Chapter 420 414. Heavyweight

Sima Yi had been behaving himself since he left the palace, and only heaved a sigh of relief after he sat in his own carriage, isolated from the world.

It was too easy to win the previous game. I just had to show weakness to the enemy at the beginning, and then attack fiercely in the middle game where the black pieces seemed indestructible but had many loopholes.

Sima Yi could have done so, but he didn't want to. In the end, he pretended to make a mistake and let Cao Pi win.

Sima Yi is now a stubborn person who is stuck in two ways. If he performs too well, it will prove the truth of the rumors, proving that he really has bad intentions and has the ability to do so; if he performs too badly, Cao Pi, who is suspicious, will definitely suspect that he is cunning and deliberately showing weakness, which will make him overdo it.

Sima Yi hated the person who made up this nursery rhyme in the Han army to the extreme at this time, but on the other hand, he was a little worried.

The man who devised this plan was certainly hateful, but also very scary. He could actually calculate Cao Pi and his own reactions clearly. Although his current performance was the best solution he could do, he had already fallen into the opponent's trap.

No matter what he did, it would eventually increase Cao Pi's suspicion of him, the only difference was the degree of suspicion.

In other words, it doesn't matter how you react, as long as the other party's purpose of disgusting you has been achieved.

"The Grand Commander of Shu Han, General Zhengdong Feng Xi, right? I will remember you."

Sima Yi repeated the names he had heard before and listed Feng Xi as the key target of attention.

Cao Pi then personally issued an order forbidding anyone from talking about or singing the nursery rhyme, or else they would be thrown into prison. In the following days, the Luoyang magistrate arrested hundreds of farmers and street vagrants who did not believe in the rumor, and only then did the rumor stop spreading.

Feng Xi naturally didn't know that Sima Yi held a grudge against him, but he wouldn't care even if he knew, because Sima Yi was secondary. Disgusting him was just a matter of words and there was no cost.

This time, Feng Xi wanted to disgust another key figure, that is, the future Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui.

At this time, Cao Rui was at the lowest point in his life. As Cao Pi's eldest son, Cao Rui would not have too many problems inheriting the throne. However, it was Cao Rui's mother who had problems.

Cao Rui's mother was the famous Concubine Zhen, for whom Cao Zhi wrote the "Ode to the Goddess of Luo River". As the saying goes, there is a seven-year itch. No matter how happy a marriage is, it is impossible to be happy forever, let alone an imperial family like Cao Pi.

Although Zhen Ji was favored by Cao Pi, as Cao Pi had more and more wives and concubines and more and more children, Zhen Ji gradually fell out of favor and thus had some complaints.

In addition, Zhen Ji was once the wife of Yuan Xi. This was not a big deal in the Wei State where the Wei Wu style was prevalent. But someone just happened to point this out.

When Feng Xi was smearing the Cao family before, he used the fact that everyone in the Cao family, from the old to the young, liked other people's wives as a black spot and publicized it in great detail.

In addition to Cao himself, Cao Pi was not spared. Feng Xi exaggerated the relationship between Cao Pi, Zhen Shi, and Cao Zhi, and almost turned it into a Qiong Yao romance drama, or a Han-sad love triangle story, which was well-received by the vast majority of idle people.

This was used by the wives and concubines who were competing for favor with Zhen Ji to attack her. How could you, a second-hand person, complain every day? In addition, Cao Pi stayed in Luoyang after he ascended the throne, leaving Zhen Ji in Yecheng. Due to various factors, Zhen Ji often complained to Cao Pi when chatting with other sisters.

As we all know, the sisterhood in the deep palace is just fake sisterhood. On the surface, everyone calls each other sisters, but in fact, they all want to kill each other in private.

Zhen Ji was born into the wealthy family of Zhen in Hebei. Her family had never participated in such "palace fighting" between women. In addition, she had been favored by Cao Pi for a long time and had some affection for him, so she spoke without restraint. As a result, Zhen Ji's complaints soon appeared in front of Cao Pi's documents.

It just so happened that at this time Cao Pi had Concubine Guo in favor, who later became Empress Guo. For some unknown purpose, Concubine Guo was also fanning the flames. Eventually Cao Pi sent an envoy to Yecheng and ordered the death of Cao Rui's mother, Zhen Ji, the daughter of Zhen's family in Hebei.

Therefore, Cao Rui, who had originally enjoyed a stable position, suddenly fell out of favor with Cao Pi because of his mother, Concubine Zhen. Originally, Cao Rui was the Prince of Pingyuan, but because of his mother's affairs, he was directly demoted to Marquis of Pingyuan, which was a warning from Cao Pi, and the fact that he was the eldest son seemed to be no longer so certain.

Cao Rui was not, and could not be, an only child. He had many younger brothers, among whom was Cao Li, Prince of Yuancheng, born to Xu Ji. He was gifted and intelligent, and was quite loved by Cao Pi.

It is not known whether Cao Pi missed his younger brother Cao Chong who died young, or whether he, like his father, found such a smart son likable. In any case, Cao Li officially entered the same race for the throne as Cao Rui.

Cao Rui had planned to continue reading in the house today, but soon the housekeeper came in and told him about the nursery rhyme that had caused a sensation in the city.

After a moment's thought, Cao Rui naturally understood the meaning. He felt a little depressed when he thought that he had been firmly sitting on the throne of the crown prince, but now he had to compete with his brothers for the throne.

In addition, the noisy noise outside made Cao Rui lose interest in studying. He was only less than 20 years old, at the age of hormonal activity, so he simply took a few guards, put on makeup and went out to relax.

"Have you heard? It seems that Qianzuifang has released a new wine, and it smells delicious."

When Cao Rui walked out of his Pingyuan Mansion, all kinds of chaotic noises came one after another around him. Many people were talking about some news, but the strange thing was that in addition to the most popular nursery rhymes recently, many people were talking about the new wine from Qianzuifang.

Moreover, no one knew what tricks Qianzuifang used, but they actually sent people to post notices on the wall to spread the word widely. Cao Rui walked a few steps and saw no less than five or six such notices.

Passersby on the road also mentioned matters related to wine from time to time. Finally, Cao Rui thought about it and decided that he was feeling a little depressed, so he might as well go to Qianzuifang to see what was going on.

Qianzuifang is a new hotel which has been opened for less than two years. Its characteristic is that the wine is very strong. Different from the ordinary rice wine that is now everywhere in the street, their wine is really unforgettable, and it has a wide range of prices, from expensive to cheap.

Whether you are a porter who has just worked all day or a high-ranking official, you can find the product you like.

Qianzuifang has four floors. The first and second floors are crowded with ordinary people, while the third floor and above is a "high-end consumption place" where only those who buy wines of a certain price range can enter. The fourth floor is a private room where only high-ranking officials are qualified to enter.

Of course, as a strong contender for the crown prince, Cao Rui is naturally qualified to go to the fourth floor.

(End of this chapter)