Chapter 1,368 An unexpected surprise or a variable
"You...what did you say?"
"Cao...Cao Ang...is missing?"
Cao Pi, who was sitting on his horse, heard some unexpected news, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.
——
At this moment, in a county called Youyang, only a few dozen miles away from the Jiangxia border, a group of Cao's troops were marching at a very slow speed.
All joking aside, if they hadn't been holding the military flag for the expedition, by looking at their posture, others would have thought they were just moving their base.
This speed without any sense of urgency was maintained under Sima Yi's strong request.
Their destination was naturally Jiangxia, where a war broke out not long ago - in fact, the nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses in this army were all Shouchun's original garrison.
But although it was Shouchun's garrison, when Jiang Ji went to Shouchun to mobilize troops, he was delayed by Sima Yi on the grounds of cumbersome procedures.
Therefore, Jiang Ji could only rush to Queyue City with a team of less than 10,000 people.
The key is that Jiang Ji was delayed for two days in Shouchun. After learning that he could not mobilize a large number of troops quickly, he did not even have time to blame Sima Yi. When he hurried to Queyue City, he chose to take a closer route, but However, there are many dangerous roads in the mountains, and the result can be imagined——
Affected by heavy rains and floods, mudslides rolled in the mountains, eventually causing Jiang Ji, who was originally going to rescue, to be trapped in the mountains. Until the passage was restored two days later, their personnel had suffered heavy casualties.
Indirectly, it also caused the rescue operation in Queyue City that was originally commanded by Jiang Jilai to be led by Cao Ang. However, in the end, Cao Ren's army was still wiped out, and with it... Cao Ang also tried to save Cao Ren and Wenpin was caught in the flood, his life and death unknown, and his whereabouts unknown.
The news soon spread to Youyang, and the person who came specifically to inform Cao Pi was a special person sent by Jiang Ji.
This person's name is Huang Cheng, and he is a Sima from another branch of Jiang Ji's army. He is considered a very trusted deputy of Jiang Ji. He came here not only to find Cao Pi, but also to inform them about Cao Ren's defeat and Cao Ang's disappearance. The news also brought Jiang Ji another mission...
Sure enough, when Huang Cheng presented Jiang Ji's letter and personally informed Cao Pi and Sima Yi of the news about Cao Ang's disappearance, their expressions were quite wonderful.
Cao Pi looked shocked and said nothing, his mouth opened wide, as if he couldn't take it back.
And Sima Yi's reaction was even more subtle... Huang Cheng stared at Sima Yi's expression, but first he saw Sima Yi's eyebrows twitching, which seemed to indicate that he was in a good mood, and then there was a more normal expression of surprise.
Huang Cheng didn't say anything more and just continued:
"The governor is sending people to search for the eldest son with all his strength. Unexpectedly, Guan Yu has uneasy intentions and has begun to spread the news that the eldest son is dead. I hope you two can distinguish right from wrong, and..."
"Here are some oral messages from Mr. Jiang Ji. I hope that after listening to them, you can answer truthfully. This matter is of great importance. When the prefect returns to Yecheng and resumes his duties, these will also be disclosed in front of all the ministers in the court. Report on it."
Huang Cheng's expression was serious, and his eyes even spoke with some meaning.
When he heard Huang Cheng say that he had something separate to ask, Sima Yi immediately narrowed his eyes, feeling as if he was facing a formidable enemy.
He knew... Jiang Ji really began to doubt them.
——
In fact, this matter is simple to say.
At first, when Jiang Ji sent a letter to inform Sima Yi and Cao Pi about the situation in Jiangdong and Jiangxia, he had clearly reminded them in his heart, asking them to prepare their troops and horses first and be ready to dispatch at any time - but Sima Yi had guided Cao Pi in the past six months.
There was no intervention in the army, but Jiang Ji temporarily needed to mobilize troops and ordered them to go out with the army. It is not difficult to imagine what kind of difficult situation they will face during the assessment if they perform poorly on the battlefield.
After working with Cao Pi for a year, Sima Yi was the person closest to Cao Pi and the person who understood Cao Pi best.
He was able to determine that Cao Pi would definitely become the successor of the Wei State in the future. In addition to the support of Cui Yan and Cui Lin, there was also the factor that Sima Yi valued most...that is, Cao Pi had the kind of intrigue that a person in power should have.
ruthless.
No one is unaware that Cao Cao is a successful person, even though many people say that Cao Cao does whatever it takes to succeed. He is not a hero, but a tyrant.
This is Sima Yi's view... A hero must be glorious and perfect in the world, but it is often difficult to make peace with such a person - just like before, he and Yang Xiu found Cao Ang and proposed to fully support Cao Ang to become the next king.
When he was the first successor, Cao Ang actually chose to refuse guests behind closed doors, and even went so far as to escape from Yecheng and cut off relations with his two former classmates.
Cao Ang is the most perfect successor to Cao Wei in the eyes of the world. He is smart and brave, loyal and honest, and gentle to others... It can be said that all the praises applicable to heroes and wise kings can be placed on him.
But it was often like this. He couldn't accept the filth and gloom that existed in reality at all - Sima Yi felt that he should have known... He and Yang Xiu, powerful children from aristocratic families, had never been able to accept it.
He is not the same type of person as Cao Ang.
Once Cao Ang discovers the darkness behind their glamorous appearance, Cao Ang will inevitably choose to part ways with them.
But Cao Pi was not.
Cao Pi was a child who grew up in the shadows, behind his heroic brother Cao Ang.
He has experienced the ups and downs of the world since he was a child - which also shaped his gloomy temperament.
Sima Yi soon discovered this... After constant observation and testing, he finally chose Cao Pi.
All of this... provided a breeding ground for Sima Yi to use darker means.
In fact, in the face of Jiang Ji's request, their best course of action is to try their best to follow the order, obey the command, perform well in the next battle, and hope to get a better evaluation.
But the problem is... they have been working hard for half a year - in Shouchun, Sima Yi used secret means to bypass the supervision of the assessment... Of course, this is also because Yi Xiaotian is busy with other things and cannot take into account the assessment. However,
Regardless of whether Yi Xiaotian is there or not, he will cheat.
After Shouchun invested an unknown amount of real money, he could not accept that he would have to rely on his performance in an uncertain war to determine the final outcome.
Therefore, the decision to kill the messenger was "reasonable".
only…
There was one thing that Sima Yi did not expect at all.
It's not Cao Ren's defeat, nor Jiang Ji's accountability...
It's Cao Ang's disappearance.
As for whether this is an unexpected surprise or a bigger variable... it depends on how they deal with it next.
Facing Huang Cheng's sharp gaze, Sima Yi decided to do it until the end...acting must be performed to the end.
