Chapter 488. Panic
"..."

Empress Guo's words calmed the Cao family's sons down a little. They felt that there was some truth in her words, so they ordered the palace servants to make arrangements first, to prepare the mourning hall and let Cao Pi enter the hall first. The issue of the successor would also have to wait until the arrival of subsequent important officials.

Soon, the Three Dukes, Nine Ministers and other officials arrived. They were shocked to learn that Cao Pi had passed away. They hurried to Cao Pi's spirit to pay their respects and assist Cao's sons in preparing Cao Pi's funeral arrangements.

After two days of busy work, the news of Cao Pi's death was only known among the top leaders of Cao Wei. Although some people with a keen sense of smell in the community noticed something unusual, they did not associate it with this aspect, so the atmosphere in Luoyang City was relatively peaceful and there were no disturbances.

But the scene in the palace was completely different. They spent two days arranging Cao Pi's funeral, and planned to bury him after three days of keeping his body. After all, the weather was hot now. Although there were some anti-corrosion measures in ancient times, they were limited. It would be embarrassing if the body of a king of a country became smelly.

The Cao family's sons, who had calmed down, began to attack each other as usual, and they even quarreled in Cao Pi's mourning hall.

Logically speaking, Cao Li was the only one in power, but Cao Rui was called back by Cao Pi two months ago. Although Cao Pi's original intention was to use him to punish Cao Li, in Cao Rui's mouth, wasn't this just letting him return to Luoyang after the "punishment was over"?
Although the other few people were not as powerful and capable as Cao Li and Cao Rui, they also had their own ideas. Some supported the two, while others wanted to set up their own factions. After all, they each had their own in-laws, most of whom were high-ranking officials in the court, so it was not difficult to pull in connections.

The three dukes and nine ministers were even more troubled. Now they could not make a decision. This kind of succession dispute would definitely cost them their heads. If they won the bet, it would be fine. But if they lost the bet, they would lose their heads, and the whole family would lose their heads together. The brothers might forgive each other, but they, the ministers, would definitely not survive.

Therefore, these old hands were also shirking each other's responsibility and did not dare to take sides immediately. Most of these three dukes and nine ministers were just figureheads, such as Wang Lang, and only a few, such as Chen Qun, were truly capable of doing practical work. Therefore, those who had no real power did not dare to express their stance, fearing that they would offend the future new emperor and his entire family would be in jeopardy.

As a result, the Cao brothers quarreled even more fiercely. If Cao Pi's body had not been warm and his coffin was still in the palace, they would have returned to their respective homes to recruit people to fight.

But three days later, as Cao Pi was about to be buried, good news and bad news came one after another. The good news was that they didn't have to continue to curse each other like children in the palace, and the bad news was that no one knew who had leaked the news, and now the news of "Cao Pi's death" spread across the country like a virus.

"How is it possible! We have sealed off the palace these days, allowing only people to enter but not leave. How could anyone leak the news?!"

Cao Li's first reaction was disbelief, because even though the brothers quarreled, they were still very strict in doing things. Even after calling these important ministers over, they were only allowed to enter and not leave. After all, the palace was so large, there were many side halls to live in, and there were also many areas and facilities for activities besides the harem.

Needless to say, the news of Cao Pi's death was spread by Feng Xi. Feng Xi asked the newspapers in Jingzhou to print thousands of copies of the news without saying anything. Feng Xi knew that since the other party did not want to disclose the news of Cao Pi's death, something must have happened.

Since it was something the enemy didn't want to happen, he had to do it. In addition, Feng Xi asked Ma Su to inform spies from all over the country to spread the news. Within a day, everyone in Guanzhong, Nanyang, Huainan and other places bordering Ji Han knew about it.

Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. The news of Cao Pi’s death spread across the country in just a few days, including Luoyang, Chang’an, Xuzhou, Hebei...

The death of the emperor was a big deal, so Feng Xi didn't need to deliberately publicize it, and the gossipers would naturally do the publicity for him. At this time, Feng Xi also reiterated the theory of retribution that he had said a few years ago, pointing out that Cao Pi was punished and died because he displeased the heavens by usurping the Han Dynasty.

If it were a month ago, Feng Xi's words would probably have been laughed at, but now that Cao Pi is really dead, Feng Xi's words have gained many followers who believe in this theory. Although the generals and soldiers of Cao Wei may not believe it, it is inevitable that people will be panicked.

Chengdu. Ever since Wei's General Xiahou Shang died of illness two months ago, Feng Xi had reminded Zhuge Liang in his monthly routine letters that Cao Pi would probably die in the next two months, so that Zhuge Liang could put his previous preparations into action.

In fact, this was also what Feng Xi had agreed with Zhuge Liang after he boasted that if Cao Pi was still alive five years later, they would also launch a northern expedition. So starting last year, Sichuan had already begun to transport all kinds of supplies and troops to Hanzhong, waiting for the order to go north immediately.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang insisted on observing the stars every night as long as he could see them clearly after Xiahou Shang's death. If Cao Pi really died suddenly of illness at this young age as Feng Xi said, it would be a great thing for Ji Han.

Not to mention, Zhuge Liang also discovered the problem after looking at the stars. The bright big star in the Central Plains area has become dimmer since the purple light monster star left two years ago. On the contrary, the big star in the southwest galaxy on his side is extremely bright, surrounded by countless big and small stars. Judging from the momentum alone, it is definitely much more powerful than the star on the Cao Wei side.

A few days ago, when Zhuge Liang was looking at the stars again, the big star in the Central Plains began to flicker and looked like it was about to collapse, which frightened Zhuge Liang greatly.

"Could it be that Xiu Yuan's bold words five years ago will really come true?"

Zhuge Liang felt a little terrified. Feng Xi's ability to predict the future five years later was already at the level of those legendary immortals, such as Nanhua and Zuo Ci. If Feng Xi was not guessing, it would be too scary.

However, Zhuge Liang shook his head, threw Feng Xi's matter out of his mind, and concentrated on looking at the stars.

"hiss……"

Zhuge Liang saw that in a flash, the big star fell towards the Central Plains. The surrounding stars that guarded the big star immediately became panic-stricken, the light and shadows flickered, and some stars even fell, as if a disaster was about to happen.

Zhuge Liang pondered for a moment and immediately stood up. He had a hunch that Feng Xi would send him a message in the next few days to prepare for the Northern Expedition.

(End of this chapter)