thought for a long time, and felt that poisoning was easy to say and it was difficult to implement. If you want to execute the poisoning person in time, you have to send someone to the palace. Instead of doing so, it would be better to let Deng Zhanjin go to assassinate him.

"Let Master Deng go." Cao Chong hesitated for a moment, stopped thinking about it, and immediately made a decision, and soon summoned Deng Zhan. Deng Zhan was Cao Chong's loyalty. When Cao Chong said he wanted to let him enter the palace to assassinate the queen, he accepted the order calmly without any surprise.

"Master, do your job more carefully, don't use a knife, it's best not to let someone find an injury." Cao Chong said to Deng Zhan with some concern: "Don't you know how to cut off the pulse? Can you use it?" Cao Chong heard from Deng Zhan that his mysterious master had a unique skill called cutting off the pulse, which could kill people without any external injuries, but he didn't master it well enough. Unless the opponent stood still and asked him to beat him, it would not be used at all, so it was just a useless person. But when facing Deng Zhan, it was almost the same as standing still, and it might work.

"It should be no problem." Deng Zhan smiled confidently.

"Well, be careful, don't show your strength." Cao Chong still felt a little nervous. He was about to say something again, but Deng Zhan suddenly raised his hand and signaled Cao Chong not to speak. He pointed to the roof, meaning that someone was in the room. Cao Chong was stunned and listened carefully. A slight sound of stepping on the tiles reached his ears.

Although Zhang Song and Pang Tong did not hear any sound, they knew that the faces of the master and apprentice were uninvited guests from the room. They looked at each other, and a chill rose from behind. Just here, Dian Man rushed to Cao Chong with great strides and pulled out half a long sword to protect Cao Chong. At this moment, a sound of a suckling machine spring came outside the room, followed by a few sharp roars suddenly sounded...
Chapter completed!