Although Liu Bei didn't pay much attention to the majesty of the emperor, he naturally had a strong sense of oppression as he controlled the lives of millions of people in the two states of Jing and Yi.
When facing Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and even Mi Yang, Liu Bei, who valued love and justice, acted very casually, so the sense of oppression on him was not strong.
But now that he was looking at Ma Chao, when Liu Bei's eyes turned towards Ma Chao, the daunting sense of oppression on him began to be completely released.
And this sense of oppression, which represented overwhelming power, was poured into Ma Chao without reservation.
Feeling that strong sense of oppression, coupled with the gazes of more than a hundred armed warriors in the lobby, even for a hero like Ma Chao, he couldn't help but have a look of fear on his face.
Even though Ma Chao was a prince before, Liu Bei is now the emperor of the Han Dynasty.
Moreover, Ma Chao's mentality is no longer as indestructible as in previous years, but he is always worried, so it is not surprising that he behaves like this now.
With worries in his heart, Ma Chao bowed to Liu Bei in the lobby.
And because of the strong sense of oppression on Liu Bei's body, Ma Chao's body posture today was larger than ever before.
Ma Chao's performance was noticed by Liu Bei.
Liu Bei was able to grow from a mat weaver and shoe seller to today's Emperor Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty who dominates Jingyi and Jingzhou. In addition to his own talents, he also has another talent - knowing and employing people.
With this talent, and Liu Bei who has experienced the evil in people's hearts for decades, he could tell at a glance that the look of fear on Ma Chao's face was sincere.
After realizing this, Liu Bei slowly put away his scrutinizing gaze, greeted Ma Chao with a smile on his face:
"It's too late for Meng Qi to come!"
"I am very anxious to wait."
After finishing speaking, Liu Bei immediately motioned with his eyes to Fei Yi to step forward and help Ma Chao, who was prostrating, up.
After Ma Chao was helped up by Fei Yi, Ma Chao glanced at Liu Bei's expression from the corner of his eyes.
He saw that Liu Bei's expression was no longer as serious as before, and he breathed a long sigh of relief.
Before he came in just now, all the Qiang and Di warriors he brought, including Ma Dai, were vaguely controlled by Liu Bei's Yulin Army.
He himself came to see Liu Bei unarmed and dressed in casual clothes.
Under such circumstances, no matter how brave he is, how can he deal with hundreds of elite Yulin warriors inside and outside the hall?
If Liu Bei wanted to harm him, all he needed to do was look at him.
This lack of guarantee for his own safety made Ma Chao, who was already frightened, even more uneasy and sensitive.
After Liu Bei asked Fei Yi to help Ma Chao up, he motioned for Ma Chao to take a seat in the lobby.
At Liu Bei's signal, Ma Chao chose a seat at a safe distance from Liu Bei and sat down.
This is the courtesy of a minister, and also Ma Mengqi's sensibility.
After Ma Chao sat down with some restraint, Liu Bei picked up a memorial from the table and asked Ma Chao tentatively:
"This memorial was just sent from Chengdu. It was written by Xiaoyu to me."
"In this memorial, Xiaoyu guessed that the traitor Peng Yi must have an accomplice, otherwise he would not be so bold.
Meng Qi and Peng Yi have quite a personal relationship, do you know who Peng Yi’s accomplices are?”
Liu Bei's voice was as gentle as ever, but when his words fell into Ma Chao's ears, Ma Chao's expression changed drastically.
The Xiaoyu mentioned by Liu Bei refers to Meng Guang. Meng Guang was from Luoyang, Henan, and a clansman of Meng Yu, the Taiwei of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Meng Guang was a minister of the Ministry of Education during the reign of Emperor Xiaoling. Later, he fled to Shu due to Dong Zhuo's rebellion. Liu Yan and his son treated him as a guest.
Meng Guang was well-read and read everything, especially the Three Histories. He was proficient in the old Han classics and was a world-famous literary master.
Because of his reputation, Liu Bei used him heavily after he captured Yizhou.
After he proclaimed himself emperor this year, he appointed Meng Guang as Fu Jie Ling, making him one of the strong contenders for Shaofu, one of the nine ministers of the Han Dynasty.
But Meng Guang's identity is not that simple. He also has another identity, which is the backbone of the Eastern Zhou Faction, the political faction of the Han Dynasty.
Ma Chao was already worried about Peng Yi's rebellion, and because of Peng Yi's death, officials from the Yizhou faction had attacked him a lot.
Although Meng Guang's memorial does not indicate who Peng Yi's accomplices were according to Liu Bei's words, the allusive meaning in it is self-evident.
Meng Guang, who is a backbone of the Dongzhou faction, has now submitted such a memorial to Liu Bei, which means that in addition to officials of the Yizhou faction, officials of the Dongzhou faction have also begun to make trouble with Peng Yi's case.
This is no wonder, because after Liu Bei became emperor, although he arranged for some important positions to be filled by his confidants, many important positions are still vacant because there are no suitable candidates for the time being.
In this case, military generals can earn official positions through bloody battlefields, but ministers in Chengdu can only earn merit through some political events.
Ministers like Ma Chao, who is involved in a counter-case and has a sensitive identity and a very distinguished position, are their best targets.
After realizing this situation, Ma Chao's fear could not help but deepen greatly.
The attacks by officials from the Yizhou faction have already made it difficult for him to defend himself. If the ministers from the Dongzhou faction now join in the condemnation of him, his life in the future will definitely be even more difficult.
The most important thing is that the three of them are like a tiger. Under the increasingly fierce rumors, Liu Bei can't guarantee that Liu Bei will not become more suspicious of him.
Isn't what Liu Bei asked him now the best proof?
On the surface Liu Bei was asking Ma Chao who he thought was Peng Yi's accomplice, but in fact Liu Bei was using Meng Guang's letter to frighten Ma Chao.
What Liu Bei actually asked was whether he should believe him.
Perhaps from common sense, Ma Chao, who was the one who reported Peng Yi, would not be Peng Yi's comrade, but there is no need to worry about political incidents.
The reason why officials from Yizhou attacked Ma Chao was: "Peng Ni and Ma Chao have long been connected, so Peng Ni will look for Ma Chao to conspire.
But when Ma Chao saw General Zuo's successive victories, he suddenly changed his mind and reported Peng Ni to protect himself."
The line of logic is very clear, but unfortunately there is no evidence at all, and most of it is just speculation.
Just to deal with Ma Chao, it is enough to catch wind and shadow.
When Liu Bei held up Meng Guang's watch and asked Ma Chao, Ma Chao's expression changed drastically and at the same time, his thoughts were constantly flowing.
He felt that Liu Bei had already had murderous intentions towards him.
Ma Chao, who noticed this, stood up in panic and bowed to Liu Bei:
"I have always been loyal to Your Majesty and have never had any connection with traitors like Peng Yi. How do you know whether he has any accomplices? I hope Your Majesty will tell you clearly!"
Ma Chao has a majestic appearance and his voice is also very powerful.
When he stood up to answer Liu Bei, his heroic voice resounded in the hall in a hurry.
But beneath that heroic voice, there was also a tone of panic and urgency.
Seeing Ma Chao's performance, Liu Bei was speechless for a moment. He did not show any belief or doubt in Ma Chao's answer.
Liu Bei just looked at Ma Chao quietly.
But when Liu Bei's seemingly see-through gaze fell on Ma Chao, Ma Chao became increasingly uneasy.
So after he said that sentence, he said with a sad look on his face: "Everyone in the house will die because of me."
"I only have the blood ambition of revenge, I have no other thoughts."
After finishing speaking, Ma Chao bowed deeply to Liu Bei again.
If Ma Chao's answer just now was still anxious to defend himself, then his words now are to express his true thoughts to Liu Bei sincerely.
Ma Chao knew that Liu Bei might not believe it.
But Liu Bei is the only lord in the world who can trust him.
When Liu Bei heard Ma Chao's words, there was some thought in his eyes, and then he asked Ma Chao again:
"How deep is Meng Qi's hatred for the Cao family?"
Hearing Liu Bei ask about his hatred for the Cao family, Ma Chao's face immediately showed great indignation, and he gritted his teeth and said:
"If there is an opportunity, I should use Wu Zixu to take action and dig up Cao Cao's grave and whip his corpse.
And Chao now wishes he could eat Cao Pi's flesh, sleep on Cao Pi's skin, and destroy the Cao family's ancestral temple!"
How deep does Ma Chao hate Cao Cao?
If at first Ma Chao only wanted to compete with Cao Cao for hegemony, but after Cao Cao killed his entire Ma family, Ma Chao had an irresolvable blood feud with Cao Cao.
Although he himself was the instigator of the massacre of the entire Ma family, Cao Cao was the one who wielded the sword.
Under the universal values of the current world, it is impossible for Ma Chao not to hate Cao Cao.
Moreover, after Cao Cao wielded the butcher's knife, Ma Chao's reputation in the world was completely destroyed.
"If someone doesn't love his own family, how can he love others?"
"You are a rebellious son who betrays your father and a traitor who kills the king. How long will heaven and earth tolerate you, and you will not die early? Do you dare to look at others with your face?"
These comments about him from the world have already caused him to lose all the hearts and minds in this world.
Under such circumstances, how could Ma Chao's hatred for Cao Cao be fully expressed in words?
Now that Cao Cao is dead, Ma Chao's hatred for Cao Cao will naturally be transferred to the Cao family.
Ma Chao knew that there was no possibility of saving his current life, but when he came back from his dream at midnight, didn't he regret what he had done?
Since his life cannot be saved, Ma Chao now has only one obsession in his life, and that is - to destroy the Cao family and pay blood for blood.
Only in this way, if he can see Ma Teng and his brothers after his death, maybe the guilt in his heart can be alleviated.
Liu Bei looked at Ma Chao with burning eyes. Judging from his experience, Ma Chao's current answer was not false.
After realizing this, and with Ma Chao's current reputation in the world, how could he succeed even if he had two intentions?
So Liu Bei felt relieved for the time being.
Such Ma Chao is of course available.
After Liu Bei heard Ma Chao's answer, he threw the piece of Meng Guang's memorial in his hand directly at Ma Chao's feet.
When he saw the memorandum that he was afraid of being thrown at Liu Bei's feet, Ma Chao's thoughts froze for a moment?
Your Majesty, what does this mean?
Liu Bei asked Ma Chao to pick up the watch at his feet and take a look.
According to the official system, officials other than those at the Shangshutai cannot watch the ministers' memorials.
But now that Liu Bei asked him to read it, even though he was a little hesitant, Ma Chao picked up Meng Guang's watch on the ground and started reading it.
After Ma Chao unfolded the memorial, the content on it surprised him.
In the content of the memorial, Meng Guang was not insinuating that Ma Chao was an accomplice of Peng Yi, but directly asked Liu Bei to imprison Ma Chao in the memorial.
This kind of performance is in line with the outspoken character of Meng Guang.
But what surprised Ma Chao most was not Meng Guang's accusations against him, but Liu Bei's refutation of Meng Guang's accusations in this memorial.
Between the bright red writing, Liu Bei's love for him was beyond words.
Looking at the dryness of the handwriting and the fact that Liu Bei had not written just now, it shows that Liu Bei's protection of him was already in progress before he tested himself.
Ma Chao, who realized this, raised his head and looked at Liu Bei in surprise: "Your Majesty, this?"
Facing Ma Chao's question, Liu Bei smiled lightly and said: "You are both civil and military, heroic and heroic, a hero of this generation, tattooed, and a disciple of Peng."
"However, since I am a disciple of Tie and Peng, I can control them myself after becoming the Great Patriarch, so why should I be afraid and suspicious?"
Hearing what Liu Bei said, Ma Chao's eyes showed gratitude.
He remembered Liu Bei's promise to him when he surrendered to Liu Bei: "You will not fail me, and I will not fail you."
Thinking about it now, Liu Bei has never forgotten his promise.
But since Liu Bei didn't believe that he was Peng Yi's accomplice from the beginning, why did he test him just now?
After thinking about this, an incredible guess emerged in Ma Chao's mind.
Is it because?
When Ma Chao was still in disbelief because of the sudden speculation in his mind, Liu Bei's words seemed to float from the horizon and reached his ears:
"There are tens of thousands of enemy troops outside Fan City. Will Meng Qi be willing to swallow them for me?"
When this sentence reached Ma Chao's ears, Ma Chao was stunned for a while, and then he knelt down to Liu Bei with excitement and said:
"I wish!"
Although his thoughts just now were unbelievable, Liu Bei's words now undoubtedly confirmed his conjecture.
The reason why Liu Bei wanted to test him before was to disturb his thoughts so that he could better observe whether his hatred towards Cao had changed.
Or to be more precise, does General Shenwei Tian, who has been dormant for several years, still have the energy to go into battle and kill the enemy?
Ma Chao knew very well that if Liu Bei had given him the opportunity to participate in the war before, then after the incident of Peng Yi's rebellion, Liu Bei would probably not let him get involved in the military power again.
But what he never expected was that Liu Bei exceeded his expectations and still appointed him.
This greatly touched Ma Chao's heart, and at the same time, it also gave him a deeper understanding of Liu Bei's methods of controlling people.
From the moment he stepped into the lobby, the situation was always under Liu Bei's control.
However, Liu Bei's control to the end was able to make him put away his worries, and then the thought of dying for him spontaneously arose in his heart.
There are no rewards or punishments. Liu Bei was able to achieve this because of his methods and charm.
Only virtuous and virtuous, able to obey others.
But what Ma Chao didn't know was that the reason why Liu Bei planned to use him again was not only because of his confidence in himself, but also because of Guan Yu's request.
Because it was Guan Yu's request, Liu Bei was willing to temporarily put aside his suspicion of him, as long as Ma Chao could help his good brother win this battle.
After Ma Chao expressed his willingness, Liu Bei waved his hand to Ma Chao and said: "Go, the general is waiting for you outside Fancheng."
"Let the Cao family see your Jin Ma Chao style again."
Chapter 2 at 22:00, Chapter 3 at 2 am.
This chapter has been completed!